Benefit for Cancer Awareness & Support: “Help Sheila Shine On” at New Mountain on Tue 7/21 w/ Music & More

Help Sheila Shine On:
A Benefit Extravaganza for Marshall, NC resident Sheila McGuire, aka “Sheila Shine”
at
New Mountain’s Outdoor Courtyard on Tuesday, July 21, 2015
7pm doors/ 8pm music; All Ages; Silent Auction/ Raffle
Office: 828.785.1701
38 N French Broad Ave • Asheville, NC 28801
www.newmountainavl.com

Entertainment by
The Risin’ Shiners:
ft. Bobby Miller, Taylor Martin, Drew Matulich, Josh Stack & Rob Parks,
Adrian Zelski spinning world beats, The Big F’N Deal Band,
Melmac Pink of Asheville Hoops, Kenny the Clown,
a Drum Circle and Other Activities with DRUMSTRONG,
as well as poetry by Barbie Angell and David Weber

DRUMSTRONG is a Supporting Partner
DrumsForCures produces DRUMSTRONG™ events globally raising awareness and funds in support of cancer education, research and survivorship through Rhythm
www.drumstrong.org

Stay up to date with more news from Sheila and about the benefits at her facebook group → www.facebook.com/groups/SheilaShineOn

ASHEVILLE, NC — Life has ways of testing the strength and endurance of us in this world. Last year, Sheila McGuire, or Sheila Shine as most know her, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she is now receiving Medicaid, the financial burden of having not been able to work, coupled with other health care and living costs, has put her livelihood in jeopardy. In the midst of her health crisis, Sheila has also been fighting to keep her beloved mountain sanctuary home Spirits Rising, in Little Pine Valley of Marshall where she has lived since 2007, which is facing foreclosure. It is difficult enough to endure a trauma to one’s physical body, let alone have trauma in their sense of security and place of refuge.

Sheila Shine. Photo by Leigh Monson.

Sheila has been a good warrior and has been fighting for life. Since August 19 2014, she has endured five surgeries including a double mastectomy, along with dealing with chronic back pain from an injury she sustained when hit by a drunk driver in 2005. Her final surgery blessedly came back with positive results of being cancer free as of June 19th, 2015. She still has to be careful, especially with her nutritional needs and stress levels. She’s out of the woods and feeling much better, but she still has a long road paved with more surgeries and medication regimens ahead of her.

Now let’s help her get back on her feet financially. With the support of a wide network of friends and festival family, Sheila has been able to open up and talk about her experience with others and is working toward manifesting her dream of making her home a mountain retreat for musicians and others with cancer to recuperate. She has been receiving much support within her community of friends worldwide.

In Asheville, New Mountain has generously offered their space to host multiple benefits, in which Sheila is actively participating in, throughout the coming months with the first being held on Tuesday, July 21st in the outdoor courtyard. Performers set for the evening include The Risin’ Shiners (ft. Bobby Miller, Taylor Martin, Drew Matulich, Josh Stack, and Rob Parks), Adrian Zelski spinning world beats, The Big F’N Deal Band, Melmac Pink of Asheville Hoops, Kenny the Clown, a drum circle and other activities with DRUMSTRONG, as well as poetry by Barbie Angell and David Weber. Doors will open at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm. There will also be a silent auction/ raffle and educational materials on site.

DRUMSTRONG is a supporting partner in the “Help Sheila Shine On” events where folks will enjoy great music, solid health resources, great art/raffles, fun activities, and a powerful drum circle to BEAT cancer. DrumsForCures produces DRUMSTRONG events raising awareness & funds in support of cancer survivorship, education & research through Rhythm. All cancers, All populations are represented. DRUMSTRONG’s Scott Swimmer writes, “Join DRUMSTRONG Rhythm as we celebrate survivorship and boost our dear friend Sheila to higher ground. Lord knows she needs your support; and in doing so, also benefit thousands of people globally.” Bring your drum for an opening ceremony to drum in honor of, or in memory of, for your own fortification or just out of the goodness of your heart.

The Sheila Shine Fund will blossom by your participating in committing to share your pulse and making tax deductible donations through DrumsForCures’ 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donate via PayPal at scott@drumstrong.org and note in honor of Sheila Shine.

For each benefit, we are seeking donated items such as artwork, music/ art lessons, gift certificates to local businesses & restaurants, and other creative ideas. We are also in the planning phases for the events further out; if you would like to perform, contribute, or have any other creative ideas, please do let us know.

People Sheila calls “Angels” and great manifestation have kept Sheila moving forward through these trying times, however, it is time for the community and circles of loving relationships that she has created to come back and help Sheila to keep shining. When we give for those in need we are truly giving of self.  Please come and celebrate life with Sheila, reconnect, meet a beautiful shining soul and support her as she travels this road.

Friends of Sheila Shine have also created a Go Fund Me account for anyone that would like to donate: www.gofundme.com/SheilaShineFund. Stay up to date with more news from Sheila & Friends and about the benefits at her facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/SheilaShineOn.

MORE ABOUT SHEILA & SPIRITS RISING:
Sheila “Shine” McGuire has touched countless lives and grew up in the sunshine state where she was an integral part of the alternative music, dance and performance scene. She was drawn to the energy and lush mountains of WNC in 2007 from Fort Lauderdale, Fl with the idea in mind of a place called Spirits Rising, nestled high on the mountains, next to a riverbank, with lots of trees. She found the physical manifestation of this in her home, which was an unfinished shell of a cabin upon arrival, with a mud pit for a road, and needed a lot of work to make it into what it is today. Sheila has since shared use of her home with many a traveler and musicians passing through, providing a safe haven and place to relax in nature and regroup.

This all stems from a vision she had when she was younger. Growing up, the youngest of twelve children, her first hero, a visionary and developer, her father Martin J. McGuire, owned a resort and nightclub in Indian Harbour Beach, FL. A variety of acts passed through to perform at the venue, including The Village People, of whom Sheila recalls feeling empathy for their weariness from being on the road so much and having to stay in hotels all the time, away from family. As she lived her life and became more involved with her “festival family” and network, she held onto this vision. Over a decade ago she wrote of it in her journal, “At Spirits Rising, we are a team, we are a tribe, we were put on this earth to get something done. There will be a teacher, a healer, chef, poet, and a clown.” Sheila now says, “All of these people have all seemingly magically arrived here at one point or another. This honestly is a house that love built.”

The vision of Spirits Rising started as a place for musicians to convene and retreat, a gift back for musicians because she is so grateful for all they do, as well as being a legacy for her father (who passed in 1998) and all he did in life. As she got older, she starting having friends with health problems and terminal illness and envisioned Spirits Rising to be a sanctuary for them as well. When she was officially diagnosed with breast cancer last year, she realized that she also needed this space for herself to recuperate in those same ways. As friends traveled in from coast to coast to help her out, she saw how her childhood vision has become her mission in life: To create a healthy & musical space and support base for those in need.

Sheila Shine standing in the center of the “O” when she motivated folks to spell out “LOVE” at a music festival.

Her life changed completely when she started going to music festivals with the first Langerado (of which she attended every year) and also with her experience at the first Jam Cruise in 2004 and beyond; she immersed herself in the sense of family and community that comes with it. She loves every bit of the festivals, all the love, fun meeting people, dancing, hooping, and hugging, as well as keeping an eye out for anyone in need at the event, and, of course, the music.

After moving to the Asheville area she started hosting an interactive art and music extravaganza “Circles of Love” at various events including Transformus, Bear Creek, AshFest, Loki, and others. Jambase called it, “a traveling circus style art collective… The whole place felt like Never Never Land, where the lost boys finally find a place to call home.” Folks would bring stringed instruments, drums, hula hoops, and lots LOVE; entering a circle of space to just be themselves. Sheila and her friend Wesley Teregan set up a “chill space” with a tent, provided access to free water, had an educational area, and areas for painting, fire performances, as well as an intimate stage. “Participate or Relocate” was the theme, drawing from the creativity of all those who were there. Sheila says she does it, “Because a lot of people really need it; the feeling of being welcomed, accepted, and loved.” She goes on to say, “Usually the ones resistant to participating tend to be the ones that need it most. Sheila believes everyone has an artist inside them and that, “We all shine with love and light, if we let ourselves.”

Circles of community fan out around Sheila like a mandala. Always one to create space for friends, Sheila has provided a loving heart and warm smile for those she has known for years, as well as those she may have just met. Life is full of Angels and possibilities, and circles of love surround it all wherever Sheila goes. Her home has been a respite for the weary traveler, a mountain retreat to find a sense of place and soul, and a sanctuary for musicians where music is integrated into the space like the trees in the forest. Spirits Rising has been a manifestation making its way into reality and has been a place of stillness and peace for all who set foot on the mountainside.

Stay up to date with more news from Sheila & Friends at her facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/SheilaShineOn.

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The Honeycutters Announce ‘Me Oh My’ 2015 Summer Tour

The Honeycutters Announce ‘Me Oh My’ 2015 Summer Tour

Asheville-based American Country Roots Band, The Honeycutters,
Released 3rd Studio Album, Me Oh My, With Organic Records

“…Platt’s songwriting could be placed in the exceptional category, at least from the evidence Me Oh My presents in her favor. It’s not just the sorrow and sincerity, it’s the insight and  the resonance. Songs like ‘All You Ever’ and ‘Not That Simple’ exemplify this top shelf quality to her music, while the mood of Me Oh My very much takes on the perspective of a young woman moving ever so closer to middle age, and mindful of not just the changes in herself, but in the world as it reflects back on her.”
—Saving Country Music

ASHEVILLE, NC — The Honeycutters, an Asheville, NC-based original country roots band, released their third studio album, Me Oh My, on April 21, 2015 with Organic Records® and is thrilled to announce their 2015 summer tour.

They kick off the tour in the south and have an appearance on WDVX’s Tennessee Shines in Knoxville on July 1st airing worldwide at 7pm CT at WDVX.com, followed by a show on the 3rd at the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC with Greensky Bluegrass. They travel west for a several shows with stops in Kansas City, Colorado’s Front Range, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Kansas and Arkansas. After a short break, picking back up again for further shows in the southern region including a performance at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, TN in mid August.

Fueled by the powerful songwriting and vocals of founder Amanda Anne Platt, Me Oh My moves her into the spotlight as producer, band leader, and principal creative force behind the band. With songs that are honest and relatable, part chagrin and part hope, Platt’s voice carries a timeless appeal.

Along with Amanda Platt, The Honeycutters include Tal Taylor on mandolin, Rick Cooper on bass, Josh Milligan on drums, and Matt Smith rounds out the band on pedal steel, electric guitar, and dobro to create a sound that carries just as well across the bar room as in a church or a theater. Platt’s songs are shaped by a raw honesty that comes straight from the heart and emits a sort of melancholy happiness.

The Honeycutters on Tour with Me Oh My
6/26 Fri – Transylvania County Library – Brevard, NC
7/1 Wed – WDVX’s Tennessee Shines @ Boyd’s Jig and Reel – Knoxville, TN
7/3 Fri – US National Whitewater Center – Charlotte, NC &
7/9 Thu – Knuckleheads Saloon – Kansas City, MO
7/10 Fri – Tuft Theatre – Denver, CO
7/11 Sat – Peak Performances @ Copper Mountain Resort – Copper Mountain, CO
7/12  Sun – Woody Creek Community Center – Woody Creek, CO
7/14 Tue – Low Spirits Bar & Stage – Albuquerque, NM
7/15 Wed – The Blue Door – Oklahoma City, OK
7/16 Thu – George’s Majestic Lounge – Fayetteville, AR
7/17 Fri – Lakewood House Concerts – Pittsburg, KS
7/18 Sat – Stickyz Rock’N’Roll Chicken Shack – Little Rock, AR < 7/24 Fri – Conundrum Music Hall – West Columbia, SC 7/25 Sat – The Pour House – Charleston, SC >
8/9 Sun – Birthplace of Country Music Museum – Bristol, TN
8/14 Fri – The Crown at the Carolina Theatre – Greensboro, NC
8/21 Fri – Summer Tracks Rogers Park Amphitheater – Tryon, NC
8/22 Sat- Cataloochee Ranch – Maggie Valley, NC
10/1 Thu – The Albino Skunk Festival – Greer, SC
12/4 Fri – Manhattan Arts Center – Manhattan, KS
12/5 Sat – The Stage at KDHX – St Louis, MO

& w/ Greensky Bluegrass
< w/ Mountain Sprout > w/ The High Divers and Avi Jacob

For more information about The Honeycutters and further tour dates to be announced, please visit: www.thehoneycutters.com. For news from the road, please visit www.facebook.com/Honeycutters and twitter.com/thehoneycutters.

What Folks Are Saying about Me Oh My:

“Vocalist Amanda Platt has a voice that’s complex, sweet and aching. Even more potently, she writes songs that folks are citing as up there with the best of the field, such as Mary Gauthier and Lucinda Williams.” —Craig Havighurst, Music City Roots

“There are a lot of worthy and compelling Americana singer-songsters and bands out there right now, it’s a rich landscape. But The Honeycutters, fronted by Amanda Platt is surely a wonder to behold. The band just sounds so darn good and makes a style of country music that always makes me feel good, even when it’s so melancholy. I think Amanda has something to teach us about the economy of words, the magic of a good melody and the satisfaction of an aching and honest vocal.” —Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls

“With singer/songwriter — and, now, producer — Amanda Anne Platt at the helm, the group puts their own spin on an old form. Sure, there’s a timeless quality to honest songs done up by a bunch of great players… there’s also a freshness to it.” —Folk Alley First Listen, Kelly McCartney

“It’s easy to think of Mags Bennett, the character played by Margo Martindale on TV’s Justified, when listening to Amanda Anne Platt front North Carolina quartet the Honeycutters. Steadfast, independent and all woman…” –-Pop Matters, Eric Risch

“Me Oh My, an extremely balanced album in terms of tempo and theme, merges Americana, roots, country and even honky tonk into a delightfully unique combination. It’s a highly recommended, refreshing and enjoyable listen from the first track to the last.” —The Daily Country, Tara Joan

“Me Oh My… is a like a time machine on a shiny disc; classic, old-timey country and folk tunes with catchy melodies and lyrics that drip in poetry.”  ––That Music Mag, Jane Roser

“Platt’s rootsy sense of melody and strong lyrical instincts are heard throughout Me Oh My, with the inviting southern swing of ‘Jukebox’ and the ballad title track serving as particular stand-outs.” —Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press

 

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Magnolia Fest 2015 Lineup Additions: Del McCoury Band, Jeff Austin Band, Oteil and Roosevelt, Rebirth Brass Band, Jerry Joseph and more

Magnolia Fest 2015 Lineup Additions: Del McCoury Band, Jeff Austin Band, Oteil and Roosevelt, Rebirth Brass Band, Jerry Joseph and more!

The 19th Annual Magnolia Fest on October 15-18, 2015 at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL 3076 95th Dr, Live Oak, FL 32060 www.musicliveshere.com | www.magnoliafest.com

Lineup Additions:
The Del McCoury Band
Jeff Austin Band featuring Danny Barnes, Ross Martin & Eric Thorin
Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier Band
Rebirth Brass Band
Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons
New Orleans Suspects
The Congress
Band of Heathens
Nikki Talley
The Applebutter Express
Whetherman
Grits & Soul
Big Cosmo
Berry Oakley’s Skylab
Habanero Honeys
Flagship Romance
The Mojo Gurus
Back From The Brink
Bonnie Blue

See the Full Lineup Below

More information and tickets → www.magnoliafest.com/tickets/

Magnolia Fest celebrates its 19th year at the magnificent Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL on October 15-18, 2015 and is thrilled to announce a handful of additions to this Fall’s lineup including The Del McCoury Band, Jeff Austin Band featuring Danny Barnes, Ross Martin & Eric Thorin, Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, New Orleans Suspects, The Congress, Band of Heathens, Nikki Talley and more!

They will be joining the already stacked lineup which includes Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Avett Brothers, Keller Williams Grateful Gospel, Lake Street Dive, Steep Canyon Rangers, Donna the Buffalo, Jim Lauderdale, Col Bruce Hampton, Lost Bayou Ramblers, The Lee Boys, and many others! Tickets are on sale in advance and at the gate. → www.magnoliafest.com/tickets/

Festivalgoers enjoy four days of camping and live music, arts and crafts, and a selection of great foods. Magnolia Fest consistently features some of the world’s finest performers in Americana, Roots Rock, Acoustic Blues, Singer/Songwriter, Bluegrass & Newgrass, Cajun/Zydeco, New & Traditional Folk and other forms of American Roots music.

This energetic and family friendly musical celebration is a gem of a festival with a great lineup, beautiful fall weather and a stunning natural setting. The Live Oak Music And Arts Foundation (LOMAF) will have a booth with raffles to raise money for the local music and art programs in the area.

Get your tickets early and save! Tickets for Magnolia Fest are on sale now in advance for $175 through July 19th; $185 until August 20th; $200 until October 14th; and $210 at gate. All weekend tickets are inclusive of all taxes and fees, and include 4 days of primitive camping and music. Kids under 12 are invited to join for free. Fans can also upgrade their experience with VIP tickets for $350 through 8/30 ($400 after that) which includes dinner, discounts, VIP Lounge, festival poster, & other perks.  For RV hook ups, cabin rentals and golf cart rentals, please call SOSMP at (386)-364-1683. For further information and tickets, please visit www.MagnoliaFest.com.

Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, located just north of Live Oak, FL, is a one-of-a-kind music park and premier 500+ acre campground nestled on the shady banks of the historic, tea-colored Suwannee River in North Florida. Along with the camping, there are nearly 12 miles of trails suitable for hiking, biking, horseback riding and nature exploring. Bring along a fishing pole and wet a line from the dock on Rees Lake. Canoe and bike rentals are available at the on-site canoe outpost. Or take a dip in the nearby Suwannee Springs. SOSMP is located between Jacksonville, Florida & Tallahassee, Florida about 30 minutes south of the Georgia State line, about 45 minutes north of Gainesville. Please visit the park’s web site at www.musicliveshere.com or call them at 386-364-1683 for more information.

Magnolia Fest 2015 Full Lineup
Tedeschi Trucks Band
The Avett Brothers
The Del McCoury Band
Keller Williams Grateful Gospel
Lake Street Dive
Jeff Austin Band featuring Danny Barnes, Ross Martin & Eric Thorin
Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier Band
Steep Canyon Rangers
Rebirth Brass Band
New Orleans Suspects
Donna the Buffalo
Jim Lauderdale
Col. Bruce Hampton
Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons
Lost Bayou Ramblers
The Lee Boys
The Congress
Band of Heathens
Nikki Talley
The Applebutter Express
Whetherman
Grits & Soul
Sloppy Joe
Quartermoon
Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
The Corbitt Brothers
Quebe Sisters
Big Cosmo
Berry Oakley’s Skylab
Habanero Honeys
Flagship Romance
This Frontier Needs Heroes
JacksonVegas
Bryce Alastair Band
The Mojo Gurus
Back From The Brink
Bonnie Blue

Stay up to date with Magnolia Fest news at  www.MagnoliaFest.com, www.facebook.com/MagnoliaFestfl, www.twitter.com/MagnoliaFest, and www.instagram.com/magnoliafest.

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The Duhks Announce Eastern US and Canadian Summer Tour 2015

The Duhks Announce Eastern US and Canadian Summer Tour 2015

One of the most musically adventurous bands to come from the roots scene in the past decade, The Duhks return to the stage is definitely a cause for celebration. Hailed by The New York Times as one of the artists at the forefront of the neo-folk movement, The Duhks (pronounced Ducks) are vocalist Jessee Havey and clawhammer banjoist/ vocalist Leonard Podolak, with the addition of fiddler Anna Lindblad from Sweden, drummer/percussionist Kevin Garcia, and guitarist/bouzouki player Colin Savoie-Levac. Paste calls their music, “A tasty blend of..folk traditions with hard-grooving world beats, country, bluegrass, jazz, and a healthy injection of catchy, soulful pop.”

The Duhks are on the road in the Eastern US and Canada the summer of 2015. They pick up touring in early July with shows in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Michigan before returning to Calanda to play Festival Memoire et Racines in Joliette, QC. They return stateside for a couple of New York performances and then are back into Canada in August to play the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Alberta, Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival in BC, and Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival in Ontario to complete their summer tour.

The Duhks. Photo by Coralee Penner.

Since forming in Winnipeg in 2001, The Duhks have created a dynamic blend of old- timey, French Canadian and Celtic music punched up with shades of blues, soul and driving Afro Cuban rhythms that leaves festival crowds on their feet. Over the course of four critically-acclaimed albums the band has earned Juno and GRAMMY awards and nominations and have played a significant role in the neo-folk revival.  The Duhks released their latest studio album Beyond the Blue, which was produced by Mike + Ruthy in June 2014 through Compass Records. Michael Bialas writes in Huffington Post, “this tasty potpourri of cultural influences, styles and substance sounds as vital as ever on Beyond the Blue.“

All of the people who have been in the band over the years, including non-touring founding members Tania Elizabeth and Jordan McConnell (who both appear on the album) have had a hand in shaping our sound and direction,” says The Duhks founder, Leonard Podolak. “The goal with the new record was to draw on everything we’ve learned over the years and everything we know about where we want to take the music now and create something as fresh, exciting and forward thinking as possible.

Musically, Beyond the Blue is reminiscent of 2006’s GRAMMY-nominated Migrations, but with a sound that is even more dense and grittier than 2008’s Fast Paced World. The album opens with the title track, a gorgeous song by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Gary Nicholson that begins with the bell-like drone of Leonard’s claw hammer banjo and the ethereal sound of guest Charlie Rose’s lap steel before giving way to Jessee’s expressive alto, perfectly complemented by Tania’s harmonies. On “Banjo Roustabout” electric guitar and drums bring out the more aggressive side of the band’s sound while “Suffer No Fools” is a beautifully rendered acoustic waltz ornamented by banjo, strings and percussion and beautifully sung by Jesse and Tania. Taken as a whole, Beyond the Blue represents a group of musicians at the peak of their powers, the music shaped by their collective experience of years on the road and driven by the sheer joy and inspiration that comes from reuniting and rediscovering that magic that drew them together in the first place.

The Duhks On Tour:
7/2 Thu – Purple Fiddle – Thomas, WV
7/3 Fri – Mason District Park – Annandale, VA
7/4 Sat – Town Commons – Carrboro, NC
7/5 Sun – Festival For The Eno – Durham, NC
7/7 Tue – Concert Happenings in Ridgefield’s Parks (CHIRP) – Ridgefield, CT
7/8 Wed – Payomet Performing Arts Center – Truro, MA
7/9 Thu – Iron Horse Music Hall – Northampton, MA
7/10 Fri – Cabot Performing Arts Center – Beverly, MA
7/11 Sat – Prescott Park Arts Festival – Portsmouth, NH
7/12 Sun – Earlville Opera House – Earlville, NY
7/17-19 Fri-Sun – Hiawatha Music Festival – Marquette, MI
7/25-26 Sat-Sun – Festival Memoire et Racines – Joliette, QC
7/30 Thu – Towne Crier Cafe – Beacon, NY
8/1-2 Sat-Sun – Falcon Ridge Festival – Hillsdale, NY
8/6-9 Thu-Sun – Edmonton Folk Music Festival – Edmonton, AB
8/14-15 Fri-Sat – Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival – Salmon Arm, BC
8/21-23 Fri-Sun – Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival – Owen Sound, ON

For more information and tour dates, please visit www.duhks.com, www.facebook.com/theduhks, www.twitter.com/theduhks, and www.instagram.com/theduhks.

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Donna the Buffalo On Tour Summer 2015, Run in the West Announced

Donna the Buffalo On Tour Summer 2015, Run in the West Announced

ASHEVILLE, NC — Having started in 1989, Donna the Buffalo has passed the marker as their 25th year as a band and have proven to be a consistent purveyor of American music. They kick off their 2015 Summer tour at the Blue Heron Festival in Sherman, NY over the weekend of the 4th of July before heading up to their stomping grounds in Trumansburg, NY to celebrate the 25th annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance mid-month, a festival Donna started, and are still the driving force behind. Late July brings them through Rochester, NY and then over to  Kalamazoo, MI and Lander, WY for a couple of shows on their way out West in August for performances in Missoula, MT, a return to the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival in Wyoming, and then back through Boulder and Denver for a couple of Colorado shows.

Mid-August sees their return East with stops in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. They have a short break from the road and pick back up again leading into the Fall in mid-September playing in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and West Virginia, as well as October’s The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival in North Carolina and Magnolia Fest in Live Oak, FL. Stay tuned for more Fall shows to be announced.

Donna the Buffalo is Jeb Puryear (vocals, electric guitar) and Tara Nevins (vocals, guitar, fiddle, accordion, scrubboard) joined by David McCracken (Hammond B3 organ, Honer Clavinet & piano), Kyle Spark (bass) and Mark Raudabaugh (drums). “It’s been really fun with this lineup,” Puryear says. “You get to the point where you’re playing on a really high level, things are clicking and it’s like turning on the key to a really good car. It just goes.”

“You have to do just what you want to do, and everyone likes different things,” Nevins says. “Both Jeb and I come from this background of old-time fiddle music, which is very natural, very real, very under-produced, and all about coming from the gut—flying by the seat of your pants. So we have that in us, too.”

The group draws its inspiration from a cherished part of the American heritage: the old-time music festivals of the south that drew entire towns and counties together. “Those festivals were so explosive, and the community and the feeling of people being with each other, that’s the feeling we were shooting for in our music,” Puryear says. “Donna the Buffalo is an extension of the joy we’ve found.”

Over the years, the band has also built a following that proudly calls itself The Herd, along with a well-deserved reputation for crafting social narratives and slipstream grooves without equal. To merely call this “roots music” does it disservice, for the roots nurtured by Puryear and Nevins run wild, deep and strong—a tribute to how much Donna the Buffalo marries musical trailblazing and tradition.

“It’s a great feeling to promote such a feeling of community, like you’re really part of something that’s happening, like a movement or a positive force…” Nevins says, “All those people that come and follow you and you recognize them and you become friends with them — you’re all moving along for the same purpose. It is powerful. It’s very powerful, actually.”

Donna the Buffalo On Tour
7/3-5 Fri-Sun – Great Blue Heron Music Festival – Sherman, NY
7/16-19 Thu-Sun – GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance – Trumansburg, NY
7/31 Fri – Rochester Public Market – Rochester, NY
8/1 Sat – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe – Kalamazoo, MI
8/4 Tue – Lander Live @ Jaycee Park – Lander, WY
8/6 Thu – Top Hat Lounge – Missoula, MT
8/7 Fri – Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival – Alta, WY
8/8 Sat – Oriental Theater – Denver, CO
8/9 Sun – eTown Hall – Boulder, CO
8/14 Fri – Inspire Moore Winery – Naples, NY
8/15 Sat – Nelson Ledges Quarry Park – Garrettsville, OH
8/18 Tue – Eight Great Tuesdays @ Liberty Park – Erie, PA
9/17 Thu – Stafford Palace Theater – Stafford Spring, CT
9/18 Fri – New Hope Winery – New Hope, PA
9/19 Sat – Tally Ho Theater – Leesburg, VA
9/20 Sun – The Tin Pan – Richmond, VA
9/25 Fri – Towne Crier – Beacon, NY
9/26 Sat – Westcott Theater – Syracuse, NY
9/27 Sun – The American Music Festival for the Lake – Lake George, NY
10/15 Thu – Rose G. Smith Theater – Williamson, WV
10/ 8-11 Thu-Sun – Shakori Hills GrassRoots Fest – Silk Hope, NC
10/17-18 Sat-Sun – Magnolia Fest – Live Oak, FL

For more information and tour dates, please visit www.donnathebuffalo.com
facebook.com/donnathebuffalo and twitter.com/donnathebuffalo

 

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The Craft of Songwriting & Songwriters-In-The Round Mon 6/22 at The Altamont Theatre, Presented by AVL Music Professions, The Recording Academy, and The Bluebird Cafe

Asheville Music Professionals, The Recording Academy®, and The Bluebird Cafe Present: The Craft of Songwriting Panel & Songwriters-In-The-Round on Monday, June 22, 2015 at The Altamont Theatre in Downtown Asheville

ASHEVILLE, NC — Asheville Music Professionals, The Recording Academy®, and The Bluebird Cafe Present The Craft of Songwriting Panel and Songwriters-In-The-Round on Monday, June 22, 2015 at The Altamont Theatre in downtown Asheville at 18 Church St. Doors are at 5:30 p.m. with the panel starting at 6 p.m., followed by a Songwriters-In-The-Round performance from the panelists.

For the panel, a group of accomplished songwriters have been assembled to discuss the different processes each use and how they work to perfect their craft. Panelists include multiple GRAMMY and Americana Music Association Award-winning artist/musician, Jim Lauderdale, GRAMMY and Americana Music Association nominee Tift Merritt, and Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee and GRAMMY & Golden Globe nominee Gretchen Peters, as well as ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year, Dave Berg. The panel will be moderated by producer, composer, engineer, and three-time GRAMMY Award winner, Steven Heller. 

The evening is capped off with the songwriters performing their favorite songs as part of a Songwriter-In-The-Round performance.

Special guest for the evening is Erika Wollam Nichols, COO/GM of The Bluebird Cafe.

Songwriter Panel includes Q&A with audience – Doors 5:30pm, Start 6pm
Songwriters-In-The-Round – Doors 8pm, Start 8:30pm
The Altamont Theatre – 18 Church St. | Asheville, NC 28801
http://thealtamont.com

FREE FOR RECORDING ACADEMY MEMBERS.
RSVP REQUIRED for members: RSVP_NASHVILLE@GRAMMY.COM
NON-MEMBERS (No RSVP needed for nonmembers): Panel–$10 | Songwriters In-The-Round–$15
Ticket Purchase Required: http://thealtamont.com/amp/

PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:

Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale is a multiple GRAMMY and Americana Music Association Award-winning musician and one of the most respected artists working the Americana, Bluegrass and Country music communities today. His record Buddy and Jim [2013], which he wrote and recorded with longtime friend and collaborator Buddy Miller, was nominated this year for a GRAMMY in the Best Americana Album category and several Americana Music Awards, a show which he has hosted since 2002.

Lauderdale has always stayed true to his North Carolina roots but is influenced from the experience of his travels. He first immersed himself in the early country music scenes of both New York City and Los Angeles before breaking through in Nashville as a songwriter. He has helped pave the way of the current Americana Movement recording records and writing songs that cross genres from country, pop, roots, rock, folk and bluegrass.

Lauderdale, a master songwriter, has had his work recorded by artists such as Patty Loveless, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, The Dixie Chicks and George Strait, who has had numerous hits with Jim’s songs. Lauderdale’s music has been featured regularly on the ABC hit show Nashville, and he has several tracks on the soundtrack of the successful film Pure Country.

Lauderdale is often called upon as a player and has toured with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent and Elvis Costello. He also co-hosts a weekly radio show on SiriusXM with Buddy Miller called “The Buddy & Jim Show,” which NPR’s Fresh Air described as “…highly entertaining…” Lauderdale is also the host of the popular Music City Roots each week from The Factory at Franklin, near Nashville, TN.

He frequently collaborates with legends like Ralph Stanley, Elvis Costello and Robert Hunter and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist with dozens of studio releases, including his latest I’m A Song which is  Lauderdale’s latest country endeavor, his 26th album to date.

Tift Merritt
“I’ve always had a taste for traveling alone,” Tift Merritt sings in the title track of her fifth album. This time around, she got to prove it, “calling the shots myself and letting myself go wherever I needed to go” at a point in time when she was a free agent without label or manager. But the song does also conclude that “everybody here is traveling alone,” a realization that places as much value on community as iconoclasm. And Merritt put together her “dream cast” of fellow travelers to play on Traveling Alone, which found its happy home at her new label, Yep Roc. The road less taken doesn’t preclude good company.

The New Yorker has called Merritt “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul that reaches back to artists like Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry,” a standard upholding that got underway in earnest with Bramble Rose, the 2002 solo debut that put her on the Americana map forever. As her sophomore album, Tambourine, was followed by Another Country and See You on the Moon, Merritt found acclaim coming not just from critics and awards orgs but her own heroes, like Emmylou Harris, who marveled that Merritt “stood out like a diamond in a coal patch.” Now a leading lady in her own right, Merritt is hardly one to hog the spotlight. She engages in dialogue with fellow artists of all disciplines on her public radio broadcast and podcast “The Spark With Tift Merritt,” bringing in fellow sojourners ranging from Patty Griffin and Rosanne Cash to Rick Moody and Nick Hornby (who devoted a chapter to Merritt in his 31 Songs book).

Merritt has released five studio albums to date and was nominated for a GRAMMY for “Country Album of the Year” for 2004’s Tambourine, which was also nominated for Americana Music Association awards “Album of the Year” in 2005. That same year she was also nominated for AMA’s “Artist of the Year.”  Two songs have also been nominated as AMA’s “Song of the Year”: 2005’s “Good Hearted Man” and 2008’s “Broken.” Merritt was born in Houston but her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina soon after where he grew up and attending the nearby university of Chapel Hill.

Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters was twice nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song and also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Gretchen Peters has long been one of Nashville’s most beloved and respected artists, known never to shy away from darkness and struggle in her writing. “If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as ‘On A Bus To St. Cloud,'” People Magazine wrote, “she has already earned herself a spot among country’s upper echelon of contemporary composers.”

The latest accolade for the Nashville-based singer-songwriter was her induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014. She joined the 192 existing inductees including Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell, Don & Phil Everly, Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Harlan Howard, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Jimmy Webb and Hank Williams. At the induction ceremony in Nashville before a capacity audience, Rodney Crowell spoke on behalf of Peters, calling her “both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes,” and said her song “The Matador”, “moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet.”

Peters has risen to the top of her craft by writing and recording songs that explore the deep corners of life with empathy and integrity. She has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Of her own recordings, the Associated Press said, “this is not jukebox music – the stuff that exists to fill in the pauses in conversation. This IS the conversation.”

Her latest album, Blackbirds, follows Peters’ 2012 album Hello Cruel World, which NPR called “the album of her career” and Uncut said “establishes her as the natural successor to Lucinda Williams.” If anything, though,  Blackbirds truly establishes Peters as a one-of-a-kind singer and songwriter, one in possession of a fearless and endlessly creative voice.

Dave Berg
Dave Berg is a singer/songwriter originally from Portland OR, now making his home in Nashville TN. His songs have been recorded by a wide variety of artists including Keith Urban, Bake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Jimmy Buffet, Kenny Chesney, Jewel, Jimmy Buffett, Darius Rucker, Reba McEntire, Rodney Atkins and Meatloaf to name a few. He’s hit the top of the charts 5 times including the most played country song of 2008, “If You’re Going Through Hell” recorded by Rodney Atkins. Other hits include “Stupid Boy” by Keith Urban as well as the number 1’s “Somebody” by Reba McEntire, “These Are My People” by Rodney Atkins and “Moments” by Emerson Drive. In 2008 Berg was named Billboard’s Country Songwriter of the Year, as well as ASCAP’s (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Country Songwriter of the Year. Berg has also released three independent singer/songwriter records of his own; “Three Perfect Days,” “Surface,” and “Not Quite So Alone”

Moderated by Steven Heller
Producer, composer, and engineer, Steven Heller,  has earned three GRAMMY Awards, five GRAMMY nominations, as well as a number of national awards for his music and recordings. His work encompasses music for artists, film, television, other media. Steven has secured options for feature film scripts as editor and producer. His produced and written story projects have garnered several GRAMMY nominations.

Heller’s clients include MTV, 20th Century Fox, Miramax, Rhythm and Hues, National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), and many others. He has served as music supervisor and producer for the Miramax film, “The Journey of August King,” and composed and produced music for the film. He has also composed, orchestrated, and adapted the music package for the Animal Planet Network, a division of Discovery Network, Inc., as well as scored numerous award-winning films, including features, documentaries, and children’s films garnering numerous Telly and Addy Awards for television and radio commercial music compositions.

Heller has also been honored with Golden CASE Awards, three American Library Association Notable Recording Awards, several NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors) Awards, Parent’s Choice Gold Awards, National Association of Parents’ Publications Awards. Heller is based in Asheville, NC.

Erika Wollom Nichols
President/COO of The Bluebird Cafe, Erika Wollom Nichols oversees all operations including marketing, sponsorship and brand development of The Bluebird Cafe name. She is also co-director of the Tin Pan South Songwriters festival. Past experience: Director of Development for NSAI, handling fundraising, marketing and community relations and VP of Marketing & Community Outreach at The Country Music Hall of Fame. She served on the Board of Leadership Music (2007-2010), and currently serves on the board of the ACLU of Tennessee and Folk Alliance International. She received her BA in philosophy from Belmont University and her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

This Event is Presented by:

Asheville Music Professionals:
Asheville Music Professionals (AMP) aims to set the standard for good music business practices while acting as a common voice for the Asheville music industry. Together we can inform the community about the intrinsic worth and economic impact of music in our region. One of AMP’s main beliefs as an organization is that music is worth paying for. AMP also offers membership educational workshops, fun events and socials all targeted at advancing local music business.

With a focus that extends from touring bands to recording studios, venues to festivals, and gear manufacturers to instrument repair shops, this hard working group of volunteers intends to make a positive impact on the lives of musicians and music lovers like you. The Mission is to provide education, advocacy, connection and collaboration for the people who work and thrive in music in Buncombe County.

The Recording Academy:
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like “The GRAMMYs” on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs’ social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.

The Bluebird Cafe
The Bluebird Cafe is one of the world’s preeminent listening rooms and the venue has gained worldwide recognition as a songwriter’s performance space where the “heroes behind the hits” perform their own songs; songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres of music. Located in a small strip mall outside of downtown Nashville, the 90 seat venue is unassuming in appearance but some of the most significant songwriters and artists have performed on their stage. Their reputation as a listening room is based on the acoustic music that is their signature style. Their patrons repeatedly say that they are captivated by hearing songs performed by the creators themselves.

In 2008, original owner and founder Amy Kurland sold the legendary venue to the Nashville Songwriters Association International, (NSAI) a 40+ year old, not-for-profit organization devoted to the service of songwriters and the craft of songwriting. More of a donation than a corporate sale, Kurland saw NSAI’s mission to “educate, elevate and celebrate songwriters” as a way to continue the Bluebird’s relationship to songwriters and to the community. In 2012 The Bluebird Cafe made its primetime debut on the ABC drama Nashville, where it plays a key factor in the show’s plotline which deals with both the music industry in Nashville, the political climate in Nashville and the key players in both these “worlds,” which often collide.

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Dublin Roots Band, I Draw Slow, Returns to the Northeast US This July

I Draw Slow. Photo by Dara Munnis.

Dublin Roots Band, I Draw Slow, Returns to the Northeast US This July

Irish Roots Band, I Draw Slow, Returns Stateside this Summer,
Touring With Their 2014 Release White Wave Chapel
7/12 Sun – Red Wing Roots Music Festival –  Mount Solon, VA
7/14  Tue – Tellus 360 – Lancaster, PA
7/15 Wed – Creative Alliance – Baltimore, MD
7/16 Thu – World Cafe Live Upstairs –  Philadelphia, PA
7/18 Sat – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival – Oak Hill, NY

“…if you have an opportunity to see them, you should take it. This is a captivating, exciting, energetic group with some fantastic songs to present, both from their earlier releases and this recent one. Their writing is skilled, rich and wonderfully mature.”  – KDHX

ASHEVILLE, NC — Dublin roots band, I Draw Slow, has been garnering praise around the globe since the release of their 2012 album Redhills. Now their latest release, White Wave Chapel (2014), is all the buzz at home and overseas with their unique sound, bringing together Irish tradition with modern Americana while staying rooted in the old-time style of Appalachia. Their impact abroad is redrawing the map for these Irish/Americana songwriters. They are happy to return Stateside this summer for a handful of shows in mid-July including Red Wing Roots Music Festival in Virginia, Tellus 360 in Lancaster, PA; Creative Alliance in Baltimore; World Cafe Live Upstairs in Philadelphia, and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York.

With the line-up of Adrian Hart on fiddle, Colin Derham on clawhammer banjo, Konrad Liddy on double bass, and siblings Dave Holden on guitar and vocals and Louise Holden on vocals, White Wave Chapel develops on the distinctive sound fans have come to love from I Draw Slow. It’s an arresting confection of old time Americana, bluegrass and Irish traditional music that swings from melancholia to joy and is always framed within well-crafted melodies and skilled performances. They offer a whole new songbook of stories with dark tales of debauchery and trouble swinging.

White Wave Chapel, engineered and mastered by veteran Irish producer Brian Masterson (Planxty, The Chieftains, Van Morrison, Christy Moore, Norah Jones), has taken the band and their unique sound to an even wider audience. The album reached No 2. in the overall Irish iTunes chart, and was selected as RTE Radio 1’s Album of the Week. It has been described as “bewitching” (Irish Independent), “exquisite” (Sunday Times), “practically begs you to sing along” (Hot Press), and “a thing of beauty” (9/10).

The UK press describes I Draw Slow as “American top league equivalents” destined “to blow the opposition away,” drawing favorable comparisons with Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss. They have played to audiences in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, performed with the legendary Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and made an appearance at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The band is now in great demand in the US, touring there extensively over the last few years and have performed at several major US festivals including MerleFest, Grey Fox, Rockygrass, Pickathon, and the IBMA’s.

What Folks are Saying about I Draw Slow:

“With White Wave Chapel, their best album to date under their belt, it seems a matter of time before I Draw Slow will dominate the global folk scene.” —Peter McGuire, Huffington Post UK

“For an all-acoustic group, I Draw Slow sure do have a fully realized sound. May we recommend ‘Valentine,’ ‘Grand Hotel,’ and ‘Don’t She Run.'” —The Bluegrass Situation

“It’s as gritty as it is beautiful.” —CMT Edge

“Their lyrics are evocative and imaginative, yet remarkably in an entirely American idiom and vernacular – no Gaelic transposed to fit the hills and hollers. Songs like ‘Bread & Butter’ and ‘Hide & Seek’ resonate rhythmically and lyrically…” —Sing-Out Magazine

For more information and a full list of tour dates, please visit www.idrawslow.com, twitter.com/idrawslow, and facebook.com/idrawslow.

Watch the video of “Valentine”
featuring Aidan Gillen from White Wave Chapel, with over 29,000 views:

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Tellico’s Relics and Roses Hit the Streets This Week – Storytelling with Roots

Tellico’s Relics and Roses Hit the Streets This Week- Storytelling with Roots

Tellico takes you on a journey through the modern Appalachian soundscape, with masterful storytelling and memorable instrumental and vocal performances that wed tradition with a contemporary Americana sensibility

Now available at:
CD Baby,  iTunes, & Amazon

ASHEVILLE, NC — Tellico independently released their debut album, Relics and Roses, this week on June 2, 2015. The album features the singing and songwriting of Anya Hinkle (guitar, fiddle) and Stig Stiglets (bass), and showcases Aaron Ballance on dobro and pedal and lap steel and Jed Willis on mandolin and clawhammer banjo. Guitar virtuoso Jon Stickley (Jon Stickley Trio) produced the album and makes a few guest appearances with drums and guitar. The album was recorded at Sound Temple Studios in Asheville, NC.

“Relics and Roses is a record that you be will be drawn to not to simply listen, but to actively listen. While timeless and authentic are words you hear describing music quite often, here they both ring true,” writes The Daily Country.

Storytelling is at the helm of Tellico’s music. “Throughout the set, they touch on issues ranging from natural disasters to foreign adventures. One tune, though, hits especially close to home. Inspired by Asheville author Thomas Wolfe’s book of the same name, ‘Can’t Go Home Again’ tugs at the loose threads of that notion,” writes The Bluegrass Situation.

The leading track, “Backstep Blues” [Hinkle] has a “backstep”, a rhythmic hiccup that is typical of old time music, telling the story of a man’s successive retreat from his wife (with the refrain “hey where did your daddy go wrong?”), leaving her with the “backstep blues.”  “Calamity”, written by Stiglets, is a tale of disaster sparked by a combination of Hurricane Katrina and Japan’s 2011 tsunami, and the destructive and terrifying images of those events. “Forsaken Winds” is poetry unto itself with the ethereal sounds of Ballance’s pedal steel filling in the spirit of the lyrics; while “Hawkeye Pierce and Honeycutt Blues” is a tongue and cheek raggy romp in an Asheville street busker’s shoes.

“Mexico 1995” is a coming-of-age story penned by Hinkle after a solo four month journey, mostly by bus, from Nogales, Arizona through Guatemala and back. It was before the internet, before cell phones, and after a grisly war and genocide in southern Mexico and Guatemala, a real eye opener for a kid, all during the winter after Jerry Garcia died. Hinkle says, “That early morning that I walked back, on foot, into my post-college privileged American life after crossing the border at Nogales was like a dream, I was a ghost in my own shoes, my idea of who I was as porous as the haze that seemed to linger that entire day that I re-emerged.” The song uses samples from iconic songs that set up the general feeling that it’s all been done before. Hinkle reflects, “Where does a kid go with that? What’s ahead that’s worth anything?”

All of the songs on Relics and Roses were penned by Hinkle and Stiglets with the exception “White Line-River of Pride,” a Neil Young and Crazy Horse medley of two dirty electric rock tunes buttoned up bluegrass-style.

Relics and Roses is the first since Anya, Stig, and Aaron formed Tellico after recording four records with the Asheville-based bluegrass band Dehlia Low, whose final album Ravens and Crows was released on the Rebel Records label in 2011.

Find out more about Tellico & Relics and Roses at at Tellicoband.com, facebook.com/Tellico & twitter.com/TellicoBand.

Tellico. Photo by Jennifer Calllahan

What Folks are Saying About Relics and Roses:

“Fresh from the fertile roots music scene in Asheville, NC, comes bluegrass foursome Tellico, who make a remarkable first impression with splendid debut album Relics and Roses. If you’re a fan of mountain music, I urge you to check out this up-and-coming outfit… four first-rate musicians… This one’s a winner, y’all” —Jeffrey Sisk, Pittsburgh in Tune

“With deep warm tones, intimate vocals, vivid lyrics, natural arrangements, and emotional solos Tellico masterfully draws the listener into the center of their original songs. Relics and Roses paints a cinematic picture, continually stirring feelings of nostalgia. Through their wonderful musicianship they never fail to create an atmosphere that perfectly enhances their storytelling.  I love this CD!”
—Chad Manning of the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience

“….wonderfully original mountain music. Sometimes they sound like what Kate Wolf would sound like had she come from the Southern Appalachians – a beloved image if you ask me.”
—Martin Anderson, Music Director & Morning Host WNCW-FM

“The album of mostly original songs is superbly orchestrated and delivered taking the listener on an auditory odyssey that ranges from soulful and deep to upbeat and euphoric. Anya, Aaron, Stig, and Jed have woven a tapestry that is timeless and authentic and deserving of your attention.”
—Steve Johnson, Event Producer/Artist Relations Manager, Wilkesboro, NC

“Tellico picks up where Dehlia Low left off, focusing and refining their sound. Relics and Roses is… step forward in songwriting, with Anya Hinkle and Greg ‘Stig’ Stiglets crafting an acoustic soundscape of Appalachian daydreams that stack up to the works of John Hartford, Emmylou Harris and the Avett Brothers. Songs like ‘I Want To Know’ reach out and grab you immediately… a captivating album.”
–Joe Kendrick, WNCW Program Director 88.7 FM

“The bluegrass influence is as bright as the playing in the music of Tellico.” — The Alternate Root “Backstep Blues” listed in Top Ten Songs of the Week

“Asheville, NC has produced some of the most interesting new sounds in the modern bluegrass and old time music scene of late. Something about the community there is drawing creative people, and clumping them together to make string band music that pushes boundaries while holding on to tradition. Tellico is such a group —John Lawless, Bluegrass Today

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Jon Stickley Trio Announces Summer Tour, New Album This Fall

Jon Stickley Trio is Lyndsay Pruett, Jon Stickley & Patrick Armitage (pictured left to right). Photo by Allie Leanna Photography.

Jon Stickley Trio Announces Summer Tour, New Album This Fall

Jon Stickley Trio set to Release Lost at Last,
Produced by Dave King (The Bad Plus), This October

“Asheville’s Jon Stickley Trio create an experimental mosaic of American music. They combine their namesake’s flat-picking, Lyndsay Pruett’s nimble violin and jazz and hip-hop rhythms from former Atmosphere drummer Patrick Armitage.” –Indy Week, Justin Weber

ASHEVILLE, NC —  Jon Stickley Trio has earned a reputation for painlessly shattering expectations. The originality and sheer energy of this genre-bending ensemble serves as a welcome wake up call for those who experience it. With roots in bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and hip-hop, Jon Stickley, one of the world’s most innovative flatpickers, violinist Lyndsay Pruett (Futureman), and drummer Patrick Armitage (Atmosphere), have fused their collective styles into a repertoire of exciting, innovative original music, along with fresh takes on traditional tunes. They are set to release a new album, Lost at Last, in October of 2015.

The album was recorded in Asheville, NC’s iconic Echo Mountain Studios, under the watchful eye of producer Dave King (The Bad Plus). While recording the album, King referred to the band’s imaginative sound as “this whole other thing.” King’s creative energy and inspired musical approach led the band deeper and deeper into the heart of their musical consciousness, which led to the solidification of their musical identity.

Lost at Last features six original tunes, along with covers of The Bad Plus, Tim O’Brien, and Bela Fleck. The record also includes a traditional gypsy jazz waltz, and ends with Andy Thorn’s banjo ripper, “Flight of the Durban,” all done in the Trio’s signature explosive style.

The virtuosic trio’s compositions truly do not fit into any specific genre, but remain totally accessible and danceable to audiences across the board, while remaining true to their musical roots. The Trio successfully raised over $18,000 in a Kickstarter campaign that solidified the band’s fan base with over 300 people pre-ordering CDs, and pledging their support.

In their short time together, the trio has shared the stage with The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Larry Keel, Leon Russell, amongst others and have thrilled audiences at some of the nation’s top festivals including MerleFest, Floydfest, and Four Corners Folk Fest. Billy Nershi (String Cheese Incident) says, “I’ve had the pleasure of playing with Jon onstage and off. He always plays something I didn’t think was possible.”

“The inspiration of blending the rhythmic, fast-paced techniques of Bluegrass with songs from the other end of the musical spectrum led to the formation of Stickley’s eponymous trio.” writes Alli Marshall with Asheville’s Mountain Xpress. Through the recording of Lost at Last, the band has honed their fiery, yet sensitive sound to create something that is uniquely the Jon Stickley Trio.

Jon Stickley Trio travels through Colorado’s Front Range in late June. They pick back up for a hometown show with The Hackensaw Boys in Asheville in mid-July followed by performances in Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee. More shows to be announced.

Jon Stickley Trio on Tour
6/6 Sat –  Nantahala Brewing Co – Bryson City, NC
6/24 Wed – Barkley Ballroom – Frisco, CO
6/25 Thu – Cervantes’ Other Side – Denver, CO >
6/26 Fri – Clear Creek RapidGrass – Idaho Springs, CO
6/27 Sat – Oskar Blues – Longmont, CO
6/28 Sun – Oskar Blues – Lyons, CO
7/10 Fri – RiverMUSIC – Asheville, NC *
7/11 Sat – Red Wing Roots – Mt. Solon, VA
7/16/15 – Red Light Cafe – Atlanta, GA
7/17/15 – Wolf Hills Brewing – Abingdon, VA
7/18/15 – Jig and Reel – Knoxville, TN
7/23/15 – Zia Taqueria – Asheville, NC
7/24/15 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC ^
7/31/15 – Summer Concert at the Jones House, Boone, NC
7/31/15 – Murphy’s – Boone, NC
8/7/15 – Gottrocks, Greenville, SC
8/8/15  – Soulshine Music Festival – Green Mountain, NC
8/20/15 – Zia Taqueria – Asheville, NC
9/05 Sat – Four Corners Folk Festival – Pagosa Springs, CO

> ft. Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon w/ Sanctum Sully & Lost Caravan
* w/ The Hackensaw Boys
^ w/ Big Fat Gap

More shows tba

WATCH the music video of “Darth Radar,” a song about flying through space →

For more information,  further tour dates, and the lastest Jon Stickley Trio news, please visit www.jonstickley.com, www.facebook.com/JonStickleyTrio, and www.twitter.com/StickleyMusic.

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