2018 SongFest Lineup
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Fantastic Negrito2017 GRAMMY Award Winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album!
Fantastic Negrito is the incarnation of a musician who is reborn after going through a lot of awful shit. In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy. Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, and who lost it all. For anyone who ever felt like it was over yet hoped it wasn’t, this is your music; blues harnessed, forged in realness. For anyone who ever considered getting their old high-school band back together, this is your inspiration. These are singular songs by a true musician who writes and produces. They are his fuel as he embarks on the third comeback of his life. |
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Meiko
It’s been a busy two years for acclaimed singer-songwriter Meiko – after months on the road touring in support of 2014’s Dear You LP, she got married in the summer of 2015, and recorded and independently released her Live Songs From The Hotel Café
EP which served as the timestamp for a personal Los Angeles sendoff.
Meiko moved from the City of Angels to Music City this past fall, and
in-between the tour dates, nuptials, a honeymoon, and packing for the
one-way trek to Nashville, she wrote a new, career-defining album,
appropriately titled Moving Day.
“Every song on the album is about moving in some way, shape, or form”, Meiko says. “Whether it’s moving to a new place, moving into different relationships, or just growing up and moving on emotionally, I love the idea of constant growth and change. This album represents some key moments of personal ‘moving days’ I’ve had in my life over the past 10 years.” Moving Day is closer sonically to Meiko’s 2007 self-titled debut than to her two follow-up albums. “I wanted to get back to my roots”, Meiko states. “(2012’s) The Bright Side was a little more poppy, and Dear You was darker and more electronic. I wanted to keep it simpler and more intimate this time around, without depending on so many bells and whistles. Just like my first album, Moving Day is written entirely by me, with no A&R guy involved.” Meiko enlisted Nashville-based producer/musician Joshua Grange (Sheryl Crow, k.d. lang) to handle production responsibilities. “I met Josh at a breakfast place in Nashville about a month after I moved there from Los Angeles. We instantly got along, and he invited me to check out his studio. The next day we met up, totally nerded out over guitars and music, and wound up recording a song about an hour after I’d arrived. I decided right then and there to make a full album with him.” Recording in Nashville proved to be the right choice for Meiko. “I found it easier and more fluid. Mostly because Nashville is smaller and you get to where you’re going stress-free. I really love Nashville. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time in L.A. too, but I’m gaining so many years of my life back by not being on the 101 Freeway trying to get from point A to point B!” Meiko’s artistic ambitions date back to 2007, when she began landing shows at venerable Los Angeles venue The Hotel Café, an unofficial headquarters for young, up-and-coming songwriters on the West Coast. Things moved quickly from there. She signed with MySpace Records, reissued her self-titled debut record in 2008, and scored a hit on Triple A radio with “Boys with Girlfriends”. Pop, folk, and rock fans loved her; so did music supervisors, who placed Meiko’s songs in episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy”, “One Tree Hill”, and over a dozen other prime-time TV shows. After signing with Concord Records in 2011, she released The Bright Side, which climbed to No. 1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Albums chart. Meiko hit the road again, selling out concerts from Los Angeles to Tokyo, even landing a #1 single on Japanese radio with “Stuck On You”. After the release of her 2014 Dear You album featuring the VH1 favorite “Be Mine”, Meiko and Concord Records amicably parted ways. On recording Moving Day without a record label’s involvement, Meiko says, “Music should be easy. It’s about art, not egos. When a committee comes around to tell me I’m not creating correctly, or that it could be better another way, self-doubt comes into play and poisons the well. Moving Day, thankfully, has none of that. I made this album with no weirdness around to make me feel inadequate. Josh Grange listened to all my ideas and helped me make them a reality. I couldn’t be happier and more proud of how it came out!” |
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Damon Fowler
On the strength of his hybrid of roots rock, blues, and sacred steel, the Florida native started wowing audiences with his musical exploits as a teenager, building a reputation as one of the hottest young players on the scene. Adding songwriting and vocal skills to his repertoire over the years has brought him many accolades, with critics extolling his originality and maturity as well as his technical guitar expertise. In 2008’s “Best of Tampa” poll, Creative Loafing magazine named him “Best Guitarist… And Slide Guitarist… and Lap Steel Player… And Dobro Player.” Fowler’s guitar work has been compared to Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar has a hint of the late Duane Allman. He can play fiery guitar runs with the best of them, but it’s his lyrical work on lap steel and Dobro that makes him stand out among the legions of guitar heroes.
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Josh Ritter
"Josh Ritter remains at the top of his game two decades into a highlight-strewn career. He’d be forgiven for loosening his grip, but his hand has never felt surer." - NPR
"Midway between the country, gospel and soul camps, with thickly stacked harmonies that evoke the Dead’s own folk-rock classic American Beauty." - Rolling Stone |
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Christopher James
Christopher “James” Farias is a seasoned musician whose personal evolution spans the complete gamut of practical performance experience and formal music education. Aside from 17 years of consistent study in guitar performance and pedagogy, Chris is also an accomplished Vocalist, Mandolinist, Songwriter and Music Educator with a full length debut album and scores of recording and performing engagements to his credit.
Notable performances include bills with the Spin Doctors, The Mohegan Sun Allstars, the Rhode Island College Symphony Orchestra (as composer), the Rhode Island College String Orchestra (as Guest Soloist) the Rhode Island Civic Choral, Premier Rhode Island production of the musical RENT and The Boston Guitar Quartet. A rich family history in music laid the backdrop for a successful career in music. |
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Larkin Poe
“A Sister Act with Staying Power” - NPR
Rebecca & Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe are singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist sisters creating their own brand of Roots Rock 'n' Roll: gritty, soulful, and flavored by their southern heritage. Originally from Atlanta and currently living in Nashville, they are descendants of tortured artist and creative genius Edgar Allan Poe. |
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Selwyn Birchwood
"A powerhouse player and emotive performer…his band, his material and both his skilled guitaring and soulful vocals are the essence of fully-formed. Birchwood is a major player. Highly recommended." --Rolling Stone
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It was 29 years ago that Michael Glabicki dropped out of college to start a band. At that time he had no idea what he was going to do or how to get there. Glabicki spent two years learning how to write songs, and create a vision. Rusted Root was then born.
The multi-platinum band out of Pittsburgh, evolved around front-man Michael Glabicki’s distinct sound and grew into a musical entity that has thrived in a non-genre specific category all its own. Rusted Root built their career around dramatic performances; their polyrhythmic, multicultural rock-and-soul picked up fans like a junkyard magnet as they swept across the nation on tour. In many ways Glabicki is starting this process all over again. He is challenging himself to write in completely new and different ways to create an entirely new sound landscape. Michael takes all the new songs and old favorites Rusted Root has been performing, and performs re-envisioned versions of them in a more intimate setting with Rusted Root’s long time guitar player and background vocalist, Dirk Miller. A multifaceted musician, producer and songwriter, Glabicki’s talents are unique and extremely uplifting. His solo tour dates and new music are extensions of his creative talent, and will inspire all those who participate. |
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Mark of Mountain Hollar
“Shane
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Betty FoX Band
With an extensive background in gospel and a lifelong passion for soul music, Betty Fox has come a long way from her southern roots to headlining festivals and captivating thousands with her raw swagger and unwavering talent. Now the 2015 representative of the Suncoast Blues Society, an International Blues Challenge Finalist, and 2 time winner of Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay, she is truly proving herself a force to be reckoned with.Betty Fox appreciated singing early in life and performed for the first time at a church play at the age of 4. Her family had a deep love for southern country gospel and tight harmonies which they would express at every Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and that is where her affinity for music began. "My uncle Fred would pound on the keys with his monster hands while my (rather large) family and I would all gather around the piano... My grandmother would stand behind me and my cousins would hold my hands as we all sang four and five part harmonies to songs like “It Is Well With My Soul”, “The Old Rugged Cross”, and “Till the Storm Passes By”. To this day, those songs and those moments mean more to me than anything", Fox says.
To support her talent, she has carefully selected musical heavyweights Barry Williams on bass, and Tony Cintron on drums and a rotation of choice guitar players (Josh Nelms, Steve Laudicina, Matt Walker, and Ed Wright) to set herself up for nothing less than well deserved success. In fact, in the past year this dynamic quartet has skyrocketed to the Florida spotlight, playing on multiple notable music festivals including the world renowned Tampa Bay Blues Festival, and the largest free music festival in the US: Springing the Blues. This band has competed in the International Blues Challenge making it to the finals 8 of 150 bands! They have opened for such artists such as Mavis Staples, Lucky Peterson, Jimmy Thackery, Marcia Ball, Southern Hospitality, and The Meter Men, for crowds amassing over 6,000 screaming fans! As many will tell you, you definitely don't want to miss this one of a kind musical experience! |
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Danielle mohr
Born and raised in Dunedin, this native Floridian is an acoustic guitarist, vocalist, and singer/songwriter who is quickly gaining traction as a full-time musician. She has been a featured artist on WMNF's 88.5 Florida Folk Show. She performs all over the bay area. Most notably, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Capitol Theatre, and the Clearwater Jazz Fest.
At one of her live shows you can expect to hear clever and thoughtful lyrics dance playfully over her eclectic guitar melodies. Natural talent flows freely through Danielle as she artfully engages her audience to feel the music while enjoying her songs. She puts her mark on all music she plays, be they originals or covers. |
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Tim Hutchinson
Tim Hutchinson draws his soulful sound from the well of his life experiences and connects with this audience in a very human way. His songs are filled with truth; his performance’s captivating and sincere.
Tim’s creativity is steeped in a hard working man's blues. In his 20s, he worked as a carpenter in Northeast Ohio. “I used to have to leave Ohio and go work in Michigan for weeks. It was during that time I decided to follow my passion and began playing music to be closer to my young family.” Tim tells this story in one of his songs “Michigan” which was recently nominated for the best music video award at the Long Island International Film Expo. Tim Hutchinson was born Timothy K.C. Fayne Hutchinson on July 2, 1974. “Playing music just feels natural. I grew up with music. My dad is a bluegrass banjo player and his bands were always rehearsing at our house as I was growing up.” It wasn’t long before Tim discovered another world of music, “I can remember the very first time I heard Rock and Roll. I was nine years old and the neighbor was washing his T-top white Trans-Am and blasting 'Hot Blooded' by Foreigner one summer morning, and I've never been the same." |
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Urban Gypsies of Florida
Urban Gypsies Of Florida's exhilarating improvisational style produces captivating performances.
Their distinctive mostly original styling’s create crazy fun times and continually surprise and delight the listener with innovative combinations of Tribal, Disco, Gypsy, Bluegrass, 70’s Rock, Folk, and Funk. Urban Gypsies Of Florida’s smoothly blended harmonies, exciting primal rhythms, and organic bling like textures personify joyous crazy fun times. If you enjoy Rusted Root, Bill Monroe, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, CSNY, Grateful Dead, John Prine and Harry Belafonte you will connect with their music. |
