Acclaimed singer, songwriter and bandleader Fred Eaglesmith is a genuine iconoclast and true original. It’s the natural result of following the cue of his musical career and now 19 albums with the January 2012 release of 6 Volts. The result is one of the most fascinating and musically rewarding careers in contemporary music.

As he has doggedly gone his own way as an independent musical artist, Eaglesmith has also enjoyed such high profile rewards in recent years as having his songs covered by country superstars Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert, among many other accomplishments.

Kelly Richey has been described as “Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman’s body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out.” That’s an apt appraisal of the Lexington, Kentucky native who’s been based in Cincinnati for many years. Richey has often been compared to such greats as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan because of her ability to capture and entertain an audience with ripping guitar leads that both sing and astonish.

Passionate and electrifying, Kelly Richey is a master guitarist. She has been compared to such greats as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt. A professional touring musician for over 30 years, Kelly enjoys playing traditional blues, blues-based rock, indie folk and ambient blues. Infusing the music with her own inimitable style, Kelly is unique and stands among the best guitarists known today. A powerful singer and songwriter as well, Kelly will astonish you with her scorching leads, powerful vocals, and solid, well-honed musical sensibility.

"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

Studebaker John Grimaldi was born in an Italian-American section of Chicago and started playing harmonica at age 7. Under the spell of music he heard on Maxwell Street, Chicago’s famed blues melting pot, Grimaldi began performing as Studebaker John and the Hawks in the ‘70s. The band name referenced the Studebaker Hawk, a car Grimaldi still owns today, and was also intended as a tribute to his friend, J.B. Hutto and the Hawks. John began playing guitar after a life-changing experience of seeing Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers perform. “…Hound Dog started playing, hitting notes that sent chills up and down my spine. He was versatile and powerful and would play rhythm as well as leads. I left there knowing what I wanted to do. I had to play slide guitar.”

Listening to Too Slim and The Taildraggers is, as one reviewer put it, "... like taking a journey through the history of American music." Although his focus at first may have been blues, today Tim "Too Slim" Langford's style encompass everything from down home blues, to funky blues rock, Americana, southern swamp rock and more. "Rootsy-americana-blues-rock" as Too Slim Tim, himself, describes it.

 

"Star Anna is an American original. I am a huge fan of her music and especially her voice. She sings from a place of beauty and pain that translates to my soul and takes me to a higher place. Wherever Star and the Laughing Dogs play, I go when I am in town. Her Cds rarely leave my player. In the vein of Neko Case and Lucinda Williams, Star is on her way, I hope to great musical heights." - Mike McCready, Pearl Jam

"Some stars burn brief and dim, Star Anna burns like S Doradus gone nova. She and the Dogs deliver passion, grit and rock’n’roll and right now there really isn’t anyone out there to touch them." - Jeremy Searle, Americana UK

"She is the real deal. She will be a talent that we can all say that we saw her when . . . Guaranteed." - Duff McKagan, Guns 'n' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Loaded

"We rarely talk about country music as being "soulful" or having "soul", but thank god Zoe Muth is here to change this...the gentle truth of her songwriting and the softness of her voice lend a weight to the music that gives Starlight Hotel, a true feeling of soulfulness... an astonishingly good songwriter." - No Depression

"Muth has gifted the world with a collection of music that is straight no chaser . . . Just when you start to believe that they just don't make 'em the way they used to, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers come along to restore your faith." - Country Standard Time

"LaFave is nothing if not a red–dirt romantic. Viewing the world from an open road and an open heart, with one eye on the girl and the other on the mythological lure of the highway. First it was Woody Guthrie and then Jack Kerouac, now it’s LaFave and his brand of dirty–boots folk–rock... Jimmy has the most expressive voice this side of Belfast... it’s the music of Jimmy LaFave that really defines this part of the land.” –– Oklahoma City Gazette

"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

What do Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Jay McShann, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, Roomful of Blues, and the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners all have in common?

Answer: Duke Robillard

Guitarist. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.

James McMurtry has become known as one of America's great songwriters.

Stories — the art of telling them, anyway — have never been lost on McMurtry. The son of acclaimed novelist Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove), the Fort-Worth born and Virginia-raised James picked up the art at a young age, trading in his father’s medium (the pen) for his own (a guitar, which he first owned at age seven). Turns out, it stuck. In 11 studio albums since his 1989 debut, McMurtry has become a staple in his native of Austin (and far beyond), acclaimed in his own right for his gritty lyrical style, airtight songwriting, and honest portrayals of American life in line with the finest traditions of the strong folk-rock scenes from which he’s risen.

Stephen King has said that McMurtry, "may be the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation," and his songs, including best-known numbers "Choctaw Bingo," "Levelland" and "We Can't Make It Here Anymore," bear that out.

You won’t want to miss this one—join us for an unforgettable evening.

John Németh continues to reinvigorate vintage rhythm and blues with his ability to skillfully blend retro and modern Blues and soul into compelling music that is simultaneously old and new. He was announced as the winner of the 2010 Living Blues Award for "Most Outstanding Blues Singer."

Nashville singer-songwriter Phil Lee, described by one writer as a cross between Mark Twain and Merle Haggard, writes intelligent songs full of wit, humor and grace that blend sizzling Dylan-esque rock and roll, country, soul, and blues that end up being utterly unique and sung in a voice that can shoot straight through to your heart. His latest album is called So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You and he calls it his “first posthumous release.“ There’s nothing wrong with putting out a record posthumously except that it raises certain logistical problems when it comes to touring. And there’s also the teeny tiniest little glitch in the truth in advertising area…

Don’t miss Phil in his first appearance in Montana—another stop on his “I Saw Him Before He Died Tour.”

The Juno Award-winning, singer-songwriter is touring in support of her new album Fall For Beauty with Keith Glass from the legendary Canadian country band Prairie Oyster. Amazing vocals, gut-wrenching lyrics.

"Having reviewed albums for some three decades, in any one year only a handful of albums truly deserve the maximum accolade of five stars. If everything were fair in this flawed human existence, FALL FOR BEAUTY would (at least) be a six." – Maverick Magazine (UK)

“Lynn Miles is one of the most acclaimed songwriters to cross the border since Joni Mitchell.” - Dallas Morning News

“Lynn’s music often draws on her love of literature and poetry, but her magic as a songwriter is also in her ability to take life experiences and interpret them in a way that people relate to.” - The Tennessean

Critics acclaim Nero as a "show stealer with his amazing R&B voice and off-hand stage commentary." (Festivalpreview.com - Kate Wolf 2010 review) As a singer, he's "a superb crooner and an equally powerful soul singer, able to belt out a lyric or etch it with the delicacy of Venetian glass, whilst evoking Curtis Mayfield one moment and Sly Stone the next." (All Music Guide)

JT is appearing with Allison Russell who, along with her band Po’ Girl, graced our stage last November. Her amazing voice and captivating stage presence is truly something to behold.

We were fortunate to catch this band touring behind their new album National Bohemian which was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer and Los Lobos multi-instrumentalist, Steve Berlin.

The Bridge, is one part earthy rock 'n' roll, one part funky New Orleans syncopation, and yet another part southern country soul. Its deep-rooted, timeless songwriting and steady-rolling rhythms resonate with Americana imagery.

"Star Anna is an American original. I am a huge fan of her music and especially her voice. She sings from a place of beauty and pain that translates to my soul and takes me to a higher place. Wherever Star and the Laughing Dogs play, I go when I am in town. Her Cds rarely leave my player. In the vein of Neko Case and Lucinda Williams, Star is on her way, I hope to great musical heights." - Mike McCready, Pearl Jam

"Some stars burn brief and dim, Star Anna burns like S Doradus gone nova. She and the Dogs deliver passion, grit and rock’n’roll and right now there really isn’t anyone out there to touch them." - Jeremy Searle, Americana UK

"She is the real deal. She will be a talent that we can all say that we saw her when . . . Guaranteed." - Duff McKagan, Guns 'n' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Loaded

Yukoners Sarah Macdougall & Gordie Tentrees are hurting the highways around the world March 25-June 18 (60 Concerts/8 Countries) that features a rare double bill night of north country music. Joining them is renowned string bender Ken Hermanson. They will be performing concerts in Canada, US, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Sarah Macdougall has been a touring internationally for years with her dynamite songs, blistering guitar chops and astounding voice earning rave reviews and topping major music writers top ten album of the year lists as a songwriter, all the while producing and engineering her own albums. 24 hrs Vancouver called her ‘one of the most promising exports out of Sweden since Abba’ and her album Across the Atlantic (2009) got four star reviews in such notable publications as Q magazine, the Irish Times, No Depression, and many more. She has performed with Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider, and Po’Girl among others. Sarah is currently working on her new album, which is scheduled for release in the summer of 2011.

Gordie Tentrees has released 3 albums internationally to rave reviews. The most recent " Mercy or Sin" produced by Juno Winner Bob Hamilton, was nominated for a 2010 Western Canadian Music Award for 'Roots Solo Album of the Year". The title track was also a finalist out of 15 000 entries in the 2010 International Songwriting Competition. Judges included Tom Waits, Loretta Lynn and Ray Wylie Hubbard. He performed at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver for the New Songs New Voices concert selected as the best of Canada’s songwriters to perform during the games. He was also selected by CBC Radio's 2009 Song Quest as one of Canada’s top songwriters and hosted the prestigous SOCAN songwriters circle at the 2009 WCMA's. He has toured extensively with Fred Eaglesmith & Kelly Joe Phelps, and has recently begun recording his 4th album.

Arguably the pioneer of the genre known as "Country Rock", Chris Hillman has carved a permanent niche in the history of contemporary American music. Through his work with such notable bands as The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas and the Desert Rose Band, he has firmly established himself as an innovative songwriter and performer. Throughout his four-decades in music, Hillman has collaborated with several artists including Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Gram Parsons, Vern Gosdin, Connie Smith, Herb Pedersen and John Jorgenson. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a four time Grammy nominee plus the recipient of numerous CMA and ACM awards. His songs have been recorded by many notable artists including Dwight Yoakum, Emmy-Lou Harris, The Oak Ridge Boys, Tom Petty, Dan Fogelberg, and Beck.

Colin Linden is a singer and songwriter of great skill, a prolific record producer ( Bruce Cockburn, Tom Wilson, Colin James), a sideman to the stars as guitarist for the likes of Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and, for the past decade, a member of the highly successful trio, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Linden has a well-deserved reputation as a slide guitar virtuoso of real originality, and he has also worked along side Keb’ Mo’, Lucinda Williams, and Merle Haggard. At last count, the total number of albums on which he has played stood at over 300, while at least 70 albums bear the ‘Produced by Colin Linden’ credit. Colin’s songs have been covered by The Band, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Keb’ Mo’, and Colin James, and his well-stocked trophy case includes seven Juno, multiple Maple Blues Awards, and a Toronto Arts Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for the star-studded A Tribute To Howlin’ Wolf CD, and was involved in the ground-breaking O Brother Where Art Thou phenomenon.

Hang on for dear life, people, as we present the self-proclaimed "Dirty Old One Man Band." Biram successfully, and sometimes violently, lashes together blues, hillbilly and country…

"He has a true stage presence that could be fairly compared to that of Clint Eastwood on film. The dude's more dude than most other dudes you will ever meet." —Austinist

"Carrying his guitar and harmonica into hell's mouth, he's going it alone in more ways than one, calling out to God but not terribly sure he's going to get an answer." —Chicago Reader