Suwannee Spring Reunion Adds Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Chatham County Line & More

The 3rd Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion March 21-24, 2019
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL

Additions to Round Out Final Lineup Include:
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Chatham County Line, Joe Craven & Hattie Craven, Shawn Camp Band, Daddy (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack), and more!

Artists Already Announced Include:
Steep Canyon Rangers, Billy Strings, Donna The Buffalo, Larry Keel Experience, Jim Lauderdale, Verlon Thompson, The Grass Is Dead,  Jon Stickley Trio ...

Tickets on sale at → www.suwanneespringreunion.com/Tickets  

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives

LIVE OAK, FL –– As spring approaches, the excitement builds as folks of all ages make plans to gather at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida to continue a beloved festival tradition that features a range of music genres rooted in original music – Americana: Bluegrass, Newgrass, Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Blues, and more. Literally something for everyone! The gorgeous park with its mossy live oak laden grounds host the 3rd Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion, taking place Thursday through Sunday, March 21-24, 2019.

The Suwannee Spring Reunion adds a batch of artists to round out the final lineup for 2019 including Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Chatham County Line, Joe Craven & Hattie Craven, Daddy (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack), Shawn Camp Band, Cicada Rhythm, Balkun Brothers, and Artists At Large: Brett Bass and Nicholas Edwards Williams.

They will join the stellar acts already announced which include Steep Canyon Rangers, Billy Strings, Donna The Buffalo, Larry Keel Experience, Jim Lauderdale, Verlon Thompson, The Grass Is Dead, Jon Stickley Trio, Town Mountain, Rev. Jeff Mosier, The Mammals, Roy Book Binder, Pigeon Kings, Nora Jane Struthers, Ralph Roddenbery, TKO featuring Duke Bardwell, Nikki Talley, The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn, Quartermoon, Sloppy Joe, Habanero Honeys, Jeff Bradley – Comedy + Cool Stuff, and Tania & Magic Moon Traveling Circus.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Peter Rowan will not be able to perform this year as previously announced. He is sad to miss it, but excited to let you know that he will be performing at the sister festival, Suwannee Roots Revival, this October.

Most of these artists bring with them storied histories of epic Suwannee performances! “This festival truly is a reunion. Most of the artists have played here before and are part of our Festival Family,” says Festival Director Beth Judy. “It feels like coming home to the artists and the festival community. Even those attending for the first time, whether artist or festival patron, are welcomed into our community and feel a part of something special. Special and more fun than they’ve had lately – maybe ever! It truly is something you have to experience to believe.”

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 is in place to make an epic weekend of music and fun.

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.  Expect to get professional instruction at the hands on workshops and some out of the ordinary intimate musical experience from the different presentations.

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.

Tickets are on sale now at www.suwanneespringreunion.com/tickets/. 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. Current Tickets Rates are $145; Students and military with a valid ID are $130. Get your tickets now before they rise to the next pricing tier on Monday, February 25th. Children 12 and under are free if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Single Day Tickets will be available at the Gate only. Please note, Single Day Tickets do not include primitive camping.

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.

Suwannee Spring Reunion 2019 Final Lineup (New additions in Bold)
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
Steep Canyon Rangers
Billy Strings
Donna The Buffalo
Larry Keel Experience
Chatham County Line
Jim Lauderdale
Verlon Thompson
Shawn Camp Band
The Grass Is Dead
Jon Stickley Trio
Town Mountain
Joe Craven & Hattie Craven
Rev. Jeff Mosier
Daddy (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack)
The Mammals
Pigeon Kings
Roy Book Binder  
Nikki Talley
Nora Jane Struthers
Ralph Roddenbery
TKO featuring Duke Bardwell
Cicada Rhythm
Balkun Brothers
Quartermoon
Sloppy Joe
Habanero Honeys
The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn
Artists At Large: Brett Bass and Nicholas Edwards Williams
Jeff Bradley – Comedy + Cool Stuff
Tania & Magic Moon Traveling Circus

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

 

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We Have Lift Off: Amy McCarley’s MECO Out Today Ft. Pat Alger, Kenny Vaughan, George Bradfute

Amy McCarley Launches MECO, Her 3rd Album, February 8, 2019
Co-produced by Kenny Vaughan & George Bradfute

Kenny Vaughan & Chris Scruggs Join McCarley on the Entire Album
Featuring special guests:
Pat Alger, Marty Stuart, Kenny Lovelace, Harry Stinson, and George Bradfute

Available Now To Stream & Purchase→  http://radi.al/MECOAmyMcCarley

HUNTSVILLE, AL —  With poignant and thought provoking lyrics, Amy McCarley finds balance in a new perspective with the launch of MECO, her 3rd studio album, out February 8, 2019. After collaborating in writing new songs with Bluebird Cafe round-mate and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer, Pat Alger, McCarley returned to the studio with esteemed colleagues, co-producers Kenny Vaughan & George Bradfute to work on MECO, her highly anticipated follow up to 2014’s Jet Engines. MECO was recorded and mixed by Bradfute in his Tone Chaparral Studios in Madison, Tennessee and mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master Studios in Nashville.

An acronym borrowed from the Space Shuttle program that stands for Main Engine Cut Off, MECO occurred for the shuttle when onboard propulsion systems were disengaged at an altitude where velocity could be maintained by the power of an innate force at work in the universe with periodic adjustments from the vehicle. The album traces McCarley’s experience of what it’s been like leaving life as a NASA contractor to pursue a career in music.

Featuring two of Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives on the entire album including Vaughan on guitar and multi-instrumentalist Chris Scruggs on drums, percussion, bass, and steel guitar; it is only fitting that Harry Stinson joins in on backing vocals on a track and Stuart himself plays mandolin on “Never Can Tell.”

The ten tracks of all original material feature McCarley’s yearning vocals, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. Alger, who co-wrote half of the songs on MECO says of McCarley, “Super, super intense guitar style. And I was so fascinated by it. Everything she did was real. Super intense. She’s just a different kind of performer.”  Alger describes the series of events leading to a co-writing partnership that yielded half the songs on MECO in this video clip → https://youtu.be/oY3V2ZZwTXU

Uniquely relatable, this northern Alabama native’s music is embraced by Americana fans across the country and abroad. Vaughan says, “I think all of her songs come from a personal experience. Each song is about something she’s gone through, which is good because it gives her a little edge on the delivery. The emotional content kinda comes through in there.”

What Folks Are Saying:

“MECO demonstrates beyond doubt that Amy McCarley has established a clear flightpath in Americana music with her blend of country rock sung with a world weariness that immediately brings to mind Lucinda Williams… in MECO she has reached an elevation that deserves a wider acclaim to propel her musical voyage.”
—Americana Music Show, Lyndon Bolton,
Listen in to Lyndon Bolton’s podcast interview with McCarley on Americana Music Show

“Not only can McCarley write songs, sing them and play a mean acoustic guitar, she has an astute sense for musical support…. this is a can’t miss effort.”
—Country Standard Time, Jim Hynes

“With any luck, the record should propel McCarley into the big time at least as quickly as a NASA rocket launches a capsule into space. It combines mainstream accessibility with the sort of authenticity and depth you’d associate with artists like Lucinda Williams.”
—The Morton Report, Jeff Burger

“Marshall Chapman, Lucinda Williams, and (delightfully) Linda McRae come to mind as McCarley utilizes various aspects of her lithe voice, the result entirely her own with soulful shades of her Alabama roots apparent.” 
––Fervor Coulee, Donald Teplyske

“It is superb… She possesses a strong and expressive voice that can display presentiment and positivity equally… Vaughan and Bradfute’s production is spot on, never overwhelming the vocal or getting in the way of the song.” 
—Lonesome Highway, Stephen Rapid

“… there’s a reflective spirit and emotional honesty that’s very transparent on the listen, as each song is carefully crafted and delivered with a pensive, gorgeous timelessness.”
—Take Effect Reviews, Tom Haugen

More About MECO:

With Scruggs’ wild driving rhythm and Vaughan’s insane blazing solo, the album opens with  “A Clue,” a determined revelatory song started in McCarley’s days at NASA. A song of finding strength in perseverance, “Clarksdale Blues” features Bradfute on slide guitar and gives a sense of those wide open blue skies in the Mississippi Delta, the location of the song’s inspiration.

Jerry Lee Lewis band leader, Kenny Lovelace, plays fiddle on the upbeat and breezy tune “Ain’t Life Funny” which muses about how life can tell a joke, “Just when we think that things are humming… Ain’t it funny how it all goes up in smoke.” McCarley says, “He cranks it all up to where either a square dance or hippie jig seem equally appropriate to me.”

Triumphant and joyful, “High Wire” is about survival. McCarley says, “Kenny and Chris brought the emotion in ‘High Wire’ to full impact during the instrumental break right after I sing ‘A little bird perched on a limb / In a wild storm in the wind / I will sway I will bend / With eyes wide open / And drink it in.” Other songs demonstrate a cathartic release in a new perspective such as “Everything Changed,” “Happy,” and “Farewell Paradise.”

Sorrow and gratitude go hand in hand on the dream-like “Days” which features McCarley’s co-writer Pat Alger playing lead acoustic guitar and recalls treasured moments with loved ones which can go by so quickly. “Never Can Tell” is a song about finding meaning amidst uncertainty and “How You Do” is more plaintive in nature.

McCarley’s trajectory is defined by her personal strength as an artist and her ability to learn through the enormous collaborative power of connecting with other stellar talents. She says, “It has taken everything I have plus the guiding unseen hands of time and chance together with support from some incredibly talented generous souls in order for this album to be made and on its way to listeners.”

MECO Track Listing & Credits:
1. A Clue (4:41)*
2. Clarksdale Blues (4:18)*
3. Everything Changed (5:28)
4. High Wire (4:20)
5. Days (3:13)*
6. Never Can Tell (2:39)
7. How You Do (4:32)
8. Happy (4:12)*
9. Ain’t Life Funny (3:04)*
10. Farewell Paradise (3:57)

Amy McCarley — vocals, acoustic guitar (all), harmonica (7)
Kenny Vaughan — electric guitar, acoustic guitar (all)
Chris Scruggs — drums, percussion, and bass (all), steel guitar (5,10), backing vocals (10)
George Bradfute — slide guitar (2), fiddle (6), viola and cello (7), fiddle and mandolin (8)
Pat Alger — acoustic guitar (5)
Marty Stuart — mandolin (6)
Kenny Lovelace — fiddle (9)
Harry Stinson — backing vocals (10)

Producers — Kenny Vaughan & George Bradfute
Audio & mix engineer — George Bradfute (Tone Chaparral)
Mastering engineer — Jim DeMain (Yes Master Studios)

*Indicates a song written by Amy McCarley & Pat Alger

© 2019 McCarley Publishing (BMI) & Algerhythms (ASCAP)
All other songs written by Amy McCarley © 2019 McCarley Publishing

For more information, please visit  www.amymccarley.com, www.facebook.com/amymccarleymusic, www.twitter.com/amy_mccarley,  www.instagram.com/amymccarleymusic.

 

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OUT TODAY: Reed Foehl Releases ‘Lucky Enough’ Recorded w/ Band of Heathens

Reed Foehl Releases 5th Studio Album, Lucky Enough, Feb 1, 2019

Recorded in Austin, TX with The Band of Heathens
Co-Produced by Reed Foehl with Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi

Available Now On All Outlets to Stream and Purchase → http://hyperurl.co/3xm6td

POWNAL, VT — With the Feb. 1, 2019, release of Reed Foehl’s fifth solo album, Lucky Enough, fans will get a dose of powerful medicine, a cathartic collection of 10 songs that Foehl recorded with help from a mighty musical force, The Band of Heathens, at their Finishing School studio in Austin, Texas. It’s an album that will undoubtedly solidify his standing as one of the most compelling and vital Americana artists around.

On Lucky Enough, Foehl touches on a range of Americana styles, all with emotionally charged lyrics and can’t-get-out-of-your-head choruses, from somber folk elegies and gospel-tinged tunes to barroom country singalongs and jaunty calypso-flavored, country-infused pop. These are deeply personal songs for Foehl, and while they were written during some dark days, there’s a sense of optimism and gratitude, an overriding feeling that the hope outshines the heartbreak.

Lucky Enough is dedicated to the memory of Foehl’s mother — “the Queen of Everything” — and a keen sense of loss flavors the album. But there’s also a sense of hope, of forward momentum, change and a celebration of love, including not just the romantic variety but the kind a guy has for the oldest of old friends. For Foehl, creating Lucky Enough with The Band of Heathens has been a cathartic process. “If I can help myself, maybe I can help others,” he says. “You’ve got to keep moving forward. I think that’s the important thing. Live to fight another day.”

What People Are Saying:

“Certain songwriters have an innate gift for infectious songs that just linger for days on end. Reed Foehl is one of them. Each song on his fifth album, Lucky Enough, tells a story in his quietly understated way that somehow results in powerful imagery and emotions… This is as good as songwriting gets. Foehl’s lyrics are often astonishing and his relaxed, comforting approach works wonders.” —Glide, Jim Hynes

“His voice—smooth, companionable, and flavoured with a touch of palatable wisdom—is the first thing one is likely to notice. But the songs are masterfully constructed, some poetic and symbolic, most situational explorations brought to fruition with elegantly nuanced instrumentation… ‘Stealing Starlight’ and ‘American Miles’—both expansive, grandly produced three-minute epics, worthy entertainment for listeners who appreciate Josh Ritter, Fleet Foxes, or Vance Joy.” —Fervor Coulee, Donald Teplyske

The Bluegrass Situation premiered “Stealing Starlight”

“Reed Foehl’s excellent album Lucky Enough takes the listener on an existential journey to fill life’s holes. Written at an impossibly difficult time in Foehl’s life, while he was caring for his mother who was battling cancer, Foehl would be understood for writing a melancholy record. Lucky Enough ducks expectation. It does not feel melancholy. It feels settled. Not resigned, but at peace with life’s challenges and tribulations.” —The Marinade with Jason Earle, Listen in to a Podcast Interview

“Reed has the ability to transport the soul, a true master. One of the great songwriters of our time.” —Gregory Alan Isakov. Isakov co-wrote the debut track, “American Miles,” a road song that was inspired by traveling and the great american landscape. Glide Magazine premiered “American Miles”

“Reed Foehl is like a brother to me, we’ve traveled a lot of miles on the road together, and I don’t think they make better singer-songwriters than him.” —Todd Snider  

“He starts out with the gentle strumming ‘Stealing Starlight’ and the quiet acoustics of ‘American Miles,’ which just excels into the beautiful landscape that Reed paints with his words. He begins to pick the tempo up with the steady rhythm of ‘If It Rains’ and ‘He’s On An Island,’ but sandwiched in-between is the piano ballad ‘Carousel Horses.’ Reed Foehl finishes up his new album with the pop/folk tone of ‘Wish I Knew’ and wonderfully, emotion-filled ‘Color Me In.’” —JP’s Music Blog, Jim Pasinski

“I fell for this album just a few moments into its first track, ‘Stealing Starlight.’ There is something so sad and yet oddly comforting in Reed Foehl’s vocal delivery that worked on me immediately and pulled me in, so that I wanted to pay closer attention to every word, to see what this voice had to tell me.” –
—Michael’s Music Log, Michael Doherty

“Reed Foehl is a familiar voice in the wilderness calling you home.  His songs are part New England Folklore, told around an old wood stove in the midst of a winter’s blizzard and part Southern Charm, warm and inviting, like the spring breeze that welcome the magnolia blossoms.” —Ed Jurdi, The Band of Heathens

“Reed’s songs hit you in the heart, and everything else falls away” —Anais Mitchell

Reed Foehl. Photo By Kate Drew Miller

More About Reed Foehl & Lucky Enough:

Foehl certainly took an unexpected route in getting to Lucky Enough. Then again, he says, “I’ve always done things very unconventionally.”

A New England native who had long lived in Colorado, Foehl was making a big move, heading to Nashville to continue his craft as an artist and a songwriter. That made sense after co-writing the leadoff song (“Fly”) with up-and-coming country singer/songwriter Brent Cobb on Lee Ann Womack’s 2014 GRAMMY nominated album, The Way I’m Livin’.

On the way, he got a call from his mother, Linda. She had lymphoma, and she needed him. He didn’t hesitate, ditching his fully loaded car in Nashville and flying straight home to Massachusetts. “It put in perspective what life’s about,” he says. “This was important, definitely more than any of these records I’ve made.”

While he cared for his mother, Foehl kept at his songwriting, thanks to the sponsorship of a longtime friend and hockey teammate. Keeping the creative flames burning was vital. “It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am. I’m writing songs so people can hear them and so I can be OK. That’s really the gist of it,” he says.

After Foehl lost his mother in July 2017, he knew he had to keep moving forward and started thinking about recording an album. Although he launched his solo career with the release of Spark in 2001, he played in bands for years, notably fronting Acoustic Junction and then as a charter member of Great American Taxi. For his fifth solo album, he thought, why not go into the studio with a full-fledged band? “With all my records. I like to take leaps and chances and want to try different things,” he says. “I said, ‘What about doing it with The Band of Heathens?’”

Foehl had toured as an opener with The Band of Heathens, and he knew and loved their tones and sound and how they worked together. The Heathens, for their part, had really hit it off with Foehl on tour and were primed to help him make an album. “We really dug his stuff and felt like it would be a good match,” said Ed Jurdi, who co-produced Lucky Enough with Foehl and fellow Heathen Gordy Quist, with both Jurdi and Quist adding guitars and vocals on the album. “What I felt our job was, was to put him in a position where he could do his thing, just really make him comfortable. The record is about Reed and his songs, so how do we elevate that by adding what we can do? The idea as a producer is to both create a record the artist likes and making an album that the artist didn’t know they could make.”

The great thing about the Heathens, Foehl says, is they always knew when to hold back and when to let it rip, deftly embellishing the 10 songs on Lucky Enough. “They are very much chameleon-like,” Foehl said of the Heathens, “capable and talented enough to adapt and play any style of music.”

Foehl’s solo career has been bookended by loss, losing his father, Billy, in 2001 around the time Spark came out and then his mother preceding Lucky Enough, with three albums in between — 2007’s Stoned Beautiful, 2009’s Once an Ocean and 2014’s Lost in the West. Growing up in Dover, Mass., his parents were a huge influence for Foehl, filling the house with John Prine music and playing for decades together in a bluegrass/country band called The Centre Streeters. His parents encouraged him in his musical passion, regularly taking him to Boston, where he cut his teeth as a performer, busking at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace at the tender age of 11.

Lucky Enough Track Listing
1. Stealing Starlight (3:33)
2. American Miles (3:22)
3. If It Rains (4:48)
4. Takes a Long Time to Make Old Friends (3:18)
5. Carousel Horses (3:00)
6. He’s on an Island (3:26)
7. Running Out of You (3:46)
8. Wish I Knew (2:36)
9. Hello My Dear (4:12)
10. Color Me In (3:28)

Reed Foehl – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Gordy Quist – guitars, background vocals
Ed Jurdi – guitars, background vocals
Trevor Nealon – keyboards, background vocals
Jesse Wilson – bass guitar, background vocals
Richard Millsap – drums, background vocals
Geoff Queen – pedal steel

Engineered and mixed by Steve Christensen
Mastered by Fred Kevorkian
Green Mountain Records

Reed Foehl On Tour Supporting Todd Snider!
3/13 Wed – The Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
3/14 Thu – Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA
3/15 Fri – The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA
3/17 Sun – Infinity Music Hall & Bistro – Hartford, CT
3/18 Mon – The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
3/20 Wed- The Beacon Theater – Hopewell, VA
3/22 Fri – Lincoln Theater – Raleigh, NC
3/23 Sat – The Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC
3/24 Sun – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
5/2 Thu – The Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA
5/3 Fri – The Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
5/4 Sat – Rams Head On Stage – Annapolis, MD

For more information and updates, please visit www.reedfoehlmusic.com, www.facebook.com/ReedFoehl, www.twitter.com/reedfoehl, and www.instagram.com/reedfoehl.

 

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