What do you get when you take a batch of incredible songs, five veteran players who have never played together, with an arsenal of five musical minds working in unison to reinvent them? You get Hard Working Americans. Hard Working Americans is the self-titled debut from this new musicians’ collective, scheduled for a January 21 release on Melvin Records/Thirty Tigers. Genres meld seamlessly with the birth of this group, featuring artists from the Americana, singer/songwriter, experimental, jam and rock communities.

Ashleigh Flynn’s song "See That Light" is an anti-bullying tune, in which the storyteller is a young kid in love with her or his best friend until they realize that’s not allowed. Todd Snider plays the preacher with a talking blues part in which he appeals to folks to smarten up, to get along...

Portland, Oregon-based Ashleigh Flynn celebrates her latest CD, A Million Stars. Set for national release on May 14, 2013, Flynn’s fourth studio effort on her own Home Perm Records, is produced by Chris Funk, her longtime friend and musical collaborator, best-known as the Decemberists’ multi-instrumentalist.

Marshall Chapman has been making records for longer than most of today's indie rockers have been alive. Blaze of Glory is her 13th release, her seventh on Tallgirl Records.At age 64, Chapman is, as author Peter Guralnick put it, “a force of nature.” Some might argue she’s even picking up steam.

In case there was any confusion regarding Yonder Mountain String Band’s capacity for throwing down an amazing show that everybody can enjoy, the band brought out three little girls on stage during a cover of Danny Barnes’ “Funtime” who danced and whipped their hair with more fervor than Willow Smith herself.

As the bartender made his last call, Todd Snider knew his evening with his hero Jerry Jeff Walker was coming to a close. They finished their drinks and slipped out the exit into a still dark night. It was the hour in which a busy city was fast asleep and only the air made a noise. Together they began to tiptoe down lonely city blocks until they heard the strings of an acoustic guitar...