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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Dreamspider Bands at Merlefest 2012: Donna the Buffalo, Red June, The Honeycutters, Johnson’s Crossroad & Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

Dreamspider Publicity is so excited about MerleFest 2012! Dreamspider is working with 5 acts that will be performing this weekend including Donna the Buffalo, Red June, The Honeycutters, Johnson’s Crossroad, and Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. Both Red June and The Honeycutters have albums due out soon!  Please click on the images for links to their websites.

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Donna the Buffalo’s feel-good, groove-oriented, danceable and often socially conscious music all began over twenty years ago with roots in old time fiddle music that evolved into a soulful electric Americana mix infused with elements of cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. Donna the Buffalo is known for touring the country remaining fiercely independent as one of the industry’s most diverse roots-music bands and has “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today,” praises Encore. The dynamic songwriting tandem of vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins have penned over 180 songs in their collaboration with DTB and have many more in the making.

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Donna the Buffalo MerleFest Schedule:

Thursday, April 26, 2012:
Outreach:  1:30 PM- 2:30PM (DtB performance at Wilkes Middle School)
Media Tent: 4:30-5PM
Watson Stage: 6:45-7:45PM (Donna The Buffalo with Jim Lauderdale)
Autograph Signing: 8:15-8:45PM

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Friday, April 27, 2012
Traditional Tent: 2:30-3:30PM (Tara Nevins and Friends)
Hillside Stage: 6:15-7PM (DtB)
Dance Tent: 10:30-11:59PM (DtB)

*

Saturday, April 28, 2012
Creekside Stage: 2-3:30PM Tara will sit in for a song with Peter Wernick’s Flexigrass

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Sunday, April 29, 2012    
Traditional Tent: 11:30AM-12:30PM Tara will take part in the “Women Who Sing Traditional Music” workshop

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Red June is an acoustic trio based in Asheville, NC who creates and performs beautifully distilled Americana music. They are making waves with their dynamic, yet refined sound that features striking 3-part harmonies, tasteful instrumental work and honest, soulful songwriting that seamlessly blends old-time, bluegrass, roots rock and traditional country music. Poised to release their second full-length album, Beauty Will Come, on June 5th, 2012, listeners can expect an album to fall in love with. “The record is a brilliant integration of old-time, bluegrass, and beyond, and feels like a holding of hands… the blend is beautiful,” says singer/songwriter Kari Sickenberger of Polecat Creek.  Red June is made up of Will Straughan on resonator guitar, vocals and guitar, John Cloyd Miller on mandolin, vocals and guitar, and Natalya Weinstein on fiddle and vocals.

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Red June MerleFest Schedule:

Friday, April 27, 2012
Dance Tent: 12:45-1:45 PM “Learn to Clog with Carol Rifkin and Red June”
Dance Tent: 8:30PM Natalya will be a guest performers at the Square Dance
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Americana Stage: 11:00-11:45AM
Autograph Signing: 12:15-12:45PM
Traditional Tent: 1:30-2:15PM
Traditional Tent: 3:30-4:15PM Natalya will be part of the Fiddle Workshop
Dance Tent: 4:15-5:45PM

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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Media Tent: 11:00-11:30 AM
Cabin Stage 12:20-12:45PM
Autograph Signing  1:15-1:45PM

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The Honeycutters are excited to introduce their second full length studio release, When Bitter Met Sweet this spring. Like their first release, Irene, When Bitter Met Sweet features singer/songwriter Amanda Anne Platt, who has been hailed as “one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days” by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson. Peter James accompanies her on lead and rhythm guitar as well as harmony vocals. The Real Southern Say, “I can see a day when her name is mentioned alongside Lucinda Williams, Mary Gauthier and Gillian Welch. She’s just that good.”

 *

The Honeycutters MerleFest Schedule:

Friday, April 27, 2012
Americana Stage: 9:45-10:30AM
Creekside: 1:15-2PM
Austin Alumni Hall: 2-3:30PM Amanda is a guest judge @ Chris Austin Songwriting Contest
Austin Alumni Hall: 8:55-9:10PM Amanda will be performing a solo songwriter session
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Media Tent: 1:30-2PM
Cabin stage: 3:05-3:30PM
Autograph signing:  4-4:30PM

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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.”  Watching his back is mandolin player Keith Minguez, a strong friendship at the core of the group… ironically enough the band originated on Keith’s first visit to MerleFest watching John Hartford perform.
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Johnson’s Crossroad MerleFest Schedule:

 Friday, April 27, 2012
Walker Center: 1:15-2:00PM
Creekside Stage: 3:45PM-4:30PM
Autograph Signing: 5-5:30PM
Austin Stage in Alumni Hall: 10:05-10:20PM Songwriter Coffeehouse with Paul Johnson
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Media Tent: 10-10:30AM
Cabin Stage: 11:15-11:45AM
Autograph Signing: 12:30-1pm
Americana Stage: 1:30-2:15PM
Plaza Stage:  5:45PM- 6:30PM
Autograph signing: 7-7:30PM

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Classically trained composer turned steel pan maestro and front man of the Fourchestra, Jonathan Scales is heavily influenced by the complexity of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck to the hustle of Jay-Z and is known for his unique presentation of the Steel Pan that brings the instrument into new realms of musical influence and has been called, “… a rising star of the steel drums” by Traps Magazine and “The Real Deal [with] a Thelonius Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works” by Pan on the Net. Fusion-chops bassist, Cody Wright provides the harmonic support for Scales’ sound, while jazz/hip-hop drummer, Phill Bronson, drives the time-shifting, modern grooves.  Premier Steel Pan Magazine When Steel Talks says, “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.”

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Jonathan Scales Fourchestra MerleFest Schedule:

Friday, April 27, 2012
Media Tent: 10:30-11AM
Watson Stage: 11:45AM-12:45PM
Autograph signing: 1-1:30PM
Hillside Stage: 2:15-3PM
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Walker Center: 9:15-10:15AM Intimate performance for ticketed guests @ Patron Breakfast
Walker Center: 11:15PM-12AM Midnight Jam Opening Act
Mayes Pit-Cohn Auditorium: 2:45 PM 3:30PM Steel Drum Workshop

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Moses Atwood CD Release Co-Bill with Johnson’s Crossroad at the LAB March 30th

Moses Atwood CD Release

Co-bill with Johnson’s Crossroad

Friday, March 30th

$10, Doors is 9:30 / Show is at 10pm

Lexington Ave Brewery

39 North Lexington Avenue

Asheville, 28801

(828) 252-0212

lexavebrew.com

mosesatwood.net

johnsonscrossroad.com

Asheville’s Moses Atwood will be teaming up with Johnson’s Crossroad for a Co-Bill at the Lexington Ave. Brewery on Friday, March 30th.

Moses will be celebrating the release of his NEW album One Bright Boat. Joining Moses for his set will be Dave Mack on bass, Jacob Baumann on Drums, Evan Martin on Guitar, and other special guests! Moses will also be sitting in with Johnson’s Crossroad (JXR) for a song or two.

Johnson’s Crossroad has a lot in store this year and are going to be heading back in the studio to record a 3rd album. Their 2011 release Mockingbird was voted #7 on WNCW’s Top 20 Regional Albums! Having played around 140 shows in 2011, they continue on their travels and are performing Merlefest for the 3rd year in a row and were added to the John Hartford Memorial Fest in IN and Band Lands Bluegrass in WV in 2012!

***     *****     ***

Moses Atwood sets sail with sophomore effort, One Bright Boat
It’s been four years since singer/songwriter Moses Atwood (also known for his work with Johnson’s Crossroad and The Overflow Jug Band) released his self-titled debut. That was in 2008; suddenly last fall Atwood decided it was time to put together his new collection of songs, One Bright Boat. So he rounded up a group of musicians and headed to Waking Studio, the new digs of Bill Moriarty (Dr. Dog) in Philadelphia. There, Atwood and company knocked out the nine tracks in a mere week. The songs, he says, were culled from the years since his first album. While some date back to when he lived in Maine, most were written in North Carolina over the last few years.

Atwood choose Waking Studio because he wanted to take his musicians (including Michael Libramento of Floating Action) out of their routines. And it was time: “I’d found so many ways of circumventing the actual making of the record that I was like, ‘book the dates, get the people and do it.'” A week is a push, but, Atwood says, “Limitations are a really valuable thing in any artistic process — how many limitations and how you impose them is the trick.”

One Bright Boat doesn’t sound pressured or hurried. It opens with rollicking piano, the easy jingle of tambourine and tasteful flourishes of guitar. Atwood’s voice is what colors in the picture, relaxed and rich, rising effortlessly in a warm baritone.

“I’m tired of being the sad man, tired of all the sad songs. I’m tired of living my life like I’ve done something wrong,” he imparts on the spirit-lifting, cloud- parting title track.

If Atwood’s first record paid homage to his troubadour heroes (Woody Guthrie, Utah Phillips), One Bright Boat is less road-weary and more refined as Atwood leaves the minstrel role for that of bandleader in the style of Van Morrison and Randy Newman.

Running like a current through the record is Atwood’s talent for telling a story in fleeting images and washes of sound. These aren’t ballads but modern song-sketches of places longed for and passed through, people met and parted with, time passing. There’s space on each track — an easy flow of tides and waltzes (“California”), of pedal steel accents and Atwood’s comfortable flannel- and-bourbon vocal polished with (on “At Last”) gospel and brass.

“In recording, I feel like you’re recreating or capturing a moment in time,” says Atwood. “With modern recording you’re at constant great risk of losing the value of the moment, losing the essence of what you’ve got going on. But if you go all for capturing the moment, you don’t have a record, you just have a live performance. There’s a balance that the best records achieve.”

For a young artist, Atwood comes admirably close to that balance. It’s an album that rings both fresh and familiar, of-a-time and timeless. With One Bright Boat, Atwood’s ship comes in.

***          *****          ***

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.”

Their 2011 album Mockingbird puts songwriter Paul Johnson in line with names like Guy Clark or Zac Brown and his powerful voice evokes memories of folk stars like Taj Mahal or Burl Ives. The Wilmington Star News describes, “It’s gruff and easygoing, like a mix of Tom Waits and Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem.“  AmericanaUKexclaims, “With ‘Mockingbird’ Johnson’s Crossroad seem to have just proved themselves to be one of the finest Roots rockers around right now.” The album was voted the #7 Regional albums of 2012 by WNCW!

The sincerity of Johnson’s songs and simplicity of his lyrics make you want to pour a brew, put your feet up or head to the hills. Asheville’s Bold Life call the band a “treat to see live” and says that, “Paul Johnson has a knack for creating powerful visuals with straightforward lyrics.” Dobro, mandolin and fiddle back up Johnson’s clean lyrics on some, other times its simple finger picking to a folksong.

“I like to keep the words simple,” said Paul Johnson. “I try and follow Hank Williams as much as possible, let the words tell the story and the music back it up,” Johnson said.  His inspiration is simple yet intently focused. “I was born in the mountains of West Virginia, I’ve always been in the mountains all my life,” said Johnson who now calls Asheville, NC home.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do, travel around and pick guitar,” said Johnson, who writes the majority of the songs for Johnson’s Crossroad. Watching his back is mandolin player Keith Minguez, a strong friendship at the core of the group.

“In 1998 I met Paul and I saw John Hartford on my first visit to MerleFest, it was life changing” said Minguez.  Then in 2004 he had enough, “I was 30, living in Florida, drinking with my dad’s buddies and they all said the same thing, ‘drink scotch and water and never stop chasing your dream.’”  He called Paul and in 13 hours was at his door with mandolin in hand.  “If Keith wasn’t around nothing would get done,” laughed Johnson. Friends Corey Lee McQuade (Dobro, banjo, harmonies) and Moses Atwood (keyboard, Dobro, harmonies) sit in on variety of gigs, and often other friends join in support Johnson’s constant search for great sound.

The band is returning to Blue Ridge Big Sky Music Studio (appropriately topping a peak above Moravian Falls, NC) to record their 3rd album in 2012.  Who could resist after the experience they had last time around?  It’s where they’re comfortable, it’s where everything is comfortable.  Making music with friends, fans and family. At the studio, it’s a drive to the county line to get a little cell reception and distraction is not so digital, just were they need to be. They are looking for an early 2013 release and will be spending time over the summer and fall getting the next one just right, working again with John Adair as Engineer and Producer.

Since their first album Blood in Black and White they’ve won spots at national events like Merlefest, Floyd Fest, Music City Roots and Bristol Rhythm and Roots, with tours to the Northeast and Midwest that continue throughout 2012. Years playing the road to empty rooms have passed. Johnson’s Crossroad travels on with over 150 shows and a world of mountains ahead to climb.

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Check out this video of Moses with JXR performing the song “Louisiana” that is on One Bright Boat.

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Johnson’s Crossroad performs at Jack of the Wood on August 27th

Johnson's Crossroad

Johnson’s Crossroad is taking their love of the old time mountain music, bluegrass, and the Texas singer/songwriters of the 1970’s and putting their own stamp on the ever-widening and increasingly popular ‘Americana’ genre, nurturing a sound they like to call “Appalachian Soul.”

The band was born in the bars of small town Lewisburg, WV. Johnson’s Crossroad performed the old songs they love and began to craft their own material. As audiences began to grow founding members Paul Johnson and Keith Minguez decided to head south over the Blue Ridge Mountains to the budding music scene of beautiful Asheville, NC where they found like-minded musicians and formed a touring band.

Their debut album “Blood in Black and White” brings together some of Asheville’s finest musicians to perform JXR’s original material. The album is steeped in the traditional country themes of lost love, lost fortune, lost time, and overcoming hardships, but Johnson’s Crossroad have clearly found a unique voice. With “Blood in Black and White” they give country music fans an alternative to the “polished” sound, though staying true to the roots that have made country music great.

“Johnson’s Crossroad is … part blues, part old-school country and part bluegrass. I guess that makes them Americana, but for some reason that label just doesn’t seem to fit. If this album was a few decades old, I’d swear these guys came up with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. Can one be both Americana and Outlaw at the same time? Maybe so. With the gruff voice and storytelling prowess of Tom Waits and vocal progressions reminiscent of Jimmy Buffett (of all people), lead singer Paul Johnson really knows how to create a mood. He sets the scene with his powerful lyrics, and the rest of the band skillfully paints in the rest of the story behind him.” ~Brent Fluery, Bold Life

Band Members:
Paul Johnson – Vocals, Guitar
Keith Minguez – Harmonies, Mandolin
Chris Weller – Bass Fiddle
Ben Hunt – Percussion
+special guests

Show details at a Glance:

Johnson’s Crossroad
Jack of the Wood
Friday, August 27th, 2010

8pm, $5, 21+
95 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC‎ 28801
(828) 252-5445 ext 105
http://www.jackofthewood.com
www.johnsonscrossroad.com

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