Love Canon Signs with Moonstruck Management, Releasing New Album On Organic Records

Photo from Love Canon Signing: Left to Right: Darrell Muller, Jay Starling, Andy Thacker, and Adam Larrabee of Love Canon; Josh Trivett of Moonstruck Management; Ty Gilpin of Organic Records; Jesse Harper of Love Canon.

Love Canon Signs with Moonstruck Management
Releasing New Album On Organic Records

Sprouting from the musical foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville, Virginia’s LOVE CANON is excited to announce they have signed on with Moonstruck Management and Organic Records and are set to release their 4th album, Cover Story, in Spring 2018. For Cover Story, LOVE CANON has decided to take many of the suggestions that they get at their high energy live shows and will feature ten new-to-them 80’s hits and a plethora of special guests. Cover Story  is a follow up to their previous efforts, Greatest Hits Volumes 1-3.

The musicians, led by guitarist Jesse Harper, are seasoned virtuoso string players of which Style Weekly says, “LOVE CANON doesn’t cover the music of the ’80s as much as kidnap it and take it on a bluegrass-tinged joyride. It’s a general rule of American culture that it takes 20-40 years for a decade to shed its stale stench and get its groove back… LOVE CANON refreshes and extends the originals with affectionate humor and effortless virtuosity. The players… add layers of depth to the still-appealing pop hooks.”

LOVE CANON has been touring the mid-Atlantic since 2010 bringing their own raucous blend of bluegrass to the masses. The band’s diehard fans are music lovers first and foremost, drawn to the beautiful high-lonesome stylings of Harper’s guitar and vocals paired with banjo master Adam Larrabee, mandolin pickin’ by Andy Thacker with Darrell Muller holding down the low-end on standup bass. The band is augmented with the sweet sounds of resonator guitar king Jay Starling on the Beard MA-6.

“I first became a fan of LOVE CANON back in 2015 when I saw them at a show in Bristol, Tenn. The following year, I was able to work with them as the talent buyer for the Huck Finn Jubilee in California. The guys have always blown me away with their musicianship, unique approach and execution of their live show! We couldn’t be more excited to finally have the opportunity to add LOVE CANON to the Moonstruck Management Roster,” says Josh Trivett of Moonstruck Management.

“We are super excited to be working with Josh and his team at Moonstruck. They have proven to be a guiding light and loyal champions of some of our musical heros Lonesome River Band, Ralph Stanley, Russell Moore, Dan Tyminski & The Soggy Bottom Boys and more,” says Harper. “The band is really looking forward to starting this new chapter in our ongoing adventure with Moonstruck at the helm! And with their help we are happy to have found a home at Organic Records and are looking forward to releasing new material with a company that has consistently put out high quality  acoustic music. It is a rare and beautiful thing to find kindred spirits who care about the music as much as we do.”

“We are so glad to welcome the refined talent of LOVE CANON to Organic Records. They have done something I’ve not heard many artists do. They blend musical styles in a way embody the best of all worlds. If you are a music fan that has only dabbled in acoustic music, LOVE CANON is your gateway drug!” says Ty Gilpin of Organic Records.

LOVE CANON and its individual members have shared the stage and studio with many notable acts over the years. Harper and Muller were members of acoustic supergroup Old School Freight Train and they performed shows with David Grisman (who also produced one of their albums), Ricky Skaggs, and Merle Haggard. As a band, LOVE CANON was the backing band for Keb Mo and Jason Mraz at SPARC performance LIVE ART event in Richmond and they also performed as the house band at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam a couple of years in a row with sits in from Bruce Hornsby and Warren Haynes among others. They’ve toured with Josh Ritter, Keller Williams, and The Infamous Stringdusters and have played festivals around the country including LOCKN’, Jam Cruise, FloydFest, Bourbon and Beyond (as part of Bluegrass Situation Stage), and Gathering of the Vibes as well as having performed live on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and RTE radio (Raidió Teilifís Éirean – Irish Public-service Broadcasting). Individual members have made their rounds on the music scene and have performed with KD Lang, Emmylou Harris, Sara Bareilles, John C. Reilly, Madeleine Peyroux, Colbie Caillat, among others.

Moonstruck Management is a successful music artist management company representing some of the top acts in acoustic music such as Soggy Bottom Boys, Lonesome River Band, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, The Cleverlys, and more. They are also the talent buyer for the Huck Finn Jubilee in CA, Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreesboro, TN, Rockingham County Fair in Harrisonburg, VA, Washington County Fair in Abingdon, VA, Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg, TN, and more. For more information on Moonstruck Management, please visit moonstruckmanagement.com.

Organic Records® is an eclectic home for a variety of artists that are singularly unique and defy categorization. In a time when music is becoming less defined by genre, Organic artists are developing their own musical identity outside the confines of traditional classifications. Organic Records is an independent label based in Arden, NC, near Asheville and they currently represent Front Country, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters, Aaron Burdett, and Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders. Organic promotes, distributes, and markets music created by original artists who defy genre categorization. Organic Records is a division of Crossroads Entertainment and Marketing, Inc. who represent Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Balsam Range, Adam Steffey, Flatt Lonesome, The Boxcars, The Grascals, and more. Their team, with decades of music marketing, licensing, distribution and promotional experience, brings artists to the world marketplace. Find out more about Organic Records at www.organic-records.com

LOVE CANON ON TOUR:
2/2 Fri – The Tin Pan – Richmond, VA
2/23 Fri – Garth Newel Music Center – Hot Springs, VA
3/17 Sat – Historic Masonic Theater – Clifton Forge, VA    
3/24 Sat – Fork In The Alley Street Festival – Roanoke, VA    
4/7 Sat – The Peace River Revival – Punta Gorda, FL   
5/25 Fri – Station Inn – Nashville, TN
5/26 Sat – Chantilly Farm Bluegrass and BBQ Festival – Floyd, VA
6/9 Sat – Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery – Gatlinburg, TN
6/30 Sat – ROMP – Owensboro, KY

More information about LOVE CANON can be found at www.lovecanonmusic.com, www.facebook.com/lovecanonmusic, www.twitter.com/lovecanon80s, and www.instagram.com/thelovecanon.

 

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Jon Stickley Trio Announces New Drummer, Unleashes Further Tour Dates

 

Jon Stickley Trio. Photo by Heather Hambor

Jon Stickley Trio Announces New Drummer and Further Tour Dates
“Pure Joy Through Music”

 

ASHEVILLE — Jon Stickley Trio is a genre-defying and cinematic instrumental trio, who’s deep grooves, innovative flatpicking, and sultry-spacy violin moves the listener’s head, heart, and feet. “It’s not your father’s acoustic-guitar music—although Stickley’s pop showed him his first chords when he was 12 years old. Instead, Stickley’s Martin churns out a mixture of bluegrass, Chuck Berry, metal, prog, grunge, and assorted other genres—all thoroughly integrated into a personal style,” writes Guitar Player Magazine.

Premier Guitar says, “Stickley’s trio… is not a traditional bluegrass group by any means… they are just nimble and ambitious enough to navigate EDM-style breakbeats as effortlessly as the old timey standard ‘Blackberry Blossom.’”

“Stickley is a super-resourceful acoustic guitarist who uses the instrument in many surprising ways and whose timing is just flawless. Fiddler Lyndsay Pruett puts deep thought into her flowing solos, plus she adds little flourishes and sudden stops that elevate the music,” proclaims Nashville’s Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst.

Jon Stickley Trio announces a change in lineup beginning in January 2018 with new drummer, Hunter Deacon, who is both classically trained and boasts heavy jazz influences. Hailing from the ever-hip Knoxville, Tennessee, Hunter studied with drummer Keith Brown and received a BM in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Tennessee. Deacon then went on to complete a six month residency at a jazz club in Hangzhou, China where he performed seven nights a week. Since his return, he’s played with Scott Miller and the Commonwealth, toured the country with Sam Lewis, and performs with guitarist Mike Baggetta.

Stickley says about the seemingly sudden lineup change, “we’re really excited to add Hunter’s vibe to the mix, his creativity and willingness to experiment were two things that drew us to him, and Lyndsay and I were quickly surprised and inspired by what he’ll bring to the table.”

With inspiration ranging from from Green Day to Duran Duran to Tony Rice to Nirvana, Grateful Dead, David Grisman and beyond, the Trio is making waves with their unique sound. Along with releasing two full length albums and one EP in the past few years, the Trio has zig-zagged the nation, playing over 120 dates in 2017 alone. They are road tested and band geek approved!

Dave King (of The Bad Plus) joined forces with Jon Stickley Trio to produce 2017’s Maybe Believe and 2015’s Lost At Last (which The New York Times called “both respectful and free”) in the band’s hometown of Asheville, NC at the esteemed Echo Mountain Recording Studio. The Trio slipped a self-produced 5-track EP, Triangular, into the mix in December of 2016.

“In a time when a lot of instrumental music feels more like math than art, Jon Stickley Trio reminds us of the pure joy that can be created and shared through music,” says Greensky Bluegrass’ Anders Beck.

Stickley says, “The Trio feels fresher and hotter than ever, we’ve hit our stride in terms of creating tunes that are uniquely us and that’s a really exciting place to be musically. Not to mention we are so stoked to get back to many of our favorite festivals and clubs, and even more excited to play some the ones we’ve always dreamed of. 2018 will, without a doubt, be our best year yet!”

Jon Stickley Trio On Tour

1/18 Thu – Capital Ale House – Richmond, VA *w/ Town Mountain
1/19 Fri – The Clementine Cafe – Harrisonburg, VA *w/ Town Mountain
1/20 Sat – House Concert – Chambersburg, PA
1/21 Sun – Boathouse Live – Newport News, VA  *w/ Town Mountain
2/3 Sat – Cumberland Caverns Live Volcano Room – McMinnville, TN *w/ Front Country
2/8 Thu – The Mansion at Strathmore – Bethesda, MD 
2/9-10 Fri-Sat – 5 Points Music Sanctuary – Roanoke, VA *w/ Jenni Lyn & TBA
2/14 Wed – Tennessee Shines Radio Show at Boyd’s Jig and Reel – Knoxville, TN
2/15 Thu – The Station Inn – Nashville, TN
2/16 Fri – Atomic Cowboy – St. Louis, MO
2/17 Sat – Mike Kelly’s Westsider – Kansas City, MO
2/20 Tue – eTown – Boulder, CO *w/ Billy Strings
2/22 Thu – Cervantes Other Side – Denver, CO *w/ Old Salt Union & The Deer
2/23-24 Fri-Sat – WinterWondergrass CO – Steamboat Springs, CO
2/25 Sun – Steve’s Guitars – Carbondale, CO
2/28 Wed – Lefty’s Live Music – Des Moines, IA
3/1 Thu – The Famous Mockingbird – Marion, IA
3/2 Fri – Redstone Room at River Music Experience – Davenport, IA
3/3 Sat – Bourbon On Division – Chicago, IL
3/8 Thu – Gottrocks – Greenville, SC
3/9 Fri – Savannah Stopover Festival – Savannah, GA
3/22-25 Thu-Sun Suwannee Spring Reunion – Live Oak, FL
3/29 Thu – Zanzabar – Louisville, KY
3/31 Sat – Music at Murdock’s – Manhattan, KS
4/5-8 Thu-Sun – WinterWonderGrass – Olympic Park – North Lake Tahoe, CO
4/12-13 Thu-Fri – Bender Jamboree – Las Vegas, NV
4/17 Tue – Taos Mesa Brewing – El Prado, NM
4/20 Fri – Magnolia Motor Lounge – Fort Worth, TX
4/21 Sat – Old Settler’s Music Festival – Dale, TX
4/28 Sat – Some Kind Of Jam 13 – Schuylkill Haven, PA
5/25-26 Fri-Sat – DelFest – Cumberland, MD
5/31-6/1 Thu-Fri – John Hartford Music Festival – Bean Blossom, IN
7/20-22 Fri-Sun – Northwest String Summit – North Plains, OR

For more information and updates from the road, please visit www.jonstickley.com, www.facebook.com/JonStickleyTrio, www.instagram.com/jonstickleytrio, and www.twitter.com/jonstickleytrio

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Suwannee Spring Reunion March 22-25 w/ The Infamous Stringdusters, David Bromberg Quintet, Donna The Buffalo, Larry Keel Experience, Dar Williams, Billy Strings, and more!

Announcing The 2nd Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion March 22-25, 2018
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL

Featuring: The Infamous Stringdusters, David Bromberg Quintet, Donna The Buffalo, Larry Keel Experience, Dar Williams, Billy Strings, and more!

Sowing The Seeds of Music ~ Sustaining Our Community

Tickets on sale now at → www.suwanneespringreunion.com  

LIVE OAK, FL –– For decades the onset of Spring meant gathering at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida for a weekend of fun, family, Bluegrass and string music. A beloved tradition continues as the picturesque grounds play host to a new take on a classic family-friendly gathering with the 2nd Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion taking place Thursday through Sunday, March 22 – 25, 2018.

Suwannee Spring Reunion 2018 features The Infamous Stringdusters, David Bromberg Quintet, Donna The Buffalo, Larry Keel Experience, Dar Williams, Billy Strings, Amy Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Verlon Thompson, Shawn Camp, The Grass Is Dead, Rev. Jeff Mosier and Biscuit Tragedy, Jon Stickley Trio, Front Country, Roy Book Binder, Grayson Capps, Ralph Roddenbery, Grandpa’s Cough Medicine, Nikki Talley, Quartermoon, Sloppy Joe, and Big Cosmo!

Most of these artists bring with them storied histories of epic Suwannee performances! Matching the history on the stage, long time festival creators Beth Judy and Randy Judy along with an amazing staff, are partnering with the Spirit of the Suwannee to make sure that every piece needed to make an epic weekend of music and fun is in place and ready to write this next episode for this new legend.

The theme for the 2018 Reunion is “Sowing The Seeds of Music ~ Sustaining Our Community.” This is the inspiration behind Marci Davis’s art poster for this festival with the seed packet imagery.

Once again the beloved tree-lined amphitheater is home to early morning sing-a-longs and night time musical pyrotechnics from the park’s stellar cast of alumni and new favorites. There will be music on four stages including the Amphitheater, Porch, Music Hall, and Music Farmers Stages. Suwannee Spring Reunion attendees will also enjoy music in the campground with jamming at Slopryland and the Bill Monroe Shrine as well as camp pickin’ parties.

Hands-on and performance workshops will be held throughout the weekend with a variety of artists set to perform. Billy Strings will perform the music of Doc Watson and Dar Williams will share her music and maybe some tidbits from her newest book. There will be hands-on learning workshops led by Roy Book Binder, Tom Nelly, and many more teaching musicians.

Placing a strong emphasis on embracing the traditions that have made the park a national treasure, there will be a wide array of arts & crafts as well as an array of culinary delights ranging from healthy to decadent in the Vending Village. The park itself is a place where kids of all ages can remember why they fell in love with the magic mixture of sights, sounds, and sensations that constitutes a weekend of paradise that is the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park.

Tania & The Magic Moon Traveling Circus will lead the Kid’s Tent with music and activities, Rhonda Bell will lead Daily Yoga each morning at 9am, and folks can also experience the Park’s other many attractions including disc golf, miles of hiking and biking trails, the bat house, and the chance to venture Way Down Upon The Suwannee River.

Tickets are on sale now. Suwannee Spring Reunion offers a multi-day Weekend Ticket that includes festival admission for four days of music, as well as primitive camping on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Early Bird Tickets are $130; Students and military with a valid ID are $120. Children 12 and under are free if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Get your tickets now before they rise to the next pricing tier. Single Day Tickets will be available at the Gate only. Please note, Single Day Tickets do not include primitive camping.

If you are planning to attend our sister festival, Suwannee Roots Revival on October 11-14, 2018, you can get a Special Combo Spring Reunion/Roots Revival Weekend Ticket for $260 total and this is available until 1/15/2018. Each Weekend Ticket includes Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday venue access to music as well as primitive camping Thursday through Sunday.

SOSMP is located between Jacksonville, Florida & Tallahassee, Florida about 30 minutes south of the Georgia State line, about 45 minutes north of Gainesville and is host to a variety of events.

For four days in March, you can slip your shoes off and dance under the bright blue vistas and star-studded skies. Wander the endless trails along the Suwannee River, tell stories around the crackling campfire or simply lie back and watch the Spanish moss that drapes the sheltering Live Oaks that sway in the breeze. Dance the days away at the Stages and while away the late night hours around the “Picking Parties” that spring up into the dawn’s early light. There are no wrong choices when you arrive at your home and the place where live music lives for the founding of a new tradition, built on the love of the past, the Suwannee Spring Reunion.

Suwannee Spring Reunion 2018:
The Infamous Stringdusters
David Bromberg Quintet
Donna The Buffalo
Larry Keel Experience
Dar Williams
Billy Strings
Amy Helm
Jim Lauderdale
Verlon Thompson
Shawn Camp
The Grass Is Dead
Rev. Jeff Mosier and Biscuit Tragedy
Jon Stickley Trio
Front Country
Roy Book Binder
Grayson Capps
Ralph Roddenbery
Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
Nikki Talley
Quartermoon
Sloppy Joe
Big Cosmo
Suwannee Spirit Kids
Tania & Magic Moon Traveling Circus

For more information and to reserve camping, please visit www.suwanneespringreunion.com.

 

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