Red June Celebrates New Album, Ancient Dreams, at Isis on Fri 5/16

Red June Performs at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall on Friday, May 16th
CD Release Celebration for Ancient Dreams on Organic Records

Show at 8:30pm, tickets are $12 adv/$15 door and are available here.
General Admission Seated Show :: Limited Tables Available with Dinner Reservations
There will also be theater-style & balcony seating available

828-575-2737
743 Haywood Road Asheville, NC 28806
www.isisasheville.com

Powerful acoustic trio from Asheville, North Carolina, Red June released their third album Ancient Dreams on Organic Records April 15, 2014. They celebrate in Asheville at Isis Music Hall on Friday, May 16th for a special performance.

Purveyors of original music created in a traditional style, Red June performs beautifully distilled original music. The band is known for a dynamic, yet refined sound that features striking three-part harmonies, tasteful instrumental work, and honest, soulful songwriting that seamlessly blends bluegrass, old-time, country and American roots music.

Ancient Dreams is illustrative, honest and exquisitely crafted; it features the talents of Will Straughan (resonator guitar, guitar, mandolin and vocals), Natalya Weinstein (fiddle and vocals) and John Cloyd Miller (mandolin, guitar and vocals). The album was produced by Tim Surrett of the award-winning band Balsam Range; he also contributed some stellar bass playing on some tracks.

Imagine opening your front door on a mid-summer morning. Instead of your familiar scene, you walk out onto an old wooden porch facing east as the sun starts to rise. The day’s first light hits your eyes and your ears are filled with the close, warm sound of a mandolin.

Somewhere to one side the dust rises from a foot tapping. It’s keeping time to a melody that sounds older than any music you know. As the smell of dew covered grass floats by, so does a voice alongside that old melody….. ”I… I just want to wake… wake up with you and drink… something hot… best you’ve got.”

As you try to figure out how you got here, you realize it was by simply listening to the leadoff and title track of Red June’s Ancient Dreams.

The best thing is, this is not the only world you visit while listening to this North Carolina-based trio’s third release. Like your best dreams, nocturnal or daytime visions, Red June’s music has a transformative power that is the result of the pastoral story-songs which hold an underlying familiarity. It is music and songwriting that is instantly comforting, thought-evoking with relatable themes, even if they are not always obvious on the surface.

Like their namesake heirloom apple variety, Red June has strong roots in the Appalachian tradition while constantly forging new ground in American music. With Ancient Dreams, the trio collaborated with fine artist, Nancy Hilliard Joyce, who created the original album art: a pastoral painting that captures the idyllic tones within.

Preview and purchase Ancient Dreams today at Organic Records, iTunes, and AmazonMP3.

For more information and tour dates, please visit RedJuneMusic.com.

 

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Town Mountain Spring and Early Summer Tour Dates

Town Mountain Spring and Early Summer Tour Dates

Town Mountain is ready and reelin’ to travel the country this spring and summer! They will have stops in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Colorado, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Washington and Oregon. Notable events include performance at the Leftover Salmon’s Bluegrass Throwdown, John Hartford Memorial Festival, ROMP, The Hampton Taphouse Festival, The Festival of Bluegrass, RapidGrass and much more!

Stay tuned for a new music videos coming your way from Town Mountain this season, including a track from Leave the Bottle [Pinecastle Records 2012]. They will be launching a new covers series that will kick off with their version of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. This will premiere on The Bluegrass Situation this June (http://www.thebluegrasssituation.com).

Based in Asheville, NC, Town Mountain is Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, Robert Greer on lead vocals and guitar guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, and newest member Jake Hopping rounds them out with his rock-solid bass. One listen to their instantly memorable songs, and it’s plain to see why Grammy-winner Mike Bub would align with the group to produce Leave the Bottle as well as 2011’s Steady Operator.

“I’m not sure what the definition of bluegrass would be in words alone, but if that definition was set to music, it would probably sound something like Town Mountain’s Leave the Bottle… I could go on,” says Bluegrass Today’s David Morris, “There are no duds, and no filler songs on this project. But you get the point. This, my friends, is how bluegrass is supposed to sound.”

Leave the Bottle effortlessly covers a wide array of styles in the stringband spectrum featuring the stellar in-house songwriting that has become the band’s trademark. There’s the barroom swagger and honky tonk edge of tracks like “Up the Ladder” and the title track “Leave the Bottle”, the Jimmy Martin style bounce and confidence of “Lawdog” and “Lookin’ in the Mirror”, the Irish flavor of Bobby Britt’s “Four Miles”, and the laid back John Hartford style groove of “Greenbud on the Flower” among others. But no matter the style, the band’s delivery gives every tune a true and honest feel.

Town Mountain On Tour Spring and Early Summer Tour Dates
Fri 5/10 Chapel Hill, NC Merritt’s
Sat 5/11 Harrisonburg, VA The Clementine Cafe
Fri 5/17 Bloomingdale, GA Randy Wood Guitars
Sat 5/18 Panola, SC Birdfest at Pineland Farms
Sun 5/26  Black Mountain, NC Pisgah Brewing w/ Leftover Salmon’s Bluegrass Throwdown with Elephant Revival & Dangermuffin
Fri 5/31 Bean Blossom, IN John Hartford Memorial Festival
Sat 6/1 Carbondale, IL The Hangar 9
Sun 6/2 Chicago, IL The Red Line Tap
Mon 6/3 Urbana, IL The Iron Post
Tue 6/4 Lancaster, WI House Concert
Wed 6/5 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon w/ Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
Thu 6/6 Bangor WI Leo and Leona’s w/ Horseshoes & Hand Grenades and Cactus Blossoms
Fri 6/7 Cincinnati, OH THe Crow’s Nest
Sat 6/8 Lexington, KY Festival of the Bluegrass
Thu 6/13 Lexington, NC High Rock Outfitters
Fri 6/14 Tryon, NC Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival
Thu 6/20 Salem, VA Private Event
Fri 6/21 Raleigh, NC The Pour House Music Hall
Sat 6/22 Hampton, VA Hampton Taphouse Festival & After-Party
Sun 6/23 Norfolk, VA Town Mountain BBQ Picnic @ Norfolk Taphouse
Wed 6/26 Lexington, KY Willie’s Locally Known w/ Tyler Childers and the High Wall
Fri 6/28 Owensboro, KY ROMP: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival
Sat 6/29 Belvidere,TN Circle E Guest Ranch 2nd Annual Bluegrass Festival
Thu 7/4 Gold Hill, CO The Gold Hill Inn
Fri 7/5 Fort Collins, CO Acoustic Bridge Musical Potluck
Sat 7/6  Idaho Springs, CO Clear Creek RapidGrass Bluegrass Festival
Thu Thu 7/11 Charlotte, NC Whitewater River Jam at US National Whitewater Center
Fri 7/12 Fairfax, VA Fairfax County Summer Entertainment Series at Royal Lake Park
Sat 7/13 Gardners, PA Bluegrass On The Grass
Sun 7/14 Mount Solon, VA Red Wing Roots Music Festival
Tue 7/23 Bellingham, WA The Green Frog
Thu 7/25 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
Fri 7/26 Skamania, WA Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival
Sun 7/28 Eugene, OR Sam Bond’s Garage
Fri 8/2 Saxapahaw, NC Haw River Ballroom w/ Big Fat Gap

Please visit www.TownMountain.net for more information and further tour dates.

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NOLA Update From The Keels on Recording the Bluebrass Project 2!

Bluebrass Strings- Horns - Big Chief Monk

Here’s a note from Larry and Jenny Keel and some snapshots of the Bluebrass Session they were recording last week in New Orleans:

Bluebrass String Section

We were honored this last week to be a part of a project where all the musicians created an entirely new form of music…legends from the New Orleans music scene and pioneers of the acoustic music scene collaborated to create Bluebrass 2… it is the continuation of the first project which we recorded in 2004, combining influences from Ireland, Scotland, England, Africa, America,delta blues, western swing, on and on … made for the most spiritual project I have ever been a part of…

Recorded entirely inside the legendary Maple Leaf Bar, on Oak Street, and produced by the presiding King of Oak, Chris Jones, and executive producer Little King Steve Metcalf (royalty out the ass!!),  we were guided into an adventure of epic proportions-  taking a magical musical journey with all kinds of string musicians and brass and drummers:  a cast of up to 15 people.. so far!

Lionel Batiste Jr

including heavy weights from the Rebirth Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs, Acoustic Syndicate, Mad Tea Party, Aaron “Woody” Wood, and 101 Runners!

Stay tuned for more info and for this music you won’t be able to resist-  we’re still reeling with funky goodness from that trip!

Bryon McMurry and Kirk Joseph's Souzaphone

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Town Mountain and The Freight Hoppers Play The Grey Eagle on Dec 2nd

Town Mountain
The Grey Eagle
w/ The Freight Hoppers
Friday, Dec 2, 2011

$10 adv/ $12 Dos, 9pm
185 Clingman Ave.

Asheville, NC 28801
828-232-5800
www.thegreyeagle.com

Asheville Bluegrasser’s Town Mountain are returning to The Grey Eagle on Friday, December 2nd. The Freight Hoppers will be joining them for the evening’s entertainment, bringing the bluegrass an old-time scenes in Asheville a little bit closer together.

A common thread that binds us to music is familiarity with tradition and the unexpectedness of progression. In a time when bluegrass music is all over the place with it’s predictability; whether it is the crisp clean sound of the contemporary side, the tones of a sixty-year tradition, or the jam band mentality, you can see it coming. It’s all great and Town Mountain is happy to be right in the middle of this bluegrass gumbo.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, “Town Mountain’s not your grand daddy’s bluegrass”, or “Town Mountain is a great traditional bluegrass band”. Fortunately both of these statements are true and false all at the same time therefore canceling each other out and in turn making it hard to pigeonhole just what Town Mountain can be called. Newly signed with revered Pinecastle Records, Town Mountain is Phil Barker (Mandolin, vocals), Robert Greer (Guitar, vocals), Jesse Langlais (banjo, vocals), Bobby Britt (fiddle), and Jon Stickley (bass, vocals).

This year Town Mountain has teamed up with Pinecastle Records to release their third album, Steady Operator in the late spring. Now the band, more musically mature and honing in on a sound that suits them collectively as well as personally, is ready to show the acoustic music world that they are in fact on the cutting edge of old and new. A recognizable sound with youthful interpretation of a music that continues to evolve, this is Bluegrass.

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The Freight Hoppers play old time music with an emotional, raw excitement that keeps one foot planted in the past and the other in the present. Of course that’s only when they keep their feet still, for this is high energy dance music of an older day played like there’s no tomorrow. Finding their passion from a love of string band music of the 1920’s and 30’s, The Freight Hoppers have been entertaining crowds of fans at festivals and music halls alike as they travel around the country. The heart of the band is held together by the powerhouse fiddle and banjo combo of David Bass and Frank Lee, while the rhythm section of Isaac Deal on guitar and Bradley Adams on string bass keep the music driving. Add in the vocal duo of Frank and Isaac, and you’ve got yourself one of the most exciting traditional bands to come out of the woodwork. Based out of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from a deep source of rural southern music for their inspiration.

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Fishin and Pickin Presents “Trout & Tunes” with Larry Keel and Natural Bridge: April 28-30th at the Elk River Inn near Snowshoe

Slatyfork, WV – Join Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and friends for Trout & Tunes: three days of instruction, small concerts, incredible food and lodging. You’ll be hanging out at the Elk River Inn, Cabins & Restaurant located in the high peaks of West Virginia at the base of Snowshoe Mountain. Guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass guitar instruction are the highlights of Trout & Tunes. Picking sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will build up to a very special concert Saturday evening to cap things off with Larry Keel, Natural Bridge and friends. Elk River has plenty of things to do when not learning a new lick. Fly and spin fishing for trout, hiking and mountain bikes trails are right out the door. Or just relaxing with a cold beverage near the campfire.

Guests arrive on Thursday between 4 and 7pm for a family style dinner; to meet with Larry, the band, special guests and fellow campers; and to settle in to a cozy cabin, Inn or bunk house lodging. All meals from Thursday evening through Sunday breakfast are included in this very special weekend. Between music workshops and jams, fishin is aplenty at the local rivers such as the Williams, Elk, or one of the dozens of native brook fisheries. Guests can also learn to fly cast with Elk River’s Orvis Endorsed guides in a Saturday workshop.

“With an unofficial title of ‘Bluegrass Legend and Master Fisherman’, Larry Keel is considered one of the best flatpickers on the planet. Steeped in the old-timey and with a gravelly voice as deep and rich as moonshine on a riverbank… Larry’s flat-picking style is as seamless as it is gymnastic and he’s a master at simulating banjo rolls, mandolin runs or even parts that you would normally hear played on a fiddle.” ~ Mousike Magazine

Joining the award-winning Flatpickin legend to make up Natural Bridge and to host Trout & Tunes are the vastly talented Mark Schimick on mandolin and vocals, Larry’s life-long picker pal (and fishing phenom) Will Lee on soulful, blues-grass style 5-string banjo and penetrating lead vocals, and wife Jenny Keel with her impeccable timing and solid, yet imaginative bass lines as well as tenor vocal harmonies. Expect to see some other special guests to host music workshops and sit in on the jams!

The cost for the Trout & Tunes weekend is $495.00 plus tax in the Farmhouse (5 bedrooms share 3 baths) and $595.00 plus tax in the Private Inn (room with private bath) or groups of 3-6 person private cabins. For more information or reservation, please call 304-572-3771 or 866-572-3771. You may also email info@ertc.com and visit the lodge website: www.elkriverinnandrestaurant.com

There is also more information for the musician fisherman or the fishin music-lover at Keel and company’s website Fishin and Pickin. Also stay tuned for more information on the 4th annual Fishin and Pickin: Big Bass and Bluegrass weekend near Perry, Georgia in the fall.

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Fishin and Pickin Presents “Trout & Tunes”
A Fishing & Music Workshop weekend with Larry Keel & Natural Bridge
Thursday- Sunday, April 28th – May 1st, 2011
4-7pm Thursday check-in; 10am Sunday morning check-out
Elk River Inn
Slatyfork, WV

For more information:
info@ertc.com
304-572-3771 or 866-572-3771
www.elkriverinnandrestaurant.com
www.fishinandpickin.com
www.larrykeel.com
Also find Trout & Tunes on Facebook

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