The Felice Brothers
The Felice Brothers and their long time friends and band mates Greg Farley and Christmas Clapton, come to us from the Catskill Mountains, where a homegrown sound has been working its way through the bloodlines for generations. Their rambling journey so far has brought them from busking in New York City subway stations, to tours across the world that have included enthusiastically received performances at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, All Points West, Outside Lands, and Langerado. A defining memory to date might be their appearance at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival. A summer afternoon thunderstorm rolled in and began to douse the land. While it electrified the atmosphere, the rain had the adverse effect of cutting power to The Felice Brother’s stage. After many assurances that power would be restored, The Felice Brothers were informed it was a lost cause, and that they’d have to make due. Without hesitation the band jumped down off the stage and began playing acoustic while stomping around barefoot in the mud that had formed on account of the ongoing downpour. What might have led some to call it a wash and leave was turned into another epic show that drew upon the familiarity and casual ease of the backyard bbq sessions that took place at their dad’s porch on Sunday afternoons during their first days as a group. The audience that day, like others before and after, left utterly converted. Titled with a phrase drawn from the pages of Mark Twain, Yonder Is The Clock is a nod to all of the American ghosts that lend their narrative and characters to the Felice Brothers’ April 7th release. Their studio was built from the remains of an abandoned chicken coop and it was there over the summer and fall of 2008 that they wrote and recorded this new collection of songs. Presented by Team Love Records, Yonder Is The Clock is teaming with tales of love, death, betrayal, baseball, train stations, phantoms, pandemics, jail cells, rolling rivers and frozen winter nights. This is music that hasn’t lost sight of the history of the land from which it came, and that quality alone makes The Felice Brothers the next great American band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1JnVfO29Ck
Darrell Scott
Much of the commentary about Darrell Scott’s career has focused on the songs he’s written that have been recorded by famous names and voices – those known in music industry parlance as “artists.” But then there’s the actual word artist, whose definition has nothing to do with radio hits and red carpets. We refer of course to those who create artifacts of aesthetic and intellectual contemplation and wonder, built from experience, skill, reflection and emotional intent. That’s an artist. And that, at the end of the day, is Darrell Scott.
This is made abundantly clear on A Crooked Road, Scott’s sixth solo studio album. Recorded at home and entirely performed by Scott on a variety of instruments, A Crooked Road falls somewhere between a carefully crafted memoir and an arresting breach of privacy. From the deepest containers of memory, it recounts the bruises and blessings of 30 years of love relationships, stirring the heart with its intimacy and with the enthralling warmth and strength of Scott’s rare voice and musicianship. It is certainly the most introspective and intense project of Scott’s career, spilling over from one CD onto a second, and arranged as a journey with instrumental interludes and a sense of purpose that invites the listener to follow Scott along the crooked road of life, from romantic young man to drama king to lone poet.
That recording took place in unusual isolation. Scott generally calls upon peers from the top ranks of roots and Americana music for his projects, but this seemed like the right time to realize a life-long aspiration of making an album by himself. When Darrell was 16, his father, a remarkable songwriter and singer in his own right, purchased a four-track, reel-to-reel recorder. Darrell virtually adopted it, spending many long nights in a shed, laying down parts and harmonizing with himself on a variety of instruments. It was a vital part of his musical schooling, as he figured out how instruments sound together and how to layer parts with grace and taste. While he did engage the help of his regular recording engineer Stephanie Hudacek at a console one floor below his living room “studio,” otherwise Scott worked alone. He would lay down a baseline performance of a song with the right backing instrument, whether guitar, piano or mandocello. Then he added parts, sometimes a single line and in some cases all the parts of a fleshed out band. It is perhaps no surprise that he dedicated the project to guitar pioneer Les Paul, the father of multi-track recording, who died while the album was being recorded at age 94.
As for the music itself, longtime fans of Scott will find a lot that is familiar here: that soul-saturated voice, somewhere between Lowell George and James Taylor, the dazzling instrumental chops and the unfailing judgment about what makes a song sturdy enough to stand up to the wind and weather of time. The album opens with the title track, a simple tune that throws back a bit to the folk-pop of the early 1970s. It lays out the geography of the album to come. “I will sing a lonesome song to anyone who’ll listen,” he says, invoking the muse and inviting the kind of active attention the album merits.
It’s a special album from a special time in the life of a special recording artist. Its hand-crafted feeling evokes the integrity and permanence of a well-made instrument or an expertly done painting. It may be more somber and vulnerable than Scott’s previous releases, but for that reason it has that much more emotional directness and power. It is truly a self-portrait of the artist as an older and wiser man.
Robinella and the CCstringband Reunion
Cruz and Robinella Contreras’ careers 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 into a wholly unique genre. The combination of Robinella’s honey-sweet vocals with Cruz’s inventive approach to music and the addition of fiddle, mandolin, piano, electric guitar and drums captivated audiences. The music that they produced was impossible to classify until a new term started being banded about: “Americana.” The CCstringband has been credited as one of the catalysts for the development of this genre.
They released their first album, self-titled Robinella and The CCstringband, in 2000, and quickly followed it up with No Saint, No Prize in 2001. Both were on the independent label Big Gulley Records. With a few simple twists of fate, what followed was a whirlwind of rapid success – Columbia Records liked what they heard and signed Robinella in 2002. The label took seven songs from the band’s two prior albums and released them as the CD Blanket for My Soul and then released a full album in 2003, Robinella and the CCstringband. This led to a national tour including opening for such artists as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Earl Scruggs, Nickel Creek, Robert Earl Keen, Kasey Chambers, Del McCoury and Rodney Crowell as well as an appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and a music video on CMT for their hit single, “Man Over.” The band performed on NPR’s “Mountain Stage,” appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and were featured on PBS’s “SoundStage” and public radio’s “eTown.” In 2006, Robinella and the CCstringband was nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Awards and released their fourth album, Solace for the Lonely, on Dualtone Records.
But then life, as it has a tendency to do, threw a few curveballs their way. The couple, at the time new parents, divorced just as Solace for the Lonely was being released and with that, the CCstringband dissolved. Robinella continued as a solo artist while Cruz went on a completely different path and started a new band, The Black Lillies, who have quickly made an impact on the national Americana scene. With this being the case, a Robinella and the CCstringband reunion was not something anyone expected – but in December, a last minute cancellation and a favor to a friend led to just that. With only two days’ notice of the reunion, fans clamored for tickets and the show sold out and resulted in standing ovations, multiple encores and a whole lot of buzz.
Now, by popular demand, Robinella and the CCstringband will once again reunite for a very special performance at Rhythm n’ Blooms.
Larry Keel and Natural Bridge
Larry Keel and Natural Bridge is bringing a fresh and spontaneous new look, sound, and energy into the season! Keel is described by some reviewers as the most powerful, innovative and all-out exhilarating Acoustic Americana flatpicker performing today. Period. Keel has weathered the changing tides of traditional bluegrass, country, jam rock, roots reggae, and even the currently emerging indie-alt scene always honoring the pioneers that introduced Bluegrass and Mountain Music into popular culture. He is an ever evolving musical force that stands in ongoing defiance to all genre expectations. Don’t bother trying to pigeonhole the music of Larry Keel. He’s untamed and untamable! The mission is always clear: to let technical skill, honest emotion and fearlessness connect the playing and singing to audiences, to entertain and to thoroughly ENJOY the experience!
Keel has absorbed the best lessons from his Bluegrass family upbringing, both sides deeply steeped in the rich mountain music culture and heritage of Southwest Virginia. From there, he has always integrated that solid musical grounding and natural-born talent with his own incomparable approach to flatpicking the guitar and original music. The combination is pretty irresistible, and has earned Keel the highest respect and billing among the top acoustic musicians alive, and some now gone: Tony Rice, Vassar Clements, Sam Bush, Del McCoury, John Hartford, Bill Monroe, Mike Marshall, and Darol Anger to name a few. And his fierce, high-spirited energy also appeals to young rockers, jammers and alt country pickers and fans who are equally drawn to Keel’s deep rumbling voice, his earthy and imaginative song-writing, and his down-home-gritty-good-time charm. Keel regularly collaborates with JamBand and Rock giants Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, Jorma Kaukonen, David Nelson, Jim Lauderdale, members of String Cheese Incident and Leftover Salmon, amongst others.
Joining the award-winning Flatpickin legend to make up Natural Bridge are the vastly talented Mark Schimick on mandolin and vocals, Larry’s life-long picker pal (and fishing phenom) Will Lee on soulful, blues-grass style 5-string banjo and penetrating lead vocals, and wife Jenny Keel with her impeccable timing and solid, yet imaginative bass lines as well as tenor vocal harmonies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3GTpP6tkSA
Scott Miller
Combining the emotional honesty and intelligence of a singer/songwriter with the swagger and enthusiasm of a rock & roller, Scott Miller first made a name for himself as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter with the superb pop/rock band the V-Roys, before establishing himself as a solo artist.
The youngest of three children born to a Pennsylvania Dutch father and a mother from the Deep South, Miller was born and raised in Swoope, VA, where he developed a youthful fascination with the Civil War and Appalachian history that resonated in his later work. In his early teens, Miller picked up a guitar that once belonged to his older brother, and taught himself to play using a chord book published by The Reader’s Digest. Miller developed an interest in songwriting while attending college at William and Mary, where he received degrees in American history and Russian and Soviet studies. In 1990, he moved to Knoxville, TN, where he began pursuing a career in music while supporting himself doing construction work. Miller developed a local following as a solo acoustic artist with a repertoire of dryly humorous satiric material, but he began reaching a larger audience in 1994 when he formed the V-Roys. The V-Roys’ blend of Southern twang, power pop hooks, and rock & roll energy soon won them a wildly enthusiastic fan base in Tennessee and caught the ear of songwriter Steve Earle, who signed them to his E-Squared record label and produced their 1996 debut album, Just Add Ice and the 1998 follow-up, All About Town. In 1999, after recording a live album, the V-Roys amicably agreed to call it a day with a Farewell Millennium concert at Knoxville’s Tennessee Theater on December 31, 1999.
Miller wasted no time launching a solo career, performing as an acoustic solo artist again and hosting singer/songwriter showcases at Knoxville clubs. Miller also scored a publishing deal with Welk Music and self-released a live album culled from his solo acoustic shows, entitled Are You with Me? Miller next signed a recording contract with Sugar Hill Records, best known for their roster of bluegrass artists, but his first album for the label found him diving back into rock & roll. Thus Always to Tyrants, a loose concept album about his Southern roots and one man’s journey to emotional maturity, faced a handful of Appalachian ballads against a healthy dose of full-blown electric rock. The album also included a revolving lineup of musicians Miller dubbed the Commonwealth, including former John Mellencamp guitarist David Grissom, Don Coffey, Jr., of Superdrag, and fiddler Tim O’Brien. Following the release of Thus Always to Tyrants, Miller assembled a touring version of the Commonwealth to support the album, featuring Rob McNelley on guitar, Jared Reynolds on bass, and Jimmy Lister on drums. An EP entitled Way arrived in 2003, followed by Upside Downside later in the year. Citation, Miller’s third full-length release for Sugar Hill, dropped on March 14, 2006. The live Reconstruction arrived in 2007.
Danny Barnes
Part Southern gentleman, part humble artist, Barnes is being more than a bit self-effacing with this statement. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and genre-bending artists of his craft, Barnes’ musical interests are both varied and adventurous, and he incorporates that versatility into a progressive approach to an instrument that is musically polarizing and steeped in tradition. Although he demonstrates an appreciation for the history of the bluegrass, country, and folk music from which the banjo’s reputation was born, his inventive take is what truly separates him from his contemporaries…using the banjo as his ‘weapon of choice’ to play non-traditional music like rock, fusion, and jazz with electronic percussion and loop elements.
He has come to redefine the banjo’s perceived image in an eclectic career for which genre definitions have merely been a polite suggestion. From his early days as the driving force behind the impressive Austin-based Bad Livers, a band of pioneering Americana missionaries, through a prolific solo career and the development of his trademark ‘folkTronics’ project, a startling approach that incorporates digital technology and various effect pedals to stretch the tonal range of the instrument, Barnes has always listened to his proudly offbeat inner voice.
His skills as an instrumentalist and his open embrace and infectious love of music for music’s sake, have brought him to share the stage and record with a wide array of marquee artists that reads like a whos who among broad musical landscapes, ranging from bluegrass greats Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush, newgrass stars Yonder Mountain String band, to Americana artists Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, and Nickel Creek, to Jam friendly Government Mule, Leftover Salmon, and Keller Williams, to jazz and blues instrumentalists Bill Frisell, Chuck Leavell, and John Popper, to members of the punk and metal Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and Ministry. Yet, on his debut album Pizza Box, it is his uncanny songwriting voice that steps to the forefront.
Having played several shows with Dave Matthews Band in recent years, Danny was invited to perform on the band’s latest platinum release, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Throughout the process, the two had become friends, and Matthews’ enthusiasm for Barnes brought Pizza Box of work to light, with Matthews even contributing backing vocals on some of the songs (including lead single, “Overdue”) and the cover art illustration of the album.
According to Matthews, “Danny Barnes’ Pizza Box is my favorite new music, my favorite rock record, and my favorite country record. From the first time he sat down and played me “Road”, I new his next record was going to be great, but I didn’t expect this. The music is smart and soulful, and the lyrics are profound. It is heaven and earth. It is Americana, from the back porch to the pulpit, shattered dreams on angels wings. I can’t stop listening. In the haze of over produced, “perfect” recordings, Danny Barnes spent less than two weeks banging out an album that may well save your soul.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTOG1KwBw4c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAPSloMvi6g
Joe Pug
For the moment, Joe Pug has it figured out, career if not life: Just write the songs that have to be written, play them for anybody who will listen, tour as if you had no home. Oh, and give your music away. Which isn’t to say he won’t be selling his debut full-length offering, Messenger ( Released 2/16/2010 on Lightning Rod). But free is how he came to make it, more or less.
It worked like this, for Joe Pug anyhow: The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, he sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest.
Pug packed up his belongings and pointed his car towards Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn’t picked up since his teenage years. Using ideas originally slated for a play he was writing called “Austin Fish,” Pug began creating the sublime lyrical arrangements that would become the Nation of Heat EP.
The songs were recorded fast and fervently at a Chicago studio where a friend snuck him in to late night slots other musicians had canceled. He was short on money, but his bare-boned sincerity didn’t require much more than a microphone and it dripped off of each note he sang.
The early rumblings of critical praise for the EP were confirmed when his first headlining gig sold out Chicago’s storied Schubas Tavern in 2008. As word spread, Pug struck upon an idea that would later prove to be one of the most significant in his young career. He offered his existing fans unlimited copies of a free 2-song sampler CD to pass along to their friends. He sent the CDs out at his own expense, even covering the postage. Inside each package was a personal note thanking the fan for helping to spread the word. The response was overwhelming, and to date he has sent out over 15,000 CDs to 50 states and 14 different countries. Without access to radio, Pug managed to turn his fans into his very own broadcast system. The offer still stands, and to this day it’s featured prominently on www.joepugmusic.com.
Nation of Heat took on a life of its own, passing from friend to friend and iPod to iPod. The crowds swelled and the media took notice. Tours with Steve Earle, M. Ward, and Josh Ritter followed, as did invitations to Lollapalooza and the Newport Folk Festival. He crisscrossed the country incessantly, traveling mostly alone in his 1995 Plymouth Voyager with no stereo or air conditioning. As the tours went on, he became closely linked to the burgeoning indie-folk scene that was coalescing loosely around Pug and his young contemporaries in bands such as The Low Anthem, Langhorne Slim, and Horse Feathers.
After over 200 shows, Pug took a brief respite to record his full-length debut. If Nation of Heat heralded the arrival of a talent to watch, Messenger assigns Pug a deserved spot among the finest songwriters of his generation.
Joe Pug – Hymn 101 from Sam Molleur on Vimeo.
Michelle Malone Solo and Michelle Malone Banned
Michelle Malone was born in the deep south and grew up listening to her mother sing in the church choir every Sunday. When it came time to craft her own sound, she took those religious roots, blended in enough folk, blues and acoustic rock to satisfy, and came up with a rootsy high-spirited sound that brings acoustic and electric slide and passionate vocals together that harkens back to the lost recordings of Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, and Lucinda Williams.
Over the course of her 20 year career, Malone has won numerous awards including Best Female Vocalist and Best Acoustic Guitarist (Creative Loafing), Album of the Year (Atlanta Magazine). Her albums Sugar Foot and Debris, released on SBS Records, were both on the Grammy Award ballot for best Contemporary Blues and Best Americana Albums respectively. Her songs have appeared in such films as Bam Bam and Celeste, All Over Me, Shotgun Jesus and television programs Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, Brooklyn South. They have been recorded by Indigo Girls (for which she received both gold and platinum records), Antigone Rising, and Vistoso Bosses.
Michelle has written and/or recorded with John Mayer, Indigo Girls, Antigone Rising, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites), and Shawn Mullins. Her live show is not to be missed – she can make the biggest venues seem as cozy as a camp fire, and an intimate venue feel like the center of the universe.
Jill Andrews
It starts with the voice. Before you notice the words, before you detect the gently curling melodies tugging them along, this is what hits you first: It’s warm and rich and touched with a soft Southern twang, as likely to swing down into its earthy lower register as arch upwards into a hopeful trill; it’s steady and sure but flecked with a certain weary sadness that stops you dead, draws you near. It’s beautiful. It knows something.
This voice is Jill Andrews, who’s been singing her whole life: as a little girl, as a camp counselor plucking out three chords on an acoustic guitar under swaying pine trees, as one-half of The Everybodyfields—and, since 2009, as an increasingly formidable singer/songwriter making her way on her own.
On her self-titled EP (2009) and her debut record (coming in early 2011), Andrews crafts beguiling, startlingly intimate songs that merge her voice with her effortless, classic-pop sensibility and keen eye for human drama—all the unspoken truths between lovers, devastating confessions whispered to friends, silent prayers offered up during the longest, loneliest nights. A smart, subtle tunesmith and a gently wise songwriter, Andrews’ songs shuffle in and settle down with little fanfare, then quietly go about the business of ripping your heart straight out of your chest.
A rock-solid frontwoman in sundresses and Frye boots, Andrews leads a full band on record and on stage, drawing in tender piano, shuffling drums and searing electric guitar to support her careful acoustic picking. Wherever she plays, she offers up a vision of herself as a singular, quickly-maturing artist with the power to cross lines of genre and geography, taste and time. She is a force—and a voice—to be reckoned with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zxA2HhTXDI
Erin McKeown
At the age of 33, Erin McKeown has already had the career most people dream of, and she only continues to mature as a writer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer with no sign of stopping any time soon. Her first album, “Distillation”, arrived a decade ago to high praise and signaled the debut of singular talent. It has been followed by 7 full length albums, 3 EPs, an upcoming concert film, and a groundbreaking internet concert series. From elegant pop to balls-out rock, sweet electronics to witty swing, Erin has packed a ton of music into a substantial career.
For most of the last decade, Erin has spent an average of 200 nights a year onstage, building a loyal fan base across the United States and Europe. She has appeared on Later with Jools Holland, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, NPR, BBC, and has had numerous film, television, and commercial placements. In the last year, she’s taken more time off the road to teach, write poems and op-eds, and launch a successful side-career as a political activist, lobbying regularly on Capitol Hill about issues concerning musicians and technology.
Erin’s latest studio album is “Hundreds of Lions”, produced by Sam Kassirer and out now on Righteous Babe Records.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqADEyVkQnE
The Whigs
Frontman Parker Gispert, drummer Julian Dorio, and bassist Hank Sullivant formed the Whigs in 2002, while the three Athens-based musicians were attending college at the University of Georgia. With a jaunty mix of Westerberg-like swagger, alt-rock songwriting, and a heartfelt country disposition, the Whigs played their first shows around campus and soon graduated to higher-profile performances, including opening slots for the likes of the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and the Futureheads. Recording sessions for the band’s debut album, Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip, took place in an empty frat house several years later, and the disc was independently released in 2005. By the following year, the Whigs’ audience had widened considerably, prompting Rolling Stone to hail the trio as one of the “10 Artists to Watch.” The bandmates graduated from college that spring, and ATO Records signed them to its roster before the year was up.
Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip was released again in 2005, this time with ATO’s help. Despite the surge of good luck, Sullivant soon exited the group to pursue a solo career as Kuroma — a project he eventually put on hold in order to join MGMT’s backup band — and Tim Deaux climbed aboard as his replacement. With a revised lineup in place, the Whigs traveled to Los Angeles in 2007 to begin work on their sophomore album, eventually announcing its completion that October. Mission Control was issued in January 2008, and the band supported its release with a series of late-night TV performances and tour dates alongside the Drive-By Truckers, the Kooks, and Kings of Leon. They returned to the road with Kings of Leon in early 2009, as well, and spent much of the year’s remainder writing songs for a third album. Recorded in Athens with producer Ben Allen (who had spent the previous year recording Animal Collective’s highly acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavilion), In the Dark was completed in late 2009 and released the following March.
Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside vigorously mines a sweet spot between modern and vintage. Sallie’s voice has elicited comparisons to classic jazz and blues icons, yet it is stoked with the fire of youth and rebellion, too, an instrument capable of conveying raw emotion and nuanced artistry in the same breath.
Intertwining elements of swinging roots rock, country, jazz, and blues with a contemporary lyrical stance and Ford’s instantly recognizable voice, the quartet has steadily ascended through the ranks, earning a growing following throughout the Pacific Northwest. Ardent evangelizing by nationally-recognized peers like the Avett Brothers has augmented that momentum. Now, with the release of Dirty Radio, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside offers the most fully-realized example of its aesthetic yet.
Sallie Ford grew up in an artistic family in Asheville, North Carolina. Her father, acclaimed puppeteer Hobey Ford, has been a recipient of multiple grants from the Jim Henson Foundation, and her mother is a performing musician and music teacher. While her older sister excelled in musical theater, and her younger one loved to tap dance, Sallie studied violin. At a young age, however, she was also a capable belter, though she preferred singing harmonies to solos. “I was always overwhelmed by my performing family,” she admits, apropos of her adolescent low profile. “I preferred to be the weird one.”
Sallie’s affinity for the odd and unusual eventually served as a gateway to discovering her own voice, both as a singer and composer. While Sallie mustered the courage to sing a few times at open mic nights in North Carolina, her progress was tentative until she moved to Portland in 2006, where the newcomer found herself increasingly willing to step up and perform. “I was blown away the first time I heard Sallie sing,” admits Sound Outside guitarist Jeffrey Munger, who initially crossed paths with her while busking during the monthly Last Thursday art walk on Portland’s Alberta Street. By then, Sallie had already graduated from solo slots to playing out with the rhythm section of drummer Ford Tennis and upright bassist Tyler Tornfelt, a pair of Alaskan transplants who’d been making music together since their earlier teens.
The band’s originals often begin with ideas that Sallie warbles into a recorder and then translates into guitar chords (sometimes with assistance from Jeff). But the interaction between members is an integral part of the creative process, too; the singer cites drummer Ford Tennis’ inventive, self-taught approach to his instrument as one of several key variables that contributes to their unconventional groove. Public enthusiasm for the band’s live shows and its self-released 2009 EP Not An Animal have helped them garner fans near and far. “People in the music community have been really kind, introducing themselves and offering to help out where they can,” says Sallie. The Avett Brothers’ Seth Avett was so taken after seeing Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, he tapped them to open a pair of sold-out shows at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom in summer 2009, and invited them to be their support act in California and Colorado. New Year’s Eve found Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside performing at the 7,700-seat Asheville Civic Center with the Avetts and Langhorne Slim, the highlight of a string of Southeastern dates and the beginning of an auspicious twelve months; come the end of 2010, the quartet would be playing with Mavis Staples at the historic Egyptian Theater in Boise, ID.
Throughout 2010, the band recorded and refined Dirty Radio with engineer Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western), with a few additional tracks overseen by Mike Coykendall (M. Ward, She & Him, Blitzen Trapper). “I knew we would come up with something special, just because of the sound on the records that I really liked that those guys had done, music that had a warm tone to it,” says Sallie. They recorded to tape, and though the performances aimed to capture the feel of the foursome’s live shows-“it would’ve felt weird to record the songs any other way”-they did enhance the arrangements with additional strings and keyboards, and an attention to sonic detail, particularly the quirky percussive touches that add color throughout.
Even before their full-length was finished, the group’s accomplishments were significant enough that Portland music insiders crowned them the Best New Band of 2010 in local alt-weekly Willamette Week. In 2011, with Dirty Radio ready to serve as a calling card and the open road inviting them to bring their live show to audiences everywhere, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is poised to receive similar accolades from coast-to-coast and beyond.
SALLIE FORD & THE SOUND OUTSIDE from More Dust Than Digital on Vimeo.
Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen
You know you’ve got something going for you when the dobro master nonpareil Rob Ickes ordains you “the best new bluegrass band.” Guess what? The estimable Mr. Ickes may have understated the case, if the level of playing, writing and singing on Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen’s self-titled debut is any indication. (Modesto, CA, native Solivan, who previously worked with the U.S. Navy’s highly regarded Country Current country/bluegrass band, had two solo albums to his credit before forming Dirty Kitchen.) Cue up the hard charging album opener,”Driftin’ Apart”–an incisive account of a couple coming undone from a thousand little wounds over the years and now paying the price “for lustful pleasures”–and once past the ferocity of the playing–an energizing wash of sound with the banjo, fiddle and mandolin all jumping in and out of the soundscape for pointed solos and engaging each other as well in spirited dialogue–the literacy of the lyrics begins sinking in, and you get jazzed all over again. Solivan doesn’t go for easy rhymes or conventional scenarios of love and loss; rather, in the details he suggests more complex and layered levels of insight, acknowledging the mystery of romantic bondings and the awful hurt of uncouplings, while also addressing topical issues along the way, in language both direct and poetic…I would say “remember the name–Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen,” except that anyone who hears even a bit of this music will never forget its point of origin. Talk about a band coming out of nowhere and bound for greater glory, this is it. By David McGee – Bluegrass Special
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. This is Town Mountain, the exciting new sound from Asheville, NC. Born out of the all night jam sessions and fertile picking scene of Western North Carolina, Town Mountain has emerged as one of the premiere young American bluegrass bands. Great original, tight vocal harmonies, a charismatic stage presence, and instrumental expertise place this group in the upper tier of contemporary acoustic bands. But, in the end, despite these qualities, it’s always the undeniable, irresistible energy of a live Town Mountain show that truly sets this group apart.
This unique energy has had Town Mountain winning over audiences in theatres, clubs, house concerts, and festivals across the country for almost three years now, from Oregon to Maine to California and back home to Carolina. It all started in 2005, when the guys decided to take their homegrown sound on its first national tour. That summer was spent swaggering across the country, sharing their music in smoky bars and hometown honkytonks nightly. The tour ended with a bang in Colorado, where Town Mountain joined the ranks of Steep Canyon Rangers, Chatham County Line and Yonder Mountain String Band by winning the prestigious Rockygrass Band Competition. The tour and the win kicked the Town Mountain experience into high gear, establishing the group as a force among American string bands, and as a live show that is not to be missed.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that gives Town Mountain its unique, contagious energy. It could be the visual performance that accompanies their great music. The guys bob and weave around each other, to and from the microphones, in order to facilitate their surprisingly sophisticated vocal and instrumental arrangements. The result is a natural choreography, an exciting visual performance that makes the band almost as fun to watch as it is to listen to.
Almost. Town Mountain is monumentally fun to listen to. This is the hard-driving, no nonsense, slammin’ bluegrass that makes you whoop and holler and stomp your feet. Yet it’s mixed with just enough slow country crooning to keep it balanced. Just enough outlaw swagger to give it a honkytonk edge. Just enough contemporary, alt-whatever elements to make it equally appealing to non-bluegrass fans. And it’s mostly original music. Robert Greer, Jesse Langlais, and Phil Barker have all proven themselves to be prominent American songwriters worth keeping an eye on. Their contributions are showcased in the ever-changing set lists that make up the ever-growing Town Mountain song catalog. At any given show, you’ll see the band move fluidly from the pounding rhythm of Jesse’s “Shame on You”, to the sweet harmonies of “Whiskey With Tears” (an original country ballad that would make George Jones proud), to a surprising cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”, then back to the pounding with Phil’s politically charged “Ruination Line.” The variety offered, and the energy with which it’s executed has audiences consistently cheering for more. In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear new fans claiming that they didn’t know they liked bluegrass until they heard Town Mountain.
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.
Amy Speace‘s path to songwriting may not have been a straight line, but like many journeys, has been better for the winding way. Born in Baltimore, Amy grew up the oldest of 4, moving homes and states every few years, learning early about comings and goings, and finding solace in music very early. After graduating from Amherst College, she moved to Manhattan to study acting, toured with The National Shakespeare Company for a few years until a bad breakup and a $50 pawn shop guitar sparked a late-blooming songwriting burst. An appearance at an open mic led to a regular gig at The Bitter End, which led to an independent release of her first songs and in 2005, a chance encounter with Judy Collins’ manager changed her life. Judy Collins signed Amy to her own Wildflower Records label in 2006, releasing Songs for Bright Street. The Killer In Me followed in 2009, with a rare duo appearance by Ian “Mott the Hoople” Hunter, who brought her to the UK for his Acoustic Tour. USA Today called her “a rising star”, NPR named the title track from Killer “Song of the Day” and wrote “her velvety, achy voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams.” In 2010, John Platt of NYC’s premiere AAA radio station WFUV named Amy’s song “The Weight of the World” in the Top 5 of his list of the “Best Folk Songs of the Decade,” a song that Judy Collins herself would record and call “one of the best political folk songs I’ve ever heard”. In 2009, Amy shifted landscapes, moved south to Nashville, and beginning the writing of her latest album Land Like A Bird. Produced by Neilson Hubbard it features guest vocals by Kim Richey and is already receiving the best reviews of Amy’s career. “Amy Speace is the perfect torchbearer for the unconscious cool of true Americana” (Houston Press). Amy will also be seen in the upcoming documentary “Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story”.
The Apache Relay
The Apache Relay takes more long car rides than most bands. But only a portion of their car time is dedicated to their touring schedule — the rest is something like driving in the middle of the night from Nashville to Alabama and back, just to listen to a new record 12 consecutive times. Despite their wagon’s sketchy brakes, this happens a lot. It’s where the indie-roots band discovered a shared love for the timelessness of Motown records, the weight of Springsteen’s Nebraska, the textures of modern rock bands, as well as the intensity of really skilled acoustic players.
It’s also where they cemented their bond, spontaneously forming the band after just one gig at Belmont University. Now, just over two years later, The Apache Relay is releasing their second album, American Nomad, a modern and young roots-rock collection produced by Nielson Hubbard. Their debut 1988, was released in 2009, produced by Doug Williams best known for his authentically raw approach with the Avett Brothers. The record cracked the door to reveal the band’s capabilities, and Paste Magazine named it an “Auspicious Debut” and highlighted the band as “Best of What’s Next.”
Since then, they’ve continued solid and non-stop touring, securing a fervent fanbase for their jumping-up-and-down energetic shows. Mixed in is a Bad Brains bumper sticker, a bit of Suzuki training, jazz lessons, a lot of Beatles listening, knowledge of traditional mountain music, a worship of Phil Spector and the love for the complex but accessible layers of bands like the Arcade Fire.
The indie stalwart Thirty Tigers will release American Nomad nationally on April 12th, 2011. The Apache Relay will extensively tour in support of the album, playing festivals and clubs across the country with planned stops at SXSW and more.
Ponderosa
“Ponderosa naturally carries the type of swagger that most bands spend years rehearsing. Their catalog of campfire songs, southern rock anthems, and drunken, two-step shuffles has won the admiration of listeners—and the envy of musicians—throughout the Southeast Region. Featuring former members of The Butch Walker Band, Sovus Radio and Variac, Ponderosa’s rhythm section has the chops to craft timeless, impeccable songs. Singer Kalen Nash’s voice has often been described as “golden,” though this gold is equal parts honey and whiskey. The group’s three-part harmonies, jaw-dropping performances, and rock-and-roll lifestyle make them truly peerless, which is why Ponderosa is already a favorite among industry professionals..” -William Cane (Performer Magazine)
Brooke Waggoner
Brooke Waggoner seems to wobble between being a ghost and being a girl who might like ponies and getting dressed up on occasion. The orange-haired chanteuse shifts herself between heavily orchestrated dramas and pieces that seem as if they’d prefer to haunt the empty hallways of a deserted house, with a failing roof and wolf dogs living within it as freeloaders. She makes moments that feel like she threw an oversized feather pillow up into the devouring blades of a sharpened fan, sending those feathers showering down like a soft snowfall. She makes moments that feel and look like the barest of nights – nights that are good for wandering, good for clearing all of the junk out of your head, nights that you need every once in a while, nights that freeze the lungs some. Then she makes moments that give you the chills – for a combination of reasons. You’re not frightened of them, but what she does is she and her talented players own the tempo, they own our nerves and they can persuade us with their expert fluctuations, inflections and decisions to get slightly strange with an arrangement to let go of the handles and just freefall from whatever height they push us out from. It feels as if she puts exaggerated heights into her music – mostly to enhance the breathtaking views that she introduces us to. She powers her songs with a force that’s unable to be completely defined as it shares some of the characteristics with Joanna Newsom’s whimsical fairy dusting, as well as old-time Nashville sensibilities (with the slightest twist and some different instruments, Waggoner’s songs could be country and western songs and she’d have to start dressing differently, wearing boots and flannel 24 hours a day) and the watery eyes of a deer caught in the headlights on what seconds ago had been a dim county highway and a slow, moonlit crossing. This place where the pining doesn’t happen, where the wind is knocking against a swinging door, where nothing’s bad, but nothing’s good is delightfully eerie.
Brooke Waggoner “Live for the Sounds” from Paper Beats Rock on Vimeo.
Black Cadillacs
Hailing from Memphis, the Black Cadillacs bring an exciting blend of traditional Rock n’ Roll with a modern version of Garage Soul and R&B. With influences by rock pioneers such as the Who, the Rolling Stones, MC5, and Memphis blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf, the Black Cadillacs stick close to their roots, but aren’t afraid to push the envelope. They’re raw, yet refined, loud, yet dynamic, and….. smooth as molasses. Their live shows are packed with energy and always keep the crowd wanting more. The band has been plucking away for over 5 years now, with the best yet to come…
Big Daddy Love
Fast and powerful as a freight train, Big Daddy Love brings the high energy of Southern rock into the down-home vibe of a mountain bluegrass folk festival. With heavy doses of jam, soul and an electric banjo replacing the second guitar of the traditional Southern rock genre, Big Daddy Love breathes new life into both traditions. Imagine J.D. Crow crossed with the Black Crowes…The Stanley Brothers and The Allman Brothers…what if Led Zeppelin grew up in the Appalachian Mountains on a dairy farm? Big Daddy Love falls into the middle of all these with an undeniably original sound of its own. Experience the love.
The Jompson Brothers
The Jompson Brothers were born in a garage in Nashville, TN as a result of late-night jam sessions between Chris Stapleton (vocals, guitar), formerly of The Steeldrivers, and Greg McKee (guitar). Bard McNamee (drums) and J.T. Cure (bass) were soon added to the equation, more jamming ensued, and the band was complete. In September of 2010, the band was invited by Zac Brown Band to come along as a performer on the Sailing Southern Ground Cruise.
The Jompson Brothers’ self-titled debut (produced by Frank Rogers) was released in the Fall of 2010 and has drawn comparisons to Led Zeppelin, Gov’t Mule, and Drive-By Truckers. The band has begun 2011 by playing shows all around the Southeast to eager and enthusiastic crowds.
“I have seen the future of rock ‘n’ roll…Three songs in my back shivers…My back shivers in the presence of magic, that’s my theory. And the Jompson Brothers, heaven help them, have the magic. Every last bit of it…They are a stunning band, a classic rock ‘n’ roll band of the old school…A muscle car in a Prius world…the Jompsons are the best rock band I’ve seen in twenty years…” -Grant Alden (No Depression)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq3-JmCXrM0
Rayland Baxter
“In a town crawling with good songwriters and musicians, Rayland’s songs and presentation instantly stand out above the rest” – Jim Hoke (Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Mark Knopfler)
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 mesmerizing in its own right…a true artist…a humble man…a dreamer.
Marshall Ruffin
| ROOTS, ROCK & BLUES … soulful blues meets stimulating grunge. Dec. 2009 Morning Glory is nominated for IMA ‘Blues Album of the Year’. Rich Man’s Dime, ’08 freshman EP, on Roots Music Chart for 8 weeks. GA Music Magazine nomination “GA’s Next 50″ in 2010. Recent Support: Arc Angels, Robin Trower, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Marshall Tucker Band, Oliver Wood, & Shawn Mullins. |
| “Marshall Ruffin plays guitar and sings with the prowess that most roots and blues artists develop only after many weary years on the road.” … Lisa Love, Georgia Music Hall of Fame“The voice may be the same mix of honey and grits, but everything else has changed. Marshall Ruffin, V2.0, has hurled forward and bitten into punky blues/rock with a vengeance on this 40-min hydrogen bomb. Push ‘play’ and hang on tight!” … Hal Horowitz, Morning Glory record review excerpt, Winter-2010 GA Music Mag“This dude can really sing and play – to say that I was amazed by his songwriting talent, instrumental abilities and vocals would be an understatement.” … Jeff Hahne, Music Editor, Creative Loafing Charlotte“I rarely get inspired to say such things, but really – if you’re able to see Marshall Ruffin ‘live’ then you really must. He is just f***ing amazing!” … Geoff Achison, Blues Guitarist Extraordinaire |
| The twenty-five year old roots-rock and blues singer-songwriter-guitarist grew up in typical Americana, where science was at the fabric of his family. After finding a guitar in his attic at age thirteen, Marshall taught himself to play. Just several short years later, he majored in jazz performance at the Berklee College of Music. It was while in Boston, Ruffin recognized and tapped into his songwriting skills and vocal gifts. Within a year after graduation, Marshall moved to Columbus GA for some Ma Rainey education, opened for dozens of regional and national artists, and signed with Jammates Records. After experiencing a Marshall Ruffin performance, one only expects his momentum to accelerate. Rich Man’s Dime, his freshman EP, hit the streets in February ’08 and spent eight weeks on the roots/blues chart ending the year at no. 4 on Georgia Roots Radio. Just out September 15th is Morning Glory, his 2009 sophomore effort. Morning Glory is nominated for the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards ‘Best Blues Album of the Year’ with the winner announced early in 2010. Marshall Ruffin will be playing solo and with his trio throughout east coast music venues in support of the new release. |
Diamond Doves
Diamond Doves was formed in 2010 by longtime friends and musical collaborators Nick Kinsey, Brigham Brough and Wyndham Garnett. The sound of Diamond Doves is the meeting of their three distinct vocal, instrumental and compositional personalities. With a seemingly endless instrumental palette and a penchant for genre-hopping, Diamond Doves draw from a wide range of influences both foreign and domestic, new and old. Their sound at times recalls the mass and drive of Funkadelic, the studio experimentation of Os Mutantes and the democratic ethos of The Band, yet it clearly owes a lot to the pop-craft of contemporaries like Animal Collective, The Walkmen and Kanye West.
The three songwriters and nucleus of Diamond Doves met as kids and began a friendship and musical partnership that eventually brought them around the world playing and recording with their friend Elvis Perkins. Know collectively as Elvis Perkins in Dearland the acclaimed folk-rock quartet toured for years performing at Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble, Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo and many other festivals, pioneering an influential hybrid of American music. They released their eponymous full-length debut and The Doomsday EP in 2009 on XL Recordings.
Apart from their experience with EPID, all three Diamond Doves have carved out individual creative paths; Brigham owns and runs Smith Hill Studios in Providence RI where he has recorded bands including Deer Tick and Tallahassee. After a lengthy tenure in the Hudson Valley, Wyndham and Nick recently returned home to NYC where they are active in the music scene. Wyndham records and performs original music as Little Wolf, and as a drummer, Nick has recorded and performed with the likes of AA Bondy, Felice Brothers, Marco Benevento and others. As “Dearland Horns”, (Wyndham on trombone, Brigham on saxophone and Nick on clarinet) the three have performed with many of today’s most celebrated bands including My Morning Jacket, Bon Iver, Dr. Dog, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Felice Brothers, Okkervil River, Cold War Kids, AA Bondy and others.
Both live and in the studio the sound of the trio is augmented by an accomplished posse of collaborators; including co-producer/engineer Jesse Lauter (Low Anthem, The Woes) who plays guitar and sings harmonies, and trumpeter Mike Irwin who has made a name for himself on the NYC club circuit as well as recording and performing with EPID, The Walkmen, Vampire Weekend and others. The extended Diamond Dove family also includes Kevin Russell (The Woes, Himalayas) who provides woodwinds, Odetta and Camellia Hartman on strings and harmony vocals and both Marco Benevento (Benevento/Russo Duo) and Leo Genovese (Esperanza Spalding) play keyboards.
Sara Petite
On her new CD, “Doghouse Rose,” Petite follows the musical path she began laying down on “Tiger Mountain” and “Lead the Parade,” however, this album is tempered with the more rocking but still roots-based influences of artists such as Steve Earle. The CD was produced and recorded by Eddie Gore at Insomnia Recording Studio in Tennessee, where Gore began a partnership with Stax record pioneer and guitarist-songwriter, Steve Cropper. Connecting with legends, Petite’s new release features former Dukes member “Handsome” Harry Stinson on backup vocals; former Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam bassist Dave “Ro”; former Lucinda Williams and current Marty Stuart guitarist Kenny Vaughn; and Keith Anderson’s drummer, William Ellis.
With the new release coming on the heels of being named “Best Americana or Country” in the 2009 San Diego Music Awards, Petite stands to go from up-and-coming artist to an artist that has arrived on an international level. Kicking off a tour in April, Petite will head to the U.K. for a three-week tour with several dates in England and Ireland.
Adam Hill and His Sunday Best
Adam Hill and His Sunday Best came together as Adam Hills backing band to
support his record Smoke Trees. They have been playing in Nashville since last
Fall but the story doesn’t being there. Adam has been in bands since 1996. His first
band Knoxville’s The Satellite Pumps were local favorites and given a deal from
Bloodshot Records. Unfortunately the band broke up and set Adam on a decade
plus of recording demos on his 4 track, living in New York City, moving to Nashville,
playing guitar for bands, starting numerous bands of his own but never settling into
anything. Finally in 2006 with the help of Steve Mabee and Mark Robertson,
engineer and bass player for Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, Adam made his first
studio album and since then has set out to share his songs with the world. His
music is a mix of Gothic Appalachia, Southern Rock n Roll (not to be confused with
Southern Rock) and heart on your sleeve songwriting.
Young Buffalo
We should begin by just saying, “Watch out for Young Buffalo.” It’s not often that on the first listen of such a young band that the phrase “a force of nature” zooms to the tip of your tongue, but that’s what happens when we listen to this Oxford, Mississippi band’s early output. It’s all heady and tuneful, feral and precise. It banks on the very real understanding that our hearts, minds, ears and legs are all connected by the same veins, the same muscles, tied together with our own fleshy, gristly and bloody wiring. They act as one, in congress and Young Buffalo exploits that, making every moment in every one of its songs feel like a bursting, like the top popping off of a fire hydrant in the middle of July: there’s energy getting displaced, busting through the air, there’s surprise, there’s refreshment and a cooling respite and there’s all kinds of joyfulness as we rush to splash under the gushing waterfall. The trio mounts harmonies upon harmonies and we feel as if we’re no longer in control of our taping feet and our bobbing heads, our swiveling midsections and we’ve come to really, really, really like how we feel when we’ve gotten out of control. We want to keep feeling uncontrollable. “Catapilah,” the band’s debut single from its forthcoming first record on Fat Possum Records, is a song that feels like a graceful streaking, as if those doing such were sparklers or fireworks in slow motion, caking the black night with a sweep of bright color, punctuating the stillness with a brilliant abstraction. It’s a song that lies somewhere between the Arctic Monkeys, Dodos and something coming out of one of Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles. It’s a furnace and it runs the course of a full circuit, swinging us on a live rocket. They sing, “You’ve got your health, I’ve got myself,” but there’s no doubt that these guys got the better end of the deal. They’ve got something better than health and there aren’t many things better than that. You’re always hearing people talk about how, at least they have their health, but it’s all a crock. It’s better to have fire inside.
Kelsey’s Woods
Kelsey’s Woods is a three-piece Americana/Roots band hailing from Chattanooga but calling Knoxville home for several years. Rooted in the traditional and true sounds of a forgotten music, Kelsey’s Woods harkens back to years past when the story was the song. Combining equal parts of roots, country, folk and a little rock and roll, the all-acoustic trio boasts three-part male and female harmonies, interchangeable lead singers and all original songs speaking on themes from love, heartbreak, loss, murder, redemption, and the age old tradition of finding salvation in a whiskey glass. Kelsey’s Woods hopes that you’ll join them in finding a brand new take on a forgotten but yet old and familiar sound.
thecitylights*
Originally hailing from Bristol, TN, thecitylights* (David Gwaltney & Chris Newton) are adding to northeast Tennessee’s rich history of musical innovation and passion. Embodying the changing and diverse sound of Americana music, thecitylights* are sometimes reminiscent of Matt Costa with their neo-folk sensibilities. Gwaltney & Newton filter influences of world beats and Euro-pop through a lens of American angst and longing, sometimes manifesting in a driving melody, sometimes producing lush, harmonic layers of which Brian Wilson would be proud. thecitylights* are one aspect of the Americana music of a generation charged with finding out what it means to be American in a world community.
Valley Young
Valley Young is a shaded dream. A landscape of longing with an expanse of solitude. The echoes of a wanderer. Sounds welded and bound by melodies that are often as lively as a spring sparrow or calm and clear as a winter star. These sounds are unpolluted by bitterness and speak of the rising up of the soul into words. There is sadness here, but not sorrow. There is life in these notes that shouts of the body’s resistance to becoming all together without passion.
Light Pilot
Having sharpened their teeth as members of a heavier Nashville-based rock outfit, Light Pilot shifts direction with surprising comfort to wade their way through a dense acoustic spectrum. Clever lyrical content, intricate rhythmic patterns, improvised percussion, and the signature vocal pairing of lead vocalists Fagan and Parker have been praised and celebrated as staple strong-suits.
The trio formed in pseudo-secrecy in March 2010, embarking on a rigorous writing and refinement season in anticipation of their official, public inception: a July “coronation” at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe. “We really wanted to launch just right,” says Dove, “We sat on an album’s worth of songs for a few months, and hardly anyone knew.”
Light Pilot met as students at Middle Tennessee State University, initially playing together in Nashville-based aggressive-alternative band, Anathens. With Anathens’ temperament waning, the decision to remain underground was due courtesy – though also fueled by a tentative reservation. “We’d never really gone out naked like that,” says Parker, “It was such a far departure from what we’d been doing, plus, we were doing it without the friends and band-mates we’d built so much with.”
The departure was met with encouragement, however, and earnest interest. As veterans of the local up-and-coming scene, the hype was contagious. “We never intended to set out as a folk band. The instrumentation, direction- everything was a spontaneity that just fit,” says Fagan. “It couldn’t have happened any other way, or at any other time.”
Light Pilot has continued writing and adapting their own unique translation of folk. Look for their first EP Spring ’11.
The New Vernacular
A Knoxville-based American Roots band, they mix guitar, stand up bass, and two different banjo styles to creative a fusion of sometimes folky, sometimes groovy, always good music.
