With a heart set on a career in music, Crystal moved to Chicago on the cusp of 18, where she spent her days busking in the streets of the city and on subway platforms. Chicago's rich and diverse culture helped Bowersox to broaden her musical horizons and she shared her talents with a variety of venues and audiences. Ultimately, Bowersox auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol. Crystal's time on the show proved to be well spent, as she immediately left the the soundstage for the recording studio in 2010, releasing her debut album, "Farmer's Daughter" on Jive Records.
Since her introduction to the world, Crystal has released 3 LP's, two EPs, several singles, and is currently developing an autobiographical, theatrical rock concert titled, "Trauma Queen". Additionally, she has used her voice and talents to benefit several causes close to her heart, and has become an inspiration and advocate for people living with Type 1 Diabetes.
Most recently, Crystal released the first single from her long awaited, upcoming album, HitchHiker, to be released in fall of 2020. The single, Courage to Be Kind, was written in 2017 with accomplished songwriter and personal hero to Crystal, Steve Seskin. In the folk - rock, gospel anthem, Crystal's voice soars as she tackles several controversial topics. "It takes Courage to be kind / To be brave enough to walk your love across a party line.". While the song is a new release for Crystal, it already has within it a history hundreds of years in the making. Little did the writers know that the nation would become as divided as it seems to be today. Seskin and Bowersox were simply making an attempt to process the heartache felt by so many, when bridges are burned, families are destroyed, and international wars are endlessly waged. The pair wondered what it would truly take to heal the kind of generational, deeply rooted wounds mentioned in the verses of the powerful song.
Courage, they concluded. It takes courage to begin the process of healing.
Produced by Nashville songwriter and musician Billy Harvey, HitchHiker is likely to become Crystal's most accomplished studio album to date. "I'm absolutely in awe of the genuine friendships that have transpired from the songs and by how much I have learned throughout the entire creative process while working so closely with Billy and the crew," says Bowersox. "I've never before worked with someone so personally invested - not only in the music, but in the people contributing to the project. Billy is the heart and soul of the HitchHiker community he built."
That community is one filled with the incredible talents and dedication of players such as: JJ Johnson, John Ginty, Doug Lancio, Audley Freed, Chris Donahue, Randall Currie, Dave Eggar, and a choir of Nashville's finest, forty women deep.
HitchHiker will be well loved by Bowersox fans everywhere, especially after a 3 year hiatus for Bowersox from the recording studio. "I absolutely cannot wait for fans to hear this record. I could die tomorrow a happy woman, just knowing this record is finished and that it is, I truly believe, the best collection of songs I've ever put out into the world. I have Billy and the crew to thank for that," Crystal jokes, slightly grim and with smile.
Similar to her beginnings, Crystal's intentions are to make music that has healing power.
"A few of us lost loved ones during the process of making this album," Crystal explains. "As we each travel down our unique roads, long after the recording sessions end, we have to remember that there isn't a soul among us that will get to their destination on their own. We need each other to make it through life. In this way, I suppose we are all the Hitchhiker.
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Fearless, bold, unapologetic, and freaking hilarious best describes Comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer. She's made a career out of telling the truth. And, the truth is, life is funny and no one is off limits.
Suzanne was the first openly lesbian comedian to appear on Comedy Central, A&E, HBO and "Late Night with David Letterman."
Suzanne does the New York Times crossword puzzle every Sunday (in ink).
With her girlfriend, Suzanne participated in the Guinness Book of World Records' biggest lesbian kiss in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Suzanne loves stars. She has a dozen star tattoos on her body.
A FiestaWare nut, Suzanne owns over 600 of the collectible pieces.
This is Suzanne's 4th time at Seven Steps Up. She was brought to us by a friend, and we have never looked back! Gay or straight, you will love Suzanne. She will have you rolling with laughter! And laughter is something we could all use a little more of right now!
We knew of Dana Cooper long before we had a venue. Coming from Texas, we had listened to his music. So we were thrilled when we first got the opportunity to have him here. When we answered the phone, Dana said his name and we said YAY! Truly, one of the joys of having a venue is brining music we love and loved before the venue to our Spring Lake stage!
Cooper's lifelong passion & devotion to music began at age 2 in Kansas City. His father, George, was a huge influence. One of Dana's earliest memories is of his father taking him to the Calico Cat, popping a coin in the jukebox and listening to Dana sing along with Hank Williams & Ernest Tubb.
At age 20 a move to LA resulted in a record deal with Elektra Records where he recorded his first album with members of "The Section" Russ Kunkel and Leleand Sklar, as well as other luminary players Jim Horn, Al Perkins, Jim Gordon, Joe Osborne, and Lee Holdridge. This album still wins accolades today and was recently reissued on the Warner/Japan label.
After several years in California and a year recording in Seattle, Cooper moved to Texas where he wrote and performed with Shake Russell. They released several independent albums and one album for Southcoast/MCA.
Dana formed his own experimental bands, DC3, and Nuclear Family and released his first solo project "Complicated Stuff". In 1988 he moved to Nashville, TN to pursue his songwriting career collaborating with other songwriters:
Tom Kimmel Sally Barris
Don Henry Pat Alger
Hal Ketchum Kim Carnes
Josh Leo Pierce Pettis
Kim Richey Allen Shamblin
His years as a Troubadour is measured by his impressive 28 Albums and Collection of Accolades:
Cooper's songs have been recorded by a variety of artists such as bluegrass singer Claire Lynch, Irish vocalist Maura O'Connell, Nashville songbird Jonell Mosser, as well as songwriters Pierce Pettis and Susan Werner. His incredible catalogue and musical sensibilities have led to endorsements from AirPlay Direct and Elixir Strings.
With his upcoming CD "I Can Face the Truth" Cooper faces hard truths head on with humor and heartfelt expression. Joining forces with Co-Producer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Coleman the two enlisted some of the best songwriters, singers, and musicians from the US and Ireland. Collaborators in the studio include Tom Kimmel, Kim Richey, Jonell Mosser, Maura O'Connell, Brother Paul Brown, David Starr, and Gillian Tuite. Expect "I Can Face the Truth" to be Released Early 2022 with an expansive CD Release Tour to follow.
sophiebhawkins.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Sophie B. Hawkins burst onto the international music scene with her 1992 platinum-selling debut album, Tongues and Tails, which included the indelible hit song Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover, and earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
The last three decades have brought multiple awards, sold out concerts, appearances on film and television, performances with some of the best known names in the business, a documentary feature, a critically-lauded tour-de-force performance as Janis Joplin in the nationally-touring play Room 105, songs appearing in hit films and TV shows, and five more albums, including Whaler, which featured the record-breaking longest-running single in Billboard Adult Contemporary chart history, the Number One hit, As I Lay Me Down. Much more than just a singer, Sophie writes all of her own songs, is a multi-instrumentalist, and has been fully involved in every aspect of the production of her records herself, from background vocals and playing her own instruments, to engineering and production of her albums. She has proved an enduring artist with a fierce commitment to artistic integrity while both constantly evolving, and remaining steadfastly true to her own authentic history and experience which connects her to her fans at the very deepest levels.
"The passions, strength, and spiritual beauty that your music and performance possess is something I respect deeply, look up to, and after my 29-year long journey of survival in darkness, I am so grateful for your own courage, strength, and honesty which helps those of us who are battling our own ghosts and demons from the past." - Shanda, Massachusetts, USA
I listen to your music whenever I feel I am alone because you make me feel like I am not. I listen to your music when I feel I need to be strong because you make me feel strong.
– Jill, Michigan, USA
thelowestpair.com | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee are two kindred spirits who first met on the banks of the Mississippi while touring the Midwest festival circuit. Born and raised in Arkansas, Winter found herself drawn to the evergreens and damp air of the Pacific Northwest, as well as the boundless music scene of Olympia, Washington. She released three solo records on Olympia-based indie label, K Records, and performed in ramblin' folk bands and anarchic punk bands before serendipitously meeting Palmer T. Lee in 2013. Lee had built his first banjo when he was 19 from pieces he inherited and began cutting his teeth fronting Minneapolis string bands before convincing Winter that they should form a banjo duo. Now, as The Lowest Pair, they have recorded and released five albums together, relentlessly toured North America, and ventured to the UK twice, playing over 500 live shows over the past five years.
After each releasing solo albums via Conor Oberst's Team Love Records in 2018, Winter and Lee began working on The Lowest Pair's forthcoming 10- song set, The Perfect Plan. As a songwriting team, the duo tends to see artistic sparks all around them — in poems, people, ideas, experiences – and throughout the process of writing these new songs, they felt the need to push their creative limits. They turned to producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes who took them to ARC Studios in Omaha, Nebraska, and set them in a soundscape backed by a slate of session players that lifts the album from simple folk into spirited Americana and beyond. Clawhammer banjo and acoustic guitar still hold the heart of The Lowest Pair, but the fleshed-out sound of The Perfect Plan leans gently into Winter's punk past, as well as the sonic playground of her mind, to set the band down a new path on their musical journey.
Ahead of the record's release, Winter and Lee each took some time for outward and inner exploration in order to refuel the creative energy put into The Perfect Plan. Winter headed to the South Pole to work in a scientific research station, an opportunity she hadn't sought out but couldn't pass up. "It's very different than living the musician's life of road doggin' and performing all the time," she says. "It was the first time in a while I've held still and met and made friends with a group of people that wasn't based around music. The small community really is incredible, people from all over the world with different reasons they've ended up here. This place, the bottom of the world, will definitely leave its marks on me." And Winter has left her footprint on Antarctica as well, winning the Annual South Pole Marathon in -36 degrees, at a pressure altitude of 10,300 feet, and setting a new record time in the competition for women.
As Winter headed south, Lee went north to a small, wooded cabin in the Driftless hills of Wisconsin [for a writer's residency] where his lessons in presence involved lots of wood chopping and water carrying. "My objective wasn't necessarily a list of goals or things I wanted to create, but to learn to observe my process — the way I live and how it lines up against the way I want to live — to learn more about the way I construct a day and could construct a day," he confesses. "I would storm up and attempt to execute these, sort of, experiments on myself. I would consciously manipulate my time, my mind, my focus, my crafts, and projects to learn more about how I am affected by things both inside and outside of me, what gets me stuck and how to unstick myself."
Whether together in the studio or thousands of miles apart, Winter and Lee are two sides of the same coin whose experiences define and support each other. And The Lowest Pair harnesses and harmonizes that wisdom in The Perfect Plan as a way of distilling the magic of their partnership into a singular tangible experience that speaks to audiences across genres and through various artistic avenues.
"I love the stripped-down versions of these songs," Winter admits. "I think they leave a lot to the imagination, and I trust people have enough juice to choose their own adventures in the space that the band fills out on the record. But we also can't wait to tour with a full band and to see how that magic translates on stage. It felt really exciting in the studio, and the songs pack a much greater punch with the added instrumentation.
mpjmusic.biz | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
A performing songwriter by trade, Matthew Perryman Jones is actually a seeker, at heart. With each entry in his discography, his musical and moral compass points toward an artistic horizon he has yet to explore. Sometimes, he turns his gaze to examine his own inner world. Other times, he looks to the inspirations found in the letters Vincent Van Gogh penned to his brother Theo, in the idea of duende as proffered by Federico García Lorca, and in the poetic verses of Sufi poets Hafiz and Rumi.
Of his most recent release, American Songwriter wrote that, "MPJ's songwriting acumen could easily be used as a musical template to demonstrate how less can be so much more. [He] sounds cinematic and slowly worms its way inside your brain, feasts upon your emotions, and ultimately burrows down into your soul." It could be said that Matthew makes soul music — not based on how it sounds, but on where it originates and where it resides.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Matthew grew up in Georgia and cut his artistic teeth in the Atlanta music scene before heading north to Nashville. His debut release, Nowhere Else But Here, dropped in 2000, followed by three subsequent albums — Throwing Punches in the Dark (2006), Swallow the Sea (2008), and Land of the Living (2012) — and three additional EPs as well as a handful of singles. Songs from across his catalog have been featured in dozens of film and TV placements, and tours have taken him across the U.S. and abroad to share stages with legends like Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin, as well as the Ten Out of Tenn songwriter collective of which he is a part.
Now, Matthew is gearing up to release his fifth album, alongside producer Josh Kaler, focused on genius loci — the spirit of place. Written across the country throughout 2017, and funded by generous fans contributing to a Pledge Music campaign, the record was finished in early 2018. As he chases the ever-retreating horizon, Jones will stop, listen, and capture when and what the spirit of each place calls out to him.
wearethecontenders.com | Facebook | Spotify
The legend Levon Helm said that if you give it good concentration, good energy, good heart, and good performance, the song will play you. If that's true, then Jay Nash and Josh Day are well and truly played by the set of songs in their debut EP, "Meet The Contenders." The collection breathes with musicality and grit in the tradition of heroes—The Band, Tom Petty, The Dead, Dylan.
Thrumming and heady, with a steady heartbeat and a hint of honky-tonk, this EP speaks of wanderers and highways, lovers and losers, good times and missed chances, swimming pools and movie stars, all with a ferocity born of hard work and honed skill. Nash and Day have been players and poets for the better part of two decades; they have been making music, telling tales, drinking whiskey, and having fun touring together as The Contenders since 2012.
petermulvey.com | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur, and almost-poet since before he can remember. Raised working-class Catholic on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, he took a semester in Ireland, and immediately began cutting classes to busk on Grafton Street in Dublin and hitchhike through the country, finding whatever gigs he could. Back stateside, he spent a couple of years gigging in the Midwest before lighting out for Boston, where he returned to busking (this time in the subway) and coffeehouses. Small shows led to larger shows, which eventually led to regional and then national and international touring. The wheels have not stopped since.
Twenty records, one illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, a decades-long association with the National Youth Science Camp, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, an annual autumn tour by bicycle, emceeing festivals, hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin)… Mulvey never stops. He has built his life's work on collaboration and on an instinct for the eclectic and the vital. He folds everything he encounters into his work: poetry, social justice, scientific literacy, and a deeply abiding humanism are all on plain display in his art.
griffinhousemusic.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Griffin House is out with a new record called "Stories for a Rainy Day."
A nine song collection written during the pandemic and recorded in just 3 days, the album is being described as his most happy and upbeat yet. The opening track "The Mississippi Hippie" was originally written for a feature in Esquire magazine called "Somewhere in Mississippi" and was rediscovered and resurrected for "Stories for a Rainy Day." The album was recorded by Tim Pannella using a stripped down trio set up with Jersey based musicians Eric Novod on drums, Mark Masefield on keys, and House on guitars and vocals. With minimal production and the band playing together as opposed to overdubbing, the songs have a space to be more playful, free and alive.
A concept record, with each song telling a story, an idea inspired from one of House's favorite childhood albums "Ten Summoner's Tales," the final tale features the hilarious character "Guido" and is the only song on the album that was recorded live in concert.
"Stories for a Rainy Day" was released on Valentine's Day 2022 and features the artwork of Scottsdale based painter Priscilla Nelson. House will be playing the new songs live in 2022-2023 with over 100 tour dates already booked. You can find tour dates and more info at http://griffinhousemusic.com
swaywild.com | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
San Juan Island, WA-based indie folk-rock duo Mandy Fer and Dave McGraw are back at it with a new sound, and a new name: Sway Wild! Their exceptional vocal harmonies, coupled with Fer's pioneering electric guitar work, have become a vehicle to carry them around the world, sharing stages with the likes of Iron & Wine, Lake Street Dive, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Mandolin Orange. Sway Wild's infectious sound explores the corners of rock, pop, funk, prog, worldbeat, and folk, but at its nucleus it is undeniably a music full of joy. It can squeeze the heart in your chest, it can draw tears from your eyes, and it can force you to get up and move your body; over and over, it somehow manages to do all three at once. Mandy Fer also tours as the lead guitarist for Grammy nominated Allison Russell and recently performed with Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell.
"Grooving...wistful,
driving, and a masterful combination...velvety vocals over staccato guitar and
light percussion capture your attention with Sway Wild."
Parade Magazine
Glide Magazine
"Off-Grid Lo-Fi is chock full of roots-rich gems...Fer shreds...excellent
guitar...a delicate blues madrigal..."
Acoustic Guitar Magazine"
...soulful songs, intuitive musicianship, and fine singing."
The Telegraph (UK)
"...refreshing...stunning...some of the best I have heard.
No Depression
"...stellar songwriting...exceptional guitar playing..."
The Utne Reader
maryfahl.com | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
With "a voice for the gods that can transport listeners to other realms" (Boston Globe), Mary Fahl is an expressive, emotional singer/songwriter who first achieved fame as lead singer and co-founder of the mid-1990s NYC- based chamber-pop group October Project. As a solo artist, she's had more freedom to pursue her own muse, whether that means writing and recording songs for movies (including the theme for the Civil War epic "Gods and Generals"), singing arias and medieval Spanish songs for Sony Classical or releasing a unique album-length take on Dark Side of the Moon. As befits a former Catholic schoolgirl who went on to major in medieval studies and develop a lifelong interest in Hermeticism, Mary Fahl makes music that feels timeless, esoteric and ecumenical. Her elegant, cinematic songs draw on classical and world music sources, American art song, as well as thinking man's folk-pop which she performs with an earthy, viscerally powerful contralto that bridges the generational gap between Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny and London Grammar's Hanna Reid. Fahl's sound has a hauntingly gothic romanticism that inspired Anne Rice to portray it emanating from a dead woman's room in her 2013 novel The Wolves of Midwinter. Over the past few years she's been touring and recording on her own label, Rimar Records and her recent releases are garnering awards including an Indie Acoustic Award for Best Live Album for "Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House" (filmed for PBS) and an Independent Music Award for her recent holiday album, "Winter Songs and Carols". Her latest release, a Blu-ray 5.1 surround DVD, "From the Dark Side of the Moon", brilliantly mixed by Bob Clearmountain, has been called "Immersive Album of the Year" by Life in Surround.
Seth Glier's new album The Coronation is an invitation to forge a new, more beautiful world out of the current chaos. "For most of my adult life, I've held the belief that humanity is right around the corner from something transformative," Seth explains. "If we could only see that our separateness is an illusion, then a future of global cooperation and interdependence would be undeniable. As the coronavirus locked down the world, I watched this long-held belief inside of me becoming a reality right before my eyes. The dolphins returned to the Venice canals, and millions of children saw the stars for the first time. I wanted this album to feel like a roadmap towards reunion in a reconnected and repairing world."
Glier's sixth album on MPress Records, The Coronation is a beautiful and powerful collection that explores an expansive range of musical styles and topics from the personal to the political. A Grammy®-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Western Massachusetts, Glier has also won five Independent Music Awards. NPR describes his voice as "otherworldly" while praising him as "an engaging performer and storyteller." His critically acclaimed, emotionally dense catalog of work often draws upon traditional roots music, experimental instrumentation, and moody atmospheres that result in soulfully intelligent stories that can alternately fight the power and break your heart.
After touring 250 dates a year for half his life, not being on the road in 2020 allowed Glier to write from a place of stillness. "If It Wasn't For You" was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and echoes the young activist's own concepts about the transformative power of turning one's trauma into gratitude and awareness. "Stages" came from the realization that the ups and downs of ever-changing relationships happen in increments, and that change is a natural part of life. "'Til Further Notice" was inspired by the passing of John Prine amidst the uncertainty of lockdown. Learning to understand mistreatment by defining it in words that harness raw feelings is the topic of "A Gift." The loss of innocence portrayed in "Another Day In America" is grounded in a plea for gun control, and "Poison In The Roots" (featuring Everett Bradley) speaks to the deep systemic inequality in American society. "I didn't write Poison In The Roots as a duet, but when Everett Bradley sent me a work-tape with him singing the first verse I heard new possibilities everywhere," Seth recalls. "We were trying to stitch our worlds together."
The Coronation's credits reflect the spirit of interconnectedness explored in the album's lyrics. "I knew at the onset that I wanted to work with many different people and producers on this record but I don't think I knew why until after finishing it," Seth explains. "Being in collaboration is a constant reminder that our actions have profound effects on the subsequent actions of others and how powerful it is to be united in common cause." While The Coronation has multiple producers alongside Glier himself — longtime collaborator Ryan Hommel (Amos Lee, Heather Maloney), Bill Lefler (Ingrid Michaelson, Dashboard Confessional), and Alex Wong (Delta Rae, The Paper Raincoat) — the record has a cohesive, mostly synth-driven sound. Guest artists include vocalists Everett Bradley (Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates) and rising star Raye Zaragoza, and cellist Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Evanescence). "I think collaboration might be what makes 'The Coronation' a cohesive album," Glier says. "It's wildly diverse from song to song, and the making of it began to mirror a new world I wanted to live in."
Glier will share songs from The Coronation on the road later this year while continuing to connect with audiences using his eclectic, often humorous, and always insightful artistry. Summing up the project, Glier says, "'The Coronation' marks the emergence of our collective unconscious into consciousness and the transcendence of compulsion into choice. I look at the last year of lockdown as sort of like an extended rehab healing us from the story of separation and offering us the courage to forge a new crown and become the rulers of that which had ruled us."
sethglier.com | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
Seth Glier's new album The Coronation is an invitation to forge a new, more beautiful world out of the current chaos. "For most of my adult life, I've held the belief that humanity is right around the corner from something transformative," Seth explains. "If we could only see that our separateness is an illusion, then a future of global cooperation and interdependence would be undeniable. As the coronavirus locked down the world, I watched this long-held belief inside of me becoming a reality right before my eyes. The dolphins returned to the Venice canals, and millions of children saw the stars for the first time. I wanted this album to feel like a roadmap towards reunion in a reconnected and repairing world."
Glier's sixth album on MPress Records, The Coronation is a beautiful and powerful collection that explores an expansive range of musical styles and topics from the personal to the political. A Grammy®-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Western Massachusetts, Glier has also won five Independent Music Awards. NPR describes his voice as "otherworldly" while praising him as "an engaging performer and storyteller." His critically acclaimed, emotionally dense catalog of work often draws upon traditional roots music, experimental instrumentation, and moody atmospheres that result in soulfully intelligent stories that can alternately fight the power and break your heart.
After touring 250 dates a year for half his life, not being on the road in 2020 allowed Glier to write from a place of stillness. "If It Wasn't For You" was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and echoes the young activist's own concepts about the transformative power of turning one's trauma into gratitude and awareness. "Stages" came from the realization that the ups and downs of ever-changing relationships happen in increments, and that change is a natural part of life. "'Til Further Notice" was inspired by the passing of John Prine amidst the uncertainty of lockdown. Learning to understand mistreatment by defining it in words that harness raw feelings is the topic of "A Gift." The loss of innocence portrayed in "Another Day In America" is grounded in a plea for gun control, and "Poison In The Roots" (featuring Everett Bradley) speaks to the deep systemic inequality in American society. "I didn't write Poison In The Roots as a duet, but when Everett Bradley sent me a work-tape with him singing the first verse I heard new possibilities everywhere," Seth recalls. "We were trying to stitch our worlds together."
The Coronation's credits reflect the spirit of interconnectedness explored in the album's lyrics. "I knew at the onset that I wanted to work with many different people and producers on this record but I don't think I knew why until after finishing it," Seth explains. "Being in collaboration is a constant reminder that our actions have profound effects on the subsequent actions of others and how powerful it is to be united in common cause." While The Coronation has multiple producers alongside Glier himself — longtime collaborator Ryan Hommel (Amos Lee, Heather Maloney), Bill Lefler (Ingrid Michaelson, Dashboard Confessional), and Alex Wong (Delta Rae, The Paper Raincoat) — the record has a cohesive, mostly synth-driven sound. Guest artists include vocalists Everett Bradley (Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates) and rising star Raye Zaragoza, and cellist Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Evanescence). "I think collaboration might be what makes 'The Coronation' a cohesive album," Glier says. "It's wildly diverse from song to song, and the making of it began to mirror a new world I wanted to live in."
Glier will share songs from The Coronation on the road later this year while continuing to connect with audiences using his eclectic, often humorous, and always insightful artistry. Summing up the project, Glier says, "'The Coronation' marks the emergence of our collective unconscious into consciousness and the transcendence of compulsion into choice. I look at the last year of lockdown as sort of like an extended rehab healing us from the story of separation and offering us the courage to forge a new crown and become the rulers of that which had ruled us."
lizlongley.com | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
While best known for her stop-you-in-your-tracks voice, Liz has steadily developed a reputation as an accomplished songwriter, crafting intimately personal portraits through her music. Liz's songs have won some of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country, including the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Competition. With five albums to her name, Liz's music has been featured on TV shows such as ABC's "Beauty & The Beast", Lifetime's "Army Wives", and MTV's "Scream". The latest release, 'Weightless', is the highly anticipated follow- up to Longley's eponymous 2015 Sugar Hill Records debut, which earned accolades from critics, who proclaimed the album "a thing of beauty," (Popdose), and praised her "captivating stories set to tunes that will be running through your head after a single spin." (American Songwriter). Later this year, Liz is set to release her sixth album, produced by 5-time GRAMMY nominated producer, Paul Moak.
From Gary & Michelle: Stop you in your tracks voice is actually an understatement. Wow!! If you haven't seen Liz before, we highly recommend!
sirensongsmusic.com | Facebook | Insta | YouTube | Spotify
Siren Songs is a brand-new musical collaboration between Merideth Kaye Clark and Jenn Grinels. Powerhouse vocalists, musicians, and national touring artists, the long time best friends present folk and Americana favorites as well as original compositions. Gorgeous harmonies and unique arrangements performed on a variety of stringed instruments (banjo, dulcimer, viola) move and uplift the listener.
Jenn Grinels has spent the past decade performing her original music on the road, touring with 10,000 Maniacs, Christopher Cross, Marc Cohn, Edwin McCain, Marc Broussard and headlining concerts from coast to coast and abroad. As an independent artist, Grinels has built a large grassroots following and sold over 16,000 albums. Last year she was commissioned to compose a musical for B-Side Theatricals in NYC. Goodnight Sun, Hello Moon is the first release from the score. Her music can be heard on television and in film.
Merideth Kaye Clark is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, as well as an accomplished leading lady in theater. She has played definitive roles nationwide, such as Elphaba in Wicked, Eva Perón in Evita, Nancy in Oliver!, Alice in Bright Star, Cathy in The Last Five Years and Clara in Light in the Piazza. Clark has toured the US and Canada performing her acclaimed concert Joni Mitchell's BLUE. She can be seen on the television show "Portlandia" as well as IFC's "Documentary Now! Co-op" and is featured on the EMMY NOMINATED cast album!
www.theroughandtumble.com | Facebook | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp
The Rough & Tumble aren't casual road dogs, but they aren't letting on, either. From their upbeat, commanding stage presence and sharp banter, to their earworm-inducing melodies and heartstring lyrics, this dumpster-folk/thriftstore Americana duo refuses to bring the haggard road-worn stereotype to their audience-- even though they've earned it. In fact, The Rough & Tumble have been elbowing out of most stereotypes.
Writing and performing together since 2007, Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler inevitably formed The Rough & Tumble in 2011 as the friends turned into bandmates. In 2015, after a bad Nashville landlord left them without heat for 12 days during an ice storm, the bandmates turning spouses decided to hit the road. They sold everything they could, bought a 16' camper (despite the warning of their families and the lot salesman), packed up their instruments, their dog, and a couple of small trinkets shaped like elephants and mice that they couldn't part with, and hit the road. They've been touring relentlessly since with their two 100lb rescue dogs, Mud Puddle and Magpie Mae, in spite of multiple burnt up axles, busted tires, and consistent water leaks.
On February 19, 2021 The Rough & Tumble dug into the severed branch of their family tree, bringing their newest work, We're Only Family If You Say So, a full length record about what it takes to be family-- and what it means to lose it. As with their previous two albums, it was recorded in East Nashville, TN with producer/engineer Dave Coleman. With its release, fans are already Saying So. The raw, emotive nature intersects with the sweet, nearly upbeat tone that touches a nerve unfortunately familiar to listeners, particularly in the aftermath of division in both nation and families alike.
The new record follows on the 2019 release Howling Back at the Wounded Dog, a 10-song album wherein response was audible, with audiences literally howling back at performances coast-to-coast. The opening track "The Hardest Part" won the Independent Music Award's Best Americana Song of 2019.
The Rough & Tumble were voted The Listening Room Network's 2019 Artist of the Year, and were one of the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance's Official Showcase Artists in 2018. Graham and Tyler have been hardworking and constant in their dedication to their craft, releasing an album or EP a year since 2014's Holiday Awareness Campaign, a project where they took 24 under-appreciated holidays and wrote 24 under-appreciated songs for them. 2016 saw the band writing the soundtrack to the award-winning Alyssa Pearson short film, Pieces and Pieces, and in 2017 they teamed up with Asheville pop producer, Matt Langston, for an EP called Cardboard and Christmas Lights. In 2018, they released their first full length record, We Made Ourselves a Home When We Didn't Know, recorded and produced by Dave Coleman in East Nashville, TN. When the band's touring plans were derailed by the pandemic in 2020, the songwriters took to recording fan supported song commissions on the tape deck they were quarantined with, an ongoing project called Everything Goes Viral But My Band. After years of research and 7 months of being stuck inside, The Rough & Tumble released a special Halloween project in October 2020, called Be Good, Little Children: The Lullafrights, Vol. 1, a collection of scary lullabies for grown ups.
Songwriters and storytellers, Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler will have you in stitches one minute and falling apart at the seams the next. Joy and sorrow, comedy and drama all have the same punchline, it's just the setup that's different. The Rough & Tumble's voices fluctuate between power and delicacy, demonstrating restraint while sinking the accelerator to give each song its due. Their close-harmony weaves interchangeably. They aren't afraid to take an audience from the lighthearted to the gut wrenching, and they do it seamlessly, with care for their listeners and integrity to their craft.
With a little luck and a lot of cooperation, you'll catch this duo rambling into your town in 2021.
"Wow! Do not pass up on the opportunity to host this wonderful duo. Mallory & Scott were the total package--very musically adept and charming. Their joy of playing music together was evident throughout the evening. This joy is what really resonated with our audience and made for very special evening. They and their dogs were the perfect guests. Mags & Puddles got along well with our dogs & were well behaved, so don't let the fact they travel with them scare you. Overall a truly wonderful experience!" - C. Mccauley, August 2019, Broadlands, VA
"Fun fun, fun, we enjoyed these two. Great songs, great personalities. Wonderful communicators. You know when you wish the songs would go on longer that you have a winner." - B. Amidon, May 2018, Alamagordo, NM
"Fun and FUNNY! What fun to have this duo in the house, they charmed our audience with their eclectic folk tunes and their silly stories. I recommend Scott and Mallory for any audience, but especially the ones who like to laugh. Great vibes, great guests!" - A. Fletcher June, 2017, NY
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Garrison Starr celebrates 25th anniversary of her debut LP Eighteen Over Me with an upcoming tour and live LP.
"One of the strongest voices in town...the author of affecting, emotion-bearing songs that are clothes in attractive, melodic garb." - Billboard
"An unmistakable songwriting talent" - PopMatters
"Incredible singer and songwriter and one of the brightest talents that music has ever seen" - Margaret Cho
"Writes and sings her heart out. In the 'American Idol'-ized landscape that constitutes today's music business, she is someone to be thankful for" - Mary Chapin Carpenter
LOS ANGELES, CA (DATE XX, 2021) - After two milestone-laden decades in music, Garrison Starr is going back to where it all began to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her major label debut LP Eighteen Over Me with a tour and a highlighted show in Memphis, TN at the legendary Crosstown Theater, where she will be performing the record in it's entirety and recording that performance to release as a live LP later this year.
Originally Hailing from Hernando, MS, Garrison released her major label debut, Eighteen Over Me, in 1997 for Geffen Records. The album was critically acclaimed and is still oved by its fans. Starr made her home in Memphis music scene in the mid-90s, working at famed Ardent Studios and playing shows every chance she got. Her triumphant son "Superhero" caught the attention of A&R rep Ray Farrell, and she signed a deal in 1996. The majority of the record was written within the year, and was released released in Sept. of 97'. Starr notes her favorite touring experiences from back in those days were with The Sundays soon after the record's release and playing Lilith Fair, where she met some of her heroes and future collaborators: Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt and Sara Maclachlan.
Since then, she's toured the world and back, she's received a GRAMMY nomination, has had her songs placed in hundreds of movies, TV shows and commercials, was featured in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial for T-Mobile staring Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus and has released a dozen albums while also writing songs for others such as Back Street Boys and Kris Allen.
But there's nothing quite like your first LP. No matter what else you accomplish, there's always something special about the first thing you present to the world. And that's something to celebrate.
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"I've always been interested in every aspect of music––interested in writing, playing, and recording and always asking, 'Oh, how does a string section work? How can I get my guitar to sound this way?", says Toohey.
The Massachusetts native headed back east to New York after 11 years in Los Angeles thanks to receiving the offer of a lifetime: to play on Broadway for Sara Bareilles' production of "Waitress". She orchestrated many of the guitar parts and performed as a member of the band for the duration of the Tony nominated NYC run.
The Massachusetts native headed back east to New York after 11 years in Los Angeles thanks to receiving the offer of a lifetime: to play on Broadway for Sara Bareilles' production of "Waitress". She orchestrated many of the guitar parts and performed as a member of the band for the duration of the Tony nominated NYC run.
Toohey is as well versed in Americana music as she is in moody pop-rock. After a move to Los Angeles in 2006 she shifted gears forming a superstar indie girl band The Cold And Lovely, featuring members of Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.. Toohey penned songs that found their way to hit TV series such as Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries, Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and other shows on MTV, PBS, and more, as well as films including Sex in the City, Morning Glory, and Last Shift, which bowed at the Cannes Film Festival. As a producer, Toohey has worked with a diverse slew of indie artists including Vivek Shraya, Garrison Starr, and comedian Margaret Cho, whose album features a Toohey-produced track that garnered a Grammy nod. She is known to play most of the instruments on the recordings she produces, as well as acting as the engineer and mixer.
After heading back to NYC in 2016, Meg quickly shifted gears again and became a top tier musician in the Broadway scene. In addition to Waitress she has played for shows like "Donna Summer", "Head Over Heels" (The Go- Go's), "The Secret Life of Bees", and "Alice By Heart" (Duncan Sheik). Recently Meg teamed up with Morgan James and a star studded Broadway line up (Shoshana Bean, Cynthia Ervio, Ledisi) to produce an all female version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" to be released April 2022.
She has played guitar for artists like Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz, Keala Settle, Adrienne Warren, Kat McPhee to name a few. She was hand picked by Spain's beloved artist Manolo Garcia to write guitar parts on his album Geometría del Rayo, which went on to win the Latin Grammy for Rock Album of the Year. Subsequently, she toured the album with him playing massive stadiums all over Spain. Manolo called her again in 2021 to help with his new record to be released May 2022.
In 2020 Toohey released her first solo album since 2001. "Butch" received critical acclaim from her peers and industry alike. Going back to her roots Toohey dug into the artists that resonated deeply with her like Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Springsteen. In other words, she dove into studying "classic songwriters making great music". It's what brought her back to the music she has always been drawn to.
"Butch was followed by "Lucky Streak", a tribute written to Meg's friend and fellow Waitress cast mate, Nick Cordero, who sadly passed away from Covid in July 2020. The track features Sara Bareilles and the rest of the Waitress band and was picked up on many national news programs.
After 20 years plus in the music industry, Toohey is just getting started. "All I Know", a new group of Meg's songs and sounds will be released in 2022.
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Amassing over 6 million streams with their pop-inspired album, Stargazer, Yam Haus' dance-worthy sound evokes the names of WALK THE MOON, Maroon 5, and Ed Sheeran alike. The quartet closed out 2019 with a sold out show at the iconic venue, First Avenue, and releasing three new singles, including The Thrill, the Minneapolis-based pop band continues to capture the Midwest's attention with their high energy show, clean synth-pop sound, and engaging personalities. Members Lars Pruitt (lead vocal), Jake Felstow (drums), Zach Beinlich (bass), and Seth Blum (guitar) officially formed Yam Haus in 2017 and launched their first single, West Coast, in April 2018. Sharing a much needed message of unity and empathic community, "Yam" is an acronym meaning "You Are Me"
They've always defied and stretched genres. Equal parts singer/songwriters and rock band. Thinking man's Americana. We love having this Grand Rapids based band join us!
Big Head Todd and The Monsters have quietly become an American institution following three and a half decades of writing, recording, and touring (totaling over 3,500 performances). After countless sold out shows in amphitheaters and on the high seas, beaming their tunes to outer space (literally), earning the endorsement of everyone from Robert Plant to The Denver Broncos, and tallying tens of millions of streams, Big Head Todd and The Monsters cite the friendships formed in the crowd among their proudest accomplishments. Fast forward to 2021 and the Colorado quartet—Todd Park Mohr [vocals, guitar, keys, sax, harmonica], Brian Nevin [drums, percussion], Rob Squires [bass, vocals], and Jeremy Lawton [guitar, keys, vocals, steel guitar]—continue to unite audiences.
"Friendships have spawned because of our band," smiles Todd. "Maybe a bit like the Grateful Dead, the line between audience and stage has over time become a bit blurred and many lifelong friendships have been made in every direction. I'm very proud of that. Bringing people together and sharing a joy for a couple of hours is an important function of music. Music can cultivate community, even harmony. We need that!"
Fittingly, the guys in the band began as friends as well. Todd and Brian first crossed paths in high school jazz band circa 1982. Soon, the guys started to jam in Brian's basement also joined by Rob. Sweat-soaked house party gigs and talent shows followed until they became a fixture on the bar circuit "before I was even old enough to drink," laughs Todd. As perennial outliers, the musicians performed original material at these formative gigs, standing out from a bevy of cover bands in the scene at the time.
Adopting the moniker Big Head Todd & The Monsters, they served up their independent debut Another Mayberry in 1989 and Midnight Radio in 1990 to critical acclaim, setting the stage for their seminal 1993 breakout Sister Sweetly. Powered by staples "Broken Hearted Savior," "It's Alright," and "Bittersweet," it eventually went platinum, and they supported Plant on tour. At the time, Variety hailed Todd as "a soulful singer and nimble lead guitarist," while The Los Angeles Times claimed, "Mohr, who has a voice like smoke, writes great songs that incorporates blues, folk, rock and country, which sounds sort of like, well, Big Head Todd and the Monsters."
In the end, Big Head Todd and The Monsters will never stop bringing crowds together. In fact, they'll hit the road yet again for a full-scale US tour in winter 2022 with more on the horizon.
"If I had any message for our listeners, it would just be, 'Thank you'," he leaves off. "We're so fortunate to have lives making music. We're grateful to be in the situation we're in, and we're going to continue as long as we can."
Celebrating their 40th Anniversary, 10,000 Maniacs has a lot in common with Jamestown, New York, the city that spawned them back in 1981. Both are honest and hardworking, a step outside the mainstream, and both possess a bit of magic. "It's a city of blue-collar poetry," says keyboardist Dennis Drew. "And that's what we're about, real-life stories. We're a family, we do real work and we keep moving forward."
The band has covered plenty of ground in its 40 years, from cult-stardom to international stardom, to their current status as a cornerstone alternative band. But the sound and spirit of 10,000 Maniacs remains consistent. The live shows embrace their entire catalogue, and the lineup is still anchored by four of the six original members. Drew, guitarist John Lombardo, and bassist Steven Gustafson co-founded the band in 1981. Drummer Jerome Augustyniak joined in 1982, solidifying the rhythm section. And the two "new" members have long been part of the family: Mary Ramsey toured and recorded with the Maniacs as a viola player and backup singer beginning in 1991 before stepping into the front woman's role 27 years ago. And the new guy Jeff Erickson, the lead guitarist for a mere 19 years, came in at the behest of his friend and mentor, the late Rob Buck.
The band is still touring and are currently writing new material for a 2021 release.
Grand Haven native and member of the uber-popular band Greensky Bluegrass, we are ecstatic to have Michael doing a special opening set!!
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Jeremy Hoekstra is an artist from Grand Rapids, MI who has been making music for over ten years. He is part of the movement of musicians redefining what it means to be a pop/singer-songwriter, bringing multiple genres of music together to create a unique sound.Spotify | Apple Music | iHeart | YouTube
Another local artist, we can't wait to have Allie on stage!
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For his latest album We Imagined an Ending (November 5, Burnside), Matt the Electrician (Matt Sever) challenged himself to turn the seven deadly sins on their head. "I got to wondering, 'What would be the opposite of that?' Despite Sever's teenage years immersed in nihilistic hardcore and metal, bleak-for-bleakness' sake has just never been his bag.
"Of course, I didn't realize 'the opposite of the seven deadly sins' was also a fairly well-worn path," Sever continues with a laugh. "There are all these different virtues that answer the sins, like the seven Bushido virtues and the seven Quaker virtues..."
Sever can rattle off many of his song pairings without even checking his notes: "Night Owls" (Faith); "Big Changes" (Justice); "Dance" (Honesty); "Switch Shadows" (Empathy); "When the Lights Went Out" (Hope); "Heartbeat" (Peace); "Home Again" (Prudence); "Temporary" (Equality); "What If You Needed Me" (Community); and "Mindless" (Knowledge).
Produced by Tucker Martine (Decemberists, Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, First Aid Kit), Sever recorded We Imagined an Ending way back in October of 2019. At least three songs— "Night Owls," "Temporary," and "If You Needed Me" — were written with his late mom at the forefront of his mind, and "When the Lights Went Out" (whose lyrics include the album's title) came to him within minutes of hearing the news about the death of fellow songwriter Neal Casal by suicide. "When the lights went out / We had to light the way," he
sings.
"There's actually a lot of death on this album," he observes. "But it's more about the cycle of things. The full line in "When the Lights Go Out" is, 'We imagined an ending, and then tried to let it go.' We all have what we think is going to be the way things are going to work out, but then they don't always work out that way at all. Like you might think, 'Oh, we'll see Mom next Christmas,' and then you just don't. So then you have to just figure out how to move on and get through that. And as hard as it may be, there's growth that comes out of that moving-on process, and things you learn from it. And out of that growth comes... hope."
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Musician, painter and educator Natalia Zukerman grew up in New York City, studied art at Oberlin, started her mural business Off The Wall in San Francisco, began her songwriting career in Boston, and now resides, writes, plays, teaches and paints in the Hudson Valley. Having released eight independent albums on Weasel Records and her own label Talisman Records, Zukerman has toured internationally as a solo performer since 2005. Her music can be heard on the soundtrack of several seasons of The L Word and ABC Family's Chasing Life. She also created the score for The Arch of Titus, an independent film created for Yeshiva University and a Harvard online course called Poetry in America. Alongside her touring career, Zukerman continues to paint private and public murals as well as illustrate children's books, design and paint sets for plays in New York City and paint private portrait commissions. In February, 2017, Natalia became a Cultural Diplomat for the US Department of State, playing concerts and conducting workshops with her trio, The Northern Lights throughout Africa. Natalia teaches private songwriting lessons and has taught at various programs and festivals throughout the US and in Canada. In May 2018, she was the artist in residence at the cell theatre in New York City where she developed her multimedia one woman show, The Women Who Rode Away. In March, 2020, Natalia co-produced an online music festival called Shut In & Sing which ran for 8 weeks and provided immediate financial relief to hundreds of independent musicians at the beginning of the lockdown. Since then, she has been performing livestream shows, teaching songwriting, coaching, running an integrative wellness platform, painting, gardening, has become a 200 hour certified yoga teacher and is the artistic director for the conscious global community, SoulCall Global.
Natalia met musician and teacher Paul Reisler in 2018 at the Song School at The Rocky Mountain Folk Festival where she was a guest teacher. The two immediately recognized a musical kinship. She has been a guest teacher for the last two years with Kid Pan Alley and in love with the program, she is beyond thrilled to be joining the team as Program Director.
"Natalia's voice could send an orchid into bloom while her guitar playing can open a beer bottle with its teeth." –New Yorker
"a strutting brass band one minute, a sighing lover the next." –The Boston Globe
"a wise mix of rootsy styles from torch blues to country swing. If you're a fan of Madeleine Peyroux, Bonnie Raitt or even Amy Winehouse, you'll find stuff to connect with here." –Philadelphia Daily News
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Peter Madcat Ruth is a Grammy Award-winning virtuoso harmonica player based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Performance Magazine refers to him as "A harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend status." Come check out these mad skillzzzz!
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Jeff Armstrong is a prolific composer, performer, teacher, band director and arranger. A world class Guitarist and Bassist, Jeff's vast repertoire and catalog includes Classical, Flamenco, Jazz, Blues, Latin, Rock and Metal styles.
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Natchez Trace is an acoustic trio covering classic hits from the 1960's & 1970's. First formed in the 1970's, this trio continues to play live venues around West Michigan, featuring harmony vocals, bass and acoustic guitar stylings. Natchez Trace is Ronn Burke, Steve Damstra and Robin Spring. (And, of course, Rex the Roadie!)
Country music hitmaker Phil Vassar is a piano-pounding powerhouse on stage who taps into his audiences via social media for song requests throughout his more than 135 shows a year. Phil Vassar's reign of signature songs include ten No. 1 singles and 26 Top 40 hits, including "Carlene," "Just Another Day in Paradise," "Six-Pack Summer, When I Love You," and many more. Vassar was racking up hits on the radio long before he even began his own recording career that has seen the release of six albums, two ASCAP Songwriter of the Year trophies, ACM's Top New Male Vocalist and sold-out shows across the country. Vassar's songwriting career blossomed in the mid-'90s when he landed a publishing contract with EMI and penned hits for Collin Raye (Little Red Rodeo), Alan Jackson (Right on the Money), Tim McGraw (For a Little While), Jo Dee Messina (Bye Bye, Alright), and Blackhawk (Postmarked Birmingham). He signed a record deal of his own with Arista in 1998 and was named ASCAP's Country Songwriter of the Year in 1999. Vassar continues to churn out incisive, soulful lyrics and infectious melodies that capture the heart and soul in the unique and special way that only he can.
JAMIE O'NEAL
Jamie O'Neal is a Platinum-selling 4 x Grammy nominated country singer songwriter who became a household name in 2001 with her back-to-back #1 singles, "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels." With multiple hits that followed, including "Shiver", "Trying To Find Atlantis" and "Somebody's Hero," Jamie's career caught fire. She earned numerous accolades including an ACM award, Billboard Award, CMA nominations along with Grammy nominations. O'Neal has appeared on The Tonight Show, David Letterman, Emeril cooking show, Craig Kilborn and numerous other national tv shows.
While she has penned most of her own songs, Jamie has also written songs for such notable artists as Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Leann Rimes, Idina Menzel, CeCe Winans (Grammy winning album) and more. Her voice can be heard internationally in major motion pictures including All by Myself for Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones' Baby.
She was also picked to perform with Carrie Underwood when she needed the perfect duet partner for CMT's 100 greatest duets with 'Does He Love You'. "I'm so happy to finally get some new original music out there for the fans" says O'Neal about her new album ' 'Sometimes'. Critics raved about the new music from her newest album release with Rolling Stone country touting "She hasn't lost an iota of her powerhouse vocal talent" while People Magazine's Tomás Mier says "The new rendition of the track 'There Is No Arizona' with Lauren Alaina features a vocal-driven, more anthemic sound compared to the 2000 original."
American Songwriter's Tricia Despres chronicled how the version with Lauren Alaina "had both singers pushing each other to new heights," while Wide Open Country's Bobby Moore picked the collaboration for their Five New Songs You Need to Hear and characterized the track as "jazz and pop-infused glory." The album features new versions of some of her biggest hits re- recorded as duets with special guests Lauren Alaina, Martina McBride, Sara Evans and John Paul White of The Civil Wars fame. Singles off the album have featured heavily on Spotify Playlists including New Boots, Women of Country, New Traditions Country Heroes and several top Apple Music playlists. The album contains 8 brand new songs including the kick off single 'The World Goes On' which O'Neal says reminds us all who are going through hard times that "even though life is filled with ups and downs tomorrow brings us new chances, renewed faith and inner strength that we can get through the bad times to better days. If 2020 showed us anything it's that life is fragile and family and friends are what truly matter. Music has the ability to live on forever and be healing to us all and I'm just so excited to have my new music out there plus some of my hits in this fresh new way! We're finally back out on the road again with new songs and I'm loving getting to see the fans enjoying live music again!"
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The Kindred Souls is an instrumental and vocal quartet consisting of Pete Muller, John Whooley, Missy Soltero, and Martha McDonnell.
Pete Muller, a singer, songwriter, and pianist who lives in Santa Barbara, California, has released four solo albums to date. Muller most recently toured the country with the other Kindred Souls in support of his latest solo album, "Dissolve," which features three Top 30 charting AC singles.
Muller says of the group, "John, Missy, and I have been playing together for years and we share a great chemistry with one another. When we started playing more and more with Martha we realized we had something truly special as a group. We decided to make it official and call ourselves the Kindred Souls."
"Touring as the Kindred Souls went so well that we thought that maybe we should make a record. Producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) helped it all come together and we created our first official EP release, The Sound. Building on each other's strengths allowed us to offer some fresh takes on songs we all love." The covers album's first two singles "For What It's Worth" and "The Way" have both reached Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Hailing from Western Colorado, multi-instrumentalist John Whooley is primarily a saxophonist He's also a recording engineer and acclaimed for his guitar playing and harmonizing. "The joy that I feel when we are harmonizing and playing together is one of the most special feelings," says Whooley about the band's chemistry. At 6'5" tall, Whooley likes to perform sitting down with TKS so everyone ends up about the same height.
Missy Soltero has been performing with Muller since they met at a mutual friend's rehearsal dinner 10 year ago. "Pete truly has a knack for bringing together talented individuals and making magic happen with them. I'm proud to be part of such a strong and unique group of musical forces," adds Soltero. Enamored with making noise since she was a toddler, Soltero's mother started her in tap dance classes at age three. By age ten, she was acting on camera. After being invited by Muller to sing on his third album, she joined the Kindred Souls as a vocalist. Without a percussionist in the quartet, she took it upon herself to learn the cajon before their first tour. She lives in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
NYC-based classical violinist and fiddler Martha McDonnell is no stranger to the limelight, with stints with major orchestras and Broadway shows, such as the world premiere of "The Last Ship" with Sting, performing on stage with the original Broadway cast of Steve Martin's "Bright Star", and the acclaimed "Girl from the North Country". Her success has led to performances on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, Charlie Rose, and the Tony Awards. Commenting on the band's chemistry, Martha adds, "I think we each bring something unique to the table. We also laugh a lot, which makes the whole experience that much more fun."
thefableofasong.com | IMDB | Trailer
In May of 2017, a Nashville based duo named The Young Fables embarked on an experiment to film the songwriting process. The hope was to simply capture the construction of a song from beginning to end. To the writer's surprise, not only was the creative process documented, but Laurel Wright, Wes Lunsford, Dean Fields, and Patryk Larney found themselves writing a relatable and promising new song, 'Daddy's Girl'.
The song grew.
Grammy award winning producer, Mitch Dane would produce The Young Fables' sophomore record "OLD SONGS", with "Daddy's Girl" as the feature single. With excitement building around the song, cameras followed the duo into the studio to film the making of the record. Soon, the album was complete. The Young Fables had it all.
That's when things changed.
A series of unforeseen and devastating events would impact the lives of The Young Fables. Simultaneously, 'Daddy's Girl' took on new meaning. The song could no longer be heard as the once light-hearted ode to a parent. Despite coping with the tragedy, the duo's album released to critical acclaim and the track became a favorite among a growing fan base.
Things started turning around.
The Young Fables were handpicked by Shania Twain to perform on USA's TV show, Real Country. With national exposure, high-remarks from Rolling Stone and a feature video on CMT, the duo was back on their feet.
That's when things changed. Again.
The lyrics of 'Daddy's Girl' now took on a THIRD life. How could one song be heard in so many different ways? In October of 2018, producer Patryk Larney enlisted director Andy Strohl to tackle the arduous task of developing a feature length documentary to adapt the layers of a story unlike any other to visit the big screen. The Fable of a Song™ chronicles the unimaginable events that followed the decision to capture the story BEHIND the writing of a song and the realization that the story of 'Daddy's Girl' was in fact in FRONT of the song
Thirty years. It's an eternity in rock 'n' roll, and a marathon for the bands who fly its tattered flag. Revisit the class of 1988, and the casualties are piled high: a thousand bands that blew up and burnt out. In this chew-and-spit industry, the Spin Doctors are the last men standing, still making music like their lives depend on it, still riding the bus, still shaking the room. They've never been a band for backslaps and self-congratulation. Even now, plans are afoot for a seventh studio album and another swashbuckling world tour, adding to their tally of almost two thousand shows. But faced with that milestone, even a band of their velocity takes a breath for reflection. "I'd never have guessed," admits drummer Aaron Comess, "this would have turned into thirty years of making great music together."
Like all the best rock 'n' roll mythology, the final page of the Spin Doctors' biography remains forever unwritten. But if the band's story is to begin anywhere, it should be at New York's New School university in the fall of '88, when a fateful door-knock sparked the first meeting of Comess and guitarist Eric Schenkman. Trading as the Trucking Company, Schenkman, local legend John Popper and a charisma-bomb vocalist named Chris Barron had been making a glorious noise in the clubs downtown. But when Popper committed himself to Blues Traveler, the remnants sought new blood. Having assured Schenkman that he'd "check them out," Comess formed a ferocious rhythm section with Bronx-raised bassist Mark White. "When I first met them," recalls White, "I thought, 'These are some funky-assed white boys.' I'm the black guy in the band, and they had to teach me to play the blues."
Long-term strategy has never been the Spin Doctors' style. While
cultural commentators have long since given up plotting the trajectory of this
most unpredictable band, it's a revelation to learn that the lineup themselves
have no road map. "For the next album," considers Barron, "I kinda want to stay
spontaneous. I'd personally like to make a quarter-turn and do a rock record.
But I have a feeling it's gonna get funky. Y'know, there's that great quote
from Keith Richards when he went to meet Mick Jagger at AIR Studios to make
Steel Wheels. And he told his wife – 'I'll either be back tomorrow or in a
month'. I think that's how it's gonna go for us, too."
Thirty years. A thousand twists. But whatever happens down the road, rest assured that the Spin Doctors will always be the last men standing, still making music like their lives depend on it, still riding the bus, still shaking the room. "It's been a great ride," considers Comess. Then he adds: "So far…"
Originating from Gainesville, FL, Sister Hazel is comprised of five gifted, seasoned musicians whose well-spring of natural talent has been called "one of the Top 100 Most Influential Independent Performers of the last 15 years" by Performing Songwriter Magazine. Song "All for You" topped the adult alternative charts during the summer of 1997 and the success propelled their album to platinum status.
In their first showing on the country music charts they made a strong debut with "Lighter In The Dark" at #4 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, #6 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, #30 on Billboard's Top Current Albums chart.
The band landed on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart again in 2018 and 2019 with Volumes I, II, III, and IV of a clever EP compilation series titled "Elements." In February 2018, "Water," landed on the Billboard Country Albums chart at #9 and at #2 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart along with making their debut on the most revered stage in country music, the Grand Ole Opry. In September of 2018, "Wind" landed at #1 on iTunes country page and #11 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. In February 2019, Vol. III "Fire" landed at #5 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart and #46 Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart. The collectible compilation series ended with "Earth" which again landed at on the charts at #15
on Billboard's Americana/Folk Album chart.
Living up to their fan-centered reputation, the band hosts annual events like "Hazelnut Hang," that focuses on fan involvement and was a pioneer in themed cruise experiences by co-founding "The Rock Boat," a cruise featuring nonstop opportunities for fan/artist interaction. Sister Hazel has been equally attentive to connecting with their audience through social media. They have since made their Grand Ole Opry debut and shared the stages with country music superstars at The ?CMA Festival, Tortuga Music Festival, among others. In addition to the events and touring, the band also gives back with "Lyrics For Life." Founded by singer Ken Block and the Band, the charity unites musicians and celebrities for concerts and auctions to benefit cancer research and patient-care charities.
willyporter.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Searching for the shaman that lives inside the guitar has led Willy Porter on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 10 albums, and multiple continents. His journey remains defined by an independent drive to evolve as a musician and human, affording him the freedom to create the next song on his own terms. Equally accomplished as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven events--equal parts grit, soul, and muscle--that are electrifying, dynamic, and wholly original in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his virtuoso fret work.
A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.
Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).
In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements. In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt."
On his latest disc, Human Kindness (2015), Porter brings all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great collection of songs. This album is a driving, tuneful return to the pop sensibilities of his best work that also showcases Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.
In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $90,000 for this organization to date. Porter also gives his time and talents to helping behind the scenes at First Stage, a world-class Milwaukee-based children's theatre company. His recent involvement with Kids4Peace International works to bring kids from Palestine, Israel, and the Middle East together with American kids to work towards a dialogue of mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding in hopes that the next generation will have leadership comprised of strong, peaceful voices.
Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and their Beagle/ Terrier, Charlie.
kaitlinrosemusic.com | Facebook | Insta
Kaitlin has been playing guitar and writing songs since the summer of 2001 after finding her mom's Alvarez in the hallway closet. By the end of the day she taught herself the theme song to The Godfather, which made her Italian grandmother very proud.
Get your dancing shoes on! If you've never been to a silent disco, you've got to check it out. When you first walk up it looks like a bunch of crazy people dancing to nothing. Everyone gets a pair of wireless headphones where they can choose the channel they want to dance to. Once the headphones are on, only that person can hear what they're listening to which makes it even more entertaining to watch from the outside because not everyone is hearing the same thing so they're not all dancing to the same beat or rhythm. The great thing is, if you have a friend or loved one you'd like to go out and dance with, but they have a different taste in music, you can both enjoy what you like while still spending time together.
This event does require onsite headphone rental which is well worth the amazing time you're going to have. So grab your friends and family and head on out! We'll even have family options from 5pm - 7pm where kids channels will be available as well.
kimrichey.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Kim Richey was in our record collection and CD collection long before there was a venue called Seven Steps Up. As a venue, Kim is one of the greatest musical joys we have brought to our stage because, well, we are such huge FANS ourselves! In fact, we might be a little groupie-ish.
An Ohio native, Richey's passion for music was sparked early on in her great aunt's record shop where she'd scour the bins and soak it all in. She took up the guitar in high school and, while studying environmental education and sociology at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, she played in a band with Bill Lloyd. But it didn't stick. After dabbling in being a cook, the call to music came back and she eventually ventured out on her own.
Through it all, Richey has worn her heart on her lyrical sleeve, revealing herself time and again. "I started writing songs because of Joni Mitchell, probably like most women songwriters of a certain age," Richey confesses. "I loved being able to write songs because I was really super-shy. I couldn't say things to people that I wanted to say. If I put it in a song, there was the deniability. If I ever got called on it, I could say, 'Oh, heavens no, that's just a song! I made that up.'"
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Garrison moved to Nashville in 2011 to play, perform, and write music. His career jumpstarted when he signed a record deal with Island Records and his song "Shake That" hit number six on the Billboard Dance Chart in 2013. Today, he is collaborating with an array of songwriters and artists and finalizing his forthcoming record, Garrison
Do you love to entertain and want to show off your talents? Here' your chance! For those that don't already know, this is not like a karaoke event. There's no pre-recorded music or monitors with the lyrics. Just you, whatever instruments you have, and your voice. Sing, dance, recite a poem, or sharpen your comedy skills. It's a great way to test your material and learn to become comfortable in front of an audience.
ThisIsLauraCortese.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Expanding on the boundaries of what an indie-folk band can be, Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards take their extensive string music background, add their knowledge of folk and roots music, and incorporate an edgy pop sensibility to create their latest album, BITTER BETTER. A stunning lesson in all the ways string instruments can be played – bowed, plucked, percussively – the album showcases Cortese and multi-instrumentalist producer Sam Kassirer striving to capture the most adventurous approach to each moment. The result is an album that incorporates dance-worthy foundational grooves, synth, and loops to push the boundaries of the genre. BITTER BETTER will be released on April 17 on Compass Records and the band has been invited to support The Mountain Goats on their extended US tour.
While the album's 11 tracks provide relief and release, they also encourage self-examination and personal discovery—the work that is necessary to sustain the energy needed to keep striving, to connect, and to continue to make our complicated world a better place. With BITTER BETTER, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards throw out the rulebook, creating a beautifully vivid, musically unexpected canvas from their refreshingly unconventional perspective.
danielchampagnemusic.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
The Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso will bring his tour back to America for the first time in over two years! One reviewer recently wrote "Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating gui-tar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne must be seen to be believed'
The story goes that the young artist first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classical-ly throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamic live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned profession-al and hit the road without looking back.
The following decade saw him release 5 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe with upwards of 300 shows per year, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
In early 2020 as the COVID pandemic ground all touring to a halt, Daniel returned to Aus-tralia writing music and further honing his craft and will return to international audiences with a swag of new songs and a complete new live show. For fans of guitar, songs or just ar-tistic expression at it's finest this show is a must see!
WHAT THE PRESS SAY..
"The word Prodigy seems to entirely fall short of this soft-spoken young man's skills, he co-axes sounds and melodies out of his instrument that literally drop jaws." The Calgary Herald, CANADA
"Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in the thousands towards the main stage to witness a young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper." The Firefly Column, USA
"Daniel Champagne is a crossroads. Fusing the strong traditions of Blues, Folk and other roots art with pop showmanship and admirable lyrical ability. I firmly believe that he will be-come an ambassador for roots music in a time where it desperately needs representation." The Indie Blender, CANADA
"reinventing roots guitar" Rhythms Magazine, AUSTRALIA
"Watching Daniel Champagne perform is a once in a lifetime experience. He is a true prodigy that plays like no one else could possibly play unless they spent at least two lifetimes studying the art." BW Review, NEW ZEALAND
jesseterrymusic.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify JESSE TERRYJesse Terry's seventh album, When We Wander, is the first he wrote since becoming a parent. So it's no surprise the family theme courses through many of its 12 songs. His music career has been a family project ever since he became a full-time touring artist a decade ago. That was right around the time when Jesse met his wife Jess working on a cruise ship in the South Pacific. "As soon as we got back to the states, I proposed to her at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in July 2010 and we packed up the car for the first tour right after that. We've been touring together full-time ever since." Now with two-year-old Lily added to the clan, family is more important than ever to him, including the parental urge to love and protect. "If I were the moon, I'd light all of your back roads," he sings in "If I Were The Moon": "You wouldn't need no headlights / I'd always be full." The life of a touring family inspired the album's title track. "When we wander, when we wander / Don't it feel like we're finally found." But in the face of the pandemic, he has found that "wandering is not just a literal thing. We've followed our hearts with so many decisions in 2020-2021, and have found that there are many ways to wander and be free and brave." One of those ways has been going virtual. He says that his livestream concerts have "become the highlight of my week and the thing that sustains us emotionally and financially. And an amazing community has sprung up from these concerts." The stage had been Jesse's home for a decade. He plays around 150 shows a year, from Bonnaroo to the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the 30A Songwriters Festival to AmericanaFest. When the pandemic canceled concerts and delayed the album's release, he pivoted to performing online and found a strong new connection to his fans, who had helped fund his albums all along. "My musical tribe has always been there for me," he says with gratitude. Though recorded in 2019, the songs off the new album click with fans online too. He and his band recorded When We Wander live in the studio, a first for his career. "I wanted to try that Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Neil Young approach to live recording, prioritizing emotion and raw performances over perfection. I loved that experience." Recorded live, the album resonates especially with the intimacy and community spirit of the online shows. He also wrote all the music and lyrics this time, instead of working with collaborators, and took a very personal approach, including a look back. "In Spite of You" recalls his stay in a residential facility for behavior modification that traumatized him as a young teenager: "The sermons that you sold me all were fakes." Yet he emerged to earn a degree from Berklee College of Music, net a five-year staff writer gig on Nashville's Music Row penning material for major TV networks, and win prestigious songwriting awards. And then to become the singer-songwriter his countless fan know today, who (in the words of Music News Nashville) "bring[s] to mind iconic artist/poets like Paul Simon and Jackson Browne... [with] a performance that touches the heart like only a whisper can." | meaghanfarrell.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify MEAGHAN FARRELLAs an emerging singer-songwriter in New York City and Nashville, Meaghan Farrell didn't know her own power. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say that she simply didn't know how to harness it. She had always loved to sing, turning heads with her strong voice at a young age in her hometown of Harrisburg, PA. Meaghan knew early that she was meant to write songs, perform, and connect with people. For several years she did just that – writing and producing a number of independent recordings, gathering experience and confidence as she toured around the country in support of her music. Like so many new artists, Meaghan was proud of her early songs, but the material wasn't completely "her", she hadn't yet found her voice. Driving around the country as a touring singer-songwriter can be a lonely proposition, with lots of time to think behind the wheel, to get to know one's self. It was on this journey of self-discovery that Meaghan realized that her artist voice was actually the voice inside her own head. "Conversations with Myself came out of an extraordinary time in my life," Meaghan says. "I was no longer willing to accept feeling certain kinds of familiar pain anymore. It all started with checking in with myself every single day, over a cup of coffee in the morning. It was through this sort of meditation that I began the journey of healing a very broken heart. I am still on that journey. I am still talking to myself, trying to more deeply understand who I am... and I am learning how truly grateful I am for all that I have and all I can give." After two years of writing and touring, Meaghan recently teamed up with production duo Nate and Dan Monea at their Little C Studios in Canton, Ohio. The Moneas helped her express the full range of her emotions: from heartbreak to healing, from injustice to empowerment, from anxiety to confidence, Meaghan shares it all. Her philosophy is simple - the best version of yourself has always been there, it is often too noisy to hear that voice. The trick is to quiet the world, quiet yourself until you can truly hear it. The clarity. The calm. The love. With her powerful new music, Meaghan Farrell aspires to be heard for many years to come. One conversation at a time. One song at a time. Meaghan says, "Look into the deepest, darkest parts of yourself. Get uncomfortable. Accept it all with love, compassion and gratitude for where you've been. I believe from that place, your dreams start to become your reality." |
Get your dancing shoes on! If you've never been to a silent disco, you've got to check it out. When you first walk up it looks like a bunch of crazy people dancing to nothing. Everyone gets a pair of wireless headphones where they can choose the channel they want to dance to. Once the headphones are on, only that person can hear what they're listening to which makes it even more entertaining to watch from the outside because not everyone is hearing the same thing so they're not all dancing to the same beat or rhythm. The great thing is, if you have a friend or loved one you'd like to go out and dance with, but they have a different taste in music, you can both enjoy what you like while still spending time together.
This event does require onsite headphone rental which is well worth the amazing time you're going to have. So grab your friends and family and head on out! We'll even have family options from 5pm - 7pm where kids channels will be available as well.
brendanjames.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Brendan James is an American Singer-Songwriter in the pop/folk genre, akin to David Gray, Jason Mraz, and Elton John. Signed to Capitol Records at age 25, Universal Records at 28, James has reached the #1 spot on ITunes multiple times, accrued more than one million fans in 65 countries on Spotify, and has been played on multiple formats of American and European radio. He has collaborated or toured with the likes of John Mayer, John Legend, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Keb Mo, and Andy Grammar, and his songs have been placed in over 15 major television shows and films worldwide.
Truly summing Brendan James up is a difficult task though. You'd have to meet him, talk with him, hear him sing his songs to understand his shocking talent and unique purpose in today's over saturated music scene. As he puts it: "What I hope to do is calm, strengthen, and transport my listeners to a better self, and in turn maybe I get there too." And he means it. Penning songs on the topics of love, optimism, political enlightenment, simplifying, self empowerment, marriage equality, wanderlust, raising a family, aging, and adventuring aimlessly through the natural world, James has left no stone unturned in his six studio albums to date; and in his words, "I've only just begun."
Just home from a 6 month journey around the globe with his wife and two toddlers, James has a plethora of new material and is set to release 4 singles this year, with a full length album coming in the Spring of 2020. His first single, "Through Our Hands" is an autobiographical telling of his family's trip to 10 countries, watching his children grow ever too quickly along the way.
kaninelizabeth.net | Insta | YouTube | Spotify
When Kanin Elizabeth was just an infant, her parents noticed one strange thing. Although she was too young to talk, when she rode in the car, she would start to hum. Perhaps it was an inkling of what she was to become.
Now 16 years later, music infuses the heart of this Michigan-based songbird, who has begun writing and performing her own tunes as she puts wings on a professional career as a singer-performer.
Do you love to entertain and want to show off your talents? Here' your chance! For those that don't already know, this is not like a karaoke event. There's no pre-recorded music or monitors with the lyrics. Just you, whatever instruments you have, and your voice. Sing, dance, recite a poem, or sharpen your comedy skills. It's a great way to test your material and learn to become comfortable in front of an audience.
"Songs, and songwriting keeps me inspired, moving forward. I tend to scribble down notes, lyrics or just random thoughts on pieces of paper, backs of cigarette packs, sometimes on my shirt cuff. Rock n' roll is closest thing I've got to a spiritual power. It's been the higher voice in my life and it's never let me down." - John Waite
Countless musicians of far lesser accomplishment have probably made similar statements regarding their own personal creative process, but when the confession comes from John Waite – whose been successfully writing, recording and performing some of the most listenable, enduring and appreciated popular music for more than 35 years – one cannot help but both recognize and marvel at the shimmering legacy of this British born rock star.
The ride began when Waite was tapped as bassist and lead vocalist for the Babys who rocketed to Top 20 chart positions with a pair of infections hits, "Isn't it Time" from the band's sophomore LP, Broken Heart in 1977 and the monster ballad, "Every Time I Think of You" off 1978's Head First. But it was the album's rhythmically aggressive and seductive title track where fans got their first glimpse of the authentic John Waite, a no-holds-barred rock n' roll performer devoted heart and soul to live performance and making sure every fan in the audience left the concert hall just as elated and exhausted as the band they'd paid to see.
After John Lennon's assassination, December 9, 1980, a bizarre thing happened during one of those furious Baby's performances when John was pulled from the stage by an overzealous fan during an encore. The freak event seriously injured his knee and the group disbanded shortly thereafter. From the ashes of the Baby's, however, rose an abundant and prodigious solo career, ignited by the well-received release, Ignition, that featured the single, "Change," which rode the AOR charts for weeks in 1982, the year a new cable channel that would alter the course of popular media culture called MTV launched. At the forefront of its early play list was the video for the Holly Knight-penned track that in 1985, was included on the platinum-selling Vision Quest soundtrack.
John's next solo effort, 1984's No Brakes, did exactly what the title inferred, barreling at runaway train speed to international acclaim and U.S. platinum success thanks to the smash hit, "Missing You," which did not stop until it reached Number 1 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Singles, Album Rock Tracks and Adult Contemporary charts. The following up single, "Tears" was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.
Continuing to evolve as both a songwriter and formidable stage presence, Mask of Smiles was released in 1985, possessing a pair of muscular hit melodies, "Every Step of the Way," and "If Anybody Had a Heart," which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1986 motion picture, About Last Night starring Demi Moore. John's fourth solo LP, Rover's Return, highlighted by the superlative, "These Times Are Hard for Lovers." The same season that Bon Jovi was urging two lovers to live on a prayer, John delivered an aortal anthem of timeless resonance. "Baby we can make it 'cause our love will pull us through/ these times are hard for lovers its down to me and you/Nothing's gonna break us if we hang on to what's true, these times are hard for lovers, I believe I you."
"I don't have a plan and most of the songwriting is a knee jerk reaction of being alive. I try to speak from an honest place where the listener can both hear and feel where I'm coming from; the job is mine, to help them understand me. There's a real need as an artist to express who you are and where you're coming from."
A long and prodigious career often combines composition and interpretation, like in 1990 when John recorded the Martin Page and Bernie Taupin-penned track, "Deal for Life" for the Days of Thunder soundtrack. But two years prior to that cinematic adventure, superbly performing another songwriter's work led to one of the biggest hits on John Waite's illustrious resume. In 1988, a reunion with former Baby's band mates, Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips –along with uber-guitarist Neal Schon from Journey and drummer Deen Castronovo –resulted in the John Waite fronted supergroup, Bad English. And in 1989, the group's ballad, "When I See You Smile," – penned by Grammy-winning songwriter, Diane Warren – went to Number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was certified Gold. The album reached Top Five and sold more than two million units in the U.S. alone. Bad English released two albums before breaking up in 1992.
Since returning to the recording studio and concert trek as a solo artist in 1995, John has produced a string of solid, existentially eccentric, courageously eclectic and blisteringly electric rock n' roll records, including 1995's Temple Bar, 1997's When You Were Mine, 2001's Figure in a Landscape, 2004's The Hard Way, 2006's Downtown: Journey of a Heart and 2010's In Real Time –an extraordinary live recording that featured burning in-concert realizations of the Baby's "Change", "Back on My Feet Again" and "Head First", not to mention Bad English's "Best of What I've Got" as well as a mind-blowing cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll." It was this lifelong passion for original Country that inspired John's sensational 2006 duet with bluegrass legend, Allison Krauss, where the two combined honeysweet vocal forces to remake his international hit, "Missing You." On February 5, 2007, they performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
John teamed up with Matchbox 20 lead guitarist and songwriter, Kyle Cook in 2011 and their creative chemistry birthed the exhilarating Rough & Tumble, a long form exercise in raucous riffs and bloody truths highlighted by "Further the Sky," "Shadows of Love" and the Classic Radio chart topping title track, a remarkable feat for any musician to reach number one airplay after three and a half decades in the music business trenches.
All-Access Live hit the streets in 2012 and delivered on all stages of John's career–solo, The Babys and Bad English. Bearing a dynamic, stripped down sound which shows off his talented three-piece band, Waite demonstrates why he's considered one of the great rock and roll singers, imbuing the timeless material with saber toothed vitality and kinetic power.
In 2014, Waite returned with Best. Navigating raucous rock, gut bucket blues and country, Waite's new greatest hits album is a thrilling snapshot representing the inspired artistic breadth of this legendary artist's entire career tallying more than 40 years on the rock and roll highway featuring re-recorded versions of signature classics, "Back on My Feet Again," "Isn't It Time" and "Missing You," hard-hitting live renditions of "Head First," "Saturday Night" and "Change" to the more introspective fare of "Suicide Life," "Downtown" and "Bluebird Café."
With more live shows and new music in the offing, John Waite continues to forge his own singularly personal path, celebrating the present and engaged by the promise of the future. The story is far from over for the Lancaster, England-born rock star/balladeer/storyteller who was inspired onto his musical path by blues, soul and country along with a deep connection to the Celtic folk music of his homeland.
Ambrosia, the band known and loved by a multitude of fans since the 1970's, is now more alive and compelling than ever. This 5-time Grammy Nominated ensemble is exploring new musical territory and bringing an exceptional musical performance to stages everywhere.
In 1970, four young musicians from the South Bay of Los Angeles, came together to create a new moving and invigorating style of music. Joseph Puerta, Christopher North, David Pack, and Burleigh Drummond produced a sound that was immediately recognized. Today, Ambrosia is three of the original members with the addition of guitarist Doug Jackson, contributing keyboardist Mary Harris, and powerful lead vocals of Kipp Lennon (from the band Venice). Always exploring the possibilities of progressive, classical, and world influences – with tangled roots of soul, rhythm, and blues – Ambrosia is continuing to entertain their original fans while still engaging newer audiences.
Originally labeled as America's answer to the progressive invasion of English acts Yes and King Crimson, the group quickly proved itself with a unique blend of aural landscapes. Their musical styles attracted the collaboration with cultural icons Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Alan Parsons, Bruce Hornsby, Michael McDonald, Edgar Winter, Dave Mason, Gary Wright, Al Stewart, and others. Ambrosia had toured extensively with Fleetwood Mac, Heart, and the Doobie Brothers.
During Ambrosia's early recording history they garnered 5 Grammy Nominations, received frequent radio airplay, and gained the admiration and respect of the musical community – in addition to th ir sold out concerts around the world. Ambrosia achieved 5 Top 40 hit singles on Warner Bros. Records, released between 1975 and 1980, including "How Much I Feel" and "Biggest Part of Me". In 2015 the group released a new single, "Hopes and Dreams", which was featured on the series called The Sparrows that aired on the Fox television channel. As of 2017, the new Ambrosia material keeps coming.
Bringing a breathtaking performance of their classic hits as well as new moving music, Ambrosia puts on a perfect show.
danrodriguezmusic.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
Hi, I'm Dan. I'm a whiskey & beer drinking, fishing & hunting loving, motorcycle riding, quality food eating, hippie sympathizing, people loving, husband & father who lives in Minneapolis and shares a life with my amazing wife and two adorable sons named Oak and Alder. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI, and moved to Minneapolis when I was 18 to study music, and I stayed because I'm one of those crazy people that enjoys the snow and cold weather.
Music is my trade & performing it for people is my passion. When I'm not in my studio writing songs and cutting records, or on the road playing shows, I'm usually tending to our backyard chickens, eating fresh veggies from my wife's huge garden, making syrup from our city maples, or doing one of my many outdoor hobbies.
Now here are a few things about my music career that I should probably share in a mu- sic bio:
samrobbinsmusic.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
Sam Robbins describes himself as an "old soul singer songwriter." A Nashville based musician whose music evokes classic 70's singer songwriters like James Taylor and Neil Young, Sam adds a modern, upbeat edge to the storyteller troubadour persona.
theseathesea.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
The Sea The Sea, Chuck E. Costa and Mira Costa, is an Upstate New York based indie folk-pop duo featuring what Bob Boilen (NPR's All Songs Considered) calls "excellent harmonies" & Huffington Post calls, "Two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this or any other year." The group's 2020 release, Stumbling Home, dubbed "otherworldly" by Rolling Stone marks the duo's third full-length album, and the duo's first primary recording / engineering credits on one of their albums, as well as that of co-producers—teaming up with recent Grammy and Tony award winner Todd Sickafoose (Hadestown, Anais Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird). Previous releases from The Sea The Sea—Love We Are We Love (2014), In the Altogether (2016 / EP), and From The Light (2018)—have been praised by outlets including NPR, American Songwriter, and No Depression, and the animated video for their song "Waiting" sparked viral interest from Buzzfeed and Pitchfork, as well as inclusion at the international TED 2015 conference. The band has garnered features across all music platforms including Apple Music "Best of the Week" and "A-List Singer/Songwriter," gathering 20+ million streams on Spotify to-date. Live performance broadcast appearances of The Sea The Sea include Mountain Stage, with host Larry Groce calling them "ready to take their place among the best young male/ female duos now performing," Audiotree, and Paste Music/Daytrotter—recently describing the band as "defined by their infallible vocal harmonies and their unconventional song arrangements. The Sea The Sea is a pop band only in their melodic infectiousness—otherwise they are at their best when subverting conventions."
www.albertleeofficial.com | Facebook | Spotify
The simple truth is Albert Lee is one of the most popular artists of all times to visit Seven Steps Up. There is no one quite like Albert Lee.
"The greatest guitarist in the world."- Eric Clapton
"Albert is in every sense of the word, a genuine guitar wizard".- Earl Scruggs
"When Saint Peter asks me to chronicle my time down here on earth, I'll be able to say - with pride if that's allowed - that for a while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee."- Emmylou Harris
Guitar legend ALBERT LEE first came to prominence during a 1964-68 stint in British Blues and R & B stalwarts Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds. After working in the UK bands for touring country acts such as Bobby Bare and Skeeter Davis, Lee's next full-time berth was two years with the UK answer to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band-Head, Hands, and Feet. His reputation grew and session work blossomed, including appearances on "The London Bo Diddley Sessions" for Chess and Jerry Lee Lewis' "The London Sessions". This and other work with U.S. based greats led to a permanent position in the Crickets, and by the time that ended Albert had long since made Southern California his home. There he became friendly with Don Everly, who had also settled in Southern California; they played regularly on a formal and informal basis, with Albert contributing to Don's 1974 solo effort "Sunset Towers". The move to California also led to work on sessions for the debut album of Jackson Browne.
Lee joined Joe Cocker's band in the mid-70s, a time that included recordings for the April 1976 release "Stingray". From there A & M Records signed Albert as an artist in his own right. The solo album's completion was delayed by constant studio and touring work, primarily in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band; in 1976 Albert replaced James Burton when Burton left to continue work with Elvis Presley's TCB band. The Emmylou Harris albums "Luxury Liner" (Jan. 1977), "Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town" (Jan. 1978) "Blue Kentucky Girl" (April 1979), "Roses in the Snow" (May 1980, recorded July 1979), and "Evangeline" (Jan 1981, recorded 1978-80) all include Albert. He ended his touring tenure with the Hot Band to complete his solo album, and "Hiding" was finally released in 1979.
An invitation around the Christmas season in 1978 led to a five-year adventure for Albert in Eric Clapton's band. The live album "Just One Night", recorded at Budokan in December 1979, was the first release (April 1980) to feature Albert. "Another Ticket" (Feb. 1981), "Time Pieces Vol 2-Live in the 70s" (1983), and "Money and Cigarettes" (Feb. 1983) all were part of Albert's tenure with Eric.
His studio work in this period continued, including contributions to three albums by Rosanne Cash: 1979's "Right or Wrong", 1981's "Seven Year Ache", and 1982's "Somewhere in the Stars". Other sessions included work with Dave Edmunds, Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, Carlene Carter, and countless others. His solo efforts continued as well, with the self-titled "Albert Lee" in 1982, and instrumental releases on MCA- the acclaimed "Speechless" (1986) and "Gagged But Not Bound" (1987).
When the Everly Brothers reunited on September 23, 1983 at London's Royal Albert Hall, Albert was on hand as guitarist and Musical Director. He continued in that role for over 20 years until the Brothers retired. An invitation in 1987 by steel guitarist Gerry Hogan for Albert to play his annual festival led to the formation of Albert Lee and Hogan's Heroes, who remain an active touring force in the UK and Europe- and a recording force worldwide, with 7 albums to their credit. The DVD "Live at the Tivoli" was released in 2011, and the new CD, "On the Town Tonight" was released on February 14, 2012.
Albert remains an occasional member of the Crickets, and toured regularly with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Sugar Hill Records released Albert's solo efforts "Heartbreak Hill" in 2003 and "Road Runner" in 2006. A summer 2011 jaunt with John Jorgenson prompted Albert to form his own U.S. band for the very first time. His duo concerts with Peter Asher showed live music lovers in the US, Canada and Australia that Albert is just as much a wizard on an acoustic guitar as he is on an electric. His appearances at Eric Clapton's Crossroads benefit concerts have only enhanced his legend--see them on DVD and Blu-ray--and he remains a favorite of everyone, especially Beatle fans who has seen his stellar contributions to the Concert for George.
The Albert Lee Band includes John Thomas, aka "J.T', on keyboards. J.T.'s musical resume includes 23 years with Bruce Hornsby, who graciously called John "the greatest keyboard player in the band." Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Sparks, Tracy Chapman and a host of other have called upon John's gifts.
chriswisermusic.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
While sharpening his live performances with thousands of hours on stage, Chris has developed a unique voice and songwriting style that is a blend of Americana/Soul/Blues-rock. You can hear his multi-genre influences in his writing, but there is a consistent familiarity, pop sensibility, and edgy soulfulness in his voice that resonates through his songs.
Get your dancing shoes on! If you've never been to a silent disco, you've got to check it out. When you first walk up it looks like a bunch of crazy people dancing to nothing. Everyone gets a pair of wireless headphones where they can choose the channel they want to dance to. Once the headphones are on, only that person can hear what they're listening to which makes it even more entertaining to watch from the outside because not everyone is hearing the same thing so they're not all dancing to the same beat or rhythm. The great thing is, if you have a friend or loved one you'd like to go out and dance with, but they have a different taste in music, you can both enjoy what you like while still spending time together.
This event does require onsite headphone rental which is well worth the amazing time you're going to have. So grab your friends and family and head on out! We'll even have family options from 5pm - 7pm where kids channels will be available as well.
sarahpeacockmusic.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
American history is blood-stained with the dehumanization of entire communities. Casting her own harrowing spell, singer-songwriter Sarah Peacock draws parallels between current events and the 1692 Salem Witch Trials with the title song to her new record, Burn the Witch (March 27, 2020). Finger-picking guitar work cleanses the throat as her voice swells to mimic the havoc strewn through time, as well as present-day strife along our southern border. Such raw intensity boils over onto the rest of the 11-track record, and while her style is not easily defined, her storytelling prowess is irrefutably potent and unnerving.
"Hopefully, this song inspires people to take a look at what's happening in our world today and how we abuse people," she says of the song, which is delivered as a "catalyst for hope."
Peacock has a bedeviling way about her, particularly in the way she harvests such influences as Brandi Carlile and Heart. She even filters heavy metal band Metallica through a rootsy, acoustic lens to emerge with a silky, sticky musical web of her very own. "Keep Quiet" slithers from her bones in a similar sinister fashion, twisting her lyrical mechanisms even tighter, while "Mojave" flourishes with a vibrantly polished hook. Her voice always rises to the occasion -- switching between various styles as effortlessly as a chameleon.
Firm in her belief to use her platform for social and cultural change, the shift occurred after her tour bus burned to the ground in 2016. Then on a four-month tour, weaving up the west coast, she and her crew stopped for a quick bite to eat. Their generator caught fire and the blaze consumed nearly everything aboard.
"After the fire, I signed with a Nashville label when I came home from the tour. I did two records for American Roots Records prior to parting ways with them in the fall of 2018. There was Beauty in the Ashes (2017) and then Hot Sheet Motel (2018). I think the connection piece and synergy between the bus fire and Burn the Witch was that the bus was a pivotal moment where I realized people really were listening. The fans showed up for me when I was ready to quit, and that made me internalize (probably for the first time) that the world was actually paying attention. I started writing differently. I wrote like the fate of the social climate depended on it. Burn the Witch is what happened after really letting the juices of that experience and those last two records soak in. It's about the music, the songs, and the power they have to plant a seed of change."
Burn the Witch is a brawny, life-affirming set that digs into themes of perseverance, overcoming personal struggles, finding redemption in the ashes and what freedom should feel like. "The Cool Kids" recalls being bullied in school and the idea that "hurting people tend to hurt people," she says in hindsight. "I feel sorry for all those kids who picked on me."
lightingmatchesmusic.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
Lighting Matches is an alternative-rock band based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Made up of musicians with a variety of musical backgrounds, Lighting Matches stays true to their roots while also setting fire to the lines and limitations of genre labels.
Fronted by dynamic duo (and real-life couple) Matt Plessner and Rachel White, and backed by the talented Kevin Packard and Scott Garrison, their debut album "Against The Flame" displays lots of what they are best known for: thought-provoking lyrics and tight harmonies.
Matt & Rachel will be joining us for this #FreeFridayNight!
kneedeepbayarea.com | Facebook | YouTube
Knee Deep delivers a powerful sound, tight 3 & 4 part harmonies over a broad spectrum of material from 60's, 70's, 80's & 90's and beyond.
Knee Deep performs a wide variety of medleys designed to keep dancers on the dance floor.
iainmatthews.nl | Facebook | Spotify
There's a purity about Iain Matthews' voice. And it's mirrored by the integrity of his career.?The singer-songwriter has never been seduced by fame. His focus has always been on creating music that captivates the ear, the mind and the heart.??Born Ian Matthews McDonald, June 16, 1946, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, he soared to prominence in 1967, as a founding member of Fairport Convention. In that pioneering band, Matthews created exquisite harmonies with first Judy Dyble, then Sandy Denny. ?After two years, he left and formed Matthews Southern Comfort. They enjoyed a huge hit with their stirring version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." ?One of the outstanding solo albums Matthews recorded during his years in Los Angeles was 1973's "Valley Hi," produced by Michael Nesmith.?Matthews has fronted such bands as Plainsong, Hi-Fi, No Grey Faith, More Than a Song and a Dutch jazz combo, The Searing Quartet. After working for a while in A&R, in 1987 Matthews returned to performing and recording as a solo artist. Since returning to live in Europe in 2000, Matthews focuses mostly again on his now all Dutch ensemble, Matthews Southern Comfort and his seemingly never ending stream of solo recordings. Matthews latest album, released in 2021 and titled " Distant Chatter" is a duo effort, with Dutch songwriter and multi instrumentalist B J Baartmans.
iainmatthews.nl | Facebook | Spotify
There's a purity about Iain Matthews' voice. And it's mirrored by the integrity of his career. The singer-songwriter has never been seduced by fame. His focus has always been on creating music that captivates the ear, the mind and the heart. Born Ian Matthews McDonald, June 16, 1946, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, he soared to prominence in 1967, as a founding member of Fairport Convention. In that pioneering band, Matthews created exquisite harmonies with first Judy Dyble, then Sandy Denny. After two years, he left and formed Matthews Southern Comfort. They enjoyed a huge hit with their stirring version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." One of the outstanding solo albums Matthews recorded during his years in Los Angeles was 1973's "Valley Hi," produced by Michael Nesmith. Matthews has fronted such bands as Plainsong, Hi-Fi, No Grey Faith, More Than a Song and a Dutch jazz combo, The Searing Quartet. After working for a while in A&R, in 1987 Matthews returned to performing and recording as a solo artist. Since returning to live in Europe in 2000, Matthews focuses mostly again on his now all Dutch ensemble, Matthews Southern Comfort and his seemingly never ending stream of solo recordings. Matthews latest album, released in 2021 and titled " Distant Chatter" is a duo effort, with Dutch songwriter and multi instrumentalist B J Baartmans.
livingstontaylor.com | Facebook | Insta | Spotify
Livingston Taylor's career as a professional musician has spanned over 50 years, encompassing performance, songwriting, and teaching. Described as "equal parts Mark Twain, college professor, and musical icon, Livingston maintains a performance schedule of more than a hundred shows a year, delighting audiences with his charm and vast repertoire of his 22 albums and popular classics. Livingston has written top-40 hits recorded by his brother James Taylor and has appeared with Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, and Jimmy Buffet.
He is equally at home with a range of musical genres – folk, pop, gospel, jazz – and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances. In addition to his performance schedule, Livingston has been a full professor at Berklee College of Music for 30 years, passing on the extensive knowledge gained from his long career on the road to the next generation of musicians. Liv is an airplane-flying, motorcycle-riding, singing storyteller, delighting audiences with his charm for over 50 years.
tretfure.com | Facebook | Bandcamp | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
Tret Fure began her career at the age of 16, singing in coffeehouses and campuses in the Midwest. At 19, she moved to LA in hopes of obtaining a record deal. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album "Mousetrap". She went on to record her own album "Tret Fure" in 1973, on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. With the success of that release, she opened for such bands as Yes, Poco, and the J Geils Band.
A prolific artist in the contemporary singer-songwriter arena, Tret Fure has released 17 albums and CDs over the course of her 51 year career. In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Fure has engineered and produced countless recordings by a variety of artists, including her own work.
In the early 80s, Tret moved to the independent side of the industry discovering the blossoming genre known as Women's Music. She recorded with and produced some of the best of women's music including mixing the legendary "Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall" (1983). She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s, producing, engineering and releasing 3 CDs together. Now after 9 acoustic releases on her own label, "Tomboy girl Records", she has re-established herself in the folk world.
Some highlights from her career include:
1990 - Voted both Best Guitarist and Best Engineer in a Reader's Choice poll in "Hot Wire: The Journal of Women'sMusic & Culture".
2004 - Winner of the South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories, Best Overall and Best Up-Tempo Song.
2004 - Winner of the Women in the Arts "Jane Schliessman Award" for Outstanding Contributions to Women's Music.
2009 -Voted "Pride In The Arts" Favorite Female/Lesbian Musician.
2009 - Winner of the Women in the Arts "Janine C Rae Award" for the Advancement of Women's Culture.
2011 - Winner of the Women in the Arts "Phyllis Roark Memorial Award" for Philanthropy.
2015 - "Rembrandt Afternoons" (2015) was chosen by the acclaimed folk music show 'Midnight Special' as their album of the week.
2017 - 2nd place winner in the "Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay" songwriting contest for her song "The Fishermen of Bristol Bay" (2015).
2018 - #1 song "Lessons From Home Plate" from the CD "Roses in November" (2018) for the month of June in the FAI FOLK CHART.
2020 - 1st place winner in "A Still Small Voice 4U" songwriting competition with her song "Monuments".
2021 - 2nd place winner in "A Still Small Voice 4U" songwriting competition with the song "Louder Than the Guns".
2021 - #1 song "Monuments" from the CD "Stone by Stone" (2020) for the month of February in the FAI FOLK CHART.
2021 - #1 song "Roses in November" from the CD "Roses in November" (2018) for the month of November in the FAI FOLK CHART.
Wanda A. Fischer from WMAC Northeast Public Radio has this to say, "Roses in November is yet another masterpiece from Tret. Exceptionally crafted songs delivered with passion, conviction and, yes, soul. Tret weaves magic both in the lyrics and between the lines. This will certainly be on my "Best of 2018" list."
In addition to touring and recording, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. She paints pet portraits on commission and, an accomplished cook, Fure has also published a cookbook, "Tret's Kitchen", featuring her own recipes. Along with bridging the marketing, production, music and art worlds, Tret served for 6 years as President of Local 1000, The Traveling Musicians Association--a union geared toward helping traveling musicians find security and longevity. Tret is truly a Renaissance Woman!
griffinhousemusic.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Griffin House is out with a new record called "Stories for a Rainy Day."
A nine song collection written during the pandemic and recorded in just 3 days, the album is being described as his most happy and upbeat yet. The opening track "The Mississippi Hippie" was originally written for a feature in Esquire magazine called "Somewhere in Mississippi" and was rediscovered and resurrected for "Stories for a Rainy Day." The album was recorded by Tim Pannella using a stripped down trio set up with Jersey based musicians Eric Novod on drums, Mark Masefield on keys, and House on guitars and vocals. With minimal production and the band playing together as opposed to overdubbing, the songs have a space to be more playful, free and alive.
A concept record, with each song telling a story, an idea inspired from one of House's favorite childhood albums "Ten Summoner's Tales," the final tale features the hilarious character "Guido" and is the only song on the album that was recorded live in concert.
"Stories for a Rainy Day" was released on Valentine's Day 2022 and features the artwork of Scottsdale based painter Priscilla Nelson. House will be playing the new songs live in 2022-2023 with over 100 tour dates already booked. You can find tour dates and more info at http://griffinhousemusic.com
arihest.com | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
Oh, Ari! What a voice. We could listen to his voice all night. Ari has been here many times and we always ALWAYS look forward to his return. It's been almost 2 years since his last performance and we can't wait!
"I've been making music and touring the planet for about 15 years. What started out as an occasional creative outlet is now my way of life. Growing up just outside New York City, I began playing guitar in the hallways of my high school, learning the songs of The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Smashing Pumpkins, and Dave Matthews Band. I graduated, went to college for a communications degree, and finished feeling way more inclined to make music than anything else, so I hit the road. In these past 15 years, I've played in every state in the U.S. and toured extensively throughout Europe. I've had the honor of playing with a slew of incredible musicians wherever I've gone.
I just released my ninth LP, Natural, and I've also released three solo EPs as well as a song-a-week project of 2008 called "52". I also am in three bands that have recorded albums over the past few years -The Open Sea with Rosi Golan, Bluebirds of Paradise with Chrissi Poland, and most recently a duets album with Judy Collins called Silver Skies Blue, which was nominated for a Grammy award for "Best Folk Album" of 2017.
Sometimes my music is heard on TV or in movies – The Path, The Lincoln Lawyer, Private Practice, Army Wives, and One Tree Hill to name a few. I also scored music for a film called Dreamriders, a documentary which won several independent film awards. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to sing and play music for a living. I wanna keep it going for as long as possible. It's good for my soul, and I love knowing that what i create can have a real impact on people."
– Ari Hest
www.tyronewells.com | Facebook | Insta | Twitter | Spotify
First things first. Let's get this out-of-the-way. Tyrone Wells (I) wrote this bio. I figured, "who better to talk about myself than myself?". I'm a lot of things in no particular order… a preacher's son, a brother, a husband, a dad, a real estate lover, a major-label artist, an independent artist, an opener, a headliner, a very self-conscious dancer (think "Footloose", only without the cathartic cutting loose), a gardener, a wanna be surfer, a person who has needed therapy, a pickleball player, a barstool theologian, and this next one kind of goes without saying because you're here reading my bio.. I'm a singer-songwriter.
I've written a lot of songs. Probably approaching around 1,000 songs now… to me, when I wrote them, they were all good songs. The luxury of time has informed me, some of the songs were maybe just good to me. And some of the songs, inexplicably, have millions upon millions of listeners. Meanwhile, others have tens upon tens. I don't know why, I just write them and set them free.
Ultimately, I'm trying my best to be honest, and write a song that I, and you can both love. I'm gonna keep trying. I'm so grateful that you have listened. Be it once, or be it a hundred times. I've got big love for you. I'll be over here chopping away and reminding myself to be vulnerable. Peace and Love, XOXO Tyrone
lucykaplansky.com | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
"A truly gifted performer with a bag full of enchanting songs." THE NEW YORKER
"Kaplansky weaves fragile lives together, making even tenuous connections as palpable as flesh and blood." USA TODAY
"New York songwriter Lucy Kaplansky is becoming the troubadour laureate of modern folk." THE BOSTON GLOBE
I'm thrilled to announce the release of my first solo album in six years, Everyday Street. It's the most acoustically based, intimate album I've ever made: just me and multi-instrumentalist Duke Levine (J. Geils Band, Mary Chapin Carpenter), and features harmonies by my old friends Shawn Colvin and Richard Shindell.
My fans have been asking me for awhile to make a record that's reflective of my live shows, stripped down, spontaneous, acoustic, with the feel of one of my concerts. The songs were recorded over four days with my long-time collaborator Duke Levine on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandola, National guitar, and octave mandolin, and me on acoustic guitar, mandolin and piano. These are genuine performances, many were captured in one take. As a result, the sound and feel of the album is more acoustic, even bluegrassy at times, with all the intimacy of a live show.
The songs on Everyday Street, co-written with my husband Richard Litvin, weave stories of joy, friendship, family, loss and discovery. The opening song, "Old Friends," a duet with my longtime friend Shawn Colvin, is a reflection on our friendship and on our times together in the early days of the Greenwich Village folk scene. "Keeping Time," with Richard Shindell on harmony, is from my vantage point as a mother sharing our neighborhood's rhythms, albeit from a distance, with the late actor and father of three Philip Seymour Hoffman. "Janie's Waltz" is about the beauty and grace of an ordinary day. The everyday streets of my long-time home, Greenwich Village in New York City, are woven throughout this recording.
There are also four cover songs which have all been fan favorites from my shows, including Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road," Nanci Griffith's "I Wish it Would Rain," and the traditional Scottish song "Loch Lomond." There is also a re-imagined version of the title song of my first album, The Tide.
The music business has changed dramatically since my 2012 release Reunion. Streaming services, and limited radio and press outlets, have made it more challenging for musicians to ear a living selling their recordings. With this release I have chosen to use social media to engage my existing fanbase, and to make the album available only through my website and at my shows, and not on streaming services. I am taking advantage of my faith in my own music and musicianship, and my ability to engage and move people. I've had a long and exciting career in music and I intend to keep that career by adjusting the way I promote and sell my recordings. While the industry may have changed, live and recorded music is as vital and important as ever.
I'll be continuing to perform in support of Everyday Street throughout 2018 and 2019. For my full touring schedule, please visit www.lucykaplansky.com.
The album is available for download for radio play and publicity purposes via Dropbox. Please email me at lucykaplansky@mac.com to obtain the album and for any publicity inquiries.
Album artwork, credits and lyrics are here: https://lucykaplansky.com/lyrics-artwork
willyporter.com | Facebook | Twitter | Insta | Spotify
Searching for the shaman that lives inside the guitar has led Willy Porter on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 10 albums, and multiple continents. His journey remains defined by an independent drive to evolve as a musician and human, affording him the freedom to create the next song on his own terms. Equally accomplished as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven events--equal parts grit, soul, and muscle--that are electrifying, dynamic, and wholly original in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his virtuoso fret work.
A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.
Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).
In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements. In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt."
On his latest disc, Human Kindness (2015), Porter brings all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great collection of songs. This album is a driving, tuneful return to the pop sensibilities of his best work that also showcases Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.
In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $90,000 for this organization to date. Porter also gives his time and talents to helping behind the scenes at First Stage, a world-class Milwaukee-based children's theatre company. His recent involvement with Kids4Peace International works to bring kids from Palestine, Israel, and the Middle East together with American kids to work towards a dialogue of mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding in hopes that the next generation will have leadership comprised of strong, peaceful voices.
Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and their Beagle/ Terrier, Charlie.
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