The Deadstring Brothers' heart beats with pure rock and roll. Simple and shor 'nuff. Built on a the unshakable foundations of blues, rock country and soul, DSB manages to create something at once totally fresh but totally recognizable. It's all ragtops and cold beer, seeds and stems, gatefold LPs and foxy girlfriends with tight, flared jeans. You can imagine them walking as a gang down Carnaby street in London in the late 60's, or tearing up the stage at Cobo Hall in De-troit Rock City or sweating buckets at a Muscle Shoals recording session in the 70's. Read more....

Read a great interview with Kurt "Deadstring Brother" Marschke, where he mentions his past Rootboy shows in Great Falls!

Phil Lee writes intelligent songs full of wit, humor and grace that blend sizzling Dylan-esque rock and roll, country and western, mid-sixties British Invasion and medicine show sounds that end up being utterly unique and sung in a voice that can shoot straight through to your heart.

Spend an Intimate Evening with the Mighty King of Love -- Phil Lee -- one man, one guitar and a bag of great songs about love and death, misplaced faith, discarded spaceships, hard times and the funny side of all that. Guaranteed to please!

Phil Lee "combines the social consciousness of Woody Guthrie with the twisted fury of Jerry Lee Lewis." -- Associated Press

"Phil spills out song after brilliant song . . . his voice a reedy twin to Dylan, his storylines etching the best and worst of people living five days ahead of flat broke. He's the most clever lyricist to ever come out of Nashville." Keth Harrelson, Moonlight on the Mountain -- Birmingham, AL

"The Don Rickles of disenfranchised nashtwang strikes again...Lee presents himself as a lovable, if formerly dangerous, rapscallion. Skirting genre boundaries between rock, soul and country with his music and writing lyrics that knock right through walls of taste, decency and political correctness without ever landing him in a punk-rockish, spittin' for show camp." -- Peter Copper, Nashville Tenessean

Phil Lee Videos:

• The Mighty King Of Love
• A Night In The Box
• 25 Mexicans

Bound by their collective roots in Central Washington and Washington State University, Cody Beebe & The Crooks began performing together in February of 2009 in Seattle, WA. The band spent the following subsequent three years exploring music together and discovering what CBC was to become. The band calls it Roots Rock; some radio gurus have dubbed it Progressive Americana, and others have said “Steve Earle meets Pink Floyd.” Musically, strong elements of gritty blues, classic rock, country, and funk are obvious. More subtle are the splashes of jazz, R&B, and metal. Sometimes soaring above, sometimes smoothly crooning, sometimes twanging, and always deeply emotionally invested, their melodies and lyrics soulfully unite the sound. If their genre can’t be easily named, that says nothing of its approachability and timelessness.

Cody Beebe and the Crooks Videos:

• Nine to Chain
• Waiting on You
• I'll Get Mine

Watch these videos:

• Lonesome, On'ry and Mean - Steve Young
• Seven Bridges Road - Steve Young & Jubal Lee Young

Jubal opens the concert with high-energy, fresh sounds of earthy tunes. Then, Steve anchors the show with his no-holds-barred baritone and lightning-fast, finger-style guitar, taking the audience into the musical soul of America. His vibrant repertoire draws from Roots, Appalachian, Blues, Alt- Country, Americana, Southern Gospel, Celtic and Tejano.

“Once you've heard Steve Young, he's impossible to forget.” – David Freedlander, American Songwriter

You'll hear Steve's own version of popular songs he's written like "Seven Bridges Road," "Lonesome On'ry and Mean" (Waylong and "Montgomery in the Rain." Plus Steve and Jubal, father and son, partner on songs, trading guitar licks and artfully blending their voices in close harmonies only blood bonds can achieve. Together, they are living proof of the force of true roots music.

Steve Young is the American Troubadour – a pioneer of alt-country and Americana music and writer-composer of songs consideredmasterpieces, recorded by The Eagles, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, Waylon Jennings, Dierks Bentley, Travis Tritt, Shooter Jennings and dozens more. Keith Urban sings Steve's “7 Bridges Road” as the first songin his concerts. And Steve's "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" became Waylon's signature tune

Steve counts 14 critically acclaimed recordings on his discography. His newest CD is Stories 'Round the Horseshoe Bend, a live concert recording. Rolling Stone awarded 4 stars to two of Steve's CDs – Renegade Picker and No Place to Fall. Billboard selected his Primal Young a “Critic's Choice,” remarking that "Steve is a singer of major status."

If Keith Richards, Joan Jett and Ray Charles could somehow spawn a love child, it'd be Romi Mayes (suitably pronounced RAW-ME). Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, and renowned as one of the hardest working independent musicians touring the globe today, Mayes has chipped away at the rock and roll stone over the past couple of decades, and now, this Juno nominated, CFMA nominated, four time WCMA award winner, has done it again. Her latest and fifth full length album, 'Lucky Tonight' stamps one more victory in this bad ass guitar playin lady's discography. Featuring guitar demon Jay Nowicki of the well known rockin blues band 'The Perpetrators', Mayes chose to record a rare electric duo album. Not unique enough for ya? Inspired by what another Winnipeg raised artist, Neil Young, did with his 1973 release 'Time Fades Away', Mayes and Nowicki recorded an album of all unreleased and unrecorded brand new songs live and in one take at a sold out concert in Winnipeg in the middle of winter.
All brand new tunes.
All live.
And in one take. "Romi and Jay are an absolute force of an electric blues duo. The end result is an album that's carefully balanced between grinding, grooving roadhouse rhythms, heartfelt guitar solos, and Romi's aching, yearning voice and lyrics.," says Uptown Magazine's John Kendle.

"If Mayes isn’t already included in the realm of badass rock n’ roll songstresses, she should be after this album. This is really how rock should be." -Grey Owl Point

""This is the sort of sound you’d want to hear pouring out of roadhouses as you drive up expecting to get drunk and maybe fall in love."
- David Cowling, Lead Writer, Americana UK Magazine

Romi Mayes Videos:

• Lucky Tonight
• Easy on You
• If The Lord Don't Love You

Third Annual Perennial Rootsfest at Forde Nursery

Carrie Rodriguez with Very Special Guests Sue Foley and Peter Karp
Friday, August 17, 2012
Forde Nursery
2025 2nd Avenue Northwest
Great Falls, MT 59404
406-727-0950

Love and family have always been sources of inspiration for critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/musician Carrie Rodriguez, but never have they featured so prominently than on her brand new release Love & Circumstance, a covers album that includes songs written by her father, and once performed by her great aunt.

Rodriguez' journey from teenage violin student to touring the world with the likes of Chip Taylor (famed songwriter of "Wild Thing), Lucinda Williams and Alejandro Escovedo, has resulted in a prodigious output of recordings - eight albums in as many years - for the young musician; with the new album, Carrie relies on others to handle the songwriting duties, she provides the interpretations.

Praise for Love and Circumstance, released April 13th, 2010

• "...simply an understated triumph. Grade: A " - Glide Magazine (Jun 07, 2010)
• “Carrie Rodriguez proves herself an astute interpreter of other people's material via her latest - and best album to date.” - Lee Zimmerman/BLURT (April 21, 2010)
• “...a case of the right album at … read mothe right time.” - Village Records (04/02/10)
• “...her latest absolutely floored me. It’s a dozen covers so skillfully done that some of the original artists might be tempted to enter the witness protection program. If this isn’t her breakthrough album there’s no justice!” - Phoenix Brown & Lars Vigo/Off-Center Views (May 1, 2010)
• “This is an album that you do not want to miss.” - NoDepression.net (02/04/10)
• “Taken as a whole, the album is a slow burn reminiscent of Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball.... the best showcase of Carrie Rodriguez’s talent to date.” - Juli Thanki/Music & Musicians (May, 2010)

Carrie Rodriguez Videos:

• Absence
• Big Love
• She Ain't Me

Gifted singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and American troubadour, Peter Karp, is a master songsmith with an art for spinning true-to-life emotions, humor, and candor. With an upbringing that was equal parts southern Alabama and the swamps of New Jersey, Karp¹s music is fueled bythe Yankee-Rebel juxtaposition. He first caught national attention with help from Rolling Stone guitarist Mick Taylor who recorded and toured with Karp on his first label release "The Turning Point." Karp further established himself on the national scene as a critically acclaimed songwriter, and accomplished guitarist and pianist with the release of his Blind Pig debut entitled "Shadows and Cracks." On the road across the U.S. and Canada, Karp repeatedly transfixes his live audiences. Critics compare his songwriting to John Hiatt and John Prine, with impressive guitar and slide licks infused by his love of Freddie King and Elmore James. Peter Karp personifies the amorphous Americana sound,seamlessly blending blues and roots music with a high sense of entertainment.

Sue Foley is considered to be one of the finest blues and roots artists working today. Born to a working class family, Sue spent her early childhood moving from Canadian town to town with her mother. At sixteen, she embarked on her professional career. By twenty-one, she was living in Austin TX and recording for the legendary blues label, Antone¹s Records. Her first release, "Young Girl Blues," quickly established her unique talents as a blues guitarist and songwriter. Throughout the 90¹s she took to the road with her paisley Telecaster and honed her craft, working and sharing the stage with such artists as BB King, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty. After moving back to Canada, Sue won the prestigious Juno Award for her critically acclaimed CD "Love Coming Down" as well as seventeen Maple Blues Awards.

Peter Karp & Sue Foley Videos:

• Treat Me Right
• Scared
• Analyzin' Blues
• Absolution
  
  

Since her official 2006 debut, Boundary County, Jewell has surveyed a wide range of traditional musical styles, from the folk and jug band leanings of her early recordings, through an album-length homage to Loretta Lynn and the country gospel of her work with The Sacred Shakers, right up to 2009's Sea of Tears, which bristled with the electricity of '60s UK garage rock and Chicago blues. Queen of the Minor Key draws on everything from classic country (the fiddle-driven "Reckless") to early R&B (the shuffling "Hooked"), with an emphasis on sounds from the seamier side of the tracks. With dirty sax riffs and low-slung guitars, the instrumentals that bookend the album—"Radio City" and "Kalimotxo"—evoke the bump-and-grind exotica of vintage Southern California suburban saloons. Yet on the flipside, Jewell imbues slow, jazzy numbers like "I Remember You" and "Only One" with torch and tenacity that linger long past last call.

Jewell is wary of repeating previous success by following formulae. "But I also don't want to change things just for the sake of changing them," she adds. Never underestimate the public's ability to recognize calculation masquerading as inspiration. "You always want to ride the creative process to new territory, without being overwhelmingly novel."

Eilen Jewell Videos:

• Sea of Tears
• Queen of the Minor Key
• Bang Bang Bang
• Warning Signs