Fishin and Pickin Presents Trout and Tunes 2 with Larry Keel on May 17-20, 2012!

Fishin and Pickin Presents Trout and Tunes 2 May 17-20, 2012!

It will be at Elk River Inn, cabins, and restaurant in Slatyfork, WV near Snowshoe Ski Resort.  Three days of instruction, small concerts, incredible food, and lodging. Enjoy pickin or just listening, relaxing with friends, fly and spin fishing for trout, beautiful scenery, learn a new lick, and listen to great music in a relaxed environment. Meals are included from Thursday evening through Sunday Breakfast. Private instruction, cabins, private rooms and bunkhouses are all available. Also enjoy hiking trails, mountain bike trails right out the door, porch pickin and campfires!

Join Larry Keel and Natural Bridge for a weekend to remember!

For more information or reservations please call: 304-572-3771 or 866-572-3771 or email at info@ertc.com and visit www.elkriverinnandrestaurant.com

www.larrykeel.com

Facebook at Fishin Pickin

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Americana Roots Rockers, Donna the Buffalo, Return to Florida for NYE and a host of other shows this January!

DtB will play 3 days at Skippers in Tampa for NYE 12/30/11-1/1/2012

Fri-Sun, Dec 30- Jan 1, 2012 – Tampa, FL – Skipper’s Smokehouse
Wed-Thu, Jan 4-5, 2012 – Key West, FL – Green Parrot
Fri, Jan 6, 2011 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live
Sat, Jan 7, 2012 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza “Live”

Announcing Virginia Key Grassroots Festival in Miami Feb 10-12th

I am thrilled to announce that Americana roots rockers Donna the Buffalo return to Florida for a 3 Day New Year’s Eve run at Skippers in Tampa! They will also stop in at The Green Parrot in Key West on Jan 4-5th, Revolution Live in Ft. Lauderdale on Jan 6th and the Plaza “Live” on January 7th in Orlando.

DtB will return to Florida for the 1st annual Virginia Key Grassroots Festival in Miami from February 10-12th and will be back in Northern Florida at Live Oak for Suwanee Springfest in March of 2012!

Donna the Buffalo‘s feel-good, groove-oriented, danceable and often socially conscious music all began over twenty years ago with roots in old time fiddle music that evolved into a soulful electric Americana mix infused with elements of cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. Donna the Buffalo is known for touring the country remaining fiercely independent as one of the industry’s most diverse roots-music bands and has “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today,” praises Encore.

“Donna the Buffalo is in the enviable position of being a homegrown entity, a group that finds itself outside the coloring lines of the accepted formula, a formula that is now in the past tense…People doing what they love, and better, sharing that passion to the benefit of the public, is the strongest business formula ever written. Donna the Buffalo is living proof of that.” states Beat Magazine. Edd Hurt with the Nashville Scene writes, “Folkies with a superior sense of rhythm are rare enough, but folkies with a good beat and a healthy disrespect for eclectic clichés are a national treasure..they’ve never sounded better…”

The dynamic songwriting tandem of vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins have penned over 180 songs in their collaboration with DTB and have many more in the making. Although never writing a set list for live show, the Erie Times notes, “they stick to a pattern…usually alternating between Puryear’s rhythmic, Dylan-influenced, guitar-centered songs and Nevins’ breezy, melodic, accordion-driven gems like the folksy Tides of Time and infectious Locket and Key.” As of late, Nevins and Puryear have also been known to perform as a duo on air and at live shows, which is always enjoyable to the fans to hear their favorite DtB songs in stripped down arrangements.

Donna the Buffalo has been working on a 10th album with Puryear on guitar, Nevins on fiddle, guitar, accordion, and scrubboard, keyboardist Dave McCracken, bassist Kyle Spark, and new Atlanta-based drummer Mark Raudabaugh. Donna the Buffalo has released nine albums and are affiliated with several others, including a Puryear’s 2007 solo album Hopes and Dreams and a 2003 release, Wait Til Spring, with Jim Lauderdale. The band’s 2008 release Silverlined, on Sugar Hill, rose to #8 on the Americana Music Chart.

Co-DtB bandleader and American roots traditionalist, Tara Nevins, released Wood and Stone, her first solo album since Mule to Ride in 1999 on Sugar Hill Records on May 3rd, 2011. Wood and Stone showcases her ever-evolving repertoire as she journeys both back to her own “roots” and head-long into new territory. The album was produced by Larry Campbell with guests including Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Teresa Williams and more.

“… her music takes on the spirit of the [Levon Helm] Barn like a well-worn and cozy Gypsy jacket that was tailored to her shoulders,” says Brian Robbins with Jambands.com.  In a another recent review of the album, Wildman Steve wrote, “If heroes and heroines of rock ‘n’ roll are defined by their uniqueness, they definitely broke the mold when they made Tara Nevins.”  You can find out more at www.TaraNevins.com.

As an extension of this community and the band’s own dedication to live roots music, Donna started, and are still the driving force behind, the 20+ year old Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY, the bi-annual Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival in Silk Hope, NC and February 2012 marks the first year for the Virginia Key Grassroots Festival in Florida.  DtB are regulars at MerleFest (NC), Suwanee Springfest & Magnolia Fest (FL), All Good (WV), Floyd Fest (VA), and The Great Blue Heron Festival (PA) amongst others. You can also see them in 2011 at Nateva (ME), Del Fest (MD), DuneGrass (MI), Head Jamz (TN), Targhee Bluegrass Fest (WV), Smilefest (NC) and a variety of other venues across the nation.

Over the years and through their travels, Donna the Buffalo as a band and its individual members have had the opportunity to play music with and/or record with musicians such as Jim Lauderdale, Preston and Keith Frank, Railroad Earth, Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, Bill Kreutzmann, The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick, Abigail Washburn, Mamadou Diabate, Los Lobo, Rusted Root, Claire Lynch, David Hidalgo, The Duhks and Amy Helm, just to name a few.

With over twenty years of playing to celebrate, hundreds of gigs ahead of them, and an ever-evolving grassroots sound; it looks like Donna the Buffalo is riding a cloud that is truly Silverlined.

DtB Upcoming Shows

Fri- Sat, Dec 2-3, 2011 – Floyd, VA- Sun Music Hall
Sun, Dec 4, 2011 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head Tavern
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Intersection
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
Sat, Dec 10, 2011 – Kent, OH – Kent Stage
Fri, Dec 16, 2011 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
Sat-Sun, Dec 17-18, 2011 – Ithaca, NY – Castaways
Fri-Sun, Dec 30- Jan 1, 2012 – Tampa, FL – Skipper’s Smokehouse
Wed-Thu, Jan 4-5, 2012 – Key West, FL – Green Parrot
Fri, Jan 6, 2011 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
Sat, Jan 7, 2012 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza “Live”
Thu, Jan 19, 2012 – Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger
Fri, Jan 20, 2012- Knoxville, TN – The Bijou Theatre
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 – Huntsville, AL – Crossroads Café
Tue, Jan 24, 2012 – Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Theatre
Wed, Jan 25, 2012 – Nashville, TN – 3rd & Lindsley
Thu, Jan 26, 2012 – Carborro, NC – The Cat’s Cradle
Fri, Jan 27, 2012 – Falls Church, VA – The State Theatre
Sat, Jan 28, 2012 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant Street
Thu, Feb 2, 2012 – West Chester, PA – The Note
Fri, Feb 3, 2012 – Buffalo, NY – The Tralf
Sat, Feb 4, 2012 – Unitca, NY – Uptown Theatre
Sat-Sun, Feb 10-12, 2012 – Miami, FL– Virginia Key Grassroots Festival
Fri, March 23, 2012 – Charleston, SC – The Pour House
Sat-Sun, March 24-25,2012 – Live Oak, FL – Suwanee Springfest
Thu-Sat, April 26-28, 2012 – Wilkesboro, NC – Merlefest

More shows tbd…

www.DonnaTheBuffalo.com

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NOLA Update From The Keels on Recording the Bluebrass Project 2!

Bluebrass Strings- Horns - Big Chief Monk

Here’s a note from Larry and Jenny Keel and some snapshots of the Bluebrass Session they were recording last week in New Orleans:

Bluebrass String Section

We were honored this last week to be a part of a project where all the musicians created an entirely new form of music…legends from the New Orleans music scene and pioneers of the acoustic music scene collaborated to create Bluebrass 2… it is the continuation of the first project which we recorded in 2004, combining influences from Ireland, Scotland, England, Africa, America,delta blues, western swing, on and on … made for the most spiritual project I have ever been a part of…

Recorded entirely inside the legendary Maple Leaf Bar, on Oak Street, and produced by the presiding King of Oak, Chris Jones, and executive producer Little King Steve Metcalf (royalty out the ass!!),  we were guided into an adventure of epic proportions-  taking a magical musical journey with all kinds of string musicians and brass and drummers:  a cast of up to 15 people.. so far!

Lionel Batiste Jr

including heavy weights from the Rebirth Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs, Acoustic Syndicate, Mad Tea Party, Aaron “Woody” Wood, and 101 Runners!

Stay tuned for more info and for this music you won’t be able to resist-  we’re still reeling with funky goodness from that trip!

Bryon McMurry and Kirk Joseph's Souzaphone

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Help Raise Funds for Billy Constable to Offset Medical Expenses at Larry Keel and Natural Bridge Shows This December

The following concerts are in conjunction with a benefit Larry Keel and Natural Bridge is hosting for an entire weekend for our good friend Billy Constable. Billy has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and has just had brain surgery and does not have insurance. LKNB will be accepting donations on his behalf, donating their merchandise sales and hosting a 50/50 raffle to raise money for Billy to offset his medical expenses.  
Visit www.billyconstable.com for more info.

Melting Point in Athens, GA 12/8
Legal Grounds in Rutherfordton, NC 12/9
Pour House in Charleston, SC 12/10

Billy has been diagnosed with a lump on the lower portion of his brain which has been causing increasingly frequent seizures. He is currently seeing medical specialists and gathering evaluations. The expense is certain to be high, and Billy is without medical insurance. We are coming together, as friends and fellow musicians, to help offset those costs.

Billy Constable grew up in a very musical family in Avery County, and he has been playing music for most of his life. Billy is part of Avery County’s Wiseman family, which includes a number of professional musicians including Scotty Wiseman, Lawrence Wiseman, David Wiseman, Fiddling Jimmy Wiseman, banjo picker Kent Wiseman, and Billy’s mother, Lois.

Billy began playing guitar professionally as a youngster with bluegrass great Charlie Moore, who had married Billy’s mother. He also played in Douglas Dillard’s newly formed “post Dillards” bluegrass band The Doug Dillard Band from Hollywood, which also featured Byron Berline and occasional guests like Vassar Clements and Sam Bush.

Billy’s approach to the banjo is firmly rooted in Appalachian string music, but it can be deceptively eclectic. His influences begin at home and with his family, but Billy’s repertoire is vast, and he is comfortable in most musical situations. In addition to banjo, Billy is also an accomplished musician on the guitar, mandolin and violin.

Travers Chandler writes in Bluegrass Today, “I was well aware of what a musical giant Billy Constable was. He had spent time with The Doug Dillard Band, toured with Kenny Baker and Josh Graves, and later worked with envelope-pushers like Larry Keel, Leftover Salmon, and String Cheese Incident on both banjo and guitar.  It wasn’t until I had moved to Asheville in 2010, though, that I became aware of what a rare human being he was – both as a friend, and a brother in the order of acoustic music. We had spoken a time or two during my research on Charlie, and I knew of his prowess and ability to play all kinds of acoustic music: jamband, gypsy, rock and roll… The guy is a genius.”

“He was a mentor to all of us,” Jon Jon Davis said [in an interview in the Boone Mountain Times with Frank Ruggiero],“and he’s played with everybody.”

LKNB’s Mark Schimick says in the same interview, “Billy Constable was the main bluegrass teacher for Jon Jon and myself,” he said. “When he first heard us play, he heard a bunch of green musicians, as far as bluegrass is concerned, but he heard how we knew to play the rhythm to it,” Schimick said.

During the next couple years, Constable became their bluegrass mentor, teaching them how to play solos, sing the parts and behave on the road. “In a lot of ways, he helped us all get started on how to become professional musicians,” Schimick said. “Playing with him is like playing with family,” Schimick said. “He’s just as down to earth playing on stage as he is hanging out.”

For more information about Billy Constable and for updates on his medical situation, please visit:  www.billyconstable.com.

If people would prefer to mail a donation, please mail to:
Dave Ruch
155 St James Place
Buffalo NY 14222
dave@daveruch.com
716-884-6855

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Town Mountain and The Freight Hoppers Play The Grey Eagle on Dec 2nd

Town Mountain
The Grey Eagle
w/ The Freight Hoppers
Friday, Dec 2, 2011

$10 adv/ $12 Dos, 9pm
185 Clingman Ave.

Asheville, NC 28801
828-232-5800
www.thegreyeagle.com

Asheville Bluegrasser’s Town Mountain are returning to The Grey Eagle on Friday, December 2nd. The Freight Hoppers will be joining them for the evening’s entertainment, bringing the bluegrass an old-time scenes in Asheville a little bit closer together.

A common thread that binds us to music is familiarity with tradition and the unexpectedness of progression. In a time when bluegrass music is all over the place with it’s predictability; whether it is the crisp clean sound of the contemporary side, the tones of a sixty-year tradition, or the jam band mentality, you can see it coming. It’s all great and Town Mountain is happy to be right in the middle of this bluegrass gumbo.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, “Town Mountain’s not your grand daddy’s bluegrass”, or “Town Mountain is a great traditional bluegrass band”. Fortunately both of these statements are true and false all at the same time therefore canceling each other out and in turn making it hard to pigeonhole just what Town Mountain can be called. Newly signed with revered Pinecastle Records, Town Mountain is Phil Barker (Mandolin, vocals), Robert Greer (Guitar, vocals), Jesse Langlais (banjo, vocals), Bobby Britt (fiddle), and Jon Stickley (bass, vocals).

This year Town Mountain has teamed up with Pinecastle Records to release their third album, Steady Operator in the late spring. Now the band, more musically mature and honing in on a sound that suits them collectively as well as personally, is ready to show the acoustic music world that they are in fact on the cutting edge of old and new. A recognizable sound with youthful interpretation of a music that continues to evolve, this is Bluegrass.

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The Freight Hoppers play old time music with an emotional, raw excitement that keeps one foot planted in the past and the other in the present. Of course that’s only when they keep their feet still, for this is high energy dance music of an older day played like there’s no tomorrow. Finding their passion from a love of string band music of the 1920’s and 30’s, The Freight Hoppers have been entertaining crowds of fans at festivals and music halls alike as they travel around the country. The heart of the band is held together by the powerhouse fiddle and banjo combo of David Bass and Frank Lee, while the rhythm section of Isaac Deal on guitar and Bradley Adams on string bass keep the music driving. Add in the vocal duo of Frank and Isaac, and you’ve got yourself one of the most exciting traditional bands to come out of the woodwork. Based out of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from a deep source of rural southern music for their inspiration.

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Fundraiser for Billy Constable on Sun, Dec 11th at the Grey Eagle: Big Daddy Bluegrass Band, The AVL Bluegrass Collective, Jason Burleson, David Via & Nikki Talley

All proceeds will go directly to helping offset Billy’s medical expenses.

Asheville, NC — A large group of friends has come together in the bluegrass and acoustic music scene in the area to help our good buddy, Billy Constable, raise funds to offset his medical expenses for a brain tumor that he was recently diagnosed with.  The Grey Eagle is hosting the event on Sunday, December 11, 2011.  The doors open at 6pm, donations will be accepted, and there will also be a silent auction.  Bands performing are Big Daddy Bluegrass Band, Asheville Bluegrass Collective (featuring: members of Steep Canyon Rangers, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and Town Mountain), Jason Burleson and the Bluegrass Buddies, and Nikki Talley.

Travers Chandler writes in Bluegrass Today, “Anyone familiar with the acoustic music scene of Western NC, or with the music of the legendary Charlie Moore, is no stranger to Billy Constable. In fact, I am not certain Billy encountered many strangers. He is a friend to many people, and to those of us fortunate to know him well, even a great mentor.”

Billy has been diagnosed with a lump on the lower portion of his brain which has been causing increasingly frequent seizures. He is currently seeing medical specialists and gathering evaluations. The expense is certain to be high, and Billy is without medical insurance. We are coming together here, as friends and fellow musicians, to help offset those costs.

Billy Constable grew up in a very musical family in Avery County, and he has been playing music for most of his life. Billy is part of Avery County’s Wiseman family, which includes a number of professional musicians including Scotty Wiseman, Lawrence Wiseman, David Wiseman, Fiddling Jimmy Wiseman, banjo picker Kent Wiseman, and Billy’s mother, Lois.

Billy began playing guitar professionally as a youngster with bluegrass great Charlie Moore, who had married Billy’s mother. He also played in Douglas Dillard’s newly formed “post Dillards” bluegrass band The Doug Dillard Band from Hollywood, which also featured Byron Berline and occasional guests like Vassar Clements and Sam Bush.

After touring with The Doug Dillard Band, Billy took a break from the road in order to work on his banjo skills while playing in a family’s band, The Constables, who were living in California at the time. He later had the opportunity to tour with two more bluegrass greats, Kenny Baker, a veteran fiddler from Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, and Josh Graves, a long time Dobro player with Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys.

Billy’s approach to the banjo is firmly rooted in Appalachian string music, but it can be deceptively eclectic. His influences begin at home and with his family, but Billy’s repertoire is vast, and he is comfortable in most musical situations. In addition to banjo, Billy is also an accomplished musician on the guitar, mandolin and violin.

In recent years, Billy has carried his banjo into more jam-oriented groups such as Acoustic Forum from New York and New England’s Max Creek. He toured extensively and recorded with Hypnotic Clambake and The Larry Keel Experience. Billy has appeared on many shows with Leftover Salmon, and he was also a featured guest on a handful of String Cheese Incident shows and one of their recent albums “Carnival 99.” Billy also played with the seasonal Big Daddy Bluegrass Band with Steve McMurray, Curtis Burch and Larry Keel.

For more information about Billy Constable and for updates on his medical situation, please visit:  www.billyconstable.com and the FaceBook Event.

If people would prefer to mail a donation, please mail to:
Dave Ruch
155 St James Place
Buffalo NY 14222
dave@daveruch.com
716-884-6855

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  MEET THE PERFORMERS   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big Daddy Bluegrass Band– The Big Daddy Bluegrass Band rides again! It has been five long years since the BDBB has taken the stage. They make their return on February 11th at the Visulite Theater in Charlotte, NC, for the debut of the new lineup which features some of the premier acoustic musicians working today. Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry, front man and founding member of Acoustic Syndicate, returns to the world of bluegrass music with a formidable arsenal of hot, young pickers. Jason Flournoy, formerly of Larry Keel & Natural Bridge / Shanti Groove, is highly respected in all genres of music across the nation. Jay Sanders is the long time bass man for Acoustic Syndicate and former with Donna The Buffalo. He is one of the hardest working and most exciting upright bass men on the East coast. Producer, engineer and dobro virtuoso, Billy Cardine, formerly of The Biscuit Burners, is one of Jerry Douglass’ favorite new dobro men. He has shared the stage with Edgar Meyer at Carnegie Hall and his recordings are featured on the BBC, PBS and the History Channel. Robert Greer, front man of Asheville bluegrass band Town Mountain, will also be joining the band adding harmonizing vocals, guitar, and his charismatic stage presenc

Asheville Bluegrass Collective– The Asheville Bluegrass Collective is a super-group of Asheville’s finest bluegrass musicians. The pickers include: Jon Stickley and Robert Greer (Town Mountain), Mark Schimick (Larry Keel and Natural Bridge), Charles Humphrey (Steep Canyon Rangers), Jason Flournoy, and many more special guests! Look out for some solid Asheville style Bluegrass!

Jason Burleson – The original banjo player with Blue Highway, Jason is a native of Newland, North Carolina. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he brings all-around musicianship to the group, not the least of which is his distinctive, rock-solid banjo style. Writing for the Memphis Area Bluegrass Association,Betty Westmoreland observed about Jason and his habit of saying very little onstage: “His banjo does the talking, as is true of most superb performers. From Newland, NC, in Avery County, Burleson is part of that fine crop of North Carolina banjo players. There must be something about the air, or water, or the soil in that part of the country—so many fine banjo players seem to come out of those hills.”

Jason’s instrumental compositions form an integral part of the Blue Highway repertoire, including “The North Cove” ( Through the Window of a Train), hailed by one critic as “a burning instrumental with a sinuous melody” that offers “more to chew on than just the whiz-bang pyrotechnics of many modern bluegrass instrumentals” (Smoky Mountain News). Jason also anchors the group’s quartets with his bass vocals. A jazz devotee, Jason’s talent hasn’t been fully revealed yet to the bluegrass community and gives Blue Highway unlimited options for the future.

Jason will be leading a virtuosic group of bluegrass musicians featuring everyone’s favorite bluegrass buddy, David Via.

David Via’s songs come from being raised and living up in the Blue Ridge mountains of Patrick County, Virginia. Via (as most folks call him – that’s pronounced Vi and rhymes with sky) is a well-known figure in bluegrass/newgrass circles with twenty-some odd years of singing and songwriting.

Via first performed Americana/Bluegrass with The Bluegrass Buddies with Alan Bibey and Ronnie Bowman. Over the years, Via has played in a lot of lineups and with a lot of great pickers: the newgrass In Sync – Jody King, James Donchez, Kim Gardiner, and Alan Purdue, the Dan River Revue – Wyatt Rice, Tommy Morse, Tim Jefferson, and Pete Ross. Via has joined the stage with Vassar Clemmens, Sammy Shelor, Ronnie Bowman, Tony Rice, and John Cowan. He currently teams up with two-time grammy winner Curtis Burch to perform more intimate shows and highlights his original material with award-winning musician friends who spin David Via & Corn Tornado.

Nikki Talley– Hardworking, energetic, mountain girl with a big voice…these could all describe Nikki Talley. Raised in North Carolina and hailing from Asheville, it’s only fitting that her music is as eclectic as the state that boasts the mountains and the sea. Trying to pin down Nikki’s style, critics and reviewers alike have compared her to an early Liz Phair and Gillian Welch, but to leave the comparisons there would be doing a disservice to her fiery stage performance, hauntingly seductive and raw gritty lyrics, lifted by a voice that harkens back to the Appalachian roots from which she was born, and shores up on the edges of contemporary southern rock, country, blues, and jazz that has her audiences stomping and clapping for more.

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Show Details at a Glance:
Benefit for Billy Constable
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Grey Eagle
185 Clingman Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 232-5800
www.thegreyeagle.com

$10 Suggested donation

Bands: Big Daddy Bluegrass Band, Asheville Blue Grass Collective (featuring: members of Steep Canyon Rangers, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and Town Mountain), Jason Burleson and the Blue Grass Buddies, and Nikki Talley.

The doors open at 6pm silent auction will close at 9pm.

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Galen Kipar Project, Whetherman and Taylor Martin’s Engine Perform Thurs, Dec 8th at The Grey Eagle

Galen Kipar Project. – 9p
Whetherman – 8p
And…
Taylor Martin’s Engine – 10:30p

Thursday December 8, 2011
Grey Eagle
185 Clingman Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
8pm, Donation w/ $7 min.
http://www.thegreyeagle.com

Effortlessly crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, the Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as “complex yet accessible” and “cohesive and poignant” with “experimental folk masterpieces.” Based in Asheville, GKP released their fourth album The Scenic Route in 2010 which features the unique sonorous sound that has become the band’s trademark. “In Asheville, fans call his act a ‘small-scale symphony.’ It’s probably more like chamber folk/pop, sometimes reminiscent of Adrian Belew’s quieter moods,” says The Roanoke Times writer Tad Dickens.  Joining vocalist Galen Kipar on guitars & harmonica is Lyndsay Pruett on violin & vocals, Aaron Ballance on dobro and Rob Parks on bass.

Galen Kipar is currently writing new music and in the pre-production phase of the next album. The WCGazzette writes, “Kipar says ripples of his trout-tinted soul will continue to be felt in the band’s upcoming release. ‘It will be accessible, with catchy hooks,’ he says of the album. ‘[But] it will also be complex enough that a fan will be able to listen to it and still come back and hear something new. That’s always been our goal.'”

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Whetherman is the mellow music project of Nicholas Williams, a 27 year-old unsigned singer/songwriter out of the Midwest, who has been heavily influenced by folk musicians such as Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Neil Young. This emerging artist is becoming increasingly well-known for his distinct voice, a creative blend of crooning and soaring melodic qualities that has become the staple …for Whetherman’s music. His songs are comforting and gentle on the ears, providing depth and landscape with insightful lyrics and beautiful texture in supporting instrumentals.

Since June of 2007, Williams has released four full length albums: “Bull” (2007), “The Great Lull” (2008), “Nooks and Crannies” (2010) and most recently, “Wind in the Trees” (2011). The first two works were under a distribution deal backed by Adorable Records, an independent label based outside of Detroit, MI, which Williams remained signed with until 2009. Williams then chose to be independent, booking all festivals, tour dates, merchandising, managing artwork and continuing to record every album on his own dollar and time.

After a move to the Southeast and releasing the third Whetherman title, Williams has since found a local group of diversely talented musicians of up to nine different performers to share the stage with, called “The Steady Melodies”. The ensemble is mostly made up of University of North Florida Musical/Jazz Studies alumni, and worldly influenced musicians. Currently, The Steady Melodies are comprised of: JP Salvat (Percussion), Dan Evans (Mandolin, Guitar), Alex Hayward (Drums), Rachel Murray (Vocals), Angel Garcia (Keys), Adam Mantovani (Bass), Milan Algood (Drums), Austin Johnson (Bass) and Lyndsay Pruett (Fiddle).

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Taylor Martin brings you music with a beating heart. Gritty, real and powerful, his new band Taylor Martin’s Engine is filled with music born of genuine experience painted true and honest with raw and uncommon sincerity. This is music as it should be. This is music for those who wish to be moved. Engine. A word that despite many uses is almost always tied to motion. Taylor’s music and writings are also in the business of motion. Unconcerned with the fickle demands of fashion this Engine is as timeless and dynamic as the word itself. Featuring Jon Stickley on guitar, Lydsay Pruett on Fiddle, Ricky Cooper on Bass, and Taylor Martin on rhythm guitar.

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Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny at the Variety Playhouse on Sunday, December 18, 2011

Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny at the Variety Playhouse on Sunday, December 18, 2011

TDawg Presents & Big IV Productions, with the support of Tree Leaf Music, proudly bring you the first installment of what promises to be an annual tradition of spontaneous jams amongst friends celebrating the holiday season the only way it should be done. Featuring recording artists from original legendary Capricorn Records bands Wet Willie and Cowboy, as well as members of The Derek Trucks Band, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Blackberry Smoke, Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Blueground Undergrass, The Mosier Brothers Band, Capt. Soularcat, Copious Jones, and many more, Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny is sure to whet your appetite for next year’s edition!

The roster of musicians is a list of who’s who on the Atlanta music scene, as well as well-known regional and national acts: Jimmy Hall, Tommy Talton, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret., Charlie Starr, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Ike Stubblefield, Grant Green Jr., Jeff Sipe, Count M’Butu, Caroline Aiken, Yonrico Scott, Johnny Mosier, Diane Durrett, David Blackmon, Ralph Roddenbery, Donna Hopkins, Wildman Steve, Benji Shanks, Ted Pecchio, Gaurav Malhotra, Copious Jones plus more surprise guests! The performance will have three distinct sets that feature unique combinations of artists, bringing out the best in each jam and leaving plenty of room within a little bit of structure for a lot of spontaneity.

Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny is proud to have additional support from Hittin’ the Note Magazine, Wildman Steve Radio, and Shimon Presents.

TDawg Presents has been in the Atlanta area since 1998, starting as TDawg’s Productions, and is the founder of the nationally known Blue Ridge HarvestFest, a 3-day camping festival that ended its run in 2005, as well as the current run of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny series at Cherokee Farms in northwest Georgia since 2006. Over the last 13 years, TDawg has remained a true cultivator of American and international roots music stretching from bluegrass and Americana to funk, jazz, blues and jam bands and is excited to collaborate with festival producers Big IV Productions (Bear Creek Music Festival, Suwannee SpringFest) and organic label Tree Leaf Music, a subsidiary of 100% sustainable Tree Sound Studios, to create this fine gathering of old friends and magnificent musicians, all tied into one package for Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny.

Showtime: Sunday, December 18, 2011 7:30PM, doors @ 6:30PM

Tickets: Available Friday, November 11 @ 10AM through Ticketmaster and the Variety Playhouse box
office. All ages.

The Variety Playhouse
1099 Euclid Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
404-524-7354
www.variety-playhouse.com

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Dreamspider Erin’s Lingua Musica Video Interview with Danny Barnes

Dreamspider Erin interviews Danny Barnes at Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain, NC on October 6, 2011 for Lingua Musica. Danny talks about his new record, Rocket, his love of cassette tapes and vinyl albums. He also details his first project of 100 different CDs that were signed and numbered, how he met Larry and Jenny Keel and more. Tony Preston filmed and edited this video, which is copyright Luminescence, LLC 2011.

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Freight Train Boogie’s video interview with Tara Nevins at Americana Fest

Freight Train Boogie‘s interview with Tara Nevins, (Donna The Buffalo), recorded at the Americana Music Conference in Nashville, TN. Oct, 14th, 2011. She talks about her latest album, Wood & Stone.

Here’s Donna the Buffalo’s Tara Nevins performing “Snowbird” from the lobby of The Sheraton Hotel in Nashville during the Americana Music Assoc. conference. Recorded by Bill Frater (Freight Train Boogie) with an iPhone 4, pardon

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