2016 SongFest Lineup
Robin Zander
As the singer, songwriter for Cheap Trick, Zander has toured the world, released numerous albums and has been widely acknowledged by his peers and fans alike as having one of the greatest voices in rock music.
With over forty gold and platinum records under his belt Zanderʼs vocal style has influenced many other rock singers from four decades, rockers such as Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses, 1990's punk revivalists, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, to alternative icons Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. He was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame with Cheap Trick and will tour this summer around the world with their new album Band Zoom Crazy Hello.
Robin is joined by his son Robin Taylor Zander who recently moved from Safety Harbor to Nashville where he is signed to a publishing deal with Big Machine records along with his band mates and is currently recording. Robin graduated from East Lake High School, went to FSU, Berklee College of Music and Full Sail University. He also will be touring this summer.
With over forty gold and platinum records under his belt Zanderʼs vocal style has influenced many other rock singers from four decades, rockers such as Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses, 1990's punk revivalists, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, to alternative icons Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. He was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame with Cheap Trick and will tour this summer around the world with their new album Band Zoom Crazy Hello.
Robin is joined by his son Robin Taylor Zander who recently moved from Safety Harbor to Nashville where he is signed to a publishing deal with Big Machine records along with his band mates and is currently recording. Robin graduated from East Lake High School, went to FSU, Berklee College of Music and Full Sail University. He also will be touring this summer.
Otis Taylor
With Otis Taylor, it's best to expect the unexpected. While his music, an amalgamation of roots styles in their rawest form, discusses heavyweight issues like murder, homelessness, tyranny, and injustice, his personal style is lighthearted. "I'm good at dark, but I'm not a particularly unhappy person," he says. "I'd just like to make enough money to buy a Porsche."
Part of Taylor's appeal is his contrasting character traits. But it is precisely this element of surprise that makes him one of the most compelling artists to emerge in recent years. In fact, Guitar Player magazine writes, "Otis Taylor is arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time." Whether it's his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or it's the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat optimistic song takes a turn for the forlorn, what remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. On his sixth CD, Double V, Taylor unleashes intimate tales as he produces an aural excursion inspired by an unconventional childhood.
Otis Mark Taylor was born in Chicago in 1948. After his uncle was shot to death, his family moved to Denver where an adolescent's interest in blues and folk was cultivated. Both his parents were big music fans; "I was raised with jazz musicians," Taylor relates. "My dad worked for the railroad and knew a lot of jazz people. He was a socialist and real bebopper." His mother, Sarah, a tough as nails woman with liberal leanings, had a penchant for Etta James and Pat Boone. Young Otis spent time at the Denver Folklore Center where he bought his first instrument, a banjo. He used to play it while riding his unicycle to high school. The Folklore Center was also the place where he first heard Mississippi John Hurt and country blues. He learned to play guitar and harmonica and by his mid-teens, he formed his first groups' the Butterscotch Fire Department Blues Band and later the Otis Taylor Blues Band. He ventured overseas to London where he performed for a brief time until he returned to the U.S. in the late 60s. His next project became the T&O Short Line with legendary Deep Purple singer/guitarist Tommy Bolin. Stints with the 4-Nikators and Zephyr followed before he decided to take a hiatus from the music business in 1977. During this time he established a successful career as an antiques dealer and also began coaching a professional bicycle team. They ranked 4th in the nation and were known for having two of the best African-American riders in the country.
 After years of prodding from his musical mentor (all-star bass player Kenny Passarelli), Otis returned to the stage. It was 1995, in an intimate room in Boulder Colorado's "Hill" district. He was joined on stage by sideman to the stars, Kenny Passarelli, and ace guitarist Eddie Turner. A magazine writer on hand reported: "The combination was magic, Taylor's unique singing style blended perfectly with Passarelli's rock steady virtuosity Turnet's rock-roll tinged riffs." Response to the "one-time gig" was so strong, Taylor decided to return to the music scene, playing select dates with Passarelli and Turner.
Two years later he released Blue Eyed Monster (Shoelace Music), which riveted the blues world and marked the emergence of a singer/songwriter who has, in his own words, "a way of saying something that seems to be more intense." Further, he says, "you can definitely see how I was forming. There was the Christmas song about a guy that killed his parents. Definitely getting ready to go that way, you know?" In 1998, he raised more eyebrows with When Negroes Walked the Earth (Shoelace) an album replete with unapologetic lyrics, stark instrumentation and a gut-wrenching delivery. Playboy magazine described it as "minimalist blues in the John Lee Hooker mode." Critics and music fans took notice and his talents as a vivid storyteller and accomplished guitar player were solidified. His gifts were further recognized in Summer 2000, with a composition fellowship from the Sundance Institute in Park City, UT.
If Taylor 's first two recordings cast a spell on the music world, listeners were officially entranced by White African (2001, NorthernBlues Music), his most direct and personal statement about the experiences of African-Americans. He addressed the lynching of his great-grandfather and the death of his uncle. Brutality became his concern in songs that fearlessly explored the history of race relations and social injustices. With this disc Taylor was officially blazing a trail. He earned four W.C. Handy nominations and won the award for "Best New Artist Debut."
White African was barely in record stores when he began writing the songs that would comprise Respect The Dead. Released in 2002, it made him a contender for two Handys in 2003; "Best Acoustic Artist" and "Contemporary Blues Album." Last year, he bent conventions again with his debut effort for Telarc Records, Truth Is Not Fiction. Here, Taylor took a decidedly electric, almost psychedelic path forging a sound which he describes as "trance-blues." Music critics were indeed captivated as the disc received lavish praise from USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, NPR and a nod from the Downbeat Critics Poll for "Blues Album of the Year."
He quickly followed up Truth with Double V, which marked his entrance as a producer and a collaboration with his daughter Cassie, who sings and plays bass. The album scored him a Downbeat Critics Poll win for an unheard-of second consecutive year, while Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Blender, and CNN all gave their thumbs-up. But perhaps the most meaningful accolade came from Living Blues Reader's Poll, which awarded Taylor (along with Etta James) with the "Best Blues Entertainer" title in 2004.
Telarc released Below the Fold, Taylor's seventh CD, in the summer of 2005. The album is a set of stylistically varied songs that point to a blues-based center but are awash with Appalachian country overtones and moody, psychedelic rock. Once again, the critics raved. Downbeat gave the album four stars, noting that Taylor "has a poet's soul, with a deep respect for the history of blacks in America and an unshakable curiosity about the human condition." Paste called him " a country-folk version of spontaneous, talking-blues master John Lee Hooker." The New Yorker dubbed his sound "Velvet Underground Railroad," and went on to proclaim that "he may drone but he never stays still, and when he moves he's always heading toward places you haven't seen." At year's end, Below the Fold landed in the number 12 slot on the Chicago Tribune's Top 20 album list.
And if the brilliant songwriting and the haunting voice weren't enough to turn the heads of audiences and critics alike, Taylor has also proven his instrumental chops with two consecutive Blues Music Awards nominations (2005 and 2006) for Best Instrumentalist in the banjo category.
In addition to traditional touring and recording, Taylor spearheads a Blues in the Schools program called "Writing the Blues." Conceived by his wife, he appears at elementary schools and universities around the country to offer advice, enlighten, and mentor students about the blues. "I start by asking them to write down what makes them sad; fears, disappointments, losses, whatever. It is just amazing to see some of these nuggets, these incredible thoughts. They are often simple sentences but so real, so sad, so true, so pure." For Taylor, it's an opportunity to connect with others and help others to connect with themselves. And, it allows him to do his part in ensuring that the blues, and the ability to share life experiences will continue in the next generation.
Taylor resides in Boulder, Colorado, where he lives with his wife.
Part of Taylor's appeal is his contrasting character traits. But it is precisely this element of surprise that makes him one of the most compelling artists to emerge in recent years. In fact, Guitar Player magazine writes, "Otis Taylor is arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time." Whether it's his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or it's the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat optimistic song takes a turn for the forlorn, what remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. On his sixth CD, Double V, Taylor unleashes intimate tales as he produces an aural excursion inspired by an unconventional childhood.
Otis Mark Taylor was born in Chicago in 1948. After his uncle was shot to death, his family moved to Denver where an adolescent's interest in blues and folk was cultivated. Both his parents were big music fans; "I was raised with jazz musicians," Taylor relates. "My dad worked for the railroad and knew a lot of jazz people. He was a socialist and real bebopper." His mother, Sarah, a tough as nails woman with liberal leanings, had a penchant for Etta James and Pat Boone. Young Otis spent time at the Denver Folklore Center where he bought his first instrument, a banjo. He used to play it while riding his unicycle to high school. The Folklore Center was also the place where he first heard Mississippi John Hurt and country blues. He learned to play guitar and harmonica and by his mid-teens, he formed his first groups' the Butterscotch Fire Department Blues Band and later the Otis Taylor Blues Band. He ventured overseas to London where he performed for a brief time until he returned to the U.S. in the late 60s. His next project became the T&O Short Line with legendary Deep Purple singer/guitarist Tommy Bolin. Stints with the 4-Nikators and Zephyr followed before he decided to take a hiatus from the music business in 1977. During this time he established a successful career as an antiques dealer and also began coaching a professional bicycle team. They ranked 4th in the nation and were known for having two of the best African-American riders in the country.
 After years of prodding from his musical mentor (all-star bass player Kenny Passarelli), Otis returned to the stage. It was 1995, in an intimate room in Boulder Colorado's "Hill" district. He was joined on stage by sideman to the stars, Kenny Passarelli, and ace guitarist Eddie Turner. A magazine writer on hand reported: "The combination was magic, Taylor's unique singing style blended perfectly with Passarelli's rock steady virtuosity Turnet's rock-roll tinged riffs." Response to the "one-time gig" was so strong, Taylor decided to return to the music scene, playing select dates with Passarelli and Turner.
Two years later he released Blue Eyed Monster (Shoelace Music), which riveted the blues world and marked the emergence of a singer/songwriter who has, in his own words, "a way of saying something that seems to be more intense." Further, he says, "you can definitely see how I was forming. There was the Christmas song about a guy that killed his parents. Definitely getting ready to go that way, you know?" In 1998, he raised more eyebrows with When Negroes Walked the Earth (Shoelace) an album replete with unapologetic lyrics, stark instrumentation and a gut-wrenching delivery. Playboy magazine described it as "minimalist blues in the John Lee Hooker mode." Critics and music fans took notice and his talents as a vivid storyteller and accomplished guitar player were solidified. His gifts were further recognized in Summer 2000, with a composition fellowship from the Sundance Institute in Park City, UT.
If Taylor 's first two recordings cast a spell on the music world, listeners were officially entranced by White African (2001, NorthernBlues Music), his most direct and personal statement about the experiences of African-Americans. He addressed the lynching of his great-grandfather and the death of his uncle. Brutality became his concern in songs that fearlessly explored the history of race relations and social injustices. With this disc Taylor was officially blazing a trail. He earned four W.C. Handy nominations and won the award for "Best New Artist Debut."
White African was barely in record stores when he began writing the songs that would comprise Respect The Dead. Released in 2002, it made him a contender for two Handys in 2003; "Best Acoustic Artist" and "Contemporary Blues Album." Last year, he bent conventions again with his debut effort for Telarc Records, Truth Is Not Fiction. Here, Taylor took a decidedly electric, almost psychedelic path forging a sound which he describes as "trance-blues." Music critics were indeed captivated as the disc received lavish praise from USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, NPR and a nod from the Downbeat Critics Poll for "Blues Album of the Year."
He quickly followed up Truth with Double V, which marked his entrance as a producer and a collaboration with his daughter Cassie, who sings and plays bass. The album scored him a Downbeat Critics Poll win for an unheard-of second consecutive year, while Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Blender, and CNN all gave their thumbs-up. But perhaps the most meaningful accolade came from Living Blues Reader's Poll, which awarded Taylor (along with Etta James) with the "Best Blues Entertainer" title in 2004.
Telarc released Below the Fold, Taylor's seventh CD, in the summer of 2005. The album is a set of stylistically varied songs that point to a blues-based center but are awash with Appalachian country overtones and moody, psychedelic rock. Once again, the critics raved. Downbeat gave the album four stars, noting that Taylor "has a poet's soul, with a deep respect for the history of blacks in America and an unshakable curiosity about the human condition." Paste called him " a country-folk version of spontaneous, talking-blues master John Lee Hooker." The New Yorker dubbed his sound "Velvet Underground Railroad," and went on to proclaim that "he may drone but he never stays still, and when he moves he's always heading toward places you haven't seen." At year's end, Below the Fold landed in the number 12 slot on the Chicago Tribune's Top 20 album list.
And if the brilliant songwriting and the haunting voice weren't enough to turn the heads of audiences and critics alike, Taylor has also proven his instrumental chops with two consecutive Blues Music Awards nominations (2005 and 2006) for Best Instrumentalist in the banjo category.
In addition to traditional touring and recording, Taylor spearheads a Blues in the Schools program called "Writing the Blues." Conceived by his wife, he appears at elementary schools and universities around the country to offer advice, enlighten, and mentor students about the blues. "I start by asking them to write down what makes them sad; fears, disappointments, losses, whatever. It is just amazing to see some of these nuggets, these incredible thoughts. They are often simple sentences but so real, so sad, so true, so pure." For Taylor, it's an opportunity to connect with others and help others to connect with themselves. And, it allows him to do his part in ensuring that the blues, and the ability to share life experiences will continue in the next generation.
Taylor resides in Boulder, Colorado, where he lives with his wife.
Shawn Mullins
Since we last heard from Shawn Mullins on 2008’s honeydew, the Atlanta-based singer/songwriter and bandleader has undergone a series of transformative experiences, leading to a second coming for the veteran artist. Evidence of Mullins’ newfound level of musical and lyrical ambition courses comes through with Light You Up (Vanguard Records, Oct. 12). This captivating new song cycle will likely be viewed as a flat-out revelation even by Mullins’ most fervent fans.
His experiences included an indoctrination into the collaborative creative process by numerous bouts of intensive co-writing, in one instance putting him atop of the country charts via a key contribution to the Zac Brown Band’s “Toes,” marking his third #1 single, following 1999’s “Lullaby” and the 2006 Triple A/Americana chart-topper “Beautiful Wreck.” Further co-writing yielded nine of the 11 songs on the new album, which Mullins believes represents the strongest, most expressive writing of his distinguished career. All of this creative activity was topped off by the birth of Shawn’s first child, Murphy, in August of 2009.
“Even in the hospital with our new son, something changed for me,” Mullins recalls. “It was almost like nothing else mattered. It feels that different now. And at the same time, co-writing has become a sort of community for me.”
These two crucial realizations are at the center of Light You Up. The new album reaches out, boldly and magnanimously, into present-day existence—and at times like these, like-minded individuals can find strength in numbers. In this sense, the process that brought the new album to life parallels its underlying theme of banding together. Light You Up is an ensemble album through and through, the result of creative interaction from the writing through the recording. Tracking began with two weeks of playing and recording live at Mullins’ rustic Georgia cabin with his core musicians—drummer Gerry Hansen, bassist Patrick Blanchard and guitarist Davis Causey . The project continued with the addition of Hammond B3 organ and other keyboards from Marty Kearns, pedal steel from Dan Dugmore and Clay Cook, saxes from Tom Ryan, a string quartet and additional percussion.
The album opens with the devastating one-two punch of the cinematic “California”—which instantly takes its place alongside such latter-day Cali classics as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” David & David’s “Welcome to the Boomtown,” Beck’s “Earthquake Weather” and Mullins’ own chart-topper “Lullaby”—and the smoldering, zeitgeist-capturing title track. In terms of their dramatic payloads, these two songs are of a piece, delving into the tattered yet resilient heart of the American Dream. The California setting, to which Mullins returns on “Tinseltown,” functions as a microcosm of our collective journey from wide-eyed innocence through bitter experience to the possibility of personal and collective renewal.
Shawn’s friend and collaborator, Nashville pro Chuck Cannon (whose songs have been cut by the likes of Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson), co-wrote “California” and “Light You Up” (the first single). “Chuck’s one of the world’s best songwriters and very old-school in his approach.” Mullins marvels. “A lot of songwriters will work on a song for a few hours, and when it’s pretty good they’ll call it quits. When Cannon and I are working, we won’t leave a song unfinished. There’s a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning until we know the song is right.‘California’ and ‘Light You Up’ are very special to me; they both hint at a sort of New Babylon and where we are in America right now.”
Cannon also co-wrote the Civil War narrative/plea for peace “Catoosa County” and the topical lament “Can’t Remember Summer.” The latter is a five-way collaboration with Edie Carey, Rebecca Lovell, and Toad the Wet Sprocket leader Glen Phillips, who’s Mullins’ lone co-writer on “Murphy’s Song.” The 22-year-old Taos native Max Gomez joined Shawn in the creation of “I Knew a Girl” and the closing “Love Will Find a Way,” as well as being one of four contributors to “Tinseltown,” along with Chuck Jones and Jeff Trott, while Shawn’s longtime drummer Gerry Hansen, who doubled as co-producer of Light You Up, co-wrote “You Make It Better.”
Mullins borrowed the inspiring “The Ghost of Johnny Cash” from co-writers Cannon (who contributes acoustic and backing vocals to the track) and Phil Madeira, and he revisits “No Blue Sky,” which originally appeared on the self-titled 2003 LP from the Thorns, a harmony trio comprising Mullins, Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet, the latter bringing his signature layer-cake harmonies to the rousing sing-along choruses of “California.”
“California” tells the story of a country boy from Mississippi and a hippie chick from the Pacific Northwest who first catch sight of each other in a SoCal freeway traffic jam. “Her stereo was blaring Dylan/The Bootleg Sessions/And ‘Oh the Times They Are A-Changin’’/Made a pretty good impression/She looked over and caught him smiling/Under the California setting sun/They fell in love on the 101.” From there, the lyric follows the descent of the young lovers into the dark underside of what began as their shared California idyll in what amounts to a contemporary fable about the soul-killing temptations of the material world.
The thematic thread runs seamlessly into “Light You Up,” with its unsettling spoken verses—“Everybody wants the real deal/Everybody wants to cop a good feel/Everybody wants more money/Everybody wants a taste of your honey”—and intense choruses, as scorching as the San Fernando Valley in August, as Mullins reaches upward to break into his thrilling falsetto: “I just want to light you up/Light you up like a fire/I just want to turn you on/Turn you on and take you higher.” Here, as elsewhere, a deeper perspective is embedded in the song’s bridge, as Mullins sings, “Yeah this old world can bring you down/Turn your smile into a frown/Break your heart and make you sad/Drive you stark raving mad.” Finally, the narrative drops away as the band launches into a surging extended rave-up, further deepening the song’s emotional resonance.
“Some of the songs are set in L.A.,” Mullins explains. “They’re not all lyrically about Los Angeles or Hollywood, but there’s a California theme that runs through the album. Even ‘Murphy’s Song’ has this Bakersfield sound to it, with Dan Dugmore’s classic pedal steel guitar.” Dugmore was the steel player on a lot of early James Taylor recordings as well as Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou.”
Three songs later, the band pumps out a punchy midtempo groove, and Causey’s shimmering guitar licks conjure up a smoggy sunset, setting the scene for “Tinseltown,” with its memorable payoff, “I don't wanna go downtown tonight/The neon burns just a little too bright/I just wanna watch the sun melt down/Over Tinseltown.”
The album is overflowing with perfect rhymes, telling detail and underlying intimations. This is uncommonly literate stuff, striking in its insightfulness and compassion. Delivered by Mullins in his companionable baritone, as lived-in and textured as your favorite pair of faded jeans, amid the relentless rhythms, churning Hammond organ runs and swooping guitar lines, every line is absolutely spellbinding, adding incrementally to the album’s gripping intensity. “I felt like I needed to get the listener’s attention with this record,” says Shawn. He can consider that a mission accomplished.
His experiences included an indoctrination into the collaborative creative process by numerous bouts of intensive co-writing, in one instance putting him atop of the country charts via a key contribution to the Zac Brown Band’s “Toes,” marking his third #1 single, following 1999’s “Lullaby” and the 2006 Triple A/Americana chart-topper “Beautiful Wreck.” Further co-writing yielded nine of the 11 songs on the new album, which Mullins believes represents the strongest, most expressive writing of his distinguished career. All of this creative activity was topped off by the birth of Shawn’s first child, Murphy, in August of 2009.
“Even in the hospital with our new son, something changed for me,” Mullins recalls. “It was almost like nothing else mattered. It feels that different now. And at the same time, co-writing has become a sort of community for me.”
These two crucial realizations are at the center of Light You Up. The new album reaches out, boldly and magnanimously, into present-day existence—and at times like these, like-minded individuals can find strength in numbers. In this sense, the process that brought the new album to life parallels its underlying theme of banding together. Light You Up is an ensemble album through and through, the result of creative interaction from the writing through the recording. Tracking began with two weeks of playing and recording live at Mullins’ rustic Georgia cabin with his core musicians—drummer Gerry Hansen, bassist Patrick Blanchard and guitarist Davis Causey . The project continued with the addition of Hammond B3 organ and other keyboards from Marty Kearns, pedal steel from Dan Dugmore and Clay Cook, saxes from Tom Ryan, a string quartet and additional percussion.
The album opens with the devastating one-two punch of the cinematic “California”—which instantly takes its place alongside such latter-day Cali classics as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” David & David’s “Welcome to the Boomtown,” Beck’s “Earthquake Weather” and Mullins’ own chart-topper “Lullaby”—and the smoldering, zeitgeist-capturing title track. In terms of their dramatic payloads, these two songs are of a piece, delving into the tattered yet resilient heart of the American Dream. The California setting, to which Mullins returns on “Tinseltown,” functions as a microcosm of our collective journey from wide-eyed innocence through bitter experience to the possibility of personal and collective renewal.
Shawn’s friend and collaborator, Nashville pro Chuck Cannon (whose songs have been cut by the likes of Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson), co-wrote “California” and “Light You Up” (the first single). “Chuck’s one of the world’s best songwriters and very old-school in his approach.” Mullins marvels. “A lot of songwriters will work on a song for a few hours, and when it’s pretty good they’ll call it quits. When Cannon and I are working, we won’t leave a song unfinished. There’s a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning until we know the song is right.‘California’ and ‘Light You Up’ are very special to me; they both hint at a sort of New Babylon and where we are in America right now.”
Cannon also co-wrote the Civil War narrative/plea for peace “Catoosa County” and the topical lament “Can’t Remember Summer.” The latter is a five-way collaboration with Edie Carey, Rebecca Lovell, and Toad the Wet Sprocket leader Glen Phillips, who’s Mullins’ lone co-writer on “Murphy’s Song.” The 22-year-old Taos native Max Gomez joined Shawn in the creation of “I Knew a Girl” and the closing “Love Will Find a Way,” as well as being one of four contributors to “Tinseltown,” along with Chuck Jones and Jeff Trott, while Shawn’s longtime drummer Gerry Hansen, who doubled as co-producer of Light You Up, co-wrote “You Make It Better.”
Mullins borrowed the inspiring “The Ghost of Johnny Cash” from co-writers Cannon (who contributes acoustic and backing vocals to the track) and Phil Madeira, and he revisits “No Blue Sky,” which originally appeared on the self-titled 2003 LP from the Thorns, a harmony trio comprising Mullins, Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet, the latter bringing his signature layer-cake harmonies to the rousing sing-along choruses of “California.”
“California” tells the story of a country boy from Mississippi and a hippie chick from the Pacific Northwest who first catch sight of each other in a SoCal freeway traffic jam. “Her stereo was blaring Dylan/The Bootleg Sessions/And ‘Oh the Times They Are A-Changin’’/Made a pretty good impression/She looked over and caught him smiling/Under the California setting sun/They fell in love on the 101.” From there, the lyric follows the descent of the young lovers into the dark underside of what began as their shared California idyll in what amounts to a contemporary fable about the soul-killing temptations of the material world.
The thematic thread runs seamlessly into “Light You Up,” with its unsettling spoken verses—“Everybody wants the real deal/Everybody wants to cop a good feel/Everybody wants more money/Everybody wants a taste of your honey”—and intense choruses, as scorching as the San Fernando Valley in August, as Mullins reaches upward to break into his thrilling falsetto: “I just want to light you up/Light you up like a fire/I just want to turn you on/Turn you on and take you higher.” Here, as elsewhere, a deeper perspective is embedded in the song’s bridge, as Mullins sings, “Yeah this old world can bring you down/Turn your smile into a frown/Break your heart and make you sad/Drive you stark raving mad.” Finally, the narrative drops away as the band launches into a surging extended rave-up, further deepening the song’s emotional resonance.
“Some of the songs are set in L.A.,” Mullins explains. “They’re not all lyrically about Los Angeles or Hollywood, but there’s a California theme that runs through the album. Even ‘Murphy’s Song’ has this Bakersfield sound to it, with Dan Dugmore’s classic pedal steel guitar.” Dugmore was the steel player on a lot of early James Taylor recordings as well as Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou.”
Three songs later, the band pumps out a punchy midtempo groove, and Causey’s shimmering guitar licks conjure up a smoggy sunset, setting the scene for “Tinseltown,” with its memorable payoff, “I don't wanna go downtown tonight/The neon burns just a little too bright/I just wanna watch the sun melt down/Over Tinseltown.”
The album is overflowing with perfect rhymes, telling detail and underlying intimations. This is uncommonly literate stuff, striking in its insightfulness and compassion. Delivered by Mullins in his companionable baritone, as lived-in and textured as your favorite pair of faded jeans, amid the relentless rhythms, churning Hammond organ runs and swooping guitar lines, every line is absolutely spellbinding, adding incrementally to the album’s gripping intensity. “I felt like I needed to get the listener’s attention with this record,” says Shawn. He can consider that a mission accomplished.
Love And Theft
“We wanted to show a different side and make a record that sounds like us,” Stephen Barker Liles says of Love and Theft’s boundary-pushing new album Whiskey On My Breath. “Country music has always been about honest performances and songs that mean something, and that’s the kind of record that we wanted to make.”
“We’re at a different place, in our music and in our lives, than we were when we made our earlier records, and we wanted this album to reflect that,” agrees his longstanding musical partner Eric Gunderson. “We worked harder and more passionately on this record than anything we’ve ever done. The whole experience was refreshing and inspiring for us.”
Whiskey On My Breath—the duo’s third album—marks a significant creative statement for the two singer-songwriter-guitarists, whose resume already includes a long series of career highlights. Having already established themselves as one of country’s hottest young acts with such memorable hits as the #1 country smash “Angel Eyes” and the Top 10 hit “Runaway,” and their widely acclaimed albums World Wide Open and Love and Theft, the ACM/CMA/CMT-nominated twosome take their music to the next level on Whiskey On My Breath.
The new collection finds the pair stripping their sound down to its essence, with spare, largely acoustic arrangements that focus squarely on their impassioned performances and distinctive vocal chemistry. With Liles and Gunderson co-producing with longtime studio collaborator Josh Leo (known for his work with the likes of Alabama, Restless Heart and Lynyrd Skynyrd), Whiskey On My Breath showcases the emotional honesty of such self-penned new tunes as the introspective title track and the pointedly personal “Everybody Drives Drunk,” along with such lighter-hearted new originals as “Easy,” and “Anytime, Anywhere,” which show Love and Theft’s playful sense of humor to be fully intact. Other highlights include “Get Drunk and Make Friends,” which the artists describe as the most honky-tonk song of their career, and “Wrong Baby Wrong,” a barbed Liles cowrite originally recorded in 2009 by Martina McBride and now reworked in fine style by its co-author.
Although it’s a departure in many respects, Whiskey On My Breath won’t come as that much of a surprise to Love and Theft’s longtime fans, who’ll recognize the commitment to high-energy performances and emotionally forthright songcraft that’s been the foundation of Love and Theft’s music from the start.
Originally a trio that also included fellow singer-songwriter Brian Bandas, Love and Theft first galvanized fans in 2009 with the Top 10 hit “Runaway.” That breakthrough success set the stage for their debut album World Wide Open, which also produced the hit single “Dancing In Circles.” After a move from the Disney-affiliated Carolwood label to RCA, Stephen and Eric scored their first #1 single with “Angel Eyes,” which was featured on Love and Theft’s self-titled second album, along with the hits “Runnin’ Out of Air” and “If You Ever Get Lonely.”
The longtime partners agree that their potent musical chemistry is a reflection of their personal rapport. “The thing about us,” Eric asserts,” is that we really are best friends, and that’s helped to get us through the tougher times. At the same time, though, we’re different enough personality-wise that the combination works. Stephen’s naturally a more social person than I am, and I’m a little more introverted. He tends to see the best in every person and every situation, and I’m kind of the opposite. My songwriting’s different from his, and when we’re in the studio, his approach is different from mine. The way we play guitar is different. The way we arrange songs is different. But our differences come together to make something that each of us couldn’t do on his own.”
The pair’s second-nature chemistry led them both to agree that the occasion of their third album called for the bold musical statement that Whiskey On My Breath would ultimately become.
“In some ways, we’ve played it safe in the past, and I think we’re over that now,” Stephen observes. “It’s easy to fall into that when you’re working in the Nashville system and trying to please everybody. But eventually you come around and realize that you need to be true to yourself. I don’t mind that songs like ‘Whiskey On My Breath’ and ‘Everybody Drives Drunk’ may be a little controversial, because they’re honest, and I think that they’ll make people think about how they feel about life.”
“Those songs are both really personal for us,” Eric notes. “They show a side of us that’s legitimately us, and how we’ve grown up and matured in the time that we’ve been in this business. But there are plenty of songs on this album that are just good, fun songs, and that’s still a side of us too.”
Indeed, Whiskey On My Breath makes it apparent how far the duo—who’ve both become husbands and fathers in the six years since they began their recording career—have traveled, and demonstrates that they’re in for the long haul.
“We feel more strongly about this record than anything we’ve ever done,” Eric concludes. “Whatever happens, we’ve made a record that we both love and that we can both stand behind, and that’s a great feeling.”
“We’re at a different place, in our music and in our lives, than we were when we made our earlier records, and we wanted this album to reflect that,” agrees his longstanding musical partner Eric Gunderson. “We worked harder and more passionately on this record than anything we’ve ever done. The whole experience was refreshing and inspiring for us.”
Whiskey On My Breath—the duo’s third album—marks a significant creative statement for the two singer-songwriter-guitarists, whose resume already includes a long series of career highlights. Having already established themselves as one of country’s hottest young acts with such memorable hits as the #1 country smash “Angel Eyes” and the Top 10 hit “Runaway,” and their widely acclaimed albums World Wide Open and Love and Theft, the ACM/CMA/CMT-nominated twosome take their music to the next level on Whiskey On My Breath.
The new collection finds the pair stripping their sound down to its essence, with spare, largely acoustic arrangements that focus squarely on their impassioned performances and distinctive vocal chemistry. With Liles and Gunderson co-producing with longtime studio collaborator Josh Leo (known for his work with the likes of Alabama, Restless Heart and Lynyrd Skynyrd), Whiskey On My Breath showcases the emotional honesty of such self-penned new tunes as the introspective title track and the pointedly personal “Everybody Drives Drunk,” along with such lighter-hearted new originals as “Easy,” and “Anytime, Anywhere,” which show Love and Theft’s playful sense of humor to be fully intact. Other highlights include “Get Drunk and Make Friends,” which the artists describe as the most honky-tonk song of their career, and “Wrong Baby Wrong,” a barbed Liles cowrite originally recorded in 2009 by Martina McBride and now reworked in fine style by its co-author.
Although it’s a departure in many respects, Whiskey On My Breath won’t come as that much of a surprise to Love and Theft’s longtime fans, who’ll recognize the commitment to high-energy performances and emotionally forthright songcraft that’s been the foundation of Love and Theft’s music from the start.
Originally a trio that also included fellow singer-songwriter Brian Bandas, Love and Theft first galvanized fans in 2009 with the Top 10 hit “Runaway.” That breakthrough success set the stage for their debut album World Wide Open, which also produced the hit single “Dancing In Circles.” After a move from the Disney-affiliated Carolwood label to RCA, Stephen and Eric scored their first #1 single with “Angel Eyes,” which was featured on Love and Theft’s self-titled second album, along with the hits “Runnin’ Out of Air” and “If You Ever Get Lonely.”
The longtime partners agree that their potent musical chemistry is a reflection of their personal rapport. “The thing about us,” Eric asserts,” is that we really are best friends, and that’s helped to get us through the tougher times. At the same time, though, we’re different enough personality-wise that the combination works. Stephen’s naturally a more social person than I am, and I’m a little more introverted. He tends to see the best in every person and every situation, and I’m kind of the opposite. My songwriting’s different from his, and when we’re in the studio, his approach is different from mine. The way we play guitar is different. The way we arrange songs is different. But our differences come together to make something that each of us couldn’t do on his own.”
The pair’s second-nature chemistry led them both to agree that the occasion of their third album called for the bold musical statement that Whiskey On My Breath would ultimately become.
“In some ways, we’ve played it safe in the past, and I think we’re over that now,” Stephen observes. “It’s easy to fall into that when you’re working in the Nashville system and trying to please everybody. But eventually you come around and realize that you need to be true to yourself. I don’t mind that songs like ‘Whiskey On My Breath’ and ‘Everybody Drives Drunk’ may be a little controversial, because they’re honest, and I think that they’ll make people think about how they feel about life.”
“Those songs are both really personal for us,” Eric notes. “They show a side of us that’s legitimately us, and how we’ve grown up and matured in the time that we’ve been in this business. But there are plenty of songs on this album that are just good, fun songs, and that’s still a side of us too.”
Indeed, Whiskey On My Breath makes it apparent how far the duo—who’ve both become husbands and fathers in the six years since they began their recording career—have traveled, and demonstrates that they’re in for the long haul.
“We feel more strongly about this record than anything we’ve ever done,” Eric concludes. “Whatever happens, we’ve made a record that we both love and that we can both stand behind, and that’s a great feeling.”
Anne Harris
“Once you have witnessed Anne Harris play the violin, you aren’t likely to forget the experience any time soon. It’s not just the wondrous music she makes drawing her bow across the strings, it’s also the way the spirit of the music emanates from her physically. She inhabits the music, or maybe the music inhabits her, but it is impossible not to be drawn under her spell.” (BluesWax)
Chicago-based singer-songwriter and fiddle player Anne Harris has been crafting and evolving her unique sound for over a decade, spanning five indie studio records and countless live performances. She’s also played fiddle live or in-studio with numerous other artists, including blues harp virtuoso and 3-time GRAMMY nominee Billy Branch, GRAMMY winner Terrance Simien, Anders Osborne, Living Colour, David Mayfield, Amy Helm, Bobby Messano, Cathy Richardson, breaking rockers Beware of Darkness, and occasional stints with hippie legends Jefferson Starship.
But her highest profile to date has risen from her work with trance-blues innovator and multi- Blues Music Award winner, Otis Taylor, with whom she’s currently touring internationally. “Over the past several years, Harris has become an integral part of Taylor’s sound both on stage and on record, adding another element to his diverse instrumentation … and adding a visual element that takes the celebratory spirit up a couple of notches.“ (Blues Music Magazine) Expounds Julie Jenkins in The Golden Gate Blues Society Newsletter, “The beauty of Anne’s ability to play the violin while dancing as gracefully as a swan and as powerfully as a shaman, moved me to joyful tears. Bearing witness to her performance left me completely awestruck and mesmerized. To watch her perform is hypnotizing. It was pretty much all I could talk about for several days.”
Harris’ highly visual performances have understandably been garnering much attention in the photography world, earning her the cover of a popular blues calendar, a feature in renowned photographer Marilyn Stringer's seminal book, Blues in the 21st Century, placement in several gallery exhibitions in France and Poland, and a recent portrait by renown painter Dane Tilghman.
Her latest project is a collaboration with American Roots artists Ivan Neville and Cris Jacobs in their new band Neville Jacobs.
Although it’s been reported that “Anne Harris plays violin like [Buddy] Guy wields his guitar,” (Orange County Register) and her recognition within the Blues community notwithstanding, she is decidedly not a straight-ahead Blues player. “I’m a true hybrid; I guess I’m a true American. I’m influenced by myriad genres,” Harris said. “To me, whatever particular kind of music we’re playing, whatever bin the music is supposed to fit in at the record store; it’s sort of a nebulous thing. Soul music is soul music, and that can come through a classical format, a blues format, a Celtic format, or a bluegrass format.” (Blues Music Magazine)
Harris has recently released her fifth studio album, Come Hither, featuring significant contributions from guitarist/vocalist Dave Herrero, as well as Otis Taylor, drummer/producer Steve Gillis (Filter), sacred steel guitarist Chuck Campbell (Campbell Brothers) and Billy Branch.
Chicago-based singer-songwriter and fiddle player Anne Harris has been crafting and evolving her unique sound for over a decade, spanning five indie studio records and countless live performances. She’s also played fiddle live or in-studio with numerous other artists, including blues harp virtuoso and 3-time GRAMMY nominee Billy Branch, GRAMMY winner Terrance Simien, Anders Osborne, Living Colour, David Mayfield, Amy Helm, Bobby Messano, Cathy Richardson, breaking rockers Beware of Darkness, and occasional stints with hippie legends Jefferson Starship.
But her highest profile to date has risen from her work with trance-blues innovator and multi- Blues Music Award winner, Otis Taylor, with whom she’s currently touring internationally. “Over the past several years, Harris has become an integral part of Taylor’s sound both on stage and on record, adding another element to his diverse instrumentation … and adding a visual element that takes the celebratory spirit up a couple of notches.“ (Blues Music Magazine) Expounds Julie Jenkins in The Golden Gate Blues Society Newsletter, “The beauty of Anne’s ability to play the violin while dancing as gracefully as a swan and as powerfully as a shaman, moved me to joyful tears. Bearing witness to her performance left me completely awestruck and mesmerized. To watch her perform is hypnotizing. It was pretty much all I could talk about for several days.”
Harris’ highly visual performances have understandably been garnering much attention in the photography world, earning her the cover of a popular blues calendar, a feature in renowned photographer Marilyn Stringer's seminal book, Blues in the 21st Century, placement in several gallery exhibitions in France and Poland, and a recent portrait by renown painter Dane Tilghman.
Her latest project is a collaboration with American Roots artists Ivan Neville and Cris Jacobs in their new band Neville Jacobs.
Although it’s been reported that “Anne Harris plays violin like [Buddy] Guy wields his guitar,” (Orange County Register) and her recognition within the Blues community notwithstanding, she is decidedly not a straight-ahead Blues player. “I’m a true hybrid; I guess I’m a true American. I’m influenced by myriad genres,” Harris said. “To me, whatever particular kind of music we’re playing, whatever bin the music is supposed to fit in at the record store; it’s sort of a nebulous thing. Soul music is soul music, and that can come through a classical format, a blues format, a Celtic format, or a bluegrass format.” (Blues Music Magazine)
Harris has recently released her fifth studio album, Come Hither, featuring significant contributions from guitarist/vocalist Dave Herrero, as well as Otis Taylor, drummer/producer Steve Gillis (Filter), sacred steel guitarist Chuck Campbell (Campbell Brothers) and Billy Branch.
Ben Sollee
Kentucky-born cellist and composer Ben Sollee likes to keep moving. He kicked off 2014 with the release of his score for the documentary film Maidentrip. In March, he performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a tribute to Paul Simon. Throughout April and May, he was out supporting song-writer William Fitzsimmons. This September, he toured for two weeks in Europe and returned to the United States to perform with the Charlotte Ballet. If you’ve seen him perform, you know it’s not to missed. For listeners just discovering Ben’s music, you’ll find that there’s a lot more to it than just songs.
Over the six years following the release of his debut record, Learning to Bend, Sollee and his rugged cello, Kay, told an unconventional story. Seeking a deeper connection to communities on the road, Ben packed his touring life on to his bicycle in 2009. Since then he has ridden over 4,000 miles! He has been invited to perform and speak on sustainability at a number of festivals including South by Southwest Music (2011) and TEDx San Diego (2012). Closer to home, Ben has devoted a tremendous amount of energy to raising awareness about the practice of Mountain Top Removal Strip Mining in Central Appalachia. His 2010 collaborative album Dear Companion (Sub Pop) brought together fellow Kentucky artist Daniel Martin Moore with producer Jim James (My Morning Jacket) to shed light on the issue. In teaming up with international organizations such as Patagonia Clothing and Oxfam America, Ben has come to be known as a thoughtful activist and dedicated informer at shows.
Like his contemporaries Chris Thile and Abigail Washburn, Sollee’s music is difficult to pin down. Following a performance at the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series, the New York Times remarked how Sollee’s “...meticulous, fluent arrangements continually morphed from one thing to another. Appalachian mountain music gave way to the blues, and one song was appended with a fragment from a Bach cello suite, beautifully played.” It’s Ben’s quality of narrative and presence on stage that unifies his musical influences. However, always on the move, Sollee’s musical career has expanded beyond the stage.
Ben’s music can be heard in film and on TV. Shows like ABC’s Parenthood and HBO’s Weeds have placed songs. In 2013, Ben was invited by director Mark Steven Johnson to write a song for the film Killing Season starring John Travolta and Robert De Niro. 2014 is Ben’s second year performing with the North Carolina Dance Theater in Dangerous Liaisons, a play with music written by Ben Sollee.
Over the six years following the release of his debut record, Learning to Bend, Sollee and his rugged cello, Kay, told an unconventional story. Seeking a deeper connection to communities on the road, Ben packed his touring life on to his bicycle in 2009. Since then he has ridden over 4,000 miles! He has been invited to perform and speak on sustainability at a number of festivals including South by Southwest Music (2011) and TEDx San Diego (2012). Closer to home, Ben has devoted a tremendous amount of energy to raising awareness about the practice of Mountain Top Removal Strip Mining in Central Appalachia. His 2010 collaborative album Dear Companion (Sub Pop) brought together fellow Kentucky artist Daniel Martin Moore with producer Jim James (My Morning Jacket) to shed light on the issue. In teaming up with international organizations such as Patagonia Clothing and Oxfam America, Ben has come to be known as a thoughtful activist and dedicated informer at shows.
Like his contemporaries Chris Thile and Abigail Washburn, Sollee’s music is difficult to pin down. Following a performance at the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series, the New York Times remarked how Sollee’s “...meticulous, fluent arrangements continually morphed from one thing to another. Appalachian mountain music gave way to the blues, and one song was appended with a fragment from a Bach cello suite, beautifully played.” It’s Ben’s quality of narrative and presence on stage that unifies his musical influences. However, always on the move, Sollee’s musical career has expanded beyond the stage.
Ben’s music can be heard in film and on TV. Shows like ABC’s Parenthood and HBO’s Weeds have placed songs. In 2013, Ben was invited by director Mark Steven Johnson to write a song for the film Killing Season starring John Travolta and Robert De Niro. 2014 is Ben’s second year performing with the North Carolina Dance Theater in Dangerous Liaisons, a play with music written by Ben Sollee.
Billy Strings
Imagine taking a hardcore heavy metal band like Pantera and cramming all that energy into the body of a 21-year-old bluegrass guitarist. That’s Billy Strings. He tears up the stage during his set, grimacing, growling, head-banging and tearing the holy sh*t out of a set of super-charged Americana. Kid can pick! DAMN can he pick! It’s acoustic music with a punk edge and a lot of youthful enthusiasm and, oh man, that PICKING! Strings covers a wide variety of classic tunes and songs in his show, from a slow-burning cover of “Wild Bill Jones” to a raw cover of “Cocaine Blues” or picking delights like “Red Haired Boy” and “Soldier’s Joy.” But the standout track is the opening song, “Dust in a Baggie”, a cleverly written mountain song about meth that manages to take a very current and destructive issue and translate it into the bluegrass vernacular. It’s a tour-de-force, written by Strings himself, and is the moment you realize just how far this kid’s gonna go." — D.L. "THE BLUEGRASS SITUATION"
Chris Gelbuda
Chris Gelbuda is one of Nashville's brightest new writers. Originally from Chicago, Chris made his way to Nashville after Billy Currington began performing his song "Wingman", which was co-written with Jeff Silbar (Wind Beneath My Wings). Currington eventually cut the song for his new album "We Are Tonight", which is steadily climbing the charts. "Wingman" is slated to be released as a radio single this summer. Chris also writes songs for pop artists. His song "Nintendo" (performed by Todd Carey) is currently going viral on YouTube, and his song "Can't Blame A Girl For Trying" is climbing the Radio Disney and XM charts (performed by actress Sabrina Carpenter of the new Disney show "Girl Meets World"). Chris has written songs with some of the best writers and artists in Nashville and LA, including: Jeffrey Steele, Big Al Anderson, Jeff Silbar, John Mabe, Mark D. Sanders, Jon McLaughlin, Gary Nicholson, Marcus Hummon, Stephony Smith, and Shawn Camp.
Most recently, Chris co-wrote “3 AM” with Big Yellow Dog writer and superstar, Meghan Trainor which is featured on her number one debut album Title. “3 AM’ wasn’t his only contribution to “Title”, he also produced the song “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” Featuring John Legend, which recently received 2X Platinum Single status.
Most recently, Chris co-wrote “3 AM” with Big Yellow Dog writer and superstar, Meghan Trainor which is featured on her number one debut album Title. “3 AM’ wasn’t his only contribution to “Title”, he also produced the song “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” Featuring John Legend, which recently received 2X Platinum Single status.
Dan Rodriguez
Dan Rodriguez, an artist based out of Minneapolis, MN, is creating quite a buzz in the Midwest. The groove-based, bluesy over-toned sound of his music, mixed with his powerful, yet seductive voice creates an atmosphere different from other music. It's refreshing, tantalizing, and just plain good!
Originally from Detroit, MI, Dan moved to Minneapolis in 2004 to pursue music. He started a band with his brother, Andre Rodriguez, and called it The Auburns. They played locally for a couple of years and grew together as a band, as brothers, and as musicians.
In January, 2008, Dan started a self-titled solo project in the Twin Cities. Promoting his band as a trio, Dan started playing venues in the local music scene. As things began to go well, a greater demand for Dan's music rose high enough to inspire him to record an album.
June 13th, 2008, the album Unreal was released in Minneapolis, followed by a self-titled EP in 2011. His most recent album, Roaring Dan, was released in the Summer of 2013. Dan has since been playing locally and touring throughout the Midwest and beyond, and sharing the stage with national acts including Grammy award winning duo The Civil Wars, Pete Francis (Dispatch), NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, John McLaughlin, Andy Grammer and Eric Hutchinson.
In September 2014 Budweiser released their "Friends Are Waiting" commercial featuring Dan's performance of his original song "When You Come Home," which was written for the commercial and pitched through Minneapolis based company In The Groove Music.
Originally from Detroit, MI, Dan moved to Minneapolis in 2004 to pursue music. He started a band with his brother, Andre Rodriguez, and called it The Auburns. They played locally for a couple of years and grew together as a band, as brothers, and as musicians.
In January, 2008, Dan started a self-titled solo project in the Twin Cities. Promoting his band as a trio, Dan started playing venues in the local music scene. As things began to go well, a greater demand for Dan's music rose high enough to inspire him to record an album.
June 13th, 2008, the album Unreal was released in Minneapolis, followed by a self-titled EP in 2011. His most recent album, Roaring Dan, was released in the Summer of 2013. Dan has since been playing locally and touring throughout the Midwest and beyond, and sharing the stage with national acts including Grammy award winning duo The Civil Wars, Pete Francis (Dispatch), NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, John McLaughlin, Andy Grammer and Eric Hutchinson.
In September 2014 Budweiser released their "Friends Are Waiting" commercial featuring Dan's performance of his original song "When You Come Home," which was written for the commercial and pitched through Minneapolis based company In The Groove Music.
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Daphne Willis
With Chicago roots and Texas ties, Daphne Willis brings both musicality and grit to the songs she writes and plays. Born in San Antonio to a classically trained vocalist and audio engineer, Daphne began singing at an early age and found her way to the guitar in high school. Since then, she’s developed the confidence, melodic mastery and vocal range that have won her admirers from here to Beijing.
Daphne didn’t plan a career in music. But as a student at DePaul University in Chicago, she found herself performing at open mic nights, which led to regular Chicago gigs and, eventually, a decision to leave school and hit the road. So she assembled a band and began playing 200 shows a year across the United States. Daphne released her independent EP Matter of Time in September 2007; in a twist of fate, Vanguard Records head Kevin Welk heard a track on an American Airlines flight. This led to a record deal in 2008 and the release of her second EP, Exhibit A.
To record her first full-length album, Daphne headed to the hills of Tennessee. She released What to Say in 2010, which was co-produced by Tim Lauer and Grammy winner Gary Paczosa. Album number two, Because I Can, came out in 2011 and reached the number two spot on iTunes’ Top 40 Singer/Songwriter Chart. On her latest EP, Inside Outright, Daphne co-wrote songs with Hunter Davis, Chris Faulk, Angela Lauer, John Oates of Hall & Oates, Keri Barnes and Tim Lauer.
Daphne currently calls Nashville home, where she crafts her distinct brand of pop and is poised to expand her fan base world wide.
Daphne didn’t plan a career in music. But as a student at DePaul University in Chicago, she found herself performing at open mic nights, which led to regular Chicago gigs and, eventually, a decision to leave school and hit the road. So she assembled a band and began playing 200 shows a year across the United States. Daphne released her independent EP Matter of Time in September 2007; in a twist of fate, Vanguard Records head Kevin Welk heard a track on an American Airlines flight. This led to a record deal in 2008 and the release of her second EP, Exhibit A.
To record her first full-length album, Daphne headed to the hills of Tennessee. She released What to Say in 2010, which was co-produced by Tim Lauer and Grammy winner Gary Paczosa. Album number two, Because I Can, came out in 2011 and reached the number two spot on iTunes’ Top 40 Singer/Songwriter Chart. On her latest EP, Inside Outright, Daphne co-wrote songs with Hunter Davis, Chris Faulk, Angela Lauer, John Oates of Hall & Oates, Keri Barnes and Tim Lauer.
Daphne currently calls Nashville home, where she crafts her distinct brand of pop and is poised to expand her fan base world wide.
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david jacobs-strain
David Jacobs-Strain is a fierce slide guitar player, and a song poet from Oregon. He’s known for both his virtuosity and spirit of emotional abandon; his live show moves from humorous, subversive blues, to delicate balladry, and then swings back to swampy rock and roll. It’s a range that ties Jacobs-Strain to his own generation and to guitar-slinger troubadours like Robert Johnson and Jackson Browne. “I try to make art that you can dance to, but I love that darker place, where in my mind, Skip James, Nick Drake, and maybe Elliot Smith blur together.” His new album, “Geneseo,” speaks of open roads, longing hearts and flashbacks of Oregon– a record of emotions big and small, and lyrics that turn quickly from literal to figurative. “I’m fascinated by the way that rural blues inscribes movement and transience. The music that frees a singer keeps them on the run; there’s a crossroads where a thing can be enchanting but dangerous; damaging but beautiful.”
Jacobs-Strain began playing on street corners and at farmers markets as a teenager, and bought his first steel guitar with the quarters he saved up. Before he dropped out of Stanford to play full time, he had already appeared at festivals across the country, often billed as a blues prodigy, but he had to fight to avoid being a novelty act: “I wanted to tell new stories, it just wasn’t enough to relive the feelings in other people’s music.”
David Jacobs-Strain has appeared at festivals from British Columbia to Australia, including Merlefest, Telluride Blues Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly, Bumbershoot, and Blues to Bop in Switzerland. He’s taught at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, and at fifteen years old was on the faculty at Centrum’s Blues and Heritage workshop. On the road, he’s shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, Boz Scaggs (more than 60 shows), Etta James, The Doobie Brothers, George Thorogood, Robert Earle Keen, Todd Snider, Taj Mahal, Janis Ian, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Weir, T-Bone Burnett, and Del McCoury.
Jacobs-Strain began playing on street corners and at farmers markets as a teenager, and bought his first steel guitar with the quarters he saved up. Before he dropped out of Stanford to play full time, he had already appeared at festivals across the country, often billed as a blues prodigy, but he had to fight to avoid being a novelty act: “I wanted to tell new stories, it just wasn’t enough to relive the feelings in other people’s music.”
David Jacobs-Strain has appeared at festivals from British Columbia to Australia, including Merlefest, Telluride Blues Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly, Bumbershoot, and Blues to Bop in Switzerland. He’s taught at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, and at fifteen years old was on the faculty at Centrum’s Blues and Heritage workshop. On the road, he’s shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, Boz Scaggs (more than 60 shows), Etta James, The Doobie Brothers, George Thorogood, Robert Earle Keen, Todd Snider, Taj Mahal, Janis Ian, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Weir, T-Bone Burnett, and Del McCoury.
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Honeyhoney
The third full-length effort from L.A.-based duo HONEYHONEY, III is an album born from fascination with the sweet and the sleazy, light and dark, danger and magic. Working with Dave Cobb (the producer behind Jason Isbell’s Southeastern and Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music), lead singer/banjo player/violinist Suzanne Santo and vocalist/guitarist Ben Jaffe twist their gritty, harmony-driven brand of Southern-flavored rock & roll through tales of lost souls, broken boys, girls with gold in their spit. Equal parts inward-looking and endlessly curious, the two songwriters also take a mirror to their own experience in lust and heartache and never shy away from revealing the messy truth. And whether they rattle or soothe or joyfully inspire, HONEYHONEY instill each song with a straight-from-the-gut honesty and elegance of storytelling that make III both cathartic and electrifying.
The follow-up to 2011’s Billy Jack (named one of the top albums of the year by American Songwriter and hailed for finding “the common pop thread between alt. country, spaghetti western soundtracks and swampy blues” by Paste), III was recorded in HONEYHONEY’s one-time home of Nashville with a lineup of locals that includes musicians like Robbie Turner (a pedal steel guitarist who’s played with Johnny Cash and The Highwaymen). And while the album finds HONEYHONEY offering their most finely crafted melodies and richly textured sound to date, the band also embodies a loose and scrappy energy drawn out with some help from Cobb. “Dave never let me obsess over my vocals,” says Santo, whose sultry but tender voice intensifies the intimacy of each track. “He’d just be like, ‘Nope, that was raw, we got it, we’re good.’” Adds Jaffe: “He didn’t really allow us to overthink anything, which is great for what we do—the more barriers you can remove to get to the soul of it, the better.”
Throughout III, that soul gets channeled into songs both gorgeously unhinged (such as “Mary Rich,” an epic R&B number that amps up the moody tension of its lyrics with some sublime and frenetic guitar work) and quietly piercing (a la “Burned Me Out,” a wistful ballad about “the loss of idealism, and how that can be really painful but also beautiful,” according to Santo). On the brash and bluesy “Bad People,” HONEYHONEY seesaw between scorn (“Tried your best to be your worst/You must like it that you’re cursed”) and empathy (“We all got some darkness up our sleeve”) in their meditation on the origins of ugly behavior in everyday life. Built on a lilting and lovely string-laced arrangement, “Father’s Daughter” devastates in just two lines at the song’s achingly delivered chorus (“You know I’m in hot water/If I’m my father’s daughter”). And in the one-two punch of the brooding “Numb It” and the steamy, groove-heavy “Sweet Thing,” III looks at the torment and bliss that can come from giving yourself over to pure desire.
For HONEYHONEY, the balance of sophistication and heart that the duo strikes on III has much to do with their closeness as songwriting collaborators. “Writing is about trust—trust in yourself and trust in your partner—and with us there’s a level of trust that you can only get from knowing someone for years and years,” says Jaffe. Forming the band in 2006, Santo and Jaffe first crossed paths at a costume party (she was a cheetah, he was Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid), felt an instant creative connection, and soon started making music together. Although Jaffe learned to play violin and drums as a little kid in western Massachusetts and joined a local jazz band in high school, the Ohio-bred Santo initially pursued work in acting and didn’t think of music as a possible path until early adulthood. “I was new to L.A. and I’d just broken up with my first love,” she recalls. “I started writing these awful songs but I just kept going with it, and after a while it hit me that this was what I was supposed to do with my life.” Making their full-length debut with 2008’s First Rodeo, HONEYHONEY saw their sophomore album Billy Jack climb to #15 on Billboard’s Folk Albums chart and soon began earning praise from the likes of The Onion’s A.V. Club and LA Weekly.
Though Santo and Jaffe consider their continued growth as songwriters to be the lifeblood of the band, their live show also makes for a major element of the HONEYHONEY experience. “The reason we write songs is to express something real, and being able to engage with people directly the way we do onstage is a really important part of that,” Jaffe says. Fueled by their easy chemistry and between-song banter, the duo’s stage presence adds a whole new level of spirit and passion to their sound. “If there’s any kind of goal to what we’re doing, it’s to shake things up for the people listening,” says Santo. “Whether they need to dance or get happy or get angry or whatever, we can make that happen for them. We’ll make you cry and then make you laugh in under ten minutes.”
The follow-up to 2011’s Billy Jack (named one of the top albums of the year by American Songwriter and hailed for finding “the common pop thread between alt. country, spaghetti western soundtracks and swampy blues” by Paste), III was recorded in HONEYHONEY’s one-time home of Nashville with a lineup of locals that includes musicians like Robbie Turner (a pedal steel guitarist who’s played with Johnny Cash and The Highwaymen). And while the album finds HONEYHONEY offering their most finely crafted melodies and richly textured sound to date, the band also embodies a loose and scrappy energy drawn out with some help from Cobb. “Dave never let me obsess over my vocals,” says Santo, whose sultry but tender voice intensifies the intimacy of each track. “He’d just be like, ‘Nope, that was raw, we got it, we’re good.’” Adds Jaffe: “He didn’t really allow us to overthink anything, which is great for what we do—the more barriers you can remove to get to the soul of it, the better.”
Throughout III, that soul gets channeled into songs both gorgeously unhinged (such as “Mary Rich,” an epic R&B number that amps up the moody tension of its lyrics with some sublime and frenetic guitar work) and quietly piercing (a la “Burned Me Out,” a wistful ballad about “the loss of idealism, and how that can be really painful but also beautiful,” according to Santo). On the brash and bluesy “Bad People,” HONEYHONEY seesaw between scorn (“Tried your best to be your worst/You must like it that you’re cursed”) and empathy (“We all got some darkness up our sleeve”) in their meditation on the origins of ugly behavior in everyday life. Built on a lilting and lovely string-laced arrangement, “Father’s Daughter” devastates in just two lines at the song’s achingly delivered chorus (“You know I’m in hot water/If I’m my father’s daughter”). And in the one-two punch of the brooding “Numb It” and the steamy, groove-heavy “Sweet Thing,” III looks at the torment and bliss that can come from giving yourself over to pure desire.
For HONEYHONEY, the balance of sophistication and heart that the duo strikes on III has much to do with their closeness as songwriting collaborators. “Writing is about trust—trust in yourself and trust in your partner—and with us there’s a level of trust that you can only get from knowing someone for years and years,” says Jaffe. Forming the band in 2006, Santo and Jaffe first crossed paths at a costume party (she was a cheetah, he was Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid), felt an instant creative connection, and soon started making music together. Although Jaffe learned to play violin and drums as a little kid in western Massachusetts and joined a local jazz band in high school, the Ohio-bred Santo initially pursued work in acting and didn’t think of music as a possible path until early adulthood. “I was new to L.A. and I’d just broken up with my first love,” she recalls. “I started writing these awful songs but I just kept going with it, and after a while it hit me that this was what I was supposed to do with my life.” Making their full-length debut with 2008’s First Rodeo, HONEYHONEY saw their sophomore album Billy Jack climb to #15 on Billboard’s Folk Albums chart and soon began earning praise from the likes of The Onion’s A.V. Club and LA Weekly.
Though Santo and Jaffe consider their continued growth as songwriters to be the lifeblood of the band, their live show also makes for a major element of the HONEYHONEY experience. “The reason we write songs is to express something real, and being able to engage with people directly the way we do onstage is a really important part of that,” Jaffe says. Fueled by their easy chemistry and between-song banter, the duo’s stage presence adds a whole new level of spirit and passion to their sound. “If there’s any kind of goal to what we’re doing, it’s to shake things up for the people listening,” says Santo. “Whether they need to dance or get happy or get angry or whatever, we can make that happen for them. We’ll make you cry and then make you laugh in under ten minutes.”
Joe Craven
Award winning creativity educator, former museum curator, actor, festival emcee, Director of RiverTunes Music Camp, a Co-Director of the Wintergrass Youth Academy and proud father, Joe Craven’s love of music making has put him in many musical genres and alongside many musicians over the years, from Jerry Garcia, Yo-Yo Ma, David Lindley, Jason Marsalis and Roy Rogers to his fabulous Joe Craven Trio and other groups such as Alison Brown’s Quartet, The Persuasions, Psychograss, The Horseflies and the list goes on. For 17 years, he was percussionist/violinist with mandolinist David Grisman.
Whether presenting a workshop or lecture in a Costa Rican community, to business executives in Contra Costa, CA, or thousands of school kids in Scotland ~ to performing at house concerts, major music festivals, the stage of Carnegie Hall or a street corner at Cannery Row, Joe’s at home and loving every minute.
“Joe Craven is Magical.” ~ San Francisco Chronicle
Whether presenting a workshop or lecture in a Costa Rican community, to business executives in Contra Costa, CA, or thousands of school kids in Scotland ~ to performing at house concerts, major music festivals, the stage of Carnegie Hall or a street corner at Cannery Row, Joe’s at home and loving every minute.
“Joe Craven is Magical.” ~ San Francisco Chronicle
Matt the Electrician
Despite the name, Matt the Electrician is no longer an electrician, focusing instead on a music career that has spanned the course of two decades, a dozen records, and literally thousands of shows. It’s folk music for a modern age, rooted in lyrics that focus on the realities and challenges of the 21st century as opposed to, say, the old-school thrill of hopping trains.
“I don’t generally write mining disaster songs,”he explains. “I tend to write about things that have happened to me and my family. Songs about the small things in life, which, to me, are really the big things.”
With his newest project, Matt gets by with a little help from his friends. Throughout 2015 and 2016, he’s focusing on a string of 7-inch vinyl singles. Every new release will focus on collaborations with different artists who’ve crossed Matt’s path over the years, including the bluegrass band Wood & Wire (who appear on the very first installment of the vinyl series), experimental solo musician Little Brave, and others. Rather than record an entire album’s worth of material, then carefully plot the album’s release for months, Matt the Election will release the 7-inch records as they’re finished, with each new release following its predecessor by three or four months. The goal? To get new music to his fans as quickly and creatively as possible. The icing on the cake? Matt gets to extend the collaborative spirit that’s been present in his music ever since his very first gig in Pacific Grove, CA, when he invited his high school classmates to join him onstage.
“The coffee shop paid me in tips, free coffee and a sandwich,” he remembers of that teenaged gig. “I had to fill three hours, and I only had two songs, so I invited all the friends I knew kids from the school orchestra, friends, other kids who had started writing songs and the show wound up being ‘Matt and Friends.’ That was 25 years ago and that’s what I’m still doing.”
Years before moving to Texas and launching his career as a boundary-breaking, working-class folk musician, Matt Sever grew up on the West Coast. His parents, a union carpenter and a seamstress, played John Denver and Pete Seeger songs on the family record player, and Matt spent his earliest years surrounded by the things that would later fill his own music: acoustic guitars, timeless melodies, lyrics that celebrated the joys and heartaches of everyday life, and above all else a strong work ethic.
That work ethic served him well in the mid-1990s, when he moved to Austin in search of new horizons and better opportunities. Matt was already playing music by then, and in need of a steady day job to help pay the bills, he began working as an electrician, spending his days wiring houses in the sweltering Texas heat. Once quitting time came, he’d grab his guitar and drive himself to an evening show, usually taking the stage in his work boots and sweaty clothes. “Hi; I’m Matt the Electrician,” he’d tell the crowd, hoping his occupation would help explain his appearance. The name stuck, even after his growing fan base at home as well as abroad, where he’s since become a frequently-booked musician throughout Japan and Europe allowed him to hang up his pliers for good.
“I don’t generally write mining disaster songs,”he explains. “I tend to write about things that have happened to me and my family. Songs about the small things in life, which, to me, are really the big things.”
With his newest project, Matt gets by with a little help from his friends. Throughout 2015 and 2016, he’s focusing on a string of 7-inch vinyl singles. Every new release will focus on collaborations with different artists who’ve crossed Matt’s path over the years, including the bluegrass band Wood & Wire (who appear on the very first installment of the vinyl series), experimental solo musician Little Brave, and others. Rather than record an entire album’s worth of material, then carefully plot the album’s release for months, Matt the Election will release the 7-inch records as they’re finished, with each new release following its predecessor by three or four months. The goal? To get new music to his fans as quickly and creatively as possible. The icing on the cake? Matt gets to extend the collaborative spirit that’s been present in his music ever since his very first gig in Pacific Grove, CA, when he invited his high school classmates to join him onstage.
“The coffee shop paid me in tips, free coffee and a sandwich,” he remembers of that teenaged gig. “I had to fill three hours, and I only had two songs, so I invited all the friends I knew kids from the school orchestra, friends, other kids who had started writing songs and the show wound up being ‘Matt and Friends.’ That was 25 years ago and that’s what I’m still doing.”
Years before moving to Texas and launching his career as a boundary-breaking, working-class folk musician, Matt Sever grew up on the West Coast. His parents, a union carpenter and a seamstress, played John Denver and Pete Seeger songs on the family record player, and Matt spent his earliest years surrounded by the things that would later fill his own music: acoustic guitars, timeless melodies, lyrics that celebrated the joys and heartaches of everyday life, and above all else a strong work ethic.
That work ethic served him well in the mid-1990s, when he moved to Austin in search of new horizons and better opportunities. Matt was already playing music by then, and in need of a steady day job to help pay the bills, he began working as an electrician, spending his days wiring houses in the sweltering Texas heat. Once quitting time came, he’d grab his guitar and drive himself to an evening show, usually taking the stage in his work boots and sweaty clothes. “Hi; I’m Matt the Electrician,” he’d tell the crowd, hoping his occupation would help explain his appearance. The name stuck, even after his growing fan base at home as well as abroad, where he’s since become a frequently-booked musician throughout Japan and Europe allowed him to hang up his pliers for good.
randall bramblett
A jewel of Southern music, Randall Bramblett shines on his latest release, The Bright Spots, due out May 14 on New West Records. Fresh off the inclusion of one of his songs on Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning album Slipstream, he has put together a masterful recording soaked with the soulful feel that has defined his music and that of his Southern contemporaries like Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes. From Howlin’ Wolf to Ray Charles and “dark Motown” influences, sitar samples, gospel strains and even a snippet of water-splashing pygmies, The Bright Spots mixes diverse elements that dovetail into Randall’s finest album yet.
Although sometimes associated with the Southern rock scene built around the ’70s-’80s Capricorn label’s core, Randall has never identified with that sound. “Black music is what I grew up loving and the folk scene really hit me too,” he says. “So it’s a combination of Dylan and Ray Charles.”
Elements of pop, soul, blues, and the sounds of the church combine with Randall’s often wistful, beautifully conceived lyrics on these dozen ruminative, roots-based tunes. “Some of the words come from dreams. I do meditations in the morning and write in a journal,” he says. His lyrical strength is mixing unusual thematic concepts with dry humor. That helps explain the album’s upbeat title. “In almost every song there is darkness, yet some thread of humor. The irony of the bright spots is that there is a lot of hurt in these songs and there are the bright spots too. It’s pain and joy simultaneously. There are gifts of desperation.”
That takes the form of the lowdown “Whatever That Is,” his most overtly blues composition, and the sing-along gospel of “Shine,” which sports an anthemic chorus different from anything Bramblett has previously written. “I’ve tried to push the boundaries, but we always follow the song and see what it needs. If the song doesn’t like something, it will tell you.”
With five songs recorded in Nashville and seven more tracked with his long time touring band on his home turf in Athens, GA, the multi-instrumentalist (guitar, keyboards, woodwinds) says his ninth studio release was the easiest and most organic to record. “It felt good and went quickly,” he explains. “It just fell together easily compared to my other records. We did not obsess about this one. A lot of it is live in the studio; we didn’t do a lot of takes or overdubs either.”
Perhaps that’s because the songs come from the experiences accumulated during his extensive career, starting in the ’70s as a member of the jazzy Southern band Sea Level. Add to that a far-reaching resume of work with artists such as Steve Winwood (for 16 years), Gregg Allman, Chuck Leavell, Levon Helm, Widespread Panic, and Gov’t Mule, and the touchstones of Randall’s music emerge. “All these songs came from my life, just feeling that I’m getting a little older and trying to squeeze out a little more time or creativity before it’s too late.”
Having a surfeit of original material to choose from, and highly creative, imaginative musicians in both Nashville and Athens to flesh out the tracks and mold them into bold, soulful statements also helped. “I had 18-20 songs and chose the best 12. As you start recording, you get a feel for where the record is going and it starts to have a life of its own. I have a lot of different styles I can do . . . I like variety but it shouldn’t sound like it’s arbitrary.” As in the past, Bramblett’s dusky, soulful voice and sympathetic backing is unified by the sharp production of veteran shotgun-riding drummer Gerry Hansen. He effortlessly ties the somewhat disparate elements that include short bits of African pygmy children splashing water, and the occasional R&B horn section, together into a cohesive set.
It helps to have high profile fans too. The multi-Grammy winning Raitt has been a Bramblett devotee since the late Stephen Bruton gave her a copy of 2001’s No More Mr. Lucky. She invited Bramblett’s band on the road to open shows and recorded his compositions “God Was in the Water” which appears on the album Souls Alike, and the gutsy “Used To Rule the World” (which has become a focus track) on Slipstream, which in addition to winning Grammy gold has sold more than 300,000 units to date.
The self-effacing artist downplays his previous sideman status, yet is grateful for valuable lessons gained from his work with Gregg Allman (“I learned about organ, vocals and drama through the bluesiness and dynamics of his playing”), watching The Band’s Levon Helm (“his joy of playing freed me up”) and Steve Winwood (“he taught me a lot about organ and melody, working out details and how to create the background beds he was so good at”).
The challenge of composing moving, often emotionally driven songs with words that aim to stir the listener’s feelings has always motivated Bramblett and creates this inspired album. Writing a song is “like playing with the pieces of a puzzle or playing in the sand until you start seeing something,” he asserts.
Despite Bramblett’s antecedents in Americana and specifically Southern music, this is no stroll down the red clay back roads of his youth. The album bridges the past and the present in the loop-driven rhythms of “John the Baptist,” “Trying To Steal a Minute” and the upbeat groove funk of “’Til the Party’s All Gone” as well as the more meditative keyboard based ballad “Detox Bracelet.” Overall The Bright Spots is steeped in soul with a modern edge. “I didn’t want to make a retro record. I like doing something different every time,” he says.
Randall Bramblett continues to push the envelope of his Southern soul into areas that further illuminate his past, while expanding and nudging his roots into the future. The music reflects “a lot of angst, salvation and redemption but it all comes from my experiences,” he concludes. “It’s an honest album that has heart.”
Although sometimes associated with the Southern rock scene built around the ’70s-’80s Capricorn label’s core, Randall has never identified with that sound. “Black music is what I grew up loving and the folk scene really hit me too,” he says. “So it’s a combination of Dylan and Ray Charles.”
Elements of pop, soul, blues, and the sounds of the church combine with Randall’s often wistful, beautifully conceived lyrics on these dozen ruminative, roots-based tunes. “Some of the words come from dreams. I do meditations in the morning and write in a journal,” he says. His lyrical strength is mixing unusual thematic concepts with dry humor. That helps explain the album’s upbeat title. “In almost every song there is darkness, yet some thread of humor. The irony of the bright spots is that there is a lot of hurt in these songs and there are the bright spots too. It’s pain and joy simultaneously. There are gifts of desperation.”
That takes the form of the lowdown “Whatever That Is,” his most overtly blues composition, and the sing-along gospel of “Shine,” which sports an anthemic chorus different from anything Bramblett has previously written. “I’ve tried to push the boundaries, but we always follow the song and see what it needs. If the song doesn’t like something, it will tell you.”
With five songs recorded in Nashville and seven more tracked with his long time touring band on his home turf in Athens, GA, the multi-instrumentalist (guitar, keyboards, woodwinds) says his ninth studio release was the easiest and most organic to record. “It felt good and went quickly,” he explains. “It just fell together easily compared to my other records. We did not obsess about this one. A lot of it is live in the studio; we didn’t do a lot of takes or overdubs either.”
Perhaps that’s because the songs come from the experiences accumulated during his extensive career, starting in the ’70s as a member of the jazzy Southern band Sea Level. Add to that a far-reaching resume of work with artists such as Steve Winwood (for 16 years), Gregg Allman, Chuck Leavell, Levon Helm, Widespread Panic, and Gov’t Mule, and the touchstones of Randall’s music emerge. “All these songs came from my life, just feeling that I’m getting a little older and trying to squeeze out a little more time or creativity before it’s too late.”
Having a surfeit of original material to choose from, and highly creative, imaginative musicians in both Nashville and Athens to flesh out the tracks and mold them into bold, soulful statements also helped. “I had 18-20 songs and chose the best 12. As you start recording, you get a feel for where the record is going and it starts to have a life of its own. I have a lot of different styles I can do . . . I like variety but it shouldn’t sound like it’s arbitrary.” As in the past, Bramblett’s dusky, soulful voice and sympathetic backing is unified by the sharp production of veteran shotgun-riding drummer Gerry Hansen. He effortlessly ties the somewhat disparate elements that include short bits of African pygmy children splashing water, and the occasional R&B horn section, together into a cohesive set.
It helps to have high profile fans too. The multi-Grammy winning Raitt has been a Bramblett devotee since the late Stephen Bruton gave her a copy of 2001’s No More Mr. Lucky. She invited Bramblett’s band on the road to open shows and recorded his compositions “God Was in the Water” which appears on the album Souls Alike, and the gutsy “Used To Rule the World” (which has become a focus track) on Slipstream, which in addition to winning Grammy gold has sold more than 300,000 units to date.
The self-effacing artist downplays his previous sideman status, yet is grateful for valuable lessons gained from his work with Gregg Allman (“I learned about organ, vocals and drama through the bluesiness and dynamics of his playing”), watching The Band’s Levon Helm (“his joy of playing freed me up”) and Steve Winwood (“he taught me a lot about organ and melody, working out details and how to create the background beds he was so good at”).
The challenge of composing moving, often emotionally driven songs with words that aim to stir the listener’s feelings has always motivated Bramblett and creates this inspired album. Writing a song is “like playing with the pieces of a puzzle or playing in the sand until you start seeing something,” he asserts.
Despite Bramblett’s antecedents in Americana and specifically Southern music, this is no stroll down the red clay back roads of his youth. The album bridges the past and the present in the loop-driven rhythms of “John the Baptist,” “Trying To Steal a Minute” and the upbeat groove funk of “’Til the Party’s All Gone” as well as the more meditative keyboard based ballad “Detox Bracelet.” Overall The Bright Spots is steeped in soul with a modern edge. “I didn’t want to make a retro record. I like doing something different every time,” he says.
Randall Bramblett continues to push the envelope of his Southern soul into areas that further illuminate his past, while expanding and nudging his roots into the future. The music reflects “a lot of angst, salvation and redemption but it all comes from my experiences,” he concludes. “It’s an honest album that has heart.”
Shel
The SHEL sisters’ sound is filled with infectious rhythms and hypnotic vocals that meld together their classical training and diverse influences – the result is mesmerizing. Raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, SHEL has spent the last couple years touring to support their critically acclaimed debut release. Whether playing folk festivals or with orchestras, SHEL captivates audiences with their distinctive arrangements and energized show. SHEL is an acronym for their names; Sarah on violin, Hannah on keyboard, Eva on mandolin, Liza on drums, djembe and beatboxing. The sisters also receive rave reviews for their quirky style and creating all their music videos with Sarah as the videographer and editor. In addition, SHEL’s songs have been featured in numerous television shows, films, and commercials. SHEL’s “Hold On,” was featured in a pivotal scene in The Best of Me and it was the lead video from the film and soundtrack. SHEL is currently working on their second record with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
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Tall Heights
It’s been half a decade since Tall Heights kicked off their career in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, busking for more than 100 days to help fund their very first EP. Paul Wright would play cello, Tim Harrington would strum the acoustic guitar, and both bandmates would sing, their voices cutting through the noise of shoppers and tourists.
Since those days, the duo’s harmony-heavy indie folk has taken Tall Heights from the marketplaces of Massachusetts to stages across the country. They’ve toured America, released critically-acclaimed album, Man of Stone, and earned a spot on the same folk family tree as Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Iver. On 2015’s Holding On, Holding Out, though, the duo widen their reach significantly, beefing up their sound with electronics, synthesizers, drums loops, Casio keyboards, and plenty of shimmer and shine. It’s a record of exploration and expansion, with Tall Heights building something towering on top of their folksy foundation.
“This record feels like a new birth for us,” says Harrington, a Boston native who grew up singing in the same local choirs as Wright. “We’re sounding different. It’s not because we were bored; it’s because we were street performers who learned how to create beautiful moments as a duo, but then we became a nationally-touring act. We saw the country, we broadened our horizons. Suddenly, we weren’t the artists we were before. But a lot of what we learned on the street still rings true to our approach today, so this record is a growth, rather than a left-hand turn.”
Recorded at Color Study studio in Goshen, Vermont, Holding On, Holding Out was partially inspired by the music that poured out of Tall Heights’ car speakers during the long drives from show to show. The guys found themselves listening to a wide array of sounds as they hurtled across the country, but they zeroed in on Icelandic music, taking influence from the sonic sweep of Sigur R&ocute;s and the electronic percussion of Ásgeir. The music of Iceland’s underground was deep, dark and cinematic, able not only to deliver a melody, but to cast a mood, too. Harrington and Wright were also influenced by their hometown Boston music scene, specifically their friends and peers in Darlingside and the Ballroom Thieves. Months later, while recording their own EP, Tall Heights used all of it as inspiration, and allowed their intimate indie-folk to grow into something bigger and bolder. It was a natural growth — the sound of two musicians amplifying their music to its fullest potential, exploring some new territory along the way.
“We’re singing together more than ever before,” Wright adds. “Throughout all of Holding On, Holding Out, there are only a few places where only one person is singing without the other. There’s a lot of perfect unison, too: just two people singing the same note at the same time, fusing their voices into a sound that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. I think that’s the biggest difference between this project and the last project. We’re not just harmonizing; we’re singing together all the time.”
Holding On, Holding Out also draws a line between humans’ relationships with each other and their environment. It’s a call to be more present and conscious, especially with things we all hold dear — family, love, our planet — are at stake. At its core, though, Holding On, Holding Out is a blast of exploration and electricity from a group that previously did some of its best work unplugged. It’s progressive and propulsive, shining a light not only on where Tall Heights have been before, but where they’re going.
Since those days, the duo’s harmony-heavy indie folk has taken Tall Heights from the marketplaces of Massachusetts to stages across the country. They’ve toured America, released critically-acclaimed album, Man of Stone, and earned a spot on the same folk family tree as Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Iver. On 2015’s Holding On, Holding Out, though, the duo widen their reach significantly, beefing up their sound with electronics, synthesizers, drums loops, Casio keyboards, and plenty of shimmer and shine. It’s a record of exploration and expansion, with Tall Heights building something towering on top of their folksy foundation.
“This record feels like a new birth for us,” says Harrington, a Boston native who grew up singing in the same local choirs as Wright. “We’re sounding different. It’s not because we were bored; it’s because we were street performers who learned how to create beautiful moments as a duo, but then we became a nationally-touring act. We saw the country, we broadened our horizons. Suddenly, we weren’t the artists we were before. But a lot of what we learned on the street still rings true to our approach today, so this record is a growth, rather than a left-hand turn.”
Recorded at Color Study studio in Goshen, Vermont, Holding On, Holding Out was partially inspired by the music that poured out of Tall Heights’ car speakers during the long drives from show to show. The guys found themselves listening to a wide array of sounds as they hurtled across the country, but they zeroed in on Icelandic music, taking influence from the sonic sweep of Sigur R&ocute;s and the electronic percussion of Ásgeir. The music of Iceland’s underground was deep, dark and cinematic, able not only to deliver a melody, but to cast a mood, too. Harrington and Wright were also influenced by their hometown Boston music scene, specifically their friends and peers in Darlingside and the Ballroom Thieves. Months later, while recording their own EP, Tall Heights used all of it as inspiration, and allowed their intimate indie-folk to grow into something bigger and bolder. It was a natural growth — the sound of two musicians amplifying their music to its fullest potential, exploring some new territory along the way.
“We’re singing together more than ever before,” Wright adds. “Throughout all of Holding On, Holding Out, there are only a few places where only one person is singing without the other. There’s a lot of perfect unison, too: just two people singing the same note at the same time, fusing their voices into a sound that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. I think that’s the biggest difference between this project and the last project. We’re not just harmonizing; we’re singing together all the time.”
Holding On, Holding Out also draws a line between humans’ relationships with each other and their environment. It’s a call to be more present and conscious, especially with things we all hold dear — family, love, our planet — are at stake. At its core, though, Holding On, Holding Out is a blast of exploration and electricity from a group that previously did some of its best work unplugged. It’s progressive and propulsive, shining a light not only on where Tall Heights have been before, but where they’re going.
The Mastersons
Husband and wife, singing and playing together.
And they’re each deft instrumentalists, and they’ve spent years playing in others’ bands before coming together as a unit. They’re bound by music and an uncommon depth of companionship, they’re good enough to make Steve Earle swoon, and all of that sounds quite nice.
Until 16 and a half seconds into track one, when Eleanor Whitmore begins singing, “The twitch in my left eye came back today.”
“Yeah, we’re not exactly gazing lovingly at each other while we’re playing these songs,” says guitarist Chris Masterson. “Sometimes the ‘couple’ thing can seem a bit schmaltzy. We’re more a band than a duo, and we’re not going to be George and Tammy. We might not even be John and Exene.”
That’s not to say that these folks don’t love each other, or that they aren’t of a piece. It’s just that listening to The Mastersons – either live or on their immediately engaging, musically expansive debut album, Birds Fly South (due out April 10 on New West Records) – isn’t akin to eavesdropping on two soulmates’ impossibly intimate conversation. This is more fun than that, with bright melodies that lead to dark lyrics, inventive harmonies and enough sparkle and twang to fashion a Porter Wagoner suit. Together, Whitmore (who plays guitar, violin, mandolin and most anything else with strings) and Masterson arrive at a singular blend that Emmylou Harris speaks of as “the third voice,” one distinct from its individual elements.
“Eleanor on her own has a beautiful voice, far better than mine,” Masterson says. “But when we come together, something bigger happens.”
That “something bigger” is captured in full on Birds Fly South, an album with soul and groove and teeth and not an ounce of schmaltz. Like the Jayhawks or Buddy & Julie Miller, it exists in an expansive territory that encompasses rock, pop, blues and country, but this is not an “If you like x, then you’ll like y” kind of record. It’s an unexpected and frequently astonishing melding of sensibilities, from two unique yet perfectly-matched artists.
And they’re each deft instrumentalists, and they’ve spent years playing in others’ bands before coming together as a unit. They’re bound by music and an uncommon depth of companionship, they’re good enough to make Steve Earle swoon, and all of that sounds quite nice.
Until 16 and a half seconds into track one, when Eleanor Whitmore begins singing, “The twitch in my left eye came back today.”
“Yeah, we’re not exactly gazing lovingly at each other while we’re playing these songs,” says guitarist Chris Masterson. “Sometimes the ‘couple’ thing can seem a bit schmaltzy. We’re more a band than a duo, and we’re not going to be George and Tammy. We might not even be John and Exene.”
That’s not to say that these folks don’t love each other, or that they aren’t of a piece. It’s just that listening to The Mastersons – either live or on their immediately engaging, musically expansive debut album, Birds Fly South (due out April 10 on New West Records) – isn’t akin to eavesdropping on two soulmates’ impossibly intimate conversation. This is more fun than that, with bright melodies that lead to dark lyrics, inventive harmonies and enough sparkle and twang to fashion a Porter Wagoner suit. Together, Whitmore (who plays guitar, violin, mandolin and most anything else with strings) and Masterson arrive at a singular blend that Emmylou Harris speaks of as “the third voice,” one distinct from its individual elements.
“Eleanor on her own has a beautiful voice, far better than mine,” Masterson says. “But when we come together, something bigger happens.”
That “something bigger” is captured in full on Birds Fly South, an album with soul and groove and teeth and not an ounce of schmaltz. Like the Jayhawks or Buddy & Julie Miller, it exists in an expansive territory that encompasses rock, pop, blues and country, but this is not an “If you like x, then you’ll like y” kind of record. It’s an unexpected and frequently astonishing melding of sensibilities, from two unique yet perfectly-matched artists.
Shook Twins
“I love the harmonies of the Shook Twins, the dreamlike songs that seem somehow permeated by the American Folk tradition, without actually being part of it. They make music that twines through your soul the way vines cover an abandoned shack in the woods.” – Neil Gaiman, New York Times – Best-Selling Author
Born and raised in Sandpoint Idaho, Shook Twins are an Indie folk-pop band now hailing from coniferous forested Portland, Oregon. Identical twins, Katelyn and Laurie Shook, Kyle Volkman and Niko Daoussis form the core quartet. Central elements of the Shook Twins’ sound are a wide range of instrumentation, including banjo, guitar, electric and upright bass, mandolin, electric guitar, electronic drums, face drum (beatbox), glockenspiel, ukulele, banjo drumming and their signature golden EGG. Beautiful twin harmonies, layered upon acoustic and electric instrumentation coupled with Laurie’s inventive use of percussive and ambient vocal loops, and Katelyn’s repurposed telephone microphone, set their sound apart, creating a unique and eccentric blend of folk, roots, groove and soul.
The twins are the main songwriters but they have recently started backing up their band members, Niko Daoussis (Cyber Camel) and Anna Tivel (Anna and the Underbelly) and adding their stunning songs to the mix.
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The Vespers
The Vespers are one of those bands that have built an extensive underground following simply through word of mouth and heavy touring. The band is uniquely made up of two sibling duos; the Cryar sisters, and the Jones brothers. The four have distinguished their sound with an arsenal of acoustic instruments and harmonies only siblings can create. Their showmanship generates a roller coaster of sight, sound, and emotion and their inherent chemistry continues to set them apart. The band has independently released two full-length records and have been busy touring all across the US wherever folks will let them since their first “jam” back in May 2009.
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Songwriters in the Round - Saturday 11:15am-12:30pm
Conner Zwetsch
Florida-bred in true 90s form, Connor Zwetsch was raised on the warm singer/songwriter anthems
and pop mania that colored the era. It was in these formative years, in artists such as Matchbox 20 and New Radicals, that Connor first found a sense of belonging. Nowadays, Connor’s unique niche as a solo artist is defined by a sound laced with nostalgia and shaped by a back-porch songwriter’s
honesty with a penchant for catchy, upbeat melodies.
She emanates a contagious kind of comfort on stage, letting audiences sit back and sink into her warm, sultry vibes. Her music is the coziness of empathy met with bare honesty and confessional lyrics; a view of ventured mountains seen from a back porch rocking chair. She invites her listeners to join in, stand up, sing along, and scream aloud.
Her debut EP, “ What Comes After”, recorded at Bear Creek Studio with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy), was released August 2015 on Noble Steed Music. “What Comes After” is an autobiographical collection that will resonate with all who are navigating love, loss, and the search for life’s silver linings. It’s a celebration of the big and small things: water wasted, bridges burned, gas station wine, and whatever it is that comes after.
and pop mania that colored the era. It was in these formative years, in artists such as Matchbox 20 and New Radicals, that Connor first found a sense of belonging. Nowadays, Connor’s unique niche as a solo artist is defined by a sound laced with nostalgia and shaped by a back-porch songwriter’s
honesty with a penchant for catchy, upbeat melodies.
She emanates a contagious kind of comfort on stage, letting audiences sit back and sink into her warm, sultry vibes. Her music is the coziness of empathy met with bare honesty and confessional lyrics; a view of ventured mountains seen from a back porch rocking chair. She invites her listeners to join in, stand up, sing along, and scream aloud.
Her debut EP, “ What Comes After”, recorded at Bear Creek Studio with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy), was released August 2015 on Noble Steed Music. “What Comes After” is an autobiographical collection that will resonate with all who are navigating love, loss, and the search for life’s silver linings. It’s a celebration of the big and small things: water wasted, bridges burned, gas station wine, and whatever it is that comes after.
Dean Johansen
Originally from New York, accomplished singer/songwriter/guitarist Dean Johanesen has made his home in many parts of the US including, Indiana, Nevada, Georgia and now residing in Florida.
Johanesen's mother delivered motor homes when he was young and the family traveled around listening to many different artists and kinds of music. Led Zeppelin to Simon and Garfunkel, classic country to musical soundtracks provided the soundtrack to his youth and his diversity of influences had an effect on Johanesen's interests musically as well as giving him a feel for the road.
After being in bands for many years with rotating members and differentiating musical influences, Johanesen decided to pursue a solo career. In 2013 Dean released his first solo record A Time and A Place, a collection of songs that fit more of a personal storyteller type influence. In 2014 the solo release was accepted by Pandora for Dean's own radio station which can be heard here - Dean on Pandora.
A recent passion for gypsy jazz music in the vein of Django Reinhardt has put Johanesen on a musical path with a focus on new stories of old times. Non fictional characters from the '20s and '30s, circus performers, the side show, Prohibition, the war of currents all placed in a backdrop of gypsy swing. Dean is currently in studio working on this record due out some time in 2015. Creative Loafing - Tampa - Feature Article
In 2014 Dean perfromed 275 dates including festival perfomances at SXSW in Autsin-TX, The Decatur Arts Fetsival in Decatur-GA, Smoky Mountain Songwriters Festival in Gatlinburg-TN, MS Songwriters Festival in Ocean Springs-MS. More festival dates and a consistent touring and perfroming scheule are in the works for 2015 along with the release of Johanesen's new record and 2 live CD's being recorded in January of 2015. Stay tuned...
Johanesen's mother delivered motor homes when he was young and the family traveled around listening to many different artists and kinds of music. Led Zeppelin to Simon and Garfunkel, classic country to musical soundtracks provided the soundtrack to his youth and his diversity of influences had an effect on Johanesen's interests musically as well as giving him a feel for the road.
After being in bands for many years with rotating members and differentiating musical influences, Johanesen decided to pursue a solo career. In 2013 Dean released his first solo record A Time and A Place, a collection of songs that fit more of a personal storyteller type influence. In 2014 the solo release was accepted by Pandora for Dean's own radio station which can be heard here - Dean on Pandora.
A recent passion for gypsy jazz music in the vein of Django Reinhardt has put Johanesen on a musical path with a focus on new stories of old times. Non fictional characters from the '20s and '30s, circus performers, the side show, Prohibition, the war of currents all placed in a backdrop of gypsy swing. Dean is currently in studio working on this record due out some time in 2015. Creative Loafing - Tampa - Feature Article
In 2014 Dean perfromed 275 dates including festival perfomances at SXSW in Autsin-TX, The Decatur Arts Fetsival in Decatur-GA, Smoky Mountain Songwriters Festival in Gatlinburg-TN, MS Songwriters Festival in Ocean Springs-MS. More festival dates and a consistent touring and perfroming scheule are in the works for 2015 along with the release of Johanesen's new record and 2 live CD's being recorded in January of 2015. Stay tuned...
Rebekah Pulley
Rebekah Pulley is a St. Petersburg, FL based singer-songwriter and performer whose sultry, seasoned voice has been described as jaw dropping, with a tendency to break your heart and shake your soul. Her songwriting, live performances, and recordings have wryly evolved, tapping roots-rock, blues, old-school country & western, jazz, and even gospel earning her 7 'Best Of The Bay’ awards from Tampa Bay’s own Creative Loafing. Her original songs are potent shots of reality, sugar coated in melodies that are the kind you wish you had found first. Rebekah was raised in a musical household on wheels (aka: Winnebago) with her nine siblings throughout rural Alaska, East Texas, and Washington State. A self taught guitarist, she gained an ear for music by listening to her father play his rockabilly style guitar with country greats such as Charlie Ryan with whom he recorded the original version of Hot Rod Lincoln. Rebekah’s latest release, Tralala, was the top played CD on Tampa’s WMNF 88.5 FM and is a must have for even the most discerning Americana, Alt-Country, and Folk music fans.
Songwriters in the Round - Sunday 11:15am-12:30pm
Roy Schneider
ormer syndicated cartoonist Roy Schneider has found his true calling in writing and performing his “Blue-Twangled Folk & Roll” music. Schneider has developed a loyal fan base through national radio airplay and consistent touring, performing his blend of the gritty, soulful and sweet to delighted audiences all across the USA and places abroad. He is most often accompanied onstage by his partner-in-all-things, Kim Mayfield. From theaters and historic opera houses to private house concerts, the duo - sometimes billed 'Schneider & Mayfield' - clock up thousands of miles annually in their van "Ulysses" toting guitars, harmonicas, banjos, mandolins, pianos and assorted percussive things wherever they are needed.
Schneider’s songs have earned praise in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition (TX), Telluride Blues & Brews Acoustic Blues competition (CO), and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist showcase (NY). The duo has performed official showcases at Folk Alliance conferences in New York, Austin TX and Asheville NC. Other notable venues include Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, Yorkshire England’s MAD Fest, and Roy’s appearance on season 5 of NBC’s 'The Voice.' Schneider has raised over $20k through fan funding to produce and successfully promote 2012’s “Walls That Talk” and 2015’s “Ten From the Pen.” Both have received generous airplay and accolades from respected reviewers including No Depression and UK's Maverick Magazine.
Also a gifted accompanist, Roy has performed onstage with John McEuen, Tom Paxton, Stevie Coyle, Buddy Mondlock, Freebo, Gove Scrivenor and many others.
Schneider’s songs have earned praise in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition (TX), Telluride Blues & Brews Acoustic Blues competition (CO), and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist showcase (NY). The duo has performed official showcases at Folk Alliance conferences in New York, Austin TX and Asheville NC. Other notable venues include Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, Yorkshire England’s MAD Fest, and Roy’s appearance on season 5 of NBC’s 'The Voice.' Schneider has raised over $20k through fan funding to produce and successfully promote 2012’s “Walls That Talk” and 2015’s “Ten From the Pen.” Both have received generous airplay and accolades from respected reviewers including No Depression and UK's Maverick Magazine.
Also a gifted accompanist, Roy has performed onstage with John McEuen, Tom Paxton, Stevie Coyle, Buddy Mondlock, Freebo, Gove Scrivenor and many others.
Gerri X
Bulgarian-born Geri X is a composer, a musician and a singer hard to label. Fans and critics spotted it from the moment she broke onto the Tampa Bay music scene. Geri is an artist with a singular sound you have never heard.
One can see it in the way she confidently plays her Babicz guitar, eyes half open and soul pouring out with a rich, crisp and mesmerizing voice. What started with a classical training in piano, guitar and voice, evolving out of a broad and eclectic blend of influences, has become wonderfully her own. In the process of sharing her songs, Geri bares her soul to ease the audience's emotions. It is the strength of the voice and the charge to each word that draws them to a halt.
Geri X is a poet, rebel, and a singer with a voice that is demanding to be heard. She carries the intensity of a body punch with the serene beauty of one of the best female vocalists of this era.
Geri has received countless accolades for her work, including Creative Loafing's Best Singer Songwriter for six years in a row, as well as playing Summerfest and Steel Bridge Song Festival repeatedly. Aside from being a workaholic and an alluring performer, often carrying out few shows in a day, Geri is a prolific songwriter. This fundamental quality combined with her work ethic and the gift of sharing make her a true artist: one which you can connect.
One can see it in the way she confidently plays her Babicz guitar, eyes half open and soul pouring out with a rich, crisp and mesmerizing voice. What started with a classical training in piano, guitar and voice, evolving out of a broad and eclectic blend of influences, has become wonderfully her own. In the process of sharing her songs, Geri bares her soul to ease the audience's emotions. It is the strength of the voice and the charge to each word that draws them to a halt.
Geri X is a poet, rebel, and a singer with a voice that is demanding to be heard. She carries the intensity of a body punch with the serene beauty of one of the best female vocalists of this era.
Geri has received countless accolades for her work, including Creative Loafing's Best Singer Songwriter for six years in a row, as well as playing Summerfest and Steel Bridge Song Festival repeatedly. Aside from being a workaholic and an alluring performer, often carrying out few shows in a day, Geri is a prolific songwriter. This fundamental quality combined with her work ethic and the gift of sharing make her a true artist: one which you can connect.
J. Klein
Twenty-eight year old Singer/songwriter/musician Justin Kleinhoffer, professionally known as J. Klein, has been performing since 2004 as a solo artist as well as a member of the Chicago-based duo "Etna & The Mammoth" (2011) and as a recording and touring member of the St. Louis-based rock group "EFFIC" (2009)
J. Klein has now established artistic residency and performs solo regularly in the Tampa / St. Petersburg, FL metropolitan area.
J. Klein has now established artistic residency and performs solo regularly in the Tampa / St. Petersburg, FL metropolitan area.
