The Honeycutters, Town Mountain, and Organic Records
Showcasing at AmericanaFest 2015
The Honeycutters. Photo by Sandlin Gaither
Honeycutters AMA Showcase
Saturday, September 19th
9pm at The Listening Room
217 2nd Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201
www.listeningroomcafe.com
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®. Fueled by the powerful songwriting and vocals of founder Amanda 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.
Me Oh My debuted at #33 on the Americana Music Chart and was listed 11 weeks straight in the Americana top 30 chart! They also were just voted Western North Carolina’s Best Americana/ Country band five years running in Mountain Xpress‘ annual Reader’s Poll.
Led by songwriter Amanda Anne 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 new album is the one I’m most proud of to date.” Platt says, “I took much more of a driver’s seat in it’s making, and the process has forced me to do a lot of growing up… I feel like I’ve really found my voice. I’m very excited about the line up of the band, and the songwriting includes some of my very favorites.”
Platt self produced the album along with the help of engineer and assistant producer Jon Ashley. They laid down the all original 14-track album in Echo Mountain Recording Studio and Mixtown Studio in Asheville, NC and it was mixed and mastered just down the road at Crossroads Studios in Arden, NC.
“From the first track – ‘Jukebox’ – to the closer (‘A Life For You’) this is a perfect album of tunes that – in most cases will have you dancing around the room (or at least tapping your toes).” —Steve Ramm, Amazon
“…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.” —Saving Country Music
“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
Town Mountain. Photo by Sandlin Gaither.
Town Mountain AMA Showcase
Friday, September 18th
Midnight (12am) at The Station Inn
Closing Set, Directly after Willie Watson
402 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
www.stationinn.com
Town Mountain’s hard drivin’ bluegrass sound, tight harmonies, and stellar in-house songwriting have become the band’s trademark. They light up the stage with their honky tonk edge and barroom swagger, featuring a Jimmy Martin-style bounce and confidence that is countered at times by a laid-back John Hartford-esque groove. Town Mountain includes Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, and Adam Chaffins on bass.
Town Mountain is prolific in songwriting with each member contributing to their well-supplied vat of original material. They’ve been finalizing their next studio release which was produced and engineered by GRAMMY winner Dirk Powell in his studio, The Cypress House, in south Louisiana.
Town Mountain is about to release of Town Mountain: The Dead Session this summer. “Each member of this band has enjoyed the music of the Grateful Dead for quite some time,” says vocalist and guitarist Robert Greer. “It seemed only fitting for Town Mountain to pay respect to some musical heroes in this year, their 50th year of existence.” They recorded an impromptu set of two of their favorite songs from the Grateful Dead’s catalog at Echo Mountain Studios in their hometown of Asheville, NC.
They released their first official live album Town Mountain: Live At The Isis in the summer of 2014 following 2012’s Leave The Bottle and 2011’s Steady Operator (which were both produced by Mike Bub, five-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year). Town Mountain was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2014 Award for “Emerging Artist of The Year” following 2013’s honor of receiving IBMA Momentum Awards for “Band of the Year” and lead singer Robert Greer for “Vocalist of the Year.”
“Phil Barker’s ‘Lawdog’ sounds like an unearthed classic, and the group’s tight harmonies alone make this record [Leave the Bottle] a treat…”– Juli Thanki
“While it remains a bluegrass band in all things instrumentation and touring the bluegrass and festival circuit, its sound crosses into American roots and even outlaw country, perhaps as a result of the gritty, mournful tone of Greer’s vocals. It is reminiscent of the 1970s truck-driving film sound, the perfect accompaniment to a car chase through the south á la ‘Smokey and the Bandit.’” —Durango Herald, KDUR DJ Bryant Liggett
Organic Records Presents:
The Carolina Ball
Friday September 18th, 5-8pm
at Dan McGuinness Pub
1538 Demonbreun St.
Nashville, TN 37203
www.danmcguinnesspub.com
It’s Friday Happy Hour and this Asheville, NC’s Organic Records® brings you new bands from North Carolina! Come hear the Americana-Honky Tonk sound of The Honeycutters, the classic Country of Merle Haggard’s favorite young band The Malpass Brothers and the working class ballads of Appalachia’s Aaron Burdett. All in Nashville’s beloved Irish house, Dan McGuinness Pub from 5-8pm on AMA Friday.
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 their natural habitat. Organic is an independent label based near Asheville, NC. They promote, distribute and market music created by original artists who defy genre categorization. Organic Records is a division of Crossroads Entertainment and Marketing, Inc.
Their team, with decades of music marketing, licensing, distribution and promotional experience, brings artists to the world marketplace. Their award winning, state-of-the-art recording studio has been in operation since 1993 and provides artists with a world-class recording experience. Their marketing division has promoted award-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated albums, and our radio promotion department has achieved multiple #1 singles. Organic Records is dedicated to the sustainable career of their artists and achieves this through cooperative efforts with their artists, their fans, media outlets, and industry relationships.
See all the full schedule for AMA nightime showcases here: http://americanamusic.org/showcase-lineup
Full AMA conference schedule: http://americanamusic.org/daily-schedule
Free AMA Phone App with daily schedules: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/americana-music-fest-conference/id1027451265?ls=1&mt=8
Cheers and see you at AmericanaFest!
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