Sat, 02/14/2009 - 1:19 pm

With one Grammy nomination and two years of solo touring under his belt for 3D, his debut release on Sugar Hill Records, inventive genre-warping fiddler Casey Driessen has recorded a fascinating new CD.

On his independently released follow-up, Oog (Red Shoe Records, May 12 release), Driessen goes beyond the "look-at-me" attitude of a predominantly instrumental record and focuses energy towards his talents as a composer and producer. Drawing solely on the past two years of musical and world travel experience, Oog ebbs and flows through dynamic sonic landscapes of color and texture extremes - aggressive to beautiful, dense and airy, intense yet relaxed. For those fans of Casey's signature chop style of funky fiddle percussion and his fierce powerful solos, have no fear; you will find what you seek. His trusty sidekick, 5-String Fiddle, speaks with a soulful and passionate maturity that respects the diverse moods of the melodies. And, although you can't hear them (or can you?), you know he's wearing red shoes.

On this journey with Driessen is a core band of feared fearless tone adventurers: Matt Chamberlain (drums, percussion, electronic mangulation, fiddlesticks), Viktor Krauss (basses), Darrell Scott (electric guitars and pedal steel guitar), and Jason Lehning (co-producer and engineer). Well respected and well recorded in their own right, Oog marks the first occasion for these five to be together for all of one rehearsal and three days in the studio. On select tracks, Fognode adds splashes of nuance with his combination of lap steel, synth, and field recordings.

Oog (the title was inspired by MC Escher) reflects Driessen's time as a live performer pulling largely from world travels as a collaborator, solo artist, and in-demand sideman. Developing his own show, both solo and as a drums/bass/fiddle power trio he calls the Colorfools, Driessen has explored some of the finest stages in the US including Merlefest, Festival Miami, and Millennium Park. As side artist and collaborator he has traveled from his home in Tennessee as far as Lhasa, Tibet, gracing venues like Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass, Tønder Festival, and more with diverse artists Béla Fleck, Tim O'Brien, Steve Earle, and Leftover Salmon. The past year has been spent in relentless touring, including a stop at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, with the critically acclaimed Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, in support of their full-length debut.

The end result is a exploratory, experimental, and progressive fiddle record, stemming from a deep passion for tradition and improvisation, embodied by a rock infused groove based interpretation of genre-bending (blending?) original compositions and three de'rrangements of others. At its core, Oog is a voyage through the mind and existence of an individual finding inspiration in all that life offers. Casey invites you to turn your cell phone off, shut down your computer, make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, and experience music.

Tue, 02/08/2011 - 10:57 pm

Sugar Hill Records is excited to announce that they will be releasing a trio of Nickel Creek titles on deluxe vinyl - exclusively for Record Store Day, Saturday April 16th.  The titles include Nickel Creek’s now Platinum certified debut, Nickel Creek, the GRAMMY award winning This Side, and their final Sugar Hill release, Why Should The Fire Die?. All titles are deluxe two-album sets featuring digitally remastered audio.  A mandolin autographed by the members of Nickel Creek will be given away online as part of a Record Store Day promotion as well.

Nickel Creek, who began their relationship with Sugar Hill Records in 2000, were named “music innovators for the New Millennium” by Time Magazine.  Their self-titled debut Nickel Creek received widespread critical acclaim, garnering multiple award nominations, and has sold over one million albums to date. The 2002 release, This Side, captured the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Folk Album.” Their third album Why Should The Fire Die? continued their folk-pop innovations, and debuted at Number One on the Independent Album chart when it was released in 2005. The band parted ways in 2007 after their Farewell (For Now) Tour.

In its fifth year, Record Store Day is an occasion for all independently owned record stores to come together in celebration of the art of music.  Limited edition vinyl and cd releases are made available exclusively for the day, and hundreds of musicians across the country perform at various events.  For more information about the Nickel Creek mandolin give-away, and events in your area, please visit: www.recordstoreday.com

Tue, 09/13/2011 - 12:40 pm

Sugar Hill Records is proud to announce the September 13th release of V, the long-awaited solo debut from Nashville’s not-so-secret weapon: Kenny Vaughan. Since first arriving in Music City in the late ‘80s from his home state of Colorado, Vaughan quickly set himself apart as a different breed of guitar-slinger—technically assured and, more importantly, armed with a deeply felt reverence for a wide range of musical traditions encompassing vintage country, classic pop, hard bop, and beyond. The ten tracks that comprise V dip toes in all of these waters, forming a handy crash course in the trademark wit, flash, and unfailing musicality that has kept Kenny Vaughan so in-demand for the past quarter-century.Starting in 2001, Vaughan has been a member of Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives, a multi-faceted outfit capable of delivering anything from rollicking bluegrass to classic honky tonk to simmering gospel soul. Aside from one track featuring Vaughan’s Nashville-based organ trio, the Fabulous Superlatives back him throughout V, which opens with the show-stopping Superlatives rave-up “Country Music Got a Hold On Me” and continues through an eclectic program that touches upon western swing (“Hot Like That”), evocative low-twanging instrumentals (“Minuit Sur La Plage,” “Mysterium”), Rockpile-inflected country-pop (“Things I Do”), and even a bit of gutbucket swamp-funk featuring the Oak Ridge Boys (“Okolona, Tennessee”), before concluding with a righteous gospel shuffle, “Don’t Leave Home Without Jesus.”Recipient of the 2006 Instrumentalist of the Year award from the Americana Music Association, Vaughan is one of the most prominent guitarists of today’s ongoing roots music renaissance. An early pupil of fellow Coloradoan (and fellow eclectic roots alchemist) Bill Frisell, Vaughan has since performed and recorded with an array acclaimed artists, including Lucinda Williams, Kim Richey, Rodney Crowell, Tim O’Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Elizabeth Cook, Greg Garing, and too many more to list. Equally comfortable on stage or in the studio, Vaughan can be relied upon for hot, twitchy country leads, bittersweet melodic jangle, and everything in between—all dispatched with the utmost taste and subtlety.And, as V so aptly demonstrates, Kenny Vaughan is no slouch as a frontman, either. His songs and singing are charmingly conversational, with no shortage of memorable hooks and clever verbal volleys. His cohorts in the Fabulous Superlatives (including bossman Marty Stuart on guitar and mandolin) offer honest, road-tightened support that is honest and heartfelt. Sterling confirmation of the potential implied by each sideman gig, session, and walk-on, V may have been a little too long in arriving…but, after all, Kenny’s a busy guy.

Thu, 09/29/2011 - 3:58 pm

Sugar Hill recording artist Sarah Jarosz began her third year at the New England Conservatory this month where she is pursuing a degree in contemporary improvisation.  Unlike most students her age, Sarah spent her summer vacation touring in promotion of her current release Follow Me Down, including two trips abroad, ten festival appearances and her first hard-ticket sale tour.  MSN Music calls her “one of the fastest-rising stars in the roots music scene” and Sarah has also graced the covers of Austin Woman and Acoustic Guitar magazines in the last six months.  In the upcoming Americana Music Awards (October 13th) Sarah is nominated in their Instrumentalist category – quite an honor considering past winners include Jerry Douglas, Buddy Miller and Sonny Landreth

Luckily for her fans, Sarah found the time to shoot her first music video before returning to NEC.  “Run Away” was filmed between her appearances at the Edmonton Folk Festival (Alberta, Canada) and an appearance on the nationally syndicated radio program eTown with The Civil Wars (airdate October 12th).  The video was shot in Joelton, (near Nashville, TN) at the Hachland Hill Vineyard and was directed by Adam Hall

Though Sarah will be focusing on school during the Fall and Winter months, you can catch her opening for the legendary Richard Thompson at Town Hall in NYC on October 15th and at her hometown Rice Festival in Fischer, TX on November 12th.  Then, it’s back to the books . . .

Click here to view "Run Away"

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 1:24 pm

GRAMMY-winner and American music icon Marty Stuart will release his second album for Sugar Hill Records entitled Nashville, Volume 1: Tear The Woodpile Down on April 24th.  The ten song collection, almost entirely written by Marty, features his touring band of musical missionaries The Fabulous Superlatives.  Nashville staples Buck Trent, Kenny Lovelace, and Robbie Turner are joined by country music royalty Hank Williams III and Lorrie Carter Bennett (The Carter Family) on harmony vocals to fill out the cast.

Marty Stuart arrived in Nashville on Labor Day weekend, 1972.  “I came to Nashville from the land of Jimmie Rodgers, looking for a place, a place to belong inside the world of country music.  It was a country boy Hollywood, the air castle of the South, a dream factory.”  40 years, a decade worth of hits and a full round of hillbilly stardom later, Stuart has hillbilly rocked himself back to the bosom of traditional country music.

“When I reconnected with traditional country music I found myself, my calling,” says Stuart. “The kind that is timeless, beautiful, beyond trend, the empowering force, the reflection of a people and a culture.  The kind of country music that the working man and scholars alike call home.  The job seemed to be to champion it, love it, protect it, care for its people, attempt to write a new chapter for it and to make sure that everybody understands that it’s alive and well in the 21st century.”  Stuart has done that with his acclaimed collection of country music memorabilia and treasures which currently tours across the country, and with his Marty Stuart Show on RFD TV which provides a platform for some of Nashville’s classic artists to perform on a nationally syndicated program.

“When I first came to Nashville . . . the most outlaw thing you could possibly do around here was to take country music and blow it up into rock & roll.  Mission accomplished!  Today, the most outlaw thing you can possibly do in Nashville, Tennessee is play country music.”  With Tear The Woodpile Down, the latest chapter in the Marty Stuart story, he’s doing just that.  To read Marty’s musical journey in his own words click here.

2012 Tour Dates
 
2012-02-17 - Duncan, OK - Ropin A Dream Gala and Concert
2012-02-18 - Miami, OK - Buffalo Run Casino
2012-03-09 - Newport, KY - Newport Syndicate
2012-03-10 - Cartersville, GA - The Grand Theatre
2012-03-16 - Alto , NM - Spencer Theatre
2012-03-28 - Durango, CO - Fort Lewis College Concert Hall
2012-03-29 - Macon , GA - Ocotillo Performing Arts Center
2012-03-30 - Prescott, AZ - Yavapai College Performance Hall
2012-03-31 - Chandler, AZ - Chandler Center For The Arts
2012-04-07 - Conroe, TX - Crighton Theater - Sounds of Texas Music
2012-04-21 - River Forest, IL - Dominican University - Performing Arts Center
2012-04-22 - Viroqua, WI - The Temple Theatre
2012-04-28 - Franklin, TN - Franklin Theatre
2012-04-29 - Wilkesboro, NC - Merlefest
2012-05-25 - Maryville, TN - The Shed
2012-05-26 - Big Stone Gap, VA - Gathering Of The Gap Festival

 

Thu, 03/01/2012 - 8:45 am

Sugar Hill Records is excited to announce the release of Singers, Volume 1: Portland, a limited edition 7-inch vinyl record from Portland, Oregon-based Black Prairie in celebration of Record Store Day – April 21st, 2012.When Black Prairie formed, part of their vision was to become a backing band for singers.  To quote dobroist Chris Funk, “As Dylan nor Neil Young have yet to make that call into the home office,”  Black Prairie decided to surge forward with their own series of EPs, backing singers from different parts of the country and different walks of musical life.  The first will focus on singers who call the city of Portland, Oregon home, kicking off with tracks from James Mercer (Shins/Broken Bells) and Sallie Ford (Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside), which will each comprise a side on the 7-inch Record Store Day release.  The full EP, set for release in the spring, will feature Langhorne Slim, The Minus 5, folk legend Michael Hurley, Caleb Klauder from The Foghorn String Band and Luzelena Mendoza from Y La Bamba.Following the Singers project, the band has plans to release a full-length LP, their second for the Sugar Hill label, in the fall of 2012. Grammy-nominated producer Tucker Martine is at the helm and the LP will feature more gorgeous vocals from Annalisa Tornfelt as well as full drums and a few surprise guests. In other news, Black Prairie was recently commissioned by the Oregon Children's Theater to write the score to a children's play called "The Storm in the Barn," based on Matt Phelan’s award-winning book by the same name. The show debuts on April 28th with two shows per day. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.octc.org/onstage/storminthebarn

Wed, 03/14/2012 - 6:19 pm

Sugar Hill Records is excited to announce that as part of  Record Store Day 2012 we will be releasing three special titles in extremely limited quantities.  We have dipped into our catalog to re-introduce two of the most time honored records on the label to the vinyl medium - Ricky Skaggs’ and Tony Rice’s Skaggs and Rice (1980) and Townes Van Zandt’s At My Window (1987). 

RICKY SKAGGS AND TONY RICE - Skaggs and Rice

((Listen to "Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow"))

First released on Sugar Hill in 1980, Skaggs and Rice is widely considered to be one of the finest recordings of acoustic traditional music ever produced. The album presents two peerless masters of the genre performing classic duets with pristine harmonies and skilled instrumentation. Several songs on the record, including "Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow" and "Where The Soul of Man Never Dies" have earned consensus status among traditional music lovers as among the finest versions ever recorded. This reissue has been beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes.

TOWNES VAN ZANDT - At My Window

((Listen to "Snowin' On Raton"))

1987's At My Window, by the late Americana songwriter Townes Van Zandt, celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. The album continued the legacy of groundbreaking songwriting from cult icon Van Zandt. Though this was Townes' only studio album released during the 1980s, his talent for breathtaking songs and flawless delivery was still apparent on this beautifully crafted album. Standout tracks include the title track "At My Window" which contains some of Townes' most reflective and soul-bearing lyrics of any song in his catalog. A reflective and more mature Van Zandt is apparent in songs like "Buckskin Stallion Blues" and the somber but hopeful final track "The Catfish Song". The song "Snowin' On Raton" has been a favorite cover song of Country and Americana acts such as Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Emmylou Harris, and Ray Wylie Hubbard

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 10:37 am

Don Williams’ legions of fans across the globe have long been hoping, but likely not expecting to hear new recordings from him again. He has been pretty determined to spend most of his time on his Tennessee farm, quietly, with his family— and for over four decades, country music’s “Gentle Giant” has been known for doing what he wants to do. So it’s both exciting and a very welcome surprise to announce the release of the brand new Don Williams album And So It Goes, on Sugar Hill Records on June 19th, his first since 2004. It is a release very much in the classic Williams mode—mellow yet rhythmic, life-affirming yet thoughtful, serenely masculine, and loaded with singularly strong, memorable songs and consummate vocals.Those are the attributes that won him over fifty top hits from the early 1970s through the early 1990s, including such standards-to-be as “Tulsa Time,” “I Believe in You,”  “It Must Be Love” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” and won him the ultimate accolade with his induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.  With the chance to reunite with honored Nashville producer Garth Fundis, with whom he’d worked for seventeen years on many of his greatest successes and encouragement from his management and the label, he decided to go back to the studio one more time, as well as out on tour to support the release.As Don puts it himself,  “I didn’t do this album because I just felt that I was going to die if I didn’t do another one, but because of all of that encouragement to do it. So here we are—and now I’m feeling good about it.”The recording emerges as a sonic whole, with Don’s long intact working band at the core of the musicians behind him (“a beautiful thing,” Don calls that), including celebrated guitarist Billy Sanford and percussionist Kenny Malone,. Such long-time Don Williams admirers as Keith Urban, Alison Krauss and Vince Gill add both key instrumentals and vocal backing.  “We weren’t looking to reinvent Don,” producer Garth Fundis notes, “just to make a good new Don Williams record.” In that they have succeeded in spades, the instant return to form pleasantly surprising Don himself: “When we started back up again,” he says, “it was like we’d never quit.”The CD proceeds from the upbeat, earworm-catchy opener “Better Than Today” through contemplative considerations of grace and calm (“Heart of Hearts”), the charms of an actual, credible woman (“She’s a Natural”), and even the possible existence of aliens (“Infinity”) and on to the closing title track about love, loss and the passing of time. The duet with Ms. Krauss, “I Just Come Here for the Music,” sounds like a country standard in the making. When word went out that Don Williams was going to record again, literally hundreds of potential songs from Nashville’s finest were offered, and ten selected from such outstanding masters of the songmaking craft as Kieran Kane, Ronnie Bowman, Al Anderson and Leslie Satcher, Don’s son Tim Williams, as well as Don himself. “The only description that I’ve ever had for songs I choose to do,” he notes, “is that they affect me emotionally and that, hopefully, they have something to say that will touch other people.” In doing both of those, listeners are about to find, And So It Goes doesn’t miss a beat.

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 12:24 pm

Kathy Mattea, the beloved Grammy-winning singer of such classics as “18 Wheels and A Dozen Roses” and “Where’ve You Been,” has signed with Sugar Hill Records. The label has plans to release Calling Me Home, what Mattea describes as a love letter to her home state of West Virginia, later this year.    “Signing at Sugar Hill is like coming home. It’s a wonderful fit for the music I am making these days, and I’m so excited to be there,” says Mattea, whose latest release Coal was a rootsy tribute to the mining traditions of Appalachia.Sugar Hill Records’ dedication to quality roots music has served the label for over 30 years, cementing its reputation as one of the most important independent record companies in the industry. In 1998 the Welk Music Group acquired Sugar Hill, placing it alongside sister label Vanguard Records. Nashville-based Sugar Hill has been home to some of the most stalwart names in bluegrass, roots, and Americana music and continues to cultivate an eclectic roots music roster.  For more information please visit sugarhillrecords.com

Tue, 04/24/2012 - 10:44 am

GRAMMY-winner and American music icon Marty Stuart will release his third album for Sugar Hill Records entitled Nashville, Volume 1: Tear The Woodpile Down on April 24th.  The ten song collection, almost entirely written by Marty, features his touring band of musical missionaries The Fabulous Superlatives.  Nashville staples Buck Trent, Kenny Lovelace, and Robbie Turner are joined by country music royalty Hank Williams III and Lorrie Carter Bennett (The Carter Family) on harmony vocals to fill out the cast. 

Marty Stuart arrived in Nashville on Labor Day weekend, 1972.  “I came to Nashville from the land of Jimmie Rodgers, looking for a place, a place to belong inside the world of country music.  It was a country boy Hollywood, the air castle of the South, a dream factory.”  40 years, a decade worth of hits and a full round of hillbilly stardom later, Stuart has hillbilly rocked himself back to the bosom of traditional country music. 

“When I reconnected with traditional country music I found myself, my calling,” says Stuart. “The kind that is timeless, beautiful, beyond trend, the empowering force, the reflection of a people and a culture.  The kind of country music that the working man and scholars alike call home.  The job seemed to be to champion it, love it, protect it, care for its people, attempt to write a new chapter for it and to make sure that everybody understands that it’s alive and well in the 21st century.”  Stuart has done that with his acclaimed collection of country music memorabilia and treasures which currently tours across the country, and with his Marty Stuart Show on RFD TV which provides a platform for some of Nashville’s classic artists to perform on a nationally syndicated program.

“When I first came to Nashville . . . the most outlaw thing you could possibly do around here was to take country music and blow it up into rock & roll.  Mission accomplished!  Today, the most outlaw thing you can possibly do in Nashville, Tennessee is play country music.”  With Tear The Woodpile Down, the latest chapter in the Marty Stuart story, he’s doing just that.  To read Marty’s musical journey in his own words click here (PDF).

Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:00 pm

In signing up for CMT’s competition show Can You Duet in 2008, Rory Feek wanted one thing: for the world to know his wife Joey, and the power of her voice.“My whole hope was: I'm going to get eliminated immediately, but they might hear her sing,” he says, now four years into a career as her Joey+Rory duo partner, and a decade into life as her proud husband.The couple far surpassed his expectations, Joey+Rory taking third place and subsequently signing with Vanguard/Sugar Hill Records. Over two studio albums -- 2008’s The Life of A Song, from which single “Cheater Cheater” is culled, and 2010’s Album Number Two -- country fans have indeed come to know Joey’s crystalline belt. They’ve also come to know Joey+Rory as a couple, rooted in an 1870s Pottsville, Tenn., farmhouse, Rory writing songs and tinkering with old cars, Joey gardening or baking bread at Marcy Jo’s Mealhouse, the local restaurant she owns with sister-in-law Marcy. But with the new His and Hers, due out via Sugar Hill on July 31, listeners will get fully acquainted with both Joey and Rory as individually arresting lead singers, Joey taking the fore on half of the album’s tracks, Rory’s warm, approachable vocal helming the others.“In all of our live shows, he’s always done half the singing and I do half,” Joey says. “So we just felt like that was the right direction to go with this album – let it really be more of what we are together, and fill it full of great songs.”Along with spotlighting Joey’s graceful arcs and Rory’s homespun charm, the songs offer a thorough sonic and lyrical encapsulation of who Joey and Rory are as country artists and fans. That much is clear from opener “Josephine,” a strummy, five-plus-minute letter from a Civil War soldier, penned in heartrending detail by Rory. It stands well outside country radio’s current tendencies, but sits firmly among the country music tenets Joey and Rory individually, though similarly, came up on: strong storytelling, rustic tones, emotion-forward singing. Those tenets permeate His and Hers, from Grammy winner Gary Paczosa’s right-in-the-room production to its affecting narratives. Joey leads a mournful, lost-loved-one ballad (“When I’m Gone”) and the poignant "His & Hers"). Rory tenderly trembles through life and love lessons (“Teaching Me How to Love You”) and captures the playfulness he consistently shares  with his wife in life and onstage with the boyish “Someday When I Grow Up.” Rory wrote or co-wrote much of His and Hers (he’s earned well-documented songwriting success, logging multiple No. 1s, including Easton Corbin’s “Little More Country Than That).  Other songs came from well-known Nashville scribes (Kent Blazy and Leslie Satcher’s “Let’s Pretend We Never Met”), talented friends (Sandy Emory Lawrence’s “When I’m Gone”) or country legends (Tom T. Hall’s “Your Man Loves You Honey”). All bear Joey’s one overriding requirement: “It has to be genuine, it has to be honest, it has to be sincere.” Fans and newcomers will get to know the songs -- and Joey+Rory -- better come July, when the duo’s new weekly variety show, The Joey+Rory Show, launches on RFD-TV. Filmed entirely at their farm and in their community, its first 13 episodes will mix live performances of His and Hers tunes, recipes from their café, behind-the-scenes looks into their life together and intimate acoustic performances from the duo and a select group of singers and songwriters that inspire them.“We don't have a TV, partly because it’s hard to find good family programs to watch any more… so rather than just set at that place and complain about it, we're hoping to create some good programming everyone can enjoy,” Rory says. “Just like the records you make, you never know if this show will reach hundreds of people, or millions—either way, the journey together is extraordinary."

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 4:47 pm

Sugar Hill Records is excited to announce the July 30th Amazon.com exclusive worldwide release of Storybook from Aussie songstress Kasey Chambers. The fifteen song release is a collection of songs that inspired Kasey to become a musician. In her words, “this album is a collection of songs and tributes to artists who have influenced me from when I was a small child up until now. I can honestly say that I would not be who I am today without the music from these incredible singer/songwriters and their inspiration.” The album is the musical accompaniment to Kasey’s autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me, which was recently published by Harper Collins in Australia.  On Storybook, Kasey works her magic on gutsy, soulful tunes hand-picked from the iconic songbooks of Gram Parsons, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and more. Kasey returns to the U.S. this summer with a brand new run of tour dates in conjunction with the worldwide release of Storybook.Kasey Chambers Summer Tour Dates 2012 8-02     Santa Monica, CA - Santa Monica Pier8-04     Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater8-05     Seattle, WA - The Triple Door8-07     San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore8-08    Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre8-10     Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere8-11    New York, NY – City Winery8-12    Northampton, MA – The Iron Horse8-13    Annapolis, MD – The Ram’s Head8-15    Dallas, TX – Kessler Theatre8-16     Austin, TX - One World Theatre8-18     Lyons, CO - Folks FestivalStorybook is available for pre-order now.  Click here for details! 

Tue, 06/19/2012 - 7:00 pm

Don Williams’ legions of fans across the globe have long been hoping, but likely not expecting to hear new recordings from him again. He has been pretty determined to spend most of his time on his Tennessee farm, quietly, with his family— and for over four decades, country music’s “Gentle Giant” has been known for doing what he wants to do. So it’s both exciting and a very welcome surprise to announce the release of the brand new Don Williams album And So It Goes, on Sugar Hill Records today, his first since 2004. It is a release very much in the classic Williams mode—mellow yet rhythmic, life-affirming yet thoughtful, serenely masculine, and loaded with singularly strong, memorable songs and consummate vocals.

Those are the attributes that won him over fifty top hits from the early 1970s through the early 1990s, including such standards-to-be as “Tulsa Time,” “I Believe in You,”  “It Must Be Love” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” and won him the ultimate accolade with his induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.  With the chance to reunite with honored Nashville producer Garth Fundis, with whom he’d worked for seventeen years on many of his greatest successes and encouragement from his management and the label, he decided to go back to the studio one more time, as well as out on tour to support the release.

As Don puts it himself,  “I didn’t do this album because I just felt that I was going to die if I didn’t do another one, but because of all of that encouragement to do it. So here we are—and now I’m feeling good about it.”

The recording emerges as a sonic whole, with Don’s long intact working band at the core of the musicians behind him (“a beautiful thing,” Don calls that), including celebrated guitarist Billy Sanford and percussionist Kenny Malone,. Such long-time Don Williams admirers as Keith Urban, Alison Krauss and Vince Gill add both key instrumentals and vocal backing.  “We weren’t looking to reinvent Don,” producer Garth Fundis notes, “just to make a good new Don Williams record.” In that they have succeeded in spades, the instant return to form pleasantly surprising Don himself: “When we started back up again,” he says, “it was like we’d never quit.”

The CD proceeds from the upbeat, earworm-catchy opener “Better Than Today” through contemplative considerations of grace and calm (“Heart of Hearts”), the charms of an actual, credible woman (“She’s a Natural”), and even the possible existence of aliens (“Infinity”) and on to the closing title track about love, loss and the passing of time. The duet with Ms. Krauss, “I Just Come Here for the Music,” sounds like a country standard in the making.

When word went out that Don Williams was going to record again, literally hundreds of potential songs from Nashville’s finest were offered, and ten selected from such outstanding masters of the songmaking craft as Kieran Kane, Ronnie Bowman, Al Anderson and Leslie Satcher, Don’s son Tim Williams, as well as Don himself.

“The only description that I’ve ever had for songs I choose to do,” he notes, “is that they affect me emotionally and that, hopefully, they have something to say that will touch other people.” In doing both of those, listeners are about to find, And So It Goes doesn’t miss a beat.

Fri, 10/26/2012 - 12:35 pm

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson's intriguing new album Wreck and Ruin reunites two of Australia’s most notable singer-songwriters, who also happen to be married.

Chambers believes that their second album of duets, released October 22nd on Sugar Hill Records, will shine a light on their unique partnership as spouses as well as musicians.

“I hope people will get a sense of who we are as a couple,” says Chambers, who is a multi-platinum artist in Australia. “I guess I mean that a little bit to do with who we are as a couple in our day-to-day life, but there's a certain sound that we create when it's only the two of us. We could not create that on any other solo album, or with any other artist. … It's something that we've realized is really quite special. There are a lot of songs on this album that I don't think we could sing if we weren't married.”

Chambers and Nicholson met a decade ago when she sang on one of his records. They married at the end of 2005 and released their first duets album, Rattlin’ Bones, in 2008. It proved so popular in their home country that they toured behind the project for three years and picked up numerous awards for the album.

For Wreck and Ruin, the couple (who are parents to three young children) wrote the bulk of the new material in a remote writing cabin about an hour and a half from their home. The project was recorded in Foggy Mountain Studios, owned by Kasey’s brother Nash Chambers - located in a valley in the Australian bush, far from mobile phone access.

“We put together a whole new band for this album and got together with them a few days before we started recording,” Nicholson says. “We hung out around the studio just jamming songs and getting comfortable with each other, but we didn't prep the album songs too much. It was more about creating a sense of ease between everybody before we got to work.”

Chambers adds, “When we were recording it and Shane was talking to the band, he said, ‘It’s very traditional but not conventional.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, that hits the nail on the head for me.’ … This album is a lot more traditional than any other album that Shane and I have made, together or apart. And it’s got a lot more of the old-timey type of sounds on it. But there’s something that’s not conventional – obviously it doesn’t sound like an album from back then, but it draws from it.”

Tue, 11/20/2012 - 9:42 am

Country duo Joey+Rory have released a video for “Josephine” -  a poignant Civil War story song featured on their latest Sugar Hill Release His & Hers.  Robert K. Oermann calls the song “a mini masterpiece”, encouraging listeners to “Do your ears a favor and listen to this entire awesome album with no distractions”.  Inarguably their strongest release yet, His & Hers features both Joey and Rory taking turns on lead vocals in the 12 tracks.While researching the history of their 1870’s farmhouse in Maury County, Tennessee, Rory Feek came across a series of letters that J.W. Robison, a soldier from the area, had written to his wife Josephine in December, 1861.  “It was cold and the future of the war and the nation was unclear, and he was missing wife and his children,” Rory says of the letters. “the grammar he used and his spelling was terrible, but the words he wrote to her were unbelievably poetic”. “Rory’s a bit of a history buff, so It made a strong impression on him”, Joey adds, “and now for us to be able to make such a powerful music video and share the story of the love of this couple a hundred and fifty years later is something that we’re really proud of.”Fans of Joey+Rory have come to know the duo and their songs more closely since the launch in July of The Joey+Rory show on RFD-TV.  Filmed entirely at the couple’s farm and in their community, the first 13 episodes mix live performances, recipes from their café (Marcy Jo’s Mealhouse) and behind the scenes looks into their life together.For more information please visit: http://www.joeyandrory.com

Tue, 11/20/2012 - 3:12 pm

Sugar Hill Records is excited to announce that Wanda Jackson will be performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight, Tuesday, November 20th.  Wanda’s backing band for this special performance includes Shooter Jennings, Neal Casal (Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Rami Jaffee (Wallflowers), Jonathan Wilson, and Ted Russell Kamp.  The legendary singer is credited as the first woman to record a rock song and has toured with artists ranging from Elvis to Adele.  She is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee who has been burning up the international tour circuit, flying in straight from Germany for this particular appearance.Ms. Jackson’s latest release Unfinished Business was produced by Justin Townes Earle featuring liner notes written by Stephen King.  It has already hit Top 10 on FMQB Alternative Specialty and Top 15 on the Americana radio charts with an upcoming WXPN/NPR World Café session confirmed.  She and her all-star band will be performing “Tore Down” on tonight’s show.Wanda’s new music video for “Am I Even a Memory” written by country revivalist Greg Garing recently premiered on the NPR music site.  Click here to check it out and read commentary by NPR’s Ann Powers.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 5:57 pm

“I Just Come Here For The Music” from country music legend Don Williams and featuring Alison Krauss  was nominated for a GRAMMY last night in the Best Country Duo/Group Category.  Awards will be given out at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10th, 2013.

“I Just Come Here For The Music” – the stunning duet between Williams and Krauss comes from the recent William’s release And So It Goes – his highest charting country album in twenty-seven years.  The album received rave reviews – USA Today boasts that “The Gentle Giant returns after an eight-year recording absence refreshed and more essential than ever” and American Songwriter magazine writes that tunes like “I Just Come Here For The Music” exemplify the singer’s homespun sincere simplicity which is the core of pure country music”.

Produced by Garth Fundis, the album features guest vocal performances from Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Chris Stapleton among others.

Don Williams Tour Dates 2013

2013-01-16     Lakeland, FL - The Lakeland Center
2013-01-17     Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
2013-01-18     Palmetto, FL - Manatee County Fair
2013-01-19     Daytona Beach, FL - Peabody Auditorium
2013-01-20     Newberry, SC - Newberry Opera House
2013-01-25     Columbus, GA - The River Center
2013-02-21     Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre
2013-02-28     Durant, OK - Choctaw Casino Resort - Center Stage
2013-04-22     Spokane, WA - Fox Theatre Spokane
2013-04-23     Salem, OR - Elsinore Theatre
2013-04-25     San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
2013-04-26     Sacramento, CA - Crest Theatre
2013-04-27     Fresno, CA - Tower Theatre

Tue, 03/19/2013 - 11:42 am

Sugar Hill Records is pleased to announce that it will unveil three new, exclusive releases for Record Store Day (April 20). The varied offerings include a live-performance EP CD from Sarah Jarosz, a vinyl re-issue of the debut album from husband-wife duo Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, and a a never before available vinyl edition of the  “Crazy” demo recordings from the legendary Willie Nelson.SARAH JAROSZ - LIVE AT THE TROUBADOURRecorded in August of 2012, Live at the Troubadour finds the Grammy-nominated acoustic wunderkind in pristine form and marks Jarosz’s debut live recording. The 5-song EP was recorded last August at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA. Accompanying herself on mandolin, guitar, and banjo with Alex Hargreaves on fiddle and Nathaniel Smith on cello, Jarosz’s live performances feature a mix of new old-timey ballads and innovative covers.KASEY CHAMBERS & SHANE NICHOLSON - RATTLIN' BONESA staple of the Americana genre, Rattlin’ Bones marked the first collaboration for these Australian husband-wife superstars. Having met more than a decade ago, Rattlin’ Bonesmarks the talented couple’s first full-length collaboration originally released in 2008. (Chambers and Nicholson released Wreck & Ruin, their second album of duets, through Sugar Hill Records last fall.) A critical and world-wide success, this marks the very first vinyl pressing of Rattlin’ Bones.WILLIE NELSON - CRAZY: THE DEMO SESSIONSAs one of popular music’s most celebrated icons, Willie Nelson has enjoyed an illustrious career that has spanned more than 50 years. When Nelson first arrived in Nashville, he spent time as a demo singer and recorded tracks for Ray Price and Hal Smith's publishing company, Pamper Music. Though these cuts were used to pitch songs to artists (including 'Crazy' for Patsy Cline) and producers, many weren't released. These 1960-1966 tracks are raw, real and exceptional, clearly the work of an artist and songwriter headed for stardom. All three releases are limited-editions.More information about Sugar Hill Records, including these Record Store Day releases, is available at sugarhillrecords.com

Tue, 04/16/2013 - 7:09 pm

More energized and focused than ever before in their near 25-year career, roots-music troubadours Donna the Buffalo will debut their first studio album in five years, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, on June 18 via Sugar Hill Records.The follow up to 2008’s acclaimed Silverlined, which reached the Top 10 on the Americana charts, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday—the group’s 10th studio album—proves the band as a consistent steward of Americana music, their signature sound—traditional mountain music infused with elements of Cajun, rock, folk, reggae and country—an eclectic and extraordinary melting pot of such.In creating the new album, founding members and songwriter-vocalists Jeb Puryear (vocals, guitar) and Tara Nevins (vocals, guitar, fiddle, accordion, scrubboard)—joined by band members David McCracken (Hammond organ, clavinet), Kyle Spark (bass) and Mark Raudabaugh (drums)—convened in a rustic church in Enfield, New York, along with co-producer Robert Hunter. The building overflowed with vibe, and the music poured out as the group recorded take after live take to old-school analog tape, with as few overdubs as possible. What resulted are the 14 organic and authentic tracks that make up Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday.“We tried to do the record and keep in tact the things people love about us,” says Puryear. “We’re really excited to start sharing Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday,” adds Nevins, “because making this record was a very personal process that was also a lot of fun.”The album will be worked at Americana and AAA radio this spring and summer, with the emphasis track being “I See How You Are,” a tune penned by Nevins. In addition, the band will be touring heavily throughout the remainder of the year to promote Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday. Festival dates include MerleFest, The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, Nashville’s Dancin’ In the District, Strangecreek Music Festival, Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival, The Great Blue Heron Festival, Red Ants Pants Festival, Targhee Bluegrass Fest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and MagnoliaFest, among many others. The most up-to-date touring information can be found here.Track listing for Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday:1. All Aboard2. Don’t Know What We’ve Got3. Working On That4. I Love My Tribe5. Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday6. One Day At A Time7. Love Time8. No Reason Why9. I See How You Are10. I Can Fly11. Ms. Parsley12. Why You Wanna Leave Me13. Real Love14. Spinning WorldAbout Donna the BuffaloClosing in on the quarter-century mark, Donna the Buffalo has developed one of most respected 'brands' in the world of touring roots acts, along with a well-deserved reputation for crafting social narratives and danceable grooves without equal. With nine studio albums under their belt, the band has been praised as having “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today” (Encore). Led by founding members and songwriter-vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins, Donna the Buffalo marries musical trailblazing and tradition, their music running the gamut of what is defined as “roots music.” Throughout it’s career the band has traveled millions of miles and spent nearly a quarter of a century performing at the country's most prestigious festivals and clubs. Their fervent fan base, nicknamed The Herd, follows the band with zeal and has created a unique and supportive community online and at DTB shows across the nation. As an extension of this community and the band's own dedication to live roots music, Donna the Buffalo started its own annual event—The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance—20 years ago in upstate New York, which draws more than 15,000 people every year, and have since added to the GrassRoots festival family with Shakori Hills in NC and the Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival in Florida. On June 18, 2013, the band will release its 10th studio album, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, via Sugar Hill Records.

Tue, 06/04/2013 - 2:03 pm

In May of 2012, one of the preeminent figures of American Roots Music, Doc Watson, died at 89 years of age. This summer, Sugar Hill Records will unveil a career-spanning collection, The Definitive Doc Watson, that is an expansive tribute to the Appalachian music legend. An anthology that showcases Watson at his finest, the two-disc, 34-track project highlights the best of his solo work in addition to exploring the many albums he recorded with his son, Merle, as well as select guest appearances he made on the recordings of other artists. The Definitive Doc Watson serves as either an introduction for the uninitiated or as an overview for the previously enlightened. This set is the first compilation to jointly anthologize the Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records periods of Watson's discography. Watson recorded many of his top albums on the Vanguard and Sugar Hill record labels, so there is a vast catalog of music available to choose from when it came to putting together this rich collection. Covering the years 1962-2005, this compilation allows one to experience how singular a force of American music he was.Classic Watson songs on The Definitive Doc Watson include “Black Mountain Rag,” “Greenville Trestle High,” “Shady Grove,” “Blue Railroad Train,” “Little Sadie,” "Tennessee Stud" and “Your Lone Journey.” “Your Lone Journey” was originated and co-written by Doc’s wife, Rosa Lee Watson, who died on Thanksgiving morning, six months after his death. Watson is considered one of the best acoustic guitarists in the long history of the instrument. Blind from an early age, Watson learned to play the harmonica and banjo as a child while living in the mountains of western North Carolina. Eventually, however, Watson gravitated toward the guitar. Sam Bush, the King of Newgrass, first performed with Doc and Merle Watson in the 1970s. “Now, more than ever, his legacy is secure as the most influential guitar player of the last 60 years of acoustic music,” comments Bush on Watson's guitar playing. “He is the reason that a lot of people wanted to learn to play lead guitar. And, he is certainly still, to me, the most influential flatpicker--the Godfather of the Flatpickers.”While Watson was best known for his flatpicking prowess on the guitar, prime examples of his singing, his banjo, harmonica and fingerstyle guitar playing are also highlighted in this compilation, as well as his uncanny ability to transform traditional ballads hundreds of years old into the definitive renderings of that material.“It’s hard to describe, but Doc has always been a legend, even when he was alive,” says guitar great and Watson admirer Bryan Sutton. “The way I feel now is that even though Doc is gone physically, his influence is so strong, it is hard not to recognize that his influence is there in some way."The Definitive Doc Watson will be available on July 16.Track listing for The Definitive Doc Watson:Disc 11. The Cyclone Of Rye Cove2. St. Louis Blues3. The House Carpenter4. The Wagoner's Lad5. Anniversary Blue Yodel (Blue Yodel #7)6. Sitting On Top Of the World7. Black Mountain Rag8. Country Blues9. Weary Blues10. Little Sadie11. Dream Of the Miner's Child12. Southbound13. Tennessee Stud14. Blue Railroad Train15. Georgie16. Katie Morey17. Matty GrovesDisc 21. Whistlin' Rufus/Ragtime Annie2. Big Spike Hammer3. Listening To the Rain4. Willie Moore5. My Rough and Rowdy Ways6. The Wreck Of the Number Nine7. Omie Wise8. Shady Grove9. Watson's Blues10. Slidin' Delta11. Bright Sunny South12. Greenville Trestle High13. I'm Going Back To the Old Home14. George Gudger's Overalls15. The Ninety and Nine16. Your Lone Journey17. Whiskey Before Breakfast

Fri, 06/14/2013 - 11:27 am

With his 2011 label debut hailed by No Depression as "perfect" and by American Songwriter as "brilliant," singer-songwriter/rock ’n’ roll musician Brian Wright will unveil his new album, the highly anticipated Rattle Their Chains, on Sept. 10. The Waco, Tex., native and new Nashville resident will release his diverse new collection of plaintive ballads and rootsy rockers on Sugar Hill Records, which also released his last project, the wildly acclaimed House on Fire. Imagine diving after a pearl of great price, only to find that it rests within a dense shell you must crack open with two opposing attempts: one about strength, the other surrender.  That's how it went down for Brian Wright as he labored to land his gem, the new album Rattle Their Chains. That's not to say he started on the wrong foot: far from it. For the recording of Rattle Their Chains, he convened last summer in a Los Angeles studio, surrounded by a trusted core of musicians. Wright brandished 18 songs, demoed and arranged meticulously so the band could follow his lead. But Wright wasn't ready to call it a wrap with the resulting recordings. "I didn't like the songs once I heard them, so I scrapped all but three or four," Wright says. "It had hooks and melodies but it was empty. It didn't feel or sound right at all.”So for dive two, Wright retreated – literally. He headed north to coastal Oregon to hole up in a friend's hotel just a few weeks shy of Christmas. Once there, Wright followed the same ritual for a week: breakfasts fueled by coffee and eggs sunny-side up; long beach walks listening to Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes; hunkering down with his Gibson J-45, letting lyrics and melodies surface.Then there was the vision: "I was picturing a band playing these songs – my friends – and I could hear what was going to happen: a band in a room, guys who really love each other and are really tight."Back in L.A. for take two – with a dozen new songs to learn on the spot – Wright and his buddies nailed it. He sought the spontaneity of live show, a roots-rock hoot to smolder and sting, and he got it. But the resulting album also reflects something more: a shadow-meets-light intensity where regret and hope square off. Take "Weird Winter," a mournful minor-key masterwork that blends images of transition, desperation and grief in best Guy Clark fashion – rich and evocative, yet leaving enough space for the listener to fill in the blanks with their own backstory.The songs on Rattle Their Chains are personal, but they also invite the listener to settle into them with ease and familiarity.Besides Dylan and the Band, Wright also found himself drawn to “the storytelling of Texas songwriters. I find myself really into Townes Van Zandt; he had so many beautiful songs. Woody Guthrie lived there, and there's something in the water in Texas. It’s where all these great stories come from. But I'm also influenced by great rock and roll: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and things like that."Wright’s rock savvy is apparent on the sonic juggernaut “Hear What I Want.” With echo-laden piano, slide guitar and churning drums, the song yields a neo-psychedelic vision of a relationship where what goes in one ear comes out the other.“This record was completely different from House on Fire, where I played most of the instruments myself, with a producer. I just wanted to hole up and make an album by myself. But this new record was just the opposite; I was in a really good place, playing bar gigs with my friends, and that's what I wanted this record to sound like. And when we come together, it's a sound like no other.” That resulting sound is Rattle Their Chains. Albums created with such abandon and persistence are uncommon, and Wright’s pursuit of his art is itself a rare thing. That it yielded music so brilliant makes it all the more remarkable.    Track listing for Rattle Their Chains:1. Over Yet Blues2. We Don't Live There3. Red Rooster Social Club4. Haunted5. Hear What I Want6. Weird Winter7. The Good Dead Queen8. Face Of the Earth9. Can't Stand To Listen10. You Got It All11. Rosalee12. Love My Little Baby

Wed, 06/19/2013 - 9:24 am

As they unveil their first new album in five years, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, the across-the-board praise from critics proclaims roots-music troubadours Donna the Buffalo have skillfully assembled a fine set that bolsters their longtime status as a celebrated, exceptionally talented mainstay in Americana music.Released just yesterday, June 18, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday finds Donna the Buffalo more energized and focused than ever before in their near 25-year career. The follow up to 2008’s acclaimed Silverlined, which reached the Top 10 on the Americana charts, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday—the group’s 10th studio album—proves the band as a consistent steward of Americana music, their signature sound—traditional mountain music infused with elements of Cajun, rock, folk, reggae and country—an eclectic and extraordinary melting pot of such.Here’s just a sampling of what the press are saying about Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday:“This set...highlights everything this consistent band does, and it has a warm, live-sounding production... The end result is one of Donna the Buffalo's best outings. This is what 21st century Americana sounds like, a little bit of this and that from anywhere wrapped up into a poignant, jamming dance reel, a place where the past and history meet easily in the immediate now and everybody feels like dancing.”- All Music“...This new effort revels in the kind of rousing enthusiasm that’s made the Donnas such festival favorites in recent years. The uninitiated ought to take note –Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday is as its title implies, the kind of album destined to make an everlasting impression.”- The Bluegrass SituationTonight plants homegrown peace and love in flower-powered honky-tonk whose rockin’ goodwill two-steps between groovy patchouli zydeco and tasty jam-band reggae.”- Maximum Ink“Next time Donna the Buffalo throws a house party, I definitely want to go. After decades on the festival scene, this energetic band has acquired a super-dedicated fan base known as the Herd — and at some point...I would love to see them all bopping along with [I Love My Tribe’s] irresistible chorus.”- CMT EdgeIn its first week at Americana radio, the album was No. 2 Most Added. In its second week, the it debuted Top 20 on the Americana radio chart, and this week the album catapulted to No. 12.The music video for "I Love My Tribe" also enjoyed an exclusive premiere on CMT Edge. Watch the video filmed in and around Nashville--and featuring a cameo from Jim Lauderdale--here.In support of the new album, Donna the Buffalo has a hefty tour lined up for the summer season, which includes a few weeks on the West Coast. They kick things off at the Red Ants Pants Festival in Montana on July 26 and travel throughout the Northwest before heading for shows at the Mint in Los Angeles and Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneertown, CA. Saturday, August 8 marks the band’s return to The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, followed by shows in Santa Cruz, Chico and then Utah for appearances in Monroe and Park City. They then perform in Denver before wrapping the tour at Wyoming’s Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival.Donna the Buffalo West Coast Summer Tour:Fri 7/26 White Sulphur Springs, MT - Red Ants Pants FestivalSat 7/27 Spokane, WA - The CenterSun 7/28 Seattle, WA - The TractorMon 7/29 Portland, OR - Doug Fir LoungeTue 7/30 Eugene, OR - WOW HallThu 8/1 Los Angeles - The MintFri 8/2 Pioneertown, CA - Pappy and HarrietsSat 8/3 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall (Presented by Jambase)Sun 8/4 Santa Cruz, CA - Moe's AlleyMon 8/5 Chico, CA - The Big Room @ The Sierra NevadaWed 8/7 Monroe, UT - Mystic Hot SpringsThu 8/8 Park City, UT - Newpark Town CenterFri 8/9 Denver, CO - Oriental TheatreSat 8/10-11 Alta, WY - Targhee Bluegrass Fest at Grand TargheeThe most up-to-date touring information can be found at www.donnathebuffalo.com/tour-dates.

Fri, 07/12/2013 - 9:21 am

Two years after releasing the much lauded, Juno-nominated and Canadian Folk Music Award-winning The Place I Left Behind, The Deep Dark Woods return with their second studio album on Sugar Hill Records, Jubilee. On October 1, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan natives emerge from the wilderness with the new project, which is a celebration of community, camaraderie and feverish cabin creativity. With Jubilee, The Deep Dark Woods revel in the jangly, freewheeling days of psychedelic and electric folk (think Neil Young) while keeping their compass aligned with the magnetic, hypnotic north.Recorded in a cabin in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains near Bragg Creek, Alberta, Jubilee journeys through folk and rock history, from California to the UK, from the 1970s to the present day. Produced by L.A.-based folk revivalist Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Bonnie Prince Billy, Father John Misty), the album nods to genre pioneers such as The Byrds and Fairport Convention before heading into altogether new territory of soundscapes that bend and fluctuate underfoot. Jubilee moves the yardstick with its rolling layers of specialized keys, organs and analog rarities (e.g., novachord, celesta, vibraphone, and more) first used in the early days of psychedelic-synth experimentation, and the results sound at once in and out of modern time. Since the release of 2011’s The Place I Left Behind, for which the band received a Juno nomination, Americana Emerging Artist nomination and a Canadian Folk Music Award, the lineup has changed to include guitarist Clayton Linthicum. Linthicum’s talent for English style guitar playing shines on Jubilee, in particular on the standout song “18th of December.” “It's something we've tried in the past but haven't been able to fully accomplish until Clayton joined up,” says vocalist-guitarist Ryan Boldt of the track, his “first attempt at a Fairport Convention-type song.”Comprised of Boldt, Chris Mason (vocals, bass), Lucas Goetz (drums/percussion, vocals), Geoff Hilhorst (keys) and Linthicum, the tight-knit members of The Deep Dark Woods are old friends and trusted collaborators. Lead singer Boldt writes most of the lyrics, but songwriting credits on Jubilee are also shared with Mason, former bandmate Burke Barlow and new addition Linthicum. The band recorded Jubilee mostly live off the floor, which allowed for a collective and often spontaneous approach to songcraft. Lyrically, Jubilee shows artistic growth and finesse, and the new album features some of band’s finest songs yet.About The Deep Darks Woods:Hailing from the lonely plains of Saskatchewan, Canada, The Deep Dark Woods have appeared at numerous high-profile festivals and on many prestigious stages in North American and Europe, including Newport Folk Fest, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and at Terrapin Crossroads in San Francisco. The band recently made their silver screen debut with the inclusion of their song “My Baby’s Got To Pay the Rent“ in Safe Haven, the newest Nicholas Sparks blockbuster. In addition, The Deep Dark Woods has been awarded many accolades including Best Roots Group at the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards; Ensemble of the Year at the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards; Contemporary Album of the Year for The Place I Left Behind at the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards; and nominations for Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year for The Place I Left Behind at the 2012 JUNO Awards and Emerging Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Awards. The band also had the runaway winner in CBC’s Great Canadian Songquest with “Charlie’s (Is Coming Down).” Jubilee, the band’s second label release and fifth studio album overall, will be released on October 1, 2013 on Sugar Hill Records (USA, Europe, Australia) and Six Shooter Records (Canada).

Tue, 01/28/2014 - 9:09 am

Bryan Sutton returns to Sugar Hill Records with his fourth solo release, Into My Own, available April 29, 2014.“The goal,” Bryan Sutton says,“was to try to make a record that only I could make.” Indeed, even a cursory listen is enough to establish that Into My Own, his fourth album for Sugar Hill Records, fulfills that goal—and does so in a way that reflects not only the instrumental virtuosity that his admirers have come to expect, but also the spirit and sensibilities of a musician intent on challenging himself to continuously grow in every way.  For those who think of him as just one of the best acoustic guitarists around, Into My Own will come as an unexpected revelation, while for those who’ve been following his evolution at least since 2009’s Almost Live, it deserves welcome as the culmination of a remarkable musical growth spurt—rich, varied, and, just as he says, a record that only he could make.For what Into My Own does for the first time is present Bryan Sutton, not so much on his own (though there’s a bit of that too), but as an artist who’s worked his way into a musical place that’s all his own, and not just as a phenomenal guitarist, but as a singer and songwriter.  Featured alongside Bryan Sutton are some of the best pickers in the genre, also true friends and collaborators; Bill Frisell joins in for “Frissell’s Rag” while Noam Pikelny, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Stuart Duncan and more stop in to play a few. Sutton takes center stage on “Run Away” and “Been All Around This World,” demonstrating even further how each track bursts with its own energy.In addition to past and present touring with musicians such as Chris Thile, Earl Scruggs, Hot Rize, Ricky Skaggs and others, Bryan Sutton is one of Nashville’s most in-demand session players and producers, recently taking the helm on Della Mae’s Grammy nominated This World Oft Can Be. Sutton earned a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental category for his duet on “Whiskey Before Breakfast” with Doc Watson in 2007. He has received two Grammys in the past for his participation in Ricky Skaggs’s Kentucky Thunder and is has been recognized as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year six times over.“That’s one of the lessons of bluegrass,” he concludes. “Nobody gets here by accident. You’ve got to prove yourself, and you’ve got to continue to prove yourself. I’ve absorbed that, and I want to be that way.”  If there’s any doubt, Into My Own should resolve it once and for all.For more on Bryan, check  www.bryansutton.com or  www.facebook.com/bryansuttonmusic.Tracklisting for Into My Own: 1. Cricket on the Hearth 2. That's Where I Belong 3. Ole Blake 4. Anyhow, I Love You 5. Cumberland Reel 6. Run Away 7. Frisell's Rag 8. Overton Waltz 9. Swannanoa Tunnel10. Watson's Blues11. Log Jam12. Been All Around This World

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 9:18 am

Lee Ann Womack wanted to do something special for Record Store Day, something that would strip the music down to its essence. Talking with husband/producer Frank Liddell, they decided to use one voice/one instrument. They called on Mark Knopfler/Steve Earle vet Richard Bennett, who brought several of his vintage guitars. The pair recorded several songs in an afternoon – and picked the best three for Trouble In Mind, a limited edition 12” vinyl.

“I think independent record stores are so important,” Womack says. “It’s the last temple of music you can take home... A place where people come looking for the rare, for the special or even just the record they have to buy one more time. But I love the idea of people selling records, talking about what’s on them, getting turned on to cool music."

“I wanted to be part of Record Store Day last year, but we couldn’t get it together in time. So this year, we started early. I got to have Richard Bennett, who is one of those musicians who can get so much heart and tone out of his guitars, come to the house. It was just the two of us, and it was awesome!”

The three songs are the blues classic “Trouble in Mind,” Roger Miller’s semi-obscure “Where Have All The Average People Gone?” and Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass gospel “I’ve Just Seen The Rock of Ages.” Engineered by Grammy-nominated Chuck Ainlay and mastered by Paul Hamann at Suma Recording Studio, Trouble In Mind is Lee Ann Womack unadorned.

“I love the idea of mixing things up, but stripping them back,” says the woman whose first album in seven years, The Way I’m Livin’, was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards. “When you make things that basic, you can hear all the commonalities between, say, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Ralph Stanley... When you make those connections, I think that’s when it gets interesting.”

Womack has spent the last year exploring new territory. Co-hosting the International Bluegrass Music Awards with Jerry Douglas, taking part in PBS’ “Rock My Soul” fundraising special with the Fairfield Four and the McCrary Sisters, Amos Lee, Buddy Miller and Lucinda Williams, taping a CMT “Crossroads” with John Legend, and recording with Ralph Stanley, the 6-time Country Music Association Award winner followed her heart and her muse.

Writing in the essay for the Nashville Scene’s Country Critics Poll, Geoff Himes said Livin’s “...a terrific album rooted in traditional country’s willingness to confront the realities of addiction, adultery, bad romantic choices and small-town blues.” With Trouble In Mind, the vocalist continues to explore the tortured, the saved and the in-between.

Thu, 08/06/2015 - 10:13 am

When “The View” called Grammy-winner Lee Ann Womack to appear on a special show honoring the military, she was scheduled for a vacation with her family. But considering the show – where she’d appeared after receiving her 2015 Best Country Album Grammy nomination for The Way I’m Livin’ – she asked her family if she could take a two-day detour to Manhattan before meeting them in Montana for their camping trip.

“You plan these things with your family so far in advance, and everyone starts looking forward to it,” says the East Texan. “Then you realize all these folks have been looking forward to being reunited as a family, and what else would you do? Thankfully, Frank and Anna share my feelings about families who’ve been separated being reunited.”

Womack literally rebooked, rescheduled and returned to New York to perform a very intimate version of Hayes Carll’s vintage country-feeling “Chances Are” for the audience, many of whom had been brought in for this very special show. When she finished the ballad, there was a moment of silence, then the crowd erupted into applause; ultimately turning the cheers into a standing ovation.

“I wasn’t really sure if it was going to go over,” says the 6-time Country Music Association Award winner. “I know how much I love classic country music, but it’s not for everyone. Then when I finished and saw people’s faces, there wasn’t a person sitting there who couldn’t identify with what the song’s about: making mistakes, or decisions that didn’t work out – and still wanting to hang onto that hope, because that hope is all there is.”

Womack understands. Stepping away from the mainstream record business, she’s spent the last year supporting The Way I’m Livin’, a stripped back progressive country album featuring songs from Grammy-nominee Adam Wright, Julie Miller, Chris Knight, Bruce Robison and Neil Young. The Wall Street Journal was the first to recognize her passion, writing “she sounds as if she’s making up for lost time.”

The only country album on Esquire’s Top Albums of 2014, Livin’ received a rare four star (out of four) review from USA Today, while Rolling Stone offered it “feels like something Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings would have crafted back in the Seventies.” Spin was more succinct: “The best of her career.”

Beyond the Grammy nomination, Womack received two Americana Music Association nominations –  Artist and Album of the Year – and two CMT Video Music Award nominations –  Female Video (“The Way I’m Livin’”) and CMT Performance (“Crossroads” with John Legend). Just as importantly, she found herself recording with Dr. Ralph Stanley, part of the Fairfield Four and McCrary Sisters’ PBS “Rock My Soul” gospel special with Lucinda Williams, Amos Lee and Buddy Miller, part of tribute shows for Emmylou Harris in D.C. and Waylon Jennings in Austin and co-hosted the International Bluegrass Music Awards with Jerry Douglas.

You can see the performance and an interview about her incredible year August 11 on ABC’s “The View.” Check your local listings for air time.