What's in a name? In Darcy Malone & The Tangle's case: everything. "We play a tangle of genres," says Malone, a New Orleans native who is the daughter of Dave Malone, vocalist and guitar player of the legendary band The New Orleans Radiators. "We all have different influences, from pop/rock to New Wave to soul to R&B. We’re a band of equals, and we put every single member's influences into our music—that’s what makes us unique."
With their debut album Still Life set for release on March 25th, Darcy Malone & The Tangle whip up a sound that nods to New Orleans' past while pushing ahead toward something entirely new. It's big, bold music, rooted in pop/rock but filled with influences that stretch the band's reach far beyond the boundaries of a single genre. There are blasts of brass courtesy of Jagon Eldridge, a saxophonist educated in the jazz classics who grew up listening to everything from the sounds of his native New Orleans to punk-rock. There's plenty of rock & roll riffage, too, thanks to a pair of guitarists — Chris Boye and Glenn Newbauer — who manage to weave radio-ready hooks with raw, rough-and-tumble roaring guitar lines. Meanwhile, bassist Craig Toomey and drummer Billy Schell add glue and groove to the band's sound, and Malone's raspy voice gives it an R&B tinge. Together, Darcy Malone & The Tangle don't sound like anybody else; they just sound like themselves.
"This is bigger-than-life music," says Schell. "We grew up here, experiencing New Orleans' resurgence and cutting our teeth on this city's music scene. New Orleans is in our blood, so we definitely have some of that brass element, too. But we're really a rock & roll band, with everyone's influences put into the pot."
Recorded and mixed by Rick Nelson of The Afghan Whigs at Marigny Recording Studios, New Orleans and mastered by Richard Dodd (Tom Petty's Wildflowers, Dixie Chicks' Not Ready to Make Nice), Still Life spins stories about drive and determination. For Malone — who shares songwriting and arrangement duties with her five bandmates — it's a logical extension of the music she's been making for more than a decade with her husband Chris. Still Life is an album by a band, though, and it sounds like it—driven forward by a team of six co-captains rather than a single leader.
"Chris and I were looking for the right people to make music with," says Malone, "and when we found these guys everything came together and made sense. We realized we could stop worrying and focus on the love of playing music together. That's what this record is about. 'Crossing Line' is about getting out of a place where you’re sheltered and scared and deciding you're gonna put yourself out there. 'Be a Man' is about standing up strong. 'Still Life' is about being out in the world and trying so hard to be something you think people want you to be, but breaking free of that and realizing when you're just yourself you're so much more successful. That's the record. We're finally exactly where we should be in our artistic career. We're with the right people, all tangled up."
For More Information On Darcy Malone & The Tangle:
New Orleans native John "Papa" Gros (pronounced grow) has spent more than a quarter-century behind the piano championing the music of the Big Easy. He turns over a new leaf with his second solo album, River’s on Fire, which is set for release August 26th. It’s a record that mixes the sounds of rock & roll, funk and rootsy Americana into a genre-bending gumbo that carries on the tradition of New Orleans, both honoring its past and helping to shape its future.
Inspired by hometown hero and longtime colleague Allen Toussaint, who passed away while Gros was recording the album on the Vermilion bayou in southwest Louisiana, River’s on Fire is John’s first release since his former band, Papa Grows Funk, disbanded in 2013. The quintet held down a weekly residency for more than a dozen years at the famous Maple Leaf Bar in Uptown New Orleans, mixing the smooth sophistication of a jazz quintet with the wild, anything-goes spirit of Mardi Gras. Papa Grows Funk released six critically-acclaimed albums along the way, including Needle in the Groove, which was co-produced by Toussaint — with Gros leading the charge as the group's front man, songwriter and organ player.
River’s on Fire finds John shifting his songwriting focus back to the instrument that started his lifelong musical journey - the piano. The album reaches far beyond Papa Grows Funk’s groove-based sound and offers listeners a bit of everything — party songs, melancholy numbers, funk tunes and upbeat rockers. The record even finds Gros putting a new spin on "House of Love," which was originally released on Papa Grows Funk's Shakin’ album. This time, he revises the track's groove and focuses more on its sharp, nuanced songwriting.
"Before River’s on Fire, it had been a long time since I had done any songwriting on the piano”, John explains. "Previously, I had done most of my songwriting on guitar. I found that it forced me to focus on simpler chord choices and arrangements. The piano allows me the luxury to create more sophisticated compositions. With the keys I can focus on a balancing act- juggling between complexity and simplicity, while keeping the priority on the lyrics and melody."
Working with top-shelf collaborators like Grammy award winning co-producer Tracey Freeman (Harry Connick, Jr., ReBirth Brass Band), Grammy award winning mixer Trina Shoemaker (Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow) and guitarist Brian Stoltz (Bob Dylan, Neville Brothers), River’s On Fire finds Gros showcasing his talent on the keys and also furthering his well-deserved reputation as one of New Orleans' most notable songwriters. Each song has its own distinct personality, with the influence of Allen Toussaint serving as the common denominator or unifying ingredient. River’s on Fire is one life-long Big Easy troubadour and composer paying tribute to another.
"Those are big shoes to fill and big shoes to follow," John says of Toussaint. "That was the plan, though: to follow Allen's footsteps with this record. Every song has his stamp on it, whether it's an obvious line or a subtle trick. I was paying homage to my mentor all along the way."
Throughout his career, Gros has been a bandleader. A sideman. A singer. An instrumentalist. With River’s on Fire, he becomes a solo artist once again. Just as New Orleans, America’s favorite river town, has had a resurgence recently so has John “Papa” Gros. His role is different, but the goal remains the same: to honor the music he's been living his whole life, and to add his own page to the New Orleans history book. “I think this album symbolizes both my passion for my music and my love of this town”, Gros muses. “Urban Dictionary defines “Fire” as someone doing something great that is unable to be stopped. I hope Toussaint is smiling down on me from above, urging me forward.”
The John Papa Gros Band will hold its second annual Carnival Kickoff on Friday, February 17th at the world famous Tipitina’s in New Orleans. Last year’s edition of the party saw the John Papa Gros Band hosting an all-star lineup of guest musicians for a night of unforgettable collaborations. The same holds true this year with special guests including Ivan Neville, Tank and Jelly of Tank and the Bangas and Khris Royal. Great music and good times with friends, it’s sure to be a precursor to the revelry the carnival season always provides. According to John Papa Gros, “last year the Carnival Kickoff was so much fun we are going to do it again and make it an annual event. It really puts you in the Mardi Gras spirit to kick off the season”. The James Martin Band supports. Doors at 8pm, tickets available now at Tipitinas.com.
Born in New Orleans, John "Papa" Gros has spent more than a quarter-century championing the music of the Big Easy. He's played it all — New Orleans funk, rock & roll, jazz, blues, Americana, pop/rock — and he swirls those styles into a genre-bending gumbo that pays tribute to his influences while still pushing ahead into new territory.
After kicking off his career as an organist and pianist, for George Porter Jr.’s Runnin’ Pardners, during the 1990s, Gros formed the funk group Papa Grows Funk in 2000. The band held down a weekly performance at the famous Maple Leaf Bar for 13 years, mixing the smooth sophistication of a jazz quintet with the wild, anything-goes spirit of Mardi Gras. Fans and tourists crowded the bar every Monday night, looking for Papa Grows Funk to dish out a greasy, groove-heavy serving of Big Easy funk. The band delivered, releasing six critically-acclaimed albums — including Needle in the Groove, which was co-produced by Nola legend Allen Toussaint, and a 2015 live record that captured Papa Grows Funk’s last Monday night at the Maple Leaf Bar.— and touring around the world, carrying the torch of New Orleans' music scene to far-flung places.
Papa Grows Funk called it quits in 2013. Gros kept playing music, landing work as a sideman for many Nola artists — including Better Than Ezra, Anders Osborne, The Metermen, Raw Oyster Cult, and Bonerama— and playing organ during a pair of all-star tributes to Dr. John in 2014 and the Neville Brothers in May of this year. Gros is focusing once again on his solo career — which he'd kicked off in 2004 with the album Day's End.
He's been a sideman. A bandleader. A frontman. A solo artist. A singer. An instrumentalist. The roles have been varied, but the goal remains the same: to honor the music he's been living his whole life, and to add his own page to New Orleans' history book.
Big Easy soulful indie rockers, Darcy Malone and The Tangle’s latest release is a four track EP called Make Me Over, which features their new single “Time To Be Free.” The record is a fresher and bolder continuation of their bigger than life sound, which was first heard last year when they released their debut album, Still Life. Once again, the band effectively combines their eclectic influences of New Orleans funk, soul, pop and rock into four distinct and catchy songs recorded at legendary Louisiana recording mecca Studio In The Country.
The EP’s title, Make Me Over, is a reference to the band’s journey over the past twelve months, which includes a revised line up with the addition of lead guitarist John Paul Carmody. He is one of the few performers in the world that have won back-to back weeks at the Apollo Theater’s legendary amateur night. Carmody has played alongside well-known New Orleans’ musicians including South Jones, Papa Mali as well as Johnny Sketch and The Dirty Notes. The record also pertains to lead singer Darcy Malone’s own personal makeover, which involved embarking on a weight loss program that led to her loosing 68Ibs. “All of these songs tell a story of where we are,” says Malone. “We are the newest version of ourselves, which is what we are trying to be.”
The EP’s first single “Time To Be Free,” is a powerful soul, rock and gospel anthem, which exemplifies the band’s unique wall of sound. Etta James, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin can be heard in Darcy Malone’s heartfelt and soaring vocal performance as she sings about undergoing a journey of change that ultimately leads to self-acceptance. Billy Schell’s fierce drum riff fires off the EP’s title track “Make Me Over,” a catchy funky rock song, which transitions back and forth from samba to funk. “You’ll See,” is a soulful pop song, which further builds on the theme of self-acceptance. Meanwhile, guitarist Chris Boye lends lead vocals on “Never Wanna See You Alone,” which is his self-penned tribute to New York’s 80’s music scene including legends Debbie Harry, Television and Talking Heads.
Make Me Over, was produced by Ben Humphrey (The Pixies, Anders Osborne, The Breeders) and mixed by Richard Dodd (Tom Petty's Wildflowers, Dixie Chicks' Not Ready to Make Nice). Recorded at Studio In The Country, Bogalusa Louisiana.
What’s in a name? Sometimes nothing, and sometimes everything. In the case of The Freeway Revival, the latter certainly seems to ring true. Theirs is music that was born from the energy and the spirit that comes from a life spent on the road, and the packed tour schedule they have maintained since their inception has strengthened their sound- a healthy mix of guitar driven soul and rock n roll with a flare of psychedelic, complimented by four part vocal harmonies.
After releasing an introductory self-titled EP in 2016, logging numerous tour dates including appearances at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam By Day and the Mountain Sports Festival The Freeway Revival is set to release their first full length album titled Revolution Road on September 1st, 2017.
The band began with twin brothers Adam and Jonathan Clayton, on keys and guitar respectively. In 2015, with the addition of singer and bassist Kenny Crowley, blazing young guitarist Tim Husk, and the John Bonham-style drumming of Cartwright Brandon, the current brotherhood was formed. With musical influences ranging from the Allman Brothers and Little Feat to The Band, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and the like, finding their footing among the vintage rockers of the 60s and 70s may sound daunting. But after listening to songs like the poetic rock track “When It Breaks”, the funky barn-burner jam “Soul Survivor”, or the introspective soul offering “Rise” it’s clear that the boys of The Freeway Revival are game for the challenge. All four members are independent songwriters who challenge each other yet collaborate in harmony. Music is their church and the road is their home.
The biggest proof of this is in the new album. “A lot of it is about our personal experiences, and our portrayal of the current American landscape. But more than that, it’s about the expression of freedom and living truthfully. It’s about being kind and authentic to others and in return taking that vibe and projecting it in our music” Kenny explains. “That’s why we called it Revolution Road. It’s not as much a revolt against something as it is a celebration of keeping the wheels turning towards the positive things in life now and in the future."
“We’ve weathered some delays in terms of the recording process, all in the name of putting the best version of this vision to tape. Toss in the fact that we are on the road constantly, and it all gets a touch overwhelming”, says Adam. “But we are extremely happy with the outcome of the record, and we tip our hat to producer Matt Hueneman who wasn’t afraid to send us back to the woodshed during the recording process in search of excellence. It’s also very important to get into different markets and in front of new music fans, because this is what we all want to do and we’re completely dedicated to it. We’re hoping it will launch us into national success.” Now with a brand-new album, a tireless work ethic and equal doses of faith and passion Freeway Revival is hungry for what’s next.
Already an award-winning band on the bluegrass circuit, The Railsplitters explore new ground with Jump In, a wide-ranging Americana album that solidifies the group's reputation as an unconventional string band. The record arrives November 10th 2017.
Formed in the Rocky Mountain foothills by a coed group of songwriters and instrumentalists, the Railsplitters have always pushed the boundaries of acoustic roots music. Jump In finds them building upon the progressive sound of their 2015 release, The Faster It Goes, whose accompanying tour found the band playing shows in America, Canada, and Europe, including the Shetland Folk Festival in Scotland. They listened to a broad range of music — including classic country, hip-hop, bluegrass and salsa — during the long drives from show to show, allowing those sounds to seep into their songwriting along the way.
"Many of these songs are literally about jumping in- taking chances and doing what feels right, in spite of any initial reservations," says mandolin player Pete Sharpe. "We still have the typical instrumentation of a five-piece bluegrass band, but our sound is very different. We're fully embracing our uniqueness, and seeing how far we can push things while still playing everything acoustically."
From the fiddle-fueled riff that kicks off the opening track, "Everyone She Meets," to the universal messages of tolerance and forgiveness that punctuate the closing number "Baxses" Jump In delivers 10 tracks of pop hooks and folky fire. The Railsplitters — Sharpe, singer Lauren Stovall, banjo player Dusty Rider, and fiddler Joe D'Esposito recorded the album in Denver with producer Kai Welch, a celebrated producer and musician whose work can be heard on Abigail Washburn's City of Refuge, the Greencards' Grammy-nominated Sweetheart of the Sun and Molly Tuttle's Rise. Welch proved to be an ideal partner for the Railsplitters.
"Kai has worked in the bluegrass field, but he's not a bluegrass guy at heart," Sharpe explains. "He's an insider/outsider character, like us. We wanted to make a record that reflects what we sound like live, and he was the perfect fit. We also recently added double bassist Jean-Luc Davis to the band, which has really complimented our sound."
Jump In showcases The Railsplitters independent spirit, a reflection of each member’s passion to forge a unique path in life and in music. Prior to joining the band Dusty worked on the Alaskan Railroad and spent time as an air traffic controller, while earning his pilot’s license. Pete and Lauren live in a 200-square foot tiny home, and Lauren has been featured on the DIY Network show Tiny House Hunting. Joe decided to pursue a personal zero waste initiative in 2017, collecting all the non-compostable trash he produces for a year. So far it fits inside a zip lock sandwich bag. Jean-Luc recently released an album of jazz interpretations of his favorite rock songs. It’s no surprise the band has crowd funded it’s last three records- raising over $25,000 to produce Jump In while turning down multiple offers from record labels to release the album. The independent spirt cultivated by America’s Western Range has helped to inspire the band’s most dynamic album to date: an album that honors the past while pushing forward into something new and adventurous.
The latest innovation in New Orleans funk Chapter:SOUL is the brainchild of bandleader, vocalist and tenor saxophonist Calvin Johnson, Jr. featuring a modern 4-piece funk and soul band. This is New Orleans music, yes-but newer, younger, and driven by a new vision for NOLA music in the 21st century. The idea for Chapter:SOUL first struck Johnson during a conversation with legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band sousaphone player Kirk Joseph while they were on tour together.
“After being on tour with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band for the past few years, I started feeling an itch,’” Johnson says. “Night after night, town after town, I realized I was thinking about these gigs, not as a side man but as if they were my gigs...troubleshooting, looking for ways to improve things, and always trying for better. Finally, one night Kirk said, ‘Calvin, I think you’re ready to dive in that pool and do your own thing.’”
Johnson already had an impressive resume- logging tours across 5 continents as a horn player with Harry Connick Jr., Jason Derulo, Irma Thomas, Mannie Fresh, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Mystikal- in addition to spending time on the road with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. He called upon Kashonda Bailey (organ, keyboards, and synths), Thomas Glass (drums and pads), and Evan Washington (bass) to join him in his venture to push forward and create a fresh New Orleans sound - something Johnson would later call “NOLA Future Funk.” Together the band employs an electric blend of street brass and bounce rhythms, both to create original compositions and reimagine soul classics.
Chapter:SOUL is touring the US thru the end of 2018 and is also set to release their third EP this fall and their first full length record next year. Their new albums will build upon the groundwork laid by their first two EP’s, which fused contemporary hip-hop and soul elements with help from old-school sampling and New Orleans street beats. Their mixtape/EP release parties in New Orleans have become legendary, even in a town with high standards for a good party.
It’s been quite a road so far but the band is young, hungry, and full of fresh ideas. As Chapter:SOUL grows so does the music, the venues and the audiences. The act strives to bring “NOLA Future Funk” to the masses one city at a time. The road, as they say, goes on forever..
After years of touring, The Weight Band has released a new album of original material, packaged for today’s vibrant Americana base and capturing The Band’s rich musical tradition. Released in February 2018, World Gone Mad is a Roots Rock masterpiece of the Woodstock sound.
The Weight Band originated in 2013 inside the famed Woodstock, New York barn of Levon Helm when Jim Weider and Randy Ciarlante — both former members of The Band — performed “Songs of The Band” with Band founder, Garth Hudson, alongside Jimmy Vivino and Byron Isaacs. Inspired to carry on the legacy of the unforgettable rock group, Weider, Ciarlante and Isaacs began performing fan favorites from The Band catalog to audiences across the country, inviting Brian Mitchell and Marty Grebb to complete their sound. The Weight Band later added Albert Rogers, Michael Bram and Matt Zeiner to cement their current lineup. With a heavy US tour schedule slated for 2018 and beyond, the concerts blend The Weight Band originals with songs from The Band's treasured catalog including “Up On Cripple Creek”, “The Weight” and “Dixie”- complimenting The Band’s timeless legacy while pushing forward with new original material off their first record World Gone Mad.
Billboard, Relix Magazine, Elmore Magazine and others have taken notice, as have generations of The Band fans who have yearned for new material since their last studio release almost 20 years ago. The Boston Globe proclaims the album “strikes a chord between past & present”, The Syracuse Post Standard hails the release as “a revival of roots rock” and The Chicago Tribune says “The Weight carries on where The Band left off.”
Jim Weider (guitar, mandolin & vocals) is a former member of The Band. From 1985 to 2000, Jim replaced Robbie Robertson as their lead guitarist, writing songs and performing on their three studio albums, Jericho, High on the Hog and Jubilation. He toured internationally with original Band members Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko for fifteen years and was featured with them on numerous albums, films, videos and in television appearances.
Michael Bram (drums & vocals) is a soulful singer and multi-instrumentalist. Michael splits his time drumming for The Weight Band and Jason Mraz. He has been a staple in the New York music scene for almost two decades- other career highlights include working with Willie Nelson and recording tracks with Bob Margolin of The Last Waltz fame.
Brian Mitchell (keyboards & vocals) is a current member of Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band and is well-known within the circles of the music industry and beyond for his solo career and his high-profile collaborations. He has recorded and performed with some of music’s most respected artists, Levon Helm, Bob Dylan, Al Green, B.B. King, and countless others.
Matt Zeiner (keyboard & vocals) began his career with Hartford’s Street Temperature band, then hit the road with Matt “Guitar” Murphy of Blues Brothers fame. Matt has also toured extensively with Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.
Albert Rogers (bass, vocals) has shared the stage with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson in The Jim Weider Band, and has also performed with Sid McGinnis, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Vivino, Albert Lee and many others
As winter in the mountains prepares for its annual retreat, seasoned string band Chain Station ushers in the spring touring season with the release of Backroads, an album of original bluegrass songs inspired by the highways, landscapes and residents of the band's Colorado home. The full length record is set for release on May 3rd.
High-lonesome harmonies. Fiery fretwork. Acoustic instruments. Those ingredients of traditional bluegrass music are all present, tucked into an 11-song tracklist that not only nods to Chain Station's appreciation for the old-time heroes of the genre, but also pushes the band into new territory. After all, Backroads isn't your grandfather's roots music. Produced by international banjo champion Kyle Tuttle, it's a modern album rooted in creative arrangements and inspired performances — an album that will please newgrass fans and traditional listeners alike.
"We met around a campfire," explains co-founder Alex Thoele, "and we've been putting that loose, organic vibe onstage ever since. We call it mountain music, because that's where we formed. That's where we live. And that's what we do."
The band's third studio recording, Backroads also serves as an introduction to Chain Station's newest member, Chris "C-Bob" Elliot, whose banjo and baritone harmonies help thicken the group's sound. With Jon Pickett and Jarett Mason rounding out the lineup, Chain Station's members take their time on several of Backroads' tracks, stretching songs like the title track past the five-minute mark. It's a move that not only highlights the musical chemistry between all four members, but also shines a light on the primal energy of their live shows. Having spent years supporting bands like Del McCoury Band, The Devil Makes Three, Hot Buttered Rum, and dozens of others, Chain Station has developed a stage show that's energizing and electrifying.
Like its name suggests, Backroads could serve as an appropriate soundtrack for a road trip. "When we were recording," Thoele remembers, "we were thinking, is this something we'd want to drive through a mountain pass while listening to? So many of our fans listen to our albums while driving, so we kept that in mind and it influenced our creative process."
Maybe that's why the songs on Backroads often mention the mountains, wind, and other natural hallmarks of a joyride through the American West. Other songs, including the positive-minded "Half Full," deliver messages of optimism. A love letter to both their home and their genre, Backroads is Chain Station at their very best: inspired, expanded, and eager to hit the highway.
Listen To The Title Track Of The Album “Backroads” Here:
Celebrate The Band's 1971 historic concert, “Rock of Ages” with a special performance by The Weight Band with The Dap King Horns. Along with special guest Willie Nile, The Weight are five musical brothers based in Woodstock, NY featuring Jim Weider of The Band, and members of the Levon Helm Band. They have been performing their album World Gone Mad and The Band's treasured repertoire to fans around the country.
Fans can relive the iconic performance during our special Rock of Ages concert by The Weight Band, as they perform arguably rock’s greatest live album of all time. This will be a special event that you won’t want miss! Get ready to dance and sing along to beloved mega hits like “The Weight”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, “Rag Mama Rag”, and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, and hear why the Chicago Sun-Times declared, “The Weight carries on where The Band left off”.
Performing their current album, World Gone Mad, as well as classic songs of The Band, The Weight Band is led by Jim Weider, a 15-year former member of The Band and the Levon Helm Band. The Weight Band originated in 2013 inside the famed Woodstock barn of Levon Helm. Weider was inspired by Helm to carry on the musical legacy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group.
Years of touring have seen The Weight Band revive “The Woodstock Sound,” keeping the spirit of Americana/Roots Rock alive for audiences of all ages. They continue to keep the sound vibrant by releasing new music, evidenced by the album World Gone Mad (February 2018.) Their live set features Weight Band songs from the new album as well as fan favorites from The Band’s treasured catalog, including “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Weight,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
The Weight Band includes Brian Mitchell (The Levon Helm Band), Michael Bram (Jason Mraz), Matt Zeiner (Dickey Betts Band), and Albert Rogers (The Jim Weider Band). With a US and international tour schedule slated for 2019 and beyond, The Weight Band complements The Band’s timeless legacy while pushing the music forward for new audiences.
Billboard, Relix Magazine, and others have taken notice, as have generations of The Band fans who have yearned for new material since their last studio release almost 20 years ago. The Boston Globe proclaims World Gone Mad “strikes a chord between past & present,” and the Chicago Tribune says “The Weight carries on where The Band left off.” Goldmine Magazine cited World Gone Mad as one of the best indie albums of 2018, saying the group “effectively revives and recreates The Band’s original rustic sound as a successor [and] keeps that arcane spirit alive!”
Jim Weider (guitar, mandolin & vocals) is a former member of The Band. From 1985 to 2000, Weider replaced Robbie Robertson as their lead guitarist, writing songs and performing on their three studio albums, Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation. He toured internationally with original Band members Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko for fifteen years and was featured with them on numerous albums, films, videos, and in television appearances.
Michael Bram (drums & vocals) is a soulful singer and multi-instrumentalist. Bram splits his time drumming for The Weight Band and Jason Mraz. He has been a staple in the New York music scene.
Sent for almost two decades- other career highlights include working with Willie Nelson and recording tracks with Bob Margolin of The Last Waltz fame.
Brian Mitchell (keyboards & vocals) is a current member of Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band and is well-known within the circles of the music industry and beyond for his solo career and his high-profile collaborations. He has recorded and performed with some of music’s most respected artists, Levon Helm, Bob Dylan, Al Green, B.B. King, and countless others.
Matt Zeiner (keyboard & vocals) began his career with Hartford’s Street Temperature band, then hit the road with Matt “Guitar” Murphy of Blues Brothers fame. Zeiner has also toured extensively with Dickey Bett; a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. Albert Rogers (bass, vocals) has shared the stage with Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and played in The Jim Weider Band. Rogers has also performed with Sid McGinnis, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Vivino, Albert Lee and many others.
Willie Nile
The New York Times called Willie Nile “one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in years.” His album Streets Of New York was hailed as “a platter for the ages” by UNCUT magazine. Rolling Stone listed The Innocent Ones as one of the “Top Ten Best Under-The-Radar Albums of 2011” and BBC Radio called it “THE rock ‘n’ roll album of the year.”
Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams, Jim Jarmusch, and Little Steven are among those who have sung his praises. His album, American Ride, won “Best Rock Album of the Year” at the Independent Music Awards. It appeared on over one hundred year-end Top Ten lists for 2013 and Bono called it, “One of the great guides to unraveling the mystery that is the troubled beauty of America.”
In November 2014 he released an album of piano-based songs, If I Was A River, to universal critical acclaim. “One of the most brilliant singer-songwriters of the past thirty years” said The New Yorker. No Depression raved “Willie Nile’s artistic renaissance continues unabated.”
His 2016 album World War Willie appeared on numerous year end top ten lists as did hid his live shows. As American Songwriter said "Nile cranks up the volume and tears into these tunes with the same hunger, passion and exuberance he displays in his legendary sweat-soaked shows." World War Willie was voted “Album Of The Year” by Twangville Magazine and the song Forever Wild was named “Coolest Song In The World” by Little Steven's Underground Garage. In 2017 he released the critically acclaimed album "Positively Bob – Willie Nile Sings Bob Dylan"
Willie has toured across the U.S. with the Who and has sung with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. As the induction program from the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame says: "His live performances are legendary". His 12th studio album 'Children of Paradise' was released in the summer of 2018 to universal acclaim. He is currently bringing his dynamic live show and amazing rock and roll band to enraptured audiences worldwide.
Remember Jones
Remember Jones is a one-of-a-kind soul/pop singer, storyteller and bandleader with a throwback vibe and authentic energy. Collaboratively supported by a large ensemble of musicians (often featuring female backing vocalists, a horn section, and a six-piece rhythm section), the band has played to countless packed and sold-out ballrooms, clubs and theaters throughout the country.
Remember Jones’ debut album, Ladies and Gentlemen, Remember Jones!, was created after raising close to $19,000 through nearly 300 small donations via IndieGoGo, and created in front of a live studio audience with a 25-piece band. Their subsequent release, Tranquilizer!, was recorded at the Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN, under the production of Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Langhorne Slim). Remember Jones was named one of Paste Magazine and Daytrotter’s Top 10 R&B/Soul Artists of 2017.
In addition to touring and supporting two albums worth of original material, Remember Jones presents and fronts multiple productions which have also gained wide popularity. back to BACK TO BLACK, a recreation of the entire Amy Winehouse album with an orchestra of 12, and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen in a 20-piece arrangement, have helped Remember Jones develop a diverse audience as the band opens each performance with a set of original music. The company has performed Jeff Buckley's Grace album in its entirety as a collaboration with Grammy-nominated guitarist and Grace co-writer Gary Lucas, a 50th Anniversary concert experience of the musical HAIR, and a live revival of Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak with a 25-piece orchestra.
Remember Jones has shared stages with George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes, Darlene Love, Buster Poindexter, Nigel Hall, The Hip Abduction, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, and more. In the vein of putting their spin on others’ material, Remember Jones released Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?!, a single in celebration of Dean Martin’s 100th birthday, sharing studio time with Dean’s daughter, Deana Martin.
Whether you see him fronting a piano, a four-piece band, or with a soul orchestra of 25, Remember Jones evokes the energy of the great front men and women, with one of a kind song styling and expert storytelling that keep audiences on their toes and emotions in the moment.
Award-winning songwriter. College music professor. Road warrior. One of the most active frontmen in modern-day roots music, Jason Lee McKinney has spent the past decade in an absolute whirl of activity, earning an international following along the way.
He hits a new creative peak with Pieces, the eighth studio album from Jason Lee McKinney Band. Recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Kevin Houston (Buddy Guy, Robert Plant, Lucero) at Jim Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch (North Mississippi Allstars), the album whips up McKinney's own form of soulful American gumbo, finding room for roadhouse rock & roll, bluesy slide guitar, stomping grooves, countrified soul, and the larger-than-life swagger of McKinney's voice. Separately, these are the individual pieces of Jason Lee McKinney Band's sound. Together, they form something raw, raucous, and redemptive — a recipe that's worth revisiting again and again.
Lean and lively, Pieces shines a light on McKinney's songwriting, which has already earned the group a Top 10 hit in Texas (2016's "Lisha's Leaving"), an ever-growing number of national and international tours, and multiple industry awards, including a Josie Music Award for Male R&B Vocalist of the Year in 2019 and an Independent Country Music Association award for Artist of the Year in 2014. Mixed with contributions from longtime bandmates Barry Strauser and Billy Wright, as well as background vocals from fellow Memphis-based soul artists Reba Russell and Susan Marshall, those songwriting chops serve as the bedrock for some of the band's most groove-heavy performances to date.
"I’ve always loved the groove and musicianship of funk and jam bands," says McKinney. "I just wondered if the wide open arrangements caused some people to overlook how amazing the songs were. I aimed to write songs with the musicianship, grooves and melodies of those types of bands, but with tighter, cleaner arrangements."
Fueled by bluesy bombast and twin guitar leads, "Normal is Just an Exit" kickstarts Pieces with plenty of fiery fretwork. It's the title track, though, that fully embodies the album's concept. Co-written with McKinney's son, Zion, "Pieces" is a tribute to new beginnings and forward momentum, set to a soundtrack of anthemic melodies, searing guitar, and gospel harmonies. "This song is the essence of the whole record," says McKinney. "It bonds elements of the band’s sound together so thoroughly, it creates a new compound."
A rock & roll intellectual who holds a Doctorate, an MBA, and a BA in Management, Jason Lee McKinney is smart enough to know when he's creating his best work. And Pieces — released via Bonfire Music Group and filled with diverse, driven songs that are every bit as electrifying as the band's celebratory live show — represents another musical milestone, pairing some of McKinney's sharpest writing to date with a band that continues to fire on all cylinders. Full speed ahead!
Pieces is set for release on all major outlets February 21st, 2020.
Bluegrass musicians are the real deal. They are instrumental virtuosos and high-lonesome vocal masters that create haunting musical moods with every stringed composition. Montana’s Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs, the five-member bluegrass ensemble with the soaring harmonies and the rapid-fire picking, bring modern authenticity to a revered genre.
With Through the Smoke, to be released July 30th, Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs crafted an opus that straddles tradition and innovation as it conveys heartbreak and fortitude. Through the Smoke is the fourth studio album from the Americana influenced bluegrass quintet, which consists of Lena (Laney) Schiffer on guitar and vocals; Josh Moore on guitar and vocals; Brian Kassay on fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, and vocals; Matt Demarais on banjo and vocals; and Ethan Demarais on bass.
Among the gems on Through the Smoke are the melodically melancholy “Hi-Line” and the beautifully chilling “Alive” – an auspicious pair of tunes that bookend the 11-song opus – as well as the rollicking nugget “Paradise,” the modern-day hoedown “Burn It Down,” and the emotional anthem “Reeling.” The new album harnesses Montana’s big sky for creative, recording studio energy.
“Our band entered the recording process of this album with a collective goal to push the boundaries of what we’ve written and sounded like before,” says Schiffer. “We expanded on what the bluegrass genre typically sounds like by taking creative liberties with each song, adding pop and rock influences throughout the album. We all went through creative and personal transformations in the past year, and it shows in our songwriting. The title, Through the Smoke, fits perfectly with the theme of change, rebirth, and resilience found in these songs – this album represents us in our most honest form.”
Since the band’s inception more than eight years ago, the members of Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs have operated as a self-sufficient ensemble of gifted musicians. As a musical outfit they are self-managed and design/ screen print their merch in house. These players tour a hearty 150 dates a year and boast a fervently loyal fan base in the Northwest and Colorado, until recently handling show booking duties internally as well. Plans are underway to expand that base in late 2021 and onward by breaking into the Midwest, Southwest, and Southeastern regions with the help of newly added agent JD McCorkle of Usonian Artists.
In addition to all that artistic growth, Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs can feel the pride of having their music recognized by two respected PBS series. The band was featured on the Emmy Award winning 11th and Grant with Eric Funk and one of their songs was highlighted in the soundtrack of the 2019 “My Country No More” episode of PBS’ Independent Lens.
And yet even as national exposure blossoms for Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs, this is a band of five singers and multi-instrumentalists that remain firmly rooted in the expansive, enchanting Treasure State.
“Montanans are a family, and we have been a part of it for eight years now,” says Moore. “We have continued to evolve in a way that brings more people to the party every year. The Northwest, Rocky Mountain region, and the West Coast are on board, and we feel more ready than ever to meet our friends across the nation, expanding our family one city at a time."
Connect with Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs on social media: Like the band’s Facebook page, follow the band’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the band’s YouTube channel. Also, check out Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs’ website for more insight on the group’s soaring, harmonious brand of bluegrass.
Last Friday, North Carolina quartet Mipso unveiled the video for "Big Star," marking the latest official video release from their recent self-titled album (released October 2020/Rounder Records). The video, created and directed by Allison Grosso, unfurls as a surrealistic landscape that provides a powerful visual complement to the song's dreamlike, impressionistic lyrics and gently hypnotic melody and rhythms, tied together by Libby Rodenbough's graceful, elegant, sweeping vocals.
Watch the video HERE. Listen to "Big Star (Alt)" - a stripped down, early recording of the song - recently released as a b-side bonus track, HERE.
"I created the 'Big Star' video world out of a mashup of 3D models and scans uploaded by users all over the globe," explains Grosso. "Drawing on the disorientation in the song's story, I played with scale, place, and time frame-swimming through an artifact-strewn underwater cave out into deep space, driving a sports car into an ancient Coliseum that becomes table-sized. Leading us through the portals between scenes is the Native American mythological figure of the coyote, a trickster who likes to blur boundaries." A full list of credits is
"I saw some of Allison's CGI video work and was really taken with its kind of retro-futurism-something that feels appropriate to our current flavor of apocalypse," laughs Rodenbough. "'Big Star' is a driving song to me, a song about what you see in your mind when you're looking out the window, and the journey you take in this video goes at cruising speed. Allison's open landscapes, in conjunction with the scattering of miscellaneous curiosities throughout them, suit the production of the song to a T - we used a large array of sounds, but each sparingly. In the making of the song as well as the video, we talked about balancing surreality with warmth, paranoia with a sense of hope." Listen to the original recording of "Big Star," HERE.
In the very early days of conceptualizing the recording of their Rounder Records debut, the band did an impromptu session at producer Gary Paczosa's Nashville studio, and in a moment of inspiration, laid down the first demo recording of "Big Star." That early recording was recently released as a bonus track - and dubbed "Big Start (Alt)." As the band recalls, "We were recently talking about our early pre-recording practice sessions and how much fun it was to play the songs when they were loose and fresh. 'Big Star' was the one that especially had a magic, relaxed energy to it right off the bat. We first recorded the song with Gary Paczosa in Nashville on a pretty spring day. Gary has special ear powers and helped make some of the Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch records we've loved forever. We had plenty of time, on the porch in the sun, and that early recording - what we now call 'Big Star (Alt)' - has a special live vibe to it."
This fall, Mipso embarks on a series of U.S., UK, and EU tour dates - a long awaited road trip celebrating their October 2020 album release.
Mipso - Fall 2021 Tour
U.S.
09 / 11 Chattanooga, TN / Moon River Music Festival
09 / 12 Charleston, WV / Mountain Stage
09 / 17 Seattle, WA / Nectar Lounge*
09 / 18 Portland, OR / Mississippi Studios*
09 / 19 Coos Bay, OR / 7 Devils Brewing*
09 / 21 Sacramento, CA / Goldfield Trading Post*
09 / 23 San Francisco, CA / The Chapel*
09 / 24 Morro Bay, CA / The Siren*
09 / 25 Los Angeles, CA / The Echo
09 / 26 San Diego, CA / Casbah*
09 / 28 Flagstaff, AZ / Yucca North ^
09 / 29 Santa Fe, NM / Tumbleroot Brewery ^
09 / 30 Fort Collins, CO / The Armory ^
10 / 01 Boulder, CO / Fox Theatre ^
10 / 02 Denver, CO / Bluebird Theater ^
EU/UK
11 / 01 Glasgow, UK / Broadcast
11 / 02 Manchester, UK / Gullivers
11 / 03 London, UK / Oslo Hackney
11 / 05 Paris, France / Les Etoiles
11 / 06 Ghent, Belgium / Bar Mirwaar
11 / 07 Amsterdam, Netherlands / Melkweg
11 / 09 Berlin, Germany / Privatclub
11 / 10 Cologne, Germany / Blue Shell
11 / 12 Hamburg, Germany / Nochtwache
11 / 13 Coppenhagan, Denmark / Ideal Bar
11 / 14 Stockholm, Sweden / Bryggarsalen
11 / 15 Gothenburg, Sweden / Oceanen
11 / 17 Oslo, Norway / Krøsset
U.S.
12 / 01 Asheville, NC / The Orange Peel +
12 / 02 Charlotte, NC / Visualite Theatre +
12 / 03 Winston-Salem, NC / The Ramkat +
12 / 04 Charlottesville, VA / Jefferson Theater +
12 / 05 Richmond, VA / Richmond Music Hall +
12 / 07 West Jefferson, NC / Ashe Civic Center +
12 / 09 Amagansett, NY / The Stephen Talkhouse #
12 / 10 Woodstock, NY / Levon Helm Studio #
12 / 11 South Burlington, VT / Higher Ground Ballroom #
12 / 12 Cambridge, MA / The Sinclair #
12 / 14 Old Saybrook, CT / The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
12 / 16 Brooklyn, NY / Music Hall of Williamsburg
12 / 17 Philadelphia, PA / Milkboy
12 / 18 Philadelphia, PA / Milkboy
12 / 19 Washington, DC / 930 Club
With support acts: *Johanna Samuels, ^Anna Tivel, +Lowland Hum, #Taylor Ashton
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz has announced a tour of the western US in support of her two most recent recordings, 2020’s GRAMMY-winning World On The Ground and 2021’s Blue Heron Suite, which is a nominee for Best Folk Album at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Beginning on March 19 in Breckenridge, CO, the tour will include stops in Boulder, Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Santa Fe, and will wrap in late April with a run of five dates across Jarosz’s home state of Texas. A full list of confirmed shows is below. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 17 at 10:00 AM local time.
“What a year it's been. I’ve felt so fortunate to be able to play shows this fall and winter,“ commented Jarosz. “Now that this year is coming to a close, I am thrilled to announce my 2022 spring tour. The full band will be joining me once again, including Dave Speranza on bass, Mike Robinson on guitar, and John Fatum on drums. We’ll be covering so many of my favorite cities on the west coast, the Rocky Mountains, and ending, of course, with a handful of shows in Texas.”
Sarah Jarosz - Spring 2022 Tour
Mar 19 Breckenridge, CO, Riverwalk Center
Mar 20 Boulder, CO, Boulder Theater
Mar 21 Ft. Collins, CO, The Aggie Theatre
Mar 23 Jackson Hole, WY, Center for the Arts
Mar 24 Grand Junction, CO, Avalon Theatre
Mar 26 Phoenix, AZ, Musical Instrument Museum
Mar 27 Tucson, AZ, Rialto Theatre
Mar 28 Solana Beach, CA, Belly Up
Mar 29 Los Angeles, CA, Troubadour
Mar 30 Santa Barbara, CA, The Lobero Theater
Apr 1 Felton, CA, Felton Music Hall
Apr 2 Petaluma, CA, Mystic Theatre
Apr 3 Grass Valley, CA, Center for the Arts
Apr 4 San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
Apr 6 Seattle, WA, Neptune Theatre
Apr 7 Portland, OR, Revolution Hall
Apr 8 Boise, ID, Egyptian Theater
Apr 10 Missoula, MT, The Wilma
Apr 11 Bozeman, MT, The Elm
Apr 13 Durango, CO, Ft. Lewis College
Apr 14 Santa Fe, NM, Lensic Theater
Apr 15 Dallas, TX, Kessler Theater
Apr 19 Austin, TX, 04 Center
Apr 20 Austin, TX, 04 Center
Apr 21 Houston, TX, The Heights
Apr 22 New Braunfels, TX, Gruene Hall
Three women – modern, creative, and talented – are stretching the boundaries of old-time country and western swing music. The best part? They are doing it steadfastly, free of frivolous fanfare. We’re talking about neo-traditionalist western swing trio the Quebe Sisters – siblings Grace, Sophia, and Hulda.
The Quebe Sisters are hardly newcomers, though. Their modern musical sensibilities coalesced as seasoned performers. Dallas-based Grace, Sophia, and Hulda Quebe spent the last 15 years merging three-part harmony and triple fiddles to put a youthful, jubilant spin on Bob Wills’ classic genre. They have recorded four studio albums and toured North America, Europe, and Russia.
The Quebe Sisters are ready to perform western swing classics September 8 at 8pm (doors @ 7pm) at Swallow Hill Music/Daniels Hall, 71 East Yale Avenue in Denver, CO; Tickets are $22-$24; all ages are welcome. Click here for tickets.
The sisters’ four studio albums – 2003’s Texas Fiddlers, 2007’s Timeless, 2014’s Every Which-A-Way, and 2019’s The Quebe Sisters – serve as sonic proof that these ladies are fearless interpreters and innovators.
There’s certainly no boxing the Quebe Sisters. Grace, Sophia, and Hulda Quebe see western swing as an ocean of possibilities. On 2019’s The Quebe Sisters, for example, the three ladies incorporated originals, instrumentals, and covers into an album that moves freely from traditions on “Load at 7 (Leave at 8)” and “Bluegrass in the Backwoods” to stunning vocal-meets-fiddle exercises “Pierce the Blue,” “Summer of Roses,” and “Lonesome Road.”
“Bob Wills was all about experimentation – melding just about every style he heard,” says Grace Quebe. “He hired the best musicians playing regionally traditional instruments, as well as players interested in experimenting on what were the cutting-edge instruments of the day. This spirit formed what we today call western swing, and it needs to be an ingredient in current iterations of western swing to keep the style fresh and vibrant for the present and future. So, for us it’s authentic to the style to introduce our own originals.”
For these trailblazing women, performing before enthusiastic crowds means the deep, connected roots of country and western swing will be in full display. The Quebe siblings grew up in Texas surrounded by fiddles, bows, microphones, stages, and western swing tunes. Texas is the very reason Grace, Sophia, and Hulda Quebe ended up playing triple fiddle, Grace says. But in true trailblazing fashion, Texas couldn’t contain such immense talent and dedication. The Quebe Sisters took their sound beyond the boundaries of the Lone Star state into North America, Europe, and even Russia.
Grace sees nothing odd about their progressive brand of western swing connecting with foreign audiences. “Nostalgia and curiosity play some role,” she says, “but particularly the syncopation and dance elements of the music we love and play make it timeless and universal. Everyone resonates with music that has a good feel. If it uplifts you and makes you want to dance, then we are doing our job right.”
Modern, creative, and talented women that stretch the boundaries of country and western swing music become beacons. They light the path taking audiences on a trip to the past while keeping them firmly in the present and giving them a glimpse into the future.
"I think our central ambition in playing music is to touch people’s hearts and souls—to make them feel beauty, to make them hear colors, to make them forget worries and have fun, to make them think about God,” says Hulda Quebe. “There is no time in history or culture that doesn’t need music in this way!"
John R Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker. Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, Depreciated, is lush with intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, as well as being backed by a band that is on fire. One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favorite Tyler Childers, who says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honkytonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions. Miller’s own guitar-playing is on fine display here along with vocals that evoke the white-waters of the Potomac River rumbling below the high ridges of his native Shenandoah Valley.
Depreciated is a collection of eleven gems that take us to his homeplace even while exploring the way we can’t go home again, no matter how much we might ache for it. On the album, Miller says he was eager to combine elements of country, folk, blues, and rock to make his own sound. Recently lost heroes like Prine, Walker, and Shaver served as guideposts for the songcrafting but Miller has completely achieved his own sound. The album is almost novelistic in its journey, not only to the complicated relationship Miller has with the Shenandoah Valley but also into the mind of someone going through transitions. “I wrote most of these songs after finding myself single and without a band for the first time in a long while,” Miller says. “I stumbled to Nashville and started to figure things out, so a lot of these have the feel of closing a chapter.”
Miller grew up in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia near the Potomac River. “There are three or four little towns I know well that make up the region,” he says, name-checking places like Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Hedgesville, and Keyes Gap. “It’s a haunted place. In some ways it’s frozen in time. So much old stuff has lingered there, and its history is still very present.” As much as Miller loves where he’s from, he’s always had a complicated relationship with home and never could figure out what to do with himself there. “I just wanted to make music, and there’s no real infrastructure for that there. We had to travel to play regularly and as teenagers most of our gigs were spent playing in old church halls or Ruritan Clubs.” He was raised “kinda sorta Catholic” and although he gave up on that as a teenager, he says “it follows me everywhere, still.”
His family was not musical—his father worked odd jobs and was a paramedic before Miller was born, while his mother was a nurse—but he was drawn to music at an early age, which was essential to him since he says school was “an exercise in patience” for him. “Music was the first thing to turn my brain on. I'd sit by the stereo for hours with a blank audio cassette waiting to record songs I liked,” he says. “I was into a lot of whatever was on the radio until I was in middle school and started finding out about punk music, which is what I gravitated toward and tried to play through high school.” Not long after a short and aimless attempt at college, I was introduced to old time and traditional fiddle music, particularly around West Virginia, and my whole musical world started to open up.” Around the same time he discovered John Prine and says the music of Steve Earle sent him “down a rabbit hole”. From there he found the 1970s Texas gods like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, and Blaze Foley, the swamp pop of Bobby Charles, and the Tulsa Sound of J.J. Cale, who is probably his biggest influence.
As much as the music buoyed him, it also took its toll. “I always prioritized being a touring musician above everything, and my attempts at relationships suffered for it,” he says. Miller was also often fighting depression and watching many of his friends “go off the rails on occasion.” He says that for a long period he did a lot of self-medicating. “I used to go about it by drinking vodka from morning to night for months on end,” he says. “I shouldn't have made it this far. I'm lucky, I think.” Ultimately, the music won out and Depreciated is the hard-won result of years of self-education provided by life experiences that included arrests, a drunken knife-throwing incident, relationships both lost and long-term, and learning from the best of the singer-songwriters by listening.
For the creation of the album Miller joined forces with two producers who shared his vision for a country-blues infused record: multiple Grammy nominee Justin Francis, who has worked with everyone from Leon Bridges to Kacey Musgraves, and Adam Meisterhans, a renowned guitarist whom Miller has known since their days as roustabout musicians in West Virginia. They recorded Depreciated in the legendary Studio A of Sound Emporium in Nashville. Miller says the studio’s “killer gear and lived-in feeling” enhanced the sound but most importantly it provided plenty of space for the band to be together. “It’s important to me to have a relationship with the people I’m working with,” Miller says. The crew is a well-oiled machine that is given the opportunity to shine throughout the album: Meisterhans adding guitar along with Miller, Francis bringing in congas and Wurlitzer, Chloe Edmonstone offering a plaintive fiddle, John Looney on mandolin, Jonathan Beam providing bass, Russ Pahl’s shimmery pedal steel, John Clay on drums, and Robbie Crowell playing the Wurlie and Hammond B3.
We’re driven into Miller’s world by steady drums, a thudding bass, and steering electric guitar in “Lookin’ Over My Shoulder”, a song that perfectly captures going back to your old haunts after a breakup. Right away the many layers—sonic and thematic—are revealed as we continue on into “Borrowed Time”, a song that feels like a smoky bar-room but is also Miller at his most profound, pondering about “listening to that eternal engine whine”. Its ghostly electric guitar and percussion begs for two-steppers. More variety kicks in with “Faustina”, a lovely prayer to the most recent saint that shows Miller in seeker mode. “Shenandoah Shakedown” is a four-minute epic with its river that “speaks in tongues” and a “sky frozen black” but also intimate in its exploration of a relationship crumbling. “Coming Down” is perhaps the thematic heart of the album, asking “Don’t you wish you could go back home?” and exploring that question in elegiac tones with stand-out harmonies between Miller and Edmonstone. The breakup is further explored in the deceptively lively “Old Dance Floor”, which is answered in the keep-your-head-up anthem of “Motor’s Fried” before the intricate character study of a woman who “grew up too fast in the moonlight” in “Back and Forth”, which features memorable turns on the fiddle and mandolin. There’s the calming instrumental track “What’s Left of the Valley” that is an elegy for a region, an ode to searching for used cars called “Half Ton Van”, and finally, the melodic mastery of “Fire Dancer,” which may be the most complex and psychedelically-influenced track on the album that allows the album to land on a place of self-acceptance, with a narrator ready to go forward stronger and wiser.
The eleven songs, all penned by Miller, provide an album that stands strong as an entity but also provides tight singles that announce a major new voice. Miller possesses a rich voice, a flair for leading a band, and perhaps most of all, a startling ability for songwriting that results in Depreciated being an album that will have widespread appeal. Miller has achieved that most difficult yet most important thing: presenting the universal in the specific, paying attention to the cool beneath the pines along the rivers of the Shenandoah Valley while also pulling the camera back to reveal the longings that unite us all. – Silas House
Who: John R. Miller What: performing (w/Fruition, Rainbow Girls and others) Where: Cervantes and The Other Side ~ Denver, CO When: January 27 & 28 Time: 8pm (doors @ 7pm) Tix: $25-$27.50 (ticket link) Website: https://jrmillermusic.com/
If you’re going to capture the mystique and resonance of Johnny Cash onstage, you better have the raw prowess as well as the reverberating voice. Jay Ernest, the driving force propelling Minneapolis-based Church of Cash, has both in spades. With his bandmates, Ernest brings the iconic Man in Black to life every time he takes the concert platform.
The award-winning Church of Cash is a premier Johnny Cash tribute show band with the attitude and the chops. When the house lights go down, Cash is indeed immortal thanks to Ernest on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Jonathon TeBeest on drums, percussion, and background vocals; “Jumpin’” Jack Mansk on electric, baritone and acoustic guitars, and background vocals; and Tony Wirth on bass, upright bass, and background vocals.
Don’t miss the powerhouse Church of Cash perform Cash classics before a live audience May 12 at 8pm (doors at 7pm) at The Black Buzzard, 1624 Market Street in Denver, CO. Tickets are $15; 18 & over, please. For tickets, please click here.
“I want to be known as the best Johnny Cash tribute show in the world,” says Ernest. “We have the credibility, and we have four studio albums as Church of Cash. I grew up loving the sound of the choir and the booming voice of Johnny Cash. This is in my blood.”
The latest of those four studio albums is Flowers for June, released in October, which features a spate of inspired but not-so-obvious Johnny Cash covers, including “Ballad of a Teenage Queen,” “Thing Called Love,” “One Piece at a Time,” “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,” and “One on the Right Is on the Left.” Recorded at Square Studio in Minnetrista, Minnesota, Flowers for June joins Church of Cash, Thank You Sir, and Christmas Songs in the Church of Cash catalog.
Singing Johnny Cash covers and recording tribute albums is great, but the genuine proof of career longevity comes in the passion and commitment to the craft. Ernest and his Church of Cash have toured the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Along the way they’ve picked up accolades. In 2019, Church of Cash received “Best Tribute Act 2019” honors from the Midwest Country Music Organization. In 2021, Jay Ernest and by extension the Church of Cash, was inducted to the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. Now there’s an original musical theater-meets-concert event titled Folsom Prison Experience written by Ernest and pal Tom Pickard.
Since forming in 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Church of Cash has steadily forged a reputation for excellence. The band, which relocated to Minneapolis a year later, made it clear early on that channeling Johnny Cash was anything but a vehicle to gain instant notoriety. Cash, choirs, and rock ‘n’ roll reign supreme. So, when Jay Ernest steps in front of a microphone he embodies the true artistic spirit of the man he reveres.
By Mario Tarradell
Who: Church of Cash What: performing Where: The Black Buzzard ~ Denver, CO When: May 12 Time: 8pm (doors @ 7pm) Tix: $15 (ticket link) Ages: 21+ Website: www.churchofcashmusic.com
In music circles, soul is an overused word. It’s something singers and musicians claim to have, yet too many don’t and wish they did. Shawn James makes no pronouncements about his musical soul, but there is no doubt he has it. One listen to his rich, resonant voice embodying lyrics, sometimes turning them inside out, and that four-letter word immediately comes to mind.
Shawn James is ready to take that voice on the road. His 27-date fall tour kicks off Sept. 19 in Seattle, Washington and takes him through most of October. Onstage, James can be unpredictable as he runs through a gamut of genres, styles, and songs – both his own and popularized by others.
Speaking of original songs, James has a new one, out today. “I Want More” sports a world-beat rhythmic undertone buoyed by clean percussion touches and employs a haunting fiddle that slithers in and out of the melody. Above it all is that voice, strong and pliable and imbued with robust yearning. “I Want More” features James on guitar, Zack Sawyer on bass, Sage Cornelius on fiddle, and Rob Kennedy on percussion. The track was recorded in three home studios, then mixed and mastered by Sebastien Chialli at Westrow Music Studios in London.
“Lately I’ve been pulled toward Latin and Spanish rhythms and sounds. They really influenced this song,” says James. “Lyrically, ‘I Want More’ is about the desire and instability that we all have at times. Is enough ever enough? I don't know the answer, but I know what it feels like to have those thoughts and emotions. I know what it feels like to lust and want and be insatiable.”
You’ll hear “I Want More” when James takes many US stages this fall. Making music with him is the same lineup that recorded the track; Sawyer on bass, Cornelius on fiddle, and Kennedy on percussion. The upcoming trek also includes dates in Canada. You’ll also hear a variety of originals and choice covers – from the explosive “Burn the Witch” and the plaintive “Through the Valley” to a dramatic take on REM’s “Losing My Religion” and a quietly wistful rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
“If you come see me play live and expect just one style or aspect of what I do, you may be surprised to learn that our shows are a roller coaster of emotions, musical styles, intensity and energy,” says James. “I get bored easily and I love to mix things up. Be ready and bring your ear plugs just in case.”
James, who was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, has been making beautiful noise since 2012. While growing up he attended a gospel church, a fact that manifests itself in his riveting vocals. Those formative years also fed his hunger to create music with heart and truth. As an adult, he frequently moved around the country soaking up different cultures and musical styles. That’s exactly why he’s comfortable with folk, blues, gospel, R&B, metal, and rock.
He has released more than half-a-dozen full-length albums, including Deliverance, Shadows, A Place in the Unknown, and The Dark & The Light. He’s also active on YouTube, where his channel boasts nearly 500,000 subscribers. He has posted more than 80 videos – conceptual, studio performance, and live concert.
In every video you can hear that soul emanating from James’ powerhouse voice. And the best part? James delivers sonic potency without histrionics, without an ounce of pretense. In music circles, soul is an overused word. Shawn James doesn’t have to claim it. He lives it.
Tour dates:
9/19: Seattle, WA @ Neumos
9/20: Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw
9/21: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
9/22: San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord
9/23: Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
9/24: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
9/26: Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live
9/27: Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory
9/28: Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic
9/29: Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
9/30: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
10/1: Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
10/4: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
10/5: Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/6: Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
10/7: Boston, MA @ Sonia
10/8: New York, NY @ City Winery
10/10: Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
10/11: Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10/12: Detroit, MI @ El Club
10/13: Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
10/14: Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s
10/15: Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
10/17: Minneapolis, MN @ Amsterdam
10/18: Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
10/20: Denver, CO @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
10/21: Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
The seventh full-length from four-time Grammy Award-winner Sarah Jarosz, Polaroid Lovers is an album-long meditation on those strangely ephemeral moments that indelibly shape our lives. “What I love about a Polaroid is that it’s capturing something so fleeting, but at the same time it makes that moment last forever,” says the Texas-born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. “It made sense as a title for a record where all the songs are snapshots of different love stories, and there’s a feeling of time being expansive despite that impermanence.” Thanks to the rarefied alchemy that infuses all of Jarosz’s output—her finely wrought lyricism, ravishing vocal work, virtuosic yet unfettered musicality—Polaroid Lovers performs the much-needed magic of leading us toward a heightened sense of presence, all while casting a lovely spell with her timelessly powerful songs.
The follow-up to 2020’s studio album World on the Ground (winner of the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album) and 2021’s song cycle Blue Heron Suite, Polaroid Lovers embodies a bold new vitality that has much to do with a deliberate shift in Jarosz’s writing process and sonic approach. “Historically I’ve been somewhat closed off to co-writing, but in the past couple of years I’ve felt curious to get out of my comfort zone,” says the newly Nashville-based artist, who released her debut album at just 18-years-old. “For a long time it was important to me to write for myself, so that I wouldn’t get lost in those rooms full of amazing writers. But now that I’m more confident in my musical identity, I know I can collaborate but still stay true to my own voice.” In one of her first co-writing sessions for Polaroid Lovers, Jarosz joined forces with Daniel Tashian (a songwriter/musician/producer known for his multi-award-winning work on Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour) and immediately felt an undeniable creative connection. “Daniel and I were both so excited by the idea of creating a new sound together, and he pushed me in ways I felt completely ready for and open to,” she says. “It felt really good to allow myself that freedom, and to take that leap into something new.”
Produced by Tashian at the legendary Sound Emporium, Polaroid Lovers took shape as Jarosz recorded live with musicians like guitarist Rob McNelley (Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood), Tom Bukovac (Tom Petty, Vince Gill) on guitar and organ, her husband bassist Jeff Picker (Nickel Creek), and drummer Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams), carving out a viscerally potent but resplendent brand of folk-rock. Along with layering in such delicately crafted details as otherworldly textures and luminous synth tones, Jarosz and Tashian forged the album’s singular sound by foregrounding her spirited performance on octave mandolin. “Out of everything I play, the octave mandolin is definitely my soulmate,” says Jarosz, who first took up mandolin at age nine, quickly gained major acclaim in the bluegrass world, and also plays guitar and banjo throughout Polaroid Lovers. “I started playing it when I was 16, and that’s when I started writing songs that truly felt like me—there’s something about the tonality that really lets my voice shine through.”
With her co-writers on Polaroid Lovers also including artists like Ruston Kelly, Natalie Hemby, and Sarah Buxton as well as heavy-hitters like Jon Randall (Miranda Lambert, Emmylou Harris) and Gordie Sampson (Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood), Jarosz opens the album on “Jealous Moon”: a gloriously soaring and exquisitely nuanced track that instantly sweeps the listener up in its bristling emotionality. “That song is about the parts of ourselves that we try to keep hidden, and the moments when they rise to the surface and we just have to ride the wave,” says Jarosz, who co-wrote “Jealous Moon” with Tashian on a trip to his family’s summer house in Monteagle, Tennessee. “Daniel and I call it our little Monteagle song that could—it started off with me playing ukulele and him playing nylon-string guitar on the porch, then blossomed into this very powerful song that knocked me off my feet.”
Next, on “When the Lights Go Out,” Jarosz shares the sweetly lilting reverie that gave the album its title (from the first verse: “In a dream we were Polaroid lovers/In the deep where the edges don’t lie”). “I wrote that song with Jon Randall and Gordie Sampson, who suggested we try something in a 6/8 time signature—which is such a simple idea, but took us in a direction I might never have gone otherwise,” she says. “To me the lyrics are a way of asking someone you’re intrigued by, ‘Who are you when all the shine and attention isn’t on you anymore? Who are you really?’” Another track co-written with Randall, “Runaway Train” kicks the album into high gear as Jarosz serves up a bright and soulful love song built on a wildly sing-along-ready chorus (“You’ve got a heart like a runaway train/Screaming down the mountainside/Burning like a fever that you can’t contain/Humming like the 405”). “Coming out of the pandemic and playing shows again, I realized that a lot of the more uptempo songs in my set were covers,” she says. “I wanted to write a love song that would give people that joyful feeling, and Jon and I had so much fun playing with all those images of California and Colorado and Texas Hill Country, which is where I grew up.”
One of the most poignant moments on Polaroid Lovers, “Columbus & 89th” drifts into a dreamlike beauty as Jarosz reflects on the ineffable heartache of leaving her longtime home of New York City back in 2020. “New York signified this childhood dream that I’d had for so long, so moving to Nashville was like turning the page from youth to adulthood,” she says. “‘Columbus & 89th’ ended up just pouring out of me once Daniel and I started working on it—there was so much nostalgia and melancholy that I needed to process, and now I still tear up whenever I hear it. As a songwriter my main goal is to tell the truth about my experience, and I think the fact that that song makes me so emotional means that I was tapping into real feeling.” Written on the same trip that yielded “Columbus & 89th” (a journey to Alabama’s Orange Beach with Tashian’s family), “Days Can Turn Around” unfolds as a gently swaying folk song threaded with warmly delivered instruction for living well no matter what the circumstances (e.g., “Never turn down cold champagne/Don’t change your plans for a little rain”). “Both of those songs have similar themes of thinking back and looking forward, but trying your best to be in the moment,” says Jarosz. “With ‘Days Can Turn Around,’ I wanted to talk about all those little gems of wisdom you hear from you parents that end up taking on a whole new meaning when you finally become an adult.”
As Jarosz reveals, her very first co-writing session with Tashian helped draw out the deep-rooted confidence that informed all of the album’s creation. “That first day Daniel and I worked together we wrote a song called ‘Take the High Road,’ which is about taking the time to really know yourself and get comfortable in your own skin, even if it might take a little longer to get to where you want to be,” she says. “There was something so beautiful about that being the first song we wrote for this album—it gave me the push I needed to not be afraid, to move beyond the boundaries and explore new sounds.” A widely beloved musician whose past efforts include teaming up with fellow singer/songwriters Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan to form the Grammy Award-winning trio I’m With Her—as well as appearing on albums by iconic artists like David Crosby and Amy Ray of Indigo Girls—Jarosz derived a particularly profound sense of purpose from the highly collaborative process behind Polaroid Lovers. “Maybe more than any record I’ve ever made, I felt so present and hyper-emotional with this album because I believed in it so much,” she says. “It was so joyful to work with all these writers and musicians, and I think that joy really comes through.”
Looking back on the making of Polaroid Lovers, Jarosz notes that shaking up her process ultimately left her eager to further expand her creative horizons. “It was a big step for me to reach out to Daniel, but in the end it showed me how important it is to keep taking thoughtful chances,” she says. “This whole album reminded me that I never want to play it safe—if anything, I want there to always be that element of being a little scared, because that means I’m taking a risk. In a way that’s what’s so wonderful about art: if you’re lucky, you never reach the finish line. You just keep searching and chiseling away at the stone, and putting everything you can into making something that tells the truth but hopefully leaves space for others to find meaning too.”
Music has two personalities, a duality frequently characterized by quiet introspection and power-driven proclamation. If you were a photographer, it would be light and dark. If you were a painter, it would be black and white. For a musician, it’s acoustic and electric.
Revered Chicago-based singer-songwriter Michael McDermott reveled in his creative duality to craft a first – two full albums, one acoustic and one electric, to be released on the same day as companion pieces of work. Lighthouse on the Shore, the acoustic opus, and East Jesus, the electric collection, arrive September 13 on McDermott’s own Pauper Sky Records.
“I guess it’s always been a bit of a balancing act, my multiple personalities,” says McDermott. “One of my personalities grew up listening to early Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, traditional Irish music, and Tom Waits. The other one was raised on The Stones, The Who, Van Morrison, and U2. My songwriting varies wildly, to sometimes great effect and other times a seemingly incoherent array of songs that never find homes on my albums. This time I thought I’d lean into both, make a quiet record and a loud one.”
The quiet record, Lighthouse on the Shore, was recorded and mixed at Pauper Sky Studio in Orland Park, Illinois with a stellar group of musicians: McDermott on guitars, piano, bass, and vocals; Heather Lynne Horton on fiddle and vocals; Matt Thompson on stand-up and electric bass; Will Kimbrough on guitars, banjo, and mandola; John Deaderick on piano, keyboards, organ, and Omnichord; and Katie Burns on cello. Lighthouse was produced and mixed by McDermott with additional production by Deaderick.
In 10 self-penned songs, McDermott explores deep and resonant emotions with gentle melancholy and open-hearted honesty. Here are four highlights:
“Bradbury Daydream” – A thoughtful, poignant ode to life-affirming love even as we contemplate the end of our mortal days.
“I Am Not My Father” – We are all our parents’ children, whether we like it or not. Coming to grips with that truth is at the core of this mid-tempo ballad.
“Gonna Rise Up” – A rave-up about survival and sobriety. McDermott recharges his commitment to not let past demons take control again.
“Lighthouse on the Shore” – The album’s gorgeous centerpiece, a picturesque, poetic confession to a love that provides the beacon for life’s direction.
The loud one, East Jesus, was recorded and mixed at Transient Sound in Chicago and Pauper Sky Studio in Orland Park, Illinois with these great musicians: McDermott on guitars, piano, and vocals; Heather Lynne Horton on fiddle and vocals; Grant Tye on guitars; Matt Thompson on bass; Steven Gillis on drums; Will Kimbrough on guitars and banjo; John Deaderick on keyboards and organ; and Gerald Dowd on additional drum work. East Jesus was produced and mixed by McDermott and Gillis.
These 10 songs, all written by McDermott, emerged from a decade anniversary test of sobriety where he realized that all recovering addicts and alcoholics keep sharpening their lifesaving weapons. Here are four standouts:
“Berlin At Night” – An anthem-like rocker that speaks directly to the war that rages inside and how love is the fortress that shields us from harm.
“East Jesus” – Never let your guard down because temptation is always lurking in the wings waiting to invade. McDermott sings with the conviction of a warrior.
“Quicksand” – Rhythmic rocker with a groove-filled chant, this song explores the everyday forces trying to pull us down as we try to rise above.
“Head Full of Rain” – A breezy, melodic paean to hope that reminds us to think sunshine even though the psyche feels like a raging storm.
Reflecting on his unprecedented accomplishment, two full-length albums, Lighthouse on the Shore and East Jesus released as companion pieces on the same day, McDermott says: “There are always leftovers at my table, but this creative expansion allowed for a wider variety of songs to find a place, and hopefully to great effect.”
McDermott begins a series of concert performances in early September to promote Lighthouse on the Shore and East Jesus, as well as 2022’s powerful St. Paul’s Boulevard and a recording history that spans more than 30 years.
Purity still exists in modern-day music. There’s the purity of real instruments – violin, acoustic guitar, upright bass, percussion, and even cello – coupled with homespun harmonies that magically float into the ether. Then, you have the purity of songs written from the soul that fill a human void. None of that ever goes out of style.
Folk-Americana trio The Wildwoods, hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska, continue to bring sonic beauty and simplicity to today’s increasingly complicated and cluttered musical landscape. With Dear Meadowlark, the band’s fourth full-length album set for official release April 11, 2025, The Wildwoods have once again taken the hallmarks of the folk-Americana sound and dressed it in indie sensibilities a la heroes Nickel Creek and Gillian Welch as well as genre mainstays Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons.
And yet, at its core, Dear Meadowlark is about three 20-something musicians celebrating the emotional allure of familiarity and comfort. “The main lyrical theme of the album is the appreciation for our home state of Nebraska and the homesickness that can come with long periods spent on the road,” says Noah Gose.
The Wildwoods have been road warriors for the last few years, and that will continue as a string of dates across 24 cities in advance of the new album have been confirmed and announced today, with many more to be added. Several of the dates are in support of the acclaimed indie folk/Americana band TopHouse.
The Wildwoods are Noah Gose on vocals, acoustic and electric guitar; his wife, Chloe Gose on vocals and violin; and longtime friend Andrew Vaggalis on vocals and upright bass. Also on Dear Meadowlark are Harrison Eldorado on drums and percussion; Samuel Stanley on cello; and Benjamin Brodin on organ and steel guitar. Dear Meadowlark was recorded in March 2024 at Hand Branch Studio in Omaha, Nebraska. The album is co-produced by The Wildwoods and Brodin with engineering by Brodin.
Among the 10 gems on Dear Meadowlark, all of them written by Noah Gose, are four standouts that exemplify The Wildwoods’ nimble command of stitching a warm aural quilt that feels new yet well-worn.
"Sweet Niobrara" – Lilting and lightly foot-tapping ode to the village in Knox County, Nebraska weaves picturesque lyrics with a spry, folky-bluegrass beat. This is also the lead single being released this Friday, Oct. 25.
"Poster Child" – Wrapped in gorgeous stringed instruments, The Wildwoods sing about the restlessness of youth and the heavy expectations that eventually lead to adulthood.
"Hideaway" – This folk-Americana tune brimming with hints of folk-rock is a perceptive exploration about the need to find our inner retreat after we have performed on life’s stage.
"I Will Follow You to Willow" – Stunning melodies and harmonies, not to mention touches of steel guitar, accentuate this love letter to Willow, a community in Dawson County, Nebraska.
These songs, as the rest of Dear Meadowlark (which will also include a bonus track, the previously released stand-alone single “Postcards from Somewhere”) “showcase the timeless and classic sound of Americana/roots music working hand in hand with unique, genre-bending arrangements culminating in a collection of tunes that simultaneously sound brand new while harkening back to an older time,” says Noah Gose.
That delicate embrace of the past, present, and future has transformed The Wildwoods into a potent entity in the folk scene. Recently, The Wildwoods were finalists in the 2024 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest in Red Lodge, Montana. In 2023, the trio enjoyed being finalists in two high-profile band competitions – FreshGrass Music Festival and VHS “Gems in the Rough.” Also, their songwriting strengths have been recognized by semi-final placements in the International Songwriting competition with tracks such as “Untitled” and “Way of Train.”
Closer to home, The Wildwoods consistently earn acclaim at the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards. And in 2022, they were named “Best Band” by the Lincoln Journal Star’s Lincoln Choice Awards. Along the way, The Wildwoods also recorded three other full-length efforts Sweet Nostalgia (2017), Across a Midwest Sky (2019), and Foxfield Saint John (2023).
With Dear Meadowlark, The Wildwoods continue to offer listeners and audiences a musical respite that’s as pure as mountain air and as soul-restoring as quiet front-porch mornings.
Tour dates:
11/10: Garrison, IA @ Farmer’s Mercantile Hall
12/28: Chattanooga, TN @ The Barrelhouse Ballroom*
12/29: Lexington, KY @ The Burl *
12/31: Nashville, TN @ Cannery Hall *
1/3: Beech Mountain, NC @ Beech Mountain Resort
1/14: Telluride, CO @ The Alibi *
1/15: Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen *
1/16: Boulder, CO @ Velvet Elk Lounge
1/17: Buena Vista, CO @ The Lariat *
1/18: Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre *
1/19: Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell *
1/22: Reno, NV @ The Virgil
1/24: San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord
1/25: Sebastopol, CA @ Sebastopol Community Cultural Center
1/26: Sacramento, CA @ The Sofia
1/28: Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall
1/29: Los Angeles, CA @ The Mint
1/30: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
1/31: Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress
2/1: Flagstaff, AZ @ House concert
2/2: Phoenix, AZ @ MIM Musical Instrument Museum
2/19: Galveston, TX @ Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe
2/20: Houston, TX @ Last Concert Café *
2/21: Austin, TX @ The Far Out Lounge & Stage *
2/22: Dallas, TX @ Ferris Wheelers Backyard and BBQ *
3/5: Greenville, SC @ Radio Room *
3/6: Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre *
3/7: Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre *
3/8: Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre *
3/9: Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall *
3/12: Hartford, CT @ Infinity Hall Hartford *
3/13: S. Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
3/14: Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall *
3/15: Lansing, MI @ Gewall Hall at 224 *
3/16: Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre *
4/9: Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall*
4/10: Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
4/11: Seattle, WA @ The Showbox*
4/12: Missoula, MT @ The Wilma*
4/13: Billings, MT @ The Pub Station*
5/2: Brookfield, WI @ Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
Music is a longtime friend, one that comes in and out of our lives right when we need it most. When that longtime friend has something new to say, we embrace it with the same heart and soul as before. It forever sounds familiar, and it immediately strengthens that bond.
Country-rock royalty Pure Prairie League, a seminal outfit during the ‘70s and ‘80s movement that brought mainstream success to the Country-rock and Southern Rock genre, continues to ride the revival wave with Back on Track, the group’s first studio album in nearly two decades. Back on Track, to be released December 6th on Pure Prairie League Records, takes the classic PPL sound and gives it a fresh spin. Throughout a dozen cuts, we hear a rejuvenated band that pays homage to its signature sound while still injecting fresh sonic air. Back on Track is simultaneously classic and contemporary.
Today’s Pure Prairie League features founding member John David Call on pedal steel guitar; Scott Thompson on drums, percussion, and vocals; Randy Harper on keyboards and vocals; Jeffrey Zona on guitars and vocals; and Jared Camic on bass and vocals. Back on Track also boasts special guests Jenifer Wrinkle on fiddle; Jeff (Birdman) Kirk on alto sax; Mat Britain on steel drums and percussion; and Gary Burr, a PPL member in the mid-80s and late-90s, on vocals.
Produced by veteran PPL bassist and bandleader Michael Reilly, Back on Track was recorded at Riverfront Recorders in Madison, Tennessee with additional recording at Twilight Zona Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Initially, Back on Track began in early 2023 as an idea for an EP to showcase the three newest members of PPL – Harper, Camic, and Zona. But that quickly morphed into an entire band record that spotlights the new as it pays homage to the old. And for longtime PPL fans, there’s even a familiar visual treat.
“I called my old friend Bill Brown, who had done the illustrations for our last project in 2005, All in Good Time,” says Reilly. “Once again, Bill captured the spirit of our old cowpoke/mascot “Sad Luke,” while contemporizing the feel to reflect the band’s history, as well as the old-is-new approach to the music. The concept, the colors, the feel and the mood were everything we wanted.”
Back on Track flows like a freshwater river making its way through moss-covered rocks to its home in a cool clear lake. Those who remember the ‘70s glory days of “Amie”, “Two Lane Highway” and “Let Me Love You Tonight” will be delighted at how much PPL has preserved its style. New fans will rejoice in the uncluttered musicianship, sing-along lyrics, and accessible blend of Country, Rock, Pop and Rhythm and Blues.
Among the gems on Back on Track are:
"The Beginning" – Classic PPL right here, from the soaring harmonies propelling the crisp chorus to the melodic blend of country, rock, and pop. A great opener written by band member Jeffrey Zona that instantly establishes sonic familiarity.
"I’m the Lucky One" – What’s better than a Pure Prairie League love song? How about one with a rollicking, twangy rhythm and fresh vocals that ride atop the kind of melody that feels like a breezy drive through the Blue Ridge or the Rocky Mountains.
"Picture Perfect Life" – Again, Zona pens a foot-stomping kicker that makes infectious use of pedal steel guitar, drums and percussion, bluesy guitar licks, and, of course, their signature stacked harmonies. One of the most immediately catchy tunes on the album.
"Back On Track" – New Prairie Leaguer Jared Camic kicks it into high gear on the album’s title track and closing tune, which ventures squarely into Southern rock territory. This is an anthem waiting to happen, a fist-raising number that leaves listeners wanting more.
Throughout its 54-year existence, Pure Prairie League has built a legacy that survived the twists and turns of the music industry as well as the revolving door of members during its decades-long career. There has never been a shortage of demand for the band to play theaters and festivals, even when there was no new music to promote. With a catalog of best-selling albums, particularly Bustin’ Out, Two Lane Highway and Firin’ Up, as well as a handful of Top 40 pop hits, most notably “Amie” and “Let Me Love You Tonight,” PPL cherishes the past as it relishes the future.
“We’re hoping that our fans will be as pleased with the new record as we are proud of what we’ve done,” says Reilly. “I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the scores of people past and present that have contributed to the sound and the legacy of PPL. We could not have done it and lasted this long without their love, loyalty, and expertise. It’s been a long and rewarding journey so far. We offer sincere thanks to all our family and friends for your continuing support.”
Purity still exists in modern-day music. There’s the purity of real instruments – violin, acoustic guitar, upright bass, percussion, and even cello – coupled with homespun harmonies that seem to float effortlessly into the ether. Then, there’s the purity of songs written from the soul, filling a human void. None of that ever goes out of style.
Folk-Americana trio The Wildwoods, hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska, continue to bring sonic beauty and simplicity to today’s increasingly complicated and cluttered musical landscape. With Dear Meadowlark, the band’s fourth full-length album, set for official release on April 11, 2025, The Wildwoods once again blend the hallmarks of the folk-Americana sound with indie sensibilities inspired by heroes such as Nickel Creek and Gillian Welch, as well as genre mainstays like Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons.
At its core, Dear Meadowlark celebrates the emotional allure of familiarity and comfort. “The main lyrical theme of the album is the appreciation for our home state of Nebraska and the homesickness that can come with long periods spent on the road,” says Noah Gose.
Road warriors over the last few years, The Wildwoods show no signs of slowing down. A string of dates across 24 cities has been announced in advance of the new album, with many more to follow. Several of these dates are in support of acclaimed indie folk/Americana band TopHouse.
The Wildwoods are Noah Gose (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar), his wife Chloe Gose (vocals, violin), and longtime friend Andrew Vaggalis (vocals, upright bass). Joining them on Dear Meadowlark are Harrison Eldorado (drums, percussion), Samuel Stanley (cello), and Benjamin Brodin (organ, steel guitar). The album was recorded in March 2024 at Hand Branch Studio in Omaha, Nebraska, and co-produced by The Wildwoods and Brodin, with Brodin also serving as engineer.
Among the 10 tracks on Dear Meadowlark, all written by Noah Gose, four standouts exemplify The Wildwoods’ deft ability to craft a warm, aural quilt that feels both new and nostalgic:
"Sweet Niobrara" – A lilting, lightly foot-tapping ode to the village in Knox County, Nebraska, weaves picturesque lyrics with a spry, folky-bluegrass beat. This is also the lead single, set to release this Friday, October 25.
"Poster Child" – Wrapped in gorgeous string arrangements, this track explores the restlessness of youth and the heavy expectations that come with adulthood.
"Hideaway" – Brimming with folk-rock hints, this perceptive tune delves into the need to find an inner retreat after performing on life’s stage.
"I Will Follow You to Willow" – Stunning melodies, harmonies, and touches of steel guitar accentuate this heartfelt love letter to Willow, a community in Dawson County, Nebraska.
These songs, along with the rest of Dear Meadowlark (including a bonus track, the previously released single “Postcards from Somewhere”), “showcase the timeless and classic sound of Americana/roots music working hand in hand with unique, genre-bending arrangements, culminating in a collection of tunes that simultaneously sound brand new while harkening back to an older time,” says Noah Gose.
That delicate balance between past, present, and future has established The Wildwoods as a potent force in the folk scene. The trio was a finalist in the 2024 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest in Red Lodge, Montana. In 2023, they achieved finalist status in two high-profile band competitions – FreshGrass Music Festival and VHS’s “Gems in the Rough.” Their songwriting has also earned recognition as semi-finalists in the International Songwriting Competition for tracks such as “Untitled” and “Way of Train.”
Closer to home, The Wildwoods consistently garner acclaim at the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards. In 2022, they were named “Best Band” by the Lincoln Journal Star’s Lincoln Choice Awards. Their previous full-length albums include Sweet Nostalgia (2017), Across a Midwest Sky (2019), and Foxfield Saint John (2023).
With Dear Meadowlark, The Wildwoods offer listeners and audiences a musical respite as pure as mountain air and as soul-restoring as quiet mornings on a front porch.
Folk singer-songwriters are observers and documenters of the human condition, of the world around them, and of the intersection between the two. Revered folk musician David Wilcox is a penetrating storyteller with an effortless talent for spinning lyrics that quietly cut deep and for crafting melodies that embody the power of musical catharsis.
Wilcox’s folk singer-songwriter pedigree is peerless. You can hear every nuance of the Ohio native’s warm baritone on his latest album, 2023’s acoustic opus My Good Friends, released on his own Fresh Baked Records. Friends is an immersive piece of work brimming with universal lyrics and 4-minute mini-movies, including a trio of songs – “Dead Man’s Phone,” “This Is How It Ends,” and “Lost Man” – that are as cinematic as they are charismatic. The stripped-down collection of 10 songs is a fan-requested creative respite as Wilcox continues to work on a full band album coming later this year.
“I am grateful for the community that sustains me – my good friends,” he says. “These are the kind of friends that get you through difficult times. The kind of friends that you go to for a fresh perspective when the future looks grim. These songs grew out of conversations with friends, and they hold ideas that I like to have around.”
Wilcox shines before an intimate audience of fans and admirers, you could call them his good friends. Back on the road for a spate of shows, Wilcox returns to the stage March 30 at 7pm (doors @ 6pm) at e-Town Hall, 1535 Spruce Street in Boulder, CO. Tickets are $38-$53; all ages are welcome. For more information, HERE.
The backbone of Wilcox’s entire career honors personal and heartfelt music, whether on a stage or in the studio. Although born in Ohio, Wilcox found his artistic muse in North Carolina during the mid-1980s. In 1987, he released his debut album, The Nightshift Watchman, which led to winning the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in 1988. That translated to a four-album stint with A&M Records starting with 1989’s How Did You Find Me Here, which sold 100,000 copies by word of mouth. Thirty-plus years and twenty-plus albums later, Wilcox won top honors in the 23rd annual USA Songwriting Competition in 2018 for his effervescent “We Make the Way by Walking” from his album, The View From the Edge. Wilcox has deservedly earned praise over the years in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, and Rolling Stone, to name a few. He also has a dedicated and vocal core of fans who regularly write to thank him for his work and the impact his songs have had on their lives.
For Wilcox, music is cathartic, even medicinal. Check out his website and you’ll find a “Musical Medicine” section that features songs ready to heal heartbreak, depression, and addiction. But also, there are songs to appreciate life, beauty, and “enjoying the bliss of the moment.”
There’s the power of original folk music. Wilcox taps into the reveries of humanity and turns out universal vignettes. These are tunes that make us feel, think, laugh, and cry. “I'm grateful to music,” he says. “I have a life that feels deeply good, but when I started playing music, nothing in my life felt that good. I started to write songs because I wanted to find a way to make my life feel as good as I felt when I heard a great song.”
