Americana Rhythm Music Magazine Issue #97

Americana

Are You

Looking Good?

A check list for the touring musician

It is early December, and for many of us touring-types the touring season is about over. We are looking to 2023 and beyond to see how it will play out and what we can make happen. Performance mode starts to switch to promotion mode. It is a good time to review all of your promotional material. It is also a good time to ask yourself some tough questions.

Does my promotional material still relate to today’s buyers?

Is your material up to date?

Does it reflect recent releases, awards, accolades etc.?

Does it still tell your story?

Does your material work as well digitally as in print?

Does your material capture attention at first glance to intrigue a buyer to look further?

These can be hard questions to answer for yourself as an Indie musician. I find it is very difficult to appraise your own material objectively. It is also hard to find someone you trust to review it for you. If you have a manager or agent, they should be happy to help. If you know a buyer or presenter well, ask him/her to review your material from the buyer’s perspective.

In the process of doing this, I often find shortcomings in how I documented the previous year’s touring.

Did I make sure I took, and kept, good live video?

Did I capture clear images of my live show?

How is the sound quality?

Can I use it in this year’s promo material?

Did I get good still shots? Are they interesting and well lit?

And show what you want to present to a buyer?

When you are out playing and being in the performance moment, it is hard to be thinking of next season’s

promotion material. But you or someone on your team needs to be.

For me, it is one of the most difficult challenges of touring. I prefer to just perform and concentrate on playing and putting on a good show. But afterwards, I am always looking for that one moment, that one song where it all worked. Can we compile tonight’s show video into a solid two-minute promo piece? You would think this is easy to accomplish, but it’s not.

So you’ve gone through all the hours of video, all the write-ups, all the photos, written and rewritten your bio, and you think you have it down. Whew! Now it is time to ask that trusted person or two to review it from their perspective. And be ready for what they have to say. Maybe they will love it, but probably they will have some constructive input for revisions, especially if you chose your trusted people wisely. Take those comments to heart and incorporate their suggestions. It will pay off.

Then, when you are asked for a one sheet, hi-res photos, and live video from a buyer/ presenter or marketing team, you will be ready. You can submit material in a timely manner, not scramble to create it. You can confidently focus on playing and performing again until you have something to update.

Best of luck to you, and I look forward to seeing you during the 2023 touring season.

Greg

Smiling Is Good Medicine

Mean people really do exist … or maybe, just maybe, they are misunderstood. I began pondering on this recently, and came up with the conclusion that whatever frame of mind I am in for the day might seriously affect the way I interpret someone else’s vibe. If I’m not feeling good, I might not be ready to see past someone’s scowl and then I’m like, “what’s up with that guy?” When I am in the mood to dance through the day with a smile on my face, I hardly ever interact with a meanie. Even if I might run across someone who wants to throw a cloud in my sunshine, I usually smile and move on, hoping the smile might cheer them up.

Now, there are folks who are naturally more cheerful than

others and yes, obnoxious about it. I am one of those on most given days. I wake up wanting to sing with the dawn while my long suffering husband eases down the hallway and wants peace and quiet for his first two cups of coffee. I howl laughing at him cringing as I start talking about whatever I’ve been reading, or what I might have dreamed, maybe my honey-do list for the day. Nine times out of ten, he throws his hand up like a crossing guard and tells me it’s too early to think, but he is never a meanie, just a grumpy morning person.

I’ve gone through an off day, when a headache or something going on in my overwhelming life that turns upside down, knowing I might not have smiled in the

grocery store, or I might have overlooked a kindness I could have offered to someone, and thought, “did someone see me as a meanie today?” That is just a horrifying idea to me because I really try to be a good person, and it upsets me to think I might have put off bad energy in someone’s direction. Being a good human being is a big responsibility when you think about it. What if my furrowed brow robbed someone else’s smile? That’s a really big deal. With that heartbreak in my mind, I try to be more aware of the example I am trying to set. Lord knows, I don’t want to be a meanie, not when I have so much to be nice about.

Lately my little daddy, who lives here with my husband and I, does this thing with his face when he’s thinking of something. It looks like a grimace and I tease

him about it all the time because it makes him look mad. Dad is the perfect example of someone who could be judged all wrong if he were strolling down the sidewalk with that look on his face. My dad is one of the kindest men I know, always ready to help someone any way he can. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

These days I really try smiling at passers by like I have the best secret in the world … and maybe I do! The secret is, I love a challenge, and putting a smile on a meanie’s face is just the kind of dare I’ll give myself. I know I might be setting myself up for that, “what are you looking at?” sort of comment, but if I just keep on walking, maybe that person will think about my smile all day. And maybe, just maybe, they will pay that smile forward when they encounter their own meanie.

Donna is the IBMA Songwriter of the year for 2016, And 2017 Song of the Year winner. She was also the 2018 SPBGMA Songwriter of the year. Her latest CD, Livin’ Large, on Blueboy Records, was released in February 2022.

DonnaUlisse.com

Guitarist Chris Luquette

C hris Luquette is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with national touring outfit Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen. He is electrifying as an articulate, adept bluegrass flatpicker, and he also shines as a multi-instrumentalist in his local Brooklyn music scene and on his two album releases, The Way I View the World, (2019) and, City Suite for Two Guitars (2022).

Luquette grew up in Seattle, where he gravitated towards the guitar at eleven years old. “My dad was listening to classic rock and roll radio all the time, and my ears perked up,” he remembers. He began his music journey with a nylon-string guitar, an electric guitar, and an eclectic mix of Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and eventually the Grateful Dead. “I simultaneously kept playing acoustic and electric guitar those first few years. As a teenager, the electric guitar was full-force, the most important thing.”

So how did bluegrass find its way to Luquette’s musical palate? “Having spent some time on the nylon string acoustic guitar, I still had the taste to play some acoustic stuff,” he says. A friend pointed him to the music of the Grateful Dead, and the folk and bluegrass roots of the Dead’s music resonated with Luquette. He dug a little deeper, reading books about the band and their influences, and found a live Bill Monroe album at the local library. This recording, featuring Del McCoury on guitar, inspired Luquette. “I remember thinking, this is it right here, it’s fast and furious and the energy’s high. I was just hooked right away,” he reminisces. “It wasn’t until I’d already been playing six or seven years when bluegrass came into my life, and that’s when the acoustic guitar took over for decades.”

During those teen years, now with a steel-string Martin guitar and a “hankering towards bluegrass music,” Luquette also acquired a banjo and mandolin and studied both of them. With this diverse background, Luquette finds that his skills land him quite a few gigs in the vibrant New York City music scene. When asked if he has a practice routine to maintain his many skills, he explains that his life as a

busy working musician keeps him warmed up on his different instruments and styles. “I’ve been playing a lot of gigs, so my work schedule might be a telecaster gig, a bluegrass guitar gig, two mandolin gigs in a row, a banjo gig—it’s crazy. So I don’t even have to think, ‘Oh am I going to practice this today?’ I just go to a gig and do it. I’m not saying I practice on the gig; I like to warm up and practice some stuff in the morning, or the day of the show, but I don’t have as much time as I wish to do some of the things I’d like to do.”

Luquette’s 2019 recording, ‘The Way I View the World,’ is a masterful showcase of his musical breadth, a unified blend of his many styles. He presents his bluegrass songwriting, acoustic flatpicking, mandolin and banjo artistry, as well as his classic country and telecaster work. He also includes a Dawg-style original

tune with jazz voicings, two versions (acoustic and electric) of Tony Rice’s ‘Is That So.’ And, a classical rendition of a traditional polka somehow fits right in. Explaining his concept for this eclectic mix, Luquette says, “Maybe there’s a little jackof-all-trades, master-of-none thing going on here, but I like all these different sounds. So it’s just trying to keep myself interested, too.”

Luquette enjoys playing his influences off of one another in order to stay engaged. “I wish to sound like myself but also pay tribute, because it all comes from somewhere. You can follow along in that idea of respecting the boundaries of each genre, the sounds, and also how they all influence each other too. Country telecaster does have some fiddle elements, and some pedal steel elements. So it’s really fun to find a voice on each instrument, and see what happens.”

FEATURE ARTISTS

Tennessee based, Americana Singer/ Songwriter, Billy Hubbard, has musical roots that run back for generations. His mother was in a 40’s and 50’s band called, the Tennessee Pardners, that toured the southland with many great artists of their day.

“Mom played the mandolin and guitar, and they recorded several of the old 78 speed records in their day,” Billy told us. “Today I have a cousin who is named June Anita because June Carter and her sister Anita both wanted my uncle Ovid (who played in mom’s band) to name my cousin after them. Mom said they often became friends with other artists, (some who would go on to be famous), while lined up to play live at radio stations.”

“My dad played lap steel guitar and acoustic guitar, but was never in my mom’s band. Actually when my mom and dad married, and the first of my three sisters was born, my mom became a stay at home mom, as was expected in those days. Even though she left the band, she still played guitar and mandolin regularly at home, church, and family gatherings, so I was certainly influenced by her,” he added.

Billy said his earliest memories as a child was getting into trouble for popping open the old Martin guitar case, or his mom’s Gibson mandolin case, to play with what he thought were fun toys to bang on. “In honor of my mom, Shawn Camp

Thanks to our partnership with ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com) we are honored to give you a peak at a few of the nation’s hardest working indie artists. Each month we select one entry to showcase for you here. Enjoy!

MONTH’S

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contracts. As an A&R, I love the hunt, and the ability to help artists develop, but I do not like the business side of it. All things considered, I am and will always be a singer/songwriter, even if or when all my other hats are long gone. That’s one thing I don’t think I can shake even if I tried, so that would be my favorite.”

played her old Gibson mandolin on “Goodbye Waltz,” which is the song on my album that I wrote about her passing. I had a bit of trouble getting through that song when recording, but I decided to leave my vocals as is. She taught me my first few guitar chords, just enough to play the popular songs of her day.”

Felt Like A Companion Felt A Felt Like A Companion Felt A A

Billy said that from an early age music has felt like a companion or friend that’s always there for him. “My favorite thing has always been to play for my own soul,” he said, “by finding a quiet spot just for me and my guitar. I’ve always tried to encourage others to learn an instrument of their choice for their own pleasure if nothing else.”

Throughout his career, Billy would meet talented artists spinning their wheels, and he felt the need to help them. Over time, he found himself with the experience, ability, and contacts to be able to point them in the right direction with their development. “It almost feels like music has pursued me until I caught it,” he exclaimed. “As far as my music, I tend to be a storyteller

songwriter. When something moves or excites me, it feels natural to tell it in a song.”

Among his many other career achievements, Billy is also is also cofounder, venue developer, and booking manager of the iconic venue, The Station, in East TN. His YouTube channel featuring up and coming artists and live shows has had over three million viewers.

In early 2021, Billy decided to devote a year to produce the best album possible with his many friends in the music industry, bringing together the best musicians, the best engineers, at the best studio in Nashville, to record his 10 best unpublished songs spanning 40 years. This past September, Billy released the self titled, 10 song album, and features Country Music Hall of Fame, Grammy winning Charlie Mccoy (harmonica), Grammy winning artist, Shawn Camp (fiddle and mandolin), Travis Anderson, currently bassist for Mountain Heart (upright bass/ electric bass), Ryan Sise (coproducer/lead guitar), Bethany Jean Smith (vocals on two duets), Casey Green (drums), singer songwriter, Scarlett Egan (background vocals), and Richard Hill (background vocals).

Getting It Done It Done Done

Music

Multi-tasking

Music Multi-tasking Music Multi-tasking Music

Multi-tasking

Billy wears a lot of hats in the music business these days. “I have favorite parts of each, and parts of each that feel more like work,” he quipped. “As a singer/songwriter I have stories to tell, so I love giving birth to a song and feeling it come to life with a full band, then seeing it to completion in the studio. I also love performing in listening rooms and festivals, but I don’t enjoy the work of rehearsing,” he said.

“As a producer I love producing music, events, and podcasts that I’m excited to share with others that I know they will love. However I don’t enjoy sitting at a computer spending time with emails and

“I’m a terrible procrastinator,” Billy said. “But after losing a few friends during covid, I decided to make producing an album with my 10 best unpublished songs my #1 priority. Also I wanted to produce quality over quantity, making the best fidelity record possible at one of the best studios in Nashville, featuring some of my legendary friends while they’re still with us, such as Charlie McMoy who’s now 81 yrs old. Charlie has played with everyone from Dylan to Elvis, so it was an honor for him to like my songs enough to want to play on the four songs that needed harmonica. I also have a new single “All About Love” that I recorded while in the studio producing my new album. I will be releasing it just before Valentine’s Day, February 2023.”

THIS

FEATURE: By Greg Tutwiler

Billy Hubbard Billy Hubbard Billy Hubbard Billy Hubbard Hubbard

BY DAN WALSH

Darren Beachley

Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Darren Beachley has made a name for himself in the straight-up bluegrass world, but his latest effort reveals a different approach as he takes a stroll down a new bluegrass/Americana road his latest solo album, The Road Not Taken

He set his musical direction pretty early, learning to play when he was just a lad. His dad was a professional bluegrass musician, so of course there was always a mandolin lying around. “I picked up the mandolin when I was about four years old, just because, honestly, I don’t know if I was that much interested in the music, or I was interested in the attention it brought, then all of a sudden I was like ‘I really like this.’” Later, at about nine or ten years old, his dad recruited him as bass player for his band “…I started playing in bars with my dad at 11 years old,” Darren recalls. “I saw a lot of things most eleven-year-olds shouldn’t see probably…” At 14 Darren moved to the dobro and continued down the bluegrass path for the next 40odd years.

The Maryland native has strung together an impressive career, getting his big break as the Dobro player in Bill Harrell’s band The Virginians. Another career highlight was joining Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver as its lead vocalist and guitarist, and touring the globe with them for four years. After returning home to Maryland and refocusing on family life, he formed Legends of the Potomac. He continued gaining renown for his original songwriting, skilled musicianship, and soaring vocals.

While he took a slight detour into the realm of parttime day jobs and part-time music, he was constantly generating music. He ended up doing a “covid sessions” kind of recording, by remotely collaborating with many of his musical friends. The resulting album, The Road Not Taken, blends a mix of new, original material and bluegrass classics. Some of the featured guest artists on the album include Sam Bush, Clay Hess, Alan Bibey, Scott Vestal, and many more.

To find out more, visit www.darrenbeachley.com

Trent Summar

Veteran Nashville songwriter Trent Summar calls the music he creates these days “farm rock,” his own unique blend of traditional and contemporary country with heartland rock & roll and honky tonk.

Trent sums up his initiation into music succinctly: “My third grade music teacher put me on-stage for a ‘Hee Haw’ show and it got in my blood…Any time anybody had a PA with the mic on, I was there…” Later, he would learn recording, as well as the music industry ins and outs at Middle Tennessee State University’s renowned music business program.

This “eighth-generation Tennessean” now calls California home, after an epic, year-long “move” from TN to CA via mostly Northern states. His latest EP release is fittingly called I Might Get Used to California

About the title track Trent says, “My wife heard me play it for the first time and she said ‘That’s the best song you’ve ever written,’...A couple of other people have said that…”

This is saying something, for a writer whose career, often as a paid staff writer, has spanned two decades and generated hits including (among many others) his first big success, “Guys Like Me,” (co-written with Nashville Songwriters hall-of-famer, Kostas) and recorded by Gary Allen; “Somewhere between Texas and Mexico” (co-written with Irene Kelley), recorded by Pat Green, and one of his biggest hits, Jack Ingram’s version of “Love You” (co-written with Jay Knowles), which reached the Top Ten, garnered Summar a BMI Award for One of the Most Performed Songs of the Year, and also won a CMT video award.

After so many years in the Nashville trenches, Trent now takes a more relaxed (California-style?) approach to his music, including playing out. “There’s a lot of cool places to play here. You can pick up a Sunday afternoon gig, make a few hundred dollars and have fun with your friends. That’s kind of my speed these days…I have enough hits that people almost think they know who I am.”

To find out more, visit www.trentsummarmusic.com

www.AmericanaRhythm.com

K. K. Hammond

K.K. Hammond is a singer-songwriter and slide guitarist who channels the dark and gritty vibe of the swamp and old Appalachia into her personal take on the blues, which has been sometimes labeled “horror blues.’ “I’ve always loved the blues…I’ve always loved horror films and murder ballads, the darker folk music,” the artist explains.

“The old blues has a lot of mystique and folklore and legend surrounding it…”

She took an interest in guitar, blues music and Americana from an early age, and spent several years exploring the back country of the U.S. Eventually, she settled back into the Buckinghamshire countryside in the U.K. where she works with horses. A self-professed hermit living in an isolated spot in the woods, K.K. enjoys exploring the wilderness surrounding her home to seek inspiration for her song writing. Originally from London, K.K. has always found herself drawn to the more isolated country life.

As often happens for developing musicians, she took a pathway away from this starting point. “When I was a teenager, I started playing with metal bands…With the passage of time I started getting into a more sedate pace of music, and that saw me slide more into folk and bluegrass.

She picked up a slide guitar about six years ago. “I can see myself never playing standard tuning again,” K.K. admits. “It’s something that resonates with me—excuse the pun…it’s a style that you can play with a lot of feel; you can blank your mind, forget about what you’re doing and just play that guitar, totally from the soul…”

K.K. Hammond’s debut album, Death Role Blues, is due out in March of 2023. It’s a concept album taking an in-depth, soulful look at death. Despite that fact, the artist delivers some of the songs in a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek manner, with an expansive pallet of emotional expression that is sure to capture the ears and imagination of every type of blues fan.

To find out more, visit www.thecurseofkkhammond.com

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

ARTICLES

The Band Is Causing Problems

One of my new favorite groups of 2022 has to be, The Fly Birds. The four ladies that make up this Winchester, VA, based group, herald themselves as, free range mountain sirens

They are an award winning quartet that embodies alternative Bluegrass and Appalachia. Elizabeth Baker (banjo), Mary Dunlap (bass), Sarah Twigg (guitar) and Crystal Shipley (fiddle), have been together about seven years. They released their first full length original album, The Band is Causing Problems, in 2020 and are set to release their sophomore project in early 2023.

I caught up with co-founder, Sara Twigg, recently, to learn more about the group. Two of the members are moms, and home school their children, so presently, the band generally only plays weekend dates, and tries to stay within a three hour drive from home. They all have

alternative sources of income, but put a heavy focus on growing the groups base and playing as often as possible.

Sarah said the band originally started as a trio about seven years ago, and added a fiddle player a little later. “We just really liked how it added to the sound,” she remarked.

Sister Harmony

“Liz and Mary are sisters,” Sarah said. “So they grew up playing music together. I had musical parents, so I got exposed to music at an early age, and the same thing with Crystal, our fiddle player, She started fiddle at a pretty young age too. It all started with going to bluegrass festivals, and things

of that nature. We all met at a young age, doing some instrument competitions, and we stayed in contact. One day, we said, ‘you know, we really need to play some music together.”

By Greg Tutwiler

Sarah said that although they were all raised on traditional bluegrass, they also have more modern musical styles of influence. “I think the two kinds

of music fuse together”, she said. “I think it’s kind of like what Tony Rice did, in a lot of ways. You know, he covered so many songs, and he did it with this just spectacular touch. I think it’s because of how many different influences he had going on. And that’s how I feel when we perform music. We try to draw on everything, whether it’s Neil Young, or the pop group Eurythmics,” she surmised.”

Playing Covers

The band actually started out as a cover band, because they hadn’t really written a whole lot individually. “Eventually, we’d get together and say, ‘hey, I wrote this. What do you think?’ And after we had been playing for a while, we decided, ‘let’s try and do these originals,’ and it turned out to be a success doing our own stuff.”

Sarah said the band stays booked pretty steady. “I try to book every weekend, and multiple times a weekend, within a three hour drive. Even with that, we are pretty busy. We played four shows in one day recently. But I

would not change it. I love, love doing it,” Sarah said.

The band does play further out than Virginia, and would like to do more of that. “The furthest we’ve gone is Wisconsin and Maine. We are going to Colorado next fall. We submitted an application for the Telluride band competition. And we’ve played in Tennessee too,” she recalled.

The band just released a single, a Patsy Cline cover, from the new album they’re working on called, The Band Is Playing Covers . “So far it’s got a lot of great feedback,” Sarah said. “We’ve had a lot of requests from our fans; ‘Oh, we love that song. Do you have it on recording?’ So this will be something for the fans.” It will feature a crowd favorite rendition of the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams;” and a Bob Dylan cut, a Gordon Lightfoot song, and even a Gillian Welch cover will be one of the 13 songs on the new album .

To find our more, check out the Fly Birds face book page at; www.facebook.com/thoseflybirds

ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

Sun King RisingDavid Arn

Rock music and biomedical science are strange bedfellows, but it is the bed that John Blangero, has made for himself. One listen to Delta Tales , the soulful debut album he

released in 2020 under his aflter-ego, Sun King Rising, will make the oddness of that pairing seem almost normal. The intermingling of his music and his work as a genetic scientist are not strange at all, it turns out. “Call it the Genetics of Soul,” he says.

The follow up, Signs & Wonders, was released in October 2022. John calls it “The New Wave of Southern Rock ‘n Soul Music.” Lyrically, the songs of both albums are vignettes of love found, love lost, family, faith, historical burden, betrayal, sin, and redemption, set in a southern cultural landscape, but still expressing themes that are universal and compelling.

Although born and raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, John’s connection to Southern music is at least partially explained by his mother’s upbringing. “I’d always heard a lot of hymns,” John recalls. “My mother comes from a Southern family…[they were] Primitive Baptists,” a group known for its “sacred harp” gospel singing.

His musical journey involved a typical rebellion against his beginnings playing hymns on piano, as he spent his teens and subsequent years doing rock & roll, mainly as a front man. He let the piano fade into the rear view for an extended period. However, as he has evolved musically, the instrument has reasserted its importance for him. “I didn’t play piano for quite a while there…Now I’m very focused on keyboards,” says John.

When asked about his distinctive alter-ego, John explains, “I’m kind of a flamboyant dresser and speaker. I have a notable look with my ‘lion’s mane’...As a scientific speaker, people started calling me the “Sun King” because there was resemblance with the French Sun King…” (Louis XIV).

To find out more, visit www.sunkingrisingcom

After a long introduction to music via classical piano lessons, David Arn found himself, around age 12, being drawn instead to rock music. His ear lead him further down that path. “I had enough of a background that I could easily make the transition. I remember, even in high school, I would have classmates come up…they would hear a song on the radio and say ‘Could you figure out the chords of this song for us?’ I had an ability to play by ear so I could write it out for them…” His ear also helped him pick up and teach himself guitar. He went on to do the typical high school rock band thing, and then life’s obligations led him away from music for a time.

“So I had stopped for a long time,” David, now aged 74, says, “and then 10 years ago I put out my first album.” That was Postmodern Days. Three more would follow, the most recent being Watershed, released in September 2022. It features “A mix of soft acoustic songs written and recorded during the pandemic…about separation and isolation amid confusing emotions of the time,” (Broadway World). David’s style encompasses folk and soft rock within a solid Americana framework. He is known for his deeply thoughtful lyrics, as well.

“That’s what really gave birth to Watershed ,” David recalls, “I just started exploring some themes that were more personal. And at the end of the road on that, I almost was not going to put it out. When we started recovering from Covid, and I sat back and looked at the songs, I said, ‘Nobody is gonna want to hear these songs.’ Because they might be a little bit too personal.” He says about the very serious title song, which deals with PTSD, “It’s not a song you can really dance to…”

David has also leveraged the powerful imagery of his lyrics to meld his music with a number of notable videos, which have been screened at film festivals and even won some awards, such as the song, “Losing Track of Kimberly.”

To find out more, visit www.davidarn.com

Kevin Arizona

Born in Manitoba and raised mostly in the Vancouver area, Canadian, Kevin Arizona (a.k.a Kaz) was bitten by the performance bug at age 13. After an early childhood in a home immersed in music, including a mom who was into drums (“She set me up with spoons and upside-down Tupperware”) and dedicated to singing, Kaz, remembers a particular moment when music became his prime focus.

He was with his 16-year-old bandmates, and he recalls, “It was a big party…We got to go and hang out with this band. At the first break they took, they said, ‘We’ve got some local boys here that are gonna get up and play a song for you!’...I was bitten from that moment on.”

He pursued performing in earnest until the birth of his second daughter, at which point he “settled down” into a job with A & B Sound, the wellknown western Canadian electronics and music store chain. Now, 25 or so years later, with children grown, he has jumped back into sharing his music.

As for the style of that music, over the years, Kaz experienced a gradual shift from his rock roots toward, ultimately, Americana. “I set to working on my craft as a songwriter. So, in doing so…I got into more heart-felt story-telling…”

“I’ve been through those stages as a writer,” Kaz explains further, “writing for rock & roll, writing for [country radio]...you don’t have the courage to throw in something that’s really, really heartfelt. You feel like you need to keep it in the main driving lane. And I feel, for me personally as a writer, that Americana has allowed me to veer off that main way…The story is king. At the end of the day we serve the song.”

Kaz’s has a new EP, Crazy Town, was recorded at Bucket Brigade Studio, where Kevin found his new Americana sound. It is due for full release by Christmas 2022 or in early 2023. You can check out the tracks at his website or on the popular streaming sites.

To find out more, visit www.kevinkbandcom

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

North County BandEddy Mann

The six-piece North County Band, featuring acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle, lap steel, Dobro, bass, drums, and three vocalists, was formed in 2020 in Connecticut and released their debut EP, Connecticut, in October 2022.

Rounding out the band’s lineup are: Cat Lines on fiddle and vocals, Bradley Clark on bass, Jimmy Johnston on electric and pedal steel guitars, Jona Ziac on lap steel guitar and Dobro, and Peter Hill on drums, who cowrote the original material on the band’s first EP with founder Scott Smith. “It’s a fun hodgepodge of people, with different backgrounds and different ages, but we all get along really well,” says Scott.

“I’ve got people around me, and in that band,, you know they wanna play,” he adds. “They’re willing to explore original music. We kinda pay the bills with the cover stuff, which we love playing, but we’re moving toward the original direction…” Looking to the future, the band would really like to do a full-length album (with eight to ten songs) in 2023, which would include Cat Lines as songwriter, along with Scott and Peter. They would try the songs live to see which ones sparkle the brightest.

As they increase their presence in the wider indie music scene, North County Band has started getting some well-deserved recognition. In a traditional vein, they were nominated for the New England Music Association’s 2022 Rising Star award for their state. A unique buzz, including local TV coverage, was created when Connecticut governor Ned Lamont shared the song “Connecticut” in his Twitter feed.

But it’s not all about building the band’s own buzz. They have also partnered as “ambassadors” with Spread Music Now in its mission “to bring the highest quality music education to as many students as possible” in this age of scaled-back arts education in many schools.

To find out more, visit www.northcountyband.com

Eddy Mann has been a full-time musician for most of his adult life, a fact for which he is grateful. “I went to business school…In my second year I decided I was going to take some time off and get ‘the music thing’ our of my blood,” Eddy remembers. “A lifetime later, here I am…I have really truly been blessed…I’ve always had an income.”

He continues, “I’m really happy with the niche that I’ve grown to have. There’s an audience that finds what my message is relevant, and I’m thankful that I have a platform to share it with people.”

After17 albums, Eddy wears the label “prolific” authentically. “I’ve always got multiple projects I’m working on…I write all the time. I never sit around thinking ‘What am I gonna do next?’

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Eddy spends most summers there, doing shows with a band. He calls Melbourne Beach, FL home the rest of the year, focusing on solo performances. Over the long years of his career, he played with many combination of people, but often found himself dissatisfied with how things went, or restricted by the band format. “The reason that I started doing solo dates as a singersongwriter was because my wife got tired of me complaining about the bands…I went out and realized this was what I always wanted—I wanted the opportunity to change the set or change the arrangement midstream…As it turned out…after I accepted that role, that’s when I ended up finding a group of musicians that not only were above my expectations, but they loved playing in the same environment…”

Eddy’s latest album is called Trio and features 12 songs that he wrote during the month of February, 2022 after taking on the February Album Writing Month challenge to write 14 songs in 28 days. (He ended up with a total of 18.) “It’s the last thing I really needed to do,” Eddy laughs, “because I don’t have problems writing songs. I just thought it might be a good discipline for me…” The primary influence on his writing came from listening to organ-based jazz trio music the month before. The format informed his approach to recording February’s bounty of songs.

To find out more, visit www.eddymann.com

Ludlow Creek

Ludlow Creek is a group of five close friends and talented performers who love to create and perform music together.

Leveraging their strong bond of friendship and utilizing an array of instruments (including acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and occasionally mandolin), they create genuine, heartfelt music that has been described as “modern classic rock.” Formerly known as Southbound, the band re-christened as Ludlow Creek when they made the decision to prioritize the creation of original music over the mastery of classic rock cover tunes, which they had previously been known for. With the new name came the re-release of a previous originalsfocused album, Hands of Time, which went on to win the silver medal in the US Band Album of the Year category of the International SingerSongwriters Association Awards.

Glass-half-empty types would say the band’s timing was a bit off, with their rebranding coming right as a worldwide pandemic hit. However, in the depths of the pandemic, the group managed to maintain the momentum generated by their change of moniker, finding the silver lining in the cloud of covid. What might have been a limiting factor to others was suddenly full of possibility for a group of creatives with a new identity to live into. Virtual sessions and quarantining for group work kept them together. A retreat to Nashville for writing in a loft full of possibility and promise brought inspiration and progress.

About their most recent album, Which Way Is Forward, The band has released three singles from the record, the second of which was “Stoney Lonesome Road.” The video has been selected by a number of indie film festivals.

Looking toward the future, Dave says, “When we were recording Which Way Is Forward , we were already putting songs together for what’s next. So we have a bucket of songs…” Look for a five-song EP or full-length album from Ludlow Creek in the first half of 2023.

To find out more, visit www.ludlowcreek.com

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

J. J. Voss

Raised on a small farm in southern Saskatchewan, JJ Voss began his journey in music at age eight, and has been following in the footsteps of legendary troubadours like Steve Earle, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen ever since. The Americana artist draws from the well of his farm upbringing to craft songs about real life.

JJ recalls the challenges and joys of farm life. “It was a great way to grow up. It was hard work…but when you look back on it later, it helped instill a work ethic in myself and my siblings.”

The fateful moment when music grabbed his attention came when he found his dad’s guitar. “He had a National Duolian Dobro, one of the old steelbodied ones…He taught me a few chords and I was pretty fascinated with it.” By about age 12, JJ was jamming with others his age in his first band. Despite the ascendancy of sports in his rural community, he had connected with some fellowtravelers. “There were four or five of us who really got bit by the music bug. We would have band rehearsals and they lasted a whole weekend…”

Now, with over two decades of dedicated musical craftsmanship under his belt, JJ Voss has focused his passion for songwriting and performing, drawn from his many experiences in life.

October 2022 saw the release date of his new, emotional single, “A Letter to Dad.” The Voss family farm reached the 100-year milestone in 2022 but faces an uncertain future. “The last time I spoke to my father before he passed,” JJ explains, “I promised that I would do everything I could to keep the land in our name and preserve our family’s home. I wrote ‘A Letter to Dad’ to give him an update and to reaffirm my resolve to find a solution.”

“With my writing, I’m pushing myself to drill down deeper into my own truth, which is both scary and exhilarating,” he says. “...The imperfections of humanity are, to me, what makes art compelling. I’m working hard to write unvarnished, uncalculated truth.”

To find out more, visit www.jjvoss.com

When Music Had No Bounds

BY DAN WALSH

Jeremy Parsons

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Jeremy Parsons grew up soaking in the sounds of the Lone Star State. Always a music fan, it wasn’t until his later high school years that he discovered his ability to actually create it. Driven by his newfound passion, he taught himself to play the guitar and began to write and perform music.

Over the past decade, Jeremy has played all over the U.S. and in Europe. Following the example of other Texas artists, Jeremy loves to interact with his audience, captivating the crowd with his genuine personality and unique humor. His authentic dedication to his craft shines through each performance.

Jeremy’s latest song, “Tickin’” (released in October 2022) defies solid categorization, but the artist is upbeat about getting it out to listeners. “Back in the day, the labels were like the gatekeepers, but these days it’s more like the playlisters. So you’re trying to find a home for your track.” While the unadorned song would certainly fit somewhere in the alt country / Americana realm, the production of the track pushes it toward neo-folk, with a distinctly “industrial vibe,” as Jeremy describes it. “This one has been kind of fun and frustrating. I personally don’t know where it goes.”

The song resulted from a collaboration with a friend and producer coming from an musically eclectic point of view. “We just started messing around with some stuff,” Jeremy says. “It was weird but it worked. It’s one of those things where you don’t necessarily mix stylistically, but something about this really seems to work.”

Stay open to the possibilities, Jeremy says, “I think when stuff like that happens, you gotta pay attention.” A line from the song resonates with this point of view: “Another line about some wasted youth / It’s not wasted if you choose to learn.”

Although Jeremy acknowledges the freedom he has now as he has transitioned away from working for labels to being an independent songwriter, he also says, “It’s always been about…I’m not guiding the music, in a certain sense, I think in a lot of ways, it’s been guiding me.”

To find out more, visit www.jeremyparsonsmusic.com

By Edward Tutwiler

Many times in past issues, I’ve mentioned my mother’s perchance of keeping string music (her description) playing on the radio. Thus, in the hills of Appalachia that was our home in the 1940s and 50s, where radio was the only outlet to the larger world, my young self was immersed in the sounds of the folks who were of or near to that first generation of recorded country music. We listened to music broadcasts aired on our hometown radio station (WSVA, Harrisonburg, VA), regional broadcasts out of Wheeling WVA, Richmond, VA, and of course WSM in Nashville, TN. It seems to me as I reflect back, that the act known as Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper was always in the mix of folks picking and singing on those stations.

During a recent trip to Parsons, WVA to a bluegrass festival, I discovered that Randolph County, where I was visiting was the ancestral home place of these two country music greats complete with road signs and other designations. Of course I got nostalgic remembering the sounds of my youth and decided I needed to learn a bit of background concerning these two folks and hope that you might as well.

Wilma Lee Cooper was born as Willma Leigh Leary on February 7th, 1921 in Valley Head a tiny village located in the rugged mountain region of eastern West Virginia. She was the youngest of three daughters of Jacob and Lola Leary. He was a farmer and she a teacher although they were also very musical. Some sources suggest that while her name was listed by the US census as Willma Leigh Leary, at some time, either Wilma simplified her name to Wilma Lee or the census taker got it wrong.

From the age of five, Wilma was singing along with her sisters, Jerry and Peggy, and parents as the Leary Family Singers. Community hymn singing had a strong following in the area where they lived. Ben Duvall-Irwin, a member of the Elkins Depot Welcome Center, in an essay quoted Valley Head resident George Swecker as saying that Wilma said that her family played at every single Protestant church

ARTICLES

in Elkins (WVA). In an essay in Bluegrass Unlimited, Wilma indicated that she got her start singing gospel music with her family, The essay quoted her as saying, “Mother and Daddy would sing nothing but gospel— the old four-part harmony, shaped note style—and my daddy had a fine bass voice.”

Apparently achieving some fame after several years of performing to local audiences in churches and school auditoriums, the Leary Family, in 1938, achieved national recognition when they were selected, through regional and state talent contest eliminations, to represent the state of West Virginia at the National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. organized by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Radio Station WSVA

As a result of this exposure, Mr. Jacob Leary obtained a job for the family at radio station WSVA in Harrisonburg, VA. Wilma told the writer of the Bluegrass Limited essay that they had “the most popular show in that whole area and that their listeners loved a family that sang the gospel music. In 1941 the Leary’s increased their following when they moved to WWVA (then a 5,000 watt station) in Wheeling, WVA.

It was just before or during this WSVA gig, the family hired Wilma’s future husband, Dale T. Cooper, better known as Stoney, to play fiddle for them to replace Mrs. Leary’s brother who needed to return to his regular vocation as a school teacher.

Dale Troy Cooper was born in 1918 in Harman, West Virginia,

son of Stellie M. and Kennie Cooper. The 1920 US Census finds his family in the Allegheny Mountains of the Dry Fork District. Apparently Cooper did not attend high school but this was not unusual for that time period in rural areas. Dale grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry and teaching himself to play fiddle like his idol, Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith By the time he was a teenager, he was a skilled and self-taught fiddler and guitarist.

As to the nickname “Stoney”, in an essay by Mary Rayme (rurallibrarianwv.blogspot.com/) she tells us that local resident and genealogist Ted Harman made some inquires in and around the Dry Fork region of Randolph County regarding the nickname. According to some relatives who still live in the region: Folks who attended Cooper’s performances called him “Smiley” because of the happy smile he wore while onstage. Supposedly, Dale Cooper did not like this nickname and as a result folks then started referred to him as “Stoney” instead.

The Work Of The Fiddle

At a very early age, Cooper accepted a job as fiddle player with a group known as the Green Valley Boys. It was while performing with this band on

radio station WMMN in Fairmont, WVA that the Leary Family first heard him and decided he was the one they needed to replace their departing fiddle player.

w elcome to the Holiday edition of SPINS for 2022. It’s getting cold outside, which means more time inside to listen to all these new CDs by your favorite Americana artists. We can’t wait to catch these folks live in 2023. The music future looks bright indeed! Please tell these folks we sent you! Buy their CD. Support your favorite musician so they can keep making more music for you!

Got someone you want us to consider? send it to:

Uncle Woody

The Spin Doctor, PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812

Appalachian Road Show Jubilation

www.theappalachianroadshow.com

The intention of this group was to bring to light the culture and lifestyle of the Appalachian music each of the members of the band grew up on. Their first album debuted in 2019 at the IBMA. Their sophomore album is every bit as good as the first.

The Bluegrass Cardinals

The Essential Bluegrass Cardinals www.cmhrecords.com/products/ essential-bluegrass-cardinals

One of the best loved and most influencial bluegrass groups of the 70s. Founded by father and son Don and David Parmley. This generous collection is an instant treasure for any collection.

The third project from this Nashville, Country-Americana band; it’s an energetic fusion of Americana, honky tonk, and Western swing - and features guest appearances by Jim Lauderdale, Ray Benson, Marty Stuart, and more.

The Best Of The Classic Capitol Singles www.wandajacksonmusic.com

Often refered to as the queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson’s songs never disappoint. This re-issue contains 29 A & B sides from the original mono 45 masters. A great add to any collection.

The unheard studio sessions and demos 1971-1972 www.townsvanzandt.com

Any Towns Van Zandt fan will appreciate this collection. These alternate versions add an entirely new dimension to his already timeless music. This collection will make you appreciate the wordsmith and his talent even more.

Radio John: Songs Of John Hartford www.sambush.com

It’s the first studio album from Sam in a few years. If you love Sam, you are aware of his appreciation of John Hartford. It’s only appropiate that Sam pays tribute with a full album of John’s treasured music. You will not be disappointed.

Appalachian Gothic www.erikvincenthuey.com

Erik is also know and Cletus McCoy, co-founder of cowpunk group, The Surreal McCoys. This is Erik’s debut, solo project. As a fourth generation descendant of West Virginia coal miners, Erik digs closer here to his roots for stories and inspiration.

The Jorgensens

Americana Soul www.thejorgensens.com

The Jorgensens were formed in St. Paul in 2014 by Kurt and Brianna Jorgensen. Americana Soul is their latest release (November), and features their signature steelsharp musicianship, honeysoaked harmonies, and relatable lyrics. Good stuff.

Bobby Gentry

The Girl From Chickasaw County: Highlights from the Capitol Masters www.jeffreyhalford.com

Who doesn’t love at least one Bobby Gentry song? Bobby released seven diverse studio albums throughout her recording career. This second compilation aims to be “all killer, no filler.”.

Game

www.jimlauderdalemusic.com

This two-time, Grammy winning, Americana icon has been an instrumental contributor to the Americana, Altcountry scene for years. The perpetual songwriter has released 35 full length albums. No small feat. His latest could be a Game Changer.

Ashley Heath

Something To Believe www.ashleyleeannheath.com

Seven years ago, Ashley gave up her job as a barista to pursue her dream of a music career. It paid off. Now, with her debut EP, Something To Believe, she’s ready for the big stage. The set is entirely self written and produced. It’s solid Americana from a very talented singer.

Lindley Creek Freedom, Love, and the Open Road www.lindleycreek.com

Hailing from the Ozark mountains, this new album marks a slight turn for the music of the Greer family band as they look to acheive a new sound in the bluegrass genre’. Their new album is one to keep your eyes on for sure.

Charley Crockett

The Man From Waco www.charleycrockett.com

Charley Crockett wrote or cowrote all 14 songs on his latest project, The Man From Waco . Some say it’s the purest distillation of his artistry to date. Charley has released 10 albums since 2005, this is the second in 2022.

www.gospelplowboys.com

Still Standing is the fourth album from this bluegrass/gospel band. Their dress is period specific to the 30s and 40s, designed to represent a time when people struggled in life, but also trusted their Christian faith to see them through..

You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812 / greg@americanarhythm.com

Wanda Jackson

Towns Van Zandt

Sam Bush

Erik Vincent Huey

Jim Lauderdale

Changer

The Gospel Plowboys Still Standing

The Shootouts Stampede www.shootoutsmusic.com

Music From Your Neighbors

Music From Around The World

Continued from page 13

Young love blossomed, and Wilma and Dale married in 1941. In 1942 Ms. Cooper gave birth to their only child, Carol Lee. The young family took a break from the road at this juncture, and Dale took a day job as a delivery driver. Following a short break, the call of the road was too strong and the Cooper’s returned as a duo and sang on radio shows in Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois and, North Carolina. They began a decadelong residency on WWVA radio in Wheeling, W.Va., in 1947. During this era, they also made several recordings for the Rich R Tone recording label and later signed with Columbia Records, where they stayed until 1953 before moving to Hickory Records. It was at this label that they achieved their greatest commercial success. With Stoney’s fiddle and backup singing and Wilma’s lead singing and guitar picking the duo of Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper became the most famous husband and wife group of the classic era of country music.

Now, if they are thought of at all, the Coopers are lumped into the bluegrass genre and this is not accurate. Wilma Lee Cooper was a musical product of that durable mountain music of her native Appalachia. That music was an entwined grouping of styles with origins in old-time ballads and fiddle tunes, as well as with rousing gospel singing and sentimental parlor songs.

Considered A Bluegrass Singer

While she is now labeled as a bluegrass singer, some say her voice was a strong alto and well suited to the noisy auditoriums and schoolhouses in which she and her husband performed in their early career; that it was projected a more raw and forceful approach than that typically heard in bluegrass. In a 1982 interview in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, Wilma said, “My style is just the old mountain style of singing, I am traditional country. I’m a country singer with the mountain twang to it.”

Although remaining very traditional, they were flexible performers and incorporated material from contemporary

They achieved another top 10 hit with the old blues standard “Midnight Special” that they released in 1959 under the title “Big Midnight Special”.

Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper finished out their very successful and full careers as members of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, which they joined on January 12, 1957. They remained members together until Stoney passed away

on March 22, 1977. Membership in the Grand Ole Opry was then and to a lesser extent still is considered the pinnacle of country music thus immortalizing the Coopers with the likes of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, the Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Kitty Wells, and Minnie Pearl. Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper are forever part of this grand gathering of classic country music.

Toward the twilight of her career she remained an almost solitary reminder of the kind of music on which the Grand Ole Opry was founded and to what the genre of classic country music was. Wilma continued recording and playing as a singles act on the Opry with the Cooper’s long time band the Clinch Mountain Clan until she suffered a stroke on-stage in 2001 at the age of 80. Wilma Lee Cooper passed away in 2011 at the age of 90.

The Smithsonian named Wilma Lee Cooper the First Lady of Bluegrass in 1974. Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper were inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

songwriters. In fact, their number 3 charting country hit was a version of “There’s a Big Wheel,” penned by Don Gibson a composer of country ballads.