“”The lyrics on the new recording derive from cinema, art and literature…intricate musical arrangements with witty and literate lyrics.” — Staunton News Leader (VA)
“This is our favorite album we’ve heard all year, hands down.” –Asheville Disclaimer
“[stephaniesid’s] cover of “Life in a Northern Town” brings a joyful bounce to the proceedings, adding in xylophones, horns, and whimsy aplenty.” — CoverMeSongs.com
“Their recent appearance in WNCW’s Studio-B debuted some of the danceable delights from ‘Starfruit’ and shows Stephaniesid is a forward moving force in music today.” — Dennis Jones, WNCW
“’Starfruit’ is a heck of a lot of fun and finds Stephaniesid covering both the Dream Academy’s “Life in a Northern Town” and the theme song to “Laverne & Shirley.” Seriously. Along the way are standout originals “Closer,” “I Like It,” “Starf***er,” “I Like It Too” and “So Low/A Hope.” The aforementioned Dream Academy cover is every bit as powerful as the original.” — Jeffrey Sisk, Daily News (PA)
I am thrilled to announce jazz/ rock Steel-Pannist Jonathan Scales is touring around his album release with a few shows opening up for classically trained pop cellist Ben Sollee this June!
Ben Sollee is a genre-bending cellist and vocalist who released his new album “Inclusions” on May 10th. Armed with a cello, Sollee is canvassing the country, sometimes by bicycle, imploring folks to rediscover the connections between music, art, film, dance, their community, and personal relationships. American Songwriter states, “Inclusions is a thoughtful and thoroughly imaginative album about what a huge and complicated undertaking it is to truly relate to other human beings, what with all our mismatches in expectations and differences in background, experience and belief.”
Jonathan Scales has been called a “…rising star of the steel drums…” by Traps Magazine, while Pan on the Net refers to him as “the Real Deal” and having “A Thelonius Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works.” When Steel Talks sums it up with, “At the end of the day, Scales is going to be a major play in rewriting the books on steelpan music outside of the box.” Like Sollee, Scales is also touring around a new release “Character Farm & Other Short Stories” which features guest appearances by Jeff Coffin (of Dave Matthews Band/Bela Fleck & the Flecktones), Yonrico Scott & Kofi Burbridge (of Derek Trucks Band), and fiddle virtuoso Casey Driessen. “Through the album’s countless turns, Scales manages to blend in the very particular sound of steel pan seamlessly with everything from a flute, horn and saxophone to the oft-accompanying electric guitar, all while showing off the easily stereotyped instrument in a new light,” declares Exclaim.CA.
******************************************* Jonathan Scales and his Fourchestra will be opening for Sollee on:
it’s been an amazing couple of weeks for the Keel Krew- we’ve become quite skilled at navigating the NOAA weather site… it’s the only chance we have of making it to our scheduled shows these days! 5 cancellations due to weather , in the past 3 months.. including, regretfully, the recent show at Mt. State Brewery in Thomas WV.. that elevation and those roads in and out of there are just a bit beyond our travel abilities, when it has snowed there steady for 4 days in row before the show..
but! after that, we raged into Morgantown WV and got all wild and wonderful with the happy Mountaineers that night.. the good folks from Half Time String Band always warm things up with excellent pickin and singing, and LKNB got spiritual, spacey and psychedelic with one of the most improvisational shows we’ve ever played.. unforgettable night-
then, weather once again propelled us into a flurry of flight to get us on the road ahead of schedule last weekend, in order to make it to Colombus OH for a big night of mayhem and magic at Vic’s Midnight Cafe, sponsored by the Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk.. 5 bands in one night! it was a 2-ring circus of splendid production– back and forth between 2 stages, with fantastic sounds and mergings of minds with LKNB, Rumpke Mountain Boys, Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk, Tin Hearts and One Under…! Supreme fun and seamless flow of music for , like, 8 hours! Paul Painter is the man!
from there, we zipped through the steady snow and slush over to Pittsburgh, PA where things got scary and hairy weather wise— thank goodness for 4 Low on the transmission.. it helps, when nothing’s been plowed! but we made it to the wonderful Rex Theater in a super cool section of Pittsburgh.. there, we met up with our great bluegrass buddies, Greensky Bluegrass band, and the evening was launched with 2 huge sets from both bands- great sounds abounded- we all collaborated on a mini super set of bluegrass and reggae favorites- we love the way those guys do “Stop that Train” by Peter Tosh..
onward through the winter fog and sleet down to Cincinnati on Saturday, where we met up with good buddies Rumpke Mountain Boys again, for a fuller night of music from those excellent folks- they rocked a superb set of music- talk about the ultimate fun zone! the Play by Play is a great place to hear music- the crew there treats everyone right.. we couldn’t help but rocket into some super satisfying pickin – we’re on a Miles Davis kick right now, so everything has an extra improv-spontaneous-combustion, plus mountain magic feel at the moment.. AND THEN!!!! as an added, incredible surprise, the great Jeremy Saunders (first horn in the Marine Corps Band, and member of Acoustic Syndicate!!) joined us for our set! he sends things into an orbit that’s rarely heard, and fosters a musical exploration that we all are eager to take part in!! then, we added all the Rumpke Mt. Boys for an extended jam that sent everything into ultra orbit.. no one wanted the night to end….. it was pretty late when it did!
Connecting traditional songs of yesterday with their own original and inventive sounds of today, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge create astonishingly powerful acoustic music rich in heritage, heart and hot licks! With a style that evokes both atomic rock energy and dynamic tonal purity, Keel and his ensemble are intent upon taking their instruments and their voices to their fullest potential for emotion and amazement. While paying respect to the legacy left by the forefathers of bluegrass, Keel bridges the gap between traditional and contemporary American Mountain Music. Larry Keel & Natural Bridge includes flatpicking guitar master Larry Keel (guitar, vocals), Jenny Keel (bass fiddle, vocals), Mark Schimick (mandolin, vocals), and, Jason Flournoy (banjo, vocals).
Larry Keel & Natural Bridge will also be sharing the stage with Cincinnati, OH’s own Rumpke Mountain Boys on 2/25/10 At Victorian Midnight Cafe in Columbus, OH and on 2/27/10 at Play By Play Cafe in Cincinnati, OH.
Cincy Groove: So I understand you are working on an album with Keller Williams?
Larry Keel: Yeah we just did some work in the studio about 2 weeks ago. Spent 2 days in the studio and got a lot done. I’m not sure of the exact release date, I’m waiting on Keller to make an announcement about that. It’s some really good stuff, it’s a continuation of Grass, but it’s what we are doing now. It’s really some high energy music.
Cincy Groove: How long have you known Keller?
Larry Keel: I met Keller about 1999. We were always playing the same clubs here in Virginia. We always ran into each other and had a great time playing music together. Just managed to stay in touch with each other, its a beautiful thing.
Cincy Groove: Who are some other people you have played with?
Larry Keel: Actually, just recently I played a bunch of shows in the Pacific Northwest with Adam Aijala from Yonder Mountain String Band. We had a great time and I just wanted to put it out there that there will be some East Coast shows coming up with Adam and myself. You can get a taste of it on Youtube, I believe there are a few videos up there from the west coast tour. The dates with Adam should be coming out in February.
Larry Keel: Its something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Touring around being a musician I end up meeting a lot of fisherman and also a lot of great musicians who like to fish as well. So we decided to combine two things we really love playing music and fishing. We started this website and are offering advertisement to fisherman and at the same time putting out news about fishing and music. It also gives people who enjoy fishing and music to come together and talk about it. In the process of working on this project I meet a lot of people who organize fishing tournaments or just big events down on the river. They always need music at their events but can never get it worked out. The title “Fishin and Pickin” came from when I would be pickin and Jenny would ask me “What are you doing, thinking about fishing?”. I would say “I don’t don’t know sort of”. She said it should be picking first then fishing. In my mind I got my priorities straight, I named it Fishin and Pickin (laughing). We are always adding new material to the website and the new music I have coming out will be released the website as well.
Cincy Groove: I see that you have played Jorma’s Fur Peace Ranch here in southern Ohio. Did you have a good time?
Larry Keel: Absolutely, it was quite an honor, I got to play with Jorma and David Bromberg. It really was an amazing experience. Jorma is doing it his way and having a great time doing it. He is just a really nice guy.
Photo by Bright Life Photography
Cincy Groove: Has music always been something that you have wanted to make you main focus in your life?
Larry Keel: I have always wanted to pursue a music career. When I decided to make music my career focus, I had a friend in Orlando, FL give me a call. He said there is a want ad in the newspaper for musicians. It was for a gig playing music at the Tokyo Japan Disneyland. We went down and auditioned and they really liked what we were doing. So they sent us out to Tokyo Disneyland for 6 months. We played 6 days a week and about 7 half hour shows per day. We would play for a half hour and then be off for a half hour. I was playing most of the time, but I did get to see the country and the people were really wonderful. It was a culture shock, I was only 18 and hadn’t been out of the Blue Ridge Mountains up until going to Japan.
Cincy Groove: What was it like playing Telluride for the first time back in the early 1990’s?
Larry Keel: An amazing experience. I wasn’t much of a competitive player at that point, just did my own thing. But in 1993 I played in the guitar competition and ended up winning. A lot of good things happened from winning that and really helped launch my bluegrass career. When I first went out there it was under the advice of my good friend Mark Vann from Leftover Salmon, who has since passed, I miss him a lot. When I won the guitar contest I got to play up on stage so at that point I was really nervous. I had never played to a crowd of that size at that point in my career. I went back out to Telluride in 94 and 95. In 1995 I took my band out with me. In 95 I played in the guitar competition and won, which was a great honor once again. Then my mandolin player, Danny Nicely won 1st place in the mandolin contest. The guy that was playing banjo for us Will Lee, I believe won 2nd place in the banjo contest. Then the band as a whole won the band competition and had the honor of opening the festival with our own set. That was a great year for us and we felt a lot more confident in our playing at that stage in our career. We still love Colorado to this day and try to get out there at least once a year.
Cincy Groove: How did your NYE show go at the Grey Eagle? I heard it was quite a spectacular event.
Larry Keel: It was truly a wonderful time. Bawn in the Mash opened up and absolutely killed it, they did a great job. Dwayne Brooke then performed, he is a gypsy jazz style guitarist, had a great set and I also played some with him. My brother Gary Keel was tearing it up, he was really on fire that night. A lot of folks came out and it was a great time.
A blast from the past – here is a link to some photos I took of Larry & Jenny Keel, along with Mark Vann (Leftover Salmon) back on 1.19.2001 at Stanleys Pub in Cincinnati, OH
Larry Keel & Natural Bridge:
Larry Keel (Guitar)
Jenny Keel (Bass)
Mark Schimick (Mandolin)
Jason Flournoy (Banjo)
Tour Dates:
Feb 19 2010 Mountain State Brewing Company – Thomas, West Virginia
Feb 20 2010 123 Pleasant St. – Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 25 2010 Victorian’s Midnight Cafe – Columbus, Ohio
Feb 26 2010 Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 27 2010 Play by Play Cafe – Cincinnati, Ohio w/ Rumpke Mountain Boys
Mar 5 2010 V Club – Huntington, West Virginia
Mar 6 2010 Dantes Bar – Frostburg, Maryland
Mar 14 2010 Elk River Inn and Restaurant at Snow Shoe – Slatyfork, West Virginia
Mar 17 2010 PJ Kelly’s – w/ Davisson Brothers Clarksburg, West Virginia
Mar 18 2010 The Double Door Inn – Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 19 2010 New Earth Music Hall – Athens, Georgia
Mar 20 2010 Pour House – Charleston, South Carolina
Apr 2 2010 Pisgah Brewery – Black Mountain, North Carolina
Apr 3 2010 CHEROKEE FARMS – KEEL FAMILY FUNCTION w/ JOSH PHILLIPS FOLK FESTIVAL and COL. BR LaFayette, Georgia
Apr 10 2010 GREENFIELD LAKE AMPHITHEATRE – KELLER and the KEELS at Greenfield Lake Amphithea Wilmington, North Carolina
Apr 17 2010 Clementine – Harrisonburg, Virginia
Apr 30 2010 French Broad River Festival – Hot Springs, North Carolina
May 5 2010 SHEPHERDSTOWN OPERA HOUSE – Larry Keel & Adam Aijala (YMSB) Shepherdstown, West Virginia
May 29 2010 DEL FEST – Cumberland, Maryland
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