So honored and thrilled to announce that I just found out I got nominated for an International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Momentum Award for Industry Involvement!
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra & Galen Kipar Project
Isis Restaurant & Music Hall Saturday, March 15, 2014 www.isisasheville.com
Isis Music Hall in Asheville is proud to host an evening with Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and Galen Kipar Project on Saturday, March 15th. Both bands have been busy writing new music for upcoming albums and are excited to present some of the tunes at the show. Scroll to the bottom of this for a couple of videos of Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and Galen Kipar Project Performing live.
Doors are at 5pm if you would like to sit down for dinner prior to the show. The show starts at 9pmas and general admission tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. There will be some balcony seating available. Call 828-575-2737 for dinner reservations or with questions. Isis Music Hall is located at 743 Haywood Road Asheville, NC 28806.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. Photo by Mike Morel.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is heading into the studio in the middle-of-nowhere Virginia at Summit Sound to record the bands first TRIO record, no guests, not extra orchestration, just raw Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. This will be their most ambitious record for the band, inspired by Roy “Futureman” Wooten, the album will be their first real attempt to put together an “epic, long-form masterpiece.” The new release, Mixtape Symphony, is expected to drop in late spring through Ropeadope Records.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is an example of musical sincerity. Weaving together collective and individual influences without compromise, they are as much themselves as they are a unit—a crucial trait of landmark instrumental ensembles. Equally captivating is steel pannist and founder Jonathan Scales’ compositional skill as is his tasteful, avant-garde improvisational approach.
“Scales is to steel pans ….what Béla Fleck is to the banjo—an über innovator,” says Driftwood Magazine. Drummer and percussionist Phill Bronson drives the Fourchestra’s time-shifting, modern grooves with graceful polyrhythmic chops and the listening ability of a true master. (His talent has been praised by Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge, Ellie Mannette, and others.) Bassist Cody Wright rounds out the ensemble with a groundbreaking hybrid picking style stemming from his background as a highly practiced fusion guitarist. With gut-wrenching grooves and blistering, soulful melodic lines, Wright’s mix of flash and feel adds a unique depth to the Fourchestra.
Together, the group explodes onto stages with an indescribable sound that is as much felt as it is heard, and is said to have “a Thelonious Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works.” (Pan on the Net) The group’s self-titled debut collaborative album features unparalleled sonic density and envelope-pushing compositions. Guest collaborators include Grammy winning masters Victor Wooten and Howard Levy (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) and is fully orchestrated with horns and strings.
For more about Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and tour dates, please visit www.jonscales.com.
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Galen Kipar Project. Photo by Folktography
Galen Kipar Project has been on the rise since 2006, and are currently recording their fifth album at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, NC and at the Jefferson Center with Summit Sound’s engineer in Roanoke, VA. They will be launching a kickstarter campaign soon to help fund getting the new music out to the world and expect to release the album by the end of the year.
Crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as “complex yet accessible” and “cohesive and poignant” with “experimental folk masterpieces.” Based in Asheville, GKP is Lyndsay Pruett (violin/ vocals), Jeremy Young (Drums), Ben Portwood (upright bass/ vocals), Galen Kipar (guitar/ harmonicas and vocals), Aaron Ballance (lap steel guitar/ dobro) and Jon Morrow (8 string Novak guitar/bass).
Galen Kipar Project has released four albums, the most recent being The Scenic Route in 2010. “The aptly titled effort is loaded with images of mountains, rivers, forests and streams, and backed by lush arrangements, fluid vocals and Appalachian instrumentation that bring to life what is essentially a musical portrait of Western North Carolina,” says the Mountain Xpress.
Songwriter and host of the Grateful Dead Hour, David Gans states about the album, “It’s like a collection of short stories, brilliantly constructed and with a unique and compelling literary voice. I keep coming back to each song, listening more deeply and being drawn more deeply in.” Gans says about Galen’s music, ” I was hooked right away… Strange, slightly other-worldly acoustic music sung in a sweet, slightly distracted voice. I think of it as a sort of American Primitive, with hits of Sandy Bull in the guitars, Brett Dennen in the voice, Donna the Buffalo in the rustic simplicity, and something altogether new in the wonderful orchestrations… In the words of Tina Fey, “When I hear the sounds of this nearby world, I want to go to there.'”
For more about Galen Kipar Project and upcoming shows, please visit www.galenkipar.com.
The Honeycutters Perform Two Nights at Isis Music hall- 10/25-26
With Sam Lewis and Johnson’s Crossroad
The Honeycutters with Sam Lewis Friday, October 25th
$12 Advance / $15 Door; Doors 5PM; Show 8PM
Seated Show Limited tables available with dinner reservations 26
The Honeycutters are an original country roots band based in Asheville, North Carolina. Since 2007 when the group formed, they have been playing music that is consistently as catchy as it is heartfelt. Organically grown around the songs of lead singer Amanda Anne Platt, the band has gained an audience that has stretched far beyond their mountain home to include all corners of the United States. They were voted WNC’s favorite Americana band in the Mountain Xpress reader’s poll for three years in a row from 2011-2013. This past spring they surpassed their Kickstarter goal of raising $28,000 to fund their next album, which they are currently recording in Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville.
Amanda Anne Platt has been hailed as “one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days” by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson, and her voice has been described as “perfectly unadorned” and “recklessly beautiful”. Her song, “Little Bird,” won second place in the general category of the Chris Austin Songwriting contest in 2011 as well as taking home the grand prize in the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest that same year. Her lyrics are as catchy and heartbreaking as her melodies. Dane Smith of Asheville NC’s Mountain Xpress writes “Her songs make you sad…in a good way!” In both her simple composition and honest delivery it’s easy to hear the influence of country legends such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, or Loretta Lynn, and with this Miss Platt credits growing up listening to her Father’s extensive record collection every Saturday morning. Despite her love for classic country, she cites Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty as major influences and her songwriting carries a wit and an edge that plants her firmly in her generation.
The band is frequently mentioned along with the movement to “Take country music back to it’s roots”. The Honeycutters are just doing what they know how to do: making music that feels as good to hear as it does to play. Their original brand of Americana has proven equally appealing to both the musician and the music lover, the country and the city, and the old and the young.
Tal Taylor on mandolin, Rick Cooper on bass, Josh Milligan on drums, and Matt Smith on guitar & pedal steel round out Platt’s songs and create a sound that carries just as well across the bar room as in a church or a theater.
For more information about the Honeycutters and their tour dates, please visit: www.thehoneycutters.com.
About Sam Lewis: Since his successful debut of his self-titled album, Sam Lewis has been busy crafting songs the next one. A soulful songwriter, Sam sings with raw emotion, inviting you into his life and love stories; he has a way of touching deep into the heart of listeners with his straight-forward and captivating music. “There’s so much soul pouring out of this guy’s pores you could bathe in it. It’s like hearing Al Green for the first time,” writes No Depression’s Grant Britt.
About Johnson’s Crossroad: Johnson’s Crossroad has been described by friends and fans as everything from Appalachian Soul” to “Hillbilly Metal.” The band blends blues, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, and Appalachian Old Time for a sound that The Daily Times’ Steve Wildsmith calls “both mournful and jubilant, breezy and graveyard serious.” He goes on to comment that frontman Paul Johnson’s voice “barely rises above a growl, but he stretches that sound to encompass the experience of a train-hopping hobo and the wisdom of an old man recalling loves lost and wars fought from the porch of a backwoods cabin.”
This is a seated concert with dinner reservations. Reservations can be made by calling Isis at 828-575-2737. There are a limited number of reservations at tables of 4 or 8. There is also theater-style and limited balcony seating seating available on a first come first serve basis.
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David Holt and the Lightning Bolts delivers old-time music with a new time jolt. With over ten different instruments including: banjo, fiddle, bottleneck blues guitar, mouth bow and even paper bag the Lightning Bolts present an entertaining and dynamic show filled with humor, stories and music.
Four-time Grammy winner David Holt has assembled a group of stellar musicians and entertainers: Laura Boosinger, Josh Goforth, David Cohen and Jeff Hersk who bring to life the joy and spirit of mountain music. Every concert sizzles with music learned directly from musical greats like Doc Watson, Tommy Jarrell, Grandpa Jones, Roy Acuff and the oldest person in the world, 123-year- old Susie Brunson. Using large black and white photographs taken by David of his mentors the audience hears the true life stories behind the songs and tunes. www.davidholt.com
David Holt:
For over thirty years, David Holt has been living in the Blue Ridge Mountains collecting and performing the songs and stories of the old-time mountaineers. He has learned this treasure trove of music directly from musical greats like Fred Cockerham, Byard Ray, Grandpa Jones, Roy Acuff and the oldest person in the world, 123-year-old Susie Brunson. David is a four-time Grammy Award winner. Winning two Grammys with Doc Watson for their 3 CD set “Legacy.”
He is known for his folk music and storytelling recordings, his numerous programs on PBS including Folkways and Great Scenic Railway Journeys, Riverwalk Jazz on public radio, and for his popular concerts performed throughout the country. He was founder and director of the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College from 1975-1981. He is a three-time winner of Frets magazine readers’ poll for “best old-time banjoist.” Southern Living magazine recently featured David as a “Southerner Making a Difference.”
Laura Boosinger:
Laura came to the Swannanoa Valley in 1976 as a student in the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College. She was one of David Holt’s most outstanding students and upon graduation became a full time performer of mountain music. Says Boosinger, “I became acquainted with a variety of families for whom traditional music was a natural part of their lives. My relationships with Quay and Sue Smathers, and the Luke Smathers String Band of Haywood County, became lasting friendships that I count as some of my most valuable.” Laura took David’s place as Luke’s banjo player in 1984 and played in his band for the next 13 years. Her recording “Down the Road” celebrates the music of the region’s great musicians. Today, Laura Boosinger gives back the music she has gathered to the many young people she works with in schools throughout the South. She is director of the Madison County Arts Council, Madison Country, NC. http://www.lauraboosinger.com
Josh Goforth:
Josh was raised around traditional music in rural Madison County, NC. He has become one of rising stars of acoustic music and a Grammy Nominee. David met Josh when he was a fourteen-year-old student in Madison County. Josh is a descendent of many of the same people David learned from when he first came to NC in 1969.
After high school he went to East Tennessee State University to study music education, and to be a part of ETSU’s famous Bluegrass and Country Music Program. In 2000, he played fiddle for the movie “Songcatcher,” both onscreen and on the soundtrack. He has toured extensively with a variety of ensembles, including the ETSU bluegrass band, with David Holt and Laura Boosinger, and with several bluegrass bands including Appalachian Trail, Carolina Road, Open Road, and The Josh Goforth Band. He has performed all over the United States as well as Europe and Asia. In 2000,2003, and 2005, he was named Fiddler of the Festival at Fiddler’s Grove making him the youngest ever 3 time winner. This secured him the title “Master Fiddler.”
Jeff Hersk:
The upright bass became Jeff’s obsession about 10 years ago, after much less satisfying careers in auto body repair, rural homesteading, and computer programming. He played guitar for many years, performing in rock bands in Canada and California in the ’70s, but now finds that he was meant to be a bassist. Jeff replaced Zeb Holt (David’s son) when Zeb moved to NYC to work for NBC.
Byron Hedgepeth: Byron Hedgepeth,is among the most versatile percussionists in the southeast, performing and recording regularly with a wide variety of artists across genres from jazz to classical to old-time music.
Two creative forces,Howard LevyandJoe Craven, are coming together for an evening of amazing musical energy atIsis Music Hallin Asheville, NC on Friday, March 15th.
Brought together three years ago for a night of unrehearsed interaction as a fundraiser for school programs by The Rooster’s Wife, an arts organization in Aberdeen, NC that focuses on education and specializes in unusual pairings of artists, the two fell into a serendipitous experience. Not until the evening was winding down did it become known that the two had last seen each other when performing on Jerry Garcia’s final recording. The program was a resounding success, not only for the small non profit, but as kindling for a renewed musical friendship. Isis is happy to be keep this musical spirit growing.
Multiple Grammy- Award Winner Howard Levy is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, recording artist, bandleader, teacher, producer, and Chicago area resident. His musical travels have taken him all over the geographical world and the musical map. Equally at home in Jazz, Classical music, Rock, Folk, Latin, and World Music, he brings a fresh lyrical approach to whatever he plays. This has made him a favorite with audiences worldwide, and a recording artist sought after by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Styx, Donald Fagen, and Paul Simon. As a sideman, Howard has appeared on hundreds of CDs and played on many movie soundtracks.
He is perhaps best known for the four CD’s he recorded with Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, a unique band that set the musical world on its ear back in the early 1990’s. He got back together with the band in 2010 and recorded the CD Rocket Science. They toured extensively in 2011-2012, and Howard won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition for “Life in Eleven”, which he wrote with Bela Fleck.
Creativity educator, former museum curator, visual artist, actor/storyteller, festival emcee and recipient of the 2009 Folk Alliance Far-West Performer of the Year, Joe Craven has made music with many folks ranging from multi-string instrumentalist David Lindley to Blues slide guitar master Roy Rogers to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and groups from Psychograss to The Persuasions to The Horseflies. He was percussionist and fiddler for mandolinist David Grisman for almost 17 years and was special guest with fusion banjo player Alison Brown and her Quartet for almost 7 years.
Always looking for the next expression and object to make music with, Joe is a musical madman with anything that has strings attached or not; violin, mandolin, tin can, bedpan, cookie tin, tenor guitar/banjo, mouth bow, canjoe, cuatro, balalaika, boot ‘n lace and double-necked whatever. He has created music and sound effects for commercials, soundtracks, computer games and contributions to several Grammy nominated projects. Joe’s performed at festivals and theaters worldwide, from Hardly Strictly to The Kennedy Center and from CA Worldfest to Carnegie Hall, where he joined folks like Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor to help celebrate Stephane Grappelli’s 80th birthday.
On March 15th at Isis, expect the unexpected with percussion of the highest order and in all types of arrangements- from piano to Bundt pan, along with mandolin, violin and of course harmonica played like no one else.
SHOW DETAILS AT A GLANCE:
Howard Levy and Joe Craven Isis Music Hall and Restaurant Friday, March 15th
828-575-2737
743 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806
This is a seated concert with dinner reservations. Reservations can be made by calling Isis at 828-575-2737. There are a limited number of reservations at tables of 4 or 8. There is also theater-style and limited balcony seating seating available on a first come first serve basis.
Dala Performs at Isis Music Hall & Restaurant on March 22nd Moses Atwood opens the show! 828-575-2737
743 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806
Tickets: www.isisasheville.com/events/dala/
$10 advance / $15 at the door; 9pm
Tablets of 4 are available with dinner reservations (limited).
Ample seating is available first come first serve.
“…the angels of folk music. Ethereal, eloquent and downright beautiful, the music they create is faultlessly performed.” – Exclaim!
On their fifth studio record, Best Day, DALA’s central message is as simple as it is compelling; if you’re unwilling to celebrate the impermanence of life as well as its constants in equal measure, you’re cheating yourself.
It’s a sentiment the Toronto-based duo of Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine express concisely on the album’s title track, Best Day, and a reflection of the way they look at both their individual lives and their musical partnership. “Life is short,” Walther says. “You don’t know how long you have with the people you love, so you need to live every moment to the fullest, which isn’t a bad thing to be reminded of frequently.”
That’s an assertion Dala underline beautifully by bracketing Best Day with ‘Life on Earth’ and ‘Still Life’; two songs that encourage listeners to view their lives as masterpieces in the making, regardless of the materials they’re given to work with.
Put bluntly, you have to experience winter to enjoy the spring, a point driven home by the freezing weather Dala find waiting for them upon returning to Canada after a run of California shows in February 2012. It is the coldest day of the year thus far, but neither seems to mind. “We push each other to enjoy every moment, regardless, and we take great delight in where we are right now,” Carabine says.
Dala have every reason to do so. Since the release of their debut, This Moment is a Flash (2005), the response from fans and critics alike to their insightful brand of acoustic pop has been uniformly enthusiastic. Their 2009 release, Everyone is Someone, received critical acclaim in the EU as well as in North America, with The Irish Post lauding it as the Album of the Year, and National Public Radio’s ‘Folk Alley’ calling ‘Horses’ one of the Top Ten folk songs of 2009. In Canada, Everyone is Someone garnered Dala their fifth Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA) nomination and a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best Folk Group. Additionally, their 2010 live CD/DVD, Girls From The North Country, won the pair a 2010 CFMA for Vocal Group of the Year, a JUNO nomination for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Group and was broadcast repeatedly by PBS outlets throughout North America.
Characterized by Carabine and Walther’s signature harmonies, and underpinned by relatively sparse accompaniment from piano, acoustic guitar, ukulele and only minimal drums, the result is surprisingly lush, particularly on tracks featuring string arrangements by Chris Bilton, Asher Lenz and cellist, Kevin Fox, such as ‘Not Alone’ and ‘Great Escape’.
Some records you have to spin multiple times to feel close to and to be inspired by the sentiments they express. With Best Day, it takes one listen – if that. Best Day was released June 2012 on Campus Records/Universal in Canada, and Compass Records in the U.S.
So honored and thrilled to announce that I just found out I got nominated for an
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