Upcoming Artists
Mike Farris
In 2007, when Mike Farris debuted his critically acclaimed Salvation in Lights, people who'd never heard of the former Screamin' Cheetah Wheelie's frontman, music business people and retailers who thought they'd "heard it all and seen it all," stood with mouths agape, eyes like saucers, aghast at how that sound, that soul, could come from such an unlikely source.
Holy Ghost Tent Revival
Characterized as "explosively intoxicating," this Greensboro, NC six-piece can only be described in terms of what has already been defined, for there is no way to narrow them into any perfect genre. Mixing euphonium with banjo, and acoustic guitar with drums, keys, and electric bass, Holy Ghost Tent Revival is an eclectic mix of so many things -- dirty jazz, ragtime, folk, roots country/bluegrass, big band and rock and roll.
The Two Man Gentlemen Band
The Two Man Gentlemen Band’s original brand of raucous, retro vaudevillian swing is fast becoming an underground sensation. Three short years ago, The Gentlemen were playing marathon sets for tips in New York City’s parks and subways. These days, they traverse the country incessantly, playing hundreds of shows per year for legions of dedicated fans and even catching the attention of big-names like Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson, for whom The Gents opened a handful of shows last summer.
Tristen
The Chicago-raised Tristen also took to the stage at an exceptionally tender age, fashioning smart pop tunes that quickly caught the ears of fans and industry folks alike. After scoring a publishing deal in L.A. that earned a handful of her tunes placement in television and film, Tristen relocated to Music City. It was there the young artist developed her style, branching out from her radio roots, and instead injecting her innately playful pop sensibilities into a newly introspective brand of folk.
Kim Richey
"Kim Richey would rule the charts in a land where Marshall Crenshaw was king, Aimee Mann queen, and the The Beatles never put out another record after Revolver." Steve Horowitz, popmatters.com
Missy Raines & The New Hip
A beloved figure in bluegrass and a pioneering force in acoustic music, Missy Raines' adventurous musical spirit has always been her compass. Launching her career with experimental bluegrass outfit Cloud Valley, Raines next toured the country with Eddie and Martha Adcock. Soon she was lending her bass skills to the Masters (Adcock, Kenny Baker, Josh Graves and Jesse McReynolds). Raines joined Claire Lynch's popular Front Porch Band, and developed a successful duo with band mate Jim Hurst. Their CDs and live performances pushed the envelope on how much music two people with two acoustic instruments can make. A stint with the Brother Boys opened Raines' eyes to the value of spontaneity and immediacy in her musical approach.
Doyle Lawson And Quicksilver
I was born on April 20, 1944 in Ford Town, a part of Sullivan County, near Kingsport, TN, to Leonard and Minnie Lawson. I have two brothers, James and Les, and one sister, Colleen.
My Name Is John Michael
In late 2007, New Orleanian John Michael Rouchell decided it was time for a change in his life. He set out to write, record, and release one song a week for the entire year of 2008 under the name MyNameIsJohnMichael (MNIJM). What began as a solo project with Rouchell tackling every instrument and even engineering duties on occasion soon grew to the huge project it is today with an ever-expanding following.
John Francis
Born in New York City and raised in rural Pennsylvania, John Francis started to show his musical gifts at an early age. The Gospel and Folk music of his upbringing happened on Sunday mornings swaying with the church choir, or at home gathered around the family piano with his mother at the helm. The son of musicians, and Christian ministers, Francis grew up playing music with his parents, in front of crowds. As a young child, John Francis was entranced by his father's Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and his mother's Neil Young, Dylan, and Sly & the Family Stone. He recalls, "the first cassette I owned was 'Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits', and I wore that cassette out quickly".
Allen Thompson
Take a look at Allen Thompson’s record collection, and you’ll see names like the Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, the Black Crowes, and the Band -- groups that feel more like musical communities than straightforward rock bands.
Malcolm Holcombe
Years ago, following Malcolm Holcombe’s career could be as unnerving and high-wire suspenseful as his riveting live performances. His brilliance was obvious to a core of fans and some attentive music journalists, but so were the self-destructive tendencies that floated around this mercurial man like wraiths. We worried at times that we’d have to add Holcombe to the What Might Have Been pantheon with Hank Williams, Jaco Pastorius and Charlie Parker. We imagined talking about Holcombe in the past tense to the too many who’d never been able to hear his shockingly truthful and affecting voice.
Pert Near Sandstone
Pert Near Sandstone emerged from the same roots-based musical hotbed in Minneapolis that gave birth to Bob Dylan, The Jayhawks and Spider John Koerner. Originally formed by four friends from the same hometown, Pert Near Sandstone formed unintentionally over weekly, whiskey-fueled picking sessions in an old house in St. Paul, MN. They decided without any real intentions to start playing shows and the chemistry of their music and friendships, even early on, left people feeling like the party followed them everywhere they went.
J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices
J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices play Country-Goddamned-Music. Period. Sick and tired of the modern Pop-Country filth broadcast shamelessly and persistently across our beautiful countrysides, The Tough Choices set out to right the wrongs done to a music so classically and quintessentially American. As we speak, Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Carl Smith, and countless other champions of Honky Tonk are rolling in their graves, groaning with disgust over the watered-down contemporary excuse that Nashville presents us for Country Music. Save a few Randy Travis gems and Alan Jackson hits, this flim-flam is pathetic, at best.
Gretchen Peters
The title of Gretchen Peters’ new Hello Cruel World is a pun on the famed exit line — a joke that, like the lovely melodies and deliciously textured arrangements framing these 11 songs — sweetens this captivating music spun from a year of turmoil. The Grammy nominated singer-songwriter from Nashville calls Hello Cruel World her “most close-to-the-bone work, written at a time when I felt absolutely fearless about telling the truth.” Peters and her guest Rodney Crowell sing, “life is still a beautiful disaster,” on “Dark Angel.” But Peters keeps the accent on the “beautiful” throughout her ninth disc, with both her poetic language and the spare, evocative sounds she created in the studio to support her organic story-telling.
Martin Family Circus
Ever been to the circus before? The bright colors,the band of characters, the storied backgrounds…just plain fun! So what happens when you combine The Oak Ridge Boys, Marty Stuart, Exile, and The Grand Ole Opry, with 4 kids ranging in age from 4 to 13? Representing four generations of musical heritage, you get the Martin Family Circus!
Scott Simontacchi
Charleston native Scott Simontacchi has been a member of Nashville's artistic community for over eight years. Forming his early artistic career in the music industry as a songwriter and performer, Scott has worked with Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Sam Bush, Tim O'Brien, and other roots music icons. Much like songwriting, photography is another medium for storytelling.
Trace Bundy
Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. His music is poetry in motion, using harmonics, looping, multiple capos, and his unique banter and stage presence to deliver an unforgettable live concert experience. Listening to his intricate arrangements is one thing, but seeing the fan-dubbed "Acoustic Ninja" play live confounds even the most accomplished music lovers as to how one person can do all that with just two hands and ten fingers.
Josh Oliver
East TN native Josh Oliver has spent the past five years as a side man, touring all over the United States, singing harmony, playing lead guitar and piano with the likes of the everybodyfields, Sam Quinn + Japan 10, and Jill Andrews. And now, with his debut album, Troubles, he's taking a stab at being out front. The album features both original and traditional material, including a unique take on Townes Van Zandt's, "White Freightliner Blues," and a mournful rendering of the Carter Family tune, "I Never Will Marry."
Goose Creek Symphony
Goose Creek Symphony is considered by many to be one of the most original bands of their time. Major record labels (Capitol & Columbia) of the 60s/early 70s didn’t know what to do with a band that played a mixture of rock and roll, folk, jazz and country with an undeniable hillbilly influence, a hippie attitude and a reckless sense of instrumental daring. They used horns and fiddles as well as effects and blended it with psychedelic rock and roll. The true definition of "Cosmic American Music".
Matthew Mayfield
My journey started in 1992 when I fell in love with Guns N’ Roses after seeing Slash get up on the piano for the finale of “November Rain.” When I was 9, I decided I was either going to be a bank robber/surfer or play in a rock ‘n roll band. I’m not brave enough to ride the big waves and not radical enough to rob banks, so here I am with a guitar in my hand. I think my mother is very happy with that call.
Kellin Watson
Kellin Watson is a nationally-touring singer-songwriter, whose award-winning sound blends elements of blues, pop, folk, and soul. Hailing from Asheville, NC, Kellin draws on her Appalachian roots to bring both power and rawness to her music. With four albums out, Kellin's music is an ever-evolving collection of work rooted in soul, and folk that have brought her to where she is today.
Callaghan
At some point in the early stages of an artist’s career, there’s inevitably that defining moment—an ultimate test of one’s fortitude and willingness to gamble on a dream—that either sends said artist back to their day job, dejected, or provides the final mental push needed to become something greater…something glorious. For UK-born singer-songwriter Callaghan, that all-or-nothing proposition was manifested at 35,000 feet, in a flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Eileen Rose
“I really have turned into a bit of gypsy, by accident,” reflects Eileen Rose, whose fifth album, Luna Turista, recorded with her band The Holy Wreck, is released on 5 October 2009 on Floating World Records. Although recorded in her adopted home town of Nashville, Tennessee, these songs have travelled all over the world. They're songs of experience, tanned and weathered, distressed and distilled, rained and shone upon. The album title itself comes from a particular moment of silvery magic the band experienced in Italy in the Summer of 2009, as Rose recalls.
Eileen Rose & The Holy Wreck
Singer/songwriter Eileen Rose plays her own unique brand of Americana music. She has released 5 critically acclaimed albums, had songs featured in a Disney movie and several major television shows, and has toured with the likes of Ryan Adams, Judy Collins and The Jayhawks. Her richly melodic, starkly emotive songs and electrifying live shows have gained her a clutch of devoted fans across Europe and the US.
Jason White
With that opening line, Jason White invites us in and sets the confidential tone of his latest release The Longing. What gets White, and by extension, the characters that inhabit his rich song vignettes, through their days, is a desire for something beyond the current limits of their lives. They hunger after what’s beautiful, what’s real, and often, what’s nameless and unattainable. They dream of new beginnings. They struggle for answers. They reach for love and fall short, but never quite give up.
David Mead
After signing to RCA in 1998, David Mead released a pair of critically-acclaimed records, The Luxury of Time and Mine and Yours. Honing a songwriting gift that embraces elements of Broadway, The Beatles, Prog and New Wave, Mead has since continued to release albums (Indiana, Wherever You Are, Tangerine, Almost and Always) full of “infectious melodies” (The Guardian) sung in a voice “honeyed and compelling” (Entertainment Weekly) while touring relentlessly over five continents, sharing the stage with the likes of Fountains of Wayne, Joe Jackson and Shelby Lynne. His music has enjoyed exposure in television and film, as well as praise from some unexpected admirers: “David Mead is one of my favorite singer-songwriters,” said John Mayer, and Taylor Swift recently covered his song “Nashville” in concert. In 2011, Mead’s fans rallied around him and raised over $20,000 to fund the recording of his new album, Dudes, a work of pure pleasure filled with humor, mystery, and emotional wallop.
Leigh Nash
Leigh Nash is perhaps best known as the pixie-like singer with the heavenly voice from Sixpence None the Richer, a CCM group that enjoyed considerable fame in 1999 with the single "Kiss Me." She had started the band at age 14 with schoolmate Matt Slocum. Nearly half her life later, at age 27, Sixpence None the Richer split, albeit on good terms. Before the band called it quits, Nash had often considered working solo, if and when she would be band-less. Though the end of Sixpence left her a little distraught, Nash realized it was time to move on, and she and her husband moved from Nashville to Los Angeles. Soon after, Nash gave birth to a son. She decided to return to her roots a little, which consisted of Christian and country music, though she remained in touch with her pop influences. Nash's original musical inspiration came from classic country heroines Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and Tanya Tucker -- whose songs she used to learn on guitar long before the Sixpence days.
The Cumberland Collective
The Cumberland Collective is a group of independent singer/songwriters and musicians from across the U.S.
Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys
Alejandro Escovedo is one with his muse and his music. Over a lifetime spent traversing the bridge between words and melody, he has ranged over an emotional depth that embraces all forms of genre and presentation, a resolute voice that weathers the emotional terrain of our lives, its celebrations and despairs, landmines and blindsides and upheavals and beckoning distractions, in search for ultimate release and the healing truth of honesty. Sometimes it takes the form of barely contained rage, the rock of punk amid kneeled feedback; sometimes it caresses and soothes, a whispery harmony riding the air of a nightclub room, removed from amplification, within the audience.
Flea Market Hustlers
The Flea Market Hustlers have been on a four-year quest for music, mayhem, and the perfect taco. The Hustlers' unique sound has continued to evolve, with the band playing festivals all over the Southeast, as well as weekly shows in their hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Their energetic, funky jam-grass style has cultivated an enthusiastic following.
The Willies
Jen Jones (The Camaros) and Dave Willie (9 Parts Devil, Jet Black Factory, CPS) team up to create a genre busting vehicle for new songs and a stellar Nashville band. The Willies started writing songs together in '09. The goal was to combine Dave's punk rock influences, through the lyrics, with Jen's jazz inspired piano playing, and allow for a lethal dose of Louvin Bros. style harmonies.
Delta Moon
Delta Moon’s music is a strong mix of personalities and sounds. A chance meeting in an Atlanta, GA music store brought the two founders, Tom Gray and Mark Johnson, together. Tom tried to sell Mark a Dobro out of the back of his van. Tom remembers the girl with Mark whispering, “Let’s get out of here.” Mark didn’t buy the guitar, but the two exchanged phone numbers and soon were playing together regularly in coffee shops and barbecue joints around Atlanta. Mark came up with the name Delta Moon after a pilgrimage to Muddy Waters’ cabin near Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Dirty Bourbon River Show
The Dirty Bourbon River Show made their debut at the legendary Tipitina’s during homegrown night on March 11th, 2009. After picking up bassman Jimmy Williams that summer, they embarked upon their first regional tour of the south. The contagion of their whiskey-soaked New Orleans eclecticism began to spread fast. That fall they recorded their debut studio album, Volume One.
Drivin N Cryin
Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ is a hard rock band that splits the difference between heavy metal and country music and swerves back and forth between the two while lyrically plowing the rich fields of Southern subject matter.
The Carpenter Ants
Even the best bands come and go but the Carpenter Ants have been around – with virtually the same lineup – for 25 years. The Ants have defied the odds and outlasted most of their peers for a number of reasons. First and foremost, after more than 2,000 performances, regardless of the occasion, the band never fails to have a good time – and that feeling is contagious.
The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Right out of rural Indiana comes The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. This fingerpickin', scrubboard scratchin', drum-bucket country blues trio conjure up the likes of such greats as Son House and Charley Patton.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
Jonathan Scales is a classically trained composer turned steel pan maestro who takes in influences from Igor Stravinsky to Kanye West and uses every element in between as a basis for his mind-bending compositions. Cody Wright’s technical yet melodic style on the bass pulls from masters Bobby Vega & Jaco Pastorius. His pick-style provides the harmonic foundation for Scales’ sound, while his solos leave audiences awestruck. Drummer Phill Bronson drives the Fourchestra’s time-shifting, modern grooves with a style stemming from his extensive background as a percussionist.
