On The Rise In Americana & Folk Radio: Chicago Farmer’s ‘Flyover Country’ Featuring The Band of Heathens

Chicago Farmer’s Flyover Country Featuring The Band of Heathens
Is Making Waves on the Americana And Folk Radio Charts

Currently at #18 on the Americana Radio Albums Chart
#9 on the NACC Folk Radio Chart

“All In One Place” is at #33 on the AMA Radio Singles Chart

Available now at → https://chicagofarmer.hearnow.com/flyover-country 

BLOOMINGTON, IL — Illinois-based Cody “Chicago Farmer” Diekhof paired up with Texas’ The Band of Heathens for Flyover Country, independently released February 7. With DJs across the country spinning many of the songs from the album, it is climbing up the Americana and Folk radio charts in an increasingly competitive landscape. In the past few  weeks the album shot up to #18 after debuting at #33 on the Americana Radio Albums Chart and is currently at #9 on the NACC Folk Radio Chart.

The current single, “All In One Place,” is a humorous look at the sad truth about making money in the music business is on the rise and currently at #33 on the Americana Singles Chart. American Songwriter Magazine says, “This tale of high hopes and low returns [is] an outlaw country number that resounds with heart and humor.”

Chicago Farmer is known for his clever and heartfelt songwriting and unique voice. Through all the songs on Flyover Country — and most Chicago Farmer songs, for that matter —runs a common thread, a love and respect for regular folks, those who might be overlooked and underappreciated. He is a champion of the Midwest and the working class. “A lot of my friends are just getting by day-to-day,” Diekhoff said. “We keep at it, we keep working hard. Hopefully, eventually, things will turn around.”

Kind Words about Chicago Farmer & Flyover Country

“a continuation of what the Delavan, Illinois, native does best — clever and heartfelt songwriting that looks at the fabric of the Midwest.”
—Chicago Sun Times, Mary Houlihan

“… with Flyover Country, his sixth solo effort to date, he opts to make a bigger noise, thanks to an album that finds this midwest native teaming with the formidable Texas ensemble, Band of Heathens. The music still retains its intimacy and introspection, but given the Heathens’ backing there’s also an added sense of grit and determination…  Consequently, the possibility of wider recognition becomes a more likely possibility with Flyover Country, a set of freewheeling songs clearly spawned from a populist perspective.”
—Goldmine, Lee Zimmerman

“His trademark appeal is his ability to sing about the regular person, the working person, in a relatable way… No doubt, Chicago Farmer has a serious outlook, but he wants listeners to have fun listening to these tales, spike with humor in places and this time around, bolstered by a terrific band.”
—Elmore Magazine, Jim Hynes

“Chicago Farmer has spent the last two decades writing and performing as a solo artist, but in The Band of Heathens… Diehkoff found natural collaborators.”
—American Songwriter, Matt Wallock

“This album shows both Diekhoff’s ability to spin a tale and to write songs that get people to sing along. It also shows how well he is able to evoke emotions – whether it’s a song that makes you laugh or a song that hits you right in the heart. Beyond all that, you realize that his is a style that will endure in a world where music has seemingly become disposable.”
––Americana Highways, Gary Schwind

Putting his solo troubadour days behind him (after a run of solo dates opening for Todd Snider in January), at least for a while, with Flyover Country’s release, Diekhoff is on the road with a band, performing as Chicago Farmer and The Fieldnotes which includes Jaik Willis, Cody Jensen, & Cosmic Charlie Harris.

Chicago Farmer Tour Dates

All Shows with The Full Band, The Fieldnotes, Unless Otherwise Noted:
2/27 Thu – Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza – Worthington, OH
2/28 Fri – Southgate House – Newport, KY
2/29 Sat – Duke’s Indy – Indianapolis, IN
3/6 Fri – Redstone Room @ River Music Experience – Davenport, IA
3/7 Sat – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
3/8 Sun – World Theater – Kearney, NE
3/12 Thu – Magic Rat – Fort Collins, CO
3/13 Fri – The Walnut Room – Denver, CO
3/14 Sat – Western Jubilee – Colorado Springs, CO
3/27 Fri – Inside Out – Gilman, IL *solo show
4/2 Thu – Music Box Supper Club – Cleveland, OH
4/3 Fri – Sportsmens Tavern – Buffalo, NY
4/4 Sat – Moondogs Pittsburgh, PA
4/6 Mon – Woodsongs Radio Hour – Lexington, KY
4/10 Fri – Founders Brewing Co – Grand Rapids, MI
4/11 Sat – The Livery – Harbor, MI
4/16 Thu – Rose Music Hall – Columbia, MO
4/17 Fri – Kenny’s Westside Pub – Peoria, IL
4/18 Sat – The Venue – Aurora, IL
4/23 Thu – Crossroads Music Fest Seymour, IN
4/24-25 Fri-Sat – Rose Bowl Tavern – Urbana, IL
5/21 Thu – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
5/22-5/24 Fri-Sun – Summer Camp Music Festival – Chillicothe, IL
6/5 Fri – Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO
6/6 Sat – Brew Skies Music Festival – Hannibal, MO
5/28-29 Thu-Fri – John Hartford Memorial Fest – Bean Blossom, IN
6/19 Fri – Moccasin Creek Festival – Effingham, IL
6/27 Sat – Private Event – Wilmington, IL
8/7 Fri – Rock the Farm @ Mackinaw Valley Winery – Mackinaw, IL
8/8 Sat – People Fest – Hillsboro, WI

Further information and tour dates can be found at www.chicagofarmer.com, www.facebook.com/chicagofarmer, instagram.com/chicagofarmermusic, and twitter.com/chicagofarmer.

 

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Chicago Farmer’s ‘Flyover Country’ Featuring The Band of Heathens Out Today

Chicago Farmer Releases Flyover Country Today- Feb 7
Featuring The Band of Heathens
Recorded at The Finishing School in Austin, Texas

Buy & Stream now at → https://chicagofarmer.hearnow.com/flyover-country 

BLOOMINGTON, IL — Illinois-based Cody “Chicago Farmer” Diekhof paired up with Texas’ The Band of Heathens for Flyover Country, independently released February 7. In the past two weeks the album debuted at #33 on the Americana Radio Albums Chart and shot up another 10 spots to #23 with DJs across the country spinning many of the songs from the album.

The current single, “All In One Place,” is a humorous look at the sad truth about making money in the music business and debuted on the Americana Singles Chart at #43 this week. American Songwriter Magazine says, “This tale of high hopes and low returns [is] an outlaw country number that resounds with heart and humor.”

Through all the songs on Flyover Country — and most Chicago Farmer songs, for that matter —runs a common thread, a love and respect for regular folks, those who might be overlooked and underappreciated. He is a champion of the Midwest and the working class. “A lot of my friends are just getting by day-to-day,” Diekhoff said. “We keep at it, we keep working hard. Hopefully, eventually, things will turn around.”

Chicago Farmer. Photo by Bradley J Scott

Chicago Farmer is known for his clever and heartfelt songwriting and unique voice. Todd Snider exclaims, “I love Chicago Farmer’s singing and playing and songs, but it’s the intention behind the whole of his work that moves me to consider him the genuine heir to Arlo Guthrie or Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He knows the shell game that goes on under folk music… which is sacred to me.” 

Flyover Country was recorded at The Heathens studio, The Finishing School, in Austin TX with Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi serving as co-producers alongside Diekhoff.  Diekhoff’s longtime collaborator Chris Harden served as recording engineer (and mixed the album), on top of adding harmonies on two songs, and Heather Horton added harmony vocals on three tunes. 

Jurdi says, “Cody (Chicago Farmer) came in with a stellar batch of songs and really had a good vision for what he wanted the album to be. The material really takes a look at the kaleidoscopic fabric of the Midwest. Chicago Farmer writes and sings in a truly authentic voice about the people that inhabit the spaces that America’s hopes and dreams have been built upon. Always the underdog, sometimes overlooked, but never to be forgotten.”

“I knew as I was writing these songs that they called for another direction — and a band. A band that was tight, had soul, and knew how to make records,” Diekhoff said about Flyover Country, his sixth full-length studio album. “I’ll always be a folksinger, but you can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over. I decided it’s time to throw some fuel on this fire and get it going. For me, it’s all about the poetry and playing with a band is about putting the poetry in motion a little differently.”

Diekhoff and the Heathens cover a lot of musical territory on Flyover Country including a country-tinged rootsy tale of a desperate drive down the road to redemption (“Indiana Line”), a country-folk singalong anthem extolling the virtues of intimate live music shows and cheap beer over corporate arena concerts (“$13 Beers”), a talking-blues tribute to hardworking, unsung, everyday heroes (“Dirtiest Uniform), an uptempo folk-rock  (“Deer in the Sky”), and you see his grunge-rock roots coming out on “Mother Nature’s Daughter.” The album features nine original tracks and a cover of Hank Williams “Ramblin’ Man.”

Pokey LaFarge says, “His lyrics, his stories and his heart are true. He’ll give you that feeling of ‘going home’. He’ll make you want to say all those things you’ve been meaning to say but were too afraid. At the same time his songs can make you ask yourself some deep questions. His songs give you hope.”

Kind Words about Flyover Country

“This album shows both Diekhoff’s ability to spin a tale and to write songs that get people to sing along. It also shows how well he is able to evoke emotions – whether it’s a song that makes you laugh or a song that hits you right in the heart. Beyond all that, you realize that his is a style that will endure in a world where music has seemingly become disposable.”
—Americana Highways, Gary Schwind

“A terrific release… The Americana/Country Rock tunes are top class and the lyrics so interesting that you’ll be thinking them through later.”
—Americana Music Show, Tony Ives

“Chicago Farmer’s ‘All In One Place’ Is Outlaw Country with Heart and Humor”
—American Songwriter, Matt Wallock

“You will be moved by the poetry of these songs… You’ll dance to these songs even if you’re a song-and-dance man who never learned to dance. You’ll sing to these songs even if you don’t have the prettiest voice. Best of all, you’ll feel good for having listened. I know I do.”
—Making a Scene!, Viola Krouse

“… [Flyover Country is] a fitting title for the new album by Cody Diekhoff, aka Chicago Farmer, for two reasons. First, it’s an exploration of the lives and quirks of the residents of ‘flyover country.’ It’s also a good descriptor of Chicago Farmer’s sound, which kind of ‘flies over’ country music, touching on folk, Southern rock, and even tinges of punk.”
—Concert Hopper, Chris Griffy

“It’s poetry with a kick. There is power in the songs, from the arrangements to the lyrics, it makes you feel.”
—Festy GoNuts, Jason Law

“Diekhoff is a warm-hearted soul who manifestly likes others, though he wraps the sentimentality in wry humor. He’s most fond, one infers, of ordinary people’s imperfections and limitations, about which he writes amiably, not sparing his own.”
––Rambles.net, Jerry Clark

“With an ominous western intro, ‘Indiana Line’ builds up to a foot stompin,’ thumpin’ instant singalong. This bodes very well for Chicago Farmer’s Flyover Country. The harmonies with The Band of Heathens are irresistible, and the style is absolute contagion.”
—Americana Highways, Mellisa Clarke

Putting his solo troubadour days behind him (after a run of solo dates opening for Todd Snider in January), at least for a while, when Flyover Country comes out in February, Diekhoff is hitting the road with a band, performing as Chicago Farmer and The Fieldnotes which includes Jaik Willis, Cody Jensen, & Cosmic Charlie Harris.

Chicago Farmer & The Fieldnotes Tour Dates:

2/7 Fri – The Bootleg – St. Louis, MO
2/8 Sat –  The Eagle’s Theater – Olney, IL
2/9 Sun – Stellar Cellar – Effingham, IL
2/14 Fri – Castle Theatre – Bloomington, IL
2/15 Sat – Fitzgerald’s Nightclub – Berwyn, IL
2/16 Sun – Anodyne Coffee – Milwaukee, WI
2/20 Thu – Pearl Street Brewery – La Crosse, WI
2/21 Fri – The Turf Club –  St Paul, MN
2/22 Sat – The Outer Edge – Appleton, WI
2/27 Thu – Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza – Worthington, OH
2/28 Fri – Southgate House – Newport, KY
2/29 Sat – Duke’s Indy – Indianapolis, IN
3/6 Fri – Redstone Room @ River Music Experience – Davenport, IA
3/7 Sat – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
3/8 Sun – World Theater – Kearney, NE
3/12 Thu – Magic Rat – Fort Collins, CO
3/13 Fri – The Walnut Room – Denver, CO
3/14 Sat – Western Jubilee – Colorado Springs, CO
5/28-29 – Thu-Fri – John Hartford Memorial Fest – Bean Blossom, IN
6/19 Fri – Moccasin Creek Festival – Effingham, IL
6/27 Sat – Private Event – Wilmington, IL
8/7 Fri – Rock the Farm @ Mackinaw Valley Winery – Mackinaw, IL
8/8 Sat – People Fest – Hillsboro, WI

Flyover Country Track Listing and Credits
1. Indiana Line 3:51
2. Flyover Country 4:59
3. Mother Nature’s Daughter 3:01
4. $13 Beers 3:17
5. Collars 5:23
6. All In One Place 2:51
7. Deer In The Sky 3:23
8. Ramblin’ Man 4:44
9. Dirtiest Uniforms 4:43
10. The Village Revisited 6:56

Chicago Farmer – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar 

The Band of Heathens:
Ed Jurdi – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Harmonica
Gordy Quist – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Trevor Nealon – All Things Keys
Richard Millsap – Drums, Percussion
Jesse Wilson – Bass

With Special Guests:
Heather Horton – Vocals (3, 5, 10)
Chris Harden – Vocals (8, 10)

Recorded February 2019 at The Finishing School in Austin, TX
Produced by Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, & Chicago Farmer
Engineered & Mixed by Chris Harden 

All tracks written by Cody Diekhoff with the exception of Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man” 

Further information and tour dates can be found at www.chicagofarmer.com, www.facebook.com/chicagofarmer, instagram.com/chicagofarmermusic, and twitter.com/chicagofarmer.

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Chicago Farmer’s ‘Flyover Country’ Features The Band Of Heathens – 2nd Single Out Today – Outlaw Country w/ Heart & Humor

Putting the Poetry in Motion,
Chicago Farmer Joins Forces with The Band of Heathens
New Album, Flyover Country  – Due Out Feb 7, 2020
Recorded at The Finishing School in Austin, Texas

2nd Single “All In One Place” Out Now →   chicagofarmer.hearnow.com/all-in-one-place

“Chicago Farmer’s ‘All In One Place’ Is Outlaw Country with Heart and Humor”
—American Songwriter “All In One Place” Song Premiere

BLOOMINGTON, IL — For recording artists, albums can be like children — it’s hard to go on record choosing one as a favorite. But Cody “Chicago Farmer” Diekhoff doesn’t hesitate to designate his forthcoming release, Flyover Country, as his “golden child.” 

Chicago Farmer is known for his clever and heartfelt songwriting and unique voice. Todd Snider exclaims, “Chicago Farmer is my brother; if you like me, you’ll love him,” and Pokey LaFarge says“Chicago Farmer represents the best qualities of Midwestern U.S.A. His lyrics, his stories and his heart are true… Definitely one of my favorite singers out there today.”

Flyover Country features The Band of Heathens and was recorded at the Heathens studio, The Finishing School, in Austin TX with Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi serving as co-producers alongside Diekhoff.

Jurdi says, “Cody (Chicago Farmer) came in with a stellar batch of songs and really had a good vision for what he wanted the album to be. The material really takes a look at the kaleidoscopic fabric of the Midwest. Chicago Farmer writes and sings in a truly authentic voice about the people that inhabit the spaces that America’s hopes and dreams have been built upon. Always the underdog, sometimes overlooked, but never to be forgotten.”

“I think it’s my best work so far and definitely the one that I put the most into,” Diekhoff said of the 10-song album, due out Feb. 7. This is Chicago Farmer’s first studio album in four years and it will be available on CD and vinyl, as well as digital & streaming services.

The 2nd single, “All In One Place,” is out now and starting to hit Americana reporting radio stations American Songwriter premiered the song and calls, “This tale of high hopes and low returns” an “outlaw country number that resounds with heart and humor.” 

“I knew as I was writing these songs that they called for another direction — and a band. A band that was tight, had soul, and knew how to make records,” Diekhoff said about Flyover Country, his sixth full-length studio album. “I’ll always be a folksinger, but you can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over. I decided it’s time to throw some fuel on this fire and get it going. For me, it’s all about the poetry and playing with a band is about putting the poetry in motion a little differently.”

Fans of Chicago Farmer will already know at least a couple of the songs on Flyover Country if they’ve seen a show in the past couple years. In fact, Diekhoff’s talking-blues tribute to hardworking, unsung, everyday heroes, “Dirtiest Uniform,” and his country-folk singalong anthem extolling the virtues of intimate live music shows and cheap beer over corporate arena concerts, “$13 Beers,” are among the highlights on 2019’s double-disc live release, Quarter Past Tonight.

Flyover Country Track Listing
Indiana Line 3:51
Flyover Country 4:59
Mother Nature’s Daughter 3:01
$13 Beers 3:17
Collars 5:23 
All In One Place 2:51
Deer In The Sky 3:23
Ramblin’ Man 4:44
Dirtiest Uniforms 4:43
The Village Revisited 6:56

Diekhoff and the Heathens cover a lot of musical territory on Flyover Country. 

The album opens with “Indiana Line,” a country-tinged rootsy raveup, a tale of a desperate drive down the road to redemption with great, growling slide guitar work. This track was released towards the end of 2019 as the album’s first single. Americana Highways premiered it, writing, “With an ominous western intro, ‘Indiana Line’ builds up to a foot stompin,’ thumpin’ instant singalong. This bodes very well for Chicago Farmer’s Flyover Country. The harmonies with The Band of Heathens are irresistible, and the style is absolute contagion.”

The title track is a languid waltz with a shuffling beat and jangly guitar, an ode to the people of the rural heartland, his people, putting Diekhoff’s high vibrato to great use. A brisker waltz beat propels “Collars,” another tribute to small-town folks, this one inspired by a young soldier who didn’t come home from Iraq.

Harmonica and baritone guitar drive “Deer in the Sky,” an uptempo folk-rock number about the benefits of flying over driving (you can drink beer on a plane and you’ll never hit a deer). Things get downright raucous on a couple songs, with Diekhoff’s grunge-rock roots coming out on “Mother Nature’s Daughter,” an environmental protest song, while the guitars go to town on “All in One Place,” a humorous look at the sad truth about making money in the music business.

Diekhoff pays tribute to Hank Williams with the album’s sole cover, Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man,” while also honoring Kenny Forbes, a friend’s father who introduced a young Diekhoff to the music of Hank Williams, setting him off on his musical quest as a folksinger. “Ramblin’ Man” starts with a stripped-down presentation but by the final verse it explodes with intensity.

The album ends with “The Village Revisited,” a sprawling, gospel-tinged song about the importance of community that recalls Creedence Clearwater Revival’s take on “Midnight Special” at times and at the end sounds like a party has broken out in the studio.

Through all the songs on Flyover Country — and most Chicago Farmer songs, for that matter —runs a common thread, a love and respect for regular folks, those who might be overlooked and underappreciated.

“A lot of my friends are just getting by day-to-day,” Diekhoff said. “We keep at it, we keep working hard. Hopefully, eventually, things will turn around.”

When Flyover Country comes out in February, Diekhoff will put his solo troubadour days behind him, at least for a while. He’ll hit the road with a band, performing as Chicago Farmer and the Fieldnotes which includes Jaik Willis, Cody Jensen, & Cosmic Charlie Harris.

Chicago Farmer Solo Supporting Todd Snider:
1/15 Wed – The Lyric – Oxford, MS
1/16 Thu – Vinyl Music Hall – Pensacola, FL
1/21 Tue – Key West Theater – Key West, FL
1/23 Thu – The Funky Biscuit – Boca Raton, FL
1/24 Fri – Centro Asturiano de Tampa – Tampa, FL
1/25 Sat – Ponte Vedra Concert Hall – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
1/26 Sun – Iron City Bham – Birmingham, AL
1/29 Wed – Georgia Theater – Athens, GA
1/30 Thu – Victory North – Savannah, GA
1/31 Fri – Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC
2/1 Sat – Rocky Mount Mills – Rocky Mount, NC

Winter Shows Featuring Chicago Farmer & The Fieldnotes:
2/7 Fri – The Bootleg – St. Louis, MO
2/8 Sat –  The Eagle’s Theater – Olney, IL
2/9 Sun – Stellar Cellar – Effingham, IL
2/14 Fri – Castle Theatre – Bloomington, IL
2/15 Sat – Fitzgerald’s Nightclub – Berwyn, IL
2/16 Sun – Anodyne Coffee – Milwaukee, WI
2/20 Thu – Pearl Street Brewery – LaCrosse, WI
2/21 Fri – The Turf Club –  St Paul, MN
2/22 Sat – The Outer Edge – Appleton, WI
2/28 Fri – Southgate House – Newport, KY
2/29 Sat – Duke’s INDY – Indianapolis, IN
3/6 Fri – Redstone Room – Davenport, IA
3/7 Sat – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
3/8 Sun – World Theater – Kearney, NE
3/12 Thu – Magic Rat – Fort Collins, CO
3/13 Fri – Walnut Room – Denver, CO
3/14 Sat – Western Jubilee – Colorado Springs, CO

Further information and tour dates can be found at www.chicagofarmer.com, www.facebook.com/chicagofarmer, instagram.com/chicagofarmermusic, and twitter.com/chicagofarmer.

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Sticks N’ Thorns on Tour a Handful of Dates Winter 2020 (Jon Stickley & Andy Thorn)

Sticks N’ Thorns on Tour Winter 2020
Featuring Jon Stickley of Jon Stickley Trio and Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon

Sticks N’ Thorns is the new project from Leftover Salmon banjoist Andy Thorn and flatpicking guitarist Jon Stickley of the Jon Stickley Trio. Since their teenage years together in North Carolina, Andy and Jon have played together in numerous bands including the Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band (with Anders Beck of Greensky Bluegrass, and Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters). At the 2019 Telluride Bluegrass Festival summer Broke Mountain reunited amid rabid excitement (mostly their own). This was slightly more epic than the open mic nights the two had played together back in Durham. 

Today, both Jon and Andy are prominent members of the Jam Grass scene (and still best friends), despite divergent musical paths. Jon stayed in North Carolina and briefly played mandolin with Asheville favorites The Biscuit Burners. Shortly afterwards, he formed his own group, the Jon Stickley Trio, which has been praised by both NPR and the New York Times for the band’s boundary-defying bluegrass. 

Meanwhile, Andy enjoyed a stint in Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, then relocated to Colorado, where he joined the Emmitt-Nershi Band (with Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident, and Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon). Soon, Andy joined Leftover Salmon, ending the band’s multi-year hiatus. Leftover Salmon had just been waiting, it turned out, for their “missing banjo link.” Since then, the band has released multiple studio albums, using Andy’s original songs as the title tracks.

Sticks N’ Thorns is for everyone who wants to see what happens when two childhood friends reunite to bring everything they’ve learned from their music careers — and from life on the road —  to their new musical hijinks. Get ready for old-school classics, buddy shenanigans, and genre-defying bluegrass.

Sticks N’ Thorns Winter 2020 Tour Dates:
1/9 Thu – 185 King Street – Brevard, NC
1/10 Fri – The Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC
1/11 Sat – The Hunt House – Atlanta, GA
1/12 Sun – 3rd and Lindsley – Nashville, TN *
2/13 Thu – Steamboat Unplugged – Steamboat, CO ^
2/14 Fri – Animas City Theatre – Durango, CO #
2/15 Sat – The Liberty – Telluride, CO
2/16 Sun – The Surf Hotel – Buena Vista, CO
2/17 Mon – Shakedown Bar – Vail, CO
2/19 Wed – The Mesa Theater – Grand Junction, CO

* w/ Jon Stickley Trio
^ w/ Tyler Grant & Presented by Partners in Routt County & WinterWonderGrass
# w/ Robin Davis

For more information please visit www.facebook.com/JonStickleyTrio and www.facebook.com/andythornmusic. 

 

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Leftover Salmon Announce Winter 2020 Tour Dates

Leftover Salmon Announce Winter Tour Dates

Watch LoS Perform “All Night Ride” on Ditty TV

Tickets On Sale: Wednesday, December 4 @ 10am MT

Ticket links here →  www.leftoversalmon.com/tour

DENVER, CO — Few bands stick around for thirty years. Even fewer bands leave a legacy during that time that marks them as a truly special, once-in-a-lifetime type band. And no band has done all that and had as much fun as Leftover Salmon. NPR’s Mountain Stage says, “One of the most fun-loving bands you’ll encounter, Leftover Salmon has built a fervent audience with an insatiable thirst for living, and re-living, its energetic live performances,” while Offbeat calls them, “One of the most spirited, jovial bands of the jam band nation.”

Since their earliest days as a forward thinking, progressive bluegrass band who had the guts to add drums to the mix and who was unafraid to stir in any number of highly combustible styles into their ever evolving sound, to their role as a pioneer of the modern jamband scene, to their current status as elder-statesmen of the scene who cast a huge influential shadow over every festival they play, Leftover Salmon has been a crucial link in keeping alive the traditional music of the past while at the same time pushing that sound forward with their own weirdly, unique style. Billboard writes, “By blending so many elements of two-step, rock ‘n’ roll, bluegrass and more, they’re able to repeatedly maintain a fresh sound, no matter how many years pass.”

Leftover Salmon formed in 1989 when members of two Colorado-based bands that occasionally jammed with one another, Vince Herman’s Salmon Heads joined forces with Drew Emmitt’s Left Hand String Band to play a New Year’s Eve show at the Eldo, a live music venue in Crested Butte. Salmon is a band who, over their thirty-year career, has never stood still; they are constantly changing, evolving, and inspiring. If someone wanted to understand what Americana music is they could do no better than to go to a Leftover Salmon show, where they effortlessly glide from a bluegrass number born on the front porch, to the down-and-dirty Cajun swamps with a stop on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, to the hallowed halls of the Ryman in Nashville, before firing one up in the mountains of Colorado.

The band now features a line-up that has been together longer than any other in Salmon history and is one of the strongest the legendary band has ever assembled. Built around the core of founding members Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman, the band is now powered by banjo-wiz Andy Thorn, and driven by the steady rhythm section of bassist Greg Garrison, drummer Alwyn Robinson, and keyboardist Erik Deutsch.

Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman says, “A long strange swim it’s been for Salmon. Through many incarnations, losses, joys, festivals, bars, barns, mountains, rivers, oceans, benefits, weddings, and goat yoga sessions; we have kept the big ball rolling with a love of music and each other to keep ourselves plowing ahead the only way we know how. Thank you all for letting us have this much fun for so long.”

Leftover Salmon Winter 2020 Tour Dates
1/15 Wed – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX*
1/16 Thu – Empire Control Room & Garage – Austin, TX*
1/17 Fri – Gas Monkey Live! – Dallas, TX*
1/18 Sat – Gruene Hall – New Braunfels, TX*
3/6 Fri – Crystal Bay Casino – Crystal Bay, NV
3/7 Sat – Warfield Theatre – San Francisco, CA^
3/12 Thu – Community Concert Hall Durango, CO
3/13 Fri – The Commonwealth Room – Salt Lake City, UT
3/14-15 Sat-Sun – Knotty Pine – Victor, ID
3/20-22 Fri-Sun – Boogie At The Broadmoor – Colorado Springs, CO

* w/ Jason Boland & The Stragglers
^ w/ ALO

For more information, tour dates, and other LoS news, please visit www.LeftoverSalmon.com.

 

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Vince Herman + Drew Emmitt (From Leftover Salmon) On Tour This Winter

VINCE HERMAN + DREW EMMITT
(FROM LEFTOVER SALMON)
ON TOUR THIS WINTER

DENVER, CO — First coming together on a late October evening when Vince Herman wandered into the Walrus Saloon in Boulder, Colorado, after being enticed by a sign reading “Bluegrass Music Here Tonight,” and met Drew Emmitt, whose band was playing that night, the pair have been reshaping the musical landscape ever since. First at house parties and the campgrounds at festivals, then in Emmitt’s bluegrass outfit the Left Hand String Band, before coming together and forming the legendary roots band Leftover Salmon on New Years Eve thirty years ago.

Since then, these two have been blazing new musical paths with Leftover Salmon, taking the music at their core, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, bluegrass, Cajun, soul, zydeco, jazz and blues, and crafting it into something new that has spawned a legion of bands in their wake. With their unpredictable approach in a live setting, their willingness to take chances by fusing disparate musical styles together and their incorporation of non-traditional bluegrass covers into their repertoire, Leftover Salmon has pushed that progressive bluegrass sound they were originally influenced by to the next level. Instead they are firmly settled in the long lineage of bands that defy simple categorization, always setting their own musical agenda.

The two long-time collaborators are hitting the road for a rare run of acoustic-duo shows performed in intimate settings that will celebrate over thirty years of musical friendship. Each night will be a journey through the pair’s long history and touch on all realms of their vast musical catalog including everything from well-known favorites to long-forgotten gems, and everything in between.

Vince Herman + Drew Emmitt on Tour
12/19 Thu – Barley’s – Knoxville, TN
12/20 Fri – Asheville Music Hall – Asheville, NC
2/6 Thu – City Winery – Atlanta, GA
2/7 Fri – City Winery – Nashville, TN
2/8 Sat – 185 King Street – Brevard, NC
2/9 Sun – Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA
2/11 Tue – City Winery – Washington, DC
2/12 Wed – City Winery – Philadelphia, PA
2/13 Thu – City Winery (2 shows) – New York, NY
2/14 Fri – The Egg – Albany, NY
2/15 Sat – Stage One – Fairfield, CT
2/16 Sun – City Winery – Boston, MA
2/27 Thu – Kenny’s Westside Pub – Peoria, IL
2/28 Fri – Redstone Room – Davenport, IA
2/29 Sat – City Winery (2 shows) – Chicago, IL

For more information, tour dates, and other LoS news, please visit www.LeftoverSalmon.com.

 

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Announcing The High Hawks On Tour: Vince Herman, Adam Greuel, Chad Staehly, Brian Adams, Will Trask

Introducing The High Hawks, Announcing Tour Dates

Denver, CO — Introducing the world to a new and exciting all-star project consisting of some good friends from the Americana, jam, and bluegrass worlds. Please meet THE HIGH HAWKS.

No one knows where the train will take them. It’s one you jump on out of the curiosity and excitement of the unknown. The very wonder of what the stars and the spirits will conjure on any given jubilee. And what the hell is a High Hawk?

Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra), and Will Trask (Great American Taxi), come together with friends like Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) as well as others to play songs, perhaps bringing an unusual sparkle to the galactic core.

THE HIGH HAWKS will be playing some Fall dates with more to come. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

10.18.19 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO*
10.19.19 – Cervantes Other Side – Denver, CO*
10.20.19 – Aggie Theatre – Fort Collins, CO*
11.7.19 – The Back Room @ Colectivo – Milwaukee, WI @#
11.8.19 – Spirit of Peoria – Peoria, IL @
11.9.19 – La Crosse Distilling Co. – La Crosse, WI @
11.10.19 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI @#

* – with special guest Kind Country
@ – with special guest Tim Carbone
# – with special guest Chicago Farmer

For more information and to stay in touch with THE HIGH HAWKS, follow along @thehighhawks on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thehighhawks) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/thehighhawks).

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Bill Scorzari Releases 1st Single From New Album, Produced by Neilson Hubbard, Feat. Erin Rae

Bill Scorzari Releases His 3rd Studio Album, Now I’m Free, September 20, 2019

Born of the past three years’ introspection and contemplation of the human condition, Scorzari writes some of his most compelling compositions to date

Produced by Neilson Hubbard at Skinny Elephant Recording,
With Performances by Erin Rae, Will Kimbrough, Eamon McLoughlin, Michael Rinne, and more

First Single “It All Matters” Out Now →  https://itallmatters.hearnow.com

 

“With a somber musical style and a hushed, gritty vocal that rises like the morning mist to mingle with Erin Rae’s grounded tones, ‘It All Matters’ is just outright pretty. Now I’m Free should be nominated for awards this year with its depth of grace and innovative tones; Scorzari taps into a nexus between the familiar and the uncanny.” —Americana Highways

Pre-order with “It All Matters” available now on iTunes

(Huntington, NY) —  On September 20, New York native, Bill Scorzari, independently releases his third full-length album of all original music titled, Now I’m Free. His sound is gritty, raw and at times, downright sad. His songs transition through a multitude of emotions, with themes centered on the experiences of the human condition. Of his music, some say it’s spoken word, and others, an amalgam of the voice of Tom Waits, the delivery of Sam Baker, and the soul of Kris Kristofferson. In his lyrics, there is a poetic grace, a calming and resigned wisdom of acceptance that shines through the wistful melancholy of hope, and breaks free. No Depression wrote, “Bill Scorzari is a force. His songwriting is stellar, his picking above par and his voice fits his songs perfectly.”

Bill says of the record, “During the past three years and beyond, I found myself in a place that demanded prolonged introspection and profound healing to be able to navigate through and journey past. This record is a journal of some of the lessons and discoveries that I’ve encountered along the way.”

Produced by Neilson Hubbard (Orphan Brigade), Now I’m Free was recorded and mixed by engineer Dylan Alldredge at Skinny Elephant Recording in Inglewood, TN and mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master Studios. Hubbard says, “Bill tears himself open on these 15 songs and leaves it all out there in plain sight. He is an open book delivering a record of astonishing intimacy… and the gravel and whispers in his voice carry a true knockout punch.”

The album was performed live in the studio by Scorzari and a long list of critically acclaimed and otherwise notable musicians including, Hubbard on Drums/Percussion, Multi-Instrumentalist Will Kimbrough, Vocalist Erin Rae (Americana Music Association nominee for Best Emerging Artist of 2019), Fiddler/Strings Eamon McGloughlin (AMA nominee for Best Instrumentalist of 2019), Upright and Electric Bass player Michael Rinne (AMA nominee for Best Instrumentalist of 2019), Brent Burke on Dobro, Juan Solorzano on Electric Guitar and Lap Steel, Lap Steel player and Vocalist Megan McCormick, Greg Krockta on Harmonica, and Vocalist Mia Rose Lynne.

 

Bill Scorzari. Photo by Jim Marchese

Throughout the entire album, Bill’s authenticity as a songwriter moves you through his music breath by breath. Profound and poetic, Scorzari’s emotionally charged and introspective compositions are sung with a knowing tenderness of heart.

 

The album opens with “Into the Light Of the Day,” of which Scorzari says, “Faith and trust are so important. When they are called into question, for whatever reason, it becomes difficult to see things clearly. We become distressed, and our distress makes it even harder to find clarity… Nothing can resolve until we look directly at it and confront the full depth of it all. The first step toward doing that is both the most difficult and the most liberating step, taking what troubles you into the light of the day.” 

This is fitting to describe Bill’s music in general and his approach of digging deeper into his own depth and bringing his thoughts and experiences honestly and authentically into the light through the medium of music.

He writes in the title track, “Now I’m Free,” “So, I stood there by the waterfall flowing from the bridal veil, with an angel dressed in rags. She said, ‘To hell you ride.’ And, to hell we sailed. And, we never did look back. And, she said, ‘Every word I say is true and someday you will see, spending all of our time always tryin’ to break through, leaves us no time for tryin’ to break free, and it’s time to break free.’”

Another standout track on the album is the first single, “It All Matters,” with Erin Rae adding vocal harmony. When asked about what the lyrics of this track mean to him, Scorzari says, “It’s so important to be attentive to each other. The way toward that goal, is to start to be more attentive to ourselves, to heal what needs to be healed in us and to find a path forward to our own better existence… It’s never too late to shine a light through the darkness... The big things are important, but so are the little things. It all matters.”

The nearly 11-minutes of “Yes I Will” were recorded in an unrehearsed, epic “first take” in which Bill sings, “And, I know these thoughts will come and that they will go again, and yes, I know, yes, I can still chase the harder days away with just some paper and a pen, the way the sun will rise and embrace the white moon in its own black skies, and then there’ll be no need to try to make me smile. Won’t you help me to more easily reveal my broken soul?...  I’m only distracted by my motion when I’m intent on standing still. And, if you let me have the time to just keep on tryin’ to break through, just to be human, well then, yes, I will.” 

Bill Scorzari. Photo by Jim Marchese

There is a wide variety of soundscapes in Now I’m Free, ranging from the slow country waltz of “Over Again,” the catchy uptempo road song “Treat Me Kind,” the sleepy-slow, intoxicating, drunken-swaying groove in “San Miguel County,” the crushingly intimate and breathtaking “One More Time,” and the raging blues number, “Steel Wheels.”

“When Will My Time Come Along” is a humble reminder of the seemingly endless struggles we must endure, and the importance of small accomplishments made along the way towards larger pursuits. It’s chord progression manifested easily in Scorzari’s mind, as did the lyrics for “It’s Just What I Know,” when he found himself in that “longed-for space where the words you’ve desperately searched for, and have been struggling with how to say, suddenly arrive as a gift in an unfettered moment of clarity.”

Although he picked up his first guitar at just 8 years old, it wasn’t until 2011 that he was able to give his artistry the attention it deserves. The passing of Bill’s father and role-model, whose footsteps he had followed into the practice of law, marked a time of profound change and opened a new chapter – one that required a giant leap towards pursuing a passion that had long been tucked away in Bill’s heart. The three albums (and their titles) that he created thereafter, represent the narrative and catharsis of his journey: past, present and future. 

The first two, Just the Same (2014) and Through These Waves (2017), were both released to critical acclaim. Waves, a spring release, made several best-album-of-2017 lists, including Folk Alley and Elmore Magazine. Jim Hynes, in his review of Waves in Elmore, says of Bill, “…his thoughtful, cinematically shaped songs that continue to resonate after repeated listens. Yes, this is a ‘must hear’ for singer-songwriter aficionados.” One such aficionado, WFUV’s John Platt, says, “Bill Scorzari has a lived-in voice that says, ‘Listen to these songs. They spring from the earth and the ocean with an open heart and the wisdom of experience.’” 

The success of his first two records allowed Bill to share stages with Sarah Jarosz, Sam Outlaw, The Dustbowl Revival, Tall Tall Trees, Seldom Scene, Billy Strings, Frank Fairfield, Tom Marion, Zak Sokolow, Jonah Tolchin, Jenni Lyn Gardner (Della Mae), Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, Twisted Pine, Whiskey Myers, Big Country, and many others. In July of 2019, Bill became “One of the folk,” with his inaugural performance at the Newport Folk Festival.

This third installment in his discography, Now I’m Free, offers a deeper and unguarded look into Scorzari’s soul, weathered and bared, and rooted in the present moment while moving freely into the unspoken promises of the future.

For more information, up-dates and news, please visit www.billscorzari.com, www.facebook.com/billscorzari, www.twitter.com/BillScorzari, and www.instagram.com/billscorzari.  

Now I’m Free Track Listing:

1. Into the Light of the Day (5:07)
2. Over Again (4:40)
3. Now I’m Free (3:44)
4. It All Matters (4:35)
5. One More Time (4:07)
6. When Will My Time Come Along (3:58) 
7. Treat Me Kind (3:23)
8. San Miguel County (4:36)
9. It’s Just What I Know (4:47)
10. Steel Wheels (4:48)
11. You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone (2:59)
12. Yes I Will (10:51)
13. Cypress Tree (3:37)
14. Don’t You Ever Go Away From Me (4:20)
15. New Mexico (I to Mine) (7:20)

PERFORMANCE CREDITS BY MUSICIAN
Bill Scorzari: Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Erin Rae: Harmony Vocal (Track 4)
Mia Rose Lynne: Harmony Vocals (Tracks 2, 14)
Will Kimbrough: Electric Guitar (Tracks 5, 7, 10, 15), Slide Guitar (Track 7), Mandolin (Track 11), Cigar Box Guitar (Track 14), Piano (Track 5)
Juan Solorzano: Electric Guitar (Tracks 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12), Lap Steel Guitar (Tracks 2, 8, 9, 11), 2nd Acoustic Guitar (Tracks 4, 15)
Megan McCormick: Lap steel (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 13), Harmony Vocal (Track 6)
Brent Burke: Dobro
Greg Krockta: Harmonica
Michael Rinne: Upright Bass & Electric Bass
Neilson Hubbard: Drums/Percussion, Piano (Track 14)

All songs, lyrics and music written, arranged and performed by Bill Scorzari

 

Bill Scorzari Tour Dates

8/24 Sat – Taste Budd’s Cafe’ – Red Hook, NY
8/25 Sun – Dogwood Bread Company – Wadhams, NY
8/26 Mon – Radio Bean – Burlington, VT
8/27 Tue – Abilene Bar and Lounge – Rochester, NY
8/30 Fri – Plain Folk Cafe’ Music & Coffee House – Pleasant Plain, OH
8/31 Sat – Over Yonder House Concerts – Toledo, OH
9/1 Sun – Visible Voice – Cleveland, OH
9/4 Wed – Uncommon Ground – Edgewater Listening Room – Chicago, IL
9/5 Thu – The Elbo Room – Chicago, IL
9/6 Fri –  Wild Rose Moon – Plymouth, IN
9/7 Sat – Wild Rose Moon – Plymouth, IN
9/8 Sun – Ca’d’Zan House Concerts – Cambridge, IL
9/13 Fri – Black Forest Community Center – Colorado Springs, CO
9/14 Sat – The Laughing Goat Coffee House – Boulder, CO
9/15 Sun – The Muse Performance Space – Lafayette, CO
9/21 Sat – Cafe Zippy – Everett, WA
9/22 Sun – Tim’s Tavern – Seattle, WA
9/27 Fri – Artichoke Music – Portland, OR
9/28 Sat – Crown Alley Irish Pub – Ocean Park, WA
10/3 Thu – Flynn’s Cabaret & Steakhouse – Felton, CA
10/5 Sat – The Shady Lady House Concert – Saratoga, CA
10/9 Wed – The Blue Guitar at The Arroyo Seco Golf Course – South Pasadena, CA
10/11-12 Fri-Sat – 16th Annual Far-West Conference – Woodland Hills, CA
10/25 Fri – Pecan Grove Store – Fredericksburg, TX
For more information, up-dates and news, please visit www.billscorzari.com, www.facebook.com/billscorzari, www.twitter.com/BillScorzari, and www.instagram.com/billscorzari.

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OUT TODAY: Reed Foehl Releases ‘Lucky Enough’ Recorded w/ Band of Heathens

Reed Foehl Releases 5th Studio Album, Lucky Enough, Feb 1, 2019

Recorded in Austin, TX with The Band of Heathens
Co-Produced by Reed Foehl with Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi

Available Now On All Outlets to Stream and Purchase → http://hyperurl.co/3xm6td

POWNAL, VT — With the Feb. 1, 2019, release of Reed Foehl’s fifth solo album, Lucky Enough, fans will get a dose of powerful medicine, a cathartic collection of 10 songs that Foehl recorded with help from a mighty musical force, The Band of Heathens, at their Finishing School studio in Austin, Texas. It’s an album that will undoubtedly solidify his standing as one of the most compelling and vital Americana artists around.

On Lucky Enough, Foehl touches on a range of Americana styles, all with emotionally charged lyrics and can’t-get-out-of-your-head choruses, from somber folk elegies and gospel-tinged tunes to barroom country singalongs and jaunty calypso-flavored, country-infused pop. These are deeply personal songs for Foehl, and while they were written during some dark days, there’s a sense of optimism and gratitude, an overriding feeling that the hope outshines the heartbreak.

Lucky Enough is dedicated to the memory of Foehl’s mother — “the Queen of Everything” — and a keen sense of loss flavors the album. But there’s also a sense of hope, of forward momentum, change and a celebration of love, including not just the romantic variety but the kind a guy has for the oldest of old friends. For Foehl, creating Lucky Enough with The Band of Heathens has been a cathartic process. “If I can help myself, maybe I can help others,” he says. “You’ve got to keep moving forward. I think that’s the important thing. Live to fight another day.”

What People Are Saying:

“Certain songwriters have an innate gift for infectious songs that just linger for days on end. Reed Foehl is one of them. Each song on his fifth album, Lucky Enough, tells a story in his quietly understated way that somehow results in powerful imagery and emotions… This is as good as songwriting gets. Foehl’s lyrics are often astonishing and his relaxed, comforting approach works wonders.” —Glide, Jim Hynes

“His voice—smooth, companionable, and flavoured with a touch of palatable wisdom—is the first thing one is likely to notice. But the songs are masterfully constructed, some poetic and symbolic, most situational explorations brought to fruition with elegantly nuanced instrumentation… ‘Stealing Starlight’ and ‘American Miles’—both expansive, grandly produced three-minute epics, worthy entertainment for listeners who appreciate Josh Ritter, Fleet Foxes, or Vance Joy.” —Fervor Coulee, Donald Teplyske

The Bluegrass Situation premiered “Stealing Starlight”

“Reed Foehl’s excellent album Lucky Enough takes the listener on an existential journey to fill life’s holes. Written at an impossibly difficult time in Foehl’s life, while he was caring for his mother who was battling cancer, Foehl would be understood for writing a melancholy record. Lucky Enough ducks expectation. It does not feel melancholy. It feels settled. Not resigned, but at peace with life’s challenges and tribulations.” —The Marinade with Jason Earle, Listen in to a Podcast Interview

“Reed has the ability to transport the soul, a true master. One of the great songwriters of our time.” —Gregory Alan Isakov. Isakov co-wrote the debut track, “American Miles,” a road song that was inspired by traveling and the great american landscape. Glide Magazine premiered “American Miles”

“Reed Foehl is like a brother to me, we’ve traveled a lot of miles on the road together, and I don’t think they make better singer-songwriters than him.” —Todd Snider  

“He starts out with the gentle strumming ‘Stealing Starlight’ and the quiet acoustics of ‘American Miles,’ which just excels into the beautiful landscape that Reed paints with his words. He begins to pick the tempo up with the steady rhythm of ‘If It Rains’ and ‘He’s On An Island,’ but sandwiched in-between is the piano ballad ‘Carousel Horses.’ Reed Foehl finishes up his new album with the pop/folk tone of ‘Wish I Knew’ and wonderfully, emotion-filled ‘Color Me In.’” —JP’s Music Blog, Jim Pasinski

“I fell for this album just a few moments into its first track, ‘Stealing Starlight.’ There is something so sad and yet oddly comforting in Reed Foehl’s vocal delivery that worked on me immediately and pulled me in, so that I wanted to pay closer attention to every word, to see what this voice had to tell me.” –
—Michael’s Music Log, Michael Doherty

“Reed Foehl is a familiar voice in the wilderness calling you home.  His songs are part New England Folklore, told around an old wood stove in the midst of a winter’s blizzard and part Southern Charm, warm and inviting, like the spring breeze that welcome the magnolia blossoms.” —Ed Jurdi, The Band of Heathens

“Reed’s songs hit you in the heart, and everything else falls away” —Anais Mitchell

Reed Foehl. Photo By Kate Drew Miller

More About Reed Foehl & Lucky Enough:

Foehl certainly took an unexpected route in getting to Lucky Enough. Then again, he says, “I’ve always done things very unconventionally.”

A New England native who had long lived in Colorado, Foehl was making a big move, heading to Nashville to continue his craft as an artist and a songwriter. That made sense after co-writing the leadoff song (“Fly”) with up-and-coming country singer/songwriter Brent Cobb on Lee Ann Womack’s 2014 GRAMMY nominated album, The Way I’m Livin’.

On the way, he got a call from his mother, Linda. She had lymphoma, and she needed him. He didn’t hesitate, ditching his fully loaded car in Nashville and flying straight home to Massachusetts. “It put in perspective what life’s about,” he says. “This was important, definitely more than any of these records I’ve made.”

While he cared for his mother, Foehl kept at his songwriting, thanks to the sponsorship of a longtime friend and hockey teammate. Keeping the creative flames burning was vital. “It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am. I’m writing songs so people can hear them and so I can be OK. That’s really the gist of it,” he says.

After Foehl lost his mother in July 2017, he knew he had to keep moving forward and started thinking about recording an album. Although he launched his solo career with the release of Spark in 2001, he played in bands for years, notably fronting Acoustic Junction and then as a charter member of Great American Taxi. For his fifth solo album, he thought, why not go into the studio with a full-fledged band? “With all my records. I like to take leaps and chances and want to try different things,” he says. “I said, ‘What about doing it with The Band of Heathens?’”

Foehl had toured as an opener with The Band of Heathens, and he knew and loved their tones and sound and how they worked together. The Heathens, for their part, had really hit it off with Foehl on tour and were primed to help him make an album. “We really dug his stuff and felt like it would be a good match,” said Ed Jurdi, who co-produced Lucky Enough with Foehl and fellow Heathen Gordy Quist, with both Jurdi and Quist adding guitars and vocals on the album. “What I felt our job was, was to put him in a position where he could do his thing, just really make him comfortable. The record is about Reed and his songs, so how do we elevate that by adding what we can do? The idea as a producer is to both create a record the artist likes and making an album that the artist didn’t know they could make.”

The great thing about the Heathens, Foehl says, is they always knew when to hold back and when to let it rip, deftly embellishing the 10 songs on Lucky Enough. “They are very much chameleon-like,” Foehl said of the Heathens, “capable and talented enough to adapt and play any style of music.”

Foehl’s solo career has been bookended by loss, losing his father, Billy, in 2001 around the time Spark came out and then his mother preceding Lucky Enough, with three albums in between — 2007’s Stoned Beautiful, 2009’s Once an Ocean and 2014’s Lost in the West. Growing up in Dover, Mass., his parents were a huge influence for Foehl, filling the house with John Prine music and playing for decades together in a bluegrass/country band called The Centre Streeters. His parents encouraged him in his musical passion, regularly taking him to Boston, where he cut his teeth as a performer, busking at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace at the tender age of 11.

Lucky Enough Track Listing
1. Stealing Starlight (3:33)
2. American Miles (3:22)
3. If It Rains (4:48)
4. Takes a Long Time to Make Old Friends (3:18)
5. Carousel Horses (3:00)
6. He’s on an Island (3:26)
7. Running Out of You (3:46)
8. Wish I Knew (2:36)
9. Hello My Dear (4:12)
10. Color Me In (3:28)

Reed Foehl – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Gordy Quist – guitars, background vocals
Ed Jurdi – guitars, background vocals
Trevor Nealon – keyboards, background vocals
Jesse Wilson – bass guitar, background vocals
Richard Millsap – drums, background vocals
Geoff Queen – pedal steel

Engineered and mixed by Steve Christensen
Mastered by Fred Kevorkian
Green Mountain Records

Reed Foehl On Tour Supporting Todd Snider!
3/13 Wed – The Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
3/14 Thu – Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA
3/15 Fri – The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA
3/17 Sun – Infinity Music Hall & Bistro – Hartford, CT
3/18 Mon – The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
3/20 Wed- The Beacon Theater – Hopewell, VA
3/22 Fri – Lincoln Theater – Raleigh, NC
3/23 Sat – The Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC
3/24 Sun – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
5/2 Thu – The Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA
5/3 Fri – The Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
5/4 Sat – Rams Head On Stage – Annapolis, MD

For more information and updates, please visit www.reedfoehlmusic.com, www.facebook.com/ReedFoehl, www.twitter.com/reedfoehl, and www.instagram.com/reedfoehl.

 

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Reed Foehl Shares Song From ‘Lucky Enough,’ Recorded with Band of Heathens, Due Out Feb 1

Reed Foehl To Release 5th Studio Album, Lucky Enough, Feb 1, 2019

Recorded in Austin, TX with The Band of Heathens
Co-Produced by Reed Foehl with Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi

On Tour with Todd Snider in March!

POWNAL, VT — With the Feb. 1, 2019, release of Reed Foehl’s fifth solo album, Lucky Enough, fans will get a dose of powerful medicine, a cathartic collection of 10 songs that Foehl recorded with help from a mighty musical force, The Band of Heathens, at their Finishing School studio in Austin, Texas. It’s an album that will undoubtedly solidify his standing as one of the most compelling and vital Americana artists around.

Other artists have long sung the praises of Foehl. As fellow songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov notes, “Reed has the ability to transport the soul, a true master. One of the great songwriters of our time.”

Isakov co-wrote the debut track, “American Miles,” a road song that was inspired by traveling and the great american landscape. Glide Magazine premiered the song and writes, “…the vocals in the beginning immediately conjure images of staring out the window of a car as it cruises along a lonesome highway at sunrise. Foehl keeps the instrumentation sparse, letting a lightly picked acoustic and the quiet thumb of a drum create the groove while the occasional flourish of a piano and a tambourine. His vocals have a dreamy folk quality that reflects the quietly reflective lyrics.”

Listen to “American Miles”→ http://bit.ly/AmericanMiles_GlidePremiere.

Todd Snider, whom Foehl will be touring with in March 2019, says, “Reed Foehl is like a brother to me. We’ve had a lot of miles on the road together, and I don’t think they make better singer-songwriters than him.”

Ed Jurdi of The Band of Heathens, a fellow native of Massachusetts, was downright poetic in his expression of admiration for Foehl, “Reed Foehl is a familiar voice in the wilderness calling you home. His songs are part New England folklore, told around an old wood stove in the midst of a winter’s blizzard and part Southern charm, warm and inviting, like the spring breeze that welcome the magnolia blossoms.”

On Lucky Enough, Foehl touches on a range of Americana styles, all with emotionally charged lyrics and can’t-get-out-of-your-head choruses, from somber folk elegies (“Stealing Starlight” and “American Miles”)  and gospel-tinged tunes (“Carousel Horses”) to barroom country singalongs (“Long Time to Make Old Friends”) and jaunty calypso-flavored, country-infused pop (“Wish I Knew”). These are deeply personal songs for Foehl, and while they were written during some dark days, there’s a sense of optimism and gratitude, an overriding feeling that the hope outshines the heartbreak.

The uncannily cinematic album takes its title from the chorus of “If It Rains,” on its surface a Dust Bowl ballad about persistence in the face of the vagaries of nature. “If it don’t shed a tear, we wait ’til next year, heartbroken but lucky enough,” Foehl sings in the unforgettably melodic chorus. With the final verse, it’s clear the song digs deeper than drought when he sings, in a voice worn and weary but warm:

“With the cold came the snow

On our favorite place to go

I carved the slated path

Just thought you should know

And built a wooden bench

Then laid it in cement

Out of love and in memory of.”

Foehl certainly took an unexpected route in getting to Lucky Enough. Then again, he says, “I’ve always done things very unconventionally.”

A New England native who had long lived in Colorado, Foehl was making a big move, heading to Nashville to continue his craft as an artist and a songwriter. That made sense after co-writing the leadoff song (“Fly”) with up-and-coming country singer/songwriter Brent Cobb on Lee Ann Womack’s 2014 GRAMMY nominated album, The Way I’m Livin’.

On the way, he got a call from his mother, Linda. She had lymphoma, and she needed him. He didn’t hesitate, ditching his fully loaded car in Nashville and flying straight home to Massachusetts. “It put in perspective what life’s about,” he says. “This was important, definitely more than any of these records I’ve made.”

While he cared for his mother, Foehl kept at his songwriting, thanks to the sponsorship of a longtime friend and hockey teammate. Keeping the creative flames burning was vital. “It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am. I’m writing songs so people can hear them and so I can be OK. That’s really the gist of it,” he says.

After Foehl lost his mother in July 2017, he knew he had to keep moving forward and started thinking about recording an album. Although he launched his solo career with the release of Spark in 2001, he played in bands for years, notably fronting Acoustic Junction and then as a charter member of Great American Taxi. For his fifth solo album, he thought, why not go into the studio with a full-fledged band? “With all my records. I like to take leaps and chances and want to try different things,” he says. “I said, ‘What about doing it with The Band of Heathens?’”

Foehl had toured as an opener with The Band of Heathens, and he knew and loved their tones and sound and how they worked together. And The Heathens had just opened their own studio in Austin, christening it by recording an update of the entire landmark Ray Charles album, A Message from the People. “These guys are really good,” Foehl says. “If I hire them, it’s a built in sound. They’ve been playing together forever.”

The Heathens, for their part, had really hit it off with Foehl on tour and were primed to help him make an album. “We really dug his stuff and felt like it would be a good match,” said Ed Jurdi, who co-produced Lucky Enough with Foehl and fellow Heathen Gordy Quist, with both Jurdi and Quist adding guitars and vocals on the album. “What I felt our job was, was to put him in a position where he could do his thing, just really make him comfortable. The record is about Reed and his songs, so how do we elevate that by adding what we can do? The idea as a producer is to both create a record the artist likes and making an album that the artist didn’t know they could make.”

The great thing about the Heathens, Foehl says, is they always knew when to hold back and when to let it rip, deftly embellishing the 10 songs on Lucky Enough. “They are very much chameleon-like,” Foehl said of the Heathens, “capable and talented enough to adapt and play any style of music.”

Quist even pitched in on the writing of “Wish I Knew,” helping Foehl take the song in a direction he would never have thought to go. Musically, it playfully moves along at a frisky pace, while lyrically Foehl wrestles with some of the life’s big questions:

“If the choices were just black and white

I’d a half a chance to get things right

How to make it through the dark of night

Only wish I wish I knew”

In addition to Quist and Jurdi, the other Heathens playing on the album include Trevor Nealon (keyboards), Jesse Wilson (bass guitar), and Richard Millsap, (who played drums as well as electric guitar), along with Geoff Queen on pedal steel. Lucky Enough, which will be released on Green Mountain Records, was engineered and mixed by Steve Christensen and mastered by Fred Kevorkian.

Foehl’s solo career has been bookended by loss, losing his father, Billy, in 2001 around the time Spark came out and then his mother preceding Lucky Enough, with three albums in between — 2007’s Stoned Beautiful, 2009’s Once an Ocean and 2014’s Lost in the West. Growing up in Dover, Mass., his parents were a huge influence for Foehl, filling the house with John Prine music and playing for decades together in a bluegrass/country band called The Centre Streeters. His parents encouraged him in his musical passion, regularly taking him to Boston, where he cut his teeth as a performer, busking at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace at the tender age of 11.

Lucky Enough is dedicated to the memory of Foehl’s mother — “the Queen of Everything” — and a keen sense of loss flavors the album. But there’s also a sense of hope, of forward momentum, change and a celebration of love, including not just the romantic variety but the kind a guy has for the oldest of old friends. For Foehl, creating Lucky Enough with The Band of Heathens has been a cathartic process. “If I can help myself, maybe I can help others,” he says. “You’ve got to keep moving forward. I think that’s the important thing. Live to fight another day.”

Reed Foel Holiday Shows This December with Gregory Alan Isakov
12/22-22 Fri-Sat – Gold Hill Inn, Boulder, CO

Reed Foehl
Photo by Kate Drew Miller

Reed Foehl On Tour Supporting Todd Snider March 2019!
3/13 Wed – The Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
3/14 Thu – Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA
3/15 Fri – The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA
3/17 Sun – Infinity Music Hall & Bistro – Hartford, CT
3/18 The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
3/20 Wed- The Beacon Theater – Hopewell, VA
3/22 Fri – Lincoln Theater – Raleigh, NC
3/23 Sat – The Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC
3/24 Sun – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC

Lucky Enough Track Listing
1. Stealing Starlight (3:33)
2. American Miles (3:22)
3. If It Rains (4:48)
4. Takes a Long Time to Make Old Friends (3:18)
5. Carousel Horses (3:00)
6. He’s on an Island (3:26)
7. Running Out of You (3:46)
8. Wish I Knew (2:36)
9. Hello My Dear (4:12)
10. Color Me In (3:28)

Reed Foehl – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Gordy Quist – guitars, background vocals
Ed Jurdi – guitars, background vocals
Trevor Nealon – keyboards, background vocals
Jesse Wilson – bass guitar, background vocals
Richard Millsap – drums, background vocals
Geoff Queen – pedal steel

For more information and updates, please visit www.reedfoehlmusic.com, www.facebook.com/ReedFoehl, www.twitter.com/reedfoehl, and www.instagram.com/reedfoehl.

 

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