Past Artists
Emmylou Harris
“Most of my career,” says Emmylou Harris, “I’ve been a finder of songs, a gatherer of songs, so this showcases, in part, that side of what I do.” All I Intended To Be, its simple but evocative title borrowed from the lyric of a Billy Joe Shaver song, does far more than that. Her first solo album since 2003’s Stumble Into Grace, it is indeed a catalogue of Harris’s many gifts—as an interpreter, as an eloquent composer herself, as an inveterate musical explorer who’s been able to discover, rescue, and/or give new life to many a beautiful but overlooked country, bluegrass or folk tune.
Mary Ann Kennedy
Mary Ann Kennedy and Pam Rose,"KENNEDY ROSE" recorded for and toured with STING in the 90's. The duo also enjoyed success as a songwriting team in Nashville for many years. They met EmmyLou Harris in 1985, and have a musical and personal friendship that continues today.
Annie Crane & Robin Aigner
Annie Crane's music captures you with stories of immigrant grandparents, February ice storms, heartache in snowy Toronto and an industrially sweet Brooklyn love. Robin Aigner's quirky, irreverent and original old-timey/gypsy folk has a loyal following from New York to Nashville, New Hampshire to San Francisco.
Sam Bush
Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush doesn’t seem old enough to be a musical legend. And he’s not. But he is. Alternately known as the King of Telluride and the King of Newgrass, Bush has been honored by the Americana Music Association and the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Miss Tess and The Bon Ton Parade
Miss Tess has just released “Live Across the Mason Dixon Line”, a double album featuring two live shows – one from the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts and one from Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia. This release proves to be a valiant effort by the band, Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade, to blur the lines that once clearly dictated style, genre, and location.
Caitlin Rose
Caitlin Rose is a twenty one year old singer/songwriter from Nashville, TN, who is spending more time recreating the songs of our past than most artists twice her age are able to do. Upon first listen, you might swear you’ve heard Caitlin’s music before. Perhaps in a smoky honky-tonk or a dimly lit dive bar where the waitresses are all named Wanda and the well drinks are only a dollar. Though this would simply be an auditory illusion, your first impression wouldn’t be far from the truth.
Dex Romweber Duo
"Dex Romweber was and is a huge influence on my music. I owned all of his records as a teenager, and was thrilled at the fact that we were able to play together recently on tour. His attitude towards music is remarkable. His songwriting, along with his love of classic American music from the south, be it rockabilly, country or R&B, is one of the best kept secrets of the rock n roll underground." - Jack White, White Stripes.
Peter Bradley Adams
Peter Bradley Adams was one half of the duo "eastmountainsouth" signed by Robbie Robertson (of The Band) to Dreamworks Records in 2002. He has released two solo records ("Gather Up" and "Leavetaking") and is set to release his third, "Traces" this September on Sarathan Records.
Scott Miller
Scott Miller blends folk and rock like there ain’t no words for. The power of storytelling with the power of a compressed electric guitar comes through this Virginian not heard since the likes of Wayne Newton (fellow Virginian) or The Statler Brothers (also of the Commonwealth.) Not even since Thomas Jefferson (Virginian) and Woodrow Wilson (another Virginian) formed their rock trio with drummer Stewart Copeland (northern Virginian) “League of Nations”.
Jonny Corndawg
Jonny Corndawg is a country singer, not a singer-songwriter. Born in Montana, raised in rural Virginia, Corndawg has been touring on his motorcycle since he dropped out of high school in 2001. He’s played shows in every U.S. state, Canada, eleven European countries, Australia, Argentina and India. But you won’t find him on CMT. His music is more in the vein of that obscure, ‘70s gay country that housewives would discover on a Bear Family reissue in twenty years.
The Grascals
Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must form a bond – one that, more often than not, goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than forty years. As their records prove, The Grascals’ rare musical empathy gives them an unerring ear for just the right touch to illuminate each offering’s deepest spirit - whether they’re digging into one of their original songs or reworking a bluegrass classic or a pop standard.
James Intveld
A native of Los Angeles, James Intveld started his career at an early age listening and singing along to his parents' recordings of Hank Williams, Sr., Dean Martin, Lefty Frizzell, and Elvis. During the cow punk movement of the '80s, Intveld was working the same clubs as Dwight Yoakam and Rosie Flores, playing his own brand of rockabilly, and so impressed Town South of Bakersfield producers Pete Anderson and Dusty Wakeman that he was included on the second volume of the compilation series.
The New Familiars
From the foothills of Appalachia a new musical combo has appeared; grown from seeds of the folk, blues, and bluegrass found abundant in the Carolinas, yet shaped by the undeniable power of rock and roll. Known as The New Familiars, these five gentlemen combine an amazing passion for harmony with multi-instrumental talent and unusual storytelling abilities.
Nancy Griffith
Nancy Griffith got an early start on her path to performing and songwriting. At the age of 6 she began to write songs, thinking of it as “part of the process of learning how to play guitar.” While she doesn’t remember many of her earliest songs, she does recall that “the first original song my mother commented on…was a song about Timothy Leary.” Then at the age of 14, when a campfire turn at the Kerrville Folk Festival caught the ear of singer-songwriter Tom Russell, she was on her way. Having recorded 18 albums and performed concerts all over the world, it’s safe to say that she’s never looked back.
Josh Williams Band
From easy-going ballads to fiery, hard-driving instrumentals, it’s no wonder the Josh Williams Band was voted the 2010 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Emerging Artist of the Year.
Shawn Byrne
Shawn moved to Nashville from Boston in May 2003 without knowing a soul and began washing dishes at the World Famous Bluebird cafe. Since that time Shawn has had his songs recorded by such artists as the Duhks, Aussie super-star Adam Brand and Kevin Montgomery. Shawn was awarded a SESAC award for his song "Ol' Cook Pot" recorded by Sugar Hill recording artists The Duhks who took the song to the top 5 on the Americana charts. Shawn's self produced CD 'But I Digress" released independently in 07 was released to rave reviews and has been a steady seller on cdbaby.com and itunes. Stellar songwriting is not the only trick in Shawn's bag.
Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock is an innovator. Not just for his ability to successfully navigate live performances spanning the Summer of Love through the advent of MTV and well into the new electronic-pop revolution. And not just for his gift for leading the live music recording and download revolution with a meticulous dedication to archive and share his live shows for more then twenty years (Macworld, 2005). He is not just an innovator because of his craftsmanship restoring vintage analog equipment and for a completely custom and organic sound (he designed a highly collected edition of Two Rock brand “Kimock Amplifiers” and most recently a custom, ergonomic Scott Walker guitar, in stereo).
Angela Easterling & The Beguilers
So the old story goes, a small-town girl with ambition puts her all into her music, moves to the big city, meets the right people, and finds success. But with Angela Easterling, it was the opposite. She went back to her small town, and in doing so, gained her greatest success yet. What she found in her native Greenville, SC had Roger McGuinn, founder of legendary folk rock group The Byrds, calling her "a bright shining star on the horizon," going on to say "Her gift is so special….brought me back to the time the Byrds recorded Sweetheart of the Rodeo - tradition meets youthful exuberance."
Webb Wilder
Hardly a purist, he has described the music he and his band, The Beatnecks, make as, "Rock for Roots fans and Roots for Rock fans." In essence: Rock and Roll. There’s nothing new about combining R & B, Rock and Roll, Country, Blues, Pop and Rock. The Rolling Stones and the Beatles proved that it can yield marvelous and diverse results. I said he wasn’t a PURIST. I didn’t say he wasn’t very PICKY about the quality of the music. That includes everything from the sonics of the recordings, the choice of players, the influences he draws on, the songs he chooses to cover, or how attentive he is to the craftsmanship of his own songs.
Charlie Louvin
The term "living legend" gets thrown around quite a bit, but it actually applies to Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin. The magical harmonies and depth of feeling found on Louvin Brothers recordings of the 50's and 60's inspired a new generation of musicians, firmly establishing the Louvins' stature as one of the most influential duos in country music history. In 2006, the Tompkins Square label reached out to Charlie about making his first new studio album in over ten years. They enlisted Mark Nevers, who engineered sessions for many top country artists, and produced Calexico, Lambchop, Candi Staton among others. Guests on the album include Elvis Costello, George Jones, Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Tom T. Hall, Tift Merritt, Marty Stuart, Bobby Bare Sr., David Kilgour, members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop, Clem Snide, Superchunk and more. Louvin enjoyed the experience.
Shawn Camp
Some careers can be described with a couple of words, but Shawn Camp’s isn’t one of them. A bold and distinctive singer, a songwriter who’s provided material for artists ranging from Garth Brooks and Brooks & Dunn to Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury and Ricky Skaggs, and a multi-instrumentalist who’s played with everyone from Alan Jackson to the Osborne Brothers, his music sprawls across the lines that divide mainstream country, Americana and bluegrass—and if his songs have been recorded by more popular artists, his energetic new CD, Fireball, makes a compelling case that no one can do them better.
Green on the Vyne
Listening to Green on the Vyne is like being reacquainted with an old friend. But how can that be, when the oldest member of the group is just the tender young age of sixteen? This group of old souls is breathing a breath of fresh air into the long-existing world of acoustic and bluegrass music, while staying true to their roots. Green on the Vyne is made up of five, incredibly talented musicians.
John Cowan
Bluegrass, Newgrass, Gospelgrass, Rock N’ Rollgrass…true innovators like John Cowan break boundaries and personify innovation. John’s ability to take audiences on a musical journey through multiple genres has made him one of the most unique vocal artists of his generation.
Quebe Sisters Band
Since their musical journey began in 1998, Grace, Sophia & Hulda have been covering a lot of ground. In the beginning, the Q's started taking fiddle lessons from Sherry McKenzie (Joey's wife) and later from Joey, learning traditional Texas-style fiddling. From the start, all three sisters demonstrated astonishing talent and determination and a real love of music. Shortly thereafter, the girls began entering fiddle contests and had success early on; winning several State, regional and National fiddle championships.
Eric Brace and Peter Cooper
The body of work that Eric Brace and Peter Cooper have created reflects their literate sensibilities as songwriters, a love of harmony and wry humor, and their deep respect for the masters they're lucky enough to play with. Brace and Cooper’s most recent album, Master Sessions, is a tour de force that made its way onto numerous critics’ Best of 2010 lists, spent 4 months on the Americana chart, and was Top 5 on the F.A.R. and Folk DJ charts. It features the instrumental work of pedal steel guitar legend Lloyd Green and dobro master Mike Auldridge.
Dale Ann Bradley
"I think Dale Ann Bradley is an awesome singer. It's heart and soul with her." – Ricky Skaggs It's 9 a.m. on a rainy January day in Nashville, five days into 2009. Dale Ann Bradley is coming up the studio steps without a raincoat, carrying a guitar and a folder full of lyrics. She's been on the road for 14 straight days, it's 25 degrees and pouring, but never mind all that. She's been shaping the concept of her new project, the follow-up to her Compass Records debut Catch Tomorrow, for months, and she can't wait to kick off the first song.
Radney Foster
The position that Foster enjoys in the country music landscape is remarkable. Mainstream country music and independent Americana tend to occupy separate orbits. Yet for 24 years Foster has thrived in both as a songwriter, recording artist, live performer and producer. His songs--solo, with Foster and Lloyd and recorded by other artists--have topped the country, Texas, Americana, and AAA charts alike. At the same time, he's earned the respect of his peers and a devoted audience as intent on listening as they are eager to dance.
Pam Daley
When Pam Daley delivers a song she invites the listener in as she unknowingly reveals pieces of her soul. Her refined, crystal clear vocals are at once intimate and open, as if the words are meant to be shared, but also meant only for you. In years past, Daley sang in rock bands that tended to drown out the subtler colors of her voice. But when she returned to the music that she loved, bluegrass and acoustic country, she had found her way home. *Guest appearance will be made by Pam Daley for PBS special.
Donna Ulisse
Donna Ulisse (pronounced "you-liss-ee") was born in Hampton Virginia and surrounded by a musical family. She made her first appearance singing at the tender age of three when she wandered onto the stage with a bluegrass band and broke out into "Take This Hammer". From that moment until now, there has never been any doubt that she would be creating music. She worked in a local western swing band where she met and married Rick Stanley, being fully indoctrinated into a bluegrass family when Rick's cousin Ralph Stanley, along with the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at their wedding reception.
Christabel and the Jons
Christabel and the Jons is a southern swing band based in east Tennessee that blends familiar standards with modern vintage sounding originals. Their music is acoustic and colorful, a blend of Appalachian mountain music and vintage swing. The group saunters and sways together with ease. Lead singer Christa DeCicco steals hearts with her come-hither delivery and charismatic stage performance.
Emmitt-Nershi Band
On New Country Blues the Emmitt-Nershi Band has fully realized its potential.With Drew Emmitt (Leftover Salmon) on mandolin & vocals and Bill Nershi (the String Cheese Incident) on acoustic guitar and vocals, ENB delivers a dynamic blend of bluegrass, newgrass, country and Americana that is sure to excite fans of all those genres and more.
Mountain Heart
Mountain Heart is the band that has been fearlessly revolutionizing the way acoustic music can be presented and played. The band's name has been synonymous with cutting-edge excellence in acoustic music circles since the group's creation in 1999. Widely known throughout the music industry for continually redefining the boundaries of acoustic music, the band has gained legions of loyal fans both as a result of their superlative musicianship, and more notably, their incomparably exciting live performances.
Chris Volpe
Chris Volpe’s gentle vocals, padded by long strains on the harmonica, whining pedal steel and warm acoustic guitars, have a nice way of relaying some hard truths on his new disc, Shipwrecked. Shades of Neil Young emerge in the bleak “Afraid of the Dark,” which tackles the weighty issue of environmental pollution and paints a picture of the resulting mess when mankind fails to react responsibly.
Nashville Mandolin Ensemble
With its scintillating contemporary qualities, the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble has been hailed for revitalizing and reshaping a type of ensemble music that enjoyed nationwide popularity at the turn of the 20th century. Through its array of mandolins, mandola, mandocello, violin, guitar and bass, NME commands expressive string colors of kaleidoscopic range and variety.
Cherryholmes
With their roots based in bluegrass, Celtic, and jazz music, Cherryholmes has stormed to the top of the music world since winning the 2005 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Award for Entertainer of the Year.
Donna The Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo's eclectic and often socially conscious music has it's base in traditional old-time mountain music and is infused with elements of Cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. The group’s core are vocalists Tara Nevins, who plays fiddle, guitar, accordion, and scrubboard, and guitarist Jeb Puryear. Keyboardist Dave McCracken, bassist Kyle Spark, and drummer Vic Stafford complete the ensemble.
The Believers
THE BELIEVERS have a serious love for old school country music - they can’t help it if they were raised on punk & folk. It was that very love that prompted a move from their hometown of Seattle to their current stomping grounds of Nashville, Tennessee. Founding members Craig Aspen & Cyd Frazzini share a broad scope of influences from The Louvin Brothers to The Clash to Steve Earle to George & Tammy, all coming together to create a Country Soul sound with the urgency of a great rock record and all the intimacy of your favorite Neil Young or Bob Dylan records. Such a sound has earned them praise from the likes of Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale and the BBC2’s Bob Harris who simply declared them “Brilliant.”
Kristi Rose and Fats Kaplin
Kristi Rose and Fats Kaplin have long been revered as artists of “distinctive personal approach” Kristi Rose as a singer with a voice that can “sing the stars from the heavens” and Fats, as a “brilliant multi-instrumentalist” who has toured and recorded for years with a diverse roster of artists. Together, Fats and Kristi Rose have created a musical genre, (and way of life) known as Pulp Country. This is their second appearance on Music City Roots and at this show they will include songs from their newly released Christmas CD - “I Wonder As I Wander”. In this thought provoking album, Fats and Kristi Rose, delve deep into the meaning of the Christmas Season, reminding us of its poignant beauty, mystery, and joy.
Chuck Mead
He’s been known as the co-founder of the three-time Grammy nominated BR549, the honky-tonk heroes that almost single-handedly lit and carried the blowtorch for the mid-‘90s alternative country explosion. He’s been hailed as ‘The Hillbilly Renaissance Man’ for his subsequent successes as a songwriter, performer, producer and musical theater director. Now after more than a decade as one of the most uncompromising and consistent talents in the American roots music movement, Chuck Mead at last emerges with the most anticipated role of his entire career: Solo Artist.
Tim O’Brien
At a point in his career where you'd think he'd be charging at full speed toward the next big thing, Tim O'Brien confounded expectations by doing something else: he took time--and plenty of it--to create the next small thing. Chameleon is an intimate project that, in its blend of virtuosity, wit and warmth, is unmistakably his. And this time around, it's literally his alone.
Will Hoge
In May 2010, two weeks after a thousand-year flood devastated parts of Nashville, TN, Will Hoge and his band drove 14 hours back home to perform a single song on stage at the historic Ryman Auditorium. He'd been invited to perform the finale of a nationally televised benefit concert stacked with high-profile artists like Keith Urban, Keb Mo and Brad Paisley. But as a native son of Nashville and a true hometown rock star with an extraordinary ability to connect with a crowd, Hoge's powerhouse vocal on "Washed By The Water" proved the perfect climax and well worth the long haul.
Jason Ringenberg
A couple of years ago Jason and I were doing a run of dates together through the snowy Midwest. I was road-ragged and he was fresh as a daisy. He'd driven across Alaska not long before and spent six weeks in Sweden and England and Holland before that! We got to talking about farm life and how Jason and his brother grew up feeding the hogs at five in the morningeveryday. "You know," Jason said to me, "My brother and I worked ALL the time. It was incredibly hard work for an adult, let alone a skinny 9 year old boy. It was a never ending cycle feeding the hogs, cleaning out the hog houses (by hand), hauling water and straw, or working the fields.
Viktor Krauss
Those who know Bassist/Composer Viktor Krauss primarily by his supporting roles with Lyle Lovett, Bill Frisell, Jerry Douglas, and scores of others, might be surprised by the eclectic range of the original music on his second recording, aptly entitled II. On the other hand, listeners familiar with Krauss’ remarkable 2004 solo debut, Far From Enough (Nonesuch), and attuned to the finer details of his recording and touring credits—with everyone from Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, John Fogerty, Film Composer - James Newton Howard, and Graham Nash to Chet Atkins, the Chieftains, and Joan Baez—will find II quite consonant with that eclectic track record.
Angel Snow
The highest caliber of artistry is often intertwined with the deepest sincerity. As is the case with rising star Angel Snow, whose music is the truest and most honest reflection of her life. Her story plays out in self-penned songs, where detail by detail she lets the listener in on her innermost thoughts, hopes, and dreams.
J.D. Souther
In 1984, singer/songwriter J.D. Souther followed the chart-topping successes of "You're Only Lonely" and the James Taylor duet "Her Town Too" with HOME BY DAWN, an album that Rolling Stone declared his best, with songs that "rank right up there with his forlorn classics 'Run like a Thief' and 'Faithless Love.'"
Tennessee Mafia Jug Band
From the pastoral hills, hollers, shopping malls and interstate highways of Goodlettsville Tennessee, home of Bill Monroe, Bashful Brother Oswald, Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Keith Whitley and some living country music performers, comes the most entertaining "blast from the past" since Lester Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys. They’re the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band -- five guys and a scrubboard, with roots like wisdom teeth.
Tony Joe White
In 1969, Tony Joe White brought his brand of Swampy Blues into a Top 10 hit with his song “Polk Salad Annie.” This was followed very shortly in 1970, by Brook Benton’s soulful rendition of White’s timeless “Rainy Night In Georgia.”
Sugarcane Jane
Sugarcane Jane's music inspires images of a southern past and gives vibrant proof of the present. Songs like, “Home Nights” weave images of white cotton clothing blowing gently, in rhythm on a warm, balmy southern afternoon. Their sweet tunes trundle you down a dusty, country road in the back of an old truck. You’ll taste sweet blackberries and when the notes fade away, you’ll want more.
Chris Scruggs
It's hard to put a label on a multi-talented artist like Chris Scruggs. The Washington Post aptly described him as "part John Lennon pop and part Milton Brown western swing with a little bit of White Stripes edginess."
Nathan Blake Lynn
Nathan Blake Lynn brings together the deep traditions of bluegrass and country music. His songs define his childhood days running through the backwaters of Western Kentucky, his long nights hauling cars across the country, and his love for honky-tonk nightlife. A writer of historical fiction, Lynn sheds new light on forgotten storyies from the Deep South to the High North.
Tomi Fujiyama
“Tomi Fujiyama” is Japan’s first lady of Country music. In 1951, a young Tomi switched from performing traditional Japanese songs for small Japanese audiences, to performing Country for the American soldiers on Army and Navy bases across Japan. After recording 21 singles and 5 albums for Columbia Records she was brought to Las Vegas to play a backbreaking 7-days- a-week, 4-shows-a-night contract at the Mint Hotel.
The Dirt Daubers
Colonel JD Wilkes (The Legendary Shack Shakers) and his wife Jessica, along with "Slow" Layne Hendrickson, make up the hillbilly/hokum trio THE DIRT DAUBERS! Hailing from western Kentucky, these three caterwaulin' hooligans sing loud and proud an ecclectic mix of Appalachian, ragtime, and hot jazz standards and original music.
Gove Scrivenor
When looking for expressive and uncommon sounds, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, Dan Seals, Hank Williams, Jr., Iris Dement and Glen Campbell all turned to the evocative sound of Gove Scrivenor’s autoharp. When Gove released early albums on Flying Fish Records, his friends, Doc Watson, John Hartford, Marty Stuart, Buddy Emmons...all lined up to contribute to his recordings.
Split Lip Rayfield
Bluegrass worthy of being blasted out of the windows of a Plymouth Barracuda with 451 Hemi engine. Metal and jazz like freakouts done acoustically. Arising out of the ashes of Scroat Belly, the Lip's live shows were the stuff of legend. They whipped crowds into a sweaty frenzy—Jeff hunched over his homemade, gas-tank bass "The Stitchgiver," Kirk breaking guitar strings by the dozen and changing them fast enough to ensure himself a place on any NASCAR pit crew, Wayne scorching his fire-proofed mandolin, and Eric, looking the part of a Civil War re-enactor, doing things to a banjo that Eddie Van Halen wishes he’d thought of.
Randy Kohrs
With the release of Old Photograph, on Rural Rhythm Records, multi-instrumentalist Randy Kohrs has also arrived as a first-rate vocalist, songwriter and producer. With a 2008 Grammy win for producing, engineering, mixing, singing harmony, and playing on Americana icon Jim Lauderdale’s latest, The Bluegrass Diaries, he has now solidified his standing as one of the strongest all-around musical forces coming up on the Nashville scene.
Kenny Brown
Sometimes it really is all about location, location, location. Kenny Brown was not only blessed with talent, he was born in the backyard of some of Mississippi’s best bluesmen. Although R.L. Burnside is fond of calling Kenny Brown his adopted son, it is really the sadly under-recorded north Mississippi bluesman Joe Callicott who was the first musician to take Kenny under his wing.
Shannon McNally
Shannon McNally was born and raised on Long Island, New York but has spent most of her adult life traveling and living all over North America. After graduating college with a degree in Religious Anthropology she followed Los Lobos out to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. She quickly signed with Perry Watts-Russell to Capitol Records/ EMI.
Afrissippi
A magnificent cross-cultural river of sound Afrissippi was born in 2002, over a jam session in Oxford, Mississippi, at the home of the legendary R.L. Burnside between Senegalese Fulani griot Guelel Kumba and Burnside apprentice Eric Deaton. The similarities between Kumba’s traditional Senegalese melodies and north Mississippi hill country blues were immediately apparent and thrilling, and so the journey began.
Jimbo Mathus
"Grew up in Mississippi like a good boy should," sings Jimbo Mathus on the title track to his new album Jimmy the Kid. "Nobody thought he'd turn out much good." The song's hero, like Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," bears a striking resemblance to the singer. Mathus is a reformed (mostly) juvenile delinquent who on record and stage deftly incorporates the richly diverse Southern sounds he heard growing up around Clarksdale, Miss.
Darrell Scott
Born on a tobacco farm in London, Ky., in 1959, and raised in E. Gary, Indiana, Darrell was part of a musical family. His father Wayne, a steelworker by trade but a songwriter in his heart, moved his clan to Southern California when Darrell was 11. Soon Darrell and brothers Denny, Dale, Don, and David were part of their dad’s band, getting on-the-job training in country music as they played its hits on the stages of roadhouses and taverns as far north as Alaska.
Supple Station Trio
Songs about the devil and whiskey aren't just for adults now. The Supple Station Trio sound like they've been playing bluegrass together for years. The trio consists of Don Chambliss, fresh out of high school, Taylor Brashears and Carter Brallier, still seniors in high school here in Nashville.
The Greencards
From the first notes struck together in 2003 through tours with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and up to and beyond their fourth studio album in 2009, The Greencards have won steadily escalating acclaim for their multi-dimensional Americana vision. Each step they’ve taken has widened their appeal. Their releases have topped the Billboard Bluegrass charts. Two singles have garnered Grammy nominations. They’ve earned ovations from “newgrass” music devotees at MerleFest and rock loyalists at Lollapalooza.
The Sweetback Sisters
Like their pseudo-sister role models, the Davis Sisters, the Sweetback Sisters sing country songs in close, surrogate-sister harmony and matching dresses. Their repertoire combines several of the Sisters' passions -- country music from before they were born and new interpretations of those traditions -- to create a fresh take on what it means to be country.
Rebecca Pronsky
Rebecca Pronsky was just eight years old when she began singing professionally. Rebecca studied voice with a local rock singer who had a weekly gig at the Bitter End in Manhattan. One night she invited Rebecca, then a third-grader, to sing at the club. The crowd loved her, and not surprisingly she immediately felt enamored with performing. Fast-forward past the wonder years and there she was- a full-fledged teen singer-songwriter. Pronsky had picked up the guitar and had begun to write her very own songs.
John McCauley
John Joseph McCauley III, was born and grew up in Providence, RI. Self-taught on drums, guitar, piano, and pedal steel, McCauley's music shows the mixed flavours of the pop, rock, blues, and country influences he brings to his music adds complexity and depth to his tunes.
Will Kimbrough
With 10 artist albums to his credit, WILL KIMBROUGH has released five solo recordings and five albums as a founding member of DADDY, the bis-quits, and Will and the Bushmen. Dubbed an "Alien" performer as a way to explain his masterful performance on the guitar, Will was recognized in 2004 as the "Instrumentalist of the Year" by the Americana Music Association. His songs have been recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Jack Ingram, Todd Snider and others. His new full-length album – WINGS (Due out Feb. 23!) - features songs that invite the listener to comprehend the universe with a modern introspective eye. Exploring themes surrounding the conflict between family and career, love and work, parents and children, the music is based in classic folk rock, with touches of atmospheric guitar, cello, saxophone, trumpet, banjo, Hammond organ.
Amber Digby
Texas claims Amber Digby, but her roots (both musically and geographically) lie in Nashville, TN. Born and raised in the birthplace of Country Music, Amber comes from a long line of Classic Country Music Royalty. Amber’s father is Dennis Digby, longtime bass player in the Coal Miners, Loretta Lynn’s road band. Amber’s mother, Dee, was a backup singer for artists such as Connie Smith. Amber’s stepfather, Dicky Overbey, is a steel guitar legend who recorded and performed with Faron Young, Connie Smith, Hank Williams, Jr., Ronnie Milsap, and Johnny Bush. And Amber is the niece of Darrell McCall, who garnered a #1 hit when he wrote “Eleven Roses”, on top of his own solo top 40 hits.
The Hot Seats
“I wonder if 'for a good time call The Hot Seats' is written on every bathroom wall in Richmond, Virginia . . . The band has taken its raw talent and honed and crafted it precisely to sound easy and effortless.” - Rochester City Paper
Ashley Cleveland
In some very real ways, God Don’t Never Change is Ashley Cleveland’s first gospel record. Yes, the new record is Ashley’s eighth full-length project. Yes, she’s been plying her trade in the ephemeral corner of the music world called “Christian music” pretty much from the get-go, crafting earthy songs with a heavenly message for nearly two decades. And yes, she’s even recorded an entire album of hymns, 2005’s Men & Angels Say.
The Vespers
It’s two sisters, two brothers, four friends, eleven instruments, one fun little folk band. However you do the math, The Vespers are a force to be reckoned with. In the spring of 2010, the newly formed group released their debut album, Tell Your Mama, which has been received greatly by critics and fans alike. The indie release even managed to sneak on to a few top 20 lists before the year’s end. The critics have hailed the band as “magnificently unforgettable” and “fresh and infectious”. “I was just about knocked off my stool”, exclaimed Angie Santiago of No Depression.
Jerry Leger
What possesses a young person in 2010 to pick up an acoustic guitar and write a song? One reason is certainly the eternal desire to find the ideal lover, although the inherent failure in doing so remains an equally powerful motivator. This is how life’s hardest lessons are learned, and after the shock, anger, sorrow, bitterness, and fear subside, what we are left with is wisdom.
Amanda Shires
Lubbock-born gem Amanda Pearl Shires steps into the spotlight with the release of her new album, West Cross Timbers. Her clever songs glitter with a tinge of the Western swing she honed so expertly as a side woman for Tommy Allsup and the legendary Texas Playboys, with whom she began work at age 16. Though Shires hasn’t left the band she co-founded, raucous Texas indie rockers The Thrift Store Cowboys, she’s shifted her focus to her solo work for the time being.
Nedski and Mojo
The duo is comprised of Stephen Mougin (Sam Bush Band) and Ned Luberecki (Chris Jones and the Night Drivers.)Ned Luberecki and Stephen Mougin present a marvelous contrast in almost every way...and the combination works!
Danny Flowers
Tools for the Soul is Danny Flowers’ stunning Brash Music label debut- and only his third album in 25 years. At that rate, the 58-year-old developing artist- his own typically self-deprecating description- should have enough material for a box set right around his 100th birthday. Clearly, the awe-inspiring guitar guru, soulful singer and hit songwriter is not cruising in the fast lane, or racing in reckless fashion to snag fame’s temporal brass ring. Instead, the album’s eleven introspective and provocative compositions reveal a soul-searching journey colored by loss and gain, pain and joy. It is a journey that digs deep inside, reaches out to fellow travelers with selfless generosity, and arrives at a blessed state of grace.
David Ball
David Ball was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, growing up in a family where everyone played an instrument. Starting out on guitar, he eventually gravitated to bass fiddle. David joined childhood friends Walter Hyatt and Champ Hood in Uncle Walt’s band and subsequently relocated to another fertile landscape, Austin, Texas. “All kinds of great music were being made in Texas.” In the mid 1980’s, a publishing deal brought David to Nashville.
Larry Stephenson Band
Larry Stephenson began his musical career while in his early teens when he and his father, Ed Stephenson formed Larry Stephenson & The New Grass in Larry's hometown of King George, Virginia. Honing his God-given talents, he began professionally with Bill Harrell & The Virginians during January, 1979, playing mandolin and singing high lead and tenor. In June, 1983, he moved to a similar role as a member of The Bluegrass Cardinals, remaining until October, 1988, when he organized THE LARRY STEPHENSON BAND while still residing in Virginia in February 1989.
Chip Taylor
If you’ve ever wondered how Chip Taylor, the songwriter whose hits include “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning” and whose songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Peggy Lee, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and the Hollies wound up pursuing a career as a country performer, don’t worry. With the release of his latest album, Yonkers NY, he takes you back to the start of his life and explains it in a collection of songs with the patented Chip Taylor charm and grace.
Cowboy Jack Clement
Born in Whitehaven, Tennessee, alongside Highway 61 which brought a generation of bluesmen north from the Mississippi delta to Memphis, Jack Clement played a crucial part in bringing rock 'n' roll music to the rest of the world. During a career of treading thin lines between folk singers, polka bands, outlaw songwriters, and the commercial countrypolitan music industry, this visionary maverick combined song publishing, music and film production, a record company and recording studios decades before the current trend of international conglomeration. He still runs a pared-down empire from his house, The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa. "I thought that a recording studio was the worst place in the world to make a record, so I built this studio at home 30 years ago," he says. "Now everyone wants one!"
The Band of Heathens
The guys in the Band of Heathens are fond of saying they became a unit by accident. But that’s like saying the Big Bang was an accident. Unplanned, maybe, but hardly random. One might even argue that a kind of destiny was involved. The merger of singer/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist and Colin Brooks, with bassist Seth Whitney and drummer John Chipman, from their respective solo careers and bands may not be akin to a cosmic explosion, but their new album, One Foot in the Ether, offers irrefutable evidence that they were meant to be together — and have evolved into a solid entity worthy of the comparisons they receive to the Black Crowes, the Band and Little Feat.
Cadillac Sky
"Original", "innovative", "fearless", "ambitious", "propulsive", "a marvel of emotion and razor sharp focus"....these are the words of those that have had a chance to hear the sound that for the past several years has been reverberating out of Texas from one of American music's most compelling bands, Cadillac Sky. Their music has been coined everything from "experimental acoustic music" to "psychobilly bluegrass" but they themselves, simply hope they just make "good" music. With an admitted dose of naivety, they simply choose to believe that there should be only two categories in which music should be placed: good and bad. "We try to make music we believe in and would like to listen to".
The Gibson Brothers
2010 IBMA Award Winners, The Gibson Brothers—Eric and Leigh—are widely recognized as the finest brother duet in bluegrass music today. Help My Brother is their tenth release and arguably the finest in the duo’s career. The album features twelve tracks, most of which are originals, and all of which feature the ensemble’s tight arrangements as well as the contributions of band members Clayton Campbell (fiddle), Joe Walsh (mandolin) and Mike Barber (upright bass). Several guests make cameo appearances on the album as well, including Ricky Skaggs (mandolin and vocals), Alison Brown (banjo), Mike Witcher (Dobro) and reigning IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Claire Lynch.
Pokey LaFarge
Pokey LaFarge was born in the heartland of America and took to the open roads at a young age, earning the key to the freedom by hitching rides and writing boxcar ballads that spun tales of a boy finding his way through this big wide-open country. He submerged himself with the most American of music and embraced himself in the beauty of the land while picking and strumming with down-home groups everywhere he went, falling in with traveling caravans of vaudeville poets and hell-raising bluegrass pickers alike.
The Apache Relay
In an unlikely matrimony between singer/songwriter and bluegrass band, The Apache Relay are creating a strikingly fresh blend of progressive bluegrass and Americana/folk music. Playing together for under a year, the group is planning on releasing their debut LP 1988, produced by Doug Williams (The Avett Brothers “The Gleam”, “Second Gleam”, “Four Thieves Gone” and “Mignonette”) in late August.
Maura O’Connell, Two time Grammy nominee
“A lot of people think every singer is someone’s puppet,” explains Maura O’Connell from her home in Nashville. “That they are not fully invested in the song – that they are at the whim of a producer or a songwriter or a band. Singing has been denigrated like that for too long.” Widely acclaimed throughout her career as a vocalist and interpreter of utmost grace and insight, O’Connell’s latest album is a defiant, boldly undiluted statement on art of singing. Naked With Friends consists of thirteen tracks of singing – and nothing more – and is decisive evidence that singing is more than enough.
Alison Brown
An internationally recognized musician with a wide-reaching and loyal fan base, banjoist Alison Brown first came to national prominence when she was asked by Alison Krauss to join her band Union Station in 1989. Brown had already made a name for herself prior to that by performing extensively with fiddler Stuart Duncan, amongst others and an occasional pick-up session, which included Vince Gill, Byron Berline, John Hickman and others.
The Chapmans
The Chapmans continue to enlarge their fan base to include Americana, bluegrass and acoustic country genres. Albeit a young band, they have been touring professionally for almost two decades, while fans and peers alike have nominated and honored them with numerous awards for their songwriting, instrumental, vocal and entertaining talents. Having played thousands of shows, they’ve evolved into a band with a great artistic formula which reaches any size and aged audience, crossing several genres of music.
Aly Sutton
Vietti Chili’s own brand ambassador, Aly Sutton, is a Country Music Artist who can really rock your boots off!
Shannon Quinn
Shannon Quinn is the latest young musician making her mark on Canada through performance. At 20 years of age, Shannon Quinn is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, dancer and composer. Having been performing with her father Tony for 12 years, she has been featured among many successful recording artists, and in turn has become one herself. She was born and raised in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia; a place full of musical talent.
Big Daddy Love
BIG DADDY LOVE brings a natural blend of grass, roots and rock to the emerging North Carolina music scene. With fiery vocals, sweet-sugary harmonies, authentic song-craft, and undeniable musicianship, the quintet delivers high-energy performances comprised of their own brand of good-time music. It is the startling power of these live shows that resonate with their audience. Genuine and intensely personal lyrics captivate and connect. Be captivated. Get connected. Feel the love.
Jill Andrews
Jill Andrews has been a musician all her life: from her first original tune in kindergarten – a ditty about the letter P – to the stage at Fillmore East. And this year, the heart-stopping voice and June-apple face of the everybodyfield’s embarks on an exciting new solo project. Jill picked up a guitar for the first time when she was 19 and a camp counselor in East Tennessee. Armed with only three chords, she had all she needed to create deep and soulful songs with lonesome melodies and haunting lyrics.
Blue Mother Tupelo
Ricky and Micol Davis, shortly after marrying in 1994, began their musical life together at an open mic night in Knoxville, Tennessee. Their latest CD, Heaven & Earth, has made waves across Americana and Roots Rock Radio stations worldwide. It debuted at #2, behind Kris Kristofferson, on the EuroAmericana Charts for November of 2009.
18 South
18 South's music is created by a wide array of influences. The organic and earthy quality of their sound rings with overtones of Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz and Gospel that lends itself perfectly to their stripped down acoustic approach that is truly "Americana". The Band members resume's read like a Encyclopedia of Musical History and once you see them live you'll know why they are individually some the most well respected musicians on the scene today.
Gary Nicholson
Whether you are looking for a hit song, a cool guitar groove, a great record production or a top entertainer, Gary Nicholson is your "go-to" guy in Music City, U.S.A. A 2006 nominee for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Nicholson has had more than 350 of his songs recorded, has won 26 ASCAP songwriting awards and is responsible for more than a dozen major hits. Unlike most tunesmiths, he is not bound by musical genre. His songs routinely top the country hit parade. But rock bands, blues artists, folk stars and bluegrass acts have also embraced him as a songwriter.
Seth Walker
“The first time I heard Seth Walker at a small club in Nashville I was impressed like I haven't been impressed in 30 years, with performance, presence, and great songs.” - Delbert McClinton It would seem to those previously unfamiliar with Seth Walker that he emerged practically overnight as one of the fastest rising stars in blues and roots music. Prior to his recent move to Nashville, the 37year old singer and guitarist hung his hat in Austin for 15 years and has been finetuning his songwriting and soulful croon since his late teens.
Barry and Holly Tashian
Barry and Holly Tashian are established touring musicians and duet singers based out of Nashville. They have written songs for Kenny Rogers, Solomon Burke, Ty England, Daniel O’Donnell and others, and recorded with Emmylou Harris, Tom Paxton, Nancy Griffith and Iris DeMent.
Marshall Chapman
Marshall Chapman was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. To date she has released twelve critically acclaimed albums, and her songs have been recorded by everyone from Emmylou Harris and Joe Cocker to Irma Thomas and Jimmy Buffett.
Minton Sparks
Fusing music, poetry and her intoxicating gift for storytelling, wildly original spoken word artist Minton Sparks releases her latest triumph, Open Casket. Her debut live show DVD is yet another ground breaking performance that further proves Sparks is in a category all her own. Sparks peeks over the edge into the warm spot where most would prefer sleeping relatives lie. Open Casket is a raucous, provocative, brilliant one-woman show featuring Minton alongside world-class musicians: guitarist John Jackson, blues pianist Steve Conn, guitar and mandolin virtuoso Pat Flynn and special guest, Irish singing sensation, Maura O'Connell.
Red Molly
"Everything Red Molly sings is delivered with tick-tight arrangements, crystalline vocals, and caramel harmonies. But what is most striking is the ardor they bring to everything they do, whether snuggling into the sweet parochialism of an old spiritual, or the gritty pathos of a Gillian Welch tune. They come on less like stars strutting for their minions than pals sharing their favorite songs. In the friendly world of the coffeehouse, that remains a starmaking quality." -Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe
Harpeth Rising
“Harpeth Rising, warm, honest and true music by four exquisite musicians.” Peter van Zeijl, Folk en Zo Harpeth Rising met at Indiana University, each individually pursuing degrees in classical performance. Four years later they all graduated, still entirely enmeshed in the classical world. Then, one beautiful summer weekend in June of 2006, a trip to a bluegrass festival inspired Jordana and Rebecca to take a big chance. Rebecca took up the banjo for the very first time, and she and Jordana hit the road. They busked their way across the western United States and ended up in Hawaii (in a round-about sorta way.)
David Olney with Sergio Webb & Jack Irwin
On the new DUTCHMAN’s CURVE (Deadbeet Records, April 13, 2010) album, David Olney continues to cultivate his own Great American Songbook featuring his multi-dimensional character studies with unparalleled perspective. The prolific singer-songwriter has become known worldwide for his intense live performances - especially with multi-instrumentalist SERGIO WEBB - as well as his intelligent compositions as recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury, Tim O'Brien, Dale Ann Bradley, Ann Rabson and others. In 2009, David became a published author with "A Sign From God" featured in the release of “Amplified: Fiction From Leading Alt-Country, Indy Rock, Blues and Folk Musicians” (Melville House). In late 2009, David launched his UStream.tv “Hear & Now” 30-minute live, interactive weekly broadcast in addition to posting videos of his stellar interpretations of classic poetry on YouTube. 2009 also heralded David’s release of “Ol' Diz: A Musical Baseball Story” about Hall Of Fame St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean. "In the tradition of Johnny Cash and Tom Waits, Olney has become a pioneer of the Americana music scene." -- The San Francisco Chronicle
Elizabeth Cook
I’m not a welder, at least not in the typical sense of the trade. But my daddy is, by way of 2300 hours of training that certified him, courtesy of the Atlanta Federal penitentiary. I myself couldn’t put a rod in the thingamajig. And heavy equipment makes me nervous. But I do tend to fuse things, confuse things, sometimes with sparks, sometimes like a lava melt, sometimes backed by a tank of compressed air ready to blow, sometimes quiet as a slow leak.
Jon Byrd
Jon Byrd lived his formative years in small town America in the piney woods of south Alabama, one county over from the birthplace of legendary country artist Hank Williams. When Jon was eight years old, his dad was diagnosed with TB and began singing Jimmie Rogers' "TB Blues" around the house. That same year Jon saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and his obsession with the musical tension between country and rock was born. The very next year he was conscripted into the drum corps of his tiny school's marching band and played Booker T. and the MG's "Green Onions" while the majorettes held the cymbals and danced. There was no turning back.
Kevin Gordon
Over the course of twenty years of writing, recording and touring, Kevin Gordon has built an impressively consistent catalog of songs, a critically acclaimed stack of albums, and a reputation for dynamic live performances that make first-time listeners life-long fans. He is currently completing his next full-length album, to be released later this year. Among the new material is a 7-minute piece titled “Colfax”. The song has already generated some great press.
The Wrights
In 1998, I was living with a couple of guys in a rundown little house back in my hometown of Newnan, Georgia. I worked at a bar and grill during the day and would set up and play there on the weekends--sometimes by myself, sometimes with a little blues trio. We'd do lots of J.J. Cale, Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf...some Dylan, Willie Nelson. Anything really. Things were kind of on cruise control for me then. I worked, came home, and wrote songs or played guitar. I didn't really hang out with a lot of people. I pretty much kept to myself. Even on the nights that we were playing, I'd go outside between sets and just walk up and down the sidewalk. Music wasn't my only friend, but in those days it was probably my closest.
Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale is a multi-talented performer and songwriter, with successes in both country and bluegrass music. His roots stem from the Carolinas, yet his career has taken him all over the United States and abroad, making him an international recording artist with an ever-growing fan base. Jim won "Artist of the Year" and "Song of the Year" at the first "Honors and Awards Show" held by the Americana Music Association in 2002. Subsequently, he has hosted this same show for the last seven years.
Dana Cooper
“I’ve always considered myself an outsider as far as the music industry goes,” Dana Cooper says. “I focused on a grassroots career by making albums I liked and that I took to people by playing live. Now that’s what everyone says is the new music model, that you build a sustaining career by playing live and sticking to your own vision. If that’s the case, then I figure I’m ahead of the game, because I’ve been doing it that way for more than 30 years.” With his newest release, The Conjurer Cooper strikes a powerful balance between a lived-in, natural artistry and a passionate desire to speak one’s truth. Finding that balance between craft and art takes experience, and this is where Cooper’s lifelong commitment to his work shows: Having started performing more than 40 years ago at age 16, he owns an expert craftsman’s skilled hand and a dedicated artist’s constant desire to tap deeper into his own experience.
Ray Wylie Hubbard
When F. Scott Fitzgerald issued his classic conclusion that ‘There are no second acts in American lives,' he failed to envision the career of legendary Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard. A willing conspirator in the late seventies Cosmic Cowboy revolt that ushered in the mythical Outlaw era, Hubbard was a catalyst in the cultural upheaval that led to the peaceful coexistence of Lone Star music enthusiasts who comprised each end of the social and political spectrum of that troubled time. In the stellar company of iconic colleagues like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard was an architect of the musical legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of up-and-coming Texas talent.
Monte Montgomery
Monte Montgomery has taken the acoustic guitar beyond anyone's expectations. With his amazing fretwork, unique combination finger and pick style playing through trailblazing "chordal" thoroughfares often baffling even the most accomplished players. While Monte remains a huge enigma in the guitar universe, his legendary reputation has spread like wildfire since he appeared on Austin City Limits. In 2004 Monte was named on Guitar Player Magazine's list of "Top 50 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time" and in 2005 he was featured the Covers of "Frets" and "Acoustic Guitar" magazines. Countless articles have been written about Monte describing him "The Evel Knievel of Guitar", "Six Strings Attached To Dynamite", "The Answer To The Fermi Paradox" and "The Acoustic Shred Master" just to name a few. Monte's fretwork has become the benchmark for acoustic guitar players. "An American Original", there is no doubt Monte Montgomery is destined to become An American Legend.
Phil Lee
If Phil Lee was as good at knife-throwing as he is at songwriting he would be on the David Letterman show three times a week. He may very well be that good at it – he practices enough - but listening to any one of his excellent CDs, including this new one, has great rewards and fewer risks - at least for the audience. Phil has never feared, personally or lyrically, to scamper out on a limb with a gleam in his eye and a hacksaw in his hand. Sometimes a club owner or promoter will “suggest” that certain of his songs might ruffle a local feather or two but danged if he won’t have those very birds squarely in his corner before the night is done. Charm, guts and great material can get you a long way. Like Wile E. Coyote, he has a knack for recovering from the most explosive circumstances but unlike that hapless canine he usually ends up on top and grinning. This has been of immense help in his previous incarnations as a truck driver, roadie, huckster and bon vivant. Phil Lee likes to say that “at a hundred, my age, weight and IQ have all averaged out.” Maybe so but if that’s true he’s sure getting maximum output in all three areas. He writes constantly, eats a sensible diet and, peripatetic as hell, he won’t hesitate to haul out of his Nashville habitations in his pickup for a gig in Wisconsin on a Friday, cannonball from there to Missouri on Saturday and hit Indiana on Sunday - after church of course.
Rob Ickes & Robinella
Rob Ickes : A Northern California native, Rob Ickes moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined Blue Highway, the highly esteemed bluegrass band, as a founding member in 1994. He is recognized as one of the most innovative Dobro players on the scene today, contributing signature technique and greatly expanding the boundaries of the instrument's sonic and stylistic territory. He won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award for a record-setting eleventh time in 2009; IBMA notes that he is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA awards. Robinella : Robinella’s career began with a sort of luck that rarely comes to most artists within their lifetime. What started out as a simple husband-and-wife duo fresh out of college quickly grew to a full-fledged band that blended Bluegrass, Country and Jazz. The combination of Robinella's honey-sweet vocals with violin, mandolin, bass, drums and piano captivated audiences, thus creating the ever popular Robinella & the CC Stringband.
Doug and Telisha Williams
Doug & Telisha Williams live right in the middle of the places others only write about. A place where old time religion, superstition, run down bars, gravel parking lots and boarded up factories all mingle together. Their most recent release, “Ghost of the Knoxville Girl”, received wide critical acclaim, and spent 15 weeks in the Americana Music Association Top 40 Radio Chart. Quick wit and a Southern drawl make every show different from the last, while fearless delivery and stunning honesty make every show personal.
Peter Karp & Sue Foley
Peter Karp : Peter Karp is a gifted American troubadour, a master songsmith with an art for spinning true-to-life emotions, humor, and candor. With an upbringing that was equal parts southern Alabama and the swamps of New Jersey, Karp's music is fueled by the Yankee-Rebel juxtaposition. Sue Foley: Sue Foley is considered to be one of the finest blues/roots artists working today. Born to a working class family Sue spent her early childhood moving from Canadian town to town with her mother. At 16 she embarked on her professional career. By 21 she was living in Austin TX and recording for legendary blues label Antone's Records.
The Black Lillies
Born in the rumbling cab of a stone truck and aged in the oak of Tennessee’s smoky night haunts, The Black Lillies have come to the forefront of the Americana scene in little more than a year. Founded by multi instrumentalist and vocalist Cruz Contreras (co-founder of Robinella and the CCstringband), The Black Lillies have created their own unique brand of country, roots, rock and blues via Appalachia. The group, formed in 2008, also includes bassist Taylor Coker, electric guitar and pedal steel whiz Tom Pryor (the everybodyfields), and drummer Jamie Cook (the everybodyfields). Trisha Gene Brady rounds out the lineup with Southern charm and smoky vocals.
The Dixie Bee-Liners
The Dixie Bee-Liners are an American bluegrass band formed in New York City in 2002 by Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart, and the band members currently reside in Bristol, Va., and Nashville, Tenn. Their music has been bluegrass, Americana, alt-country, folk, and “Bible Belt Noir”.
KingBilly
At a KingBilly show, you’ll experience something completely different—a blend of high, lonesome bluegrass harmonies, bluesy lap steel and banjo and the country equivalent of AC/DC power riffs. It’s all fused into a seamless whole as tight and dynamic as the Blue Angels in flight. The five band members are equally adept at pickin’ and writin’; like deep-sea anglers, they throw back the good tunes and only keep the great ones. KingBilly can and will play just about anything, as long as it’s good. To a man who knows his pickers, these guys are lively, inquisitive and engaging. To the fairer sex, hot, fun, and one heck of a live show. KingBilly is determined to forge an innovative path to success while maintaining the integrity of the music.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers
Known for blazing innovative trails with the release of several past projects, the white-hot foursome known as Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers is at it again with the web-only release of Glow In The Dark, a spectacularly sparkling live recording taped at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, New Jersey in 2008. The project concept debuted February 2, 2009, and continues for 14 weeks at the band's website - www.azpeacemakers.com, where fans can hear and watch an entire live show that captures the true spirit and vigor of RCPM. A new song (audio and video) debuts each of the 14 weeks.
Tommy Womack
As both an artist and a person, Tommy Womack has been called everything from “Tom Lehrer with a Telecaster” to “Nashville’s best loved musical eccentric,” and he might blushingly, but proudly, accept both titles. That’s because separating Womack the man and Womack the artist is impossible, as they’re both the same guy. An award-winning recording artist and a published author, Womack writes songs as honest as anything Hank Williams or Steve Earle ever recorded, and has attracted the attention of the national press while accumulating a loyal following.
David Jacobs - Strain
Slide guitarist and singer-songwriter David Jacobs-Strain grew up in Oregon, far from Mississippi, but found his first musical home in the Delta blues. “I’ve always been drawn to the dark stuff,” David says. This young roots musician channels age-old wisdom and heartache with such energy and passion that you can’t help but feel good, even about feeling bad.
Bearfoot
It's a commonplace that crises create opportunities, but the principle was thoroughly—and successfully—tested by Alaska-‐ by-‐way-‐of-‐Nashville's Bearfoot last year, when original members Angela Oudean and Jason Norris found themselves presiding over a prolonged period of shifting personnel. Yet the cliché proved true in the end when the pair recruited Todd Grebe, another Alaska-‐to-‐Nashville transplant, Nora Jane Struthers, a rising young singer/songwriter and one of her bandmates, P. J. George, to create a renewed ensemble full of energy and creativity. And now, with the release of American Story (available Sept 27), the group's latest effort for Compass Records, it's plain to see that the crisis was little more than a blessing in disguise.
Jessica Stiles
Having grown tired of both the hippies and incessant rain of Portland, Oregon, Jessica now lives in sunny Nashville, TN. After fronting her own Honky Tonk and Americana band for the past number of years in the Northwest, she has found herself tracing her musical roots back to the mountain and classic country mecca that is Tennessee.
The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band consists of dyed-in-the wool traditional players with over 100 years of combined live gigging experience. Joining guitarist Peter Rowan are Jody Stecher, mandolin; Keith Little, banjo; and Paul Knight, bass. The ensemble has graced the stages of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Grey Fox, Merlefest, Rothbury and numerous other festivals, entertaining audiences with original songs executed in vibrant harmony
Stephen Simmons
Stephen Simmons was raised in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father held a factory job. In his family, they were the first generation that didn’t work the farm. As a songwriter, Stephen’s vision has grown to entail more than just reflections of rural America. The songs on his new recording, Girls, deal with existential realities that are familiar to country and city dwellers alike: redemption, heartbreak, hangovers and the loneliness of the road. Like Stephen’s previous records, The Superstore, Last Call, Drink Ring Jesus, Something In Between, and The Blame’s On U.S. (which were compared to everyone from Johnny Cash to Ryan Adams), Girls combines virtuosic songcraft and musicianship with unparalleled artistic honesty.
Dread Clampitt
Blue-eyed soul grass. Hipbilly. Funky bluegrass fusion. These words have been used to describe Dread Clampitt. With clever and heartfelt lyrics, Dread combines humor and a realistic outlook of the world with the sounds of bluegrass, rock & roll, blues, jazz and some Louisiana Bayou funk.
Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn, prior to forming the Byrds, toured and performed folk music with the Limeliters, Chad Mitchell Trio and Bobby Darin as a guitarist and banjo player.
Brigitte DeMeyer
Brigitte DeMeyer was already one of the most discussed artists in the Americana movement. Her work stirred accolades in national media. She was tapped to open shows for Marc Cohn, Dan Fogelberg – and Bob Dylan. She wrote songs as weavers thread tapestries, her most vivid colors being a Southern feel, a churchy soulfulness in her vocals, and a way with words that bore comparison to literature as easily as to the best contemporary lyrics.
Con Hunley
Soulful singer Con Hunley was born and raised in Fountain City in the Smoky Mountain foothills of East Tennessee. One of six children, Con had music in his life from birth. His first entrance into the music world was singing gospel songs at church with his family. Con was overjoyed when his parents bought him a used "Stella" guitar for Christmas when he was nine years old. His parents taught him basic chords (G,C,D,A) and some simple songs. "I was 10 or 12 years old before I realized that everybody didn't know how to play the guitar and sing, because everybody in my family did. On Saturday nights, we'd all pick and sing. On Sundays, we'd go to church and sing. That's what everybody did, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents."
Nora Jane Struthers
Nora Jane Struthers calls her music “Classic Americana.” The singer-songwriter’s self-titled solo bow, to be issued June 22 on her own label, will be a revelation to roots music fans: overflowing with affecting, literate original compositions and featuring a complement of top Nashville players, it announces the debut of a major new talent.
Steve Poltz
He trick-or-treated at Liberace’s house, planned a two-day stay in Amsterdam that ended a month later with him escaping the city under the cover of darkness, and was Bob Hope’s favorite altar boy. Alone, these anecdotes go well with a fistful of peanuts at a cocktail party. But on top of these add that this person also co-wrote the longest-running song on the Billboard Top 100, had a debut solo album that earned three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, and was awarded the title of “San Diego’s Most Influential Artist of the Decade” at the San Diego Music Awards. What you end up with is one of the most engaging, twisted, and prolific songwriters of our time - Steve Poltz.
Jason and The Scorchers
With the release of HALCYON TIMES, Jason & The Scorchers have accomplished an extremely rare feat: almost 30 years into their career they have made a rock ‘n’ roll record every bit as dynamic and mind-blowing as their vintage work. Very few rock bands can make this claim. Jason & The Scorchers can, they should, and they do.The band’s story essentially starts in the late 1970s. Warner E. Hodges, the son of country musicians Blanche and Ed Hodges, was living in Nashville after his dad’s retirement from the military. Warner had played drums as a boy for his parents’ USO bands. He knew country music inside out. However, as a teenage rebel, he got hooked on early AC/DC and the first wave of punk rockers, waving that flag with high-decibel pride. In Nashville’s schmaltzy country pop atmosphere of that time, he stood out like a pig in a perfume shop. He played in punk and rock bands with his friends Perry Baggs and Jeff Johnson, two other tough street rockers in a genteel Southern town. They made a lot of noise but were essentially ignored outside of Nashville’s tiny rock community.
Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile's third album, Give Up The Ghost, unveils her talents in their truest form. After two albums and non-stop touring, she has let her guard down and offers her most candid recording to date. If the phrase "give up the ghost" most often refers to death or dying, it can also be used to describe the passing of stages in life, of transformation.
Randall Bramblett
Randall Bramblett and his wife, Lenore, were kicking around ideas for an album title when she suggested Now It‘s Tomorrow. But no amount of thought could have produced a more apt description of where the singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist stands at this point in his celebrated career.
Drunk Uncles
The Drunk Uncles were founded five years ago by Mike McGill and Jeff Barbra, but only filled out its full lineup nine months ago. Having assembled a well-versed but eclectic crew with a similar appreciation for country music pioneers, the group has set out to revive the tunes that inspired them and contribute new songs in the same style.
Daddy
Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack both boast amazing underground resumes. Kimbrough (2005 Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year) and Womack (Two-time winner of the Nashville Scene Best Song Award) first came together in 1992 in the bis-quits, who made one impressive guitar-fest record for John Prine's Oh-Boy! label. They discovered a musical and personal kinship that they fought for years in and amongst other commitments to get back to. With the breakup of the bis-quits in 1994, Kimbrough went on to be lead guitarist in Todd Snider & the Nervous Wrecks. (He has since produced several of Snider's records, along with a whole slew of other artists.)
Lissy Rosemont of The Junior League Band
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Lissy Rosemont, 28, is the front woman for the Washington, D.C. based Junior League Band. This rock inspired blue grass band has only been around for a few years, but their popularity is on the rise. They've toured all over the country introducing audiences to their unique blend of rock and blue grass tunes. Despite the changes in band members, the group has managed to release three records in less than 18 months.
Sarah Siskind
Sarah Siskind is seen as one of today's most eclectic songwriters with songs covered by Alison Krauss, Randy Travis, Bon Iver, the Infamous Stringdusters, April Verch and more. Krauss released both Siskind songs as singles, and in 2008, her rendition of "Simple Love" was nominated for a Grammy.
Dexateens
THE DEXATEENS AREN'T GOING ANYHERE AND THAT'S THE WAY THEY LIKE IT. But you wouldn't know it by listening to them. These Alabama natives play a boot stomping brand of 'Skillet Rock' that'll grab you by the collar and make you dance until your legs tremble, and sing until you can't sing anymore. However, family ranks a lot higher for The Dexateens than fame and fortune. Always has and always will. Their time away from the spotlight isn't for sale at any price, so don't be surprised if they're not playing a venue near you anytime soon. When they're actually on tour your bound to catch up with 'em, and when you do it'll be worth the wait.
Futurebirds
In Athens, Georgia, the future can look a lot like the past. Often not too many changes down that way and Futurebirds certainly don’t mind. Some folks think good music comes from making a whole bunch of sounds no one’s ever heard before. Some folks think that you can sit back and take her easy for a little while without trying too damn hard. Some folks think you can have a little of both. If you push yourself every once in awhile, you might wind up in the right place around the right friends and come up with something worth playing on the porch-swing over an ice-cold beer. That’s exactly Futurebirds’ situation. Surrounded by a sleepy-living music community—more earnest than you’ll find elsewhere—the band works to set things right where they belong. Provide people with an infectious melody and a refreshing song about things they understand and they’ll sing with you.
The Boxcars
We are excited to announce representation of the newly formed bluegrass supergroup, The Boxcars. Adam Steffey, Ron Stewart, John R. Bowman, Keith Garrett and Harold Nixon make up what will surely soon be one of the top headliners in bluegrass and beyond.
Pine Hill Haints
Taking inspiration from roots music and Southern tales of the supernatural, the Pine Hill Haints play a self-described style of "Alabama ghost country" that touches upon honky tonk, rockabilly, folk, and bluegrass. As a child, Jamie Barrier (vocals, guitar) often joined his grandfather in attending local hootenannies, where he was exposed to the musical traditions of his native Alabama. Later, Barrier honed his own voice by singing in a graveyard -- the Pine Hill Cemetery -- and formed the raucous rockabilly outfit the Wednesdays while still in elementary school. The Wednesdays would go on to release several albums in the 2000s, but Barrier nevertheless formed the Pine Hill Haints in 1998 as a second (and considerably different) project, piecing together a revolving lineup that ultimately solidified around core members Matt Bakula (washtub bass, banjo), Ben Rhyne (snare drum), and Jamie's wife, Katie Barrier (washboard, mandolin).
Ernie Hendrickson
Born in Cuba City, WI, but raised in Rockford, IL, Ernie Hendrickson grew up on a steady diet of Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, and The Grateful Dead. These early heroes opened the gates to the deep well of American roots music which he continues to draw inspiration from. Even by the age of 16, Ernie was forming bands searching for his own sound. While attending Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, Hendrickson found himself the leader of The Seed Band, a group that would release three independent records, and found a cult following in the university subculture and surrounding areas. CD sales numbered in the thousands and many more live tapes were circulated before the group disbanded.
NewFound Road
When it comes from NewFound Road, it comes from the soul. There are more famous bluegrass bands, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that plays and sings with more feeling and heart than this extraordinary ensemble. NewFound Road’s second collection for Rounder Records, Same Old Place, following their well-received 2006 CD Life in a Song, tells you all you need to know about this group’s depth of emotion. It’s chock full of driving rhythms, haunting ballads and classic bluegrass, all brought into sharp focus by the band’s instrumental prowess and the soulful vocals of Tim Shelton.
Have Gun Will Travel
Since the 2008 release of their debut full-length Casting Shadows Tall As Giants, the band has been gaining momentum regionally as well as nationally. The album was featured on NPR’s “Second Stage” program. "Their music has a great energy to it with some infectious, sing-along choruses and refrains." commented NPR host Robin Hilton. At Creative Loafing's Best of the Bay Awards held in Tampa, HGWT took home the Readers' Poll Award for Best Americana Act and Staff pick for Local CD of the Year. Casting Shadows... landed in the top 5 most-played album of the year on Tampa's WMNF 88.5 fm. The album opener "Blessing and a Curse" was chosen to appear on every episode of the 2009 season of PBS's Roadtrip Nation.
Jeff And Vida
Jeff and Vida’s nine years of performing and songwriting, have seen them delve into many different genres of music; country, honky-tonk, rockabilly, even a little rock and roll. But throughout their career, which has included four critically acclaimed albums, literally thousands of live shows in the U.S. and Europe, and a move from New Orleans to Nashville, bluegrass has remained a key influence in their style and sound. Nowhere is this more evident than on their new CD, Selma Chalk.
Kenneth Brian
The Kenneth Brian Band has been working very hard, finishing up the as-yet-untitled new record, produced by classic rock and studio legend, Johnny Sandlin. Sandlin's work speaks for itself. Having played in Hour Glass (with his pals Duane and Gregg Allman), he then became Vice-President and head of A&R at Capricorn Records, going on to engineer and produce some of the most influential records and artists of all time, including: The Allman Bros., Bonnie Bramlett, Wet Willie, Delbert McClinton, Cher, Widespread Panic, Leroy Parnell, Marshall Tucker Band, Derek Trucks, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, to name just a few. Johnny's experience in the classic/southern rock genre (he is one of the pioneers in the field) is a perfect match for Kenneth Brian's southern sensibilities, musically and otherwise. Be sure to check back soon for more details on a release date and title, as the record is ALMOST DONE!!!
The Claire Lynch Band
There were very few role models for a young woman starting out on the bluegrass highway back in the mid ‘70’s when Claire Lynch joined a band called Hickory Wind. A native of Kingston, New York, who has lived in Northern Alabama since the age of 12, Claire was offered a position in the band, decided she was going to be a bluegrass singer, and that was pretty much that. After changing its name to the Front Porch String Band, the group worked regularly throughout the Southeast over the next several years, becoming fan favorites on the strength of its open-minded musical approach and incredible lead singer.
The Darlins
The Darlins was formed in September of 2008 by Erinn Bates and Jude Toy. Erinn was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Music. Just after graduation, she signed a development deal with Sony Nashville and worked with Grammy winning producer, Mark Wright. She also began working with hit songwriters, Mark Selby and Tia Sillers. Selby played guitar and co-produced her project with Wright. In 2006, she packed up and moved to Las Vegas where she sang as part of a group in a country show band. Shortly after her year in Vegas, she returned home to Nashville to pursue a songwriting and artist deal again.
Honeycutters
In a world that is becoming increasingly digitalized and impersonal, the Honeycutters are building a reputation based on live performance and songs that tend to stick with you. Their first full length studio release "Irene" (May '09) has landed them in Iaan Hughes' (No Depression Podcast) top twenty of 2009, Fret Knot Radio Hour's "Nine you need to know from '09", and number 32 in WNCW's listener voted top 100. Singer/songwriter Amanda Anne Platt has been hailed as "one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days" by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson, and her voice has been described as "perfectly unadorned" and "recklessly beautiful".
Sonos
Emerging in 2009 from the college a cappella scene, Sonos turns the genre on its head with bold interpretations of C21st classics. On their Verve debut “SonoSings,” the vocal group reinvents Radiohead, Bon Iver & Fleet Foxes and dazzles with unique twists on the mainstream such as a dark, trip-hop Jackson 5 cover. Recent appearances include live radio sessions on NPR’s Weekend Edition, KCRW, BBC Americana, Sirius/XM; collaborations with novelist Margaret Atwood at UCLA Live and the beloved Young@Heart Chorus; plus performances all over the country including the Sundance Film Festival. 2010 sees Sonos touring widely as well as embracing projects in dance with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Co. and science/theater with bestselling author and psychologist Dr. Daniel Levitin ("This Is Your Brain on Music"). A new Sonos album featuring covers, collaborations and originals, will be available in the fall.
Andrew Combs
With his roots in Texas, singer and songwriter Andrew Combs has been steadily growing his branches in Nashville. In essence, he is a storyteller. His sharp, southern voice carves out stories and carries you through the ridges, making you feel as if you whittled out this story from your own past. When accompanied by fellow singer and song- writer Heidi Feek, the contrast is deep, dark, and beautiful. Her tranquil and smokey style pairs with Combs' reflective exuberance like a cold glass of whiskey and a long cigarette on a sunny day.
Shotgun Party
The original Shotgun Party trio met in a little Texas dive bar in 2006. They got their start performing weekly at Austin's own Continental Club. Sparks flew and now Shotgun Party, the Austin based trio, really knows how to fire up a crowd! Their original songs are beautiful and timeless drawing influences from early blues, country, bluegrass and depression era swing. Katy Rose Cox's fearles fiddling is simply virtuosic. Miss Jenny Parrott's gorgeous vocals and addictive songs will bring you to your knees. ...and introducing Shotgun Party's newest member, Andrew Austin-Petersen (formerly of the Shake 'Em Ups) on show stopping upright bass! With tight harmonies and lively stage antics, Shotgun party will leave you with a smile ear to ear. Don't miss 'em!!
Westbound Rangers
Hailing from Nashville via North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama and Texas, The Westbound Rangers are forging a new sound that crosses boundaries between Americana, Bluegrass, and Old-Time. The four piece string band, consisting of clawhammer banjo, mandolin, guitar and doghouse bass, has been turning heads since the band’s unassuming start in 2008.
Ryan Cook
An award winning singer-songwriter from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Ryan's sound is a smooth ensemble of Country/Western, Roots, Folk and Jazz music. Raised in a large dairy farming family, Ryan did all he could to outrun the expected cliches of cowboy culture. In fact, he started playing in punk rock and heavy metal garage bands as a teenager, and helped to shape a popular Yarmouth music scene along with artists like Brian Borcherdt (Holy F*ck) and Paul Murphy (Wintersleep).
Jesse McReynolds
Mandolin stylist known for his musical wizardry, songwriting, singing and arranging. A member of the award-winning brother duo, Jim & Jesse until Jim’s death in 2002. Grand Ole Opry member for more than 45 years. Has performed throughout Europe and Africa, as well as in the U.S. Multiple Grammy nominee and winner. Co-winner of the IBMA Instrumental Recording, "Mandolin Extravaganza". Nominated in 2005 for IBMA Instrumental Recording of the Year for his stellar collection of mostly original songs, "Bending the Rules." Currently celebrating his 63rd Anniversary in music!
The G2 Bluegrass Band
In a few years the name G2 will be synonymous with European bluegrass. The five band members, best friends since they met while jamming at a festival in their native Sweden four years ago, have formed the most exciting bluegrass band ever to come out of Europe. With one album under their belts, another in the works, and plans to tour extensively in the United States, G2 is poised to make a mark on the bluegrass world.
Rodney Dillard
The folks of Salem, Missouri, listening to Rodney Dillard pick songs as a child, had little idea the prominent role he would play in music history in later years. Rodney began his career as a part of a family group that performed at fairs, pie suppers and square dances -- a career that has spanned, so far, 40 years of creating and influencing great music.
The Whites
"There's nothing like playing music to bring a family together," says Sharon White, but that's not exactly right; over 30 years have shown that the music of The Whites - sisters, Sharon and Cheryl, and father Buck - has just as much power to bring audiences together in a feeling that resembles that of one giant, extended family.
Sierra Hull
A good chunk of popular music’s real estate has been carved up along lines of age these last half-dozen decades, and we’re used to seeing young musicians aim exclusively for young audiences then flounder as they outgrow teenaged listeners’ tastes and concerns. Pan-generational mentoring and mingling has done much to insulate bluegrass from this coming-of-age quandary. Still, Sierra Hull is the rare soul to make it through these years entirely unscathed.
The Farewell Drifters
Echo Boom, the band’s third album, displays a growing maturity both musically and thematically, as the band considers the pressures and expectations placed on their generation by the previous one, and the ramifications of some of the vague self-actualization advice passed on by the boomers to their latchkey kids. “We were told by our parents that we could do anything we wanted, and though there’s an amazing freedom in that, a lot of my generation needed more direction,” says singer and guitar player Zach Bevill. Joshua Britt (mandolin/vocals) adds, “We were told to ‘Just Do It,’ but a lot of my friends are like, do what exactly? There is a lot of uncertainty about whether the lives we’re leading are going to get us anywhere.” That sentiment is expressed in “Punchline,” the lead track from Echo Boom. Britt, who wrote the song, juxtaposes earnest seriousness (“I don’t know what it is that fills my head with doubt/I just wanna shine the light that’s trying to get out/But it takes so long/And it’s always a process/And I can’t find the patience”) with the idea that life for his generation often seems like some cosmic joke, and that success is akin to successfully delivering a punchline. The chorus ends with the plea to “Let me deliver, let me deliver.”
The Rockin' Acoustic Circus
With hearts in traditional music and heads in the 21st century, Rockin’ Acoustic Circus points toward a fresh direction for acoustic music. Sharing their passion with impressive musical prowess and boundary pushing style,eir unique vibe of original work, appeals to a wide audience of both traditional and progressive fans alike.
Frank Fairfield
It’s difficult to imagine Frank Fairfield living in an apartment, let alone using e-mail or a cell phone. It’s much easier to picture him supine in the back of a boxcar, plucking his battered banjo while shuttling across a black Southern sky. Or camped by the bank of some slow-moving tributary, fiddling forgotten Appalachian murder ballads, surrounded by hobos chomping cold beans. Or stepping out of a Faulkner novel, all gun smoke, ancestral ghosts and gee-tar.
Bobby Bare Jr.
Nominated for a grammy at the age of 6 years old for a duet with his dad called "daddy what if"-written by Shel Silverstein - has a degree in psychology from the UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE - is VERY afraid of elves - made 2 albums for Immortal Records with his band BARE JR. one for sony records in 1998 and one for virgin records in 2001- born in Nashville, TN june 28, 1966- has 2 children -- believes that blue is a flavor and not a color nor a feeling--- has made 3 albums and 1 ep for BLOODSHOT RECORDS since 2003- co-produced his dad's last record THE MOON WAS BLUE in 2006- grew up in HENDERSONVILLE, TN with George Jones and Tammy Wynette as his next door neighbors- is only making music in the hopes of getting one step closer to his ultimate dream of being STEVEN PATRICK MORRISSEY'S personal bicycle mechanic- has toured with- DR. DOG, THE WALKMEN, THE DECEMBERISTS, THE BLACK CROWES, BOB DYLAN, AREOSMITH, MY MORNING JACKET, CENTRO-MATIC, THE BOTTEL ROCKETS, THE DRIVE BY TRUCKERS, ANDREW BIRD, and THE OLD 97's has
Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton seemed to come out of nowhere as part of Ricky Skaggs' return to bluegrass in 1997. Bluegrass Unlimited's review of Bluegrass Rules! took special note of his "spellbinding solos...[which] establish him as a musician who bears close scrutiny," while an appearance on Tina Adair's Just You Wait And See (Sugar Hill) led another reviewer to call him "a guitarist to be reckoned with." All in all, it was a remarkable welcome for a young musician.
Gary Morris
Morris' voice is the only instrument needed to move the listener's heart and soul. He is probably best known for his original recording of "Wind Beneath My Wings," which won both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music Song of the Year Awards. At the height of his Nashville recording career, Morris boldly opted to play opposite Linda Ronstadt in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Puccini's opera La Boheme. Next, he accepted the heroic lead role of Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," on Broadway. Receiving resounding critical praise, including a Drama Desk Best Actor nomination, his performance set the standard for this challenging role. Morris' famous rendition of "Bring Him Home" can be found on the platinum-selling Grammy Award-winning International cast album, as well as on his latest CD, "Gospel Classics, Volume 2 - Rock of Ages."
Matt King
I hate bios, there's plenty of fabricated, fornicated stuff out there if you wanna go root around for it. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. I worked in a goldsmith shop and an auction company growing up. I came up at the feet of honest to God mountain people singing bluegrass music about dying and losing lovers. My dad told me stories about our family killing people, killing each other and the generalities that go along with a family of bootlegers, preachers and splintered women. I didn't think it was fashionable to talk about those things and then one day the apostles of suburbia began making up songs about how cool it was, then took it to the people and sang it to 'em. - I don't know about that. These are my stories, I try to be as honest as a liar and a thief knows how to be, I hope you find some threads of truth in here. I like rocks too, I root around in the banks and ditches, dumpsters and dirt every chance I can. Books are nice, I read 'em a lot. I always wanted to be a magician, I guess it's a fine line between Houdini and a Hootenanny. Prime numbers drive me crazy, taking apart stuff really gets me going, and a fresh dumpster in a hoity-toity part of town, well, forget it, I'm going diving. That's me, enjoy
Cary Hudson
Cary Hudson first became recognized as a pioneer of a new music movement in the late eighties while joined in songwriting partnership with John Stiratt (WILCO) in The Hilltops, an alt-country band born out of Mississippi. When Stiratt left The Hilltops to play bass in Uncle Tupelo and then Wilco, Cary Hudson formed the widely-popular Blue Mountain that captured critical acclaim and gained cult status among its followers. After enjoying a long and successful run, and several popular releases on Roadrunner Records, Blue Mountain disbanded and Cary Hudson embarked on his solo career in 2001. With his solo releases, Cary Hudson has perfected the roots rock-n-roll tradition in a new, stripped down, grittier style that returns roots rock to its roots. His releases and performances have been well-received by both critics and fans alike, proving that Cary Hudson can transition from pioneer to powerful solo songwriter and musician. His solo releases continue to redefine the music that launched a movement.
Megan McCormick
Megan McCormick always knew her life lay in music. It wasn’t a matter of fancy costumes or the notion of thousands of people clamoring for her attention. The girl who grew up in Alaska – and whose grandparents are in the Western Swing Hall of Fame – could feel it on a cellular level.
Derek Hoke
Derek Hoke has said goodbye to rock n roll. Kind of. At least thats what he sings in the opening lines of his new solo debut album, Goodbye Rock N Roll. But Derek, what oh what, did rock n roll ever do to you to make you leave her so? The story might end on the streets of Nashville for now, but his love affair with music, even his erstwhile love rock n roll, began long ago amongst the South Carolina country side and Hee-Haw reruns on Sunday evenings.
The SteelDrivers
Nashville, Tennessee is a nexus – a point where tradition and innovation intersect, where commerce collides with art. It may be the only town around where salaried songwriters and full-time session musicians are as common as accountants and schoolteachers. Music is the product, and the factories line the street, from the swank Music Row mini-high-rises to the low-slung Sylvain Park bungalows. And only Nashville could give birth to a band like the SteelDrivers: a group of seasoned veterans – each distinguished in his or her own right, each valued in the town’s commercial community – who are seizing an opportunity to follow their hearts to their souls’ reward. In doing so, they are braiding their bluegrass roots with new threads of their own design, bringing together country, soul, and other contemporary influences to create an unapologetic hybrid that is old as the hills but fresh as the morning dew. This is new music with the old feeling. SteelDrivers fan Vince Gill describes the band’s fusion as simply “an incredible combination.”
Dale Watson
Dale Watson isn't one to uphold the music industry's status quo. He's moving forward on his own terms and true to his own convictions. Even with frequent proclamations declaring him one of country music's last authentic voices (like that in Crazy Again--a recent documentary on Watson's life--when a fan declares, "son, you play country like country was when country was country"), Watson is done with the "C" word and what it's come to represent in modern times. So much so that he's created his own genre, simply called Ameripolitan. In a recent posting on his website (www.dalewatson.com), Dale explains it like this: "I've been trying to come up with a name the best describes this music that me and folks similar do. When folks ask, I hesitate, down right embarrassed really, to say country. I didn't used to be that way, but with the change in country, the term doesn't mean the same as it used to. If you say traditional, or old, or western swing most folks think 'retro' and dismiss it without hearing it. I wanted a name that didn't say country anything and didn't give anyone a preconceived idea. I came up with Ameripolitan. I even put it in Wikipedia defined as: Original music with 'prominent' roots influence." And so it goes with Dale Watson, the kind of unparalleled iconoclast that's far too rare in music today.
Suzi Ragsdale
Nashville native, Suzi Ragsdale virtually cut her teeth in the recording studio. Her dad a singer/songwriter as well, she grew up surrounded by music. At age 5, she sang with the kiddie chorus on her father Ray Stevens’ Grammy Award winning smash, “Everything Is Beautiful”. At 10, she began recording children’s albums and writing her own songs… by 13, she was singing other writers’ demos… & by 17 singing in local clubs.
Kara Clark
Kara Clark is a storyteller. It’s all about reality for Kara. Whether her songs were penned from actual personal experience or the stories she heard her mother telling her friends over the kitchen table, you will hear the validity of truth in the words and music that are Kara Clark. Each song unravels the events of a captivating tale that will leave you hanging on every word to find out what happens next. Whether good, bad, or just plain and simple honesty, her words will remind you that life is always believable and definitely much more interesting than anything that can be made up! No fairytales for Kara, only truth. No dressed up lies, only honesty in its rawest form. Refusing to sugarcoat reality, Kara Clark is honest, bold and real. With one line, slipped in at a most conspicuous spot, she can bring you face to face with your own reality. Kara Clark is a gifted storyteller.
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Infamous Stringdusters are at the forefront of a new movement in bluegrass music. Their unmatched virtuosity has enabled them to take acoustic music to a completely new level. They wield an expansive repertoire touching on masters from Jimmy Martin to John Hartford, but their strength lies in their original compositions. Dedication to arrangements sets them apart and extended improvisation makes every performance completely unique. The live Stringdusters experience is antiformulaic, groove friendly, and mind‐expanding ‐ not your granddaddy's bluegrass. Unless your granddaddy was Jerry Garcia.
Barry Scott & Second Wind
Since the beginning of his musical journey at the age of seven, Barry Scott has served his time with several of Bluegrass and Gospel musics best known acts. This Georgia native has been a member of The Perry’s, The Dixie Melody Boys, Gold City Quartet, and most recently a nine year tour as tenor and lead vocalist with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.
Chris Jones and The Nightdrivers
Chris Jones is no newcomer to the musical spotlight. His resume includes appearances and recordings with some of the world’s most respected musicians including The Chieftains (he was featured on their 2003 U.S. tour), Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, Lynn Morris Band, April Verch Band, the McCarters and the award-winning quartet Weary Hearts, among others. He has performed as a sideman at the Grand Ole Opry and has been seen on such television shows as Conan O’Brien, Emeril Live, and The Grand Ole Opry Live. Jones’ collaboration with legendary country singer/songwriter Tom T. Hall led to the release of the duet “Man On The Side Of The Road” from Chris’ “Just a Drifter” album, which became one of the Top 5 airplay bluegrass songs of 2001. Most recently, he appeared in the PBS series “The Appalachians” as a both a performer and commentator.
Gabriel Kelley
Raised in the foothills of the Appalachians, Gabriel Kelley grew up in a rustic space out of time, steeped in the music of his forefathers. In his world, contra dances, pickin' parties and neighborly bluegrass were no anachronism. As a child, Kelley picked up the guitar and quickly became versed in the various styles of old-time players and songwriters surrounding his youth. So when he began writing and creating his own sounds, Americana wasn't a chosen genre or format. It was, simply, music.
Ben Glover
Ben Glover has been compelled to write songs since his mid-teens when he was awoken and unsettled by Bob Dylan. It’s writers whose work contains lyrical richness and who take a poetic approach in exploring the human condition that attract Ben. In his own writing he creates characters so life like that you can almost trace the lines of their face with your finger. Whether it’s the soul-moving melody of “Too Late to Leave Her Alone,” or the worn portrait of a “Full Moon Child,” he crafted images that linger and stir. His words find their way to the deepest place in your soul.
Yarn
Brooklyn-based Americana/Alt-Country band Yarn’s sound owes as much to Gram Parsons and Earl Scruggs as to Jerry Garcia and Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones. Following in a fine tradition that includes forward thinking roots bands like The Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of The Purple Sage, Yarn weaves roots music idioms into a fresh sound that turns on hipsters and fans of country music alike with technically impressive song-crafting and universal tales from the road of life.
The Coal Men
Some people measure life in years. Dave Coleman measures it in moments. And capturing the impact of a moment is what the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of The Coal Men set out to do on "Beauty Is a Moment," the band's second full-length release.
Folk Soul Revival
FOLK SOUL REVIVAL is an upbeat, rootsy foursome from the mountains of Appalachia. Based out of Southwest Virginia, these youthful musicians have been playing around the immediate area, for many years individually, and for the last several months in this configuration. Their diversity, creativity and passion is evident among those who have witnessed the boys hone their craft onstage. The band, with their distinct vocal approaches, back-porch instrumentation, haunting three-part harmonies and sheer talent have garnered local success with high profile gigs opening for the likes of guitarist Jason Isbell (of Drive-By Truckers fame), vocalist Justin Townes Earle (Steve Earle’s son), and multi-instrumentalist Chris Janson (fresh off tour with Hank Jr and Lynyrd Skynyrd).
Mary Gauthier
“There’s freedom in knowing that you don’t have to know it all,” she says, “which is why to me, a song should end with a question, not an answer.” It might seem that after six groundbreaking albums of original songs, more than a dozen years of recording and touring around the world, a harvest of music industry awards, and covers of her songs by a roster of great artists – that Mary Gauthier (say it: go-shay) should have a handle on some of the big answers. Yet with each new album, with each new cycle of songs that illuminate her soul, with each old and new set of characters and life changes she introduces, Mary is always ending up with more questions. Where do her people come from and where do they go? How can they find shelter from the storm? What is the truth?
Shannon Whitworth
Over the past several years, Shannon Whitworth’s impact in the world of Americana music has created lofty expectations by fans nationwide. As a founding member of the acclaimed acoustic quartet The Biscuit Burners, Shannon received national praise for her definitive songwriting and captivating voice.
Gypsy Hombres
The acoustic violin/guitar based trio, The Gypsy Hombres, blend traditional jazz with European, South American, and classical music to create a sound unlike any other musical group. The Hombres' repertoire embraces a wide variety of composers and styles; from Brahms and Chopin to George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong to international folk songs, all while retaining the gypsy spirit. But besides just adding their own arrangements and personalities to standards, they are also accomplished composers with several original songs featured on their latest album.
Carolyn Martin
Singer Carolyn Martin has been described as “… a winning throwback to the days where emotion was measured and artful rather than loud and histrionic.” From European concert halls to intimate venues at home in Nashville, fans have come to know Carolyn as a a vocalist with a unique sense of musical style, a charismatic stage presence and a voice that exudes passion and experience – the soulful elegance that is the very essence of music.
Erika Chambers
Nashville based singer-songwriter, Erika Chambers is a modern roots artist with a nostalgic twist. Relatively new to the music scene, Erika is honored to be a 2 time IBMA showcase songwriter (2007 & 2008) and has had the pleasure of performing with such Americana/ folk inspirations as Leigh Nash, Julie Lee, Drew Holcomb, & Katy Bowser.
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
To another artist at a similar point in their career, the idea of self-producing a new album, recording it in their own studio, and then releasing it on their own label, would be an unthinkable gamble, fraught with loose ends, complications, and a distracting degree of responsibility. For Rhonda Vincent, however, it is simply the next logical step. Among the most complete and accomplished artists of her generation – in any genre – Vincent was born into a performing family, and from an early age has dedicated herself to understanding and excelling at every element of her craft. She is quick to point out that she is not infallible: in fact, her willingness to take chances and then diligently assess the results afterwards has insured her continuing artistic and professional growth.
The Harpers
Gaylon and Katrina were both raised around music: festivals, church singings and get together's. Katrina was born into the Bob Lewis Family Band from Doniphan, Mo. They traveled the bluegrass circuit for a couple of years upon hiring a young banjo picker named Gaylon Harper while he and Katrina were both seniors in high school. After marrying and making their home in Bunker, Mo. God has blessed them with three very talented children.
Next Best Thing
They didn't grow up playing instruments or singing everyday. Although they traveled thousands of miles and listened to more bluegrass than most people hear in a lifetime --- even BEFORE they were born.
Isaac Moore
The best way to describe this young man is UNBELIEVABLE!!! Isaac is 8yrs old, and sang his first bluegrass song, "Over the Clouds of Glory", at the age of 2 in its entirety. Isaac can remember the words to a song faster than most 20 year olds. Isaac has incredible pitch & loves to sing the songs of Del McCoury, Bill Monroe, Dr. Ralph Stanley, and Flatt & Scruggs. Isaac has that old time sound at age 7 that most Bluegrass singers strive for their entire life!!!! Isaac loves to sing and is ready to go anytime the word bluegrass is mentioned.
Jerry Douglas
Internationally recognized as the world's most renowned Dobro player, Jerry Douglas undoubtedly ranks amongst the top contemporary maestros in American music. Douglas has garnered twelve GRAMMY® Awards and numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards, and holds the distinction of being named "Musician of the Year" by The Country Music Association (2002, 2005, 2007), The Academy of Country Music (11 times), and The Americana Music Association (2002, 2003). In 2004, the National Endowment for The Arts honored Douglas with a National Heritage Fellowship, acknowledging his artistic excellence and contribution to the nation's traditional arts, their highest such accolade.
Joey + Rory
Often times, Nashville goes to great lengths to sell you on how ‘real’ an artist is. Sometimes they’re not quite as genuine as they are advertised to be…but then again, sometimes they really are.
Mother Truckers
The Mother Truckers are a kick-ass rock 'n' roll band from Austin, Texas! Their music is high-octane Americana, blending elements of Country and Blues with loud guitars, big choruses and powerhouse vocals. Their creative songwriting and high energy live performances lift you up to a place that’s somewhere between a honky-tonk and a mosh-pit!
Frontier Ruckus
We’ve memorized so thoroughly the worlds from which we come. With a lifelong obsession, we’ve catalogued and internalized the apparently permanent fixtures of a cherished locality until our bodies have in fact become either physical extensions or microcosmic containers of these landscapes: arms kinking in unbroken strip-mall chains, gaping mouths mimicking the enormous vacancy of an evacuated sports dome. The chief business of Frontier Ruckus is the collection and organization of these solid, unmoving markers. We spool the vast confusion and depth of existence around fast-food restaurants in anchoring tethers; we use the vacuous space of the abandoned 90s mall, now dead and tomb-like, as leaky reservoirs of overflowing memory. We turn to these devices to render memory and its innumerable landmarks somehow less crippling in their abundance—to seek some agency, some proprietorship over a world as heavy and unwieldy with contents of the past as a backyard filling with nightfall.
John Oates
John Oates was destined to be a musician. Singing from the time he could talk and playing the guitar since the age of five, his calling in life was never in question. Born in New York City, his family moved to a small town outside of Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the early 50's ....a move that would change the course of his life. Like most kids at that time, the impact of the early days of rock left an lasting impression on John. At the age of four he witnessed his first live concert: Bill Haley and the Comets playing their classic rockabilly hits at a local amusement park. Then there were the records...
Jeff Black
A tin lily is just what it says—and much more than it seems. A thin piece of metal shaped in the petals of a delicate flower, it's designed to take a soft glow, often from a candle, and give it more shine. It's a hard element that does what it can to spread something as ethereal yet as essential as light.
Brian McGee
Having spent his musical adolescence in Pennsylvania playing in punk rock bands, Brian McGee is not the most natural figurehead for a movement of new Americana rock. But after living in Western North Carolina for the last ten years and absorbing the sounds and culture of the region, McGee has milled a new angle into his songwriting palette and taken to fusing his punk rock heritage to raw country sounds. Once it became obvious to him that Iggy Pop and The Carter Family played the same three chords, McGee was off and running.
The Ragbirds
Led by dynamic, energetic front woman and multi-instrumentalist Erin Zindle, The Ragbirds utilize an arsenal of instruments from around the world. The Ragbirds are a fusion of folk rock and pop hooks over danceable world rhythms stirred with a Celtic fiddler’s bow.
J D Crowe
Banjoist J.D. Crowe was one of the most influential progressive bluegrass musicians of the '70s. Initially influenced by Earl Scruggs, as well as rock & roll and the blues, Crowe worked his way through several bands during the '60s, developing a distinctive instrumental style that melded country, bluegrass, rock, and blues. Crowe didn't receive national exposure until the early '70s when he formed the New South, but after the release of the band's eponymous debut in 1972 he became a fixture on the bluegrass scene for the next 20 years.
Jennifer Niceley
"After some years spent in Nashville and releasing two recordings --- 2004's Seven Songs EP and 2007's full length Luminous--- I moved away from the city and found my way back into country life. Back to the family farm in East Tennessee just outside of Knoxville, where I was born and raised. I came back without knowing what the hell I was doing or why, didn't know how long I would stay, if music was just a dream, if I would ever write a song I liked again, and also wondering: does the world even need any more "singer-songwriters"?
Manda Mosher
“Here in the city of clowns, is where it all goes down” Not many can claim they are a sixth generation Californian, let alone Angeleno. Manda Mosher can. Still what does that mean? It’s not as easily defined as saying you are a sixth generation New Yorker, or Bostonian for that matter. Manda’s first ancestor to settle in the region, came to Downtown, Los Angeles in the 1800’s from Delhi, New York after the Civil War, additional family followed establishing a chicken farm in the Valley in 1911.
Madison Violet
Both hailing from Scottish small towns in Canada, Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac have chosen another musical path; one that channels their parent’s vintage record collection that comprised of the likes of Neil Young and Dolly Parton. Madison Violet came to be nearly 9 years ago after a chance meeting at an appropriately titled restaurant 'The Green Room'. Since that fateful meeting, the pair have come into a sound of their own, which has been described as both city-folk and tumbleweed pop.
Stonehoney
On their debut album The Cedar Creek Sessions, the Austin, Texas-based quartet Stonehoney delivers a bracing set of 14 original tunes that effortlessly transcend genre restrictions, merging rootsy grit with savvy melodic hooks and pointed lyrical insight. The foursome’s catchy tunes are matched by their seamless vocal harmonies and punchy ensemble performances, which make the most of the band members’ remarkable musical rapport and personal chemistry.
Joe Diffie with Special guests Newfound Road
"I always had in mind to do a bluegrass album someday," says Joe Diffie. "It was something I wanted from the first day that I got my country deal." And while he might not be the first to say that, it not only has the ring of truth when you hear it straight from the man himself, it’s got a lifetime’s worth of bluegrass roots and connections to back it up. In fact, the most surprising thing about the translation of that thought into reality - and given the way that the country music industry has kept bluegrass at arms length, it’s not very surprising at all - is that it’s taken this long.
Riders In The Sky
For thirty years Riders In The Sky have been keepers of the flame passed on by the Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, reviving and revitalizing the genre. And while remaining true to the integrity of Western music, they have themselves become modern-day icons by branding the genre with their own legendary wacky humor and way-out Western wit, and all along encouraging buckaroos and buckarettes to live life "The Cowboy Way!" Riders In The Sky are exceptional not just in the sense that their music is of superlative standards (they are the ONLY exclusively Western artist to have won a Grammy, and Riders have won two), but by the fact that their accomplishments are an exception to the rule as well.
The Huntley Sisters
The Huntley Sisters have played at Silver Dollar City Bluegrass & BBQ in Branson, Missouri the last 3 years and will be there in May, 2010! We played Dollywood's BBQ & Bluegrass in 2008. We played The Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009. Tori and Kevin did an instrument demo at The Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
The McCrary Sisters
Ann and Regina McCrary are powerfully soulful vocalists whose gospel music really rocks. Each has had a successful career in her own right, but in combination they will take your breath away. Ann, Regina, and Freda McCrary regularly perform with Mike Farris as the Roseland Rhythm Revue. They are the daughters of the legendary Rev. Sam McCrary of the Fairfield Four.
Ben Cameron
“Ben Cameron possesses two of my favorite new voices. He sings with one and writes with the other. And now he's made an album worthy of praise and envy.” – Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
The Howling Brothers
With a whoop and yell, Raised in the backwoods of America brought up in the alleyways of country and blues, and living gumbo of American roots music!! The Howling Brothers are an American band through and through from down right dirty blues to the most breathe taking vocals the brothers keep audiences on their heels. Taking America by storm they've gathered a large local following, night after night non bluegrass fans stop to take another look at what might just be the most hard working band in the business.
Julie Gribble
It just comes naturally for Julie Gribble, writing, singing, and performing. But what she loves most is to inspire, to reach people with her music. With her Traditional Americana/Country Music, Gribble has entranced audiences with her modern stories of life, love and relationships. When you think about the edge of an artist like Lucinda Williams, the melodies of Allison Krauss, and a likeness to Natalie Merchant, you'll find Julie. Audiences connect immediately to the unique lyrics because they’re not the same old love clichés. As Craig Ferguson said, on his show about her record, So Typical, "It's Fantastic!"
Elio and The Hank Sinatra Band
Elio and The Hank Sinatra band are making fans around the world and now is your chance to be part of a musical movement that is taking the music industry by storm. Don't miss this chance to be a part of music history. Elio and Hank Sinatra Band.
Woody Pines
Certain talented musicians have the ability to transport the listener to a different place and time by just hitting some strings or directing the air that fills their lungs... For Woody Pines, you find yourself in the Mississippi Delta when AM radio is king, sippin' whiskey if you re fortunate and moonshine if you're desperate.
The Secret Sisters
The Secret Sisters’ incredible story is as simple and true as the effortless harmonies that got them here. Begin anywhere – the thick and fertile brambles of their own family history (their grandfather and his brothers actually forged a group called ‘The Happy Valley Boys’) or light upon the branches of the wondrous, fractal menagerie that makes up their debut album (a guileless, rapturous mixture of roots-ified pop that includes classics like “Why Don’t Ya Love Me?” and “Why Baby Why”). The pure goldenrod from a pair of Alabama sisters direct from Mussel Shoals (barely twenty-somethings themselves) dare to cover the Sinatra untouchable “Something Stupid,” one minute, and deliver their own self-penned, soon-to-be signature anthem “Tennessee Me,” the next.
Anna Johnson
A girl who makes music from the deepest part of her heart. It's intentionally simple so people feel what she feels. Effortless. Beautiful. No unnecessary words. No unnecessary flash. Lyrics and music from her soul to yours. Alison Krauss meets pop meets Norah Jones meets something honest and true.
John Carter Cash
John Carter Cash has been in music in some form or fashion all his life. He is a singer-song writer and record producer. He is the Grandchild of Maybelle Carter and the only son to Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. He preserves the family legacy and is caretaker to the heritage of his musical ancestors.
Catie Curtis
The vivid songwriting of Catie Curtis combines insightful lyrics with addictive melodies and energy. Catie's recordings (released on EMI, Rykodisc, Vanguard and Compass), engaging live shows and impressive touring career (in the US and Europe) have earned her rave reviews and wide recognition. Her songs have been featured on Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Alias, Chicago Hope, and Grey's Anatomy, as well as in several independent films. She's toured extensively with Mary Chapin Carpenter and with the original Lilith Fair. Catie was named grand prize winner of the International Songwriting Competition, for her song "People Look Around", co-written with Mark Erelli. In January 2009 performed at the Human Rights Campaign's official Obama inaugural ball. In 2010, she performed at the White House. Catie is recording a brand new CD of new material in January, which will be released in the summer of 2011.
Rayland Baxter
Rayland Baxter is a gentleman, a singer of song, a teller of tale, a picker of strings, a thinker of things. Born in the untamed hills of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, he tells a story unlike any other, a story that is true and full of unravelling emotion. No lines drawn, no box to be found in the world of Rayland Baxter. He is who he is and he tells the unmatched story. Wether it be the story of love, the story of struggle, or the story of joy, the road that he travels is full of dust and flowers, fire and ice, comets and dreams, and he walks with stars in his eyes, leaving the scent of wild magnolias for those on his trail...for us, we are fortunate to find him at the end, smilin. Tradition is a staple in Rayland's music. In any given song, one can hear the nuances of his favorites...from Dylan to Van Zandt, Johnson to Hopkins, or anyone else on the musical map that has tickled his fancy at one time or another. His reconstruction of song is mesmorizing in its own right...a true artist...a humble man...a dreamer.
The Cleverlys
Our family comes from the remote part of the Ozark Mountains, near Cane Spur, Arkansas. We spent our days working on the family farm mostly raising our own food and growing dad’s famous pipe tobacco. I guess he grew the best pipe tobacco around. People came from as far as Big Flat to get it. We worked hard but we had fun. In the evening we played and sang. On weekends we had pickens’. There was always a big crowd around. The Cleverly Trio is our family band. It was founded by dad and his three brothers, Turk, Tink and Bunyon. The whole family at one time or another has played in the band. Since 2005 my brother Digger has taken over the band. The current members of the trio are Digger, our brothers Miles and Vernon Dean, my boy Harvey D and our cousin Otto.
Angaleena Presley
Born and raised in Beauty, Kentucky, I'm a true product of Appalachia. I love biscuits, gravy, dirt bikes, overalls, bluegrass, bonfires, burnt rubber, quilts, afghans, mason jars, moonshine, mud, and family. My uncle Bobby was an outlaw musician with an amazing voice and style all his own. I remember sitting on Mamaw's front porch soaking up his versions of songs like "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", "Sixteenth Avenue", "Almost Persuaded", and "Sugar Mountain". My Daddy, who was a coal miner for thirty years, showed me how to play "Mamma Tried" when I was sixteen. I've been plucking away and writing songs ever since. My mom took Willie and Waylon's advice. Determined not to let her baby grow up to be a cowboy, she sent me to a community college right out of high school. Despite her efforts, I was drawn to music and knew in my heart that it was my destiny. I used to skip class and take my guitar up to Butcher Holler. I'd sit there at Loretta's home place and write songs, dream, and will myself to Nashville, TN. Mom eventually got her way and I wound up graduating from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in Psychology. However, one year out of school, I packed up everything I owned and moved to Music City, U.S.A. I began playing writers nights, and to my sweet surprise, I signed a publishing deal nine months after I moved to town. I'm still a staff writer with the company that gave me my first deal.
Susan Werner
Susan Werner's new release leverages ALL of her many talents, and adds "arranger" to her long list of musical accomplishments. * Ten pop songs by Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon and others from a classic era of Songwriting (1960's-70's) * All new arrangements for string quartet and classical instruments, with melodic quotations from well known classical compositions * Standout vocals from Susan Werner * World class performances by Boston Symphony Orchestra/Boston Pops instrumentalists
Jompson Brothers
Born in the garage, built for the arena, and hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, The Jompson Brothers are a new breed of Rock ‘n’ Roll. They’re a riff-driven, fist-pumping sonic assault fronted by Grammy-nominated vocalist, Chris Stapleton. JT Cure (bass) and Bard McNamee (drums) provide the tight, chest-thumping back line while Greg McKee brings the lead guitar swagger. Their first studio album is expected to be released in the fall of 2010.
The Carter Brothers
Raised in the Carter Family musical legacy, The Road To Roosky embodies their unique heritage with equal parts of reverence and raucousness. Their talent on their many instruments – Tim on banjo, vocal harp, mandolin and guitar, Danny Reid on guitar – lends itself to masterful arrangements alongside the drums of Dann Sherill and electric bass of Ross Sermons.
Darin And Brooke Aldridge
Darin and Brooke Aldridge are beautiful young newlyweds who sing and play a rich combination of bluegrass, bluegrass gospel, and country duets certain to please fans on any stage or festival, church or concert hall. Their fine harmony work showcases two fine individual voices which blend to perfection, and they are backed by perfect instrumentation.
Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen
A Third-Generation Californian with deep roots in the Cowboy history of the American West, Chris Hillman was born in Los Angeles, California on December 4, 1944. Hillman spent his early years on his family’s ranch home in then rural North San Diego County “riding horses, and doing ranch chores”. His interests would soon change from spurs and saddles to guitars and mandolins.
Tom Mason
Tom Mason is a true renaissance man. Life is a department store and Tom Mason is running up and down the aisles filling his pockets. A fine guitarist, a sizzling slide player and multi-instrumentalist, a seasoned actor, and a passionate songwriter, Mason is above all an entertainer, eager to share his lust for life every time he straps on a guitar or hits the stage.. Since arriving in Nashville in 1993, Mason has not only established himself as a favorite in nightclubs and studios, he’s also become a sought after actor in theater and film. With his new CD Alchemy, Tom Mason draws on all his talents to create a work filled with magic. For this Music City Roots performance, he’ll be playing songs from his instrumental holiday CD “A Slide Guitar Christmas”.
Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike
When it comes to making music, there’s nothing wrong with playing by the rules, but that’s never been the right way for Valerie Smith. While the energetic singer/songwriter knows and respects the tried and true ways of bluegrass—and knows the penalties that can follow a departure from them—she’s held fast to one simple rule of her own: “I sing from my heart,” she says. “I do my own thing.” And today, a dozen years after her first album and on the eve of the release of her latest, she can look back with pride at a musical path that’s all her own, even as she looks ahead to the next dozen with the confidence of a seasoned artist who’s built a devoted following in the best way it can be done—just by being herself.
Jason D Williams
Son of Hank & Marie Williams, Jason began playing the piano at the age of three. After many youthful years of playing, without any formal training, Jason headed down the road of success at 18.
The David Mayfield Parade
Leaving the 1956 Flex tour bus David Mayfield and his family called home to start his nightly shift at the tool and die along side his father it’s easy to understand why he celebrates every performance he’s afforded.
Matt Flinner Trio
Since its inception in 2002, the Matt Flinner Trio has been forging new pathways for the standard bluegrass trio. Mandolinist Matt Flinner, guitarist Ross Martin and bassist Eric Thorin cover a wide variety of musical styles—all with the common ground of American roots as well as originality. Bluegrass, jazz and Celtic music are all present here, but not necessarily overtly or in a contrived sense. Call it Americana Music, or New Acoustic, or Chamber Grass, or just call it Great Music; whatever label you put on it, it is guaranteed to be fresh and original, and definitely something you’ve never quite heard before.
Abigail Washburn
"A daring, definite talent, whose feel for the folk idiom results in moving material. Soulful is the word"-- Wall Street Journal "Washburn stomped and skipped through fiery Appalachian takes on the local songs of Sichuan. Her bilingualism's no gimmick; she nails the dips and peaks of pitch while leading her band in scorching variations on simple, repetitive traditional melodies…” – L.A. Times
The Defibulators
The DEFiBULATORs have emerged as one of the most engaging live acts from the thriving roots scene in Brooklyn, NY – melding, bluegrass rockabilly, dixieland, and punk into their own eclectic sound.
Last Train Home
"One of the country's most formidable roots-rock bands." That's the assessment of Nashville's Tennessean newspaper about Last Train Home. And while roots-rock is at the heart of LTH's sound, don't overlook the country, bluegrass, swing, blues, folk, pop, and Tin Pan Alley influences you'll find if you lend this band an ear. What began as a part-time band in Washington D.C. back in 1997 has evolved into an acclaimed full-time touring group based out of Nashville.
Jo-El Sonnier
The music of Jo-El Sonnier is a way of life. Steeped in passion, relentlessly committed to his craft … he has been the undisputed "King of Cajun" for the past 20 years and occupies a significant place in the rich artistic landscape of this country. His fans are undeniably dedicated, while the music industry elite - Dylan, Costello, Diamond, and Cash to name a few - admire his work to no end. He is a "musician's musician" with a wonderful gift to sing and entertain you in a way often imitated but never duplicated.
Dana Romanello and 1925
A fourth generation musician, Dana Romanello began singing with her family’s bluegrass band in Lucasville, Ohio at a very young age. With her sweet blend of bluegrass and the spark of classic country female songwriters, Dana has developed her own original style audiences know and love – something she likes to call “Sassy Grass”. Along with her career as a singer/songwriter, she is also the manager of country programming for Citadel Media and the host of ACC TV Around Town for American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks. She is a former Tennessee Titans Cheerleader and graduate of Marshall University. Dana released her self-titled debut album in 2008 and recently released a digital EP and live DVD titled “Porch Swing Sessions,” available at iTunes, courtesy of 1925 Entertainment.
Ron Sexsmith
Ron Sexsmith is a major contemporary writer/artist who has amassed a sizable and consistently enthralling body of work since making his major label debut in 1995 with his self-titled album on Interscope, followed by such eloquent musical gems as Other Songs (1997), Blue Boy (2001), Retriever (2004) and Time Being (2006). Each has its own particular character but is connected to the rest by the overarching intelligence, impeccable taste and understated emotionality of this single-minded voice in the pop-cultural wilderness. As one new fan put it in a comment on iTunes, Sexsmith’s music “wins you over with a silk punch.” Well put.
Kevin Welch
Kevin now resides in a log cabin in some woods outside of Austin, Texas, and is getting ready to hit the road behind a brand new record called "A Patch Of Blue Sky".
Dehlia Low
Emerging out of Asheville, North Carolina's roots renaissance, Dehlia Low echoes the sounds of early country with a strong bluegrass flavor, crafting a fresh originality that feels like home. Beginning in 2007, the group developed a devoted fan base with the help of their self-titled EP, receiving national and international reviews and radio play. In 2009, Dehlia Low released "Tellico," showcasing the group's exceptional songwriting talent and outstanding vocal and instrumental performances. They traveled across the U.S. on the national festival circuit in support of the release, including appearances at Appalachian Uprising, Pickathon, Jammin' at Hippie Jack's, Durango Meltdown and Bristol Rhythm & Roots.
The Coal Porters
Formed in Los Angeles during the last century, as so many things were, the Coal Porters were originally an electric act centred around ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin, composer of the Long Ryders 1985 hit single “Looking For Lewis And Clark”.
Lissy Rosemont & The Junior League Band
The Junior League Band is an old-time inspired rock band fronted by the Georgia grown banjo, vocalist, Lissy Rosemont. Based out of Washington, DC, this nationally touring band has been compared to "Alison Krauss and the Band" by the Washington Post, and touts Levon Helm's own horn players on their catchy single "South Carolina Blues." Rosemont has been referred to as one of the "most promising up and coming vocalists on the Americana scene" (Bristol Rythm and Roots Festival) as well as recorded in the studio her old-time banjo with acts such as Missy Elliott and the Pussy Cat Dolls. Rosemont's family runs the oldest fiddler's festival in the country, the Old-Time Fiddler's Convention in Union Grove, NC. The 5 instrumentalists merge these influences with delta blues and pop rock (50's to Indie Rock) to make for an energetic, sing-song, string heavy, danceable yet mesmerizing live performance. Expect a show ripe with catchy melodies, toe tapping beats, sweet vocals, and some of the countries most talented up and coming players.
Spirit Family Reunion
Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, with roots firmly planted somewhere further south, SPIRIT FAMILY REUNION have comfortably lodged themselves in a niche lying somewhere between the protest stylings of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, and the untamed bluegrass of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Tearing through songs off their self released as well as self sold EP/songbook, they had every soul in the small room stomping, clapping and singing along to their energetic brand of Americana. With the swagger of a man twice his age, the lead vocalist’s ability to control a room is an extremely rare and very much welcomed attribute to this generally tamed genre. With lyrics containing subject matter including God, the Devil, hard living and of love lost, they never stray too far from the road laid out years ago on that end, but maintain a constant ability to keep everything fresh and modern with the energy in which they put it on display.
Bailey Cooke
Bailey Cooke is a emerging artist in the Americana music scene. After spending a few years in Nashville and recording her first E.P, she has established herself as a new voice amongst singer songwriters and country/folk musicians. Her style incorporates influences from early country 78s and current life experiences. Her love for old music comes through her songwriting as she continues and write and perform. She looks forward to releasing her new record in January in which she has collaborated with musicians such as Beau Stapleton of Blue Merle, and David Mayfield of Cadillac Sky.
The Doobie Brothers
There’s no separating the unparalleled legacy of the Doobie Brothers from their upcoming release on HOR Records World Gone Crazy – not that anyone would want to. Nevertheless, the new album may be most remarkable for the extent to which it stands completely on its own. Yes, World Gone Crazy is another chapter in one of the great American music stories, but it’s neither comeback nor nostalgia. An exhibition of aggressive and emotional performances, evocative storytelling, unapologetic attitude and world class musicianship, the collection is its own justification.
Leo Rondeau and Dynamite Tales
Nominated for songwriter of the year in 2010 by the Academy of Texas Music, North Dakota native turned Austin, Texan; Leo Rondeau is firing up audiences after grabbing the torch from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Doug Sahm and other ghosts of Texas music past. From honkytonks to indie clubs, hipsters to cowboys, Rondeau’s sound hooks them all. With five successful national tours under the tires, two critically acclaimed albums and a third on the horizon, Rondeau with his band, Dynamite Tales, have garnered the attention of the music world.
Mojo Gurus
The argument has been made that rock ‘n’ roll is dead. Well, if it is the Mojo Gurus are refusing to attend the funeral. These four guys from the Tampa Bay area of Florida play as if the burden of saving the genre lay square upon their shoulders. It’s bourbon soaked, gut bucket, glam meets twang, the Stones pick up Hank Williams hitchhikin’ down the Lost Highway. What’s that? Do I feel a pulse?
Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen play a wide variety of New Acoustic American Roots Music focusing on bluegrass and acoustic country, yet blues, folk, swing, and jazz also shine through as influences. Powerful vocal harmonies, expressive songwriting, smooth ballads, and instrumental prowess lend this versatile group of musicians to any type of venue. Each member is an inventive powerhouse.
The Waymores
Grammy Award winner Don Henry’s songs have been recorded by Ray Charles, Patti Page, Conway Twitty, Kathy Mattea and dozens of other great artists… but they shine brightest when sung by the artist who wrote them. Long appreciated as one of Nashville’s finest singer-songwriters, Don is revered by fans, critics and peers alike for being one of the most inspiring, entertaining and funny(!) artists you are ever likely to see and hear.
Suzy Bogguss
“You can’t deal me the aces and think I wouldn’t play,” says Suzy Bogguss with a twinkle in her eye as she discusses her latest studio album Sweet Danger. It’s a line from one of her signature songs, but it’s also the philosophy with which the Illinois-born singer manages her career, and the stepping-off point for a collection of her strongest songwriting and most evocative vocals to date.
Camille Cortinas
Born in Dallas, Texas, Camille Cortinas’ earliest musical influence came in the form of her grandmother, a migrant farm worker who taught Camille wonderful Spanish folk songs that enchanted her and set her on a musical path. For her 16th birthday, she received her first guitar and pleaded with her older brother to teach her to play.
Amy Speace
“Amy Speace sounds uncannily like a 21st Century Joan Baez, her timbred voice full of genuine emotions…the record soars with salient vocals and poetic lyrics,” writes The Classic Rock Examiner in its review of Nashville singer-songwriter Amy Speace’s third album, Land Like A Bird (Thirty Tigers). After releasing two well-received albums on Judy Collins’ Wildflower Records, Bird is Speace’s first record since migrating south from her longtime home in the NYC area
Buffalo Clover
Buffalo Clover is a rare plant that grows in the wake of stampeding buffalo. It is also the name of one of Nashville's most eclectic bands. Fronted by songstress Margo Price, the group draws its inspiration from true roots music. Price and her husband/co-writer, Jeremy Ivey, formed the band after meeting in Nashville in 2008. Their styles range from underdog gypsy punk to Motown boxcar blues, Vaudevillian acid rock to train wreck folk. Their songs are unique yet familiar with a lyrical craft rarely present in popular music.
Hymn For Her
Lucy Tight & Wayne Waxing are "Hymn For Her", a band that hails from anywhere they can park their trailer. H4H live, tour and record in their 16 foot, 1961 Bambi Airstream (comes with dog and baby). Their new release, 'Lucy & Wayne and THE AMERICAN STREAM' was entirely recorded in their classic trailer on a coast to coast U.S tour. They stopped at various campgrounds and friends driveways between shows, set up their gear in their Bambi/home recording studio, rolled tape and rocked out. Armed with 2 bullet mics, a three-stringed broom handle/cigar box, banjo, dobro, bass drum, hi-hat, and harp, this 'lil duo causes massive earthquakes wherever they play.
Joey Morant & Friends
Joey Morant is a native Charlestonian, brass instrumentalist and vocalist. He is the quintessential trumpeter from the Jenkins Orphanage band tradition of the 1950s. At the age of eleven, inspired by the piano, he became interested in classical music. When Fletcher Linton, a teacher at Charleston’s Henry P. Archer Elementary School, put a school band together, Morant began studying the trumpet. A generous benefactor, recognizing his talent, arranged for him to spend the summers of his high school years studying theory at the Berklee School of Music. By age fifteen, Morant was teaching theory and saxophone to Oscar Rivers. Later, Joey joined the Metronome All Starts under the direction of music educator, Melvin Hodges, Jr., a member of the 1996 Olympic Committee.
Brian Wright
For Brian Wright, life as a traveling troubadour began in McLennan County, Texas near the highway and the trains. That is where his father took a job that required a great deal of travel, making the family VW van Wright’s first crib. Consequently Wright feels most at home when on the road, and this movement has helped shaped Wright’s sense of bare-boned lyrics and achingly beautiful songs that seem both distant and intimate at the same time.
Scott Miller
Scott Miller blends folk and rock like there ain’t no words for. The power of storytelling with the power of a compressed electric guitar comes through this Virginian not heard since the likes of Wayne Newton (fellow Virginian) or The Statler Brothers (also of the Commonwealth.) Not even since Thomas Jefferson (Virginian) and Woodrow Wilson (another Virginian) formed their rock trio with drummer Stewart Copeland (northern Virginian) “League of Nations”.
Jonathan Edwards
Warm as summer sunshine, real as the truth, intimate as a long overdue visit between old friends … such is a Jonathan Edwards concert. Four decades into a stellar career of uncompromising musical integrity, the man simply delivers, night after night – songs of passion, songs of insight, songs of humor, all rendered in that pure and powerful tenor which, like fine wine, has only grown sweeter with age.
David Vandervelde
David Vandervelde's very clothes were ablaze that day in his Nashville basement. And the only thing that was ever going to put the flames out was laying "Learn How To Hang" to tape. How else does a song so immediate come to be? The repeated mantra of its title, set to an exhilarating, tightly-wound Buckingham-like lick, is just as much Far East philosophy as it is the most serious of stoner advice. It's a self-effacing moment of clarity under the heat of a blowtorch. Same goes for its brother jam, "Wave Country," with its galloping, sunburst metal and inner-bitch-slap hook, "You ain't any cooler in the shade." And how could we, in good conscience, ever sit on songs so immediate for any longer than one red-hot heartbeat? Some jams can't simply be placed on a release schedule months in advance. Songs like these must be loaded in our bow and shot out into the world. Free Download available at www.secretlycanadian.com
The Civil Wars
In some ways, music doesn’t get much more modest or minimalist than it is in the hands of The Civil Wars, a duo comprised of California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White. They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, Barton Hollow, the bare-bones live arrangements that fans hear on the road are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements. Each song is an intimate conversation, and no third wheels or dinner-party chatter are going to inter-rupt that gorgeous, haunting hush.
Barry Waldrep
Performing music has been a way of life for Barry Waldrep from the time he was a young boy growing up in the small town of Wedowee, Ala. The multi-talented instrumentalist began playing guitar and mandolin when he was only six years old. He was heavily influenced by his dad, James, an accomplished Bluegrass guitarist, who handed Barry his first guitar. By the time he was eight, he had also learned to play the banjo and joined his dad onstage playing at festivals throughout the South. While touring on the Bluegrass circuit, he met and performed with Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, known as the Father of Bluegrass.
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
Drew Holcomb and the neighbors find themselves in the midst of a creative revival of popular music in Nashville, where artists like Kings of Leon, Jack White, Mat Kearney, and a legion of other national acts have re-invented the reputation of Nashville as a hotbed of music beyond the realm of country. Holcomb and his band have found their own unique niche in this scene, with their 2008 LP, Passenger Seat, and their 2009 EP, live forever, both debuting at #2 on the iTunes singer/songwriter charts. They’ve also had multiple TV placements on shows like NBC’s parenthood, Oprah, Army Wives, The Cleaner, and others, proving that Holcomb’s career has stretched far beyond the TN state limits where he was born and raised.
Andy Friedman
On April 5, 2011, artist and songwriter Andy Friedman will release his third studio album, Laserbeams and Dreams (City Salvage Records). Produced by noted guitarist and producer David Goodrich (Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey), the album was recorded in Friedman’s Brooklyn neighborhood and cut in 24 hours with one overdub and mixed in the studio. Complementing Friedman’s “art-damaged, ragged-but-right” (L.A. Weekly) approach and Goodrich’s restrained, atmospheric lead guitar and piano is rising-star upright bassist and composer Stephan Crump (GRAMMY-nominated Vijay Iyer Trio, Jim Campilongo), whose latest album of “ingenious originals” (The New Yorker), Reclamation (recorded with his Rosetta Trio), NPR spotlighted among its top five jazz albums of 2010. The interplay of Friedman’s “engagingly singular” (Philadelphia Inquirer) songwriting and “slow, lugubrious, dipped in country heartache” (Hartford Advocate) strum with Crump’s “full, appealingly wooden sound” (The New York Times) calls to mind classic collaborations by Van Morrison with bassist Richard Davis on 1968’s Astral Weeks, or John Hartford and Dave Holland on 1972’s Morning Bugle Call — albums also recorded live in the studio without much pre-conceived musical planning. “We captured the mood created,” says Friedman. “It wasn’t our place to second-guess the results.”
Johnson's Crossroad
For Asheville, North Carolina’s Johnson’s Crossroad, 2010 got off to an auspicious start. With boxes of their newly pressed record Blood in Black and White in hand, the band was heading to Mo’Daddy’s for their cd release party when life in Asheville came to a standstill, the town virtually crippled by a snowstorm. Instead of playing to a packed house, Johnson’s Crossroad ushered the new year in by playing for a handful of die hard fans who braved the elements and treacherous roads to make it to the show.
Greensky Bluegrass
Greensky Bluegrass is one of the most exciting bands in today’s roots music scene. This five piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and uses them to create original songs and soundscapes that are unique and new, yet somehow feel comfortable and familiar. Though they have been likened to ‘70s era deeply American acts like The Band, Greensky would prefer not to be compared to any other bands. “We really just try to make music as a group that sounds and feels right to us”, says mandolin player Paul Hoffman, later adding that “it is nice to know that other people really dig it, too.”
Don Gallardo
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Don Gallardo (http://www.dongallardo.com) unites the introspective lyrics of Tom Petty, the gritty twang of Steve Earle, and the honey-warm crunch of Ryan Adams, producing a rootsy, personal sound that exists between the boundaries of Americana and mainstream rock. Gallardo's album, Sweetheart Radio Revolution, Etc., is garnered a following from alt-country and Triple A radio stations nationwide with its collection of folk-tinged stories of life and love.
Town Mountain
Imagine the band that occupies the common ground between traditional bluegrass, outlaw country, and pure old time mountain music. A group that harnesses the frantic energy of the modern punk string band, yet still remains respectfully rooted in the tradition of Bill Monroe. Imagine a band with one foot proudly planted in the path of traditional bluegrass, and one foot stepping out into the unknown forefront of American string music.
Uncle Monk
Tommy Ramone began his musical career as Tom Erdelyi an engineer at the Record Plant recording studios. In the musical doldrums of the 70’s he, along with the great JOHNNY, JOEY AND DEE DEE RAMONE, formed the rock group RAMONES and participated in the birth of New Wave, Punk Rock, and Alternative music. As manager, producer and drummer for the band, Tommy Ramone helped create the sound, style and ideology for what was to become modern rock. As an independent record producer Ramone has worked on recordings that include the single, Love Goes to A Building On Fire by TALKING HEADS, and the albums, Neurotica by REDD KROSS, Too Tough To Die by the RAMONES, and Tim by THE REPLACEMENTS, the later voted one of the best albums of the year by the writers of Rolling Stone, Record, The Village Voice, and The LA Times.
Paleface
PALEFACE was schooled by friend Daniel Johnston and soon discovered by the legendary Danny Fields at an New York City Antifolk open mic. He has since released over a dozen records including two major label releases. Paleface has influenced and inspired a wide range of artists including Grammy Award recipients Kimya Dawson and Beck who called Paleface “a big influence on my early work” in Annie Leibovitz's book "American Music.” Paleface's vocals, instrumentation and songrwriting have appeared on three albums by The Avett Brothers. This past Fall, PALEFACE and girlfriend drummer Monica "Mo" Samalot released their new album One Big Party (Ramseur Records), followed by US and Europe tours. Later in the Spring PASTE Magazine premiered a short documentary on Paleface, "Paleface: The Making Of One Big Party", which features an interview with Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers) in which he recounts being “blown away” the first time he met Paleface: “He was barking and singing and just throwing passion out. We were just immediately inspired and ignited by the fire he was throwing.” For more info: http://PalefaceOnline.com
Vance Gilbert
Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90's when the buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-multicultural arts teacher and jazz singer who was knocking 'em dead at open mikes. The word spread of this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer to New York; Shawn Colvin invited Vance Gilbert to be a special guest on her Fat City tour. Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm ("With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener" wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from that tour.)
Sydni Perry and Cafe Blue
Sydni Perry began singing with her family bluegrass band when she was eight years old. Just a few short years later, at age fifteen she was recording with country superstar, Patty Loveless, on Grammy nominated "Sleepless Nights" and then again a year later on Grammy winning "Mountain Soul II", during which time she toured with Patty, singing backup and playing twin fiddles with fiddler extrordinaire, Deanie Richardson. She is stepping out on her own now, with her band, Cafe Blue, playing a variety of classic country, bluegrass, jazz, R&B, and original material, all with their own twist. They have performed at a variety of venues around middle Tn. and southern Ky. and are starting to get serious ttention from the Nashville establishment. If you've heard therm before, you know what to expcect. If not, you are in for a treet. You're sure to enjoy an evening with Sydni Perry and Cafe Blue.
Gurf Morlix
Tempting as it may be, don't just judge Gurf Morlix by the company he keeps, even if it does provide a fine starting point: eminent musical artists like Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Warren Zevon, Ian McLagan, Patty Griffin, Robert Earl Keen, Michael Penn, Buddy Miller, Mary Gauthier, Tom Russell, Jim Lauderdale and Slaid Cleaves, to name but a few. Instead, listen to Last Exit to Happyland, his fifth solo album, and understand why his blue-ribbon associations as a producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist have led Morlix to a similar level of excellence as a singer, songwriter and artist in his own right.
The Great American Taxi
In the past five years, Great American Taxi has become one of the best-known headliners on the jam band circuit. Their uninhibited sound is a swinging concoction of swampy blues, progressive bluegrass, funky New Orleans strut, Southern boogie, honky tonk country, gospel, and good ol’ fashioned rock ’n’ roll. Great American Taxi was born when singer, guitarist, and mandolin player Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon joined keyboard player and singer Chad Staehly for a superstar jam to benefit the Rainforest Action Group in Boulder, in March of 2005. “We put together a dream band of the best local musicians for a one-off gig,” Herman recalls. “It worked so well we had to do it again, and again, and again.” Great American Taxi quickly evolved into one of the best country-, rock-, and bluegrass- influenced jam bands in the land, masterfully blending acoustic and electric instruments into music they call “Americana Without Borders.”
Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds
Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds is a nine piece powerhouse that delivers a blend of gut-busting soul, earthy rock, and New Orleans-inspired beats.
Patrick Sweany
Patrick Sweany likes the spaces in between. On a given night (or on a given album) he'll swing through blues, folk, soul, bluegrass, maybe some classic 50s rock, or a punk speedball. He's a musical omnivore, devouring every popular music sound of the last 70 years, and mixing 'em all together seamlessly into his own stew. Yet, the one thing that most people notice about Patrick isn't his ability to copy - it's his authenticity. Like his heroes, folks like Bobby "Blue" Bland, Eddie Hinton, Doug Sahm, Ray Charles, Patrick somehow manages to blend all of these influences into something all his own.
Jimbo Darville and the Truckadours
Bringing back the classic sounds of truck drivin' music, Jimbo Darville and the Truckadours have recaptured the vintage feel of the legendary life of a trucker! Enjoy them pickin' and grinnin' about the trials and tribulations of a driver, his rig, truckstops, and their women across the country!
Iodine
Sometimes I wonder, was I raised in the mountains, or was I raised by the mountains?" Growing up in the heart of the Appalachain Mountains, where the lines of East Tennessee and Virginia intersect, it is easily discernable where singer/songwriter Iodine draws her inspiration. She has been "dipped and stewed" in these rich roots, which is reflected strongly in her musical style and writing. Always out to create her own story - which in her opinion is far better than listening to one - she always was searching for ways to entertain herself while exploring the countryside and spending her summers fishing with her father at a neighboring catfish farm. Her ability to always find an adventure and trouble along the way earned her the nickname "Iodine" by her mother at a young age.
Highwater
Folks We Have Played With: The Meters, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, (The Late Great) Chris Whitley, Levon Helm, Drivin' and Cryin', Black Uhuru, Southern Culture on the Skids, Everything, Garrison Starr, Train, Mick Taylor, Kudzu Kings, Blueground Undergrass, Blue Mountain, Galactic, North Mississippi All-Stars, Bloodkin, Dayroom, Places We Have Played: New York City, NY. Long Island, NY. St. Paul, MN. Minneappolis, MN. Lewis, WS. Old Bridge, NJ, Atlantic City, NJ, Sayerville, NJ. Mt. Snow, VT. Killington, VT. Charleston, WV. Allentown, PA. Boston, MA. Lexington, KY. Paducah, KY. Bowling Green, KY. Asheville, NC. Charleston, SC. Hilton Head, SC. Cincinnati. OH. Savannah, GA. Atlanta, GA. Athens, GA. Columbus, GA. Huntsville, AL. Muscle Shaols, AL. Birmingham, AL. Auburn, AL. Jackson, MS. Oxford, MS. Starkville, MS. Hattisburg, MS. Nashville, TN.(obviously) Memphis, TN. Fairview, TN. Knoxville, TN. Murfreesboro, TN. Memphis, TN. Bristol, TN. Johnson City, TN. Chattanooga, TN. Cookeville, TN. Clarksville, TN. Little Rock, AR. St. Louis, MO. Farmington, MO. Evansville, IN. Gunnisson, CO. Telluride, CO. Steamboat Springs, CO. Fort Collins, CO. Crested Butte, CO. Baton Rouge, LA. New Orleans, LA.
Larry Cordle
Larry Cordle was born and raised on a small family farm in eastern Kentucky. While a young child he was introduced to bluegrass, country, and gospel music, by his great grandfather Harry Bryant, an old time claw hammer banjo stylist, fiddle player and dancer. He recounts, “mom said I could sing “I’ll Fly Away”, all the way through when I was 2”! Cordle fondly remembers this early influence by pointing out, “we lived so far away from everything, that we had to make our own entertainment. Papaw would get the fiddle out in the evenings sometimes and play and dance for us. Just as soon as I was old enough to try to learn to play I did so & kinda seconded after him on the guitar. He ran an old country store and I spent many happy hours in there with him playing, talking about and listening to music. It was our escape into another world, something we grew up with and looked so forward to. I was always happiest when we were in a jam session”.
Buddy Greene
Born and bred in Macon, Georgia, Buddy Greene benefited at an early age from the influences of a town and culture that produced musical giants like Little Richard, Otis Redding, and the Allman Brothers Band. By age 10 he was already playing to audiences around Macon and quickly establishing himself as a local talent worth watching.
The Tillers
The Tillers got their start in August 2007 when Cincinnati friends Mike Oberst, Sean Geil, and Jason Soudrette began thumping around with some banjos and guitars and a big wooden bass. Their earliest gigs were for coins and burritos on the city’s famous Ludlow Street in the district of Clifton. The songs they picked were mostly older than their grandparents. Some came from Woody Guthrie, some were southern blues laments, and many were anonymous relics of Appalachian woods, churches, riverboats, railroads, prairies, and coal mines.
Kopecky Family Band
Like all families, Kopecky Family Band beats with the same heart and writes in the same blood. ‘The Family’ began creating music together in Nashville, Tennessee in the Fall of 2007. What began as late night talks about life and dreams gradually flowed into eccentric and beautiful music that has led to numerous tours, including adventures to CMJ, SXSW and Bonnaroo, three EP releases and friendships across the country.
Jim Avett
Jim Avett and Family is a gospel album by a retired welder, his daughter and two sons. He is not only a welder of course. He, like any man, is more than his career, more than his working business. He is a farmer. He is an ex-psychology professor. He is a husband of forty years and a father of thirty-five. He draws. He cuts and bails his own hay for his own cows. From 1967 to 1971, he served in the United States Navy. He is a dedicated family man. He has worked with neglected children and broken households as a social worker. He has built bridges of steel and a home of lumber. Oh yes, he sings and picks the guitar as well. With this record, he has done so with his family in mind, so that his children’s children and so on will have a way to know a little of who he is, who he was. Perhaps fittingly, it is by his own children’s encouragement that it is now available to the general public. For all of what he is, this collection of tunes is a glimpse into his sentiment and history; the son of a preacher and a pianist, who as a boy, sat in the pews and heard not only his father’s sermons, but these songs as well. Now, he has sung them with the tape rolling, as honest and rough-cut as it gets, and anyone may listen.
Geoff Achison
Geoff Achison is a musician of remarkable ability who has forged his own path and won fans all over the world. Having taught himself to play in the isolation of rural Australia, he has developed a blues/funk style all his own that can be delicate one moment and explosive the next.
Onward, Soldiers
Onward, Soldiers: These guys know how to make good music. Sean Thomas Gerard, young'n from Pittsburgh who relocated to Wilmington, NC, he's a sharp guy. Teeth cut as much on folk heroes Guthrie and Dylan as Rakim and KRSOne. (Check the phrasing.) His songs are observations, peppered with prose about life as he knows it; restless, inspiring, not without ghosts or doubt but driven by ambition to leave obstacles in the dust, to wave at 'em in the rear-view mirror. Sean probably also has Benjamin Button syndrome. He looks 25 but has the voice of a man twice his age. It's bizarre, and endearing. When you see him onstage you're like "there's no way this kid isn't 50. Did he eat grandpa before the show?" "Nope, I'm right here," silver-fox drummer, Kevin Rhodes, would then reply. Kevin's reverse Benjamin Button. Don't let the gray fool you. **seriously, lock up your daughters.** Kevin has more energy than five kids on Cocoa Puffs. He sings, plays drums, piano, squeezebox, writes songs, eats cookies, and builds palace
David Wax Museum
Why do we need museums? They show us something familiar and traditional, while at the same time documenting our innovation, showing us possible directions for the future. This is the same reason we need David Wax Museum – to give us music that is somehow familiar, as if it has always existed somewhere in our cultural ether, but is at the same time undeniably fresh.
Becky Schlegel
Becky Schlegel has a gift for taking life’s experiences and transforming them into songs that are passionate and unique. Her music is a fusion of folk, bluegrass and country that is mesmerizing. Schlegel sings with an effortless, angelic and wistful soprano that has been described as “Clear and expressive. [Her] voice can go gritty at times or break appropriately or soar to ethereal heights or drift off in a whisper.” - Bluegrass Unlimited
Tiller's Folly
.. For over a decade, Tiller's Folly have captivated audiences at thousands of performances with exceptional musicianship, compelling stories and their warm, inclusive, down-home stage presence. From the expressive and dynamic vocals, acoustic guitar and extraordinary songwriting ability of Bruce Coughlan, through the deep layers of musical and creative color added by award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Nolan Murray, to the driving, melodic foundation laid down by bassist and vocalist, Laurence Knight, Tiller's Folly is a high-energy acoustic roots music experience like no other.
Sweethearts of the Rodeo
The acclaimed sister duo Sweethearts of the Rodeo have been talking about doing a reunion record for years, but Life always seemed to get in the way. “Life starts to get your attention, and I think we got completely distracted with that,” explains Janis Oliver. “I had kids to raise and bills to pay,” adds sister Kristine Arnold. “Not being in the music business made me humble and made me realize that it’s not the most important thing. But every year on the day after Thanksgiving, we would do a gig at The Bluebird Café. Every time we would do that, we would say, ‘Why are we not singing together all the time?’ Then we’d go off back into our routines.
Andrew Peterson
Over the last ten years Andrew Peterson has quietly carved out a niche for himself as one of the most thoughtful, poetic, and lyrical songwriters of his generation. More recently he’s established himself as the grassroots facilitator of an online literary and songwriting community (www.RabbitRoom.com) and an emerging fantasy novelist as well (The Wingfeather Saga). But it’s still ultimately that sense of rootedness that listeners, readers and fans seem to respond to most deeply—because Andrew’s songs (and books) remind us again and again of simple, solid things like love and friendship and hope and redemption and beauty and how our stories were meant to be shared, and how the darkness will not always hold sway, and how we, being human, need to hear those things over and over again, because otherwise we become disconnected from the very stories we’re living in. All of which brings us, in a roundabout way, to our real starting point, because somehow, Andrew Peterson’s new, twelve-song project, Counting Stars (produced by Ben Shive, with Andy Gullahorn) manages to do all that without ever leaving home.
Robby Hecht
The music of Robby Hecht represents a return to the early 70s golden era of acoustic pop where thoughtful, well-crafted lyrics were blended with timeless melodies to impact mainstream music and culture. His 2008 debut album Late Last Night, produced by Lex Price (Mindy Smith) and mixed by Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Josh Rouse) features an impressive list of guest performers including Mindy Smith, Jeff Coffin, Thad Cockrell, Jill Andrews of The Everybodyfields, John Deaderick (Patty Griffin), Andrea Zonn (James Taylor) and more.
Johnny Possum
Since 2005 The Johnny Possum Band (formerly Johnny Possum’s Good Time Hootin’ Band) has been delivering their own brand of alt-country, Americana and bluegrass music featuring guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo and upright bass. From performances throughout New Zealand, to appearances at festivals and venues in the USA the band has developed a solid fan base and following.
Guy Davis
Whether Guy Davis is appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Campanion”, “Mountain Stage” or David Dye’s,“World Café”., in front of 15,000 people on the Main Stage of a major festival, or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a Music Camp, Guy feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’.
Foster and Lloyd
In 1985, Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd were two young singer-songwriters signed to the same song publisher. They came from different backgrounds but had enough in common to create an almost immediate response to the songs they cowrote and recorded. Their first success came as songwriters (early songs were recorded by Sweethearts of the Rodeo and Ricky Van Shelton), but it was the distinctive sound of their publishing demos that gained them their record deal with RCA Records.
Billy Henson
Very early in life, Billy Henson knew he wanted to be an entertainer. He taught himself to play guitar and was soon writing songs and dreaming of a big career. In 1952, while still in high school, he began his professional career with Carl Tipton & his Mid-State Playboys on WGNS radio in Murfreesboro, TN. In 1953, he joined the Goober & His Kentuckians show on WSIX television in Nashville. He and Patsy were married in 1960; with her help and encouragement, he attended business college and began to work in earnest to develop his singing and songwriting skills. In 1962, his hard work and perseverance caught the attention of the comedy team Lonzo & Oscar. He got a songwriting contract with their publishing company, a recording contract with Nugget Records and a job as their lead guitar player on the Grand Ole Opry. Billy toured the United States, Canada, and Europe with Lonzo & Oscar the next two years. Later, he was a featured vocalist on the Pee Wee King & the Golden West Cowboys Show, booked by Nashville’s Bo
Kieran Kane
Kieran Kane's music is adult in the truest sense of the word. His explorations of mature love (The Blue Chair's "Honeymoon Wine"), friends' struggles with personal difficulties ("Kill the Demon" from Six Months, No Sun), and the meaning of life (Shadows on the Ground's title cut) lead directly to his philosophical explorations of faith and life on his latest release, You Can't Save Everybody (with Kevin Welch and Fats Kaplin).
Doug Paisley
Pardon me, I won't take much of your time here, but please - this is important. I think Doug Paisley's new album, Constant Companion, can help you. You'll know it the moment you hear his voice, which'd be made of silk if silk weren't so prideful. Constant Companion's got everything his self-titled debut had, only more of it, and better. And that record's gotten me through some dark days and darker nights. He's my favorite navigator.
The Bo-Keys
In the early parts of their careers, members of the Bo-Keys performed in B.B. King’s orchestra, anchored the Hi Rhythm Section, nailed the unforgettable intro to “Theme From Shaft,” and survived the plane crash that claimed Otis Redding. This is a new, hard-hitting Bo-Keys lineup, featuring alumni both of Stax Records and Hi Records, plus younger musicians who’ve garnered an Emmy award and a Grammy nomination. Together, now, they play fresh Memphis soul.
Bobby Osborne
Bobby Osborne… the name conjurs up memories of that incredible high voice ringing over the hills at a bluegrass festival on a warm summer evening, of the sounds of Rocky Top rolling in on 50,000 watts on The Grand Ole Opry on WSM, 650 on your radio dial, of the sounds of Rubeeeeee!!!, on radio and television stations ever since Bobby Osborne first burst on the scene in 1949. Bobby’s many accomplishments as a professional musician and entertainer would fill an entire book, and they soon will, as his biography is soon to appear in print.
Amy Black
Amy Black may live in Massachusetts but her influences, like her roots, are clearly from below the Mason-Dixon line. Her live performances cover the styles and traditional themes of American music: loving, lying, drinking, dying and going to heaven – but not necessarily that order. She writes and performs her own music and weaves classics by her influences, including Loretta Lynn, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings into her show.
Lera Lynn
The Houston-born Lynn, who in March will release her debut, Have You Met Lera Lynn?, is already well-known in Athens for her time spent as the sultry voice of mainstay folk-poppers Birds & Wire. However, the multidimensional record’s title is telling; in the days since that band's dissolution, Lynn’s taken an honest and painstaking inventory of her past experiences, and out of that process a song cycle has emerged that serves as a true representation — and a reintroduction — of the artist.
Ryan Cavanaugh
Discovered by guitar legend John McLaughlin in 2006, banjoist Ryan Cavanaugh has spent the last 4 years touring the international jazz scene with acclaimed saxophonist and Miles Davis alum, Bill Evans. In his early twenties, before performing and recording with Bill Evans, Sam Bush, Victor Wooten, Bela Fleck, Robben Ford, and many others, Cavanaugh was a champion of the Merlefest, Rockygrass, and Renofest banjo contests. In '07 Ryan released his bluegrass cd "Songs For the New Frontier" and played on 8 tracks of Bill Evans's record "The Other Side of Something" along with greats Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Victor Wooten, and Dennis Chambers.
Sarah Jarosz
The best and brightest in the acoustic world move the music forward with an awareness of what came before them; that is certainly true of Sarah Jarosz. On her second album for Sugar Hill Records, Follow Me Down, she pays homage to her musical roots while pushing beyond those sometimes limited boundaries, taking us on a journey both dark and mystical. For this, Jarosz has a simple yet telling explanation: “I’m influenced by the older, and the contemporary, and the new.” Her approach to acoustic music is invigorating; she gives equal attention to playing, singing, and writing, choosing songs that embrace both old timey and modern sounds.
Gene Watson
If you ask any number of country singers who their favorite singer is, a large number of them will respond: “Gene Watson.” Gene has scored over 72 charted songs, including 23 Top Tens and 6 #1 hits over his forty-year career. It is safe to say that most knowledgeable country fans would point to Gene Watson as one of country music’s best ballad singers in the same league as country icons George Jones, Merle Haggard, Vern Gosdin and others who are the standard bearers for honest, traditional country music. It’s no surprise that such artists as Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Trace Adkins, Connie Smith, Joe Nichols, Alison Krauss, and many others are not only happy but eager to record with Gene. There is also the stunning truth that at age 66, Gene is singing better than ever, with his clear, pure tone intact and an unmatched soulful delivery. As a result, A TASTE OF THE TRUTH, his new CD on Shanachie Records, produced by Dirk Johnson, may be his best recording yet, no small achievement for a man who has cut so many classics. And that is good news for fans of real country music rooted in the timeless values of one of America’s bedrock musical genres.
Scythian
Alexander Fedoryka: Violin/Mandolin/Harmonica/Bass/Vocals Trained classically, Alexander started playing at the age of 3 and has performed in such venues as the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap. Of note, Alexander spent six months in Japan studying under Dr. Suzuki, the renowned founder of the Suzuki School of Music. Alexander also spent four months playing in the streets of Ireland where he picked up the Celtic spirit and combined it with the Gypsy soul of his own Ukrainian ancestry. Josef Crosby: Violin/Bass/Vocals Trained classically, Josef studied at Duquesne under Joe Petron and has performed in venues such as the Benedum Center and Soldiers & Sailors memorial hall. Making the switch to Celtic fiddling, Joe forms the second half of Scythian's signature "dueling fiddles" and is known for his jazzy "dirt & grit" style. Danylo Fedoryka: Rhythm Guitar/Accordion/Vocals Trained as a classical pianist, Danylo made the switch to rhythm guitar in order to make music with his brother Alexander. Having performed at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap as a classical musician, Danylo enjoys the free and somewhat loose spirit of Celtic music. Putting his keyboard skills to use, Danylo also picked up the accordion which he sports during the bands Gypsy and Klezmer pieces. Mike Ounallah: Percussion/Drums Mike Ounallah, comes from a Jazz background and enriches the sounds of Scythian with a wealth of experience and expertise. Mike recently earned a Masters of Jazz Studies at the University of Maryland. A true student of music, Mike combines his extensive knowledge with his Jordanian heritage, which compliments the Eastern gypsy style of Alexander. Although Mike is respected for his knowledge of music and his musical precision, he is also known as drummer who can flat out "bring it" and who can rock out with the best of them.
Trent Dabbs
Growing up in the rich literary and religious environment of Mississippi, and then moving straight into the country-soaked musical world of Nashville, Trent Dabbs has many stories to tell. Like Flannery O’Connor with her short story collection, A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Dabbs pieces his own spiritual and relational questions into well crafted folk-pop albums. The ghosts of Johnny Cash, old gospel-choirs, Neil Young, and Nick Drake are heard roaming the halls of Trent’s songs.
McPeake
McPeake began life as nothing more than a group of musicians who came together for special gigs and occasions. Francis McPeake first brought the band together for a stage show based on the Titanic, that he co-wrote in 2003. Since then they have worked with many prominent Irish artists including Brian Kennedy, Finbar Furey, Kieran Goss, Juliet Turner, and Ralph McTell.
Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell is a country music artist based in New York City. Born in Nashville, TN, she came to New York to attend Columbia College, and found that her abiding interest in country music helped her stay connected with her family roots. That interest was the motivation behind her long-running radio program on WFMU in Jersey City, NJ, “The Radio Thrift Shop.” Beginning on WFMU in 1993, the program was a Saturday afternoon staple in the New York area for 13 years, then moved to WFMU.org and ran for two seasons on BBC Radio Scotland as a summer replacement in 2005 and 2006.
Ben Hall
The first time Charlie Louvin discovered the young, Merle Travis-style guitarist Ben Hall playing he asked, “When can you go to work with me?” When Hall replied that he couldn’t just yet, as he was studying music at Belmont University, the elder statesman was none too pleased to be turned down, huffing, “You don’t need to be in school, you are meant to be playing that guitar.”
David Grier
The most award-winning guitarist in recent memory is David Grier. For the past several years, he has been voted by the members of the International Bluegrass Music Association as Best Guitar Player of the Year. He has also appeared on two Grammy- winning recordings: "True Life Blues-A Tribute to Bill Monroe" and "The Great Dobro Sessions." David is also included in the book, "1,000 Great Guitarists." His inspiration to learn guitar came from exposure to Bill Monroe while his father, Lamar Grier, played banjo for the Blue Grass Boys in the middle 1960s.
Guthrie Trapp
Guthrie Trapp is one of Nashville’s busiest and most versatile performing and session musicians. He has worked with artists such as Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, John Oates, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Patty Loveless, George Jones, Jerry Douglas and many others. He currently tours with his band "18 South" as well as the Guthrie Trapp Trio.
The 1861 Project
The 1861 Project begins as a collection of original songs that imagine the stories of the real people who fought and lived through the Civil War, and evolves from that creative nucleus into a broader discussion of what the war means today.
Dave Gleason
"Dave Gleason was a fixture on the West Coast Honky Tonk/Americana circuit since the early 1990's through 2010-until a recent move placed him in Nashville,TN. With four albums of his own to his credit (and countless lead guitar sessions for other artists), Gleason has shared the stage with Jim Lauderdale/Charlie Louvin/Dave Alvin/Albert Lee/Bill Kirchen and Mike Stinson to name just a few. Dan Forte/vintage Guitar Magazine says of Dave Gleason's latest album "Turn And Fade"...'Throughout, Gleasons offers enough new wrinkles to stake his claim as more than merely another “new traditionalist."
Natasha Borzilova
Born in Obninsk, Russia, Natasha Borzilova moved to Nashville as the lead singer and acoustic guitarist of the band Bering Strait, which was put together as a group of classically trained child prodigies in the late 1980's. Since then, Bering Strait had two CD releases on Universal South Records, receiving critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for country instrumental of the year in 2002.
Tara Nevins
American roots traditionalist Tara Nevins’ new release, ‘Wood and Stone’ is an exploration of her own heritage, musical and otherwise. Released on May 3rd, 2011 on Sugar Hill Records ‘Wood and Stone’ was produced by Larry Campbell at the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. It showcases Nevins’ ever-evolving repertoire as she journeys both back to her own “roots” and head-long into new territory. Featured guests on the album include Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Teresa Williams, The Heartbeats, along with the core band of Larry Campbell, Justin Guip, and Byron Isaacs.
Smokey's Farmland Band
Smokey’s Farmland Band is based in Atlanta, but named after a 200-acre farm near the town of LaFayette in northwest Georgia. Smokey Caldwell's farm is the focal point of the cavers who explore the magnificent underground caverns of neighboring Pigeon Mountain and is a popular venue for music festivals. Smokey's Farmland band was formed in 2004 when friends who played music and camped out together on Smokey's land decided to collaborate and further their music. Ian, Justin and Jared played enough music up there that folks on the farm started calling them Smokey's Farmland Band.
Marty Stuart
So here he is again, almost four decades strong, in the very space where so many Elvis Presley smash hits were recorded as were classic sides by Charley Pride, Connie Smith, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings, only to name a few. As the new Sugar Hill Records album title says, it's also where the latest Marty Stuart release, Ghost Train (The Studio B Sessions), has just been recorded.
Thrift Store Cowboys
Thrift Store Cowboys fourth studio album Light-Fighter (out October 12) could be called their post-arson period, as Daniel Fluitt and band wrote the record after a stranger torched their gear and merchandise-filled trailer parked next to Fluitt’s bedroom, nearly taking his life. Produced by Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case, Iron and Wine) Light-Fighter’s indie rock shapeshifts through ambient and Gothic western music for songs that touch on death, loss, fear, redemption, the Spanish Civil War and West Texas ghost stories. All buoyed by soaring violin, draped against bottom-ended guitar and pedal steel sounds that spaghetti western composer Ennio Morricone might envy.
Paper Bird
Paper Bird’s backbone is their songwriting, musicianship and a general allergy to all limitations and trends. With eight members and no leader, possibilities are ever unfolding, with fluctuations in style and mood akin to weather patterns.
The Everybodyfields
The everybodyfields from Johnson City, TN are rapidly gaining a reputation as the front-runners of the newest generation of the alt-country movement. Their melancholic interpretations of universal human stories are set to achingly beautiful melodies and put to life with such instrumentation as lap steel, lead guitar, electric bass, piano and acoustic guitar.
Jubal's Kin
On Jubal's Kin, the self-titled debut from the Florida based duo, brother and sister Roger and Gailanne Amundsen establish a new benchmark for the rising generation of roots musicians - Roger a three time Florida Old-Time Music Championship winner, and Gailanne the 2009 Florida & Tennessee Grand Champion Old Time Fiddler. Jubal's Kin is an eclectic blend of old-timey bluegrass and indie folk - what they've dubbed as "Appalachia-infused Cosmic Americana." And the album finds this compromise with great success, drawing from a wide palette of earthy roots inspirations.
Mindy Smith
Art helps us articulate emotions. When complex feelings seem impossible to condense into words, we turn to musicians to speak on our behalf. On her new album, Stupid Love, Mindy Smith gives voice to the myriad sentiments, from elation to sorrow, that accompany falling in love.
Billy Falcon
Over his career, Falcon has released a dozen albums, each remaining true to his hallmark of beautifully crafted songs with lyrics that move the listener to laugh, cry, think, remember, and always, to hope. His latest record, “When,” features thirteen songs that each continue that legacy.
Red June
Red June is a dynamic acoustic trio from Asheville, NC, performing beautifully distilled Americana music. The Red June sound is as versatile and original as the musicians themselves; they touch on bluegrass, roots rock, and traditional country music with powerful harmonies, innovative songwriting and expert musicianship. Red June is Will Straughan on dobro, guitar and vocals, celebrated fiddler and vocalist Natalya Weinstein, and John Cloyd Miller on mandolin, guitar and vocals.
Ange Boxall
Tasmanian born and raised songstress, Ange Boxall resides in London, UK, and regularly visits Nashville, TN, USA. On recent visits, she has worked with legendary singer songwriter JD Souther - who famously played a key role in the formation of the Eagles and co-wrote their hits "Heartache Tonight," "Victim of Love," "New Kid In Town," and "Best of My Love". Meeting in an art gallery (as you do in Nashville!), the pair found an immediate synergy and began to collaborate. The result is the beautiful 'Lucky Day' duet and will be featured on Ange's forthcoming album. The album also includes co-writes with other immensely talented artists, Jim Lauderdale, The Wrights and The Arlenes, all of whom add a new and rich dynamic. The album, produced and engineered by Marc Lacuesta, began it's recording with Anges ‘Wagon Band’ (Alan Gregg, Paul Lush and Steve Brooks), at Konk Studios (of Ray Davies fame) and was then taken to Nashville for the final overdubs, mixing and mastering.
Valley Young
Valley Young is both moving and mysterious. The music seems as if it floated out of a lonesome mountain valley.They call themselves fringe folksters! From the reverb to the songwriting, the folk music of the 1960's and 70's shaped Valley Young's sound today.
Sara Hickman
Sara Hickman grew up in Houston, Texas, as the daughter of artistic parents—a mother who was a fiber artist, a father who was a painting professor. Her household was full of interactive creativity: writing, painting, jars of clay. There was never a dull moment. At 7, she started to play the guitar, which became her best friend. She wrote her first song at 8, performed it on stage, and won an award from the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was hooked as a singer/songwriter from that point on.
Gwyneth & Monko
Gwyneth & Monko are on the move in more ways than one. In 2010 alone, they drove 37,000 miles and played over 160 different shows while living out of their Volkswagon Van and camping out in Walmart Supercenter parking lots as well as driveways of friends and strangers alike. Last fall, amidst tours to the southwest and northwestern U.S., they were able to fit in time to record at Old School Studio in northern California. Gwyneth & Monko’s self titled album came out Febraury 15, 2011 and reflects the style the pair has cultivated on the road: somewhere between folky acoustic and indie rock.
Tom T Hall
Tom T. Hall is known as a storyteller, a songwriter with a keen eye for detail and a knack for narrative. Many musicians have covered his songs -- most notably Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 hit "Harper Valley P.T.A." -- and he also has racked up a number of solo hits, including seven No. 1 singles.
Daphne Willis
Everything Daphne Willis has done up to now in both her music and her life has led to this moment—her new album, Because I Can (Vanguard, April 19), marks the 23-year-old writer/singer/guitarist’s artistic coming of age in thrilling—and at times heart-wrenching—fashion. This captivating LP represents an exponential leap, as she grows into her enormous talent and puts it to powerful and relatable use via her singular sensibility. Because I Can sounds very much like the defining work of a young artist who matters.
Irene Kelley
In few life stories do you find the heroine getting kicked out of her own rock band because of Dolly Parton but IRENE KELLEY proves it ain't impossible. Latrobe, Pennsylvania is better known for brewing Rolling Rock Beer than as a hot musical breeding ground. However, one does not have the privilege of choosing one's birthplace. Along side the aroma of roasting hops, music was in the air and clearly in the blood of young Miss Kelley.
Girlyman
Can the members of Girlyman read each other’s minds? Sometimes it seems so. Onstage they often finish one another’s sentences or burst into improvised three-part ditties so tight they seem rehearsed. Truth is, the Atlanta-based trio has had years to develop this rapport. Doris Muramatsu and Tylan Greenstein became best friends in second grade. The two met Nate Borofsky in college at a talent show, and since then they’ve been creating their own unique language of three-part harmony. Informed by 60s vocal groups like Simon & Garfunkel and The Mamas and the Papas, and infused with years of classical and jazz training, Girlyman’s songs are a dance of melody and suspensions – an irresistible blend of acoustic, Americana, and rock The Village Voice calls “really good, really unexpected, and really different.”
Rockin Acoustic Circus
With hearts in traditional music and heads in the 21st century, Rockin’ Acoustic Circus points toward a fresh direction for acoustic music. Sharing their passion with impressive musical prowess and boundary pushing style, their unique vibe of original work, appeals to a wide audience of both traditional and progressive fans alike.
Connie Smith
Dolly Parton once noted, famously, that there were just three real female singers around—Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. "The rest of us," she said, "are only pretending." It's less-well known that when Ms. Smith was introduced to Keith Richards, he grabbed fellow Connie Smith fan (and Rolling Stone) Ron Wood and brought him up to meet her, too, exclaiming "She's the real deal!"
Kenny Vaughan
Nashville guitarist, Kenny Vaughan is at the top of the "A" list among studio and road players on the country music studio scene. Often seen on Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien backing up artists like Kim Richie, Linda Loveless, or Lucinda Williams, he is a master of sounds in the ever-widening country rock music. Written up in Guitar Player Magazine, Kenny brings a producer's and composer's viewpoint to his seeming sideline role as a sideman.
Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out
Success for 'Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out' was nearly an overnight occurrence for this group after its forming in 1991. Led by the International Bluegrass Music Association's (IBMA) 3-time "Male Vocalist Of The Year", Russell Moore, IIIrd Tyme Out, consisting of Moore (guitar), Steve Dilling (banjo), Justen Haynes (fiddle), Wayne Benson (mandolin), and Edgar Loudermilk (bass), has walked away with IBMA's "Vocal Group Of The Year" award 7 consecutive years. All in all, the band has garnered 50 industry awards since their inception in 1991.
Rodney Crowell
Last January Rodney Crowell rented a house in my little town in Montana just to feel the cold. He had been here before, but always in the summertime, when Livingston is a temperate and sociable outpost for writers and actors and artists on the banks of the Yellowstone River. But as soon as the first blizzard rolls in most of the amateurs sensibly depart for Tucson or Key West. By January, the coldest month, the local population is down to seeds and stems. That's when Rodney and his wife, Claudia Church, arrived for a long visit. He wanted to work on his memoirs, now nearly finished, and he wanted to experience a real Montana winter, the kind he'd read about in Ivan Doig's sweeping novels. The boy from the Houston swamps figured he might learn something new in the frozen north. Rodney was disappointed when a chinook kicked up from the west and the weather turned mild. Snowdrifts melted into puddles.
Matraca Berg
It all starts with a low tremolo guitar, resonating and rumbling in a way that pulls at unspoken places. Deep in your core, you know without words, this is a song – indeed, an album – that’s about loss, desolation, realizing what life is made of and the fact that even you know it just keeps coming.
Sugar and the Hi-Lows
Sugar and the Hi-Lows… a brand new collaboration from singer/songwriters Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup along with a band of Nashville’s finest. Together, these artists weave their hypnotic, soulful vibe and catch the ear with a playful, infectious hook. In their first project making its debut this winter, Sugar and the Hi-Lows features melodies that masterfully merge Americana’s rock and soul heritage with the band’s own unmatched, fresh sound. Lyrically, they channel a playful promise and familiar acceptance of life’s ups and downs and still remain firmly rooted in the reality of the here and now.
Elephant Revival
Elephant Revival is a soulful, seductive quiver of songwriters and multi-instrumentalists that reign from points all across America. Since Oct 06' Daniel Rodriguez, Bonnie Paine, Dango Rose, Sage Cook and Bridget Law have herded in a greatly applauded neo-acoustic gyptic revival at festivals, theaters, clubs and house concerts from the Pacific coast to the rolling hills of New England. The Revival plays entirely original music with a few carefully chosen traditionals and eclectic cover tunes but their precise genre is hard to pin down. As independent film director Mikey Eberle elaborates, "When I hear Elephant Revival I am struck by my inability to define it. I am forced to confront the music as it is, connecting to it with a virgin spirit of mind. Consequently it feels like I am experiencing music and all its joys for the very first time."
Grayson Capps
Rott ‘N’ Roll. The title originated with Grayson Capps’ fans in New Orleans as an explanation of his music. Prostitutes, alcoholics, vagrants and drifters often inhabit the southern troubadour’s songs, while his live performances are ignited by sanctified Southern soul, howling back-country stomp and raucous roadhouse blues.. Slowly, but surely, the phrase spread from one city to the next as the definition of the Grayson Capps experience. For Grayson himself, Rott ‘N’ Roll has come to represent the state of mind needed to play uncompromising roots music as a means for survival in the Dirty South; the yin and yang between the debauchery of life on the road and the come down upon returning home.. Yet, as Grayson makes clear on “Back To The Country,” the album’s opening track, when Rott ‘N’ Roll is the credo, even the serenity of home means, “eating cornbread and raising hell.”
The Wilders
In today’s new acoustic music scene, only one band delivers the urgency of rock-n-roll using the simple tools of American roots: The Wilders. Celebrating its 15-year anniversary in 2011, this internationally touring band receives critical acclaim throughout North America and Europe for its unpredictable, energizing live performances and award-winning studio recordings. The Wilders’ sound is defined by an insurgent rhythm, soulful musicality, close harmony, and an intangible chemistry forged from years of performing together.
The Milk Carton Kids
Many years ago, in a moment of professional crisis, I took up for a spell with The Jayhawks, an earnest band from Minnesota with whom I shared a tour, a dog-eared sensibility, and the lack of sufficient patronage that might’ve kept us from sleeping triple in the double beds of hard-lit motel rooms scattered throughout the land of the Great Lakes. Before meeting them, I had been given their most recent album by way of introduction; and I will confess here that upon first listen I became so seduced by the singular character that emerged from the songs, that I failed to register that there were actually two very different singers giving rise to him. Honest: I heard it all as if coming from one central figure who had a voice all his own, and that neither lead singer in the band could wholly claim or account for.
Wayne Henderson
Wayne Henderson's top-notch finger-picking is a source of great pleasure and pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County, Virginia; his guitar playing has also been enjoyed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of "Masters of the Steel-String Guitar", and in seven nations in Asia. In addition to his reputation as a guitarist, Henderson is a luthier of great renown. He is a recipient of a 1995 National Heritage Award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts. He produces about 20 instruments a year, mostly guitars; he is almost as well-known for the mandolins he has made. Doc Watson, a good friend who sometimes stops at Wayne's shop in Rugby, VA, to pick a few tunes, owns a Henderson mandolin. He said, "That Henderson mandolin is as good as any I've had my hands on. And that's saying a lot, because I've picked up some good ones."
David Wilcox
David Wilcox is a true American treasure. He has sold over 750,000 discs and has been writing songs for 30 years. He is known for his open tuning acoustic guitar, sawed-off capos, storytelling wit, and insightful metaphors. His songs are a strong elixir. Music distilled. David Wilcox believes that the right song at the right time changes people’s lives.
Todd Grebe and Cold Country
Inspired by the Grateful Dead, Todd began playing guitar as a teenager, which led to his discovery of bluegrass music. Along with friends, he formed the traditional bluegrass band Well Strung, providing him the opportunity to develop his chops by playing in bars and at festivals throughout the state of Alaska.
James Blundell
James Blundell is acknowledged by many as the act single-handedly responsible for turning a younger demographic of Australians onto country music. He was the first young Australian country artist to create an impact on the mainstream pop charts and for many years was the highest selling country artist in the nation. James was also the first Australian country act to sign a major label recording deal in Nashville paving the way for the likes of Keith Urban, Kasey Chambers and others. In addition to his own success James has penned hits for Lee Kernaghan, Slim Dusty and Jimmy Little. James has been the recipient of 9 CMAA (Country Music Association of Australia) Golden Guitar Awards, double platinum, platinum and gold sales awards and is a 5 time ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) Award nominee with one win to his name.
Catherine Britt
Catherine spent 6 years in Nashville and has toured, performed and recorded with some of music’s most respected names – Kasey Chambers, Paul Kelly, Sir Elton John, Shane Nicholson, Jerry Salley, Tim Rodgers & Kenny Chesney – and has worked with some of Australia’s and Americas finest producers.
Nikki Lane
One glorious day some years back, a teenage high school dropout Nikki Lane (née Nicole Lane Frady) packed a trailer with her worldly possessions. With one hand firmly gripping a steering wheel and the other flipping the bird, she said so long to her home, Greenville, South Carolina, The South and any sort of life it had suggested she should live. Western bound, she was headed to Los Angeles for no other reason than just because.
Griffin House
“Ultimately, these songs are about spirituality and trying to find your place in the world,” Griffin House says of Flying Upside Down (Nettwerk, April 29), an album that dramatically marks the 27-year-old Ohioan’s coming of age as an artist of formidable skills. “Specifically, it’s the continuing story of what’s happening in my life, following the realization that the more specific I am about my own life and things that have happened to me, the more people will feel it universally.”
KS Rhoads
"We work ourselves wretched for one old wood coffin, if life doesn't get you, love will finish you off" sings K.S. Rhoads on his stunning debut album Dead Language, which American Songwriter Magazine declares, " is an exhibition in style, grace, and limitless possibilities." His music has been called "... a masterful marriage of indie-pop, orchestral, and american folk." His lush string arrangements recall Danny Elfman, and his lyrics recall F. Scott Fitzgerald. His live performances are rapturous and sporadic.
Jedd Hughes
Jedd Hughes was raised on a farm in a small town called Quorn in South Australia. After high school, Jedd made a life-changing decision and flew into Levelland, Texas. There, at South Plains College, he met Terry McBride who became his first producer. Encouraged to audition for Patty Loveless, Jedd moved to Nashville and got the job as her guitarist. MCA Records picked Jedd up and, in 2004, he released his debut album, Transcontinental featuring 10 original songs.
Snyder Family Band
The Snyder Family Band features the talents of siblings Zeb and Samantha Snyder from Lexington, NC. Backed by their dad, Bud, on upright bass, this band has delighted and surprised audiences at venues including Merlefest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots, the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree, the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer Festival in Columbus, OH, and the Red White and Bluegrass Festival in Morganton, NC. They have also appeared twice on the PBS TV program “Song of the Mountains.” Mom, Laine, occasionally joins in with harmony vocals, and six-year-old Owen also makes special appearances singing or playing guitar.
Carolina Still
Carolina Still is an acoustic band with a new sound and an old-time feel. They will take you down on the farm, out into the tobacco fields, and down a dirt road with a trunk full of 'shine; you never know where they might take you. One thing's for sure, you will be schooled in southern American culture after listening to their music.
Dobe Newton
Dobe Newton – the front man in the crazy custom made suits confesses to always being a singing ‘dag’ who the late 1960’s Dobe was saved from his university studies and real life plans to be a lawyer by a bunch of Irish folkies who introduced him to the Dubliners. He was handed a lagerphone and a tin whistle, and bush music nestled in his bones.
Matthew Perryman Jones
After honing his performance skills at the ever popular listening room Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA, Matthew Perryman Jones set his sights on Nashville and launched his career five years ago with the release of his debut album Throwing Punches in The Dark. Swallow the Sea followed a few years later further solidified Jones, as noted by Performing Songwriter Magazine, as a talent that follows "…in the footsteps of Lenard Cohen and John Lennon."
Amy Stroup
What’s the other side of love? There’s the love you see in movies. The love you’re taught as a child will be your due when you grow up. Fairytale love. Brotherly love. But there’s another side to it.
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith got an early start on her path to performing and songwriting. At the age of 6 she began to write songs, thinking of it as “part of the process of learning how to play guitar.” While she doesn’t remember many of her earliest songs, she does recall that “the first original song my mother commented on…was a song about Timothy Leary.” Then at the age of 14, when a campfire turn at the Kerrville Folk Festival caught the ear of singer-songwriter Tom Russell, she was on her way. Having recorded 18 albums and performed concerts all over the world, it’s safe to say that she’s never looked back.
Luke Bulla
Luke Bulla has been singing and playing music most of his life. Touring with and singing in his family band from age four, Luke took up the fiddle at seven. Over the course of the next few years, he won the National Fiddle Contest (in Weiser, Idaho) six times in his respective age categories.
Ladies Gun Club
It makes sense that two of the South's finest grassroots singers had to hoof it all the way to Hollywood to find each other. In a sea of indie rock bands, the unabashedly Appalachian voices of SALLY JAYE and SARAH ROBERTS make for a stunning anomaly. Teaming up not only made sense, it felt destined.
Mic Harrison
After the V-Roys called it quits at a 1999 New Year’s Eve show in Knoxville, Harrison co-founded the short-lived band the Faults and, shortly thereafter, signed on as a member of Superdrag (power pop legends responsible for the hit “Sucked Out”). When Superdrag went on indefinite hiatus in 2003 Harrison recorded his second solo album “Pallbearer’s Shoes” with producer and Superdrag drummer Don Coffey, Jr. However, it wasn’t until Harrison joined forces with the High Score in 2007 and recorded “Push Me On Home” that everything really came together. The High Score, which included guitarist/vocalist Robbie Trosper (had been with Harrison in the Faults) and drummer Brad Henderson, was already an established band with its own following. The group needed a new bass player and Vance Hillard was recruited.
Buddy Miller
Buddy will be 56 when Written in Chalk hits stores, though his work has been on regular exhibit since his wife, Julie (who is somewhat younger), began recording in 1990, and more so since he finally started making his own records in 1995. If his genius has not yet been widely recognized, no matter; the other musicians, they know. (There was a reason the final print edition of No Depression magazine proclaimed him to be artist of the decade, and it was not simply the mercurial humor of the magazine’s two editors. It was the music.)
Fayssoux McLean
You've heard Fayssoux McLean, even if you haven't heard of her. Fayssoux's beguiling voice was an integral element in some of the finest country music recordings of our time.
Gary Bennett
Gary Bennett co-fronted and was a founding member of one of the most successful country music bands of the 1990's, BR5-49. During Gary's tenure the group received three Grammy nominations and was hailed by music industry trade magazine Billboard as having "single-handedly revived the soul of country music in Nashville". The band sold over 500,000 albums and toured the world, headlining shows as well as being invited to open shows and tours for acts like Bob Dylan, George Jones, Merle Haggard, the Black Crowes and Brian Setzer.
Duane Eddy
Eddy and Hawley met at last year’s Mojo Awards, where Eddy was awarded with the Mojo Icon Award. Hitting it off straight away, a plan was hatched whereby Hawley would work with Eddy on a new album – a dream come true for Hawley who’d wanted to work with his guitar hero for a long, long time, having been turned onto the wonders of his playing as a mere boy.
Mike Bub
Bassist for The Del McCoury Band, Mike began a 13 year association with what was to become, and still is, the most awarded band in Bluegrass Music. He's racked up an unprecedented 9 Entertainer of the Year awards, 5 Bass Player of the Year awards as well as various Album, Instrumental and Song of the Year awards and a Grammy. He's been granted membership to the Grand Ole Opry, as well as a Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album of 2005. He's now a part of the Nashville 'Super Group' 18 South.
The Special Consensus
The Special Consensus is a four person acoustic bluegrass band that began performing in the Midwest in the spring of 1975.
Bradley Walker
Before he got his recording contract, Bradley Walker had already performed on the Grand Ole Opry, appeared on national television and sung at some of America’s leading bluegrass festivals. One listen to Highway of Dreams, his stunning Rounder Records debut, explains why: Bradley Walker is simply one of the greatest young country singers alive. He belongs to a tradition that includes such outstanding stylists as Vern Gosdin, Merle Haggard, Mel Street, Gene Watson, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and Keith Whitley, all of whom he cites as influences. “It’s not like I’m on any kind of campaign to bring back traditional country music,” says Walker. “It’s just that this is the kind of music I love, the kind of music that makes me happiest. I’ve been singing this way all my life.”
Wynn Varble
Wynn Varble admits he must have been destined for a career in country music. Wynn was raised in the small town of Ellenwood, Georgia, where music was a central part of his life. He recalls his father’s collection of country LP’s and the hours he spent listening to the legends: Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Jimmie Rodgers, whom Wynn credits as being his primary musical influences. He says he did just about anything to hear the newest country record – even if it meant trading in his big brother’s rock albums and catching trouble for it afterwards!
Kindling Stone
Complementing their original and thought-provoking folk songs, Kindling Stone members Chris Moore and Mark Wingate draw from the bounty of wise words and powerful melodies found in two early-American musical traditions: The Sacred Harp and The United Society of Believers, commonly known as the Shakers. These traditions (which blossomed during the 18th and 19th centuries and both continue today) respond to some of the same questions that Kindling Stone explores in their own compositions - questions about community, aging and death, love, family, peace, discipline, nature, prayer and meditation.
Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna’s first name is actually Lorraine. Now you know. She is named after the mother she lost when she was only seven, but whose impact on Lori’s life reverberates to this day. In her sixth album, Lorraine, she considers the influence of her mother, who died at roughly the same age Lori is now, as well as her own place in relationship to her husband, family and community. It is her most personal album to date.
Chatham County Line
Ten years in, the four gentlemen of Chatham County Line have a lot to reflect on: sold out shows in the US and abroad, appearances on national radio & TV, four solid selling records, and four really dirty suits.
The Mosier Brothers
The Rev. Jeff Mosier understands the importance of occasionally re-inventing oneself. Especially when you’ve turned 50 years old, and are suddenly aware that time has become far more precious. “Some people are threatened by starting over,” he says. “Me, I love it. I really do.” In late 2009, Mosier decided to put Blueground Undergrass — the band he had fronted for more than a decade — on hiatus. That group recorded four albums and built a sizable following by combining bluegrass purism with a jam band sensibility. Mosier liked to describe the sound as “psychedelic hick-hop.”
Loves It!
Loves It! formed when two best friends, Vaughn Walters and Jenny Parrott, dreamed of traveling the world together singing songs! Both accomplished solo writers, they were surprised and excited to see their collaborative works sparkle! Besides inventive songwriting that travels between folk, country, indie pop and swing, each is a multi-instrumentalist and the live show features claw hammer banjo, guitars, mandolin, fiddle, and heart felt inspired singing. Vaughn hails from West by God Virginia and brings his love of country, punk rock, and folk to the duo's sound.
Samantha Crain
Anais Nin said, “Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one should preserve it.” That suggestion was the muse impelling the conception of Samantha Crain’s second LP, You (Understood). Each song on this album rests on a juncture with a person, a real person, and it recounts a particular episode of life with that person. The scenes and the people are not especially unusual or stirring but the idea that the precise installment will never, in all of time, happen again was enough to interest Crain. She is taking a microscope to the simplest of human interactions and feelings, turning them over in her hands, looking at them from all angles, measuring them on all sides, and taking them apart, realizing they really are exceptional but only in the smallest ways.
Dala
Juno nominees and winners of the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year, Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine of Dala write and sing in harmony best described as angelic. These two best friends met in their high school music class in 2002; they have since released five albums and toured extensively across North America. Darlings of the Canadian music scene, Dala are now poised to bring their fresh brand of acoustic pop music to the world.
Rebecca Loebe
The deal is this: I've been on the road, making my living as a full time touring indie folk singin songwriter for about four years, give or take (depending on how flexible you're willing to be in your definition of "a living," I guess). Before that I was a part-time touring folk singer and a part time recording studio engineer. Before that I was a full time recording studio engineer (also, at times, a part time cash register specialist at Whole Foods, a college student, a bank teller, the token female on the tech crew, a terrible waitress, Ruth in the Pirates of Penzance and a host of other things). As a rule I try not to put much stock in defining a person by their profession - a dangerous tendency that we have in this culture, I think - but since my brain, my heart, my music, my life, my ego, my livelihood and my identity are all kind of rolled up in one volatile little package that I load into a station wagon, drive all over the country and hoist on stage every night, it's sometimes hard to avoid. I'm working on it.
Anderson East
After releasing well received EP, "Fire Demos," in July 2010, Anderson East's creative ambition steamed ahead with a back to back release of three song EP "Transitive Property," all while gaining interest from a well respected group of music makers who would shortly prove to be the team for East's next endeavor.
ORBO & The Longshots
ORBO & The Longshots is a European rock & roll band from Norway. The band was established in the year 2000 by singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Ole Reinert Berg-Olsen aka ORBO.
Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers
Upon hearing the unique and refreshing sound of Nicki Bluhm, it becomes immediately clear why she is in the midst of a breakout year. Nicki has filled a void in music with her brand of vintage-tinged rocking country soul -- music that's like an enchanting friend you've known for a short while but feels like you've known forever.
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
In 1996 when Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson came together to record what was supposed to be a one-off tribute album to the great songwriter Willie P. Bennett, there was nary a thought that they would eventually become a going concern as a band. At the time, all three members were deeply committed to burgeoning solo careers that they had no intentions of putting on hold.
Painted Desert
Painted Desert started somewhat accidentally. It started with a telephone call from one friend to another, where one friend was seeking direction and the other thought the solution might lie in a song. Heidi threw out the idea to Austin that they might try writing a song together. Austin, who hadn’t really done much co-writing, thought he might give it a shot.
Erin Enderlin
Erin Enderlin has had songs recorded by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Terri Clark, Lee Ann Womack, Adam Brand, and Luke Bryan. These include Jackson’s top 5 hit “Monday Morning Church” that won an NSAI award as one of the ten “Songs I Wish I’d Written” honored in 2005, as well as Lee Ann Womack’s single “Last Call” which won the same award in 2009.
David Olney
“I think of things in a theatrical way,” David Olney says, speaking of his new project, DAVID OLNEY PRESENTS: FILM NOIR, a five-song thematic mini-album. The first in a projected series, the EP comes out May 24, 2011 on Deadbeet Records.
The Roys
THE ROYS – LONESOME WHISTLE Bluegrass music is a unique art form that is as much about feel and instinct as it is technique. Blending proficiency and passion into a musically intoxicating package, The Roys make their debut with LONESOME WHISTLE ( Rural Rhythm Records) , a spirited set that showcases the siblings’ stellar vocals, taut musicianship and enviable songwriting skills.
Humming House
It’s fitting that a song about Django Reinhardt, the father of gypsy-jazz, kicks off the self-titled debut by Humming House. The bandmembers certainly embrace the gypsy spirit, having come from varied corners of the country with all types of instruments and styles to find each other in Nashville. Out January 17, 2012, and produced by Grammy winning Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay) and Vance Powell (Raconteurs and Buddy Guy) the record reflects other eras – utilizing everything from parlor guitar to clanging electric guitar, viola to B3 organ, and even a singing saw. Listen Here
Audrey Auld
Auld is a memorable and uplifting entertainer. She's a spontaneous comedienne and a writer of humorous, provocative and soulful songs. A touring songwriter, Audrey won the 2006 MerleFest Song Contest and performed her winning song 'Losing Faith' with Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen) on guitar to a thrilled MerleFest crowd.
The Driftwood Singers
LA’s Driftwood Singers have gone an un-contemporary route. The duo of Kris Hutson and Pearl Charles play a stripped down kind of folk that one might have heard on front porches in the south of the 1930’s.
Jabe Beyer
In 2007, Jabe Beyer won the BMI Music Maker Songwriting Competition, was nominated for two Boston Music Awards, as well as a nomination in the WFNX FM Best Music Poll. With over 300 songs in his catalog, his namesake band, JABE, won the Abe Oleman Songwriting Award from The Songwriting Hall of Fame as well as a Boston Music Award for Outstanding Debut Album.
Nash Street
Today’s musicians increasingly find themselves at a crossroad. They find that they must choose between originality and building and maintaining an active fan-base. Typically, success depends on their ability to provide the industry and their listeners with music that is truly unique.
W.B. Givens
Raised in the hill country of northern Mississippi, W.B. Givens grew up a stone's throw away from the legendary land where the Delta Blues began. After a substantial stint in Asheville, North Carolina, he developed a strong passion for traditional Bluegrass and Country music.
Pierce Pettis
Pierce Pettis, adored by both critics and public alike, is one of this generation's most masterful songwriters. His music is distinguished by his uncanny ability to capture universals in human experience by drawing on the humor and trials in daily life. Pettis' music can simultaneously pull on our hearts and keep us laughing. The beautiful harmonies, inventive yet subtle percussion, strong guitar, and Pierce's rich vocals are a constant throughout his body of work.
Grace Pettis
Grace Pettis has solidified her reputation as an accomplished songwriter with her recent win at the 2011 Kerrville New Folk Contest, as well as being asked to perform at the2011 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist Showcase.
Erin McDermott
Meet Erin McDermott before the gig, with a Guinness in her hand and a self-effacing wit at the ready, and you’d never suspect the transformation that’s about to take place. But when she sets down her pint and steps onto stage, pay attention. A spruce-topped six string launches into a steam-driving rhythm and her voice rises, gaining power and soaring to a pure quavering vulnerability that makes even the club regulars, the ones who’ve heard it all, stop talking and really listen.
Hogslop String Band
The Hog Slop String Band is a Nashville based old time string band comprised of seven energetic young musicians hailing from Georgia, Tennessee, California and North Carolina. Featuring Casy Meikle and Kevin Martin on fiddles, Graham Sherrill on banjo, Gabe Zorbanos on guitar, Robert Hardy (RH) Dyar Jr. on mandolin, Daniel Allen Frazier Jr. on washboard and Casey McBride on the washtub bass, these boys surely raise a ruckus.
Monroeville
Embracing a crossover sound between progressive bluegrass and acoustic country, Monroeville has caught the attention of music lovers on both sides of the tracks.
Bloodkin
Daniel Hutchens and Eric Carter met each other when they were eight years old. They solidified their early friendship based on a mutual love of baseball, comic books, and rock n roll music. They grew up in West Virginia; much time during their high school years was spent on Skull Run Road, where Eric's family lived, a few miles outside Ravenswood. The boys recall that road as being the site of their first garage band practices.
Leftover Salmon
Looking back over the past 25 years of rootsy, string-based music, the impact of Leftover Salmon is impossible to deny. Formed in Boulder at the end of 1989, the Colorado slamgrass pioneers were one of the first bluegrass bands to add drums and tour rock & roll bars, helping Salmon become a pillar of the jam band scene and unwitting architects of the jam grass genre.
Henry Wagons
WAGONS are unanimously lauded as one of Australia’s great acts. Led by the rare charisma of frontman Henry Wagons they offer heavy doses of stomping outlaw country, irresistible crooning and classic pop.
The One & Only Bill Davis
The One and Only Bill Davis originally hails from Manitowoc, WI. He has lived in Chicago, Vail, and Austin. These days he resides in Nashville TN, where he writes songs and commercial jingles. Aside from his original music, he is the founder/frontman of 5X Beaver(classic country & western) and The Hard Rock Zombies(hard-rock/multimedia/horror-soundtracks). He also has played in many bands locally including: Tony Weeks and the Tony Weeks Band Featuring Tony Weeks, Thumbs Up!, & Pizza Party U.S.A.
Paul Kramer and Swing Street
Paul Kramer is a jack-of-all-trades; forget the "master of none" part. And having forged a successful career as a highly respected sideman to the stars‚ he is now stepping out as an artist in his own right‚ and in several directions at once!
Lonesome River Band
The Lonesome River Band continues their reputation as one of the most respected names in bluegrass music. Longtime band member and award-winning banjo picker, Sammy Shelor has put together a wealth of talent that includes: Brandon Rickman (lead vocals and rhythm guitar); Mike Hartgrove (fiddle); Barry Reed (bass); and newest member, Randy Jones (mandolin and vocals) all performing the distinctive LRB sound fans love.
SHEL
SHEL is Sarah, Hannah, Eva and Liza, four classically trained musicians who happen to be sisters ranging in age from 18-23. From the artist colony of Fort Collins, Colorado, SHEL is sophisticated and youthful, emotional and lighthearted, classic and eccentric. SHEL’s engaging live show is marked with a prodigy’s creativity and a veteran’s instinct for entertaining. Audiences delight with their unique songwriting style and fresh, new sound.
Lilly Winwood
Lilly Winwood, daughter of Steve Winwood, is already showing signs of taking over the family business with her guitar playing.
Gareth Dunlop
Gareth Dunlop began his music career at age 14 by trying to play his Fathers old Yamaha guitar. After a few basic chords were established it quickly became an addiction to play and learn more and more about music.
Grant Farm
Grant Farm is a refreshing harvest of a band from the fertile Front Range of Colorado. This much-anticipated four-piece represents the fruition of the efforts of National Flatpicking Champion Tyler Grant, one of the hottest and best-known guitar players on the scene today. Tyler was a member of The Drew Emmitt Band and The Emmitt-Nershi Band from 2005 until 2010 when he went on his own to pursue his calling as a bandleader. In Grant Farm he is partnered with dynamic drummer Chris Misner, also of the Drew Emmitt Band and Bill Nershi's Blue Planet. The quartet is completed by funky phenom Adrian "Ace" Engfer on bass and the prodigious Sean Foley on keyboards. Grant Farm has established a movement based on their connection to roots music of all kinds, devotion to their fans and family, and their brilliant performances of Rocky Mountain Rock and Roll.
The Wood Brothers
Two brothers decide to form a band, adapting the blues, folk and other roots‐music sounds they loved as kids into their own evocative sound and twining their voices in the sort of high‐lonesome harmony blend for which sibling singers are often renowned. While that’s not a terribly unusual story, the Wood Brothers took a twisty path to their ultimate collaboration. Indeed, they pursued separate projects for some 15 years before joining forces.
Leah Korbin
My name is Leah Rose Korbin and I am currently studying Songwriting and Music Business in Nashville, TN at Belmont University. I’ve been writing and recording songs since I was a freshman in high school and I expect to eventually write for other artists and soundtracks.
Taylor Brashears
Taylor Brashears is a nineteen year old singer, songwriter, and multi-intstrumentalist born and raised in Nashville, TN. She fell in love with bluegrass music at the age of nine and began playing shows at sixteen.
Tim & Nicki Bluhm
Tim & Nicki Bluhm are the husband/wife team of singer/songwriter Nicki Bluhm--the "It Girl" of the San Francisco music scene--and Tim Bluhm, singer/songwriter/guitarist of rock band The Mother Hips.
Walter Egan
Walter Egan is one of the most talented and underrated artists whose music I’ve ever had the privilege to hear. Although known almost exclusively for his late 1970’s hit “Magnet and Steel,” Egan is an incredibly prolific artist who has continued to write and record numerous songs, often releasing multiple albums in the same year.
Langhorne Slim
It is a special time for Langhorne Slim as he is so proud to announce and present Be Set Free, his mighty third album being released by Kemado Records. One of the most endearing and standout qualities of Slim’s live shows is the sureness that one is always entering a genuine gospel-like musical experience full of little miracles.
Old Union
Embarks the Chuck Foster penned, "Sweet Freedom". Poignant lyrics mixed with righteous guitar, monstrous backbone and Foster's rollicking keys make up the ingredients of OLD UNION's rock and roll formula. Foster, who began playing the keys because "everybody plays guitar", melds an eclectic jukebox of influence alongside his boogie style piano. Ranging from Waylon Jennings to Muddy Waters and all points in between, Old Union defies the boundaries of genre music. They are parts old country, funk, gospel, rock and roll and Americana.
Todd Burge
Over the last two decades, Todd Burge, has played everything from Alternative Rock to Bluegrass, performing over 100 shows per year in venues as diverse as CBGB’s, The Country Music Hall of Fame and the Kennedy Center. Burge is a repeat guest on Public Radio’s Mountain Stage and has been called the “dean of WV songwriters, the best we have”, by the show’s host, Larry Groce.
Off The Wagon
..OFF THE WAGON delivers a hard driving, no nonsense brand of bluegrass music...the way it was meant to be played. Combining bluesy numbers, lively fiddle tunes, and an occasional old timey tune, OFF THE WAGON takes pride in the fact that we keep it traditional. No frills, no cutey-pie contemporary crap, just plain old working man's bluegrass. The kind that would have made Monroe proud. OFF THE WAGON can be seen and heard in and around Nashville at venues like the World Famous Station Inn, Norm's River Roadhouse, and the 5 Spot.
Stephanie Taylor and the Boxty Bluegrass Band
People always ask me what type of music I play. I find that question difficult to answer because I play it all, classical, bluegrass, Irish, country, rock. I’d rather tell people about the music I love because bluegrass music and bluegrass musicians are second to none. Just throw me into a bluegrass jam with the amazing Nashville pickers and I’m in heaven. But bluegrass, like me, is not all that easy to define because it is influenced by all genres of music.
Ryan Tanner
Some songs are novels. Others are mantras. Some are soda pop and candy while others are bitter pills. Ryan Tanner’s songs are, for the most part, none of those. They’re photographs. Snapshots. A truthful, beautiful, sometimes sad, sometimes contented photographic approach to one scene, one moment. Tanner has been lauded for his “knack for turning words into images” (IN Utah) and “spare songs of love and roaming” (Salt Lake City Weekly) for good reason.
Pieta Brown
Pieta Brown is a striking poet-songwriter with a seductive voice and an unmistakable style. With one foot in her Iowa home and one in Alabama where she grew up, she is a mercurial sort--a free-spirited beauty who is both self-possessed and disarmingly unaffected. Not easily categorized, her music is a unique blend of alt-country, folk, blues and indie-rock that speaks to music fans around the world and has garnered rave reviews from the likes of the BBC and Boston Globe, as well as a variety of hip music blogs and indie radio stations. She was recently featured on Amos Lee’s new hit album Mission Bell along with Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson and has toured with such diverse artists as Mark Knopfler, Ani Difranco, Calexico and John Prine.
Ben Sollee
Ben Sollee wants you to experience all the beauty and banality that life has to offer. It’s a serious request, and his enthusiasm is genuine. Armed with a cello, Sollee is canvassing the country, sometimes by bicycle, imploring folks to rediscover the connections between music, art, film, dance, their community, and personal relationships.
John McEuen with sons Jonathan and Nathan
John McEuen is a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which formed in August, 1966. They are now in their 45th year and have continually played over 7,500 shows and traveled 3 million miles to do it. They have performed on over 200 television shows. Solo John has done another 2,500+ shows.
Wheeler Brothers
Formed in Austin, WHEELER BROTHERS have emerged as one of the most exciting bands breaking out of Texas. The five-piece act composed of Austin natives combines the gutsy indie vibe of the modern central Texas music scene with the longing strains of time-honored Texas folk. Brothers Nolan, Tyler and Patrick Wheeler met Danny Matthews at LSU where they spent their afternoons picking guitars and swapping stories in the bar rooms of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The Pa's Fiddle Band
Pa’s Fiddle Project brings the great music of the Little House on the Prairie series to our ears again. There are 127 songs embedded in Laura’s books, music that she heard in her mind’s ear as she wrote and music she wanted her readers to know,
