Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters, Country Roots Album Released Today on Organic Records

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters New Album
Out June 9 on Organic Records
Country Roots Band from Asheville, North Carolina

Stream or purchase today at all outlets –> https://clg.lnk.to/Lj4Wo

“’Learning How To Love Him’ is a prime example of the new intimacy Platt shares with her audience. Her voice, rising and falling above a simple, spare guitar line, is on display in a way it never has been before.” –Elena See
LISTEN to the song premiere on NPR’s Folk Alley

“A coming-of-age song of sorts, ‘Diamond in the Rough’ is a rock-tinged, rootsy track”–Amy McCarthy
LISTEN to the Song Premiere on The Boot

ASHEVILLE, NC — Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters new self-titled album is out today, June 9, on Organic Records. “We’re switching things up a little. After four albums I’ve decided to step out and start using my own name. It’s something that a lot of people have encouraged me to do over the years, and I guess that 2017 just felt right.” says Amanda. “We’re keeping The Honeycutters too because we don’t want to confuse people… really, we’ve always been Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters. I think I’ve just gotten to a place where I feel comfortable enough to be in the spotlight.”

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Amanda is a storyteller by nature with an incredible band backing her. Performing along with Amanda Anne Platt, The Honeycutters are Matt Smith on pedal steel and Stratocaster, Rick Cooper on bass, Josh Milligan on drums and harmony vocals, and Evan Martin on keys and Telecaster. Lyrically driven, the songs on Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters blend the band’s old-school country roots attitude with their shared influences of rock and folk.

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters will tour extensively in US this year and are traveling to Europe for the first time this summer. Tour dates and more information at www.TheHoneycutters.com.

Critical Acclaim for Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters:

“Writing with a maturity that belies her early thirties age, Amanda pens tunes about a couple with a 40-year relationship, reflections of a spouse with a terminally ill husband, break-up, strangers, leaving, the music industry, and, of course, love. Platt is as good a songwriter as anyone with an Americana label by their name and that includes Isbell and Lucinda to name just two of them… You will need to listen repeatedly as the album is lengthy and Platt’s lyrics are so damn real and relatable on so many levels.”
—Elmore, Jim Hynes

“They… deliver a feisty, witty, hard-knock life realism on their records and this eponymous release, their fifth, is like the continuation of a classic serial novel you just can’t put down… My favorite track is ‘Eden’ and I must have listened to it at least five times because it’s just bloody brilliant, cheeky and slightly heart-wrenching all at once: ‘Don’t keep a TV ’cause the news is always bad and it teaches us to want all the things we’ll never have’ and then the storyteller asks to be let ‘back inside that garden, I won’t eat anything that’s fallen from that goddamn tree.’ —That Mag, Jane Roser

“Platt can find a tune and express it exquisitely with a distinctive voice and a sympathetic band… Her wonderful lyrics seem to be an assessment of the people and circumstances that surround her to find the good bits.”
—Americana Music Show, Tony Ives

“Platt opens with the reflective ‘Birthday Song’, warmed in among other things, tasty piano the album is immediately up and running on greased wheels. Blending country with folk and country pop you have Americana music with a capital ‘A’ and it is good!” —Flying Shoes Review (UK), Maurice Hope

“Platt sings like she means it on this country-tinged folk album, and whether or not her nuanced lyrics are drawn directly from real life, they sure sound as if they are… Platt’s vocals convey joy and tenderness and her band provide amiable backup. At its best, this music is on a par with Lucinda Williams’s, which is saying a lot.” —The Morton Report, Jeff Burger

“There is, as with the two before, an easygoing warmth to the album, and a certain kind of knowing. The kind from that comes from being a keen and empathetic observer. From the upbeat ‘Diamond in the Rough’ to the poetic ‘Eden’ to the solemn ‘Long Ride,’ Platt and her band flesh out all that’s real and been missing in country music for lo these many years.”  —No Depression, Amos Perrine

“a gem of an album… The collection combines sharp and emotive songwriting with crisp production values. A successful blend of country roots and honky-tonk, but with a defining Appalachian twist. Above it all hovers Platt’s voice – laconic, sultry, pitch perfect and ultimately charming.” —Listening Through The Lens, Rob Dickens

“Amanda Anne is one of the best songwriters I have ever heard – and I have been listening carefully to music for about 55 years. She writes with her heart and her brain and her observations on life, love and other matters of importance are sparkling …
Her songs get into your blood and become a part of you.”
—letter from David Whittaker who commissioned the song “Rare Thing” for his wife Holly

“Amanda is so good it’s ridiculous. I don’t even know what words to use. Her singing, songwriting and presence is unmatched in Americana, Country, Pop… Simply breathtaking.” — Saul Davis: producer (Percy Sledge), manager (Gene Clark, Carla Olson, Phil Seymour).

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters Track Listing

1. Birthday Song 4:15
2. Long Ride 3:47
3. What We’ve Got 4:46
4. Diamond In The Rough 4:37
5. Eden 5:33
6. The Guitar Case 4:18
7. Learning How To Love Him 4:17
8. Brand New Start 3:14
9. Late Summer’s Child 3:57
10. The Good Guys (Dick Tracy) 4:38
11. Rare Thing 4:43
12. The Things We Call Home 2:39
13. The Road 2:40

Produced by Amanda Anne Platt and Tim Surrett

Mixing and Mastering by Recording Engineer Scott Barnett at Crossroads Studios in Arden, NC

Stream or purchase Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters here →  https://clg.lnk.to/Lj4Wo

More information at www.TheHoneycutters.com, www.facebook.com/Honeycutters, and www.twitter.com/thehoneycutters.

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The Honeycutters Show Their Country Roots In ‘On The Ropes’ – Out Today on Organic Records

The Honeycutters, an Asheville-based American Country Roots Band,
Release 4th Studio Album, On The Ropes, May 20, 2016 on Organic Records

Now available: CD, Vinyl and Digital
iTunes, Amazon, Tower Records, and Select-O-Hits

ASHEVILLE, NC — The Honeycutters have a voice you can’t ignore; a voice of persistence, of struggle and of hope, a voice that leads the new music movement erupting out of Asheville, NC. Their new album On The Ropes is out today, May 20, 2016 on Organic Records. Nashville’s Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst says principal songwriter and frontwoman, Amanda Anne 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.” This morning the album hit #38 on the iTunes Top 40 Country Chart and #12 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases on Folk. It is currently at #1 on the Roots Music Report’s Country Chart! and #10 on the The Alternate Root Magazine’s Roots 66 Chart!

Joining Amanda Platt to round out The Honeycutters are Rick Cooper, alternating between upright and electric bass, accentuating the band’s delve deeper into a rock sound blending with their old-school country roots attitude. Along with drummer Josh Milligan the two create a powerful pocket and groove that locks the album together, with Milligan’s vocal harmonies complementing and enhancing Platt’s lead. The pedal steel work of Matt Smith brings unexpected rock licks on an instrument traditionally reserved for a classic country sound in tracks like “Blue Besides” and “Only Eyes”. Smith also shows his prowess on electric guitar with rock, and R&B flavored runs and solos like in “Golden Child”. Tal Taylor’s mandolin cuts through with bitey, bluesy notes and fierce tremolo that pushes the instrument beyond its obvious folk appeal.

On The Ropes was produced by Amanda Anne Platt and Tim Surrett and engineered and mastered by Van Atkins at Crossroads Studios in Arden, NC.

What Folks Are Saying about On The Ropes:

Amanda Anne Platt. Photo By Leah Beilhart.

“Their songwriting is first rate, their arrangements and instrumental ability in top form and with a front woman as assertive and impressive as singer Amanda Anne Platt, there’s nothing lacking in presence or execution. The songs may revolve around the need for assurance and affirmation, but clearly, Platt and her colleagues… have every contingency covered.”  ––No Depression, Lee Zimmerman

 

“Pratt is a gifted songwriter and vocalist… She has an authoritative, confident voice that can be sweet, aching, and joyous, sometimes even in the same song. Pratt’s voice and the interplay of the guitar and mandolin give this band their unique complex sound – a clear-sounding mash-up of Americana, bluegrass, folk, and honky-tonk.” ––Elmore, Jim Hynes

“On The Ropes wonderfully showcases Platt’s dazzling songwriting skills with themes of loss, loneliness, nostalgia and getting the shit kicked out of you by love. All thirteen tracks are original material, except for a fascinating cover of Leonard Cohen’s iconic “Hallelujah”, sung in a spellbinding manner and just dripping of honeysuckle and moonshine.” —That Music Mag, Jane Roser

“Amanda Anne Platt is a master songwriter, not because she finds unusual metaphors, creates cute wordplay, or buries deep psychological meaning in her lyrics, but because her songs are so effortlessly conversational. She’s like that old friend at the bar who sidles up to you real close, in your personal space, and grabs your forearm to get your attention because she really really wants to make sure you get what she’s telling you. Her songs command attention because they are so darn human you believe them.” —Americana Music Show, Calvin Powers

“On The Ropes is brimming with affecting, relatable, and on point lyrics… It’s not just Platt’s ability to tap into emotions and experiences so keenly that makes On The Ropes so special, the band’s tight musicianship brings Platt’s lyrics to new heights. Tal Taylor’s mandolin adds something special to every song as does Matt Smith’s pedal steel, dobro, and electric guitar while Rick Cooper (upright and electric bass) and Josh Milligan (drums/harmony vocal) expertly keep a precise beat.” —The Daily Country, Tara Joan

“Make no mistake, The Honeycutters are a country band in every sense of the word. They are the type of ‘country’ that has the ability to save country music radio, in the same way as Sturgill Simpson, Whitey Morgan, and Chris Stapleton. They will probably stay firmly within the Americana charts and radio promotions and do very well there, but each time I put on their album I can’t escape the heavy realization of how much country music radio needs them right now.” —Lonesone Banjo Chronicles, Brian Swenk

“While her country-flavored songs almost always tell a story, The Honeycutters’ musical approach adds a dimension to the tunes that only widens their appeal.”  —Mountain Xpress, Bill Kopp

The Honeycutters. Photo by Leah Beilhart.

“Amanda Anne Platt doesn’t sound like everyone else. Her voice has its own sweet yet strong, recognizable ring, and the songs she writes sound like old friends, yet are new and relevant.” —Asheville Citizen Times, Carol Rifkin

 

“More fans should attach themselves to her brand of poignant songwriting and Lucinda Williams-like singing… The Honeycutters aren’t like anything on today’s country music radio. The group’s music, though, is like the country music that once blared through AM radio, complete with steel guitar and a dash of Western swing.”
—Hendersonville Times News/ GoUpstate, Jason Gilmer

“This here is sawdust floor and longneck honky-tonk. North Carolina’s The Honeycutters swings gentle to and fro, with a knockout punch of steel guitar, and a rhythm section that adheres gloriously to the 2/4. This is the country music you’ve been missing. The genre’s purity gets redefined by songbird Amanda Anne Platt. It’s all around beautiful and timeless.” ––Rochester City Paper, Frank De Blase

“On The Ropes is a worthy successor to Me Oh My. It’s relatable and heart-breaking, buoyant and hopeful. The Honeycutters just keep getting better and it’s thrilling to hear it.” —Popshifter, Melissa Bratcher

“On The Ropes shows more versatility from The Honeycutters with a bit of rock and pop influence in the production, while still keeping the songs firmly planted in country music. The songs and lyrics are richer, exploring more topics, and Platt’s vocals sound as good as ever.” —Country Perspective, Derek Hudgin

“On Ropes, Platt asks the hard questions and avoids easy answers, both lyrically and musically. The pieces are familiar ones from just about any other country bar band, the pedal steel, the mandolin and guitar with touches of ‘grass, gospel and folk. Platt’s writing keeps these in play while raising the Honeycutters above the overly familiar tricks and cliches of the crowded genre. Love lost is hardly new territory, but she writes about it from a novel place.” —KRFC’s Route and Branches, Scott Foley

“All of those sad little pop singers need to get off country radio and let the Honeycutters take it from here. When I heard this album I felt the same way I felt when I first heard Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band. There’s not much of a point to making such comparisons however, because the Honeycutters are their own band… Thank god for bands like the Honeycutters, they give me faith that a group can remain true to their vision while still writing extremely memorable songs.” —Western Free Press, Skyler Miller

“There are a lot of lines that stand out, that ring true, lyrics you can hold onto.”
—Michael Doherty

“One of the best current acts to come out of Asheville is The Honeycutters, a great band ready to be discovered by the rest of America.” —Cincinnati City Beat, Derek Halsey

Song Premiere: LISTEN: The Honeycutters, “On The Ropes“ at Elmore Magazine →
“On The Ropes’ [is] a feel good barn-burner of a song that pairs Platt’s old-school country vocals with a rollicking, danceable melody. The harmonies laced throughout recall the roots tradition the band is steeped in, but the track is a radio-ready hit, dangerously catchy and perfect for when you need a little boost.”

Song Premier: LISTEN: The Honeycutters, “Blue Besides” at The Bluegrass Situation → www.thebluegrasssituation.com/read/listen-honeycutters-blue-besides

Listen in to The Honeycutters’ World Cafe appearance at http://bit.ly/TheHoneycutters_WorldCafe.

More info, tourdates and updates at www.TheHoneycutters.com, www.facebook.com/Honeycutters, and twitter.com/thehoneycutters.

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The Honeycutters Debut Music Video for “Jukebox,” A Swingin’ Honky Tonk Anthem

The Honeycutters Debut Music Video for “Jukebox,”
A Swingin’ Honky Tonk Anthem

ASHEVILLE, NC — The Honeycutters recently filmed a music video for their original song “Jukebox” at the historical and eclectic Town Pump Tavern in Black Mountain, NC, just east of their hometown of Asheville. Folk Alley premiered the video and writes of it, “The jolly, honky-tonk rhythm of the song underscores the sweet plaintiveness of Platt’s voice…until it doesn’t. As she steps up on to the stage to join the band, her smile wide, her voice big and bright, she and the other musicians seem to be in perfect sync, swinging, swaying and encouraging the whole of the bar to join in and look ahead to the brighter side of life.”

“Jukebox” is the lead track and perfect introduction to their new album Me Oh My [Organic Records® April 2015], an album which is threaded with themes of love, loss, acceptance and regrowth. “‘Jukebox’ features a woman done with waiting to fully live and imploring her partner to come along and make some magic with her, ‘I’m going dancin’, you comin’ or not? Take a chance on me daddy, this may be all we got,’” writes Front Row Focus’ Beth Baldino. “And in a line that reflects an overarching theme running throughout the album, ‘no use asking why, songbirds just ain’t built to fly, but sooner or later we all have to try.’ In other words, don’t dwell on why it’s taken us this long, it’s about time for us to shine.”

The Honeycutters. Photo by Sandlin Gaither.

The Honeycutters are fueled by the powerful songwriting and vocals of founder Amanda Platt who is also the album producer, band leader, and principal creative force behind the group. With songs that are honest and relatable, part chagrin and part hope, Platt’s voice carries a timeless appeal shaped by a raw honesty that comes straight from the heart and emits a sort of melancholy happiness. Joining Platt in The Honeycutters are Tal Taylor on mandolin, Rick Cooper on bass, Josh Milligan on drums, and Matt Smith on pedal steel, electric guitar, and dobro.

The Honeycutters set out to visually tell the story of “Jukebox” by calling in a cast of friends and cohorts, as well as a few actors from the area, to spend a day filming in the perfect locale of this well-worn honky-tonk tavern. The video was directed and produced by Ty Gilpin, Senior Director of Marketing at Organic Records.

The visuals lead the viewer through an entire transformation. In this rustic and sleepy bar, Amanda plays the role of the bartender. She drops a quarter in the jukebox and starts washing the bar and dreamily singing while a few desolate souls sit and drink. She has a heart to heart with a couple of them, reminding that the music is on and begins to dance with a lonely man and woman, in turn, as she gets to the lyrics, “It’s only a song, so for heaven’s sake won’t you sing along?”

The band has entered the bar by then, set up, and is playing. An excited fan who peers through the window likes what he sees, so he calls in a whole crowd to come in and dance. As The Honeycutters get to the line, “Sooner or later we all have to try,” Amanda’s character shifts her own energy and the scene flashes to her on the stage performing. The leading male and female, no longer in despair, start dancing. The color is brighter; everyone is there; the bar is full of happy people spinning and cowboy boots kicking. Flash back to the first bar scene and the couple is now slow dancing peacefully with just a few others in the bar. They found their place in the music.

For making the “Jukebox” video possible, The Honeycutters send a special thanks to the Town Pump Tavern and their staff, Ty Gilpin (Producer/Director), John Litschke (Director of Photography/J. Martin Productions, Inc.), Dan Burke (Videographer/Lighting), Michael Hendrix (Videographer/Media Management), Don Talley (Associate Producer), Adam Foster (Jib Operator/Lighting/Production Assistant), Katie Kasben (Makeup/Stylist), singer-songwriter Lance Mills (Male Lead and a friend of band), and female lead Deena Wade (NYS3 – The Meisner Conservatory for the Southeast Graduate).

“Their music is the kind that you’d want to play on a jukebox in a bar, if bars still had jukeboxes.” No Depression’s Amos Perrine writes, “You can sit in a booth with a beer and a tear or stretch out and take a twirl with some like-minded stranger. And their new album is one of the year’s best.”

What Folks Are Saying about “Jukebox”

“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)”
—Amazon, Steve Ramm

“Frontwoman Amanda Anne Platt writes potently vivid narratives that mine the underside of hardscrabble rural America: her characters are people we all know…, Jukebox, sets the tone, a swaying midtempo number with a cajoling cynicism: it’s sort of a ‘better enjoy this because this might be all we’ve got’ scenario.” —New York Daily News, Delarue

“When I first heard the opening track ‘Jukebox’, I thought ‘how did my Patsy Cline CD get in there?’… It’s a fun, toe-tapping honky tonk anthem…”
––That Music Mag, Jane Roser

“Not taking things too seriously is the theme of opening track ‘Jukebox,’ which immediately draws you into a place where you’ll remain throughout the record. The title track comments on the state of the modern woman.”
—The Daily Country, Tara Joan

“From the very first track, ‘Jukebox,’ Platt’s words will have listeners hooked on the entire album. ‘Don’t go calling me the angel on your doorstep/Cause I fell just like all the rest/I was too broke down to fly.’ These lyrics in ‘Jukebox’ are sure to grab the hearts of listeners and force them to clear their schedules just to finish the record. If the first track doesn’t leave listeners in tears by the end, the opening lines of the third song, ‘Me Oh My,’ will.”
—The Daily Lobo, Skylar Griego (New Mexico)

“Me Oh My… damn near beats anything coming out of Nashville these days. Singer/songwriter/producer Amanda Anne Platt is an irresistible and irrepressible force of nature. It’s all so authentic, organic, acoustic, sprightly, lively, lyrically profound and catchy that—when buoyed by Tal Taylor on mandolin and Matt Smith on pedal steel, electric guitar and dobro—you can’t get these songs out of your head. ‘Jukebox’ should be the obvious single… Americana comes up aces here.”
—The Aquarian’s Rant N Roll, Mike Greenblatt

“‘Jukebox’ is on a different plane, as country as anything you would have heard on the radio back in the day.”
—Lonesome Road Review, Larry Stephens

“The Honeycutters are a combo of supremely talented and empathetic musicians, fully committed to her vision. Whether driving and seasoning with pedal steel and brass the gently swinging honky-tonk of ‘Jukebox’, or creating the ideal atmosphere for the eye-opening dramatic desolation and stoic acceptance of life’s travails in the title track, they are indispensable. Their vocal harmonies, too, multiply the emotional effect of Amanda’s narratives.”
—No Depression, Amos Perrine

For more information about The Honeycutters & further tour dates, visit: www.thehoneycutters.com. For news from the road, visit www.facebook.com/Honeycutters and twitter.com/thehoneycutters.

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The Honeycutters Sign with Organic Records; New Album Slated for Spring 2015

The Honeycutters Sign with Organic Records Front to back & left to right: Ty Gilpin (Organic Records), Amanada Anne Platt, Erin Scholze (Dreamspider Publicity), Tal Taylor, Josh Milligan, Rick Cooper, Matt Smith

The Honeycutters Sign with Organic Records
New Album Slated for Spring 2015
www.thehoneycutters.com

The Honeycutters, an Asheville, NC based original country roots band, has signed an exclusive recording contract with Organic Records®. The band led a successful Kickstarter campaign raising $31,317 to help fund their third studio album. They have laid down the tracks in Echo Mountain Recording Studio in Asheville and are mastering it over at Crossroads Studios in Arden. The album is slated for release in the spring of 2015.

Led by songwriter Amanda Anne Platt, The Honeycutters include Tal Taylor on mandolin, Rick Cooper on bass, Josh Milligan on drums, and Matt Smith rounding out Platt’s songs 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.

“We’re very excited to be joining the Organic family!” says Platt. “We’ve been considering going with a label to help us grow, and it feels right to team up with one that is based in Asheville. Keepin’ it local. We want to keep the music coming, and believe the Organic folks are just the guys to help us do that.”

“The Honeycutters fit perfectly with Organic, where we love to support and promote great original music,” said Organic Records Marketing Director Ty Gilpin. “They are super talented players and Amanda is a songwriting and singing tour de force. They are hard-working, dedicated to the music and great people to boot!”

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.

“The new album is the one I’m most proud of to date.” Platt goes on to say, “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.”

The soon-to-be-titled release is slated to drop in April with an album release party in Asheville along with a release tour to be announced. They are also scheduled to appear at MerleFest that same month.

The Honeycutters formed in 2007 in Asheville, the town they still call home, and had quick success with their first release Irene (2009). That release and their sophomore effort When Bitter Met Sweet (2012) grew their audience to help expand their tours to include notable appearances at MerleFest, Suwannee Springfest, Strawberry Music Festival, Vancouver Island Music Fest, Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Fest and the Nelsonville Music Festival. They have also performed alongside esteemed musicians Guy Clark, Tony Rice, The Seldom Scene, Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Amy Ray, Donna The Buffalo, Jill Andrews, and The Steep Canyon Rangers.

Amanda Anne Platt has been hailed as “easily one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days” by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson, who goes on to state, “and she really needs to be discovered by the national Americana world.” 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.

For a sampling of The Honeycutters’ previous releases and some live mixes, visit: http://noisetrade.com/thehoneycutters/noisetrade-mixtape.

For more information about the Honeycutters and their tour dates, please visit: www.thehoneycutters.com.

 

The Good Word About The Honeycutters:

“I recommend the Honeycutters not only because they’re some of the best my hometown of Asheville, NC, has to offer. Their music embodies a very catchy, accessible, optimistic sort of spirit so frequently lacking in folk circles (where brooding, hyper-analytical music reigns supreme). What’s more, like Carolina Story, they’re a great band replete with tasty harmonies.”
—Kim Ruehl, Folk Music About.com

“They’ve got a sound as classic as grits… I thought of those country songs that play on those diner jukeboxes you see in movies.”
—Charlotte’s Creative Loafing

“… just superb, with a sweet toned and melodious aura that put me in mind of the erstwhile everybodyfields. Today’s Smoky Mountain area modern folk thing does have a certain vibe, and these guys are among its finest purveyors. Happily, after three floaty and beautiful songs the band shifted into a hard Memphis vibe with ‘Fancy Car.’ It was a car song disguised as a train song, with a rolling rock beat.. Great stuff.” —Craig Havighurst, Senior Producer, Music City Roots

***************************************************

Label: Ty Gilpin, Senior Director of Marketing for Organic Records ty.gilpin@crossroadsmusic.com
Booking: John Everhart, KCA Artists john@keithcase.com
Publicity: Erin Scholze, Dreamspider Publicity dreamspider@gmail.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 their natural habitat. Organic Records® is a division of Crossroads® Entertainment & Marketing and is located in Arden, North Carolina. More information can be found at www.organic-records.com.

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The Honeycutters Perform Two Nights at Isis Music hall- 10/25-26 With Sam Lewis and Johnson’s Crossroad

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 with Johnson’s Crossroad
Saturday, October 26th
$12 Advance / $15 Door; Doors 5PM; Show 9PM
General Admission Standing Room; Some Balcony Seating

828-575-2737
743 Haywood Road Asheville, NC 28806
http://isisasheville.com

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.

To find out more about Sam Lewis, visit http://samlewistunes.com

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.”

For more about Johnson’s Crossroad, http://jxrmusic.com

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Sturgill Simpson Tours The SouthEast With New Album: High Top Mountain

Sturgill Simpson Tours the Southeast
New Album: High Top Mountain

Sturgill’s hitting some GREAT towns in the SouthEast…
Wed 9/4 – Asheville, NC – The Altamont Theatre
Thu 9/5 – Chattanooga, TN – Scenic City Roots
Fri 9/6 – Louisville, KY – The New Vintagee
Sat 9/7 – Knoxville, TN – Barley’s Knoxville
Sun 9/8 – Atlanta (Decatur), GA – Eddie’s Attic
Mon 9/9 – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
Wed 9/11 – Charlotte, NC – The Evening Muse
Thu 9/12 – Raleigh, NC – The Pour House Music Hall
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Nashville sounds like Nashville again on High Top Mountain, the debut release from singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson. From furious honky-tonk and pre-outlaw country-rocking to spellbinding bluegrass pickin’ and emotional balladry, the album serves as a one-stop guide to everything that made real country music such a force to be reckoned with. Pure and uncompromising, devoid of gloss and fakery, High Top Mountain’s dozen instant classics evoke the sound of timeless country in its many guises and brings back the lyrical forthrightness and depth that permeated the music Simpson absorbed during his Kentucky childhood.

“…this is GOOD COUNTRY. You know, the kind cut from the same mold as Waylon, Willie, and Johnny. ..outlaw, gritty, country-rock with a shot of bourbon (no ice.) …We’re glad he gave up the railroad and got back to writin’ songs. There is something here for sure. Something I think any music lover (country or not) can appreciate.” —MOKB Presents

“’The most outlaw thing that I ever done is give a good woman a ring,’ sings Simpson on ‘Life Ain’t Fair And The World Is Mean,’ off his new album, High Top Mountain, which mostly works to subvert the outlaw myth. Not that Simpson disdains outlaw’s forefathers, but High Top Mountain tells his own story. He started recording it in mid 2012, laying down tracks at Hillbilly Central and other studios in Nashville with players like ‘Pig’ Robbins on piano and Robby Turner on pedal steel. Simpson says the record is an effort to ‘capture the music my grandfathers played.’ The album is named after a cemetery where many of Simpson’s family members are buried, near his family’s home in the Appalachia coal town of Jackson, Kentucky. The town is on the Kentucky River in Breathitt County, about 50 miles south of Sandy Hook, where Keith Whitley was born, and also not far from Cordell, where Ricky Skaggs was born. ‘I love it. In my heart it will always be home,’ says Simpson” —Davis Inman, American Songwriter

For more about Sturgill Simpson and further tour dates, please visit: http://sturgillsimpson.com.

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Mike Cullison and The Regulars Perform “The Barstool Monologues” Nov 9th at The Building in East Nashville

Mike Cullison and The Regulars
The Barstool Monologues
“A Honky-Tonk Canterbury Tales”

Album Release Show
Friday, November 9, 2012
The Building

www.theroadhouserambler.com

“… one of Nashville’s most respected tunesmiths”
–Chuck Dauphin, Music News Nashville

“He does a great job painting this picture of this little roadhouse and the lives of its regulars. It draws the listener in, allowing us the opportunity to see behind the curtain of the world from where he draws his musical inspiration.” –Bold Life

The Regulars will join Mike Cullison for this special staged presentation of the songs and stories from the new album The Barstool Monologues. All songs from The Barstool Monologues are written or co-written by Cullison, who has been hailed by critics as country the way country used to be. Mike plays the role of the Bartender “Hollis” for the occasion, while the cast of “The Regulars” is performed by a variety of singers and musicians, all listed below. The show will be videotaped—and, of course, the bartender will be kept busy. Mark this special event on your calendar–it’s not every day that Music City plays host to “honky-tonk Canterbury Tales.”

In The Barstool Monologues, Nashville singer-songwriter Cullison weaves the lives of bar patrons into songs, then threads those songs together with short spoken-word narratives to create a vivid musical tableau: There’s the heartbroken lover, the fracturing couple, the other woman, the lonely imbiber … each introduced by a bartender named Hollis who sees and hears it all.  Various singers inhabit their personas, spinning musical novellas.

The Barstool Monologues will take place at The Building in East Nashville on Friday, November 9th. Audience Specials for the evening include souvenir scripts as well as ”Barstool Monologues” drink coasters while supplies last!

Show Details:
Mike Cullison and The Regulars
The Barstool Monologues CD Release Show @ The Building
Friday, November 9, 2012

7pm / $5 cover
The Building, 1008C Woodland St, East Nashville TN 37206
More info: 615-975-9465
www.theroadhouserambler.com

Musicians and Cast:

Mike Cullison (aka “Hollis”, Owner/Bartender at “The Oasis”), Vocals / www.theroadhouserambler.com (has written with Johnny Neel of The Allman Brothers, No. 1 country hit writer Don Goodman, and Crosby Stills & Nash veteran Mike Stergis)

Mark Robinson, Guitar and Vocals / www.MarkRobinsonGuitar.com (also Producer of the CD; debut album is critically acclaimed ‘Quit Your Job – Play Guitar’; has played and guested with Tommy Womack, Davis Raines, Walt Wilkins, Johnny Neel, Tracy Nelson)

Daniel Seymour, Bass / http://danielseymour.wordpress.com/ (also Associate Producer of the CD; plays with Tommy Womack, David Olney, Matt Urmy, Otis Gibbs)

Justin Amaral, Drums / https://www.facebook.com/justin.amaral (has played with Junior Brown, The Half Brass, Amelia White)

Randy Handley, Piano and Vocals / http://bigsisterproductions.com/randy_handley (has written songs for and/or played with John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, Lee Roy Parnell, Hal Ketchum, John Cowan, John Denver)

David Wood, Steel Guitar (has played with Lorie Morgan, Joe Diffie, and Doug Stone)

Ben Graves, Harmonica, Saxophone and Vocals / https://www.facebook.com/ben.graves.311 (jazz-rocker extraordinaire; has played with Kid Rock, James Otto, Rebecca Lynn Howard)

Jon Byrd, Vocals / www.jonbyrd.com (most recent album is the critically acclaimed “Down at the Well of Wishes”: “Americana the way it was and the way it should be” –MOJO Magazine)

Davis Raines, Vocals / www.davisraines.com (well known Nashville songwriter with cuts by Walt Wilkins, Kenny Rogers, Pam Tillis; his most recent album “Santa Maria Hotel” has been called “a gem”)

Tiffany Huggins Grant, Vocals / www.tiffanyhugginsgrant.com (this award-winning songwriter’s new album is “Sing Sigh Kitty”)

Travis Lamb, Vocals / https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travis-Lamb/267214746632470 (has worked with, among others, Jim & Jesse and The Oak Ridge Boys)

Lisa Oliver-Gray, Vocals / https://www.facebook.com/lisa.olivergray.7 (sings with Tommy Womack and many others, including Will Kimbrough, Bonnie Bishop, Marshall Chapman; new CD “Dedicated to Love” has been called “compelling and distinctive”)

Photos by Greg Roth.

www.theroadhouserambler.com

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Mike Cullison, the Roadhouse Rambler, Releases “The Barstool Monologues” on Nov 13th

The Barstool Monologues

MIKE CULLISON & The Regulars

“A Honky-Tonk Canterbury Tales”

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“Fans of classic country music will feel right at home with Mike Cullison.”

–John Davy, No Depression

“A captivating blues rocker … soulful roadhouse songwriting.” –Simon Hallett, Totnes FM (UK)

“This is what country music has been missing … [Mike] is bringing it back.” –Renaldo 6, SongCritic.com

“I think music is the highway through life and I’m just rockin’ and rollin’ down the road.” —Mike Cullison

www.theroadhouserambler.com

Singer-songwriter Mike Cullison (aka “The Roadhouse Rambler”) is used to hearing his work defined in painterly terms; music journalists commonly pull out such metaphors when trying to describe songs. But with his new album, The Barstool Monologues (due out November 13th through JoeDog Records), it’s almost as if he’s working in the 3D style of sculptor J. Seward Johnson Jr., who turns famous Impressionist paintings into life-sized tableaux, incorporating not only the original images, but his own fanciful imaginings of what went on beyond the canvas.

Cullison takes a similar approach with The Barstool Monologues, weaving lives of bar patrons into songs, then threading them together with spoken-word narrative to create a vivid musical tableau. There’s the heartbroken lover, the fracturing couple, the other woman, the lonely imbiber … each introduced by a bartender named Hollis, who sees and hears it all. Various singers (including Jon Byrd, Davis Raines, and six others) inhabit their personas, spinning musical novellas into what Cullison likes to describe as “a honky-tonk Canterbury Tales.”

“It’s as if you walked into a place and you took a snapshot and everybody’s looking in the camera,” says the Nashville resident. “What I wanted to do was place everybody in that picture into one of the songs, either as its subject or the person singing it to somebody else.”

Mike Cullison. Photo by Greg Roth.

Cullison, an Oklahoma native who’s honed his songwriting skills with such royalty as Don Goodman (“Ol’ Red”; “Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands”), Johnny Neel (the Allman Brothers) and Mike Stergis (Crosby, Stills & Nash), describes his style as “roadhouse blues and country roots-rock.” But his influences are as vast as the early rock ‘n’ roll his mom adored and the classic country his dad preferred, and he draws deeply from that well, along with other Americana styles — from Bakersfield to hybrid zyde-Cajun blues — to create a rich aural tapestry as colorful as Johnson’s art.

He considers himself a lyric writer first, however. “The story and how it is told are very important to me,” Cullison says. “Some songs come at you very quickly, but most take time. There’s still a lot of polishing to do even after the lightning bolts strike.”

Cullison’s career has taken time, too. In fact, the release party for his first album, 2004’s BAC (Big American Car), was also his retirement party after 32 years with the Bell Telephone Co. Midway through his Bell Tel years, he moved to Atlanta, “because it was five hours closer to Nashville.” His ultimate goal was always Music City, “because that’s where the writers were.”

He finally made it in 1995. Throughout his day-job years, he always wrote and performed; in Atlanta, he was in a band called Lone Walter. These days, Cullison appears solo or with a variety of friends and collaborators in the states and Europe, where he first released the EP Roadhouse Rambler in 2011, which hit #1 on the Airplay Direct radio charts. (His second CD, Blue Collar Tired, came out in 2007.)

Like most musicians, Cullison spends his share of time in bars. And like most country-influenced players, he’s sung his share of “tears in beer” tunes. But one night, while performing at the late Nashville bar the Sutler (lost, sadly, to developers), a thought struck: “Instead of having somebody sitting on the customer’s side of the bar crying in their beer, what if we turned it around?”

That was the genesis of the Mark Robinson-produced The Barstool Monologues.

“Songwriting is storytelling, so it kind of fit for me,” says Cullison, who also has plenty of “behind the song” stories. One of his favorites involves the opening tune, “Wish I Didn’t Like Whiskey” — a perfect choice to open an album set in a bar.

“I had bought a drink for a friend of mine,” Cullison relates, “and as I handed her the glass, she said, ‘I wish I didn’t like whiskey so much.’ I excused myself for a minute while I wrote that on a coaster. Turned out to be a very good song.”

They’ve all turned out to be very good songs — vignettes, actually, sung and performed by some of Nashville’s finest. If Cullison has his way, The Barstool Monologues might even turn into a musical of some sort, with actors and stage sets. Life-sized, like a Johnson tableau. Only even more real, because we can recognize the characters in Cullison’s stories. They’re our friends, our exes … or maybe even ourselves.

 www.theroadhouserambler.com

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Red June Releases “Beauty Will Come” Releases Today!

Red June releases their second full length album, “Beauty Will Come” TODAY Tuesday, June 5th!

CD Baby
iTunes

Red June is Will Straughan on resonator guitar, vocals and guitar; Natalya Weinstein on fiddle and vocals; and John Cloyd Miller on mandolin, vocals and guitar. Red June is based in Asheville, NC.

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Hear Red June on WFDD’s Triad Arts Up Close in Studio A w/ David Ford
www.wfdd.org
Today at 8:35am and again 5:44pm EST
It will re-air on Friday, June 8 at 1:00pm EST

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What the Press is Saying About “Beauty Will Come”

“It’s natural, organic fresh air cool mountain stream music that strikes the right chord. It’s music meant to be played on the back porch at sundown while the coffee’s a ‘brewin’ and the soup is heatin’ up. This is the epitome of Americana and you probably won’t hear it on stupid ‘country’ radio” –Mike Greenblatt, Rant’n’Roll Aquarian Weekly

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“They can kick it with a reel, squeeze a country turnip until it bleeds, and tell a folk tale as well as most anybody, but where they really shine is their songwriting…” –Frank Gutch, Jr., FAME Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange

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“I gotta say, this CD is INCREDIBLE!!! I loved it. It is full of wonderful songwriting, beautiful vocals and remarkable instrument work.”–Riley Baugus

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“With equal parts Celtic, old timey, trad country, and contemporary folk, Red June typifies what modern folk music is all about” –Steven Stone, AudiophileReview.com

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“a diverse yet cohesive mix of original Americana tunes; North Carolina style… soulful, rootsy and eclectic mountain music.” —Awaiting the Flood

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“undeniably charming” –JC, 3rd Coast Music

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“… airtight harmony that will impress even the toughest critic. Listen to their vocal blend on “I’m Willing To Try,” and you may need to have your jaw surgically removed from the floor – they are that good!” –Chuck Dauphin, Music News Nashville

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“From git-down instrumentals to lovely waltzes, even a set of Irish reels, every piece is played with confidence and soul.” —Fiddle Freak

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“The single vocal microphone they situated around might as well have been a campfire as they performed with such grace and a true reverence for those who chose to spend some time with them.” –Scott T. Horowitz, The Upful Life and Times, Suwannee Springfest Review

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Red June 2012 “Beauty Will Come” Spring/Summer Tour Dates
6/7 Reynolda House – Winston-Salem NC
6/8 Hickory Unitarian Church – Hickory NC
6/9 Mountain Home Music – Blowing Rock NC
6/14 Live on WNCW’s Studio B @ 1pm – Spindale, NC
6/14 Whitewater Center – Charlotte NC
6/15 Altamont Theatre – Asheville NC
6/21 Marsh Woodwinds Upstairs – Raleigh NC
6/22 Ashland Coffee & Tea – Ashland VA
6/23 The Mainstay – Rock Hall MD
6/26 The Living Room – NYC
6/27 Johnny D’s – Boston MA
6/30 Wesley United Methodist Church – Amherst MA

Find out more and see the complete tour dates at RedJuneMusic.com

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Sugar Hill Recording Artist, Tara Nevins, Plays a Showcase at AMA 2011 at The Station Inn on Sat, October 15th!

Sugar Hill recording artist, Tara Nevins, has been invited to play a showcase at this year’s Americana Music Association Festival in Nashville on Saturday, October 15th at The Station Inn at 10pm!

Performing along with Tara at the Station Inn are:
Rose Sinclair – Banjo, Accordion
Todd Phillips – Bass
Chris Henry – Acoustic Guitar
Mike Compton – Mandolin
Tommy Hannum – Pedal Steel, Electric Guitar
Mark Raudabaugh – Drums

This showcase will be live-streamed by Fat Music Radio who will be broadcasting from the Station Inn during AMA week!

Tara can also be heard LIVE on Music Fog at 3pm on Friday Oct 14th.

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Check out this fantastic mix that NPR Music put together with music from artists involved in the event. Nevins’s version of “Stars Fell on Alabama” is included. Others in the mix are The Avett Brothers, Bela Fleck, Buddy Miller, The Civil Wars, David Wax Museum, Jim Lauderdale, Justin Townes Earle, Lucinda Williams, Mumford and Sons, Peter Rowan, Sarah Jarosz, Pokey Lafarge and more!

Find the complete AMA showcase schedule here:   
http://americanamusic.org/showcase-lineup

Information about other Sugar Hill and Vanguard Recording Artists can be found at: https://dreamspider.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/sugar-hill-vanguard-recording-artists-at-at-ama-2011/

American roots traditionalist Tara Nevins’ new release, ‘Wood and Stone’ is an exploration of her own heritage, musical and otherwise. Released on May 3rd, 2011 on Sugar Hill Records ‘Wood and Stone’ was produced by Larry Campbell at the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. It showcases Nevins’ ever-evolving repertoire as she journeys both back to her own “roots” and head-long into new territory. Featured guests on the album include Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Teresa Williams, The Heartbeats, along with the core band of Larry Campbell, Justin Guip, and Byron Isaacs

Fans of Nevins from her 21-year tenure with Donna the Buffalo are familiar with her versatile talents; she shares the vocal and songwriting responsibilities for the band and is a stellar musician on fiddle, guitar, and accordion. (She plays a mean scrubboard too.) Prior to DTB, Nevins was a founding member of the all-female, old time/Cajun band The Heartbeats. (They join her on two tracks here as well.) Wood and Stone delivers the musical expertise fans have come to expect and surprises with new perspectives.

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“A tour de force from start to finish” – Kay Cordtz, Elmore

“With the wonderful fiddle groove and vividly written lyrics, Nevins gives a glimpse into her roots. Stepping out for a rare solo record (beyond her beloved band, Donna the Buffalo), she meshes her Cajun influences, unique voice, drums and steel guitars for an intriguing look at her heritage.” – CMT

“Wood And Stone adds another powerful and engaging chapter to Nevins’ musical achievements”. – Steven Stone, Vintage Guitar

“a wide-ranging affair encompassing all manner of rootsy Americana, spiced with Nevins’s voice and multi-instrumentalist skills, served up in a package that is polished but never slick. Nevins, in other words, is the real deal.” – David Maine, Pop Matters

“If heroes and heroines of rock ‘n’ roll are defined by their uniqueness, they definitely broke the mold when they made Tara Nevins.” – Wildman Steve, The Corner News

“The centerpiece of the album, in my opinion, is the sweeping “The Wrong Side,” which features Allison Moorer and Teresa Williams. It’s a track sounds like it was from the O’Brother Where Art Thou? sessions, but the same could be said of the haunting “Stars Fell On Alabama,” where once again Nevins shows her prowess on the fiddle. This is an exceptional piece of music, one that I think needs to be heard—to prove that people are still cutting “Country Music” these days!” – Chuck Dauphin, Music News Nashville

Visit Tara Nevins website www.TaraNevins.com for more information about the album, a gallery of images, videos, music, and lyrics.

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