Thu, 06/27/2013 - 10:16 am

With the release of their eighth studio album, Behind Beyond, via their own imprint label on July 9, 2013; Northern California's the Mother Hips will celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band. This album follows their 2009 studio release, Pacific Dust, and a four-disc retrospective compilation, Days of Sun and Grass, both of which garnered critical praise from outlets including The New Yorker, Mojo, Relix, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and cemented the band's reputation as creators of "California Soul." Co-founded by principal songwriter/lead vocalist Tim Bluhm and guitarist/vocalist Greg Loiacono, the Mother Hips has spawned its own community and even its own rock festival, Hipnic.  Held at Big Sur, Hipnic is now in its fifth year and has featured like-minded California bands including Cass McCombs, Jackie Greene, Al Jardine, Neal Casal, Dawes and others.It's been a long, winding journey since their 1993 debut on Rick Rubin's American Recordings, Back to the Grotto, through to the present day, which finds them in full charge of their own careers. Through it all, the Mother Hips are self-sustaining and, 20 years in, continue to operate as a cottage industry. The band also has its own beer and its own wine.Behind Beyond, recorded over the past year at Mission Bells Studio in San Francisco with co-producer Dave Simon-Baker, finds Bluhm wading cautiously into midlife, exploring thoughts of mortality as if it were a hazy dream. Loiacono, the man behind the many instrumental passages that weave through the album, says that this album "stretches out a lot more than any of our other records."  There's a sense of ease with these songs, from the laid-back feel of "Isle Not of Man" to the psychedelic guitar interplay of "Jefferson Army."Bluhm is the tall, rugged, frontman that pulls the listener in while Loiacono is the compact, explosive guitar ace that drives the music. But it's their partnership -- the unique, almost brotherly way they sing and play together -- that defines the band.When asked what makes this album special, the two bandleaders come at it from a different angle. Loiacono references the second track, "Freed From A Prison," a song he wrote but that Bluhm sings, citing the ability to let go of the song that made it work. "That song is about the concept of being freed from a prison you didn't even know you were in," he says. "It's this idea of finally opening up to an experience that was there for you the whole time. To me, a lot of this album is like that."Bluhm says that making the music meaningful -- going beyond just having a solid, well-played tune -- is the most important thing for him. "It's about making creative choices that are unconventional but that are still appealing that hopefully can reach the listener in a way they didn't expect and affect parts of their heart and mind they didn't expect to be affected by rock music, he says. I'm trying to make music that has a spiritual aspect where it's more than just a good song and more than just a rocking band or a commodity, an emotional experience that you might not even know is happening because it's surrounded by a loud rock band."It all started in 1990 at California State University in Chico when Bluhm and Loaicano found themselves living in the same house, teaching each other guitar chords and experimenting with harmony. They didn't realize it but they were laying the foundation for a sound, a style and a partnership that would last their entire lives.  The Hips were signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings while still in college and released their debut in 1993, followed by 1995's Part Timer Goes Full and 1996's Shootout. The band found themselves swept up into the life of major label touring, along with the heavy partying and relentless grind that has destroyed countless bands. Little promotion from the label found the Hips self-releasing 1998's Later Days and regrouping as a band.Since then, they've gone on to release independent studio albums (Green Hills of Earth, Kiss The Crystal Flake, and Pacific Dust) and have cultivated one of the most rabid and loyal fan bases in rock today. Focusing on quality rather than quantity, the Hips returned from a four-year hiatus (2001 - 2005) to find that they were more popular than ever. The core line-up of the band has remained stable since 2004, Bluhm, Loiaconco and drummer John Hofer. In 2011, Paul Hoaglin left the band and Frank Zappa and Fear bassist Scott Thunes joined the Hips. These days, the Mother Hips have changed their approach to touring, playing 80 shows a year rather than hundreds, concentrating on well-defined tour markets rather than staying out for long hauls. Today the Hips are free; they make their own schedule, recording and touring when it feels right. They're a successful independent business as well, having built up a loyal following and community for their sound and gaining the respect of their peers and critics along the way.  Bluhm coined the term "California Soul" back in 1998 with the song "Gold Plated" when he sang: "There's some boys I know/ who play that rock & roll / they've slept on a lot of floors / to get that California Soul."  Flash forward nearly two decades. The term has stuck and they're proud of the monicker."California isn't just a state," explains Bluhm. "It's a psychic idea ... the end of the frontier. It's not just a place; it's a style and a state of mind."The same thing can be said about the Mother Hips.Tour Dates:Jun 28    San Francisco, CA - The IndependentJun 29    San Francisco, CA  - The Independent  Aug 11    San Francisco, CA  - Outside Lands Festival, Golden Gate Park  *US tour dates to be announced soon

Wed, 09/04/2013 - 3:56 pm

Bay Area legends The Mother Hips will be in the Denver area on Friday, September 13 for a show at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO. Fronted by songwriters Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono, the Hips have just released their eighth studio album, Behind Beyond, which marks 20 years since their debut release for Rick Rubin's American Recordings. The band's live performances are legendary and their recent performances at SF's Outside Land Festival landed them in Rolling Stone and San Francisco Chronicle and many other outlets. The Hips' eclectic sound - cosmic country, Beatle-esque pop and RnR - was dubbed "California Soul" and has brought the band a loyal, grassroots following.

Since the band's formation back in Tim and Greg's college days in Chico, CA in the early 90s, the Hips have weathered being on a major label, drug habits, line-up changes and a fickle industry to emerge as a complete cottage industry: they have their own self-sufficient imprint, Mother Hips Records, their own beer, "Hips Helles," their own "Mother Hips 'California Soul'" wines and their own rock festival, Hipnic, held annually at Big Sur.

Bluhm says that making the music meaningful -- going beyond just having a solid, well-played tune -- is the most important thing for him.

"I'm trying to make music that has a spiritual aspect where it's more than just a good song and more than just a rocking band or a commodity, an emotional experience that you might not even know is happening because it's surrounded by a loud rock band."

Along with a US fall tour, the Hips have also partnered with renowned music venue Pappy & Harriet's for the 1st Annual "Desert Dust Up" music festival taking place on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20 and 21st at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown, CA. Along with the Hips, featured artists include Los Lobos, The Easy Leaves, The Donkeys, The Lonely Wild, Old Californio and many others.  There will be music on both the outside and inside stages at the venue, starting at 5 pm on September 20th and 3 pm on September 21. Tickets are on sale now here and you can check out updates at the Desert Dust-up Facebook page here.

Give a shout for press, interview or guest list requests or to be serviced with Beyond That.

Tue, 03/28/2017 - 5:49 pm
The Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, are returning to Boulder, Colorado early next month for a very special collaborative recording session with the Colorado University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gary Lewis. This unique, recorded concert event takes place on Wednesday, April 5 at Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Tickets are only $25 and on sale now at http://tickets.cupresents.org/single/SYOS.aspx?p=1349.
 
With 15 albums to their credit and a career that spans decades, the iconic duo continues to challenge themselves creatively, adding to a body of work that contains such hits and fan favorites as “Galileo” and “Love of Our Lives,” and “Closer to Fine.” You can expect to hear classics as well as songs from the duo’s latest album release, One Lost Day.
 
**Please note that this event is a live recording session. The Indigo Girls may stop, start, and restart songs and may also ask for audience participation or silence at some points during the recording. There will be no intermission. Indigo Girls plan to release a concert album featuring the live recordings from this concert later this fall.**
Wed, 01/27/2021 - 6:13 pm

The 30A Songwriters Festival is excited to announce that tickets are now available for the 2021 Virtual 30A Songwriters Festival scheduled to debut Friday, January 29th at 6:00 p.m. EST, Saturday January 30th at 6:00 p.m. EST, and Sunday January 31st at 6:00 p.m. EST. The Virtual Festival is a three-part series with each episode running approximately one hour. The presentation is a documentary of the past decade of Festivals edited from film footage shot at Festivals together with recent recordings of many of your favorite artists performing songs for our online 2021 Festival. Many of the festival's performers contributed special content: Jason Isbell, performing with his band the 400 Unit, contributes a remote recording presented in multiple frames to highlight the band. Rosanne Cash and her husband John Leventhal contribute a personal greeting to the 30A crowd and perform a beautiful acoustic rendition of "Seven Year Ache," and rock legend Graham Nash contributes a version of "Just A Song Before I Go" on acoustic guitar filmed at his home.

Brandi Carlile and the twins perform a live song from the Moore Theater in Seattle, and Kristian Bush and his band introduce a song from their very own studio. Indigo Girls perform acoustic from the Atlanta offices of Russell Carter Artist Management (Festival co-producer), where they have performed Facebook Live shows throughout 2020.

David Ryan Harris performs a solo electric song and 30A mainstay Shawn Mullins is presented live from an Annual 30A Songwriters Festival preview party at the WaterColor Lake House for members/sponsors of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County ( co-producer and beneficiary of the Festival). Additional performers include Rodney Crowell, Patty Griffin, The War & Treaty, Chely Wright, John Paul White from The Civil Wars, Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, Kyshona Armstrong, Jeffrey Steele, Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Earle, Mindy Smith, Dan Navarro, Birds of Chicago and many more.

The Virtual Festival is offering special bundles this year, one of which includes tickets and a spectacular coffee table photography book with photos shot over the years at past Festivals. Tickets for the three-part 2021 Virtual 30A Songwriters Festival are $45 in advance and $50 beginning on Friday, January 29th. Here is how this works. Once you purchase your ticket, you can view the Friday show beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST anytime up until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. You can at that time watch the Saturday show anytime from then until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, at which time you can watch the Sunday show. At the completion of the initial viewing of the Sunday show, you will have the option to re-watch all three shows together for a full week. Please note that anyone can buy tickets for the three part series anytime in the future after the debut weekend and can watch the combined three-part series anytime for a period of one week. Ticket purchasers will receive an email with a link from VEEPS to view the three-part series — details can be found at 30asongwritersfestival.veeps.com.

The 2021 Virtual event is sponsored in part by Visit South Walton, Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs, Grand Boulevard Town Center, and Silver Sands Premium Outlets.

Pre-Order BUNDLES:

Weekend Pass, 30ASF Grey Hat, 30ASF 2021 Virtual T-Shirt and 30ASF Retrospective Book - $175

Weekend Pass, 30ASF Grey Hat, 30ASF Retrospective Photography Book, 12 30ASF T-Shirts (1 for each year of the Festival, including 2021 Virtual Shirt) - $520

Weekend Pass plus all 12 30ASF T-Shirts (1 for each year of the festival, including 2021 Virtual shirt) - $425

**Shirts and hats to be shipped in March and Book to be shipped in April**

Thu, 02/11/2021 - 12:34 pm

Amy Ray is premiering the video for her new single “Muscadine” today with Garden & Gun. The song features Merge Records artist H.C. McEntire and is available through all digital service providers and Amy's own Daemon Records HERE. The song was penned by Amy Ray and recorded with her band remotely in their respective homes. Amy sings this story of love and loss over a landscape of haunting melodic keyboard drones, mixed with acoustic guitar, dobro, pedal steel, and fiddle, laid over a heartbeat of rhythm and bass. Alt-Americana, North Carolinian and Merge Records artist H.C. McEntire (Mount Moriah) provides a whole chorus of backing vocals that are her own special flavor of sweet and devastating.

The song was produced by Brian Speiser, and mixed by Bobby Tis, both of whom helped create Amy’s most recent country release, Holler. Bobby and Brian hail from the ranks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Amy says, “I wrote this song after one of my oldest dogs passed. Regardless of living deaf and blind for his last few years, he was always willing to go on adventures with me in the woods. He might run into a few trees along the way, or fall in a little ditch, but he always got up and carried on. I started the music from a riff on acoustic guitar, with some inspiration from Brent Cobb records, and the idea of simple parts that add up to capture a certain ache I was feeling. In the end, it’s a country tune about learning to love and receive love in the purest way, and to not be picky about life, but to stay the course with curiosity and gratitude."

Wed, 07/07/2021 - 2:12 pm

The Amy Ray Band is hitting the road for a few summer shows in the southeastern US during Amy's short break from Indigo Girls’ touring. The dates coincide with the upcoming release of Amy's next single, “Chuck Will’s Widow,” her 3rd in a series of solo singles released this past year.

The song, inspired by the mournful calls of the nightbird, resonated with Amy, a confessed night owl. "Chuck Will's Widow" will be available on all digital service providers on July 23, 2021 and features guests Michelle Malone and The War and Treaty.

“I just wanted to get out and play some of our new songs, continue our thread, and have fun," Amy says of the dates. "Hopefully this will inspire some more songwriting. We really want get back into the studio in December 2021 and record together, ya know, live in person. This band thrives on being together in both a live and a studio setting. I want to get enough songs recorded to release a vinyl LP."

Amy called on a couple of artists she loves to join her on these dates, with S.G. Goodman and Daphne Willis announced as support for the Durham and Asheville, NC shows.

“Most exciting to me is who is gonna be playing support for these shows!" she says. "S.G. Goodman is going to be our special guest at Motorco in Durham, NC. I have been listening to her recent record for a while and I am so psyched to get to see her play! AND I just got turned onto the music of Daphne Willis and she will be opening our show in Asheville, NC at Salvage Station! We start our little run of shows with a super fun free festival in Brookhaven (Atlanta) on July 30th —- fingers crossed I will get to see Rick Springfield play ‘Jesse’s Girl.'"

AMY RAY BAND TOUR DATES

7.30.21-Atlanta, GA- Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Summer Block Party-FREE

https://www.brookhavenga.gov/festival/page/brookhaven-announces-cherry-blossom-summer-block-party-concert

7.31.21-Durham, NC-Live in the Lot at Motorco Music Hall with special Guest, S.G. Goodman

https://motorcomusic.com/event/live-in-the-lot-presents-amy-ray-band

8.01.21-Asheville, NC-Salvage Station with special Guest, Daphne Willis

https://salvagestation.com/events/amy-ray-band

Fri, 07/09/2021 - 1:16 pm

For the past 12 years, the 30A Songwriters Festival has attracted thousands of die-hard live music fans from around the country to hear original songwriters spanning many genres of music perform their songs. The beach resort towns along Highway 30A on the Gulf of Mexico feature 30 venues presenting over 230 songwriters and 300+ solo, band and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of January 14 – 17, 2022.

TICKET LINK

30A Songwriters Festival will celebrate its 13th year with performances on the main stage at presenting partner Grand Boulevard’s Town Center in Miramar Beach with headline performances by renowned artists BROTHERS OF A FEATHER (feat. CHRIS & RICH ROBINSON of the BLACK CROWES), MAVIS STAPLES, EMMYLOU HARRIS, DAWES and JENNY LEWIS.

We are especially happy to welcome AMY GRANT and RICKI LEE JONES to the 2022 30A Songwriters Festival for the first time. Returning to perform two shows each throughout the weekend are songwriting legends RODNEY CROWELL, PATTY GRIFFIN, STEVE EARLE, JOHN PAUL WHITE (The Civil Wars), GARY LOURIS (JAYHAWKS), SHAWN MULLINS and DAR WILLIAMS!

WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING AN ADDITIONAL 150+ ARTISTS TO THE 2022 LINEUP OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS - STAY TUNED

We are pleased to announce the following confirmed artists: Marc Broussard, Carlene Carter, Robyn Hitchcock, Sierra Hull, James McMurtry, Liz Longley, Dan Navarro, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Jeffrey Steele, Kalen & Aslyn, Peter Bradley Adams, Kyshona Armstrong, Jeff Black, Mary Gauthier, Alex Guthrie, Toby Lightman, Charlie Mars, Michael McDermott, Leigh Nash, Abe Partridge, Alice Peacock, Darden Smith, J Barnaby Bright, Meaghan Farrell, Jesse Terry, The Young Fables, and many more!

The 30A Songwriters Festival production team transforms amphitheaters, town halls, restaurants, theaters, bars and covered patios into unique music venues ranging in capacity from 75 to 750 seats indoors and 6,000 outdoors.

Dueling rockstar brothers Chris and Rich Robinson formed The Black Crowes in 1984, penning several hit songs and becoming renowned on the live music circuit all before the age of 23. But over a storied career that saw the release of eight studio albums, four live albums, and over 35 million records sold, the brothers continuously butted heads, calling it quits forever in 2013; each brother vowed to never play or speak with the other again. This January, Chris and Rich will reunite on the mainstage at Grand Boulevard as Brothers of a Feather, an acoustic duo, and perform their classic hits from “She Talks to Angels” and “Twice as Hard” to “Remedy.”

Mavis Staples is the kind of once-in-a-generation artist whose impact on music and culture would be difficult to overstate. She’s both a Blues and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer; a civil rights icon; a Grammy Award winner; a chart-topping soul/gospel/R&B pioneer; a National Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement recipient; and a Kennedy Center honoree. She’s collaborated with everyone from Prince to Bob Dylan. A legendary live performer, she will treat the 30A audience to a string of The Staples Singers’ classics in addition to selections from her recent trio of acclaimed albums made with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.

Emmylou Harris returns to serenade the 30A mainstage with her incomparably expressive voice and eloquent, straightforward songs that first shook up country radio in the 1970s, cementing her place as the premiere songwriter of a generation. Over her career she's sold more than 15 million records and garnered 14 Grammy Awards, three CMA Awards, and four Americana Awards in the process.

Dawes will showcase songs from their latest critically acclaimed album, Good Luck With Whatever (recorded at the historic RCA studios in Nashville Tennessee with six-time Grammy-award winning producer Dave Cobb). The Los Angeles-based group is one of the finest folk rock bands of the modern era — just ask their forbearers. Studio collaborators include Jackson Browne and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers). Such signature songs “Time Spent in Los Angeles” and “All Your Favorite Bands” evoke a classic Laurel Canyon sound for the new millennia.

Jenny Lewis established herself as indie rock royalty as the frontwoman of Rilo Kiley, but as a solo artist she has blossomed into a singular, contemporary singer-songwriter. The New York Times calls her “a stylish performer who defies genre and salts her songs with a sly and off-kilter intelligence.” Her latest record On the Line features performances from Ringo Starr, Beck, and Don Was (The Rolling Stones).

Rickie Lee Jones will make her 30A debut fresh off the release of her memoir, Last Chance Texaco, released in the spring of 2021. Her chronicles are “as rich and colorful as Jones’s best lyrics,” writes The New York Times. The two-time Grammy winner, known for her haunting voice that ranges from deep yearning to late-night sultry, first appeared on the Los Angeles scene in the mid-1970s penning instant classics like “Chuck E.'s In Love,” “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” and the pivotal breakup album Pirates.

Co-producers Russell Carter and Jennifer Steele commented on the 2022 30A Songwriters Festival:

“2022 marks the 13th year of producing the 30A Songwriters Festival. It began as a small event and grew quickly into a premier one-of-a kind musical showcase for world-class songwriters. From the start, the Festival has been a benefit for the local nonprofit Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County.” Russell Carter, President of Russell Carter Artist Management and Festival Co-Producer points out that “this year — 2022 — we celebrate a New Morning. In honor of this theme, select musicians will showcase Bob Dylan’s classic album, New Morning, performing all of the songs in the original album sequence.”

“Anticipation for the 2022 30A Songwriters Festival is dramatically stronger than ever after 15 months of postponed shows due to the pandemic," said Cultural Arts Alliance Executive Director and Festival Co-Producer Jennifer Steele. "The Cultural Arts Alliance has been instrumental in establishing a rich and rewarding culture of creativity that enhances our community's quality of life, and we are eager to re-engage in person with our wonderful music enthusiasts, both fans and performers from all over the country, in support of the Arts."

Festival Weekend Passes are currently available at www.30asongwritersfestival.com. VIP tickets that include premium seating on the lawn at Grand Boulevard for the headline shows on Saturday and Sunday afternoons along with access to the VIP tent serving complimentary food, beer, wine and cocktails are also available. For a full description of each ticket package including VIP mainstage and transportation packages for groups of 2 up to 12, visit www.30asongwritersfestival.com.

Sat, 07/24/2021 - 11:42 am

Amy Ray releases a new single this week titled "Chuck Will's Widow," her 3rd in a series of solo singles released this past year. "Chuck Will's Widow" is available on all digital service providers on today and features guests Michelle Malone and The War and Treaty. The song, inspired by the mournful calls of the nightbird, resonated with Amy, a confessed night owl and premiered this week on Folk Alley. They write: "The sparse opening ripples out into an exuberant and jubilant wave of sound as pedal steel, dobro, guitar, mandolin, and accordion circle around one another as Michelle Malone and the War and Treaty move the song onto a higher plane with their glorious harmonies."

LISTEN TO "CHUCK WILL'S WIDOW HERE

Following the release, the Amy Ray Band is hitting the road for a few summer shows in the southeastern US during Amy's short break from Indigo Girls’ touring.

“I just wanted to get out and play some of our new songs, continue our thread, and have fun," Amy says of the dates. "Hopefully this will inspire some more songwriting. We really want get back into the studio in December 2021 and record together, ya know, live in person. This band thrives on being together in both a live and a studio setting. I want to get enough songs recorded to release a vinyl LP."

Amy called on a couple of artists she loves to join her on these dates, with S.G. Goodman and Daphne Willis announced as support for the Durham and Asheville, NC shows.

“Most exciting to me is who is gonna be playing support for these shows!" she says. "S.G. Goodman is going to be our special guest at Motorco in Durham, NC. I have been listening to her recent record for a while and I am so psyched to get to see her play! AND I just got turned onto the music of Daphne Willis and she will be opening our show in Asheville, NC at Salvage Station! We start our little run of shows with a super fun free festival in Brookhaven (Atlanta) on July 30th —- fingers crossed I will get to see Rick Springfield play ‘Jesse’s Girl.'"

AMY RAY BAND TOUR DATES
 
7.30.21-Atlanta, GA- Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Summer Block Party-FREE

 
7.31.21-Durham, NC-Live in the Lot at Motorco Music Hall with special Guest, S.G. Goodman
 

8.01.21-Asheville, NC-Salvage Station with special Guest, Daphne Willis

Tue, 02/22/2022 - 2:59 pm

On her first new album in five years, North Carolina’s Valorie Miller writes about one of the most beautiful pieces of land near Asheville, North Carolina — but not in the way you might expect. The narrative of her new album, Only The Killer Would Know, out May 6 via Blackbird Record Label / Indie AM Gold, emerged after Miller discovered that her acre of land in Swannanoa sat adjacent to, if not in the middle of, a hazardous waste area overseen by the government. Miller experienced health issues that led her to eventually leave the property. Only later, by talking to her former neighbors and doing her own research, did she discover it was a “superfund” site, so named because of the massive cost necessary to clean up the mess left by irresponsible corporations (in this case, a company called Chemtronics that manufactured weaponry and explosives).

Today, Miller shares the video for "Home of the Brave" via Popmatters. Shot on location in North Carolina, the visuals and lyrics juxtapose the beauty of the land against the toxic secrets hidden below. “Here in the mountains so green, it’s deceiving / You’d almost believe it’s a Garden of Eden,” she sings. “Somebody sold you thoughts that you’re thinking / And left a trace in the water you’re drinking.” The video shows Valorie sitting at her kitchen table with a massive document about the Chemtronics site, along with articles, maps, and graphs that she acquired through her research. It’s a fitting visual, considering the album title.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "HOME OF THE BRAVE" HERE and PRE-SAVE HERE
PRE-ORDER ONLY THE KILLER WOULD KNOW HERE

lIt’s a big, scary, horrible subject, and a lot of these songs grew out of that," Miller told Popmatters. "There’s not much you can do about those places. They will be toxic for our lifetime and for lifetimes to come. Writing a song is always how I’ve addressed things in my life, but I’ve never had an inspiration quite like this.”

Over the album’s nine songs, Miller’s spare arrangements, haunting, ethereal vocals (think Mazzy Star) and riveting eco-narratives are a genre unto themselves and tell a story that in some ways is all too familiar, yet entirely original. Unraveling the true story of her beloved acre of land – and the toxicity that lay below — is what led to the album’s title.

“You hear that term in detective shows, when somebody has insider information,” she says. “With Only The Killer Would Know, the ‘killer’ refers to the people who dump that stuff in the ground. And by researching all of that, I'm the detective,” she says. “To help find the killer, or the person responsible, the investigator has to know certain details that no one else could possibly know. In this case, the information is readily available, but nobody's looking except for me. I know all of this weird stuff about that place. Meanwhile, in this entire community, practically nobody is even aware that that place is there.”

Recorded in Asheville with rising producer Kayla Zuskin, the album begins with “Apocalachia,” with wrenching lyrics that confront the situation head-on. “Field of Flowers” then offers a poignant message about growth and accountability, especially when it comes to how we treat the earth, with Miller gently advising, “leave the flowers in the ground.”

“I think that the record definitely embodies a relationship between people and nature, whether it’s a toxic one or a healthy one,” she says. “I’ve been forced to become an environmentalist because of Chemtronics, but I’ve always loved nature and I’ve done a lot of camping and living in places that were very rural. But I’ve never had any kind of activist history, and I don’t consider myself an activist now, unless it’s through my art and talking about this subject.”

Some of that eerie, dreamlike vibe seeps into the later songs on Only The Killer Would Know, due to the innovative Asheville musicians that Zuskin brought into the sessions. In the studio with a female producer for the first time, Miller describes the whole experience as “shockingly relaxing.”

Miller has lived in Asheville for decades now. Born in Durham, NC, she learned to play guitar around third grade, using a guidebook while immobilized in leg casts after knee surgery. After college in Colorado, she kicked around the state for a few years, living in her truck or in shacks with no electricity or running water. In time, she returned to North Carolina and took a job at a camp near Asheville for juvenile delinquents. When she later married, she moved to a 60-acre farm in nearby Madison County.

One day, a friend visiting the farm heard Miller playing guitar and singing, then persistently encouraged her to pursue an emerging artist grant from the state. Much to her surprise, Miller received the grant. “And when I got it, I was actually kind of horrified, like, ‘Oh no, now what do I do?’” she recalls. “So, the whole thing developed on a whim. But that grant was enough to shoe me into a life in music, then I just kept going.”

Leaving the farm and the marriage, Miller moved to downtown Asheville and started playing songwriter nights in the ‘90s. She made her first album, on cassette, at 29 years old. Although she could already sing harmony, Miller taught herself to play bass and toured the country with her boyfriend at the time, Malcolm Holcomb. However, they broke up just before Miller moved to her property in the Swannanoa.

“Before this album, I’ve always gone in the studio and tried to figure it out with barely any money. That can hold you back in certain ways, especially if you’re nervous and unsure about the people you’re working with,” she says. “It’s a huge relief to make this album. I've always wanted to make a record that I really like from start to finish, and I’m so glad that it happened. I'm a late bloomer, I think.

TRACKLISTING

1. Apocalachia
2. Field Of Flowers
3. Home Of The Brave   
4. Not For Nuthin
5. Only The Killer   
6. Orbit
7. Pearl Choker
8. Welcome To Lonesome
9. Your Own Well

Wed, 04/20/2022 - 9:14 am

Over the past four years, the Opelika Songwriters Festival has attracted die-hard live music fans from around the Southeast to hear original songwriters spanning many genres of music perform their songs. Restaurants, bars, a distillery and an Inn in historic downtown Opelika become music listening rooms for two nights and a third day for dozens of solo, band, and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of October 14 – 16, 2022. Tickets are on-sale now HERE.

Opelika Songwriters Festival will celebrate its 3rd year with performances on the main stage at 1st Ave in downtown Opelika on Saturday afternoon October 15th with headline performances by renowned artists Indigo Girls and Rickie Lee Jones. Shawn Mullins and John Paul White perform two evening shows during the Festival weekend. Other artists performing include Leigh Nash, Jeff Black, Dan Navarro, Kim Richey, Peter Bradley Adams, Paul McDonald, Adam Hood, Larry Mitchell, Abe Partridge, Meaghan Farrell, Katie Martin, Bradley Cole Smith, Martha's Trouble, Haraway Brothers, Grayson Capps, Mark True, Stephanie Jeck, Dave Potts, Mutt Cooper and more.

Along with the music, Opelika Songwriters Festival is the perfect event for people who like to combine music, sports and relaxation at a world class spa. The official Festival hotel is the Opelika Auburn Marriott Resort and Spa at Grand National featuring three 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Golf golf courses, with scenic views, driving ranges, putting greens and golf lessons. Additionally there are elaborate resort-style pools with bar service, as well as eight tennis courts and an award-winning spa.

"Amy and I look forward to getting back to the Opelika/Auburn area where we have played many fun shows through the years. We are especially excited to share the stage with Rickie Lee Jones whom we admire so much as a singer and songwriter," says Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls.

Shawn Mullins, a veteran of the 30A Songwriters Festival, performed at the first two Opelika Songwriters Festivals and says the historic town offers something special for music fans. "Downtown Opelika stands out for its authenticity," he says."There are brewpubs, a distillery, boutiques, and a Pinball emporium inhabiting these beautifully restored, original cotton warehouses and retail buildings from the early 1920s Pepperill Mill era that drove the economy many years ago. Having these locations — all within walking distance — utilized as listening rooms for the Festival make this a fun, intimate gathering."

Indigo Girls' debut album sold over two million units under the power of singles “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” in 1989 and turned Indigo Girls into one of the most successful folk duos in history. Over a thirty-five-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the Grammy-winning duo has recorded sixteen studio albums (seven gold, four platinum, one double platinum), sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following. Their latest critically acclaimed record, Look Long is a stirring and eclectic collection of songs that finds the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reunited in the studio with their strongest backing band to date as they chronicle their personal upbringings with more specificity and focus than they have on any previous song-cycle.

Rickie Lee Jones will make her Opelika Songwriters festival debut fresh off the release of her memoir, Last Chance Texaco, released in the spring of 2021. Her chronicles are “as rich and colorful as Jones’s best lyrics,” writes The New York Times. The two-time Grammy winner, known for her haunting voice that ranges from deep yearning to late-night sultry, first appeared on the Los Angeles scene in the mid-1970s penning instant classics like “Chuck E.'s In Love,” “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” and the pivotal breakup album Pirates.
Opelika.jpg

“I was drawn to work on the Festival concept Rob and Jen with Sound Wall proposed in 2019, the first year of the Opelika Songwriters Festival, because my Grandfather managed the mill in Opelika when I was a young child and my father was born and raised there," explains Festival co-producer Russell Carter. "I was thrilled to meet in downtown Opelika and experience firsthand the preservation, renewal and innovations that had taken place in recent years. The restaurants, bars, distillery, pubs, galleries, boutiques, Inn and record shop create a custom-made setting for a unique small town multi-day music festival." Co-producers Rob and Jen Slocumb add, “We are happy to join together with venue partners throughout downtown Opelika in 2022, including John Emerald Distillery, the Heritage House, the Irish Bred Pub, Jailhouse at Rock n Roll Pinball, and our studio, the Sound Wall. Anticipation for the 2022 Opelika Songwriters Festival is stronger than ever coming off the success of the 2020 event which was postponed to the Fall of 2021 due to the pandemic. Music fans are very eager now to enjoy public music performances up close and personal!"

Festival Weekend Passes are currently available at www.opelikasongwritersfestival.com. VIP tickets that include VIP area at Main Stage with private bathrooms and bar, a whiskey tasting at John Emerald Distillery and a Sunday Brunch that includes an in the round performance with (3) festival songwriters.

Mon, 04/25/2022 - 7:58 am

Grammy-winning folk duo Indigo Girls return with a full summer 2022 tour schedule including Summerfest and Red Rocks shows. Indigo Girls will be joining fellow headliners Rickie Lee Jones, Brandi Carlile, Sarah McLachlan and Neko Case on these dates. As always, they are bringing along a some of their favorite artists as support for these dates, including Katie Pruitt, Nicole Atkins, Danielle Howle, Becky Warren, Ruthie Foster, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Along with songs from throughout their career, they'll be highlighting songs from their critically-acclaimed release Look Long (Rounder Records/ Concord), a stirring and eclectic collection of songs that finds the duo reunited with their strongest backing band to date. Dates are listed below. Visit www.indigogirls.com for more info.

Indigo Girls unite with members of their renowned backing band and special guests from across the globe for Look Long: Together, a career-spanning concert special featuring hits, rarities, and for the first time, full-band live renditions of songs from 2020’s Look Long album. Their streaming concert special will be available through the streaming platform VEEPS on May 8. Woven between multi-cam performances, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray discuss songwriting and reveal the inspiration behind signature songs in a series of intimate home movie segments. Look Long: Together is your evening with the Indigo Girls: a one-of-a-kind celebration of nearly four decades of Indigo Girls music and community.

Veeps is now available on Apple TV, Roku, iOS, and Android. Once you purchase your ticket, just download the app (or stream online), and get ready for a one of a kind night of Indigo Girls on May 8, 6 pm PT/ 9 pm ET. More info at https://indigogirls.veeps.com.

Over a 35-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, Saliers and Ray have recorded 16 studio albums (seven gold, four platinum, one double platinum), sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following. On their sixteenth studio album, Indigo Girls tell their origin story.

“We joke about being old, but what is old when it comes to music,” Saliers asks. “We’re still a bar band at heart. Our passion for music feels the same as it did when we were 25-years-old.”

Produced by John Reynolds (Sinéad O’Connor, Damien Dempsey) and recorded in the countryside outside Bath, England at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, the eleven songs on Look Long have a tender, revealing motion to them, as if they’re feeding into a Super 8 film projector, illuminating a darkened living room. “When We Were Writers” recounts the flying sparks and passion Saliers felt as a young college student when the duo first started performing together. “Shit Kickin’” is a nuanced love letter to Ray’s Southern heritage. “I’m a little bit left of the ‘salt of the earth’ / That’s alright, I’ll prove my worth,” she sings.

“As time has gone on, our audience has become more expansive and diverse which gives me a great sense of joy,” says Saliers.

Crowd singalongs that often overpower the band itself are a trademark of Indigo Girls concerts. With the duo returned to the road, amphitheaters across the country will once again fill with the sound of those collective voices raised in song. The phenomenon epitomizes the sense of community that defines Indigo Girls’ music. As one bar band once put it, “We go to the doctor, we go to the mountains…we go to the Bible, we go through the work out.” For millions, they go to Indigo Girls. On Look Long, they’ll find a creative partnership certain of its bearings, forging a way forward.

Buy/Listen Look Long: https://found.ee/IGLookLong
Exclusive bundles from Indigo Girls available in their store: https://found.ee/IG_D2C
Check out the music video "Change My Heart"

Tour Dates:
25 Apr 2022 Lexington Opera House - Lexington, KY
27 Apr 2022 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium: Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville, NC w/ Danielle Howle
28 Apr 2022 The Fillmore Charlotte - Charlotte, NC / Danielle Howle
29 Apr 2022 Mars Music Hall - Huntsville, AL w/ Kristy Lee
01 May 2022 Beale Street Music Festival - Memphis Fairgrounds, Memphis, TN
03 May 2022 Granada Theater - Dallas, TX w/ Katie Pruitt
04 May 2022 House of Blues: Houston - Houston, TX w/ Katie Pruitt
05 May 2022 Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater - Austin, TX w/ Ruthie Foster
20 May 2022 Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis (symphony show)
21 May 2022 The Blue Note Columbia, MO - w/ Chapel Hart
22 May 2022 Orpheum Theatre - Wichita , KS - w/ Chapel Hart
24 May 2022 Hoyt Sherman Place - Des Moines, IA - w/ Chapel Hart
25 May 2022 Orpheum Theater - Omaha, NE - w/ Chapel Hart
26 May 2022 Tulsa Theater - Tulsa, OK - w/ Chapel Hart
09 Jun 2022 Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park - Atlanta, GA w/ Rickie Lee Jones
10 Jun 2022 Hayden Homes Amphitheater - Bend, OR w/ Sarah McLachlan
13 Jun 2022 Washington Center For Performing Arts - Olympia, WA w/ Becky Warren
14 Jun 2022 Mount Baker Theatre - Bellingham, WA - w/ Becky Warren
15 Jun 2022 Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheater - Seattle, WA w/ Becky Warren
17 Jun 2022 Pioneer Courthouse Square - Portland, OR w/ Neko Case
18 Jun 2022 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA w/ Brandi Carlile
20 Jun 2022 The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA w/ Becky Warren
21 Jun 2022 Gallo Center for the Arts - Modesto, CA w/ Becky Warren
22 Jun 2022 Humphreys Concerts by the Bay - San Diego, CA w/ Becky Warren
24 Jun 2022 Orchestra Hall - Minneapolis, MN (symphony show)
25 Jun 2022 Orchestra Hall - Minneapolis, MN (symphony show)
27 Jun 2022 Paramount Theatre - Cedar Rapids, IA w/ Lucy Wainwright Roche
28 Jun 2022 Cahn Auditorium - Evanston, IL w/ Lucy Wainwright Roche
30 Jun 2022 Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI
01 Jul 2022 Door Community Auditorium - Fish Creek, WI
02 Jul 2022 Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua - Bayfield, WI w/ Lucy Wainwright Roche
08 Jul 2022 Ascend Amphitheater - Nashville, TN w/ Brandi Carlile
09 Jul 2022 Ascend Amphitheater - Nashville, TN w/ Brandi Carlile
11 Aug 2022 Vivint Arena - Salt Lake City, UT w/ Brandi Carlile
14 Aug 2022 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival - Lyons, CO
17 Aug 2022 Dr Pepper Park - Roanoke, VA - TBD
18 Aug 2022 Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD w/ Brandi Carlile
21 Aug 2022 Provincetown Town Hall - Provincetown, MA w/ Bitch
21 Aug 2022 Provincetown Town Hall - Provincetown, MA w/ Bitch
23 Aug 2022 Martha's Vineyard Performing Arts Center - Oak Bluffs, MA - TBD
24 Aug 2022 Pines Theater at Look Park - Florence, MA - w/ Bitch
25 Aug 2022 Bristol Township Ampitheatre - Bristol, PA - TBD
27 Aug 2022 Pavilion at Point of the Bluff Vineyard - Hammondsport, NY - TBD
28 Aug 2022 Lowell Summer Music Series: Boarding House Park - Lowell, MA - TBD
30 Aug 2022 Tanglewood - Lenox, MA w/ Brandi Carlile
31 Aug 2022 Thompson's Point - Portland, ME w/ Brandi Carlile
08 Sep 2022 Sonoma State University: Weill Hall at The Green Music Center - Rohnert Park,CA
09 Sep 2022 Prescott Parks Arts Festival - Portsmouth, NH
10 Sep 2022 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Morrison, CO w/ Brandi Carlile
11 Sept 2022 Ghost Ranch - Abiquiu NM
15 Oct 2022 Opelika Songwriters Festival - Opelika, AL w/ Rickie Lee Jones

Fri, 05/13/2022 - 2:50 am

Years before Americana music earned its own category at the Grammy Awards, Steve Forbert helped pioneer the genre's mix of folk, roots-rock, and richly delivered storytelling. He's been a torchbearer of that sound for more than four decades since, navigating the twists and turns of an acclaimed career that's taken him from gold records to Grammy nominations, from New York City's CBGB to Nashville's Bluebird Cafe, from his 1978 debut album to 2022's vital and versatile Moving Through America. The album will be released on Blue Rose tomorrow, May 13, 2022. Forbert has two live sessions that are available to stream for release day: he'll be performing on WXPN's "Free at Noon" at noon ET — find out how to listen HERE. Steve will also be performing a session for Paste magazine at 5 pm ET that will be live-streamed on Facebook; check HERE.

Steve has announced tour dates through June, including two weeks in the UK (scroll down for complete dates or go to https://www.steveforbert.com.

PRE-SAVE/PRE-ORDER MOVING THROUGH AMERICA HERE

It's the songs that take center stage with Moving Through America. Filled with character portraits and quirky insights, the album unfolds like a mosaic of modern-day American life, delivered by someone who's been crisscrossing the country for nearly half a century. With an author's nuance and a humorist's wit, Forbert offers glimpses into the everyday lives of his characters: a dog running from the sky's thunderclaps; a Houston man preparing to take his girlfriend out for fried oysters; a road-tripping motorist steadily making his way across the Midwest. Forbert inhabits each character, turning their storylines into first-person narratives that blur the lines between subject and scribe.
 
Moving Through America marks a new chapter in a story that's still unfolding. These are songs for the head, the heart, and the heartland, from the acoustic funky-tonk of "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" to the Tom Petty-worthy "Say Hello to Gainesville," which salutes the head Heartbreaker himself.

Backed by the same band that appeared on his collection of cover songs, Early Morning Rain, in 2020, he sounds every bit as spirited as he did in the late 1970s, back when he left his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, and headed to New York in search of new horizons.

"I was a fan of the Byrds and The Rolling Stones," he recalls of those early years up North, "but I also loved the singer/songwriters from that era. Country music, too. Gram Parsons was a real touchstone for me, and there wasn't a name yet that could encompass all those sounds. I wanted to keep that sound alive with my own music, and I didn't care that this was the late 1970s in New York City. I watched pop music go through a lot of changes, particularly in the eighties, but it never made me want to change what I was doing. I was making music that sounded like the way I felt.”

His unwavering work ethic soon paid off. "Romeo's Tune," a track from Forbert's 1979 breakthrough, Jackrabbit Slim, became a hit, climbing to Number 11 in the U.S. and pushing its accompanying album to gold status. When New Wave bands began to dominate the FM airwaves a couple of years later, Forbert stuck to his guns, continuing to fly the flag for organic roots music that proudly blurred the lines between genres. Releasing 20 albums in twice as many years, he has remained prolific well into the 21st century, serving as an elder statesman of Americana music while still writing music that's spry and steadfast. He's also a member of the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame, author of the lauded memoir Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock, and a Grammy nominee for his tribute to Jimmie Rodgers, Any Old Time. Meanwhile, his older songs continue to resonate in today's world, with Keith Urban recording his own version of "Romeo's Tune" on the artist's platinum-certified album Greatest Hits: 18 Kids.

Moving Through America is an album of songs that’ll get under your skin. Once again, this legacy songwriter finds narrative gold in the everyday, delivering a batch of songs that show he’s got plenty of fuel left in the tank. Steve Forbert is still moving through America, and with his latest album, he takes us with him.
 
TRACKLISTING
1. Buffalo Nickel
2. Moving Through America
3. Fried Oysters
4. Living the Dream
5. Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
6. Times Like These
7. I Can’t Get Back
8. Say Hello to Gainesville
9. It’s Too Bad (You Super Freak)
10. What’s a Dog Think
11. USS Palo Alto

TOUR DATES:
MAY  13 Philadelphia, PA - "Friday at Noon" Live on WXPN
MAY 13 Paste Magazine - livestream event, 5 pm ET
MAY 19 New York, NY - The Iridium
MAY 20 Stanhope, NJ - Stanhope House
MAY 27 Pawling, NY, Daryl’s House
MAY 28 Bryn Mawr, PA - Bryn Mawr Gazebo
JUN 04 Old Saybrook, CT - Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
JUN 05 Cambridge, MA - Club Passim
JUN 10    Fall River, MA - Narrows Center for the Arts
JUN 11    Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
JUN 15    Manchester UK / Band On The Wall
JUN   16    Milton Keynes UK / The Stables
JUN   17    London UK / Academy 02, Islington
JUN 19 Bristol, UK - Folk House
JUN 22 Crawley, UK - The Hawk Studio
JUN 28 Glasgow, Scotland - St. Lukes UK
JUN 29 Thorner Nr Leeds/ Victory Hall
JUN 30 Birmingham/ Kitchen Garden Cafe
JUL 02 Easton Woodbridge / Maverick Festival
JUL 03 Cambridge - Junction UK
JUL 10 Piermont, NY - Turning Point
AUG 05 Asbury Park, NJ - The Wonder Bar
AUG   25    Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe

Sun, 05/22/2022 - 2:49 pm

From his first gigs with the legendary Mother Hips all the way up to his last solo album, Mystic Traces, Greg Loiacono has always been driven by one unwavering desire: to connect. With his charismatic new album, Giving It All Away (Blue Rose Music), recorded at Dave Schools’ Northern California studio, Spacecamp, Loiacono dives headfirst into the dichotomies of love, exploring happiness and heartache and redemption and regret, all with great insight and empathy. He’s assisted by his longtime friend and collaborator Scott Hirsch (Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler), who assembled a collection of originals and reimagined covers that could speak to the dualities of love and heartbreak while simultaneously challenging Loiacono to fully inhabit his new vocal approach. Loiacono shared the first single from the album, a slow-jam version of the Genesis hit “That’s All,” at Jambase this week along with his upcoming live dates.

LISTEN/PURCHASE "THAT'S ALL" HERE
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE

“I knew I wanted to put a cover song or two on this record and ‘That’s All’ really encompasses so much of what this record is about,” says Loiacono, who transported the song from its original ‘80s habitat into a more swaggering, Curtis Mayfield-esque setting at the suggestion of Blue Rose founder Joe Poletto. “It goes back and forth between the push and the pull, the highs and the lows, the agony and the ecstasy of being in love.
The subtly powerful rhythm section of Michael Urbano on drums and Dave Schools on bass really sealed the deal on the cover concept. And Danny Eiesnberg's organ part is quite remarkable in its groove. I am very happy with the way this track came out."

Loiacono had spent lockdown producing records for other artists and revisiting country and soul music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the songs and sounds on Giving It All Away capture that vibe perfectly. He credits Hirsch for pushing him beyond his comfort zone as an artist, forcing him to embrace his falsetto singing voice and write with a clarity and directness he was unaccustomed to.

Working with Hirsch as producer and backed by an all-star band that included drummer Urbano (Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt), organist Eisenberg (Counting Crows, Jonathan Richman), and Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools on bass, Loiacono cut the bulk of the album live on the floor at Schools’ Spacecamp studio in Occidental, California, capturing most tunes in just a few takes each. Though Loiacono would later add vocals at his home studio and solicit remote contributions from horn players and backup singers including the legendary Vicki Randle (Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples), it’s the energy and the feel of those raw Occidental sessions that lays the groundwork for the album’s amiable atmosphere.

“Recording live was essential because the rhythm section is the centerpiece of these songs,” explains Loiacono. “We knew we had to keep everything feeling groovy and deep in the pocket at all times, even on the slowest songs.

“The whole session was really something special” he continues. “We had some challenges getting the recording started, including PG&E losing all power within a 15-mile radius of the studio. But those hangups gave us plenty of time to run the tunes. This was the first time we had all played together. There was instant chemistry between us and by the time we started tracking this song we had really found a great connection and groove. It's a true joy making music with these individuals.”

That emphasis on groove is undeniable on Giving It All Away, which sounds straight out of the late ’60s or early ’70s with wide-open drums, buoyant bass lines, and lush organ pads underpinning Loiacono’s gently aching meditations on love, loss, and everything in between. The intoxicating “Can’t Forget” wears its broken heart on its sleeve as a badge of honor, while the doo wop-tinged “Mr. G” grapples with the burning questions that linger long after a relationship has ended. The breezy title track takes solace in the revelation that you can never share your heart too freely. “We’re only living when we’re giving it all away,” Loiacono sings. “You can’t take it with you when you go.

 “I remember riding around in the back of my mom’s Chrysler as a kid and she’d be playing this Sade song called ‘Hang On To Your Love,’” says Loiacono. “I always envisioned ‘Giving It All Away’ as a response to that tune. The idea here is that you shouldn’t hang on to your love! You should give it away while you can. Tell the people you care about how important they are to you because life is fragile and tomorrow is never guaranteed. Even if you risk getting hurt by opening yourself up in that way, it’s worth it, because someday you won’t be around to give that love anymore.”

Loiacono’s artful cover choices help reinforce that notion throughout the record, as well. The soulful “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” (originally by Barbara Lynn, though later performed by Freddy Fender) refuses to grow jaded in the face of rejection, while an R&B reinterpretation of The Mother Hips’ “Del Mar Station” transforms bitterness into determination, and the inspired take on Genesis’s “That’s All,” which makes peace with love’s fickle nature.

And in the end, that’s what Giving It All Away is all about. Deep connection requires deep vulnerability, and growth is rarely comfortable. When it comes to love, though, the risks are always worth the reward.

TRACKLISTING
Giving it All Away
Can't Forget
Mister G
What Can I Say
Even Though I Lost
That's All
Love is The Way
Del Mar Station
And Not Cry
You'll Lose a Good thing

TOUR DATES (full band shows):
May 22- Hipnic Festival Big Sur, CA
August 12th- The Chapel  SF, CA
August 13th- Harlow’s Nightclub Sacramento, CA
August 19th- Michael’s on Soquel, CA
August 20th- Chico Women’s Club  Chico, CA
*stay tuned for additional dates

Thu, 05/26/2022 - 1:35 pm

Americana duo The Cactus Blossoms, brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, continue to tour for their acclaimed new album One Day with a series of June dates. The band was recently featured on The Late Show With Steve Colbert's "Late Show Me Music" series performing their Top 5 Americana Radio single "Hey Baby." The song, featuring the Minnesota-based brothers' trademark harmonies and an upbeat message, was lauded by Guitar World, The Boot, The Bluegrass Situation, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune and more. “That idea of finding a silver lining comes up a lot on this record,” says Torrey about the single. “It’s an acknowledgment that no matter how messed up things might be, people still want to believe in the world and find ways to feel lucky and joyful.”

Stream / Download the album HERE

Their video for next single, “Everybody” (featuring Jenny Lewis) was featured at Rolling Stone who wrote, “The song plays out like a conversation, nodding to Elvis Presley’s 'Suspicious Minds' in the opening line — 'Here we go again/Asking where I’ve been' — and then ultimately recognizing the other person’s agency and best intentions in the three-part harmonies of the chorus.” The song was picked up by Stereogum, Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan and others outlets.

While The Cactus Blossoms have drawn frequent comparisons to other musical siblings like the Everlys and Louvins over the years, One Day often suggests a more soulful, ’70s-inspired palette, hinting at times to Bobby Charles or JJ Cale with its playful Wurlitzer, breezy guitars, and lean, muscular percussion. The band’s classic country and old-school pop roots are still there, of course, but the growth and evolution underlying One Day is obvious, not only in the duo’s writing, but in their core philosophy, as well.

Lockdown hit the brothers hard. Quarantine put a sudden halt to their plans to record a new studio record, and as Minneapolis began to erupt in social and political unrest following the police killing of George Floyd, music began to seem like the least of the duo’s concerns.

“It felt like the whole world was falling apart,” says Burkum. “We had to put things on hold just so we could try to wrap our heads around everything that was happening in Minneapolis and beyond.”

As 2020 stretched on, Torrey and Burkum slowly began to regain their footing, and when it felt safe enough to get together in person, they started kicking ideas back and forth, inviting each other into their respective writing processes earlier than ever before. When it came time to record, the brothers called on longtime collaborator/engineer Alex Hall, who brought his mobile rig up from Chicago so they could cut the album quick and dirty in Burkum’s basement. They kept their circle tight for the sessions, working with their core touring band—which included both their older brother and their cousin—to capture the songs with a feel as close to the live show as possible.

“From the start, we knew we wanted to keep the instrumentation minimal and consistent across the whole album and embrace the dryness that came with recording in Page’s basement,” says Torrey. “We wanted it to sound raw.”

One Day Tracklist:

01) Hey Baby

02) One Day

03) Is It Over

04) Everybody (featuring Jenny Lewis)

05) Runaway

06) Ballad Of An Unknown

07) Not The Only One

08) Love Tomorrow

09) Lonely Heart

10) I Could Almost Cry

11) If I Saw You

Tour Dates:

06/04/22 - McGill, NV @ Schellraiser Music Festival

06/08/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon ▲

06/09/22 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Ponyboy ▲

06/10/22 - Dallas, TX @ Sons Of Hermann Hall ▲

06/11/22 - Austin, TX @ 3TEN ▲

06/12/22 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ▲

06/15/22 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway ▲

06/16/22 - Iowa City, IA @ Gabes ▲

06/17/22 - Des Moines, IA @ xBk ▲

06/18/22 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge ▲

07/08/22 - Berwyn, IL @ FitzGerald's

07/09/22 - Chicago, IL @ Square Roots Festival

09/10/22 - River Falls, WI @ Tattersall Distilling River Falls

▲ w/ Esther Rose

Fri, 06/24/2022 - 1:55 pm

West Coast rocker Greg Loiacono, stepping out his role as co-founder of The Mother Hips, has released the title track to his retro-soul inspired new album, Giving It All Away (Blue Rose Music). "Giving It All Away" premieres today at Glide Magazine and is up on all streaming services HERE. Loiacono has also shared a new video for the song above, which features a falsetto vocal against a Hammond-organ propelled deep groove. Loiacono tells Glide, “The ‘you can’t take it with you when you go’ back-up vocals were my attempt at doing a ‘Pips” thing as in Gladys Knight and the Pips.” The recording instantly transports you back to a time when soul music was a regular part of the Billboard charts, and radio was still how people were turned on to new music. The lyrics were inspired by an insight meditation by Jack Kornfield. "My mom gave me a bunch of cassettes of some of his old talks and I used to listen to them all the time when I drove around . . . a long time back . . . long enough to have a tape player in my car. He said it very off the cuff. I envision the shoulder shrug of an old rabbi with it, ‘Well, you can’t take it with you when you go.'" Recorded at Spacecamp, Dave Schools’ (Widespread Panic) Northern California studio, the song was produced by Scott Hirsch (Hiss Golden Messenger) who contributes acoustic guitar, along with Michael Urbano on drums (Sheryl Corw, John Hiatt), Schools on bass guitar, Danny Eisenberg (Counting Crows, Jonathan Richmond) on Hammond organ, and Kelly McFarling on backing vocals.

STREAM/PURCHASE "GIVING IT ALL AWAY" HERE
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE

Glide writes: "The title track from his forthcoming third solo record exhibits a real depth of collaboration not only through the musicians he played with on the track but also that his son, Noah Loiacono, created the accompanying video with his partner Isaac Goff and their friend Pheobe Zheng in New York City. 'Giving It All Away' is a more mellow follow-up to his last single, a sweet take on Genesis’ 'That’s All.' 'Giving It All Away' takes us back to Greg’s softer side but this time with a dose of Soul that is immediately retrievable."

Giving It All Away is a collection of originals and reimagined covers that could speak to the dualities of love and heartbreak while simultaneously challenging Loiacono to fully inhabit his new vocal approach. Loiacono dives headfirst into the dichotomies of love, exploring happiness and heartache and redemption and regret, all with great insight and empathy.

Loiacono had spent lockdown producing records for other artists and revisiting country and soul music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the songs and sounds on Giving It All Away capture that vibe perfectly. He credits Hirsch for pushing him beyond his comfort zone as an artist, forcing him to embrace his falsetto singing voice and write with a clarity and directness that felt fresh and inspired.

“Recording live was essential because the rhythm section is the centerpiece of these songs,” Loiacono explains. “We knew we had to keep everything feeling groovy and deep in the pocket at all times, even on the slowest songs.

That emphasis on groove is undeniable on Giving It All Away, which sounds straight out of the late ’60s or early ’70s with wide-open drums, buoyant bass lines, and lush organ pads. The intoxicating “Can’t Forget” wears its broken heart on its sleeve as a badge of honor, while the doo wop-tinged “Mr. G” grapples with the burning questions that linger long after a relationship has ended. The breezy title track takes solace in the revelation that you can never share your heart too freely. “We’re only living when we’re giving it all away,” Loiacono sings. “You can’t take it with you when you go."

Loiacono’s artful cover choices help reinforce that notion throughout the record, as well. The soulful “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” (originally by Barbara Lynn, though later performed by Freddy Fender) refuses to grow jaded in the face of rejection, while an R&B reinterpretation of The Mother Hips’ “Del Mar Station” transforms bitterness into determination, and the inspired take on Genesis’s “That’s All,” which makes peace with love’s fickle nature.

TRACKLISTING
Giving it All Away
Can't Forget
Mister G
What Can I Say
Even Though I Lost
That's All
Love is The Way
Del Mar Station
And Not Cry
You'll Lose a Good thing

TOUR DATES (full band shows):
August 12th- The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA
August 13th- Harlow’s Nightclub, Sacramento, CA
August 19th- Michael’s on Main ,Soquel, CA
August 20th- Chico Women’s Club,  Chico, CA
*stay tuned for additional dates

Wed, 07/13/2022 - 2:48 pm

"It's all-American music," says The Coffis Brothers’ co-frontman, Kellen Coffis, about the band's recent album, Turn My Radio Up. "There's rock, blues, acoustic folk, and country in there. As music fans, we go all the way back to the beginning — to pioneers like Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers — but we also look to artists like the Eagles and Tom Petty for influence. That's our playbook." The 5-piece band, led by Kellis and Jamie Coffis, take the American roots rock sound and imbue it with a Northern California sensibility. The Coffis Brothers are currently on tour; stream down for tour dates or check HERE.

STREAM THE COFFIS BROTHERS TURN MY RADIO UP HERE

With the aptly-titled Turn My Radio Up,The Coffis Brothers salute the glory days of the FM dial while planting their flag firmly in the present. A loose, organic album that showcases the full range of the band's abilities, the record bounces between full-throttle anthems like "Find Out the Hard Way" and acoustic folk songs like "Feel This Free." Along the way, the band makes room for soulful, piano-driven standouts ("It's So Easy"), atmospheric Americana ("Two of A Kind"), and tongue-in-cheek twang ("Ramona"), with Jamie and Kellen trading vocal and songwriting duties throughout.

Recorded at producer Tim Bluhm's (The Mother Hips) home studio in Marin County and at 25th Street Recording in Oakland CA, Turn My Radio Up is an album for car stereos, hazy afternoons, and long highways. Jangling guitar leads and front-porch folk songs share equal space with heartland rock anthems and campfire-worthy Americana ballads, all dreamt into existence by a group of road warriors who wear their West Coast stripes proudly. This is honest, heartfelt roots-rock with an emphasis on the roots.
 
Jamie and Kellen Coffis were raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains of northern California. Their mother was a children's musician who often recruited the boys to join her onstage, instilling in them an appreciation for energetic, catchy songs that focused on melody, mood, and message. "We learned how to sing three-part harmonies with Mom at a young age," remembers Jamie, who later grew into an accomplished keyboardist as his brother sharpened his chops on guitar. When the two began writing songs together, they found that their shared upbringing — including the music they'd heard on the radio airwaves as kids — had left a lasting mark on their artistic sensibilities.
 
"We have always loved the radio," says Kellen. "You can listen to one station and hear something you've never heard anywhere else, or you can listen to the classic rock station and hear music that hearkens back to yesteryear. Our music does both of those things, too."

Tour info and more can be found at https://www.coffisbrothers.com.

Wed, 08/03/2022 - 2:35 pm

Aericana duo The Cactus Blossoms, brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, continue to tour for their acclaimed new album One Day with newly announced fall dates. Along with headlining shows, the band will join Wilco for three dates in the Midwest (scroll down for a complete tour listing). They're also performing in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on October 5. The Minnesota-based band is currently in the studio recording an EP of songs by written by fellow Minnesota native Bob Dylan. The EP is slated for a fall release; check this space for updates: www.thecactusblossoms.com

The Cactus Blossoms were recently featured on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's "Late Show Me Music" series performing their Top 5 Americana Radio single "Hey Baby." The song, featuring the Minnesota-based brothers' trademark harmonies and an upbeat message, was lauded by Guitar World, The Boot, The Bluegrass Situation, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune and more. “That idea of finding a silver lining comes up a lot on this record,” says Torrey about the single. “It’s an acknowledgment that no matter how messed up things might be, people still want to believe in the world and find ways to feel lucky and joyful.”

Stream / Download the album HERE

While The Cactus Blossoms have drawn frequent comparisons to other musical siblings like the Everlys and Louvins over the years, One Day often suggests a more soulful, ’70s-inspired palette, hinting at times to Bobby Charles or JJ Cale with its playful Wurlitzer, breezy guitars, and lean, muscular percussion. The band’s classic country and old-school pop roots are still there, of course, but the growth and evolution underlying One Day is obvious, not only in the duo’s writing, but in their core philosophy, as well.

Lockdown hit the brothers hard. Quarantine put a sudden halt to their plans to record a new studio record, and as Minneapolis began to erupt in social and political unrest following the police killing of George Floyd, music began to seem like the least of the duo’s concerns.

“It felt like the whole world was falling apart,” says Burkum. “We had to put things on hold just so we could try to wrap our heads around everything that was happening in Minneapolis and beyond.”

When it came time to record, the brothers called on longtime collaborator/engineer Alex Hall, who brought his mobile rig up from Chicago so they could cut the album quick and dirty in Burkum’s basement. They kept their circle tight for the sessions, working with their core touring band—which included both their older brother and their cousin—to capture the songs with a feel as close to the live show as possible.

“From the start, we knew we wanted to keep the instrumentation minimal and consistent across the whole album and embrace the dryness that came with recording in Page’s basement,” says Torrey. “We wanted it to sound raw.”

Tour Dates:

SU 8.4 - Madison, WI - Terrace at Memorial Union

FR 9.9 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee w/ Wilco

SA 9.10 - River Falls, WI - Tattersall Distilling

SU 9.11 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Brewing Company w/ Wilco

MO 9.12 - Sioux Falls, SD - Washington Pavilion w/ Wilco

FR 9.16 - Fridley, MN - Forgotten Star Brewing

WE 9.28 - Somerville, MA - Crystal Ballroom @ Somerville Theater

TH 9.29 - Burlington, VT - HG Showcase Lounge

SA 10.1 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne

MO 10.3 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater

TU 10.4 - Vienna, VA - Jammin' Java

WE 10.5 - Washington DC - Kennedy Center | Millennium Stage

TH 10.6 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle Back Room

FR 10.7 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse

SA 10.8 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl

TH 10.13 - Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House

SU 10.16 - Brooklyn Center, MN - Minnesota Monthly's Rhythm & Brews

TH 2.23.23 - Bellevue, WA - Wintergrass Music Festival

FR 2.24.23 - Bellevue, WA - Wintergrass Music Festival

Tue, 08/09/2022 - 4:06 pm

Today, Amy Ray announces the release of her tenth solo album, If It All Goes South, out September 16 on Amy's own Daemon Records, and shares a peek into the album sessions with a DIY video for her upbeat song "A Mighty Thing" featuring Sarah Jarosz. The song, which captures the fervor of a tent revival meeting and features the propulsive banjo picking of Alison Brown, deals with how Jesus figures into the identity of gay Southerners raised surrounded by the Christian faith — "they taught me how to hate myself" Amy sings — but also explores the comfort offered by the "true gospel of love."

Watch the video HERE
Listen to "A MIGHTY THING" HERE (available on DSPs August 19; pre-save HERE)
Pre-save If It All Goes South (out Sept. 16) HERE and at Apple Music HERE

Amy Ray: One of my favorite moments from recording my new record, If It All Goes South, was the night we recorded "A Mighty Thing". My band and I were recording live to tape in Nashville, and it was not only the last day of our recording session but the last 4 hours. The virtuosic, Sarah Jarosz showed up after flying home from a gig, she came straight to the studio from the airport, mandolin in hand. We popped her into an iso booth and all got into our positions and did about 7 takes. Then we picked our favorite, recorded her harmonies, and the song was ready to mix. It was an appropriate whirlwind recording experience to go along with the punkabilly nature of the music and lyrics for this song.

The best line I have heard recently from a preacher, was at a funeral for a friend up in North Georgia. The preacher was so excited about Jesus, and in his evangelizing about Jesus, he kept saying over and over, "Folks, you can’t beat that deal”. I grew up in the church and this was one of the most convincing moments I have ever experienced, the sheer charisma, the glory. But then in the afterglow, I thought of all my self loathing and years of healing I needed to get past the negative parts of my church life. But, I will never lose hold of the positive things, and all the teachers that taught me about the true gospel of love in every aspect of my life. One thing I know for sure, fear is what keeps us apart, and this song is all about that too.

Recorded live to tape at Nashville’s Sound Emporium and mainly produced by her frequent collaborator Brian Speiser, If It All Goes South owes much of its freewheeling vitality to the potent chemistry between Ray and her longtime bandmates, including guitarist Jeff Fielder (a Seattle-based musician known for his work with artists like Mark Lanegan and Duff McKagan), keyboardist Daniel Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson, John Fullbright), pedal-steel player Matt Smith (also a member of The Honeycutters), banjo player Alison Brown, fiddle player/guitarist Adrian Carter, bassist Kerry Brooks, and drummer Jim Brock. The follow-up to 2018’s Holler (a widely acclaimed release featuring Vince Gill and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon), the album also includes a dazzling lineup of guest musicians: Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby, Phil Cook, and I’m With Her, to name a few.

In keeping with the spirited eclecticism that’s always defined Ray’s work (the cathartic punk of her 2001 solo debut Stag, the finespun country of 2014’s Goodnight Tender), If It All Goes South encompasses everything from gospel to punkabilly to folk, each handled with equal parts unruly ingenuity and extraordinary precision.

“Every day we had a new challenge—we’d have a string section in one room, the band in the main room, the backup singers somewhere else, and we had to figure how to make it all happen live,” says Ray, who also had the album mixed to tape by sound engineer/mixer Bobby Tis (Tedeschi Trucks Band, Neal Francis). “But even though the parameters were much stricter, I think it really added to the character of the record,” she adds. “You had to either love what you’d done, or commit to doing it all over again.”

Completed in nine whirlwind days, the making of If It All Goes South includes countless moments of indefinable magic. In reimagining an Indigo Girls gem called “They Won’t Have Me,” for instance, Ray and her bandmates pulled off the tremendous feat of deftly switching from acoustic to electric instruments mid-recording, giving way to one of the most powerfully exhilarating turns on the album. And for Ray, those moments of communion with her fellow musicians have proven to be an endless source of sustenance.

“My band and I have been driving around in a van together for about nine years now, so at this point we’re like family,” she says. “We’re all so loyal to each other and to the project, and everybody’s doing it for the love of it. For us it’s about carrying your own amp, putting on your own show, and being proud at the end of the night that you were able to achieve something. None of us ever wants to get too comfortable—it’s always about the act of trying.”

The Amy Ray Band will kick off the release with the following shows. Look for additional dates to be announced soon. Go to www.amy-ray.com for updates.

AMY RAY BAND - CD RELEASE SHOWS
WED, Sept. 21 Asheville, NC - Salvage Station w/Katie Pruitt
THU, Sept. 22 Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theater; Amy Ray Band supports Brandi Carlile
FRI, Sept. 23 Franklin, TN - The Franklin Theatre

Fri, 08/12/2022 - 11:46 am

West Coast rocker Greg Loiacono, stepping out his role as co-founder of The Mother Hips, is releasing his vintage soul inspired new album, Giving It All Away (Blue Rose), today. The album is a collection of originals and reimagined covers that could speak to the dualities of love and heartbreak while simultaneously challenging Loiacono to fully inhabit a new vocal approach. Loiacono dives headfirst into the dichotomies of love, exploring happiness and heartache and redemption and regret, all with great insight and empathy. The album is streaming now at Relix Magazine and is available on CD, vinyl and through all streaming services.

LISTEN TO GIVING IT ALL AWAY HERE
STREAM/PURCHASE THE ALBUM HERE

The recording instantly transports you back to a time when soul music was a regular part of the Billboard charts, and radio was still how people were turned on to new music. Recorded at Spacecamp, Dave Schools’ (Widespread Panic) Northern California studio, the album was produced by Scott Hirsch (Hiss Golden Messenger) who contributes acoustic guitar, along with Michael Urbano on drums (Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt), Schools on bass guitar, Danny Eisenberg (Counting Crows, Jonathan Richmond) on Hammond organ, and Vicki Randle (Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin) and Kelly McFarling on backing vocals.

Loiacono had spent lockdown producing records for other artists and revisiting country and soul music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the songs and sounds on Giving It All Away capture that vibe perfectly. He credits Hirsch for pushing him beyond his comfort zone as an artist, forcing him to embrace his falsetto singing voice and write with a clarity and directness that felt fresh and inspired.

“Recording live was essential because the rhythm section is the centerpiece of these songs,” Loiacono explains. “We knew we had to keep everything feeling groovy and deep in the pocket at all times, even on the slowest songs.

That emphasis on groove is undeniable on Giving It All Away, which sounds straight out of the late ’60s or early ’70s with wide-open drums, buoyant bass lines, and lush organ pads. The intoxicating “Can’t Forget” wears its broken heart on its sleeve as a badge of honor, while the doo wop-tinged “Mr. G” grapples with the burning questions that linger long after a relationship has ended. The breezy title track takes solace in the revelation that you can never share your heart too freely. “We’re only living when we’re giving it all away,” Loiacono sings. “You can’t take it with you when you go."

Loiacono’s artful cover choices help reinforce that notion throughout the record, as well. The soulful “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” (originally by Barbara Lynn, though later performed by Freddy Fender) refuses to grow jaded in the face of rejection, while an R&B reinterpretation of The Mother Hips’ “Del Mar Station” transforms bitterness into determination, and the inspired take on Genesis’s “That’s All,” which makes peace with love’s fickle nature.

TRACKLISTING
Giving it All Away
Can't Forget
Mister G
What Can I Say
Even Though I Lost
That's All
Love is The Way
Del Mar Station
And Not Cry
You'll Lose a Good thing

Album release shows (full band):
August 12th- The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA
August 13th- Harlow’s Nightclub, Sacramento, CA
August 19th- Michael’s on Main ,Soquel, CA
August 20th- Chico Women’s Club,  Chico, CA
— stay tuned for additional dates

Thu, 08/18/2022 - 2:57 pm

Milwaukee duo Dead Horses return with Brady Street, their first full-length since their breakthrough 2018 album, My Mother The Moon, which found the band lauded by NPR, Rolling Stone, Noisey, Billboard and more for their intimate, folk-inspired songs. The duo, songwriter Sarah Vos and upright bassist Dan Wolff, came together in college. Together, they weave together a patchwork of classic and contemporary influences that span trad roots, indie-folk, and other experimental musical idioms with songs that are personal, revelatory, and relatable, brimming with imaginative phrases, poetry, vulnerability, and a feeling of redemption.

Milwaukee’s eclectic Brady Street neighborhood provides a colorful backdrop for the latest album by folk duo Dead Horses. Brady Street, which is came out on August 12, 2022, is Dead Horses’ first full-length release since their arresting 2018 record, My Mother the Moon. The last album charted on the Americana Top 50 radio charts for three consecutive months. The single “Turntable” accrued more than 35 million spins on Spotify and was also featured on the Amazon and Apple Americana playlists. The pair’s select media highlights include a Rolling Stone “Artist You Should Know” mention as well as profiles in Billboard, Noisey, and even independent global news publication Democracy Now!

For their fourth full-length press, the pair decided to stick to their roots and record at Honeytone Studios in Neenah. “We wanted to produce something that seemed true to us, so we opted for a closer-to-home approach,” explains Daniel Wolff. “The experience allowed us to dive in and out of the studio and really work with the individual songs and the overall feel of Brady Street. Because of this, I believe we created a set of songs that contain a wider variety of sounds and textures that we knew were possible for us but didn’t have the chance to accomplish yet based on our previous recording strategies.”

The new record kicks off with its title track, “Brady Street,” a song that took many months to finish, but one that Sarah Vos says she “never lost faith in because it seemed to really capture a mood I’ve never been able to through song.” The second and third tracks open to reveal Dead Horses’ evolution into more intricate places rhythmically and sonically, only to pull away to the live recorded, sparsely beautiful, intimate “Bird Over the Train.” Track 8, titled “You Are Who You Need to Be,” is a ballad meant to empower those who don’t fit into society’s gender and sexuality norms. The final tracks, “Under Grey Skies” and “Days Grow Longer,” leave the listener with an unexpected sound from the band. “The sound is more fun and lighthearted than what we usually create, unless you’re looking too hard,” Vos observes.

"I feel that Brady Street is a coming-of-age record for us – both musically and thematically,” Vos shares. “In some ways, Brady Street is an answer to My Mother the Moon. The latter was written and recorded in the midst of working through childhood traumas and first venturing out on my own. Brady Street is less naive, more gritty, more focused.” Brady Street takes the intimacy of nature and brings it into the oftentimes reckless city life. Instead of walks through the forest, the songs take the audience on walks through the city, past all the old churches and bars with rich histories. Both records are filled with songs of hope and the search for beauty, as well as compassion for others, especially strangers. Written primarily throughout the COVID lockdown, Brady Street turns inward and reflects the introspection many of us encountered over the course of the often-melancholy pandemic.

Since the band’s early days, Dead Horses has been something of a fluid project centered around Sarah and Dan but has also welcomed other like minded musicians for recording and touring. The band's seemingly dark name is a loving tribute to a former friend of the band who passed away due to struggles with opioid abuse. To this end, Vos says, “Our music is about hope and joy, all while sharing an important message that you’re never alone in your battles.”

The union of Sarah’s emotive songwriting and Dan’s intrepid bass playing transcends the singer-songwriter-with-backup-musicians paradigm. Dan’s adventurous musicality equally shines alongside Sarah’s songwriting sensibility. To date, Dead Horses has released three albums, two of which have been produced by Ken Coomer of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, an Audiotree Live Session, three singles, and a five-song EP.

Touring has been essential to the group’s vitality. Choice live performance highlights include national tours with Mandolin Orange and Trampled by Turtles, opening for The Who at Alpine Valley, appearances at Red Rocks Amphitheater, and festivals such as Northwest String Summit, Red Wing Roots, Red Ants Pants, and Bristol Rhythm and Roots.

Sarah and Dan met during post-college crossroads moments. “Everything felt like this blank canvas back then, and we had these lifelong dreams of music,” Sarah recalls. “It all happened very organically.” Initially, Sarah and Dan resided in different musical spheres. Sarah was at a singer-songwriter vantage point, whereas Dan had previously played in punk bands, but the two quickly bonded over their shared adoration of folk music and upbringings in the church.

During those formative times, Sarah showed Dan songs she had been writing since high school. Inspired by her catalog of music, Dan decided to take on a new instrument, the upright bass, and set out to explore its melodic possibilities. Once together, the pair wasted no time in pursuing recording and touring opportunities, garnering a dedicated fanbase from the start.

Dead Horses is thrilled to support Brady Street with tours across the United States. Over the years, the road has become somewhat of a second home for Sarah and Dan. “Connecting with people at shows and being open together breathes new life into everything,” Sarah notes. “You can go somewhere and feel like a total stranger or a lost tourist at first,” as Dan perfectly describes the sensation of performing, “but once you hit the stage, you feel like you’re part of an all-too-familiar community.”

Fri, 08/19/2022 - 1:31 pm

Amy Ray announces the release of her tenth solo album, If It All Goes South, out September 16 on Amy's own Daemon Records. Recorded live to tape at Nashville’s Sound Emporium and mainly produced by her frequent collaborator Brian Speiser, If It All Goes South owes much of its freewheeling vitality to the potent chemistry between Ray and her longtime bandmates, including guitarist Jeff Fielder (a Seattle-based musician known for his work with artists like Mark Lanegan and Duff McKagan), keyboardist Daniel Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson, John Fullbright), pedal-steel player Matt Smith (also a member of The Honeycutters), banjo player Alison Brown, fiddle player/guitarist Adrian Carter, bassist Kerry Brooks, and drummer Jim Brock. The follow-up to 2018’s Holler (a widely acclaimed release featuring Vince Gill and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon), the album also includes a dazzling lineup of guest musicians: Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby, Phil Cook, and I’m With Her, to name a few.

In keeping with the spirited eclecticism that’s always defined Ray’s work (the cathartic punk of her 2001 solo debut Stag, the finespun country of 2014’s Goodnight Tender), If It All Goes South encompasses everything from gospel to punkabilly to folk, each handled with equal parts unruly ingenuity and extraordinary precision.

“Every day we had a new challenge—we’d have a string section in one room, the band in the main room, the backup singers somewhere else, and we had to figure how to make it all happen live,” says Ray, who also had the album mixed to tape by sound engineer/mixer Bobby Tis (Tedeschi Trucks Band, Neal Francis). “But even though the parameters were much stricter, I think it really added to the character of the record,” she adds. “You had to either love what you’d done, or commit to doing it all over again.”

Completed in nine whirlwind days, the making of If It All Goes South includes countless moments of indefinable magic. In reimagining an Indigo Girls gem called “They Won’t Have Me,” for instance, Ray and her bandmates pulled off the tremendous feat of deftly switching from acoustic to electric instruments mid-recording, giving way to one of the most powerfully exhilarating turns on the album. And for Ray, those moments of communion with her fellow musicians have proven to be an endless source of sustenance.

“My band and I have been driving around in a van together for about nine years now, so at this point we’re like family,” she says. “We’re all so loyal to each other and to the project, and everybody’s doing it for the love of it. For us it’s about carrying your own amp, putting on your own show, and being proud at the end of the night that you were able to achieve something. None of us ever wants to get too comfortable—it’s always about the act of trying.”

The Amy Ray Band will kick off the release with the following shows. Look for additional dates to be announced soon. Go to www.amy-ray.com for updates.

AMY RAY BAND - CD RELEASE SHOWS
WED, Sept. 21 Asheville, NC - Salvage Station w/Katie Pruitt
THU, Sept. 22 Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theater; Amy Ray Band supports Brandi Carlile
FRI, Sept. 23 Franklin, TN - The Franklin Theatre w/ H.C. McEntire
—more dates to be announced soon

Mon, 09/12/2022 - 3:55 pm

Indigo Girls will be honored with The Spirit of Americana Award for lifetime achievement as songwriters and recording and touring artists as well as outspoken social activists during a televised ceremony at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, September 14. The awards ceremony serves as the hallmark event of Americanafest produced by the Americana Music Association (the AMA), which takes place this year on Sept. 13-17 in Nashville, TN.

The awards recognize a lifetime of artistry in music. Speaking of the Indigo Girls, the AMA states that “their songs, musicianship and voices have touched our hearts. Their authentic talents define today what so many find appealing in the Americana world - and right there on their website, is the tab for Advocacy — combining to set a standard that places them in our pantheon of musical innovators”.

The Spirit of Americana Award is co-presented in partnership with the nation’s leading advocate for Freedom of Speech; the not for profit, First Amendment Center founded by the late John Siegenthaler, Sr. Past recipients of this award have included: Mavis Staples, Rosanne Cash, Graham Nash, Billy Bragg, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jackson Browne, Stephen Stills, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash.

The 2022 Honors & Awards show will stream live via Circle Network’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels (@CircleAllAccess), NPR Music and the Americana Music Association Facebook page Wednesday, September 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET, while live audio simulcasts of the show will be available via SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country, and on Nashville area terrestrial radio stations: WRLT (100.1 FM), WSM (650 AM) and WMOT (89.5 FM).

On the morning of the ceremony, Saliers and Ray will sit down with acclaimed writer and culture critic Ann Powers for an in-depth, career-spanning interview in front of a live audience of AmericanaFest attendees.

Remaining tickets to the Americana Honors & Awards show will be on sale to the general public during the day on Wednesday September 14th at the Westin Hotel downtown and at the Ryman Auditorium box office before the show at 5:00 p.m.

Over a 35-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the multi-Grammy-winning duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray has recorded 16 studio albums, sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following across the globe. Rolling Stone describes them as the “ideal duet partners.” Committed and uncompromising activists, they work on issues like immigration reform, LGBTQ advocacy, education, death penalty reform, and Native American rights.

Indigo Girls will tour through the Fall of 2022 and into the new year. Highlights include headlining the 2022 Opelika Songwriters Festival in Opelika, Alabama on October 15 joined by Rickie Lee Jones, Shawn Mullins, John Paul White and many others. Tickets are available HERE.

Indigo Girls will ring in the new year in their home town of Atlanta, GA with two nights of performances (December 30 and 31st ) backed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Audiences will be treated to full symphonic arrangements of classic hits and fan favorites like “Kid Fears,” “Galileo,” and “Power of Two.”

Look for coming announcements for new confirmed shows in 2023 including a tour of major US markets in June and UK and European markets in August. More at https://www.indigogirls.com

Indigo Girls Fall / Winter Tour 2022
9/16 – Aiken, SC* - Indigo Girls with The Aiken Symphony
10/15 – Opelika, AL - Opelika Songwriters Festival 2022
10/16 – Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre Mobile
10/18 – New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
10/19 – Houston, TX - House of Blues Houston
10/21 – Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
10/22 – San Antonio, TX - The Rustic (RIM)
10/23 – Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ
10/25 – New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
11/12 – Tybee Island, GA - Tybee Post Music Festival
11/14 – Des Moines, IA - Hoyt Sherman Place
11/15 – Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theatre
11/16 – Wichita, KS - Orpheum Theatre
11/18 – Tulsa, OK - Tulsa Theater
11/19 – Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
11/20 – Evanston, IL - Cahn Auditorium
12/2 – Tarrytown, NY - Tarrytown Music Hall
12/3 – New London, CT - Garde Arts Center
12/4 – Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
12/6 – Newton, NJ - The Newton Theatre
12/7 – Ithaca, NY - State Theatre
12/9 – Plymouth, NH - Flying Monkey Performance Center
12/10 – Beverly, MA - The Cabot
12/30 – Atlanta, GA* - Atlanta Symphony Hall
12/31 – Atlanta, GA* - Atlanta Symphony Hall
* w/ symphony

Tue, 09/13/2022 - 11:14 am

John Prine once said, “Bob Dylan opened the door when there was no door, and then left it open for others to come through.” When Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, aka Minnesota band The Cactus Blossoms, found that door, they walked right through it. "Dylan’s music was a friend and guide to me in those early years and has continued to be an artistic home base for me and Page,” Torrey says. "His songwriting on the Nashville Skyline and New Morning albums are such departure from his mid-60s rock’n’roll poetry, and they really comfortably fit into our wheelhouse without us having to imitate his unique style."

On their upcoming EP, If Not For You (Bob Dylan Vol. 1), out September 30 on all streaming platforms, The Cactus Blossoms reimagine four songs from the Bob Dylan songbook. Vol. 1 draws from Dylan’s early catalog and filters his work through the lens of the brothers’ signature harmonies and lush arrangements, adding new layers to these familiar classics. The band shared the first single, "Tell Me That It Isn't True," from Dylan's influential 1969 Nashville Skyline album, with The Boot, which writes, "The track's thoughtful production allow each element, including the stirring piano lines and acoustic guitar, to perfectly anchor Burkum and Torrey's heartfelt vocals."

LISTEN/STREAM "TELL ME THAT IT ISN'T TRUE" HERE

PRE-SAVE IF NOT FOR YOU (BOB DYLAN SONGS VOL. 1) HERE

"I’ve always liked the raw emotion of the song… you don’t know if he’s just jealous and delusional or if she’s really seeing someone else," Jack Torrey tells The Boot. "That vagueness and earnest attitude in the lyrics feels universal somehow."

"When we were finishing up our One Day album we were itching to get back in the studio and keep the creativity flowing,” Torrey says. "We had recorded a version of "Went to See The Gypsy” a while back and we were thinking about doing an EP of other people’s songs, but then it just made sense to stick with all Dylan tunes. He’s written a million songs and he’s always been an inspiration for us. So many of Bob Dylan’s songs are filled with wonderful phrasing that doesn’t really lend itself to harmony singing, so we got together and started singing some of his songs to see which ones we could bend into our world,” Torrey says.

The Cactus Blossoms are currently on tour, including select dates with Wilco. You can expect to hear some of the Dylan covers in their set along with favorites from their acclaimed recent album, One Day.

If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1) tracklist:

1. If Not For You

2. To Ramona

3. Went To See The Gypsy

4. Tell Me That It Isn't True

TOUR DATES

9/9/22 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee *

9/10/22 - River Falls, WI - Tattersall Distillery

9/11/22 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Brewing *

9/12/22 - Sioux Falls, SD - Washington Pavilion *

9/16/22 - Fridley, MN - Forgotten Star Brewing

9/28/22 - Somerville, MA - Somerville Theatre **

9/29/22 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground **

10/1/22 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne **

10/3/22 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater **

10/4/22 - Vienna, VA - Jammin’ Java **

10/5/22 - Washington, DC - The Kennedy Center

10/6/22 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle - Backroom **

10/7/22 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse **

10/8/22 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl **

10/13/22 - Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House

10/15/22 - Mankato, MN - Hooligans

10/16/22 - Brooklyn Center, MN - MN Monthly Rhythm & Brews

11/26/22 - Viroqua, WI - Historic Temple Theatre

2/23/23 - Bellevue, WA - Wintergrass Music Festival

2/24/23 - Bellevue, WA - Wintergrass Music Festival

 * w/ Wilco

 ** w/ Alexa Rose

Fri, 09/30/2022 - 12:50 pm

On their new EP, If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1), out today on all streaming platforms, brother duo The Cactus Blossoms reimagine four songs from the Bob Dylan songbook. Vol. 1 draws from Dylan’s early catalog and filters his work through the lens of the brothers’ signature harmonies and lush arrangements, adding new layers to these familiar classics.

LISTEN/STREAM IF NOT FOR YOU (BOB DYLAN SONGS VOL. 1) HERE

John Prine once said, “Bob Dylan opened the door when there was no door, and then left it open for others to come through.” When Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, aka The Cactus Blossoms, found that door, they walked right through it.

"Dylan’s music was a friend and guide to me in those early years and has continued to be an artistic home base for me and Page,” Torrey says. "His songwriting on the Nashville Skyline and New Morning albums are such departure from his mid-60s rock ’n’ roll poetry, and they really comfortably fit into our wheelhouse without us having to imitate his unique style."

"When we were finishing up our One Day album we were itching to get back in the studio and keep the creativity flowing,” Torrey says. "We had recorded a version of "Went to See The Gypsy” a while back and we were thinking about doing an EP of other people’s songs, but then it just made sense to stick with all Dylan tunes. He’s written a million songs and he’s always been an inspiration for us. So many of Bob Dylan’s songs are filled with wonderful phrasing that doesn’t really lend itself to harmony singing, so we got together and started singing some of his songs to see which ones we could bend into our world.”

The Cactus Blossoms are currently on tour. You can expect to hear some of the Dylan covers in their set along with favorites from their acclaimed recent album, One Day.

If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1) tracklist:

1. If Not For You

2. To Ramona

3. Went To See The Gypsy

4. Tell Me That It Isn't True

Mon, 10/03/2022 - 4:42 pm

Over the past four years, the Opelika Songwriters Festival has attracted die-hard live music fans from around the Southeast to hear original songwriters spanning many genres of music perform their songs. Restaurants, bars, a distillery and an Inn in historic downtown Opelika become music listening rooms for two nights and a third day for dozens of solo, band, and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of October 14 – 16, 2022. Tickets are on sale now HERE.

Opelika Songwriters Festival will celebrate its 3rd year with performances on the main stage at 1st Ave in downtown Opelika on Saturday afternoon October 15th with headline performances by renowned artists Indigo Girls and Rickie Lee Jones. Shawn Mullins and John Paul White perform two evening shows during the Festival weekend. Other artists performing include Leigh Nash, Jeff Black, Dan Navarro, Kim Richey, Peter Bradley Adams, Paul McDonald, Adam Hood, Larry Mitchell, Abe Partridge, Meaghan Farrell, Katie Martin, Bradley Cole Smith, Martha's Trouble, Haraway Brothers, Grayson Capps, Mark True, Stephanie Jeck, Dave Potts, Mutt Cooper and more.

New additions include Glenn Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket) & Kristian Bush (Sugarland), Michelle Malone, Cousin Curtiss, and more.

Along with the music, Opelika Songwriters Festival is the perfect event for people who like to combine music, sports and relaxation at a world class spa. The official Festival hotel is the Opelika Auburn Marriott Resort and Spa at Grand National featuring three 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Golf golf courses, with scenic views, driving ranges, putting greens and golf lessons. Additionally there are elaborate resort-style pools with bar service, as well as eight tennis courts and an award-winning spa.

"Amy and I look forward to getting back to the Opelika/Auburn area where we have played many fun shows through the years. We are especially excited to share the stage with Rickie Lee Jones whom we admire so much as a singer and songwriter," says Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls.

Shawn Mullins, a veteran of the 30A Songwriters Festival, performed at the first two Opelika Songwriters Festivals and says the historic town offers something special for music fans. "Downtown Opelika stands out for its authenticity," he says."There are brewpubs, a distillery, boutiques, and a Pinball emporium inhabiting these beautifully restored, original cotton warehouses and retail buildings from the early 1920s Pepperill Mill era that drove the economy many years ago. Having these locations — all within walking distance — utilized as listening rooms for the Festival make this a fun, intimate gathering."

Indigo Girls' debut album sold over two million units under the power of singles “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” in 1989 and turned Indigo Girls into one of the most successful folk duos in history. Over a thirty-five-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the Grammy-winning duo has recorded sixteen studio albums (seven gold, four platinum, one double platinum), sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following. Their latest critically acclaimed record, Look Long is a stirring and eclectic collection of songs that finds the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reunited in the studio with their strongest backing band to date as they chronicle their personal upbringings with more specificity and focus than they have on any previous song-cycle.

Rickie Lee Jones will make her Opelika Songwriters festival debut fresh off the release of her memoir, Last Chance Texaco, released in the spring of 2021. Her chronicles are “as rich and colorful as Jones’s best lyrics,” writes The New York Times. The two-time Grammy winner, known for her haunting voice that ranges from deep yearning to late-night sultry, first appeared on the Los Angeles scene in the mid-1970s penning instant classics like “Chuck E.'s In Love,” “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” and the pivotal breakup album Pirates.

Opelika Folk Fest 2022

“I was drawn to work on the Festival concept Rob and Jen with Sound Wall proposed in 2019, the first year of the Opelika Songwriters Festival, because my Grandfather managed the mill in Opelika when I was a young child and my father was born and raised there," explains Festival co-producer Russell Carter. "I was thrilled to meet in downtown Opelika and experience firsthand the preservation, renewal and innovations that had taken place in recent years. The restaurants, bars, distillery, pubs, galleries, boutiques, Inn and record shop create a custom-made setting for a unique small town multi-day music festival." Co-producers Rob and Jen Slocumb add, “We are happy to join together with venue partners throughout downtown Opelika in 2022, including John Emerald Distillery, the Heritage House, the Irish Bred Pub, Jailhouse at Rock n Roll Pinball, and our studio, the Sound Wall. Anticipation for the 2022 Opelika Songwriters Festival is stronger than ever coming off the success of the 2020 event which was postponed to the Fall of 2021 due to the pandemic. Music fans are very eager now to enjoy public music performances up close and personal!"

Festival Weekend Passes are currently available at www.opelikasongwritersfestival.com. VIP tickets that include VIP area at Main Stage with private bathrooms and bar, a whiskey tasting at John Emerald Distillery and a Sunday Brunch that includes an in the round performance with (3) festival songwriters.

Fri, 10/07/2022 - 1:22 pm

Amy Ray has released a new animated video for her Top 20 Americana Radio single, "Joy Train," exclusively with Garden & Gun Magazine. The single appears on her 10th solo album, If It All Goes South, out now on Ray's own Daemon Records. Ray enlisted a North Georgia artist, Julie Best, to provide the animation set against a rural background filmed near her home. Garden & Gun writes that the whimsical video is “a creation that’s uniquely Ray and uniquely Southern, with its driving Dobro guitar and lively fingerpicking set to an imaginative folk-art romp that will make you want to do as the narrator does at the end: 'I open my window, spring is on the bloom… I’m jumping on that joy train, y’all make me some room.'"

Watch the video for "Joy Train" HERE
Stream/purchase If It All Goes South HERE and at Apple Music HERE

Ray says, "The artist / creator for the video is Julie Best. She lives in my neck of the woods, in the North GA Mountains, and we share a love of nature and the magical universe. She has a series of works called Floating Animal Paintings, that are very powerful to me because they combine whimsy, wisdom, and vulnerability in a very striking way. I envisioned her characters taking us on the 'Joy Train' journey.

"The song is about faith, compassion and joy in the face of struggle, and I knew her drawings would provide that. Julie said, ‘Do you wanna be a mama bear of wolf?” I said “a mama bear”, and that’s how it began. The song starts with me and my baby bear in the back seat, we are travelers. We ultimately pickup the myriad of beings that we come across, and journey on to what I think of as redemption and healing, all under the watchful gaze of Martin Luther King Jr, Medgar Evers, and some heavenly hounds and horses. I asked Julie to add a banjo player because Allison Brown’s banjo is key to the song, and I think a cricket is the perfect character for Allison.”

In the accompanying interview, Ray explains that the song's message was partly inspired by a Black church revival she encountered while riding her bike around Jackson, MS. She was moved by the joyful scene, while recognizing that she was "channeling an experience that was not hers."

“I know I’m never going to get it right because I’m white and I don’t know enough," Ray says. "I’m still a student. I’m still learning. I feel party to all the oppression and racism of the South because I’m from so many generations of Southerners, but I’m also inspired and constantly informed by these ghosts of civil rights heroes that wake me up and say, 'What’s wrong with you? Sing, dance, have joy.’”

If It All Goes South owes much of its freewheeling vitality to the potent chemistry between Ray and her longtime bandmates, including guitarist Jeff Fielder (a Seattle-based musician known for his work with artists like Mark Lanegan and Duff McKagan), keyboardist Daniel Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson, John Fullbright), pedal-steel player Matt Smith (also a member of The Honeycutters), banjo player Alison Brown, fiddle player/guitarist Adrian Carter, bassist Kerry Brooks, and drummer Jim Brock. The follow-up to 2018’s Holler (a widely acclaimed release featuring Vince Gill and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon), the album also includes a dazzling lineup of guest musicians: Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby, Phil Cook, and I’m With Her, to name a few. Recorded live to tape at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, the album was mainly produced by her frequent collaborator Brian Speiser.

Ray has upcoming shows in NYC and will be announcing more Amy Ray Band tour dates soon. Go to www.amy-ray.com for updates.

AMY RAY SHOWS
SUN Oct 9 New York, NY - City Winery (Amy Ray duo w/Jeff Fielder)
MON Oct 10 New York, NY - City Winery (Amy Ray duo w/Jeff Fielder)
THU Feb 23, 2023 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium supporting Tedeschi Trucks Band (Amy Ray Band)
Look dates in the Southeast in February and the Northeast in May 2023

Mon, 10/24/2022 - 1:14 pm

For the past 13 years, the 30A Songwriters Festival has attracted thousands of dedicated live music fans from around the country to hear original songwriters spanning many genres of music perform their songs. The beach resort towns along Highway 30A on the Gulf of Mexico feature 30 venues presenting over 200 songwriters and 300+ solo, band and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of January 13 – 16, 2023.

TICKET LINK

30A Songwriters Festival will celebrate its 14th year with performances on the main stage at presenting partner Grand Boulevard’s Town Center in Miramar Beach with headline performances by renowned artists LYLE LOVETT, GIN BLOSSOMS, RICKIE LEE JONES, STEVE EARLE, YOLA, AND MORGAN WADE.

The festival welcomes for the first time to 30A AMY GRANT, TOM RUSH, BRIAN VANDER ARK (THE VERVE PIPE), the BLACK OPRY REVUE, BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN, and JOHN CRAIGIE.

Returning to perform two shows each throughout the weekend are songwriting legends JOHN PAUL WHITE (The Civil Wars), SHAWN MULLINS, KATHLEEN EDWARDS, TINSLEY ELLIS, DARRELL SCOTT, ADIA VICTORIA, CHUCK PROPHET, LIVINGSTON TAYLOR, ABE PARTRIDGE, LILLY HIATT, JOHN FULLBRIGHT, SARAH LEE GUTHRIE, PAUL THORN, AND JAMES MCMURTRY.

An Additional 100+ Artists Will Be Announced Over the Next Few Weeks—Stay Tuned

We are pleased to announce the following confirmed artists: Hayes Carll, Glenn Phillips, Jeffrey Steele, Pat McGee, Bob Schneider, Abe Partridge, Cousin Curtiss, Mary Gauthier, Dan Navarro, Mark Erelli, Jonathan Byrd, Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey, Will Hoge, Don Dixon & Marti Jones, , Nicole Chillemi and the Jazz Legacy Project,  Amanda Platt & The Honeycutters, Griffin House, Gretchen Peters, Kim Richey, Amy LaVere & Will Sexton, Will Kimbrough, Leigh Nash, Garrison Starr, Michael Tolcher, Mary Bragg, Tim Easton, Kalen & Aslyn, Cooper Carter, Crys Matthews, Florence Dore, Adrian Carter, John Lowell, Heather Mae, Charlie Mars, Michael McDermott, Leslie Mendelson, Amy Rigby, Danielle Howle, Side Pony, Darden Smith, The Kennedys, Pat Byrne, Levi Lowery, Certainly So, Eddie 9V, Tall Pines, Meaghan Farrell, Jesse Lynn Madera, Danni Nicholis, Certainly So, Alice Peacock, Hannah Miller, Sammi Accola, and Goldpine.

Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums since his self-titled debut in 1986. A singer, composer, and actor, the four-time Grammy award-winning musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers. This January, Lovett will take to the mainstage at Grand Boulevard to perform a career-spanning set ranging from early hits like “If I Had a Boat” and “Cowboy Man” to selections from 2022’s 12th of June.

Gin Blossoms’ fusion of melodic rock, folk, and country elements helped pave the way for the modern rock of today. Their five-time platinum breakthrough New Miserable Experience contained instant classics like “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” and “Allison Road” and established them as one of the great songwriting bands of their generation. Renowned live performers, playing over 100 tour dates a year, Gin Blossoms will treat the 30A audience to a string of singalong hits like “Til I Hear It From You,” “Follow You Down,” and “As Long As It Matters,” as well as cuts from their latest release Mixed Reality.

Rickie Lee Jones charmed two sold-out audiences at last year's festival and she returns in 2023 to play the headline stage as well as a special evening night club performance. Her acclaimed memoir Last Chance Texaco released in 2021 is “as rich and colorful as Jones’s best lyrics,” writes The New York Times. The two-time Grammy winner, known for her haunting voice that ranges from deep yearning to late-night sultry, first appeared on the Los Angeles scene in the mid-1970s penning instant classics like “Chuck E.'s In Love,” “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” and the seminal album, Pirates.

Steve Earle needs little introduction. One of America’s most gifted living songwriters, the three-time Grammy winner has released twenty-two albums and amassed one of the most beloved songwriting catalogs of all time during his four-decade career. Multi-platinum successes “Copperhead Road” and “Guitar Town” are just the tip of the iceberg. Earle’s songs have been recorded by such music legends as Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Carl Perkins, Waylon Jennings, Vince Gill and Joan Baez. Throughout his career, Earle has also become a novelist, a film, TV and stage actor, a playwright, a short story author, a record producer and a radio host. His latest release, Jerry Jeff pays tribute to legendary outlaw singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker.

Morgan Wade is taking the world by storm with her acclaimed debut album Reckless (Produced by Jason Isbell + the 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden and Paul Ebersold), hit singles "Wilder Days" and "Run," and a sold out cross-country tour. But Wade didn’t start writing to be a sensation, for critical acclaim, or massive concert tours. She wrote to speak her truth, to save her own life – and perhaps throw a rope to others who are struggling. Wade has a voice The FADER lauds is “like a jagged blade, sharp enough to draw blood but lustrous under the light” while The New York Times declares “she sounds like she’s singing from the depths of history.” Wade's 30A debut is your chance to see a major star on the rise.

Yola achieved breakout success with her critically acclaimed debut album Walk Through Fire in 2019. Hailed as a Black British genre fluid rising star, she landed four Grammy nominations including Best New Artist for her unique blend of Americana and classic R&B and established herself as one of the best live performers on the scene. Her anthemic new album Stand for Myself is a sonic mix of symphonic soul and classic pop tracing a musical thread to Yola’s most eclectic musical inspirations. Yola made her acting debut as Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic Elvis.

The 30A Songwriters Festival production team transforms amphitheaters, town halls, restaurants, theaters, bars and covered patios into unique music venues with state of the art sound systems ranging in capacity from 75 to 750 seats indoors and 6,000 outdoors.

Tue, 12/06/2022 - 1:11 pm

It's been a busy year for Amy Ray. As half of iconic folk duo Indigo Girls, she received the Americana Music Association's Spirit Award along with a heartfelt introduction by longtime friend Brandi Carlile. Her acclaimed solo album, If It All Goes South, featuring a stunning collection of songs dealing with Ray's conflicted relationship with her beloved South, reached #10 on the Americana radio album chart and remains in the top 15. 2023 will see the Amy Ray Band, a tight, compelling outfit that has been together nine years now, hitting the road in February for over two weeks of dates. Highlights include Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour on February 20 and Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on February 23 supporting the Tedeschi Trucks Band, along with headline shows in her native Georgia at the legendary 40 Watt in Athens and Variety Playhouse in Atlanta.

If It All Goes South owes much of its freewheeling vitality to the potent chemistry between Ray and her longtime bandmates, including guitarist Jeff Fielder (a Seattle-based musician known for his work with artists like Mark Lanegan and Duff McKagan), keyboardist Daniel Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson, John Fullbright), pedal-steel player Matt Smith (also a member of The Honeycutters), banjo player Alison Brown, fiddle player/guitarist Adrian Carter, bassist Kerry Brooks, and drummer Jim Brock. The follow-up to 2018’s Holler (a widely acclaimed release featuring Vince Gill and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon), the album also includes a dazzling lineup of guest musicians: Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby, Phil Cook, and I’m With Her, to name a few. Recorded live to tape at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, the album was mainly produced by her frequent collaborator Brian Speiser.

Go to www.amy-ray.com for updates.

RECENT PRAISE FOR IF IT ALL GOES SOUTH

"Ray clearly possesses an emotional clarity as well as the innate ability to shift the settings, a skill that results in a varied set of songs that can be, by degrees, both tender and tempestuous.” —American Songwriter (4/5)
 
“Amy Ray has reached another milestone” —Relix

"There’s nothing quite like watching people do the thing they’ve spent a lifetime training to do: Winning Wimbledon, dancing lead in Giselle, breaking a 1,000-year-old Viking weightlifting record, cooking dinner in 8 minutes and 37 seconds. Listening to If It All Goes South, the latest solo outing from Indigo Girls co-founder Amy Ray, falls under that umbrella." —No Depression

"a creation that’s uniquely Ray and uniquely Southern, with its driving Dobro guitar and lively fingerpicking set to an imaginative folk-art romp" —Garden & Gun ("Joy Train" video premiere)

"She always finds a powerful and often positive spin to drive her songs, whether they talk of community, inclusivity, social justice, the climate emergency or coping with loss.” —Holler UK

"the production captures the energy and immediacy that you only get from a band flying live and without a net"
—Salvation South

"I think this is one of the best songs ("Muscadine") of the year. It’s about a dog, about unconditional love, about not knowing if you can love, about deciding to love anyway." —Ann Powers/NPR

"One of this year’s finest local releases as well as a highlight of Ray’s work, both as a solo act and even with her full time Indigo Girls gig.” —Creative Loafing Atlanta

“Ray’s band is cooking with the sort of rich, instinctive chemistry here that less seasoned players only dream about…” —Country Queer

AMY RAY BAND SHOWS
09 Feb 2023 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater #
10 Feb 2023 Austin, TX - Stubb's Jr.#
11 Feb 2023 Houston, TX - Continental Club: Houston #
13 Feb 2023 New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown #
14 Feb 2023 Jackson, MS - Duling Hall #
15 Feb 2023 Birmingham, AL - Saturn #
17 Feb 2023 Saxapahaw, NC - Haw River Ballroom #
19 Feb 2023 Nashville, TN - The Basement East #
20 Feb 2023 Lexington, KY - Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour
21 Feb 2023 Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum #
23 Feb 2023 Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN (supporting the Tedeschi Trucks Band)
24 Feb 2023 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club #
25 Feb 2023 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse #
# dates with Kevn Kinney supporting

Wed, 12/07/2022 - 3:46 pm

Known for their stellar musicianship and effortless close harmonies, identical twins The Brother Brothers, Adam and David Moss, have announced winter tour dates (scroll down for a complete list). Along with select East Coast dates in December, including an NPR Mountain Stage show on December 18, the duo will hit the Midwest in January. The brothers are currently working on a follow-up to Cover to Cover, an acclaimed collection that found the Mosses putting their own spin on some of their favorite artists. The album was widely praised, with the Associated Press admiring their "crystalline vocal blend" and American Songwriter writing that "the two convey their covers with such reverence and regard that they exude a charm all their own."

While the Brothers have grown into a favorite on streaming services and playlists, their live shows seal the deal, showcasing the duo's haunting, string-driven indie folk songs and the brothers' hilariously dry, deadpan banter.

For Cover to Cover sessions, they enlisted a cadre of old friends including Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive), Sarah Jarosz, Michaela Anne, Alison Brown, and hired some of Nashville’s finest session musicians: Jeff Picker (Ricky Skaggs), Matthew Meyer, Ryan Scott and Michael Rinne.

The Brother Brothers' breakthrough full-length in late 2018, Some People I Know, introduced the duo's thoughtful lyrics and exquisite harmonies to global audiences The duo then enlisted producer Ryan Hadlock (Lumineers, Brandi Carlile) for 2021's Calla Lily, which featured the single "On the Road Again" (check out the whimsical video HERE). Along with headline tours, the brothers have toured with Courtney Marie Andrews, I'm With Her, Keb' Mo' and others.

The Brother Brothers currently have over 460K monthly Spotify followers and have been featured on such playlists as Fresh Folk (where they graced the cover), Your Favorite Coffeehouse, Acoustic Chill and many others. Check this space for updates: http://www.thebrotherbrothersmusic.com

And just for the holidays - check out the gorgeous live video for their song "Red and Gold."

Wed, 01/11/2023 - 12:33 pm

A project years in the making, engineer/producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, First Aid Kit) assembled an inspired cast of musician and guests (Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, Laura Veirs, Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, among others) at his Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording and Playback, as a Christmas gift to his father, Nashville songwriter Layng Martine Jr. The album, Music Man, has a vintage sound that might make you think you’re listening to a ‘70s reissue on Light in the Attic or Bear Family rather than a brand new recording. Music Man will be out on May 19 on Bloodshot/KRS; it's the first release on the newly launched Bloodshot Records in conjunction with Kill Rock Stars.

Single linkhttps://pocp.co/music-man
Album pre-orderhttps://pocp.co/music-man-lp

Layng, a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, is an engaging, energetic character at 81 years old who's had his songs covered by Elvis, Reba, Jerry Lee and others back in his Nashville writing heyday. Now 81, Layng and his wife Linda split their time between Nashville and Rhode Island. His life has had its share of triumphs and tragedies. Layng’s 2019 memoir, Permission to Fly, details his early wandering days, his time as a songwriter in Nashville, and the car accident that left his wife a paraplegic. He was inspired to write a memoir after his “Modern Love” essay for the New York Times about the incident, which shared details of their life post accident with candor and humor and became one of its most shared columns.

Speaking Across Generations: Layng and Tucker Martine (By Patterson Hood)

The occasion is Music Man, the wonderful new album by veteran Nashville based songwriter Layng Martine Jr.. A long-time dream project instigated by his son, Portland Oregon based super-producer Tucker Martine. A new Tucker Martine production is in itself an event due to his track record. His studio, Flora Recording and Playback has brought us wonderful albums by the likes of My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, Case/Lang/Viers, The Decemberists, M. Ward and Laura Veirs (who happens to be his wife as well as one of the country’s most underrated artists) among many others. Layng is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and has quite the track record as a workingman songwriter (Elvis Presley’s last-ever session included a Layng Martine Jr. song) and quite the fine voice himself. You can add in the Father/Son part of the story, which is alway an interesting dynamic, but the cherry on top of it all is that the album is a damned fine record. Period.

Music Man started off as a Christmas gift from Tucker to his father a few years ago. Five days of studio time to record, plus his services as a Producer, Drummer and Engineer and the necessary time for mixing, etc. A wonderful present to make a wonderful album. Tucker picked the songs from Layng’s extensive catalog, some dating as far back as 1964, selected the musicians to accompany and put it all together. Notable among the players, Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Bill Frisell, Laura Veirs and K.D. Lang as well as a wealth of other talented musicians. Special kudos to Tucker for handling the drum duties with aplomb. The resulting album is neither retro nor modern, inhabiting some timeless space that speaks of the generations of songs it contains. The songs literally sparkle with excitement and vitality and give new credence to the term “good time music”. 

Talking on the phone to the Martine’s, junior and senior, my first impression was seeing where a lot of Tucker’s warmth of personality must have come from. Speaking with them made me look forward to a time when we can all hang out over dinner and maybe a few beers. Their joyousness about the project translates into the sound of the record, as it literally sounds like a wonderful time occurring and being captured onto tape. 

Immediately evident in talking to the two generations of Martines was the deep love and mutual respect for each other. As artists, fathers, people. They both spoke of what each had personally gained from the wonderful time they had creating this project and an appreciation of the gift they were to each other. Neither harbored any illusions about the nature of the current music business and where an album like this would sit in the grand scheme of such things. A hit record wasn’t ever the point of this type of thing. What they did create is a fantastic record that rewards repeated listens and holds its own among the best of the releases we’ll hear this year. A record that holds up alongside the best of both of the artists who created it. A record I plan to return to again and again.

—Patterson Hood (writer, artist and long time member of Drive-By Truckers. Like Tucker, also a second-generation musician and son of Muscle Shoals bassist David Hood.)

Sat, 01/21/2023 - 9:54 am

Erik Vincent Huey releases his debut, Appalachian Gothic, today through the Orchard/CEN and his own Appalachian AF Records. The album was recorded at Cowboy Technical Studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and produced by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll guitarist (Joan Jett, Del-Lords, Steve Earle & The Dukes) and producer (Bottle Rockets, Jimbo Mathus, Yayhoos, Sarah Borges). Erik (aka Cletus McCoy) is the frontman of The Surreal McCoys, a Cowpunk Americana band that — boosted by airplay of its single “Whole Lotta Folsom” on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country and other outlets — cracked the Top 50 on the Americana Album Charts and currently enjoys over 45K monthly listeners on Spotify, where it is north of 2 million spins. 

STREAM/PURCHASE APPALACHIAN GOTHIC HERE

Huey grew up in West Virginia in the heart of coal country. His father, grandfather and great grandfather (who came over from Ireland) were all coal miners in the Monongahela Valley, Appalachian Gothic finds Huey taking a nostalgic deep dive into the Appalachia of his WV youth while wrestling with the contemporary realities of a hardscrabble region that’s been left behind in many ways. While the album explores darker themes and raw subject matter such as the legacy of coal mining and the ravages of the opioid crisis on songs like “The Devil is Here in These Hills,” “Dear Dad," “The Appalachian Blues,” and “The Battle of Uniontown,” it also taps into a defiant streak of optimism on twangy upbeat rockers like “Winona” and the pro-union anthem “Yours in the Struggle" about which SiriusXM Outlaw Country's Mojo Nixon states, "Erik and Roscoe subvert 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' into a union organizing song! Genius!!"

Along with DC area CD release shows, Erik will be touring with Jared Dickenson and Chris Kasper in April and May; dates will be announced soon.

Fri, 01/27/2023 - 1:50 pm

Bay Area rockers The Mother Hips are releasing their "masterful" (MOJO ****) new album, When We Disappear, today on Blue Rose. MOJO writes, "I still don’t have an easy answer as to what kind of band they are. All I know is that whatever they play or sing sounds like California. Late-’60s/early -’70s West Coast country rock and soul play a big part." Thirty years in, the band is experiencing a creative renaissance, cementing their reputation as one of the key purveyors of their West Coast sound, a mix of cosmic country, Beach Boys psychedelia and hooks-driven rock and roll.

The Hips headed to New Mexico, spending time at Ghost Ranch before settling in at Jono Manson's Kitchen Sink studio in Sante Fe in late 2021 for the sessions. Self-produced, When We Disappear features nine compelling new tracks co-written by co-founders Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono — a collection of compelling, guitar-driven songs inspired by psychology and literature.

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “one of the Bay Area’s most beloved live outfits,” The Mother Hips' headline and festival performances have became the stuff of legend, finding them sharing stages with everyone from Johnny Cash and Wilco to Lucinda Williams and The Black Crowes. Rolling Stone called the band “divinely inspired,” while Pitchfork praised their “rootsy mix of 70’s rock and power pop,” and The New Yorker lauded their ability to “sing it sweet and play it dirty.”

The Hips announced a run of tour dates and festivals, including the band's own annual "Hipnic" festival at Big Sur in March. Scroll down for complete dates.

TRACKLISTING
1. When We Disappear
2. Codine
3. She Stepped Away
4. Iffy Jackpot
5. Almost To Idaho
6. Leaving The Valley
7. Lost Out The Window
8. Spirit Of 98
9. Room Four
10. Stories Unborn

THE MOTHER HIPS on tour:
Fri, JAN 27 Chico, CA - Chico Women's Club
Sat, JAN 28 Chico, CA - Chico Women's Club
Fri, FEB 24 Austin, TX - 3TEN Austin City Limits Live
Sat, FEB 25 Denton, TX - Dan's Silverleaf
Fri, MAR 10 Carson City, NV - Nashville Social Club Carson City
Sat, MAR 11 Livermore, CA - Almost Famous Wine
Fri, MAR 24 Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room Highland Park
Sat, MAR 25 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
Sat, APR 8 San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
Fri, May 19 Big Sur, CA - Hipnic
Sat, MAY 20 Big Sur, CA - Hipnic
Sun, MAY 21 Big Sur, CA - Hipnic
Sat, MAR 25 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
-stay tuned for additional dates to be announced soon

Fri, 04/07/2023 - 12:25 pm

Just in time for Easter, Grammy-winner Tim O’Brien releases a new bluegrass original, “Little Lamb Little Lamb,” premiering today at The Bluegrass Situation. The song is a taste of what to expect on O’Brien’s upcoming full release, Cup of Sugar, which drops June 16th on Howdy Skies Records. Along with his longtime band, the album features bluegrass legend Del McCoury on a track. O'Brien shares, "In the 46 years I’ve been recording, this is my very first release of all original material." "Little Lamb Little Lamb" was written last spring and recorded in December and features O’Brien on guitar and lead vocal, and features longtime band members Mike Bub (bass), Shad Cobb (fiddle), Jan Fabricius (mandolin and vocal), and Cory Walker (banjo). The uptempo track's lyrics contrast the joyful rebirth of spring with the narrator’s advancing age as it celebrates rebirth and renewal.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "LITTLE LAMB LITTLE LAMB" HERE
STREAM/PURCHASE THE SINGLE HERE
PRE-ORDER/ PRE-SAVE CUP OF SUGAR HERE

O'Brien shared the thoughts behind the song with The Bluegrass Situation. Nothing says spring like newborn lambs jumping up and down. It’s just encouraging, reassuring like the song says. In May of 2017, Jan [Tim’s wife and bandmate, Jan Fabricius] and I rambled up a country road southwest of Bonane in County Kerry and these lambs were everywhere, testing their legs. The video includes clips from that trip as well as clips from a recent Mountain Stage taping. We’d played at the Fiddle Fair in Baltimore, West County Cork, and that’s a chill little spot, but we wanted even more chill so we booked three or four nights by a lake below a mountain pass there near Bonane. There was really nothing going on except grass growing and sheep grazing. We asked the older woman who ran a cafe by the B&B if she was local. She said, ‘Oh no.’ I asked her where she was from, and she said, ‘I’m from three miles away. My husband’s from here, but people will never accept me as a local.’ Needless to say, we had some good quiet time.

Cup of Sugar includes 13 new originals written or co-written by O'Brien, with songs about a bear, a fish, lambs, horses, and some people too — a grave digger, a neighbor, and even Walter Cronkite. While the songs are playful and sprinkled with humor, there's plenty to chew on just below the surface.

Sounding more and more like himself, O’Brien will debut the new material from Cup of Sugar at the 50th annual Telluride Bluegrass festival on June 17. Please to to go to www.timobrien.net for updates.

TOUR DATES:
Thursday, April 20, 2023 Columbus, Ohio
Friday, April 21, 2023 Peninsula, Ohio
Saturday, April 22, 2023 Wheeling, West Virginia
Sunday, April 23, 2023 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday, May 6, 2023 Hot Springs, Virginia
Friday, May 26, 2023 Cleveland, West Virginia
Saturday, May 27, 2023 Cumberland, Maryland
Saturday, June 17, 2023 Telluride, Colorado
Saturday, July 8, 2023 Frankfort, Illinois
Sunday, July 9, 2023 Frankfort, Illinois
Wednesday, July 26, 2023 Berwyn, Illinois
Friday, July 28, 2023 Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Saturday, July 29, 2023 Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Friday, August 18, 2023 Manchester Center, Vermont
Saturday, August 19, 2023 Manchester Center, Vermont
Saturday, September 30, 2023 Mamaroneck, New York
Saturday, October 14, 2023 Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Friday, November 3, 2023 Moab, Utah
Saturday, November 4, 2023 Moab, Utah

Wed, 04/19/2023 - 2:56 pm

Troubadour Steve Forbert’s acclaimed 1988 album, Streets of This Town, will be back in print on CD and 140-gram vinyl for the first time in 28 years. The re-issue, Streets of Town: Revisited has been remixed and remastered and will be released through Blue Rose on June 2; the CD format contains a bonus track, "They're Out To Break Us.” The album is notable as Forbert’s first opportunity to record and release an album after several years of legal struggles with his then-label, CBS Records.

Forbert is sharing the original 1988 video for "On the Streets Of This Town," filmed in Los Angeles. The video features the newly remixed and remastered audio. Forbert says, "The video for "On The Streets of This Town" was filmed in downtown Los Angeles in 1988. Whenever I happen to be on those sidewalks again, I feel like I'm still seeing those same people traversing about, on the go to who knows where."

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "ON THE STREETS OF THIS TOWN" HERE
PRE-ORDER CDs + LPs HERE

Moving to NYC from his native Mississippi, Forbert burst on the international scene with his 1979 hit “Romeo’s Tune” and put out several more albums with his label, CBS, before reaching an impasse with them. The songs on Streets Of This Town: Revisited were written between 1984 -1988. During this time, the Meridian, MS native had moved from Greenwich Village to Nashville, TN, continuing to write and tour with his band, The Rough Squirrels. Forbert caught the ear of E Street bassist Garry Tallent, who brought the band into his Long Branch, NJ studio to produce the original recordings that became Streets Of This Town. The songs chronicle the trials and tribulations of four years of a recording-artist purgatory and became Forbert’s first album for Geffen Records.

Streets Of This Town got an enthusiastic reception on its original release – Rolling Stone called it “arguably the best record he has ever made” in their 4-star review, and the Washington Post dubbed it “the most moving and consistent album of his career.”

"Like much of his previous work, it explores his country’s ups, downs, foibles, and quirks with intelligence, humor, and a whole lot of charm.” —American Songwriter

"Forbert’s genius lies in his artful way of telling funny and memorable stories about the hopes and dreams of ordinary folks across America. In that way, he continues to follow in the footsteps of his folk music hero and fellow Meridian, Mississippi, native Jimmie Rodgers.” —No Depression

Forbert is currently touring for his recent release, Moving Through America. Tour dates below:

TOUR DATES:
SU 29 Apr Decatur, GA - Eddie's Attic
SA 6 May Bethlehem, PA - Godfrey Daniels
WE 17 May Washington, DC - Kennedy Center
FR 9 Jun Glen Cove, NY - My Father’s Place at Metropolitan - Steve Forbert & The Renditions
SA 10 Jun Beacon, NY - Towne Crier Cafe
SU 11 Jun Bryn Mawr, PA - Bryan Mawr Gazebo - Steve Forbert & The Renditions
SA 22 Jul Somerville, MA - The Burren
SU 23 Jul  West Yarmouth, MA - The Music Room
TH 26 Oct New York, NY - Iridium
FR 01 Dec Elkton, MD - Elkton Music Hall

Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:28 pm

Today, octogenarian Layng Martine Jr. is premiering his new single, "Love You Back To Georgia," at The Bluegrass Situation. The upbeat track, written in the early '70s by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member, celebrates summer, cars, and live music and the exhilaration of sharing it all with someone you love. Layng's songs have been covered by Elvis, Reba, Jerry Lee, The Pointer Sisters and many others back in his Nashville songwriting heyday. "Love You Back to Georgia" appears on Music Man, out May 19 on Bloodshot Records/Kill Rock Stars. The album sessions were put together by Layng's son, super producer Tucker Martine, and recorded at his Portland studio, Flora Recording and Playback. Tucker, who also plays drums on the album, is known for his production work with My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, and First Aid Kit as well as the new Grammy-winning Madison Cunningham album.

Layng says of the song, "I wrote ‘Love You Back to Georgia’ in 1973, soon after we arrived in Nashville. I was 31. Cars, girls, and music had pretty much summed up my youthful obsessions. Nothing had … or has … really changed. Even now at 81, I still can’t imagine anything much more enjoyable and uplifting than my wife and I pulling into a Dairy Queen in our convertible with ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ blasting from the car speakers. It’s our modern-day version of ‘Love You Back to Georgia’ … when being young and in the back seat of a car with a girl and going somewhere exciting to hear music was ‘as good as it gets.’ ‘Love You Back to Georgia’ is a celebration of all those moments and emotions.”

For Music Man, Tucker assembled an inspired cast of musician and guests (Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, Laura Laura Veirs, Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, among others) at his Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording and Playback, as a Christmas gift to Layng. Music Man has a vintage sound that might make you think you’re listening to a ‘70s reissue on Light in the Attic or Bear Family rather than a brand new recording.

These days, Layng and his wife Linda split their time between Nashville and Rhode Island. His life has had its share of triumphs and tragedies. Layng’s 2019 memoir, Permission to Fly, details his early wandering days, his time as a songwriter in Nashville, and the car accident that left his wife a paraplegic. He was inspired to write a memoir after his “Modern Love” essay for the New York Times about the incident, which shared details of their life post accident with candor and humor and became one of its most shared columns.

PRE-SAVE/PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE

STREAM/PURCHASE "LOVE YOU BACK TO GEORGIA" HERE

CHECK OUT LAYNG'S BANDCAMP PAGE HERE

Wed, 05/10/2023 - 2:24 pm

Grammy-winner Tim O’Brien has a released a new video for "Bear" premiering today at Bluegrass Today; it's the second single from O'Brien's upcoming album, Cup of Sugar, and will be available on all streaming services starting this Friday, May 10; you can pre-save the single HERE. Bluegrass Today comments on O'Brien's well-known sense of humor and droll wit, both in evidence in this song about a frustrated, jazz-playing bear who just can't get no respect. It's one of the 13 original tracks on O'Brien's next album release, Cup of Sugar out June 16th on Howdy Skies Records. O'Brien shares, "In the 46 years I’ve been recording, this is my very first release of all original material."

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "BEAR" HERE

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE THE SINGLE HERE

PRE-ORDER/ PRE-SAVE CUP OF SUGAR HERE

O'Brien shares the story behind the song: “The songs for Cup of Sugar started with "Bear." It was December of 2021, and the news was all about Russia and would Putin invade Ukraine. I had just read a book on the history of dancing bears. White Nationalism was a prominent topic, the flip side being Black Lives Matter. Trump had lost the election but was ramping up his spoiled brat act. I could imagine the gripes Putin, Trump, and the White Nationalists had, even if I didn’t agree.

"I’d also reread some of a favorite book by Rafi Zabor: The Bear Goes Home. In the plot this guy in NYC wins a dancing bear in a card game, and after he gets busted trying to busk with it, he leaves the bear in his flat during work. One day he comes home and the bear’s talking and playing clarinet. The bear becomes a jazz sensation but he’s also the ultimate outsider.

"So I was thinking about all that. I think the bear represents anyone or any social group that feels their world has changed too much while they weren’t looking. The bear comes out of his cave in spring and all the trees are cut down. He’s just pissed off. ‘I’m a bear,’ he cries, ‘but damn it, I’m more than that.’

I can identify with the bear because I’m old. I don’t relate to a lot of new stuff and while I do fairly well in spite of all the changes, sometimes I’ll swear at them.”

Cup of Sugar is Tim’s first album of all original songs — 13 new tracks about a bear, a fish, lambs, horses and some people too — a grave digger, a neighbor, and even Walter Cronkite. O'Brien is backed by his loyal band mates Mike Bub, Shad Cobb and wife Jan Fabricius, supplemented by Jamie Dick on drums, Mike Rojas on keyboards, Russ Pahl on steel guitar, and Cory Walker on banjo. Bluegrass icon Del McCoury lends his signature guitar and tenor vocal on “Let the Horses Run.” Co-writers include Ronnie Bowman, Jonathon Byrd, Shawn Camp, Jan Fabricius, and Thomm Jutz.

Sounding more and more like himself, O’Brien will debut the new material from Cup of Sugar at the 50th annual Telluride Bluegrass festival on June 17. Please to to go to www.timobrien.net for updates.

TOUR DATES:

# Tim O’Brien Band

^ Tim O’Brien with Jan Fabricius

05-26-2023 Cleveland, WV - Jerry Run Summer Theatre #

05-27-2023 Cumberland, MD - Del Fest #

05-28-2023 Cumberland, MD - Del Fest #

06-10-2023 Oak Ridge, TN - ORNL Federal Credit Union Sessions #

06-17-2023 Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival #

07-08-2023 Frankfort, IL - Frankfort Bluegrass Fest #

07-09-2023 Frankfort, IL - Frankfort Bluegrass Fest #

07-26-2023 Berwyn, IL - FitzGeralds #

07-28-2023 Manitowish Waters, WI - Midsummer Bluegrass Festival #

07-29-2023 Manitowish Waters, WI - Midsummer Bluegrass Festival #

08-18-2023 Manchester Center, VT - Green Mountain Bluegrass ^

08-19-2023 Manchester Center, VT - Green Mountain Bluegrass ^

08-20-2023 Red Hook, NY - Hardeman Orchards ^

09-13-2023 Austin, TX - The 04 Center ^

09-14-2023 Houston, TX - Mucky Duck ^

09-28-2023 Easton, MD - Historic Avalon Theatre ^

09-29-2023 White Hall, MD - Star Bright Farm ^

09-30-2023 Mamaroneck, NY - Emelin Theatre ^

10-01-2023 Berwick, ME - Hackmatack Playhouse ^

10-02-2023 Cambridge, MA - Club Passim ^

10-07-2023 Chattanooga, TN - 3 Sisters Music Festival #

10-14-2023 Big Stone Gap, VA Blue Highway Fest #

11-03-2023 Moab, UT - Moab Folk Fest ^

11-04-2023 Moab, UT - Moab Folk Fest ^

11-15-2023 Richmond, VA - Tin Pan ^

11-17-2023 Berryville, VA - Barns at Rose Hill

11-18-2023 Parkersburg, WV - Parkersburg Arts Center

12-08-2023 Oak Ridge, TN - Secret City Radio Show ^

Tue, 05/16/2023 - 2:03 pm

Today, two-time folk Grammy nominee Eliza Gilkyson is sharing the first single, the "brightly ethereal" (Folk Alley) "Safety Zone, from her new album, Home, set for released June 23 on her own imprint, Realiza Records. Premiering today, the song came about after a bad accident Eliza suffered at last year's Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas.

“I left my car in gear when I pulled up and got halfway out of the car, which rolled forward and dragged me down a dirt road, over a low rock wall and into a tree," she recalls. "I don’t know why I didn’t die, and when I re-live it the math just doesn’t add up, like how did I survive that? It felt miraculous, still does.”

Folk Alley's Henry Carrigan writes, "Gilkyson conveys the unearthliness of the scene of her accident ... the song patters along Gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt-like rhythm guitar strums while Don Richmond’s resonator guitar lines and Ray Bonneville’s moaning harp notes weave under and around each other, creating a spooky reverberation as the song slowly unfurls. The gospel-inflected chorus features a call and response structure that affirms the power of universe that protects the singer from harm, at least in this moment."

Listen to "Safety Zone" HERE/ Pre-save HERE
Pre-order Home HERE

Home reunites Eliza with producer/multi-instrumentalist Don Richmond and features a wide range of songs that reflect Eliza’s appreciation for family, home and hearth, in a time when those things have become essential to maintain sanity and decency.

Cameos include a gorgeous duet with Robert Earl Keen, “How Deep,” that asks some of life’s important questions, and a sweet duet with longtime friend Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Sparrow,” on the appreciation a songwriter feels for their fans and friends who inspire their songs into being.

Other standout tracks include the upbeat and hopeful “World Keeps on Singing,” the gospel tinged “Safety Zone,”and the stripped-down love song “Witness,” which features Eliza's brother, renowned L.A. musician Tony Gilkyson (X, Lone Justice, Chuck E. Weiss) on soulful electric guitar. In the harmony-laden “Sunflowers,” she imagines a Ukrainian mother’s wish for normalcy and safety. And in the epic storytelling ballad “Man in the Bottle,” she features snippets of her dad’s songs — hit songwriter Terry Gilkyson (“Bare Necessities) — played by the Southwest’s beloved Western dance band, The Rifters, and longtime family friend Van Dyke Parks, who played in an early incarnation of her dad’s band “The Easy Riders” when he was just a teenager.

The album wraps up with the title track “Home.” Written by Karla Bonoff, the song reflects on the ways that home can be a sanctuary in the most difficult times.

Eliza says, "The pandemic changed our lives and our world forever, illuminating the sanctity of home and hearth, of trusted friendships and family, and a new deeper appreciation for the many little blessings we may have taken for granted before this cataclysmic shift occurred. It has been a time of terrible loss and insecurity about the future, as well as one of newfound resolve, connection and commitment. These songs were born out of all these conflicting forces coming into play while trying to find the balance."

TRACKLISTING
1. True North
2. World Keeps On Singing
3. How Deep
4. Sunflowers
5. Safety Zone
6. Witness
7. Here Comes the Night
8. Man In the Bottle
9. Sparrow
10. Hom

LIVE DATES
THU, 6/15/23 Taos, NM — Taos Center for the Arts United States

Fri, 05/19/2023 - 10:38 am

Today, octogenarian Layng Martine Jr., a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member whose songs have been hits for Elvis, Reba, Jerry Lee, The Pointer Sisters and many others, releases his debut album, Music Man. To celebrate, Layng is sharing an in-studio video for the effervescent "Little Bit of Magic," filmed at Flora Recording and Playback. No Depression writes, "Music Man is the feel-good album of the year, and it illustrates Martine’s gift for weaving ingenious, often humorous lyrics (Ray Stevens was Martine’s earliest supporter) and rollicking music that encourages listeners to roll back the rug and dance.” You can listen to new interviews featuring Layng as well, including Otis Gibbs' YouTube convos (check out "Breakfast with Merle Haggard") and "Wheels Off with Rhett Miller," where he banters with the Old 97's frontman.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC" HERE

Music Man is the first new release on the newly launched Bloodshot Records in conjunction with renowned indie label Kill Rock Stars. The album sessions were put together by Layng's son, super producer Tucker Martine, and recorded at his Portland studio, Flora Recording and Playback. Tucker, who also plays drums on the album, is known for his production work with My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, and First Aid Kit as well as the new Grammy-winning Madison Cunningham album.

For the sessions, Tucker assembled an inspired cast of musician and guests (Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, Laura Laura Veirs, Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, among others) at his Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording and Playback, as a Christmas gift to Layng. Music Man has a vintage sound that might make you think you’re listening to a ‘70s reissue on Light in the Attic or Bear Family rather than a brand new recording.

These days, Layng and his wife Linda split their time between Nashville and Rhode Island. His life has had its share of triumphs and tragedies. Layng’s 2019 memoir, Permission to Fly, details his early wandering days, his time as a songwriter in Nashville, and the car accident that left his wife a paraplegic. He was inspired to write a memoir after his “Modern Love” essay for the New York Times about the incident, which shared details of their life post accident with candor and humor and became one of its most shared columns.

Wed, 05/24/2023 - 3:32 pm

"The songs started with 'Bear.' It was December of 2021, and the news was all about Russia and would Putin invade Ukraine. I had just read a book on the history of dancing bears. White Nationalism was a prominent topic, the flip side being Black Lives Matter. Trump had lost the election but was ramping up his spoiled brat act. I could imagine the gripes Putin, Trump and the White Nationalists had, even if I didn’t agree. I’d also reread some of a favorite book by Rafi Zabor: The Bear Goes Home. In the plot, this guy in NYC wins a dancing bear in a card game, and after he gets busted trying to busk with it, he leaves the bear in his flat during work. One day he comes home and the bear’s talking and playing clarinet. The bear becomes a jazz sensation but he’s also the ultimate outsider. So I was thinking about all that. I think the bear represents anyone or any social group that feels their world has changed too much while they weren’t looking. The bear comes out of his cave in spring and all the trees are cut down. He’s just pissed off. 'I’m a bear' he cries, 'but damn it, I’m more than that.' I can identify with the bear because I’m old. I don’t relate to a lot of new stuff and while I do fairly well in spite of all the changes, sometimes I’ll swear at them.

"The saddest song is one I wrote with Jan. We were driving along talking about some folks we know who are locked into a dysfunctional relationship, how we wished they could figure it out, change things. Jan said, 'She can’t.' I said, 'He won’t.' and then we both said, 'They’ll never' in unison.

More songs started coming in the spring of 2022. I got with Ronnie Bowman and these brothers from West Virginia, Chris and Donnie Davisson, to co-write. I try to bring something to a session so we can start right in, and I thought how about 'thinkin’ like a fish.' I played a funk lick on the banjo and we spit out some words to it. After we were done that day, I played it for Jan’s son Lane, who’s crazy about fishing, and he gave me an idea for the last verse. Another song that fell out one morning is 'Let the Horses Run.' I happened on the funny story of Lulu the Nashville border collie who inherited a fortune when her owner died with no heir. The dog’s master was a guy who helped put up a notorious statue of the first Grand Wizard of the KKK here in Nashville, and his death resulted in the statue finally coming down. Ronnie and I got together again and came up with ‘Diddleye Day,' which rhymes dogs with hogs, and so I’m thinking maybe there’s a whole theme here.

"But I also had written 'The Anchor' which was just something I was just ready to write. It’s in line with the social justice songs on 'He Walked On," but again it’s from the point of view of someone old who realizes they’re a throwback, in this case 'Walter Cronkite' who’s commenting from the great beyond. I’m in my late 60’s and doing fine but I’m looking at things from that older perspective. One of my closest friends, J.D. Hutchison was in hospice care when Ronnie and I wrote 'Goodbye Old Friend.”  (J.D. passed away soon after.) With 'Cup of Sugar,' "The Pay’s a Lot Better Too' and maybe even 'Gila Headwaters,' I’ve got that elder perspective again: life is short but it’s wonderful so don’t sweat the small stuff. The guy in 'Stuck in the Middle' is taken by surprise but he takes it lightly.

I let the songs dictate the arrangements. I asked myself is it all acoustic, is it an electric country record? Is it time to go electric?. But I ended up making another pretty eclectic set of acoustic tracks. Jan and I work on the form, tempo, and key for each of them at home, and she sings and plays her parts live when we get to the studio. That builds a strong frame before we get to the studio. With session guys like Mike Rojas, Russ Pahl, and Jaimee Dick, as well as with my bandmates Mike Bub and Shad Cobb, you just get them in the room and play the song. They find the way. Dennis Crouch came one day when Bub couldn’t make it, and Paul Burch joined in too on a couple. I had a lot of fun writing the songs and had just as much fun recording them. It was a blast having Del McCoury come in to play some real first-generation bluegrass. I think Cory Walker crushed the banjo part."

Thu, 05/25/2023 - 4:18 pm

Brennen Leigh is premiering the official video for her trucker song "Carole with an E" with Holler, who writes: "Like the other songs on Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet,' ’Carole With an E’ echoes the best of the era, when bluegrass-fuelled tunes, beer soaked honky-tonk ballads and hard-country weepers burst forth from AM transistor radios. The album’s country roots run deep, with guests like Marty Stuart and Rodney Crowell and a line-up of top-flight musicians."

Shot on location in Nashville by filmmaker Jesse Weeden, Brennen and the team were able to borrow a big rig for the shoot. The resulting "brilliant" video features the song's co-writer Mallory Eagle playing the "pearls and kitten heels"-wearing Carole, along with cameos from producer Chris Scruggs, Josh Hedley and others. The video ends with Brennen and Mallory exchanging some classic CB lingo — 10-4!!

Brennan tells Holler, “I’m a fan of trucker country, the sub-genre of country music that’s exclusively about long haul trucking and all its idiosyncrasies. Although I’m not a member of trucker culture, I’m fascinated by it, and I relate to the songs. They’re true Americana, in the real sense of the word. So, when Mallory came over one day and suggested we write an anthem about her trucker neighbor back in Oklahoma, I was into it. We tried to keep as true as we could to Carole’s real story. She’s become something of a movement for us. Carole, in my understanding, is this tough, beautiful lady who happens to drive for a living. I find her irresistible.

“We had to do some research into the lingo,” she adds. “Which is as sophisticated as any poetry I’ve ever read. I dare you to find higher art than the poetry of CW McCall.”

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "CAROLE WITH AN E"

PRE-SAVE PRE-ORDER AIN'T THROUGH HONKY TONKIN' YET

The album’s country roots run deep, with guests like Marty Stuart and Rodney Crowell and a lineup of top-flight musicians, yet each track soars with abandon. With thoughtful, incisive lyrics and vibrant melodies at the forefront, Leigh has successfully created a modern gem, while honoring country music’s enduring golden era.

“I’m in love with this idea of the real Nashville, " says Leigh. “The idyllic golden age, which, to me, is around 1967, 1968, because of the alchemy, the explosion that occurred, with the best country music songwriters ever, the best singers in country music.”

TRACKLISTING
01 - Running Out Of Hope, Arkansas
02 - Somebody's Drinking About You
03 - The Red Flags You Were Waving
04 - I Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet
05 - Mississippi Rendezvous
06 - Carole With An E
07 - The Bar Should Say Thanks
08 - Every Time I Do
09 - Throwing Away A Precious Jewel
10 - I'm Still Looking For You
11 - When Lonely Came To Town
12 - You Turned Into A Dragon

Fri, 06/16/2023 - 9:35 am

With a career spanning more than four decades, there are not a lot of "firsts" for Grammy-winner Tim O’Brien, until now. O'Brien's new album, Cup of Sugar, finds the renowned songwriter and multi-instrumentalist delivering 13 original new tracks which he's either written or co-written. The cover art says a lot about the album, with its black and white hands extended in a neighborly fashion. The title track features the lyrics, "I try to pick my battles, don't want to start a war. If I need a cup of sugar, I'll knock on my neighbor's door." You can hear Tim and the band performing the song on a recent NPR Mountain Stage episode HERE. O'Brien and his band kick off the album release this weekend at Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, followed by a summer full of festival dates, an appearance on Woodsongs Old Time Hour, and shows at Nashville's famed Station Inn in July. (Scroll down for a complete schedule.)

Cup of Sugar includes songs about a bear, a fish, lambs, horses and some people too — a grave digger, a neighbor, and even venerable '60s and '70s CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite. May of the songs deal with aging with humor and poignancy. Bluegrass Today notes O'Brien's "terrific" sense of humor and droll wit, both in evidence in throughout the album, but also points out that there's "cleverness behind the japes, some wisdom in the jokes."

STREAM/ DOWNLOAD CUP OF SUGAR HERE

CUP OF SUGAR AVAILABLE AT AIRPLAY DIRECT HERE

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "BEAR" HERE

In "Bear," a whimsical song inspired by the book The Bear Goes Home, “Bear,” a bear wakes up from hibernation to a world that’s changed so drastically that it looks uninhabitable. O’Brien says of the song, “I can identify with the bear because I’m getting old. I can relate to a lot of new stuff and while I do fairly well in spite of all the changes, sometimes I’ll swear at them. The bear represents anyone struggling with a changing world.”

"Llittle Lamb Little Lamb" find O'Brien commenting on the cycle of life, contrasting springtime and the frolicking new lambs with own advancing age. He observes, "It’s just like magic how the seasons come and go/Reassures me in a way you’ll never know/Living and dying walk along hand in hand/ You wouldn’t understand little lamb little lamb."

O'Brien is backed by his loyal bandmates Mike Bub, Shad Cobb and wife Jan Fabricius, supplemented by Jamie Dick on drums, Mike Rojas on keyboards, Russ Pahl on steel guitar, and Cory Walker on banjo. Bluegrass icon Del McCoury lends his signature guitar and tenor vocal on “Let the Horses Run.” Co-writers include Ronnie Bowman, Jonathon Byrd, Shawn Camp, Jan Fabricius, and Thomm Jutz.

Sounding more and more like himself, O’Brien will debut the new material from Cup of Sugar at the 50th annual Telluride Bluegrass festival on June 17. Please go to www.timobrien.net for updates.

TOUR DATES:

# Tim O’Brien Band

^ Tim O’Brien with Jan Fabricius

06-17-2023 Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival #

07-08-2023 Frankfort, IL - Frankfort Bluegrass Fest #

07-09-2023 Frankfort, IL - Frankfort Bluegrass Fest #

07-26-2023 Berwyn, IL - FitzGeralds #

07-27-2323 Minneapolis, MN - The Dakota #

07-28-2023 Manitowish Waters, WI - Midsummer Bluegrass Festival #

07-29-2023 Manitowish Waters, WI - Midsummer Bluegrass Festival #

08-18-2023 Manchester Center, VT - Green Mountain Bluegrass ^

08-19-2023 Manchester Center, VT - Green Mountain Bluegrass ^

08-20-2023 Red Hook, NY - Hardeman Orchards ^

09-13-2023 Austin, TX - The 04 Center ^

09-14-2023 Houston, TX - Mucky Duck ^

09-15-2023 Ft. Worth, TX - Grand Ballroom at Southside Preservation Hall ^

09-28-2023 Easton, MD - Historic Avalon Theatre ^

09-29-2023 White Hall, MD - Star Bright Farm ^

09-30-2023 Mamaroneck, NY - Emelin Theatre ^

10-01-2023 Berwick, ME - Hackmatack Playhouse ^

10-02-2023 Cambridge, MA - Club Passim ^

10-07-2023 Chattanooga, TN - 3 Sisters Music Festival #

10-14-2023 Big Stone Gap, VA Blue Highway Fest #

11-03-2023 Moab, UT - Moab Folk Fest ^

11-04-2023 Moab, UT - Moab Folk Fest ^

11-15-2023 Richmond, VA - Tin Pan ^

11-17-2023 Berryville, VA - Barns at Rose Hill

11-18-2023 Parkersburg, WV - Parkersburg Arts Center

12-08-2023 Oak Ridge, TN - Secret City Radio Show ^

Thu, 07/27/2023 - 2:25 pm

Today, Southern rock band The Steel Woods are releasing the second single from their fourth studio album, On Your Time, The song, "Devil In This Holler" premieres today at Whiskey Riff and will be available on all streaming services tomorrow HERE. Co-founder, vocalist and guitarist Wes Bayliss shares the inspiration for the song with Whiskey Riff, saying, "it’s ultimately a song about perseverance and how the good always prevails in the long run." He shares the story behind the song with Whiskey Riff below:

"'Devil In This Holler' is one I wrote one night after playing a show deep in the hills of Kentucky where everything had gone wrong since we had gotten there. It seemed as if there was something fighting our every move and did not want the show to go on. In the end, good prevailed, our perseverance paid off, we were able to play the show and then I got a song out of it.

"I guess the message here is: the Devil won’t hinder the ones doing His work. If you feel like something keeps beating you down and making it hard to do what you know is right, let that be the fuel to press on and assurance that you’re on the right path.”

The Steel Woods have captivated audiences with their powerful sound and heartfelt lyrics over their past three albums. With On Your Time, they embark on a poignant and emotional journey loosely following the trajectory of Uncle Lloyd, a charming but dissolute character first introduced on The Woods' debut album, 2017’s Straw in the Wind. This ambitious album not only showcases their musical evolution and episodic storytelling abilities but also serves as a tribute to the vision and legacy of their late co-founder, Jason "Rowdy" Cope, who passed away just before the release of their third album, All of Your Stones. Led by Bayliss, the band's guitarist, lead vocalist and co-founder, The Steel Woods have poured their heart and soul into this album, creating a record that reflects their resilience, growth and unwavering spirit.

On Your Time finds the band back with an album that reveals calm and introspective thoughts as well delivering the gripping country and rock and roll that’s found them lauded by Rolling Stone Country, Whiskey Riff, Saving Country Music and Wide Open Country, among others. The band, who’ve shared stages with Cody Jinks, Cody Johnson and Miranda Lambert and graced festival stages nationwide, are currently on an extensive U.S. tour to support the album (scroll down for complete dates and ticket info).

TOUR DATES ON SALE HERE

PRE-ORDER ON YOUR TIME HERE / ORDER FROM THE BAND HERE

Fri, 09/01/2023 - 1:41 pm

Today, Southern rock band The Steel Woods are releasing "The Man From Everywhere," the third single from their fourth studio album, On Your Time, The single premiered at Holler magazine and is available on all streaming services HERE. Holler writes, "In the same way that songwriters like Tom T. Hall and John Prine seemed to be magically able to catch a story as if it was blowing in on the wind before letting it float away again, we can almost feel this “man from everywhere" just passing by as the song unfolds. All we get is a moment of time in his story before he’s gone again, but that moment tells us everything we need to know."

LISTEN TO "THE MAN FROM EVERYWHERE"

AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES HERE

Co-founder, vocalist and guitarist Wes Bayliss shares the inspiration for the song: "It’s a song loosely based on the story of Uncle Lloyd as a prequel to the Darrell Scott song we cut on our first record, It's written from the perspective of a man who just can’t seem to get things right; hinting that his drinking and gambling addictions are the reason he’s abandoned every good thing he’s ever had going for him. When Connie and I were writing this one I started really getting excited about the record and realizing this crazy idea I had could actually be great."

The Steel Woods have captivated audiences with their powerful sound and heartfelt lyrics over their past three albums. With On Your Time, they embark on a poignant and emotional journey loosely following the trajectory of Uncle Lloyd, a charming but dissolute character first introduced on The Woods' debut album, 2017’s Straw in the Wind. This ambitious album not only showcases their musical evolution and episodic storytelling abilities but also serves as a tribute to the vision and legacy of their late co-founder, Jason "Rowdy" Cope, who passed away just before the release of their third album, All of Your Stones. Led by Bayliss, the band's guitarist, lead vocalist and co-founder, The Steel Woods have poured their heart and soul into this album, creating a record that reflects their resilience, growth and unwavering spirit.

On Your Time finds the band back with an album that reveals calm and introspective thoughts as well delivering the gripping country and rock and roll that’s found them lauded by Rolling Stone Country, Whiskey Riff, Saving Country Music and Wide Open Country, among others. The band, who’ve shared stages with Cody Jinks, Cody Johnson and Miranda Lambert and graced festival stages nationwide, are currently on an extensive U.S. tour to support the album (scroll down for complete dates and ticket info).

TOUR DATES ON SALE HERE

PRE-ORDER ON YOUR TIME HERE / ORDER FROM THE BAND HERE

TRACK LISTING:

1. The Man From Everywhere

2. Cut the Grass

3. Devil in This Holler

4. Famine Fortune

5. On Your Time

6. You Don’t Even Who Who I Am

7. Border Lord

8. Stories to Tell to Myself

9. Broken Down Dam

10. If Not for the Rain

THE STEEL WOODS ON TOUR:

9/1/23 - Beer City Hall - Oklahoma City, OK

9/2/23 - Caveman Festival - Weston, CO

9/3/23 - Moxi Theater - Greeley, CO

9/4/23 - The Depot - Salt Lake City, UT

9/14/23 - Born & Raised Festival - Pryor, OK

9/15/23 - White Oak Music - Houston, TX

9/16/23 - Studio at the Factory - Dallas, TX

9/22/23 - 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ

9/23/223 - Ramona Mainstage - Ramona, CA

9/28/23 - Ventura Music Hall - Ventura, CA

10/5/23 - Mystic Theatre - Petaluma, CA

10/6/23 - Rebels & Renegades - Monterey, CA

10/7/23 - The Parish at HOB - Anaheim, CA

10/12/23 - Luckenbach Texas - Fredericksburg, TX

10/13/23 - Cuero Turkeyfest - Cuero, TX

10/14/23 - Tipitina’s - New Orleans, LA

10/19/23 - Amos’ Southend - Charlotte, NC

10/20/23 - The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC

10/21/23 - Hargray Capitol Theatre - Macon, GA

10/27/23 - Tooneys Music Venue - McCaysville, GA

10/28/23 - Manchester Music Hall - Lexington, KY

11/10/23 - Louisiana Grandstand - Shreveport, LA

11/11/23 - Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa, OK

11/17/23 - Bourbon Theatre - Lincoln, NE

11/18/23 - Knuckleheads The Saloon - Kansas City, MO

12/8/23 - The Bluestone - Columbus, OH

12/9/23 - Piere's - Fort Wayne, IN

Thu, 09/07/2023 - 4:15 pm

For the past 15 years, the 30A Songwriters Festival has attracted thousands of dedicated live music fans from around the world to hear original songwriters spanning multiple genres perform their songs. The beach resort towns along Scenic Highway 30A on the Gulf of Mexico feature 30 venues presenting over 180 songwriters and 280+ solo, band, and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of January 12 – 15, 2024.

TICKET LINK

30A Songwriters Festival will celebrate its 15th year with performances on the main stage at presenting partner Grand Boulevard’s Town Center in Miramar Beach with headline performances by renowned artists JEFF TWEEDY, ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS, ROSANNE CASH and KT TUNSTALL.

The festival will also be welcoming the following first-timers to 30A: KELLY WILLIS, SHANNON WHITWORTH AND WOODY PLATT, SUNNY WAR, CHAPEL HART, JOHN MUQ, JACK BARKSDALE, THE PINK STONES, DAVID CHILDERS, MEGAN BURTT, RACHAEL KILGOUR, PETE FRANCIS, DEREK and KATELYN DRYE, MATTHEW KILLOUGH, MIKE KINNEBREW, CAITLIN CANNON and BAYLEE LITTRELL.

Returning to perform two shows each throughout the weekend are songwriting legends RODNEY CROWELL, JOHN OATES, STEVE EARLE, MATTHEW SWEET, MINDY SMITH, DRIVIN N CRYIN, AARON LEE TASJAN (WITH BAND), PARKER MILLSAP, PETER YARROW, DAVID RYAN HARRIS, SHAWN MULLINS, ROBYN HITCHCOCK, JOHN FULLBRIGHT, BLACK OPRY REVUE, VICKI PETERSON AND JOHN COWSILL, JEFFREY STEELE, DAVID LOWERY (CRACKER), EMERSON HART, THE REV. SHAWN AMOS &THE BROTHERHOOD, MARY GUTHIER, BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN, SARAH LEE GUTHRIE, WILL HOGE, CHUCK PROPHET, FLORENCE DORE, DAN BERN and ABE PARTRIDGE.

We are pleased to announce the following additional confirmed artists:

Jeff Black, Heather Maloney, Scott Miller, Grant-Lee Phillips, Garrison Starr, Gurufish, Will Kimbrough, Kim Richey, Paul McDonald, Brendan Abernathy, Charlie Mars, Dan Navarro, Mary Bragg, Eliot Bronson, Pat Byrne, Robby Hecht, The Kennedys, Joe Leathers, Michael Farren, Martha's Trouble, Darden Smith, Brian White, Karyn Williams, Diane Durrett, The Rough & Tumble, Becky Warren, The Tall Pines, Levi Lowrey, Bradley Cole Smith, Trisha Gene Brady, Meaghan Farrell, Jesse Lynn Madera, Alice Peacock, Jennifer Lynn Simpson, Sammi Accola, Chris Alvarado, Pete Francis, Kurtis John, Casey LeVasseur, and Cat Ridgeway

An Additional 100+ Artists Will Be Announced Over the Next Few Weeks—Stay Tuned

Jeff Tweedy – As the founding member and leader of the Grammy Award winning legendary American rock band Wilco, and before that the co-founder of the groundbreaking alt‐country band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy is one of contemporary music’s most accomplished songwriters, musicians, and performers. Jeff has released three solo albums, written original songs for thirteen Wilco albums, and is the author of two New York Times’ Bestselling books. Jeff will release his third book, World Within A Song, on Nov. 7, 2023. Jeff travels all over the world performing with Wilco and on his own to sold out audiences. We are extremely fortunate to welcome Jeff Tweedy to our headline stage to celebrate our 15th year of the 30A Songwriters Festival.

Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Elvis Costello has followed his musical curiosity in a career spanning more than 40 years. An award-winning songwriter, performer, author, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Costello began his career as part of London’s pub rock scene in the early 1970s and became a seminal figure in the emerging new wave and British punk movements later in the decade. His debut album, My Aim Is True (1977) – inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2007 – was a breakout success and was followed in rapid succession by This Year’s Model (1978) and Armed Forces (1979). All three appear on Rolling Stone’s list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." He is perhaps best known for his performances with The Attractions and the Imposters. Acclaimed collaborators include Burt Bacharach, The Brodsky Quartet, Paul McCartney, and the Roots. His songs have been recorded by a number of great artists including: George Jones, Chet Baker, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison. This January, Elvis Costello and the Imposters will take to the mainstage at Grand Boulevard to dazzle the 15th Annual 30A Songwriters audience with a wide-ranging set of classic songs.

Rosanne Cash - When you read the name Rosanne Cash, chances are you think of the singer-songwriter with nearly two dozen Top 40 hits, fourteen Grammy nominations, and four Grammy Awards. If you have paid close attention, you may also think of Cash as an author, whose memoir Composed garnered praise from high-profile critics and landed on The New York Times’s bestseller list. Or you have seen her as a music community catalyst who often brings together giants of American roots music for various events. Or in documentary films, as someone with a valued voice and a first-hand experience of modern music history. If you take a step back, though, it becomes much clearer that Rosanne Cash is all these things at once. The totality of her role as an artist, a woman, and the responsible courier of a storied cultural legacy means Cash is a rare artist with many outlets. All of these point toward the same end: Her belief that art and culture are a vital, shaping force in society. Indeed, Rosanne Cash has begun with music and art since she launched her career in 1978. But that has always been just the beginning. This year, Rosanne will be performing with her longtime partner and collaborator John Leventhal and their band celebrating 30 years of music making together.

KT Tunstall - KT Tunstall burst onto the music scene with her 2004 multi-platinum debut, Eye to the Telescope, which spawned the global hits "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See." These songs established Tunstall as a captivating, must-see performer, as well as a songwriter with a singular knack for balancing introspective folk and propulsive rock. "I feel there are two immediate, recognizable pillars of my style," she says. "I have this troubadour, acoustic guitar-driven emotional side. Then there's definitely a rocker side of me with sharper teeth." In the last few years, the Grammy-nominated Scottish Musician has expanded on these musical selves by focusing on a trilogy of records, where each album zeroes in on a single concept: soul, body and mind. The first, 2016's KIN, was the soul record; 2018 WAX was the body record, and the new NUT is the mind record.

The 30A Songwriters Festival production team transforms amphitheaters, town halls, restaurants, theaters, bars and covered patios into unique music venues with state of the art sound systems with capacities ranging from 100 to 1000 seats indoors and 6,000 outdoors.

The 30A Songwriters Festival is co-produced by Russell Carter Artist Management and the Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA) of Walton, and net proceeds from the Festival support the CAA's mission to advance the Arts in Walton County, Florida.

"We are thrilled to host Elvis Costello in January 2024," comments Russell Carter, President of Russell Carter Artist Management and Festival Co-Producer. "Most Artists who break commercially do so after many years of hard development work. Elvis Costello flat out burst on the international scene with his debut album My Aim is True. Seemingly out of nowhere he appeared on Saturday Night Live with a name borrowed from Presley and looks apprehended from Buddy Holly. He proceeded to rage like the British punk and pub rocker that he was. His debut record demonstrated a melodic sense on par with Lennon & McCartney and a lyrical and poetic prowess comparable to Dylan. Over several decades of album releases, Elvis has recorded amazing songs encompassing R&B, country, jazz, baroque pop, Tin Pan Alley and classical music. It is with tremendous pride that we introduce Elvis Costello, one of my very favorite artists and one of our generation's greatest songwriters, to the 30A Songwriters Festival.

"As we approach the 15th anniversary of the 30A Songwriters Festival, we want to acknowledge how fortunate we are to have hosted so many world class musicians in our small beach community," says Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County Executive Director and Co-Producer Jennifer Steele. “We gambled in 2010 that touring musicians would enjoy spending an extended weekend performing along the uniquely beautiful coast on the Gulf of Mexico, and fortunately Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Jason Isbell, Mavis Staples, John Prine, Indigo Girls, Brian Wilson, Brandi Carlile, Grace Potter and hundreds more have proved us right. Our Festival is a partnership with venues, resort communities, rental agencies and hotels along Hwy. 30A and beyond, along with important regional and national business sponsors who all benefit from the exposure to the many thousands of music lovers the Festival attracts. Most importantly, our local community benefits as 100% of the Festival's net proceeds are further invested in our mission to foster creativity and our vision of a thriving Walton County where everyone experiences the power of the Arts."

Adds Carter, "There is a direct correlation between the success of the 30A Songwriters Festival and the richness of cultural arts experiences in our communities, including an Art in Public Spaces program (murals and sculptures), The Foster Gallery that supports local artists, professional theatre, the Underwater Museum of Art, Flutterby Children's Arts Festival, and the ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival."

Festival Weekend Passes are currently available at www.30asongwritersfestival.com. VIP tickets that include premium seating and complementary gourmet food and drinks in the VIP tent on Saturday and Sunday afternoons are also available. For a full description of each ticket package including VIP mainstage and full weekend transportation packages for groups of 2 up to 12, visit www.30asongwritersfestival.com.

The 30A Songwriters Festival is presented by Grand Boulevard with additional support from Visit South Walton, the Florida Department of State Division of Arts & Culture, WaterColor Inn and Resort, and ASCAP.

About the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County

The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that fosters the inclusive and collaborative advancement of the Arts and envisions a thriving Walton County where everyone experiences the power of the Arts. As the creative core of our community for 30 years, the CAA provides accessible opportunities for all forms of art, every variety of maker, all levels of learners and art lovers. Through support for and presentation of creative and educational programs and services, the CAA strives to connect the people of Walton County to a broader view, critical exploration and answers only the Arts have the power to provide. Members of the CAA receive a 10% discount off weekend passes and admission to an exclusive performance on Wednesday, January 12th. Call (850) 622-5970 to become a member and take advantage of the discount. www.culturalartsalliance.com.

About Russell Carter Artist Management

Russell Carter Artist Management is a full-service artist management firm that has worked with national recording artists since 1990 currently including Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, Abe Patridge, and Sarah Lee Guthrie. Prior to forming RCAM, Russell Carter practiced entertainment law in Atlanta for ten years. He is a board member of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) in Florida. RCAM, based in the 4th Ward in Atlanta, books, promotes, and co-produces the 30A Songwriters Festival with the CAA and co-produces the Opelika Songwriters Festival in Alabama with the Sound Wall.

About Grand Boulevard

Grand Boulevard is the shop, dine, play and stay Town Center located on Northwest Florida’s Beaches. Based on the prominent mixed-use architectural model, Grand Boulevard offers a dynamic lifestyle experience with convenient access to a multitude of exclusive shopping and dining options, entertainment, professional services, corporate offices and lodging. Grand Boulevard is a Howard Group and Merchants Retail Partners property. For more information visit GrandBoulevard.com.

Mon, 10/16/2023 - 10:07 am

For the past 15 years, the 30A Songwriters Festival has attracted thousands of dedicated live music fans from around the world to hear original songwriters spanning multiple genres perform their songs. As No Depression wrote, “perhaps the best thing about the 30A Songwriters Festival (called simply ‘Songwriters’ by locals) is that it seems to recognize that some people who write great songs are quite famous, but not every great songwriter is a household name.” Dedicated to celebrating the iconic voices of our time, as well as the best in up and coming and career artists, 30A Songwriters Festival has hosted John Prine, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Leon Russell, Emmylou Harris and many more since its inception. One of the festival’s main attractions is the intimacy of the venues and the camaraderie among concertgoers and musicians, many who kick off their year with a performance at the fest. The festival is also a fundraiser for the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County. As the creative core of the community for over 30 years, the Cultural Arts Alliance fosters creativity through the inclusive and collaborative advancement of the Arts, providing opportunities for residents and visitors to experience diverse forms of art and learning, connecting them to a broader view, critical exploration and answers only the Arts have the power to provide.

The beach resort towns along Scenic Highway 30A on the Gulf of Mexico feature 30 venues presenting over 180 songwriters and 280+ solo, band, and in-the-round performances throughout the weekend of January 12 – 15, 2024.

TICKET LINK

Thu, 11/02/2023 - 10:17 am

Today, Jon Dee Graham is sharing the third single from his upcoming album, Only Dead For A Little While, out November 10 on New West subsidiary Strolling Bones Records. The single, "there's a ghost on the train," references an eerie trip Jon Dee took on the legendary train the "City of New Orleans," immortalized in song by Steve Goodman and made famous by Arlo Guthrie, among others. In keeping with Halloween, the song is premiering exclusively today at The Bluegrass Situation HERE and will be available on all streaming services on November 2 HERE. Along with his long-running Wednesday night residency at Austin's famed Continental Club, Jon Dee will be doing a hometown in-store at Waterloo Records in Austin on Monday, November 5 at 5 pm CST.

LISTEN TO "there's a ghost on the train" HERE/ pre-save HERE
"PRE-ORDER/ PRE-SAVE ONLY DEAD FOR A LITTLE WHILE HERE

Jon Dee shares, "SO…my old friend Charlie Hunter, who started Roots on The Rails (train adventures with live music…we’ve been to see polar bears in Churchill on the Hudson!) had made friends w the guy who found and restored "The City of New Orleans" train of Steve Goodman fame. Charlie asked if I’d play the first run from Chicago to NOLA. I was in. It’s such an old and iconic train I got to talking with one of the porters, and I said ‘I bet this train’s got a few ghosts’. He got all serious and said 'O this train is haunted as hell!’ No matter how I wheedled him he wouldn’t say anymore than that.

"So I’m playing on and off late into the night. At one point during a break I’m heading back to the baggage car to have a smoke and as I’m approaching one of the doors between cars, I see a hazy figure on the other side and I get all gooseflesh and it keeps coming and I think ‘Sweet Jesus! I’m seeing a ghost on the City of New Orleans!’ When I reached the door, I realized that I was SEEING MY OWN REFLECTION in the door’s window. Relieved but disappointed, I pushed on through to the baggage car. When I entered the dark baggage car, I caught a brief glimpse of 3 or 4 guys sitting in the back and then it was gone…another trick of the light.

"Next day Charlie said, 'Were they PLAYING CARDS? Penny a point, ain’t no one keeping score??' SO, pretty sure I saw the ghost of Steve Goodman on The City of New Orleans.”

Only Dead For A Little While, his first new album in seven years, brings Jon Dee back to the New West family, where the three albums he released after the turn of the century helped launch him as a solo artist. The 5th generation Texan's artistry and accomplishments are well-known throughout his home state and the music community beyond, as a seminal figure in Texas punk and Americana (The Skunks and True Believers), as a hotshot guitarist for other artists (Alejandro Escovedo, John Doe, etc), as an explosive performer whose club sets leave no prisoners, and as a singer-songwriter whose range extends from a whisper to a howl. As a guitarist, he’s been tapped by Alejandro Escovedo (True Believers!), John Hiatt, The Knitters, John Doe, James McMurtry, Eliza Gilkyson, Lone Justice, Patty Griffin and many more.

It's a collection of songs an artist makes when he has nothing left to prove, nothing to lose, nothing to hide. Think of Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, but sharpen the blade and crank the volume. You might even think of Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years, though Jon Dee Graham is a very different sort of saloon singer. There’s a certain darkness, bittersweet, whenever you stare mortality in the face. And especially when that face is the one you see in the mirror. But there’s also the richness of being alive and in love and open to it all. And that’s where the magic lies.

The result is a full-force triumph that reflects the seismic challenges we’ve been through—the pandemic or all of us, financial and medical and psychological issues for some of us, a return from the dead for it least one of us—and reassures that everything will somehow work out.

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JON DEE TOUR DATES:
MON, Nov 6 Waterloo Records in-store - Austin, TX, 5 pm CST
SAT, Nov 25 Fitzgeralds - Berwyn IL
SUN, Nov 26 Kiki’s House of Righteous Music - Madison WI
THU, Dec 7 The Post - Fort Worth TX
SAT Dec 9 The Blue Door - Oklahoma City
SAT Feb 3 Bugle Boy - La Grange TX

Wed, 11/15/2023 - 9:28 am

The Amy Ray Band (of Indigo Girls) is joining songwriter Dar Williams for a string of West Coast tour dates this January. The tour will kick off on January 15 in Santa Barbara and wrap up in Seattle on January 25; scroll down for routing and venues.

Ray's most recent solo album, If It All Goes South, features a stunning collection of songs dealing with Ray's conflicted relationship with her beloved South. The album reached the Americana radio album chart Top 10 and found Amy and her band making their Grand Ole Opry debut.

Renowned folk/pop singer-songwriter, writer and teacher Williams first came to prominence in the vibrant mid-90’s Boston music scene, inspired by the eclectic influences of alt-rockers, Berklee jazz musicians, slam poets, and folk artists, like Patty Griffith, Melissa Ferrick, the Throwing Muses, Vance Gilbert, and Jonatha Brooke. Her latest album, I'll Meet You Here, was praised by No Depression for its "encouragement and resilience."

Williams is looking forward to sharing the stage with the Amy Ray Band, saying, "I’ve always loved Amy for the same reason everyone loves her. So smart, so funny, so committed to all the things I care about, too. I got to see the Amy Ray Band at the River Roads festival in September, and I was amazed at how familiar, but also wholly new, her voice was in this sterling lineup.

DAR WILLIAMS PHOTO BY EBRU YILDIZ;

"I look forward to wherever this tour takes us, on the stage and on the road!"

Ray agrees, adding, "We are super excited to play the West Coast with Dar Williams and appreciate her sharing the stages! I have been a Dar fan for a long time, I love her songwriting and have always taken note of her astute analysis of our musical eco-system. Indigo Girls have been walking the same roads with Dar for years, so this feels very familial yet totally brand new, because this will be the first time for the Amy Ray Band to play most of these venues, which I will add, are some of my favorites music establishments in this country.

"Amy Ray Band has been together for over a decade but we rarely get the opportunity to do a full tour of the West Coast. For us, it’s long overdue, and the band considers it a highlight of the year."

The group will continue on to the Southwest for their first shows since the release of If It All Goes South. Ray says, "We have a special place in our hearts for Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. I just hiked the 21-mile South Rim to North Rim Grand Canyon hike. I did it in 18 hours…pretty slow, but all in one go, 6 am -12 midnight. Six other women led the way, including my sister. So Arizona is def a bright spot for me, cause now I get to return to one of the most stunning places on earth.

"Fort Collins has welcomed us with open arms and become a new favorite spot for Indigos as well.

Santa Fe has been in our routing for a few tours, and is always one of our wildest shows-so much good energy in that place.

Dar Williams and Amy Ray Band on Tour:

Mon, January 15 Santa Barbara, CA - Marjorie Luke Theatre

Tue, January 16 West Hollywood, CA, - Troubadour

Thu, January 18 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

Fri, January 19 Grass Valley, CA - Center for the Arts

Sat, January 20 Grants Pass, OR - Rogue Theater

Sun, January 21 Eugene, OR - MacDonald Theater

Tue, January 23 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater

Wed, January 24 Olympia, WA - Capital Theater

Thu, January 25 Seattle, WA - Neptune Theater

Wed, 12/06/2023 - 8:54 am

The High Hawks, an all-star cast of musical friends from Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Hard Working Americans, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, are following up their acclaimed eponymous debut with Mother Nature’s Show, out February 16 on LoHi Records. The band is premiering the first single “Diamond Sky,” today at Jambase; the song will be on all streaming services this Friday; pre-save HERE.

Songwriter Adam Greuel shared the inspiration behind the song: “Diamond Sky kind of reflects on the many experiences of good lovin' energy. To me, it's kind of a musing on the way that true love changes over time, taking different shapes, sort of similar to the changing seasons we experience yearly. I really have no damn clue, but I love thinking about it, and love sure is lovely."

Mother Nature's Show was recorded during the dead of winter at historic Pachyderm Studios in the small town of Cannon Falls, Minnesota, just 20 miles west of the banks of the Mississippi and Highway 61. The sextet of roots music veterans arrived at Pachyderm on New Year’s Day 2023, a Sunday, and recorded the 12 tracks included on the record over the course of the first week of the year while a blizzard raged outside the studio.

“There was a certain coziness to it,” says Keyboardist-vocalist Chad Staehly. “We were out in the woods, it was dumping snow, and it was just the work in front of us. It was like, ‘All right, this is a new chapter. It’s New Year's Day and we're gathering together to make a record.’ There was something really cool about all that.”

Vince Herman is best known as one of the two frontmen for Leftover Salmon and many people know Staehly from the jam band supergroup Hard Working Americans, but it’s the group they co-founded — Great American Taxi — that connects all the members of The High Hawks in one way or another. Bassist Brian Adams and drummer Will Trask were both members of Taxi, while vocalist-fiddler-guitarist Tim Carbone, best known as a member of Railroad Earth, produced two of GAT’s albums. In addition, vocalist-guitarist Adam Greuel of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades was influenced by Taxi in his teenage years and even played a few gigs with the group.

With four singer-songwriters — Carbone, Greuel, Herman and Staehly — there was no shortage of material to choose from. They shared demo tapes with one another in the months leading up to the sessions and arrived at Pachyderm with more than enough songs for the record. The song sequence takes the listener down Highway 61, the oft-called “Blues Highway” immortalized by Bob Dylan, that follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, passing through St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi delta.

As fans have come to expect, there’s a variety of musical stylings represented  — from Southern, country and psychedelic rock to honky-tonk and even a ballad and a waltz — with The High Hawks’ sonic cohesiveness claiming each style as their own. What you hear are six superb musicians in the Pachyderm tracking room, looking at one another, reacting in real time to what is being played and capturing the kind of musical magic that eludes recording artists who build their records part by part. The band’s performances throughout the record are top-notch, and there’s very little overdubbing.

When asked about the authenticity of The High Hawks’ new album, Herman assures with a laugh, “AI had no part in the making of this record.”

Pre-order CD/vinyl editions of the album via the LoHi store — all physical pre-orders (CD/vinyl) will be automatically entered for a chance to win win an Epiphone acoustic guitar autographed by the band.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Diamond Sky

2. Somewhere South

3. Temperature Is Rising

4. Fox River Blues

5. Mother Nature’s Show

6. Top Shelf, Rock Bottom

7. Radio Loud

8. Somewhere In Themiddle

9. Same Old Stories

10. This Is What Love Feels Like

11. Backwater Voodoo

12. Shine Your Blues

Tue, 12/12/2023 - 10:35 am

Indigo Girls and Amos Lee are teaming up for a string of major North American amphitheater dates in September 2024; tickets go on sale this week. The tour kicks off September 15 at the world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO and moves west from there with notable stops at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater, the Santa Barbara Bowl, and Oregon’s Edgefield Amphitheater. The artists will rotate who performs the closing set each night depending on the market. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, December 15 at 10 am local time—artist pre-sales begin Wednesday, December 13 at 10 am local time. Local and venue pre-sales will run December 14 at 10am. See below for the complete schedule (more dates TBA).

The September amphitheater dates are a natural continuation of the momentum both Amos Lee and Indigo Girls are carrying into the new year.

Released this November, Amos Lee’s new album, Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams, pays deep homage to his “songwriting hero.” The success of 2022’s Dreamland brought Lee to national television audiences on Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Rachael Ray and The Late Late Show with James Corden and spawned a long, successful year of touring. Recording Honeysuckle Switches was both a grounding and healing experience. The lead single “Greenville,” is Lee’s take on the classic Williams/Emmylou Harris collaboration from her 1998 masterpiece Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Listen here.

Indigo Girls began 2023 with a performance on NPR Tiny Desk followed by a direct flight to the Sundance Film Festival where their career-spanning documentary, It’s Only Life After All, premiered in the coveted opening night slot to rave reviews and a standing ovation. The film has screened at major festivals across the globe, including Tribeca Festival, SXSW, and Toronto’s Hot Docs. Indigo Girls’ music takes center stage in another upcoming film, the jukebox musical romance Glitter & Doom. Directed by Tom Gustafson (Were the World Mine, Frameline32), Glitter & Doom boasts a star-studded queer supporting cast featuring Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, Kate Pierson of The B-52s, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Peppermint, and even a cameo from the Indigo Girls themselves. Both Glitter & Doom and It’s Only Life After All will be released to general audiences in 2024. The prominent featuring of Indigo Girls’ signature hit “Closer to Fine” in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film Barbie prompted a surge of renewed interest and press around Indigo Girls’ music including interviews by NPR's All Things Considered, the New York Times, Variety, and more. The attention brought the folk icons' music to millions of new listeners, triggering percentage leaps in the band’s streaming numbers and new fans to their first Indigo Girls concert ever.

The pairing of Amos Lee and Indigo Girls offers music lovers an exceptional opportunity to spend a night immersed in world-class singing and songwriting.

Amos Lee + Indigo Girls Tour Dates

September 15 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO (Amos Lee to close)

September 19 - The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park – San Diego, CA (Amos Lee to close)

September 21 - Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA (Indigo Girls to close)

September 23 - The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA (Amos Lee to close)

September 24 - The Mountain Winery – Saratoga, CA (Amos Lee to close), on sale TBC

September 25 - The Masonic – San Francisco, CA (Indigo Girls to close)

September 27 - Edgefield Amphitheater – Troutdale, OR (Amos Lee to close)

Wed, 01/10/2024 - 1:00 pm

The High Hawks, an all-star cast of musical friends from Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Hard Working Americans, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, have premiered a new video for their single "Somewhere South" today at Live For Live Music; it's a timely track that finds the band fantasizing about escaping the snow and bitter cold for sun and fun on a tropical beach. The single, the second from their sophomore release Mother Nature's Show, out February 16 on LoHi Records, will be available this Friday, January 12 on all streaming services HERE. In addition, the High Hawks are adding to their Midwest and Greensky Bluegrass dates with a West Coast tour this May; tickets will go on sale this Friday, January 12 HERE.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "SOMEWHERE SOUTH" HERE

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD THE SINGLE HERE/ PRE-ORDER HERE

The High Hawks features Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra), and Will Trask (Great American Taxi), all bring decades of recording and touring history to the project which they recorded during a snowy January at Minnesota's famed Pachyderm Studios. The song sequence — a musical travelogue — takes the listener down Highway 61, the oft-called “Blues Highway” immortalized by Bob Dylan, that follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, passing through St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi delta.

The video for "Somewhere South" was shot by Tim Carbone and finds Herman shoveling snow up in Girdwood, AK (shot when the band was playing the Alyeska Resort late last year) as he dreams of a tropical getaway, cutting to footage of Herman and Carbone enjoying beach life down in Puerto Morales, Mexico where they played the Strings & Sol Festival.

The song's co-writer, Herman, shares: "Somewhere South’ was captured by Aaron Ratiere, Ben Chapman, and I sitting on a Nashville porch on a fine summer day. Thinking about beaches and escaping that high country cold when you need to. Who can argue with that?!?”

The rest of of the songs on Mother Nature's show represent a variety of musical stylings — from Southern, country and psychedelic rock to honky-tonk and even a ballad and a waltz — with The High Hawks’ sonic cohesiveness claiming each style as their own.

Pre-order CD/vinyl editions of the album via the LoHi store — all physical pre-orders (CD/vinyl) will be automatically entered for a chance to win win an Epiphone acoustic guitar autographed by the band: https://www.lohirecords.com/shop/the-high-hawks-mother-natures-show

TOUR DATES:

* shows with Greensky Bluegrass

THU, Feb. 15 – Frisco, CO – 10 Mile Music Hall w/ Chris Thompson & Friends

FRI, Feb. 16 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox

SAT, Feb. 17 – Boulder, CO – eTown Music Hall

SUN, Feb. 18 – Ft. Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre w/ Wood Belly

THU, Feb. 29 – West Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom *

FRI, Mar. 1 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre *

SAT, Mar. 2 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed *

SUN, Mar. 3 — Madison, WI – The Sylvee *

TUE, May 7 — Portland, OR — Polaris Hall

WED, May 8 — Bend, OR — Domino Room

THU, May 9 — TBA

FRI, May 10 — Novato, CA — HopMonk

SAT, May 11 — Auburn, CA — Odd Fellow’s Lodge

SUN, May 12— Santa Cruz, CA — Moe’s Alley

Tue, 01/16/2024 - 12:12 pm

Grammy-winning folk icons Indigo Girls will join Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter/rocker Melissa Etheridge for a run of co-billed shows this August. The tour kicks off at Ravinia at Highland Park, IL and will include select Midwest and Northeast dates (see below), followed by their co-billed West Coast tour with Amos Lee. Pre-sale tickets for Indigo Girls' fans go on sale this Wednesday, January 17 @ 10 a.m. local with tickets on sale to the public on Friday, January 19 at 10 a.m. local; all tickets are available at indigogirls.com

2024 will see the official release of the Indigo Girls' acclaimed film documentary, It’s Only Life After All. The film has screened at major festivals across the globe, including Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Festival, SXSW, and Toronto’s Hot Docs. Details to be announced soon.

The Indigo Girls’ music takes center stage in another upcoming film, the jukebox musical romance Glitter & Doom. Directed by Tom Gustafson (Were the World Mine, Frameline32), Glitter & Doom boasts a star-studded queer supporting cast featuring Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, Kate Pierson of The B-52s, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Peppermint, and even a cameo from the Indigo Girls themselves. The film was recently purchased by Music Box Films who have announced a March 8, 2024, theatrical release in NYC and L.A. followed by a nationwide theatrical rollout and a VOD release.

Known for her confessional lyrics and raspy, smoky vocals, Melissa Etheridge has remained one of America’s favorite female singer-songwriters for more than two decades. On September 17, 2021, Melissa released her most recent studio project, titled One Way Out. Etheridge also released her memoir Talking to My Angels (HarperCollins), which debuted at #9 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

The pairing of Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls offers music lovers an exceptional opportunity to spend a night immersed in world-class singing and songwriting.

Indigo Girls + Melissa Etheridge Co-billed Tour Dates *

8/11/2024 Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival *Tickets for select date will be available beginning Wednesday, April 24th.

8/13/2024 St. Louis, MO - Saint Louis Music Park

8/14/2024 Indianapolis, IN - Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park

8/16/2024 Chautauqua, NY - The Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater

8/17/2024 Boston, MA Leader Bank Pavilion

8/18/2024 Sidney, ME - Snow Pond Center for the Arts - The Bowl in the Pines

8/21/2024 Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

8/22/2024 Philadelphia, PA - TD Pavilion at The Mann

8/25/2024 Washington, DC - Wolf Trap *Tickets for select date will be available beginning Friday, February 16th.

Amos Lee + Indigo Girls Tour Dates

9/15/24 Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO (Amos Lee to close)

9/19/24 The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park – San Diego, CA (Amos Lee to close)

9/21/24 Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA (Indigo Girls to close)

9/23/24 The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA (Amos Lee to close)

9/24/24 The Mountain Winery – Saratoga, CA (Amos Lee to close), on sale TBC

Wed, 01/31/2024 - 10:31 am

The High Hawks have premiered a new lyric video for their timely song "Temperature Is Rising." Americana Highways premiered the video, writing that the song's "swaggery roots rock launches this probe into the confusion and conflict that we experience with the uncontrolled experiment we all live within – social media." As we dive head first into another presidential election year, the song and video hit home ahead of the anticipated division tearing at the social fabric of this country. The song appears on their upcoming sophomore album, Mother Nature's Show, out February 16, 2024 on LoHi Records.

The song's co-writer, Tim Carbone, shares: "Social media has turned into a poison and it’s played a large part in the disconnect and dissonance in our society. 'Temperature Is Rising' tries to chronicle and address that."

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "TEMPERATURE IS RISING" HERE

PRE-SAVE THE ALBUM HERE

The High Hawks features Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra), and Will Trask (Great American Taxi), all bring decades of recording and touring history to the project which they recorded during a snowy January at Minnesota's famed Pachyderm Studios. The song sequence — a musical travelogue — takes the listener down Highway 61, the oft-called “Blues Highway” immortalized by Bob Dylan, that follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, passing through St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi delta.

The rest of of the songs on Mother Nature's show represent a variety of musical stylings — from Southern, country and psychedelic rock to honky-tonk and even a ballad and a waltz — with The High Hawks’ sonic cohesiveness claiming each style as their own.

Pre-order CD/vinyl editions of the album via the LoHi store — all physical pre-orders (CD/vinyl) will be automatically entered for a chance to win win an Epiphone acoustic guitar autographed by the band: https://www.lohirecords.com/shop/the-high-hawks-mother-natures-show/

TOUR DATES:

THU, Feb. 15 – Frisco, CO – 10 Mile Music Hall +

FRI, Feb. 16 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox

SAT, Feb. 17 – Boulder, CO – eTown Music Hall

SUN, Feb. 18 – Ft. Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre^

THU, Feb. 29 – West Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom *

FRI, Mar. 1 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre *

SAT, Mar. 2 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed *

SUN, Mar. 3 — Madison, WI – The Sylvee *

TUE, May 7 — Portland, OR — Polaris Hall

WED, May 8 — Bend, OR — Domino Room

THU, May 9 — TBA

FRI, May 10 — Novato, CA — HopMonk%

SAT, May 11 — Auburn, CA — Odd Fellows Lodge@

SUN, May 12 — Santa Cruz, CA — Moe’s Alley

THUR, June 27 - Blue Ox Music Festival - Eau Claire, WI

+ - w/ Chris Thompson and Friends

^ - w/ Wood Belly

* - supporting Greensky Bluegrass

% - w/ Jason Beard and the Whiskey Family Band

@ - w/ Broken Compass Bluegrass 

Fri, 02/16/2024 - 2:32 pm

The High Hawks, an all-star cast of musical friends, release their acclaimed sophomore album, Mother Nature's Show, today on LoHi Records. The six-piece features Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra), and Will Trask (Great American Taxi), who all bring decades of recording and touring history to the project. Their single, "Somewhere South," is currently in the Americana Radio single chart's Top 20; you can watch the band's snowbird video HERE.

Mother Nature's Show was recorded during a snowy January at Minnesota's famed Pachyderm Studios. The song sequence — a musical travelogue — takes the listener down Highway 61, the oft-called “Blues Highway” immortalized by Bob Dylan, that follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, passing through St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi delta. The songs on Mother Nature's show represent a variety of musical stylings — from Southern, country and psychedelic rock to honky-tonk and even a ballad and a waltz — with The High Hawks’ sonic cohesiveness claiming each style as their own.

Stream/purchase the album HERE

Order CD/vinyl editions of the album via the LoHi store HERE

TOUR DATES:

* shows with Greensky Bluegrass

FRI, Feb. 16 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox

SAT, Feb. 17 – Boulder, CO – eTown Music Hall

SUN, Feb. 18 – Ft. Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre w/ Wood Belly

THU, Feb. 29 – West Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom *

FRI, Mar. 1 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre *

SAT, Mar. 2 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed *

SUN, Mar. 3 — Madison, WI – The Sylvee *

WED., Apr. 3 — Peoria, IL — Kenny’s Westside

THU, Apr. 4 — Iowa City, IA — Wildwood Saloon

FRI, Apr. 5 — Wausau, WI — Whitewater Music Hall

TUE, May 7 — Portland, OR — Polaris Hall

WED, May 8 — Bend, OR — Domino Room

THU, May 9 — TBA

FRI, May 10 — Novato, CA — HopMonk

SAT, May 11 — Auburn, CA — Odd Fellow’s Lodge

SUN, May 12— Santa Cruz, CA — Moe’s Alley

Wed, 02/21/2024 - 9:45 am

Folk blues legend Chris Smither is back with a new single, "Down In Thibodaux," out today on all streaming services HERE. It's the first track from his 20th album, All About The Bones, out May 3 on Signature Sounds. Recorded at Sonelab Studios in Easthampton MA by Justin Pizzoferrato (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., the Hold Steady) All About the Bones has a feel that is somehow baroque and austere at once. Smither premiered a new performance video for "Down In Thibodaux" with American Blues Scene, who write, "With his signature beat-driven finger-picking and playful vocal wisdom, Smither and company let the good times roll on this bayou blues, this Cajun dance party exalting his New Orleans beginnings." The video features longtime producer David Goodrich on diddley bow and Austin artist BettySoo on vocals.

Smither shares, "When I was a kid my next door neighbor was a man named Boudreaux from Thibodaux, LA. I made up the rest of the story as a chance to use a few French terms and throw out some cultural references from Cajun country.

"The rhythm has a sort of Cajun feel to it, and Goody playing the diddley bow adds a perfect homemade touch to what is really just a home-made song in the nicest sense. Zak (Trojano) would fit in with any band at a fais do-do, and BettySoo can sing with any one, while showing my favorite smile."

STREAM/PURCHASE "DOWN IN THIBODAUX" HERE

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

PRE-SAVE PRE-ORDER ALL ABOUT THE BONES HERE

The sound and imagery All About the Bones is as elemental as the inky black shadows cast by a shockingly bright moon. The listener is welcomed into some gothic mansion on an imaginary New Orleans street, and there in the lamplit parlor confronts the band, a minimalist skeleton crew: Smither’s inimitable propulsive guitar and rumbling baritone are joined seamlessly to producer Goodrich’s carpetbag of instruments, Zak Trojano’s rock-steady, primal drumming, BettySoo’s diaphanous harmony vocals, and the flat, mournful flood of Jazz legend Chris Cheek’s saxophone. Smither and David Goodrich have been refining their musical conversation for decades, both in the studio and onstage, and by now, their bond verges on the telepathic. Goodrich plays on nearly every track. His sound is by now so translucent that it seems to function as a swath of silence, allowing the songs to burn like ciphers in the crackling air.

And oh, the songs on All About the Bones. Smither, after six decades of sharpening his knife as a songwriter, can at this point open damn near anything with a flick of his wrist. God and the Devil are opened here. Mortality is too. Politics, consciousness, renewal, family, vulnerability, surrender… Smither has sat with these topics like so many Zen koans, for so long, that every line is a pearl. The title track, “All About the Bones,” kicks the record off with “Consider your high station/ think about your fame. All of your creation depended on your frame.” Irony, wit, the double meaning of “depended” — each verse is a master class in songwriting.

Smither turns 80 this year, but his tour schedule, including dates at the Iridium in New York City, Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock and two nights at McCabe's in Los Angeles, shows he has no intention of slowing down. (Scroll down for complete dates.)

TRACK LISTING:

1) All About the Bones

2) Digging the Hole

3) Still Believe in You

4) If Not for the Devil

5) Calm Before the Storm

6) Down in Thibodaux

7) In the Bardo

8) Close the Deal

9) Completion

10) Time to Move On

TOUR DATES:

# with special guest Peter Mulvey

% with special guest BettySoo

SA MAR 23 Eastham, MA - First Encounter Coffeehouse

SA MAR 30 Charleston, WV - Clay Center’s Walker Theater/Woody Hawley Concerts

FR APR 12 Elkton, MD - Elkton Mic Hall

SA APR 13 Blairstown, NJ - Roy’s Hall

SU APR 14 Tuckerton, NJ - Lizzie Rose

TH APR 18 Concord, NH - Capitol Center for the Arts (Cloudbelly opens)

FR APR 19 Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center

SA APR 20 Brunswick, ME - Concerts for a Cae

WE MAY 01 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Mic Hall

TH MAY 02 Nashville, TN - Bluebird Cafe

SA MAY 04 Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic

FR MAY 17 Fall River, MA - Narrows Ctr for Arts #

SA MAY 18 Boston, MA - City Winery Boston #

SU MAY 19 Portsmouth, NH - 3S Artspace #

SA MAY 25 Pomeroy, OH Fur Peace Ranch #

WE MAY 29 Washington, DC - The Hamilton #

TH MAY 30 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live #

FR MAY 31 Woodstock, NY - Levon Helm Studios #

SA JUN 01 Northampton, MA - Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity #

TH JUN 06 Annapolis, MD - Ram’s Head On Stage #

FR JUN 07 New York City, NY - Iridium #

TH JUN 20 Madison, WI - The Bur Oak %

FR-SA, JUN 22 - 23 Effingham, IL - Moccasin Creek Festival

FR JUN 21 Evanston, IL - SPACE %

TH JUL 11 Berkeley CA - Freight and Salvage

FR JUL 12 Santa Monica , CA - McCabe’s

SA JUL 13 Santa Monica, CA - McCabe’s

WE JUL 17 Eugene, OR - Shedd Institute

TH JUL 18 Portland, OR - Alberta Rose Theatre

TUE JUL 23 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern

Wed, 03/06/2024 - 2:25 pm

Americana supergroup The High Hawks, who just wrapped up a run of tour dates with Greensky Bluegrass, continue to tour for their acclaimed sophomore album, Mother Nature's Show. The album continues to rise on the Americana Radio album chart, where it's currently at #11, while the album is now at #1 on the Jamband radio chart. Along with a sold-out Chicago show at the Salt Shed, the two bands ended their run in Madison, WI with a special treat for fans, all joining onstage to perform two John Hartford songs, “Steam Powered Aereoplane” and “Up On The Hill Where They Do the Boogie.”

This is the second release for the group and has been acclaimed by the press and fans. Mother Nature's Show was recorded during a snowy January at Minnesota's famed Pachyderm Studios and it's no wonder adjectives like "cosy" and "warm" keep popping up in the reviews. The song sequence — a musical travelogue — takes the listener down Highway 61, the oft-called “Blues Highway” immortalized by Bob Dylan, that follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, passing through St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi delta.

The songs on Mother Nature's Show represent a variety of musical stylings — from Southern, country and psychedelic rock to honky-tonk and even a ballad and a waltz — with The High Hawks’ sonic cohesiveness claiming each style as their own.

Stream/purchase the album HERE

Order CD/vinyl editions of the album via the LoHi store HERE

TOUR DATES:

Thur. Feb. 29 - Val Air Ballroom - West Des Moines, IA*

Fri. Mar. 1 - Palace Theatre - St. Paul, MN*

Sat. Mar. 2 - The Salt Shed - Chicago, IL*

Sun. Mar. 3 - The Sylvee - Madison, WI*

Wed. Apr. 3 - Kenny's Westside - Peoria, IL

Thur. Apr. 4 - Wildwood Saloon - Iowa City, IA

Fri. Apr. 5 - Whitewater Music Hall - Wausau, WI

Tue. May 7 - Polaris Music Hall - Portland, OR

Wed. May 8 - The Domino Room - Bend, OR Thu. May 9 - Ashland, OR - The Armory

Fri. May 10 - HopMonk - Novato, CA&

Sat. May 11 - OddFellows Lodge - Auburn, CA+

Sun May 12 - Moe's Alley - Santa Cruz, CA

* - supporting Greensky Bluegrass

& - with Jason Beard & The Whiskey Family Band

+ - with Broken Compass Bluegrass

Tue, 03/12/2024 - 2:29 pm

While 2023 saw Grammy-winning duo Indigo Girls' iconic song "Closer to Fine" used prominently in Greta Gerwig's hit film Barbie, 2024 finds the Indigo Girls and their music in two films as well as playing their biggest tour venues in 25 years on co-billed tours with Amos Lee and Melissa Etheridge. The folk icons were guests this morning on both Morning Joe and The Today Show performing their new single from the film Glitter & Doom, "What We Wanna Be."

Today sees the release of the full trailer for Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All, the acclaimed documentary feature by Alexandria Bombach. The film has screened at major festivals across the globe in 2023, including Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Festival, SXSW, and Toronto’s Hot Docs and will finally see its theatrical release through distributor O-Scope Labs. The theatrical release will kick off on March 29 with a special screening in the Indigo Girls' hometown of Atlanta at Atlanta’s Tara Theater, followed by a Q &A and live performance. For everyone not in Atlanta, the film plays nationwide for special one-night-only screenings on April 10th! Scroll down for theaters and tour markets. The film will also be available through VOD on May 7, followed by a a wide release on streaming services later this year.

Find tickets & learn more at indigogirls.oscilloscope.net/#theaters

The Indigo Girls’ music takes center stage in another new film, the jukebox musical romance Glitter & Doom, out now. Directed by Tom Gustafson (Were the World Mine, Frameline32), Glitter & Doom boasts a star-studded queer supporting cast featuring Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, Kate Pierson of The B-52s, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Peppermint, and even a cameo from the Indigo Girls themselves. The film Music Box Films released the film in NYC and L.A. March 8 and the Girls performed their new single from the film, "What We Wanna Be," this morning on the Today Show. Look for a nationwide theatrical rollout and a VOD release. The film soundtrack is now available through the PS Classics record label streaming and digitally HERE.

More on Glitter & Doom at https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/glitter-doom/

Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All theatrical screenings:

3/29 AFS Tara - Atlanta, GA

4/10 Vidiots - Los Angeles, CA

4/10 IFC Center - New York, NY

4/10 Music Hall - Portsmouth, NH

4/10 Hi-Pointe - St. Louis, MO

4/10 Ft. Wayne Cinema Center - Ft. Wayne, IN

4/10 Rialto Elmwood - Berkeley, CA

4/10 Rialto Sebastopol - Sebastopol, CA

4/10 Rafael Film Center - San Rafael, CA

4/10 The Roxie - San Francisco, CA

4/10 Cinema Arts Center - Huntington, NY

4/10 The Nightlight - Akron, OH

4/10 Lake Worth Playhouse - Lake Worth, FL

4/10 Rio Theatre - Vancouver, BC

4/10 SIFF Egyptian - Seattle, WA

4/10 Aperture - Winston-Salem, NC

4/10 Gateway Film Center - Columbus, OH

4/10 Frida Cinema - Irvine, CA

4/10 Darkside Cinema - Corvallis, OR

4/10 Grail Moviehouse - Asheville, NC

4/10 SPACE Gallery - Portland, ME

4/10 Enzian - Orlando, FL

4/10 Sun-Ray Cinema - Jacksonville, FL

4/10 Charlestowne 18 - St. Charles, IL

4/10 Cinema 21 - Portland, OR

4/10 Harris Theater - Pittsburgh, PA

4/10 Downtown West Cinema 8 - Knoxville, TN

4/10 Medlock Crossing 18 & RPX - Johns Creek, GA

4/10 Regal Mall of Georgia IMAX - Buford, GA

4/10 McDonough 16 - McDonough, GA

4/10 Rancho Mirage 16 & IMAX - Rancho Mirage, CA

4/10 City North 14 IMAX & RPX - Chicago, IL

4/10 Crocker Park 16 & IMAX - Westlake

4/10 Stonefield 14 & IMAX - Charlottesville, VA

4/10 Kiln Creek 20 - Newport News, VA

4/10 Short Pump 14 & IMAX - Richmond, VA

4/10 REG King of Prussia 4DX & IMAX - King Of Prussia, PA

4/10 Warrington 22 & IMAX - Warrington, PA

4/10 Red Rock 16 & IMAX - Las Vegas, NV

4/10 Hamilton Place 8 - Chattanooga, TN

4/10 Hacienda 20 IMAX & RPX - Dublin, CA

4/10 Farmingdale 10 & IMAX - Farmingdale, MA

4/10 Long Beach 26 & IMAX - Long Beach, CA

4/10 Mira Mesa 18 & IMAX & RPX - San Diego, CA

4/11 Michigan Theatre - Ann Arbor, MI

4/11 Screenland Armour - Kansas City, MO

4/11 Moxie - Springfield, MO

4/12 Broadway Metro - Eugene, OR

4/12 Boedecker Theater - Boulder, CO

4/12 Austin Film Society - Austin, TX

4/14 The Little - Rochester, NY

4/15 Belcourt - Nashville, TN

4/16 Grand Cinema - Tacoma, WA

4/16 Buskirk-Chumley Theater - Bloomington, IN

5/2 ACME Screening Room - Lambertville, NJ

6/7 6/9 Hot Docs Festival - Toronto, ON

Indigo Girls On Tour

3/21 Athens OH - Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium - symphony show

3/23 Providence RI, Performing Arts Center - symphony show

3/26 Minneapolis MN, Orchestra Hall - symphony show

3/28 New York, NY David Geffen Hall - Music & conversation with NPR's Ann Powers

4/11 Rocky Mount VA, Harvester Performance Center

4/12 Boone, NC, Schaefer Center for Performing Arts

4/14 Paducah, KY, The Carson Center

4/16 La Vista, NE, The Astro

4/17 Iowa City, IA, Englert Civic Theatre

4/18 Iowa City, IA, Englert Civic Theatre

4/20 Milwaukee WI, Bradley Symphony Center - Symphony show

4/26 Davidson NC, Davidson College Stadium

4/28 Atlanta GA, Fox Theatre benefit w/Charlie Starr & Benji Shanks of Blackberry Smoke, Kevn Kinney hosting

4/29 Decatur AL, Princes Theatre

5/1 Tallahassee FL, Ruby Diamond Concert Hall

5/3 Clearwater FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall

5/4 Orlando FL, The Plaza Live

5/5 Coral Springs FL, Center for the Arts

5/7 Fort Myers FL, Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall

5/11 Tysons VA, Capital One Center - symphony show

Indigo Girls + Melissa Etheridge Co-Headline Tour

8/11 Highland Park IL - Ravinia

8/13 St. Louis MO, St. Louis Music Park

8/14 Indianapolis IN - Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park

8/16 Chautauqua NY - Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater

8/17 Boston MA - Leader Bank Pavilion

8/18 Sidney ME - Snow Pond Center for Arts

8/20 Brooklyn NY - Kings Theatre

8/21 Bethel NY - Bethel Woods Center for Arts

8/22 Philadelphia PA - TD Pavilion at the Mann

8/24 Vienna VA - Wolf Trap

8/25 Vienna VA - Wolf Trap

8/27 Selbyville DE - Freeman Arts Pavilion

8/30 Lenox MA - Tanglewood w/Judy Collins and Rufus Wainwright

Indigo Girls + Amos Lee Co-Headline Tour

9/14 Dillon CO, Dillon Ampitheatre

9/15 Morrison CO, Red Rocks Ampitheatre

9/19 San Diego, CA - The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

9/21 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl

9/23 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre

9/24 Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery

9/25 San Francisco, CA - The Masonic

9/27 Troutdale, OR - McMenamins Edgefield

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 8:55 am

Wanderer is the long-awaited new solo album from Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth Moody, founding and current member of Billboard-charting and JUNO-award winning folk trio, The Wailin’ Jennys. Open-tuned guitars (inspired by Moody’s heroes, Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling), provide the backdrop for soaring pedal steel and the otherworldly vocals and the intricate harmonies we've come to expect from Moody. Recorded at Sound Emporium in Nashville, the self-penned 10-song album was co-produced by Moody and Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Lake Street Dive) and mixed by Tucker Martine (Madison Cunningham, First Aid Kit) and will be released May 17 on Moody's Blue Muse Records via True North Records.

Today, Moody shares the first single from the album, "Seventeen," along with an extended interview at PopMatters.

"It’s about that tender time, at the edge of adulthood, when there are so many feelings and so few tools to cope with them,” Moody shares. "I was thinking about that time of my life, having a lot of memories and dreams, and remembering that thrill and that pain. Looking for clues, in a way. It’s exhilarating. It’s confusing. It can be so devastating. But it’s something we all have to go through in our own way."

STREAM/PURCHASE "SEVENTEEN" HERE

PRE-ORDER WANDERER HERE; PRE-SAVE HERE

It's been over a decade since her last solo release, These Wlilder Things, a stunningly beautiful album featuring Mark Knopfler, who subsequently brought Moody to support him on his European tours. She'd always intended to record a follow-up but shifted her focus in 2016, when she and her partner, multi-instrumentalist Sam Howard (Molly Tuttle, Joy Williams) welcomed their son, Woodson. After the release and subsequent tours supporting The Wailin' Jennys' 2017 album, Fifteen, Moody was ready to try again; then the pandemic hit. "The way these things happen is funny, though," she shares with PopMatters. "Somehow, it feels right to have waited until now. For one thing, a handful of the songs that ended up on the record weren’t written until more recently.”

Moody brought together her favorite musicians for the recordings, enhanced by the rich echo-chamber reverb of the legendary Nashville studio. Musicians including Howard, who plays upright bass and provides backing vocals, her older brother Richard Moody (“He’s played on every record I’ve ever made”), Jennys’ touring member Anthony da Costa, (guitars), Jason Burger (drums), Kai Welch (Keyboards); Russ Paul (pedal steel), Adrian Dolan (string arrangements) and duet partner Joey Landreth on “The Spell of the Lilac Bloom.” The result is a transcendent collection of ten deeply powerful and personal songs that reflect Moody’s inner world and wanderings. Wanderer explores the emotional journey of motherhood, the joy and pain of life, the mysterious and complicated dance of love, and ultimately the longing we all feel for home, wherever that might be.

From the first note, the listener is immersed in a lush and intimate world, welcomed by sounds at once classic, mysterious, and enchanting. From the restless, nostalgic energy of "Seventeen," a true life story of unrequited love and an homage to Moody’s hometown of Winnipeg, to the jaw-droppingly beautiful duet with fellow Canadian roots music standout Joey Landreth on "The Spell of the Lilac Bloom," the album takes the listener on a mesmerizing journey through time and space. The climactic title track, "Wanderer," embodies the true spirit of love and belonging that we all seek in its repeated final chorus, “love is calling you home.”

TRACK LISTING:

1. Already Free

2.Twilight

3.The Spell Of The Lilac Bloom (featuring Joey Landreth)

4.Seventeen

5.Michigan

6.The Way Lovers Move

7.Coyotes

8.North Calling

9.Wanderer

10.Comin’ Round The Bend

RUTH MOODY BAND TOUR:

May 21 Annapolis, MD – Ram’s Head

May 22 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live

May 23 Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere

May 25 New York, NY – Joe’s Pub

May 26 State College, PA – State Theatre

May 28 Evanston, IL – SPACE

May 29 Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium

May 30 Cincinnati, OH – Ludlow Garage

Jul 11-14 Winnipeg, MB - Winnipeg Folk Festival

*More dates to be announced soon

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 11:05 am

Revered guitarist/songwriter Chris Smither has released the second single, "All About The Bones," today on all streaming outlets; it's the title track of upcoming album out May 3 on Signature Sounds Records. The song is classic Smither, highlighting his rumbling baritone, foot stomps, wry lyrics and Delta-blues style picking. PopMatters writes, "'All About The Bones' is peak Chris Smither, a song that seems at once both a revelation and not unlike the return of a long-awaited friend." The folk blues icon has also shared a performance video for the song where he's backed by longtime colleague David “Goody” Goodrich (electric guitar, electric diddley bow, percussion), Zak Trojano (drums, percussion), Chris Cheekus (baritone sax) and Betty Soo (vocals).

“This is about as solid as it gets, and rest assured, even this won’t last forever," Smither says of the song. "It’s a theme that surfaces many times in the album, the search for the essence, the inner framework that holds everything together, which we hope will be lasting, and like everything, is transitory. S’OK, I can live with it.”

STREAM/PURCHASE THE SINGLE HERE WATCH THE PERFORMANCE VIDEO HERE PRE-SAVE PRE-ORDER ALL ABOUT THE BONES HERE

The sound and imagery on All About The Bones is as elemental as the inky black shadows cast by a shockingly bright moon. The listener is welcomed into some gothic mansion on an imaginary New Orleans street, and there in the lamplit parlor confronts the band, a minimalist skeleton crew: Smither’s inimitable propulsive guitar and rumbling baritone are joined seamlessly to producer Goodrich’s carpetbag of instruments, Zak Trojano’s rock-steady, primal drumming, Betty Soo’s diaphanous harmony vocals, and the flat, mournful flood of Jazz legend Chris Cheek’s saxophone. Smither and David Goodrich have been refining their musical conversation for decades, both in the studio and onstage, and by now, their bond verges on the telepathic.

After six decades of sharpening his knife as a songwriter, Smither can damn near conjure anything with a flick of his wrist. God and the Devil are opened here. Mortality is too. Politics, consciousness, renewal, family, vulnerability, surrender… Smither has sat with these topics like so many Zen koans, for so long, that every line is a pearl.

Smither turns 80 this year, but his tour schedule, including dates at the Iridium in New York City, Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock and two nights at McCabe's in Los Angeles, shows he has no intention of slowing down. (Scroll down for complete dates.)

TOUR DATES:

# with special guest Peter Mulvey

% with special guest Betty Soo

SA MAR 23 Eastham, MA - First Encounter Coffeehouse

SA MAR 30 Charleston, WV - Clay Center’s Walker Theater/Woody Hawley Concerts

FR APR 12 Elkton, MD - Elkton Music Hall

SA APR 13 Blairstown, NJ - Roy’s Hall

SU APR 14 Tuckerton, NJ - Lizzie Rose

TH APR 18 Concord, NH - Capitol Center for the Arts (Cloudbelly opens)

FR APR 19 Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center

SA APR 20 Brunswick, ME - Concerts for a Cause

WE MAY 01 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Music Hall

TH MAY 02 Nashville, TN - Bluebird Cafe

SA MAY 04 Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic

FR MAY 17 Fall River, MA - Narrows Center for Arts #

SA MAY 18 Boston, MA - City Winery Boston #

SU MAY 19 Portsmouth, NH - 3S Artspace #

SA MAY 25 Pomeroy, OH - Fur Peace Ranch #

WE MAY 29 Washington, DC - The Hamilton #

TH MAY 30 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live #

FR MAY 31 Woodstock, NY - Levon Helm Studios #

SA JUN 01 Northampton, MA - Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity #

TH JUN 06 Annapolis, MD - Ram’s Head On Stage #

FR JUN 07 New York City, NY - Iridium #

TH JUN 20 Madison, WI - The Bur Oak %

FR-SA, JUN 22 - 23 Effingham, IL - Moccasin Creek Festival

FR JUN 21 Evanston, IL - SPACE %

TH JUL 11  Berkeley CA - Freight and Salvage

FR JUL 12  Santa Monica, CA - McCabe’s

SA JUL 13 Santa Monica, CA - McCabe’s

WE JUL 17 Eugene, OR - Shedd Institute

TH JUL 18 Portland, OR - Alberta Rose Theatre

TUE JUL 23 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 3:03 pm

Celebrated Nashville-based artist Lindsay Lou came out of a period of loss and change with a deeply personal album, Queen of Time, her debut for Kill Rock Stars. The album follows Lou on a path of heartbreak, discovery and resilience after going through a divorce, the pandemic lockdowns and the death of her beloved grandmother. Queen of Time was produced by Dave O'Donnell (Sheryl Crow, Heart, James Taylor) and mixed by Tucker Martine (First Aid Kit, Madison Cunningham) and features a Who's Who's of Lou's friends from the Americana and bluegrass community: Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Sierra Ferrell, Jerry Douglas, Molly Tuttle, Greensky Bluegrass, Peter Rowan, and Leftover Salmon.

Queen of Time garnered praise in Rolling Stone ("Lindsay Lou is poised to be the next bluegrass queen," Relix, PBS, The Bluegrass Situation and Under the Radar, among others. The title track explores the continued theme of duality. Lou explains."Sometimes you feel like the queen of time, and sometimes you feel like a wishing well. The truth is you're always both and all of it at once. It can feel overwhelming, but self-knowledge is the ultimate power."

The daughter of a coal miner and millwright, and the granddaughter of a teacher gone Rainbow Gathering healer, Lou honed her honest and resonant style with her bluegrass-inspired band, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, and Michigan supergroup, Sweet Water Warblers (Rachael Davis, May Erlewine), excavating elements of bluegrass, folk, Americana, and soulful pop for their emotional depths.

 Named among NPR’s “12 Best Live Performances” in 2015, Lou has long been beloved as a live performer, from Telluride Bluegrass Festival to Stagecoach, Celtic Connections to Australia’s National Folk Festival, and a “Can’t Miss Act” at AmericanaFest—not to mention acclaim from PBS, No Depression, Billboard, Holler, Paste, and The Bluegrass Situation, among other outlets. But on Queen of Time, Lou captures a new arc of haloed beauty, becoming unattainable in her own way—a vibrant, powerful woman who can share herself with the world, and yet define a mystic sense of inner self as well.

TOUR DATES

# dates with The Wood Brothers   

Sat, Mar 23                 Pelham , TN - The Caverns Sessions (PBS)

Wed, Mar 27               Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo

Thu, Mar 28                Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern

Fri, Mar 29                  Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios

Sat, Mar 30                 Bend, OR - Volcanic Theater Pub

Tue, Apr 2                   Arcata, CA - Humbrews

Thu, Apr 4                   Sacramento CA - Golfield Trading

Fri, Apr 5                     Olympic Valley, CA - Wintergrass

Sat, Apr 6                    Olympic Valley CA – Wintergrass main band set

Sun, Apr 7                   Olympic Valley, CA -  Wintergrass

Wed, Apr 10                Sebastopol, CA - Hopmonk

Thu, Apr 11                 Berkeley, CA - Freight & Salvage

Fri, Apr 12                   Felton CA - Felton Music Hall

Fri, Apr 19                   River Fall, WI – River Falls Bluegrass and Brews                     

Thu, May 2                  Richmond, VA - Browns Island #

Fri, May 3                    Newton, NJ - Newton Theater #

Sat, May 4                   Williamsport, PA - Community Arts Center #

Sun, May 5                  Hartford, CT - Infinity Hall #

Tue, May 7                  Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts #

Wed, May 8                 Keene, NH - Colonial PAC #

Thu, May 9                  Nashua, NH - Nashua Center for the Arts #

Fri, May 10                  Westerly, RI - The United Theatre #

Sat, May 11                 Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall #

Sun, Jun 16                  Charleston, WV - Mountain Stage

Sat, Jun 1                     Wellston, MI – Sweet Water Warblers @ Hoxeyville Music Fest

Thu, Jun 20                  Nashville, TN - Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman / Co-Bill with Steep Canyon Rangers

Sun, Jun 23                  Mt Solon, VA - Red Wing Roots Festival

Thu, Jun 27                  Eau Claire, WI - Blue Ox Festival

Sat, Jun 29                   Rancho del Rio, CO - YarmonyGrass

Sun, Jun 30                  Bueno Vista, CO – Lariat

Thu, Jul 18                   Snowshoe, WV – 4848 Festival

Sat, Jul 27                    Boyne City, MI - Sweet Water Warblers @ Lavender Hill Farm

Sun, Aug 11                 Atla, WI – Targhee Bluegrass Festival

Fri, Sep 13                   Las Vegas, NV – Bender Jamboree

Fri, Oct 11                   Pelham, TN - CaveFest

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 3:25 pm

A songwriter's songwriter, Iowa folk artist Greg Brown is in a category all of his own, with a body of work stretching back to 1981's The Iowa Waltz (on Minnesota's Red House Records), followed by more than 30 highly-regarded albums. While Brown has retired from music and touring, he collaborated with Minnesota's Ramshackle Press on Ring Around The Moon: A Songbook. The 136-page book is a collection of writings, drawings, and photographs that accompany the lyrics and sheet music to many of Greg’s classic songs and features a foreword by musician Seth Avett, who released an album of Brown's songs in 2022. In addition, Brown has announced four appearances in the Upper Midwest where he'll be reading from the book, telling stories and taking questions from the audience along with playing a few songs.

The son of a rural Iowa preacher, Brown's songs embody a sense of place — he still calls Iowa home, where he lives with his wife, songwriter Iris Dement. Brown was born in the Hacklebarney section of southeastern Iowa and raised by a family that made words and music a way of life. His seasoned songwriting, storytelling, and music are deeply rooted in that place, with songs like "Your Town Now,” "Canned Goods," “Two Little Feet,” and “Spring Wind.” His songs have been covered by many artists including Joan Baez, Seth Avett, Gillian Welch, Willie Nelson, Ani DiFranco and others.

Brown's deep, rumbling vocals, ability to lyrically paint a picture and mastery of so many genres of American music, from folk to early blues to country, make him a true original and hero to newer generations of musicians. No Depression described him as a "Carhartt-clad beatnik, a Midwestern mystic who’s been singing his idyllic ballads that mix pastoral heartland ideals and dark visions of the bleeding red American middle."

Ring Around The Moon: A Songbook will be released on April 30th through Ramshackle Press.

Pre-orders, including limited editions and signed copies, are available through ramshacklepress.org.

GREG BROWN:

April 26 Viroqua, WI - Driftless Books

April 27 Winona, MN - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

May 2 Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus

May 3 Iowa City, IA - Prairie Lights Bookstore.