Valid proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours is REQUIRED for admittance to the following shows:

Oct 28 Katie Pruitt
Oct 29 Steve Forbert
Oct 30 Mutlu
Nov 1 Shawn Mullins
Nov 2 Local H
Nov 3 Local H
Nov 4 The Claudettes
Nov 8 Jill Sobule
Nov 12 Carsie Blanton
Nov 13 New Wave Fest
Nov 20 Jagged Little Pill
Nov 26 The R&B Cadets
Nov 27 The R&B Cadets
Dec 14 Watkins Family Hour

Upcoming Shows

Katie Pruitt, William Prince

TodayOctober 28, 20218:00pm $10 advance / $12 door

Steve Forbert

TomorrowOctober 29, 20218:00pm $25.00

Mutlu, Natural Satellite

SaturdayOctober 30, 20218:00pm $12 advance / $15 door

Recently Added Shows

Cliffdiver, Cleveland Ave

SaturdayDecember 4, 20217:30pm $15.00

At Linneman's Riverwest Inn, Milwaukee, WI.

Located at 1001 E Locust, Milwaukee, WI. Tickets on sale online.

Ruby Rose Fox, Julia Mark

ThursdayDecember 30, 20218:00pm $10.00

Chicago/Boston based artist Ruby Rose Fox is a cultural messenger of our turbulent modern times. Her music is as sonically compelling as it is subversive, packed with lyrics that reflect and challenge our current political state, from #metoo, to the mass-shooting crisis. Part actress, director, and writer, Fox has never....

Substitute (Who tribute), Shattered (Rolling Stones tribute)

FridayJanuary 21, 20228:00pm $10.00

With a look and sound that captures The Who at the height of their 70s peak, Substitute plays the songs that have become part of rock legend. From the hits (Pinball Wizard, Who Are You and Won't Get Fooled Again) to....

Ditchwater, Stallis in Chainz (Alice in Chains tribute)

FridayJanuary 28, 20228:00pm $10.00

Ditchwater has been a huge fixture in the Chicago music scene since 1993. Having endured all the changes in the music scene, they have weathered the storm and come out stronger each time. Always a band for the people, they have continued to build their brand of Heavy Rock and over the course of their career, released 6....

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials

SaturdayFebruary 12, 20228:00pm $15.00

Davina and the Vagabonds

ThursdayFebruary 17, 20228:00pm $20.00

Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national blues scene with their high-energy live shows, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers' commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting....

The Lovin' Kind, Failure To Launch

SaturdayFebruary 26, 20228:00pm

The Lovin' Kind is a Milwaukee group who have re-emerged as a 60s rock band with Beatle and Rolling Stones roots. This group of seven musicians has dedicated themselves to entertaining those folks who truly love a song with a hook and a beat. The music is designed to produce songs that never leave your head. We play all....

U2 Zoo: Milwaukee's U2 Tribute Band

SaturdayMarch 5, 20228:00pm $12 advance / $15 door

U2Zoo is a four piece concert caliber band that celebrates the full U2 Concert Experience. Over the past 20 years, the band has opened for many legendary acts including Huey Lewis, Styx, Cheap Trick, Steve Winwood, Goo Goo Dolls, Journey and Peter Frampton along with being the feature headline act at various festivals....

Third Coast Bluegrass

SundayMarch 13, 20224:00pm $15.00

Third Coast Bluegrass (TCB) is a band of longtime friends and musical cohorts with deep roots in the Great Lakes bluegrass scene going back to the 70s. Since their debut in June 2021, they've built a sizable following and a reputation as one of the top Bluegrass bands in the Upper Midwest The lineup speaks (and picks and....

The Other Favorites, Edwin

TuesdayMarch 15, 20228:00pm $20 advance / $25 door

The Other Favorites are an indie folk duo based in Brooklyn, New York, that consists of Joshua Lee Turner and Carson McKee. They are perhaps best known for their performances on YouTube, which have garnered millions of views. A shared love of traditional bluegrass, folk, and classic rock music underpins their....

Church of Cash (Johnny Cash Tribute)

SaturdayMarch 26, 20228:00pm $15.00

Whether you are an 'ol timer that grew up listening to Mr. Cash in your tractor or a young soldier driving your tank across the deserts of the Middle East with the Man in Black in your headphones, the Church of Cash will bring his music, with style and energy to fans everywhere. What the Church of Cash has that no one....

Little Blue Crunchy Things

FridayApril 22, 20228:00pm $20.00

Remembered as one of the most popular Wisconsin bands of the 1990s with five independently released CDs and a legion of devoted fans, LITTLE BLUE CRUNCHY THINGS hereby announces and promises one more extravaganza. Who knows what the future holds? Maybe the boys will find each other for a Golden Anniversary in the year....

Little Blue Crunchy Things

SaturdayApril 23, 20228:00pm $20.00

Alternative Concert Group Presents

Billy Prine & The Prine Time Band Presents: Songs of John Prine

TomorrowOctober 29, 20218:00pm $61.50 | $47.50 | $37.50

At Meyer Theatre, Green Bay, WI

Tickets on sale online, the Resch Center box office, or by calling 800-895-0071.

Billy Prine & The Prine Time Band Presents: Songs of John Prine

SaturdayOctober 30, 20217:30pm

At the Pablo Center for the Arts, Eau Claire, WI.

Tickets on sale at pablocenter.org.

Billy Prine & The Prine Time Band Presents: Songs of John Prine

SundayOctober 31, 20217:30pm $55 | $45

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Todd Snider

ThursdayNovember 4, 20217:30pm $30.00

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

~~Dream Theater~~ POSTPONED

~~TuesdayNovember 9, 20217:30pm~~

At the Miller High Life Theatre, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online or at the box office.

Leo Kottke

FridayNovember 12, 20218:00pm $46.00

At the Wilson Theatre at Vogel Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at the Marcus Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or 414-273- 7206.

Leo Kottke

SaturdayNovember 13, 20217:30pm

At the Pablo Center for the Arts, Eau Claire, WI.

Tickets on sale at pablocenter.org.

Wynonna Judd with The Big Noise

WednesdayNovember 17, 20217:30pm $75 | $45

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

John Berry

ThursdayDecember 2, 20217:30pm $50

At The Grand, Oshkosh, WI.

Tickets on sale at thegrandoshkosh.org, 920-424-2350 or at The Grand box office Monday-Friday 11:30am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm.

John Berry

FridayDecember 3, 20218:00pm $75 / $45

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Samantha Fish

SaturdayDecember 18, 20218:00pm $30.00

At The Rave, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online.

Shana Morrison and Jen Chapin, A Benefit for Wisconsin Parkinsons Association

FridayMarch 4, 20228:00pm $35.00

At The Grand, Oshkosh, WI.

Tickets on sale at thegrandoshkosh.org, 920-424-2350 or at The Grand box office Monday-Friday 11:30am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm.

Shana Morrison and Jen Chapin, A Benefit for Wisconsin Parkinsons Association

SaturdayMarch 5, 20228:00pm $35.00

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Gaelic Storm

WednesdayMarch 9, 20227:30pm $27.75

At the UW-Stevens Point.

Tickets on sale online or at the box office.

John Berry NEW DATE

FridayMarch 11, 20227:30pm $27.75

At the UW-Stevens Point.

Tickets on sale online or at the box office.

Gaelic Storm

SaturdayMarch 12, 20227:30pm $42 / $32

At the Pablo Center for the Arts, Eau Claire, WI.

Tickets on sale at pablocenter.org.

Bruce Cockburn

SaturdayMarch 12, 20228:00pm $35

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Gaelic Storm

WednesdayMarch 16, 20227:30pm $40.00

At The Grand, Oshkosh, WI.

Tickets on sale at thegrandoshkosh.org, 920-424-2350 or at The Grand box office Monday-Friday 11:30am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm.

Steven Wright

FridayApril 1, 20228:00pm $45 / $38

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 414-766-5049.

Steven Wright

SaturdayApril 2, 20228:00pm $50 / $40

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Jesse Cook Tempest II Tour

SaturdayApril 2, 20228:00pm

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 414-766-5049.

Gordon Lightfoot NEW DATE

WednesdayJune 15, 20228:00pm $68 / $58 / $48

At the The Grand Theater, Wausau, WI.

Tickets on sale at grandtheater.org or at The Grand Theater box office.

Gordon Lightfoot NEW DATE

SundayJune 19, 20228:00pm $67 / $57

At the Capitol Civic Centre, Manitowoc, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the box office or by calling 920-683-2184.

KICK - The INXS Experience NEW DATE

FridaySeptember 23, 20228:00pm $20 advance / $25 door

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Quick Calendar

The debut album from Katie Pruitt, Expectations is a glowingly detailed collection of real-life stories, a courageous document of coming of age in a sometimes-unwelcoming world. With a narrative voice at turns poetic and unaffected, the Georgia-bred singer/songwriter/guitarist treads endlessly complex emotional ground: mental illness, toxic relationships, the frustration and shame of growing up gay in the Christian South. But by speaking her truth with sensitivity and grit, Pruitt ultimately arrives at a self-acceptance that's both hard-won and happily defiant.

"I called the album Expectations because I liked that it was ironic," says the 25-year-old artist, now based in Nashville. "This record's really about letting go of what other people expect from you, and being free to be to just finally be yourself."

Co-produced by Pruitt and her close friend Michael Robinson at the home studio of Rounder Records' Gary Paczosa, Expectations gracefully showcases her captivating voice--an instrument that alternately soars and howls and softens to a near-whisper. And while the album unfolds in a guitar-fueled sound steeped in folk and country and rock-and-roll, each track stays centered on the lucid songwriting that recently landed Pruitt on a "20 Artists To Watch In 2019" from NPR.

With its luminous groove and gauzy guitar tones, the title track to Expectations embodies the album's infinite tension between strength and vulnerability, wariness and hope. "I wrote 'Expectations' as I was coming out of a depression," says Pruitt. "It's about how your whole perspective can change if you shift your focus to what really matters, and recognize that there are people who love you and can help you if you need it--you don't have to survive on your own."

Elsewhere on Expectations, Pruitt delicately telegraphs the pain and confusion that come from lack of belonging. A piano-driven recollection of her adolescence, "Georgia" juxtaposes vivid memories of youthful rebellion with fearful confessions about coming out to her family ("My father would scream out in rage/He did not want a daughter whose soul wasn't saved"). On "Normal," Pruitt offers a bit of finely wrought storytelling, sharply narrating the times in her life when she felt most like an outsider ("Marching in line in the halls of my Catholic school/Seven Hail Marys if I copped an attitude"). But by the time Expectations reaches its penultimate track--the gorgeously lilting "Loving Her"--Pruitt has found her way to a joyful self-assurance, infusing every line with her irrepressible spirit ("If loving her's a sin, I don't wanna go to Heaven").

An album informed by love in its many forms, Expectations presents a bracing portrait of self-destructive love with "Grace Has a Gun" (a hypnotic and heavy-hearted track featured on NPR's "All Songs Considered"). "It's about a girl I dated in college who was dealing with a very intense mental illness at the time, and about me trying to be some kind of cure for her," Pruitt explains. On "Out of the Blue," the album slips into a languid reverie, with Pruitt's lyrics channeling a classic-pop romanticism (e.g., "What a lovely day for loving you"). And on "It's Always Been You," Expectations closes out in a moment of understated glory, the song's gently plucked strings and wistful piano melodies magnifying its tender mood. "That one's a love song to my girlfriend," says Pruitt. "It's the first time in my life I've experienced a genuinely healthy relationship, and I wanted to show those moments that are so mundane but beautiful, like making out on the porch or play-fighting with baguettes in the grocery store--all those normal, everyday things that feel so heightened by love."

Throughout Expectations, Pruitt imbues her lyrics with a spellbinding specificity that comes from years of dedication to her craft. Raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, she learned to play guitar from her mother as a kid, then began writing her own material in high school. "I sort of used writing songs as an outlet to work through what I was feeling, which is why I still do it now," says Pruitt. "It's always been a very cathartic thing for me." Although she studied music in college--first in Athens, Georgia, then at Belmont University in Nashville--Pruitt mostly thrived in less formal settings. "I usually skipped songwriting class to just write alone in my bedroom," she notes.

As she set her roots down in Nashville, Pruitt connected with the lineup of local musicians who now form her live band. In recent years, she and her bandmates have taken the stage at major festivals like Pilgrimage, toured with such artists as Ruston Kelly and Donovan Woods, and joined together in creating the OurVinyl Live EP (a six-track offering released in March 2018). Also in 2018, she linked up with Gary Paczosa to record a track called "Thoughts and Prayers" (a powerful protest song that Pruitt performed at the March For Our Lives in Nashville). Eventually inking a deal with Rounder, she set to work on recording Expectations in early 2019.

In the process of bringing Expectations to life, Pruitt discovered a sense of closure that had eluded her for years. "I got to reopen some conversations with my parents, and I ended up hearing from Grace and talking things through with her," she says. "It's made me realize how insanely important communication is, and how we need to really listen to each other, even if we may not always agree on every point." And as she reflects on her guiding mission as a songwriter and artist, Pruitt hopes that her music might help others overcome what often feels insurmountable. "If anyone's feeling rejected or pushed aside, I want them to feel understood," she says. "I want them to know that you don't ever have to conform, or try to be whatever's considered 'normal.' I want everyone to love what's different about them, because your differences are what make you unique and wonderful and fucking rad."

William Prince approaches the big questions with humility and curiosity. Prince's influences, from the gospel of his childhood to the pantheon of classic outlaw country singers, baseball and the great beyond, shape his approach to songcraft, a masterclass in skilful simplicity.

Prince's JUNO Award winning debut Earthly Days introduced the songwriter's poignant philosophy and rich baritone to the world. His breakout song "Breathless," found audiences worldwide. Prince followed up with Reliever, released February 2020. For this album, Prince began with a single word, Reliever, which informed a collectionthat explored how peace is found. Relievers come in all forms; for Prince, it is song.

Prince surprised fans with a second new album in 2020. Gospel First Nation, released in October, is a "21st Century Northern Interlake Country Gospel" collection that tells stories of family and faith in the age of grief. The album explores Prince's own family tree, the places and music that shaped his childhood, and explores the extremely complicated relationship of faith and colonialism with grace and empathy.

?Steve Forbert is one of the few artists who can mesmerize a crowd with nothing but a distinctive voice, an acoustic guitar and his trusty harmonica slung around his neck. More than four decades have passed since Forbert first made his way to New York City from Meridian, Mississippi and his intimate verbal imagery, paired with a roots-rock musical approach, struck a chord with millions of people during the transitional period between '70s folk-rock and '80s New Wave.
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Forbert's debut album, 'Alive On Arrival', became one of 1978's most acclaimed records. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild recently reflected that "now or then, you would be hard-pressed to find a debut effort that was simultaneously as fresh and accomplished," comparing it to "a great first novel by a young author who somehow managed to split the difference between Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger."
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One track from that album, "Grand Central Station, March 18, 1977", earned him a spot on the 2014 Village Voice list of The 60 Best Songs Ever Written About New York City, along with many musical heavyweights like Jim Croce, Tom Waits and Frank Sinatra.
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Hailed by The New York Times as "an introspective, homespun philosopher," Forbert's second album, Jackrabbit Slim, released in 1979 achieved RIAA Gold record status on the strength of its hit single "Romeo's Tune," which reached #11 on the Billboard charts and helped cement his status as a genuine craftsman. Jackrabbit Slim was re-mastered and re-released in 2019 by Blue Rose Music to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
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Forbert's songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, from Keith Urban and Rosanne Cash to Marty Stuart and John Popper. Forbert also appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her iconic music video for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'!
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Forbert has released 20 studio albums, including a Grammy-nominated tribute to Mississippi legend, Jimmie Rodgers. In 2017, An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert was released, featuring renowned musicians like John Oates and Robert Earl Keen, performing his songs.
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In 2018, Forbert published his memoir Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock. "Like the earlier Bob Dylan and Patti Smith books, Forbert has a warm way of describing the pull of NYC and the ensuing challenges of getting traction, against the context of a small-town upbringing. He offers a sparkling observation about the pull of music as excellent as any I have seen," says Entertainment Today.
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This year, Forbert was the recipient of the 2020 Governor's Arts Award in his home state of Mississippi, having already been inducted into the Mississippi Musician's Hall of Fame in 2016.
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Anyone who reviews Steve's catalog of music can see the writer in the musician. His songs are as literary as they are musically vibrant. Brutally honest lyrics delivered with sensitivity create an uncommon trust with his listeners. Excelling in every decade of his career, Forbert exemplifies the heart and soul of the troubadour tradition.
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On May 1, 2020 via Blue Rose Music, Steve will release a cover record of 11 of his favorite folk-rock songs, entitled Early Morning Rain. "I recorded this album in an attempt to renew people's appreciation for the fine craftsmanship these songs represent," says Forbert, "and as an acknowledgement of how much good 'ol songs like these have meant to me."
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Forbert continues to tour extensively, both nationally and internationally.

With his silk-like vocals, Mutlu gently showers over melodies like rain. A Philadelphia native and first-generation American of Turkish decent, Mutlu combines his innate Philly-soul style with elements of folk, reggae and rock. This cohesive blend of music creates a rare and retro sound that is entirely timeless.

Mutlu has already made substantial headway with his high-caliber soulful sound. He's collaborated and toured extensively as a support act with legendary duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. He even holds the distinction of having made the most guest appearances on Daryl Hall's acclaimed, award-winning TV show "Live From Daryl's House". Mutlu has toured as a support act and longtime collaborator with noted singer/songwriter Amos Lee, and has shared stages with the likes of Adele, Katy Perry, John Hiatt, Leon Russell, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Todd Rundgren, Shuggie Otis & many more. Additionally, he was the support act on the North American leg of Joe Jackson's acclaimed "Rain" tour. Mutlu has rocked stages across Europe and America, including: Greek Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), Ascend Amphitheater (Nashville, TN), Tower Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), Royal Festival Hall (London, UK), to name a few.

Mutlu Onaral began writing music shortly after he picked up the guitar in his mid-teens. He then continued on to play in a few bands and join an acapella group during college. While growing up steeped in Philadelphia's deep R&B traditions, Mutlu eagerly absorbed the fundamentals of old-school soul music and incorporated it into his own musical persona. "I've always loved all kinds of music, but it was my love of soul music and especially artists like Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Al Green that inspired me to have a career in music", Mutlu says. His local success in Philadelphia led to a recording deal with Manhattan/EMI Records, which released his acclaimed 2008 debut album Livin' It and was produced by the late, great T-Bone Wolk. The LP featured guest appearances by Daryl Hall, Amos Lee, G. Love and Raheem DeVaughn.

Six EPs later, Mutlu is has released his 7-song collection entitled: Good Trouble. Mutlu co-produced the record with songwriter/producer Darius Amendolia. Additionally, Good Trouble was mixed and mastered by Grammy winning producer/engineer Phil Nicolo who has also worked with renowned artists like John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, Aerosmith, and others. The album features the lead soul-folk single "Lifeline". The empowering new track touches on the search for unity within a divided society. Mutlu hones in on the importance up standing up for justice and equality. Other songs like "Scarred" and "Work For It" discuss the mind's worst enemies between depression and self-doubt. Mutlu empathizes these feelings and offers something real and relatable to listeners. Good Trouble also includes "Nothing In This Whole Wide World" featuring John Oates, a song that admirably channels that classic, 1970's Philly-soul sound. The track was co-produced by John Oates and Hall & Oates guitarist Shane Theriot, and includes Hall & Oates band members Brian Dunne (drums) and Klyde Jones (bass).

Mutlu's deeply rooted retro grooves and smooth vocals continue to win widespread praise. He has been supported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, NY Times, LA Times, and others. Mutlu's inspiring songwriting carries resonating messages that are undeniably limitless, while instilling hope in audiences worldwide.

Local H, the iconic alt-rock duo known for their blistering live shows and pioneering the two- piece band set-up, is at the top of their game more than two decades after they first burst onto the music scene. Frontman Scott Lucas, who covers both guitar and bass (through an extra pick up in his guitar), and drummer Ryan Harding have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, buoyed by global touring along with the release of some of their most critically acclaimed work to date.

Local H's first major release was 1995's Ham Fisted, but it was their follow up album As Good As Dead that positioned the band as one of the elites in what was a groundbreaking decade for rock music. With multiple radio hits on the album, "Bound For The Floor" emerged as a generational anthem and remains a staple on playlists around the country over two decades later. Their widely praised 1998 concept album Pack Up the Cats, produced by the legendary Roy Thomas Baker, solidified Local H as a leader in the genre and the albums that followed were reflective of not only the band's definitive character, but as well their relentless effort to give their audience as much of themselves as possible. While recipients of numerous accolades over the years, Local H has always kept the focus on their fans, which can be seen by the awe inspiring and often times daunting tour schedule the band has kept up year after year.

The last three years have seen a multitude of releases from the band in various forms. In 2015, Local H celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first show and released a career-spanning coffee table book, "Local H: Twenty-Five Years of Skin In The Game". That same year they released Hey, Killer, their eighth full length studio album, to near unanimous acclaim. In 2016 the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of As Good As Dead with a successful three month national headline tour (partnered with their first live Blu-Ray DVD, "Straight Outta Zion", shot at the Metro in Chicago during a weekend of sold out shows).

2017 was perhaps Local H's busiest year yet, as the band continued to tour extensively not only as headliners, but on hugely successful tours with The Toadies and Helmet and --perhaps most exciting of all-- career highlight performances on Metallica's sold out stadium tour. The band also found time to publish another book "The Last Picture Book Outta Zion or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying About Cell Phones And Love The Photos Of John Oakes", an intimate behind the scenes portrait of the band shot by photographer John Oakes.

2018 shows no sign of slowing down. In February, Local H released their second live record -- the ferocious Live In Europe-- to coincide with their second European tour in the space of a year. A new single produced by Ken Andrews of Failure, simply titled "Innocents", is being released to digital platforms to coincide with the band joining the Summerland Tour with Everclear and Marcy Playground this May.

"I want it to bring comfort," The Lone Bellow guitarist Brian Elmquist says. "But it's not all hard conversations. There's a lot of light and some dancing that needs to happen." Brian is reflecting on Half Moon Light, the band's highly anticipated new album.

Half Moon Light is an artistic triumph worked toward for years, earned not by individual posturing, but by collective determination and natural growth. With earthy three-part harmonies and songwriting as provocative as it is honest, the trio made up of Brian, lead vocalist Zach Williams, and multi-instrumentalist Kanene Donehey Pipkin creates sparks that make a stranger's life matter or bring our sense of childlike wonder roaring back. On Half Moon Light, The Lone Bellow mix light and dark to muster a complex ode to memory, a call for hope, and an exercise in empathy. Anchored in the acoustic storytelling that first so endeared the band to fans and critics, Half Moon Light also takes more chances, experimenting with textures and instrumental fillips to create a full-bodied music experience. The result is The Lone Bellow's most sophisticated work to date.

"We try to invite as many people into the process to see what we can make together," Brian says. "I like that spirit and that freedom. Then, the songs speak for themselves."

That wholehearted embrace of collaboration defines Half Moon Light. The record marks a return to recording in New York with Aaron Dessner, whom the band counts as both a hero and a friend. "We already had a friendship with Aaron and a strong, shared understanding of our musical vision," Zach says. "It's really important to us to be a part of a community of musicians. We like that way of making something. Aaron showed us a new way of trusting. His idea of bringing in Josh Kaufman and J.T. Bates was such a beautiful gift. The meekness that these friends brought to the table was something that we will never forget. A sense of controlled fury. Lightning in a shoebox."

"Aaron has a powerful quietness about him," Kanene says. "A lot of people I meet in the music industry have lots of bravado, and it's something I have trouble believing. Aaron doesn't have that. He is a joy to work with. A true friend."

For the first time, the band stayed where they recorded, sequestered from the world at Aaron's studio in upstate New York. They fell asleep at night to the sound of coyotes howling and felt the freedom to fall into rabbit holes that would have otherwise been left unexplored. "We made this record in a place of joy with our friends. We were trying to do something bigger than ourselves," says Brian. "I think we've been wanting to make this record for a while now. It just hasn't come together as perfectly as it did this time."

A lone piano launches into a hymn as the album's intro track. The pianist is Zach's grandmother, playing at the funeral of her husband of 64 years----Zach's grandfather. The hymn returns as an interlude and outro, underscoring The Lone Bellow's intention for 12 songs to be experienced together, as an album.

Wonder----feeling it, losing it, finding it again----underpins the entire record. Pulsing with the trio's signature harmonies, the track "Wonder" is a loving call to reclaim the childlike awe and appreciation age takes away. Zach pulled from vivid childhood memories to craft the song, which transports listeners to moments of breathlessness experienced in the everyday: cheap coffee, backroad car rides, pine-tree views, and powerful songs.

Jubilant "I Can Feel You Dancing" rolls into a cathartic celebration. The song pays tribute to "lionhearted" free spirits with horns and soaring vocals. With a winking jungle beat, "Good Times" tells tales Zach has collected over the years. "Some stories were told on a boat I worked on in the Caribbean in the middle of the night. Some were in old Irish pubs in Manhattan. Some were in backyards down in my hometown. Some were in a hospital bed," Zach says. "I wanted to shine light on the fact that there are still people living with beauty and reckless abandonment." Delivered over intimate acoustic guitar and hushed backing instrumentation, "Enemies" is a self-contained call and response that reconnects life-defining moments with the frustrating or tenuous present that threatens to snuff out the magic.

Lead single "Count On Me" reminds us to lean on one another with soul-shouting intensity. Praise for deep friendships pops up again and again throughout the album: "Friends" celebrates the relationships forged after years together in the trenches----with a musical swagger that nods to David Byrne and Tom Petty.

Kanene takes the lead on tour-de-force "Just Enough to Get By." Her inimitable voice----capable of grit and smoothness----pushes through line after line with steely purpose. The performance would saunter were it not for the rage bubbling underneath. Kanene wrote the song about her mother, who was raped at 19, then sent away to have the baby that resulted. When she returned home, she never spoke of what had happened until 40 years later, when Kanene's half-sister----the baby----found them. "I've met my half-sister many times. She's wonderful and lovely and an amazing story of something never being too broken to be fixed. But my mom had to work through the trauma," Kanene says. "This song was me putting myself in my mom's place, releasing a lot of complex emotions. Anger is definitely one of them. Hurt, frustration, sadness. We all have experiences that could be better if we could talk about them, but we keep them hidden."

Album standout "Illegal Immigrant" also features Kanene's vocals. Brian took the lead writing the song, which tells the true story of a mother and child separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. The chorus's "I promised I'd find you, wherever you are, wherever you are / Here I am" is equal parts haunting, heartbreaking, and reassuring----and the unfiltered words actually spoken by the immigrant mother into a press conference microphone. Kanene sings with weighty restraint----like a parent burying their own terror so they can be their child's rock. "I was trying to tell her story the best I could," Brian says. "I wanted to keep myself as far out of the equation as I could and just try to connect----to help find some compassion."

Brian also penned "Wash It Clean," which both Zach and Kanene point to as a favorite. Lilting with guitar and harmonica, the song is a letter to Brian's dad, who passed away suddenly last year. The two had a strained relationship, and Brian spent years trying to find some common ground. They did, and then two months later, his dad was gone. The band recorded the song on the one-year anniversary of Brian's father's death, without Brian even realizing it at the time. "I feel like that means he was here----or in me," Brian says. "Working really hard to find understanding was probably one of the greatest gifts and lessons of my whole life."

The stories behind the songs matter----but they aren't what matters most. In the end, The Lone Bellow's music needs no explanation. Just listening offers a salve and a shelter. "In my own perfect little world, I would be able to put the music out and not talk about it----just, Here. Bye. See you next time," Zach says, then laughs softly. "I do hope someone will find this music in a peaceful moment, when they can turn it on and get lost in the story and the sound."

Jill Sobule, an award-winning artist with the ECR Music Group, has released a dozen of albums spanning three decades of recording, tackling such topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, shoplifting, reproduction, the French Resistance, adolescent malaise, LGBTQ issues, and the Christian Right, to name a few - with her trademark wit and aplomb.

The Denver-born songwriter/guitarist/singer's work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny, and derisively tragic. While her songs cover expansive thematic ground, they benefit greatly from Jill's subtle intelligence and skillful light-handedness. No sloganeering flag-and-fist waving here, but rather portrait- &-story songs about human beings, real and imagined, which allow us to step back from the issues they tackle, be they individual or societal, and to relate to them as we would to a close friend.

On stage, she entertains, amuses, provokes, and more often than not, takes her audiences on an emotional roller coaster, from comedy to pathos in a few bars of music, often within the same song.

Jill Sobule's recording career began in 1990 with the album Things Here Are Different (MCA), produced by Todd Rundgren. Radio took notice thanks to the single's "Too Cool To Fall In Love". Her 1995 self-titled album (Atlantic) brought her mainstream commercial and critical success with two hit singles: the satirical gem "Supermodel" from the movie Clueless and "I Kissed A Girl" (the original), the first ever openly queer-themed Billboard Top 20 record.

For her most recent album, the Ben Lee-produced Nostalgia Kills, Sobule turned her warm wit and laser- focused poet's eye on herself more than ever before. For all its graceful, funny, and heartbreaking explorations of awkward youth and grown-up regrets, Nostalgia Kills is as of-the-moment as anything in Jill Sobule's catalog. Through her own experiences, she explores issues our society still collectively struggles with (LGBTQ rights, teen mental health, our unhealthy obsession with staying forever young) and gently skewers our tendency to dwell on the past at the expense of addressing the present.

Sobule has performed with Neil Young, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Morello, Warren Zevon, and John Doe. She inducted Neil Diamond into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. She has shared billing with Don Henley, Joe Jackson, Warren Zevon, the influential LA punk band X, and Lloyd Cole & The Negatives. She regularly co-stars with comedian/actress/author/SNL alumni Julia Sweeney in their Jill & Julia Show, an unusual and mesmerizing combination of song and storytelling. A road warrior, she plays more than 100 shows a year.

In November of 2019 Jill sang a song as herself on an episode of the Simpsons. Most recently, Sobule has been working on two projects: an autobiographical show directed by two-time Obie-winner Lisa Petersen, (titled F**k 7th Grade!) which will premiere in May 2020 at Pittsburgh's City Theater, and another concept album, this time a series of short musical portraits of working women, which she expects to complete within the year.

Backwoods bravado, patriot's pride, country soul, keg-thumping beats -- these are the qualities that Moonshine Bandits have championed since they began their journey. Armed with a hybrid arsenal of country and hip hop fusion, the California duo of Dusty 'Tex' Dahlgren and Brett 'Bird' Brooks are back with the grittiest, spirited and distinctly grass-roots release of their sixteen year campaign of musical badassery -- "Gold Rush."

If you ain't about this life then you ain't about shit." -- From the Track 'Mud Money' on the Moonshine Bandits latest release 'Gold Rush"'

Since their formation in Los Banos California in 2003 the Moonshine Bandits have continued a campaign of crossover genre-bending musical mayhem that appeals to the eclectic, color-outside-the-lines tastes of listeners, aka The Shiners, and they fiercely refuse to have their tastes confined and filed into categories. "Our musical style has always been full throttle and in your face," says Moonshine Bandit Tex. Just like the rumrunners, bootleggers, smugglers and outlaws of old -- the Moonshine Bandits provide a supply of the goods for the demand, defying the mandates and trends of mainstream pop culture.

The course of their career has seen ups and downs, hard partying and self-reflection. The Moonshine Bandits have crisscrossed the country performing hundreds of shows a year, ventured into branding their own beef jerky and moonshine, collaborated with some of the music business's most prolific artists, outshined in the face of record industry roadblocks, earned a fiercely loyal fan following, and embrace the unconventional. Hell, they've even had the honor of friend and adult film legend Tera Patrick spicing up a music video! It's all part of a journey filled with good, bad and even some ugly, but ultimately the Moonshine Bandit philosophy is summed up by Tex and Bird's joint statement -- "We always felt there aren't stops or boundaries if you pave your own lane."

And now the Moonshine Bandits have hit the proverbial motherlode with the release of Gold Rush on their very own record label MSB. Taking its inspiration from all that embodied the struggles and successes of America's extraordinary era when dreams were being made while hunting for that elusive precious gem. It wasn't entirely about the dollar sign though. The Gold Rush was far more dynamic in terms of the greater meaning and effect it had on all those who took part. Big or small, bust or windfall, for many people the Gold Rush ultimately provided the experience of building a new life in a wild place that had a code of its own.

"Our Gold Rush wasn't always about the glitter because we took the long haul," Tex says, and just like many of the hopeful dreamers who panned the creeks of the old west's badlands, the Moonshine Bandits encountered their share of setbacks but never quit. "We got in the trenches," Tex continues, "learned and got burned." The group's Gold Rush reflects on a career that wasn't about following some set of rules; this is about living by a code. Now with the debut of their own label, the group can fully exercise that code. "There's a right way, a wrong way, and now there's our way." Characterize it as rebellion, call it anti-establishment, or perhaps it's a little bit of symbolic of an elusive time when there actually was Honor among thieves, but the Bandits simply see it as lessons learned from experience.

Thematically, Tex and Bird describe the Gold Rush album as homage not only to the band's career journey but also, and profoundly, "a journey about the people we have come in contact with. The people that inspire our songs." This is especially true of the track "Two Bar Town" which speaks volumes of the brick and mortar, mom and pop's, local friends and corner watering holes that truly provided the foundation of everyday life, culture and economics in America. Tex says the theme is all about the 'small town' and despite the fact that 'small towns' have naturally changed with time that "doesn't mean you have to, you can still be proud of where you came from and keep those memories forever."

Long before people figured out country and rap had a lot in common, the Moonshine Bandits released their genre-blending album, "Whiskey & Women," and took the world of outlaw music by storm. The group's blue-collar work ethic and unwavering persistence has led to over 60 million views on the ShinerTV YouTube channel -- collectively over 80 million views on YouTube -- while their video for "My Kind of Country" peaked at #1 on CMT Pure. The Bandits also charted Billboard simultaneously with a top 10 in Rap and a top 20 in Country Music and have been Recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine, CMT, Youtube Honors, MTV, AOL THE BOOT, YAHOO, and the list goes on. Connecting with fans on all levels, Moonshine Bandits have built a solid "Shiner Nation" of loyal fans, started their own 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization known as Operation Packing Company, Inc. that specializes in sending supplies to our Troops Overseas, Beef Jerky and legal Moonshine. The Bandits earned a 2018 Telly Award for their "Take This Job" music video featuring David Allan Coe.

Buck Up, the new studio album from singer and songwriter Carsie Blanton, due out February 15 2019, opens with a siren. The warning -- or call to (dis)arms -- segues into the first notes of "Twister." Finger snaps alone accompany Blanton's smoky vocals, before piano, upright bass, cello, trumpet, and drums join the proceedings. You're immediately drawn in to her riveting tale of natural -- and erotic -- disaster. Brimming with catchy hooks, sensual vocals, and lyrics boasting a gift for rhyme and meter, Buck Up is Blanton's melodic mandate for survival following the 2016 presidential election: passion, lust, and humor. "There are two themes on this record," says Blanton of Buck Up's ten electrifying tracks. "One is the feeling of catastrophe happening in American politics, and the other is this feeling of personal catastrophe": when you fall for "That Boy," for example, a reckless wild child, the type who populate her life and imagination. Though Buck Up may be "basically about being depressed," according to Blanton, "if there's not a sense of humor or playfulness, I don't want to listen to it. Music is about play."

Over the past dozen years, Blanton has been making music that personifies play. Her work has been called "impeccably catchy" by critic Robert Christgau, with musician John Oates admiring her songs' "sly wit and urbane imagery" that remind him of Cole Porter. She's toured across America and Europe sharing stages with Madeleine Peyroux, The Weepies and others. Though based in New Orleans since 2012, the self-described "proud socialist" has been on the road since her teens. As a child in tiny Luray, Virginia, she began playing piano at 6 and learned guitar at 13. The budding songwriter's life was forever changed when her grandpa sent her a batch of jazz recordings for her thirteenth birthday. "Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong -- that's when it started for me," Blanton says of the gift two decades ago that remains "the most inspiring to me as a songwriter and a singer. I'd started performing and he wanted to make sure my musical education was well rounded." She was deeply smitten with Holiday's recording of Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean": "I just love him," she says of the composer, "and Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. They're all masters of music and words." Such influences would surface as Blanton began crafting her own witty lyrics and using jazz phrasing in her vocals.

Blanton left the Blue Ridge mountains an angst-ridden 16-year-old and began living within an artistic community in Eugene, Oregon, until she was 20. There, guitar in hand, "I realized by being creative, I could be a happier person and take care of myself," she says. After more travels, she settled in Philadelphia, where she worked at a nonprofit while recording her first album. She left her job to make music her life and has never looked back. By the time she was 23, she was touring solo and as an opener for such artists as the Wood Brothers. Vocalist/guitarist Oliver Wood, an early mentor who produced a previous Blanton album, lends his distinctive fingerpicking and vocals to Buck Up's exuberant title track.

Since locating to New Orleans, Blanton has "become more prolific as a songwriter," she says. "There's something about the spirit of the city. It's very musical but also very dark with a lot of pathos." Her last release, 2016's So Ferocious, documented her love affair with the city, and the Big Easy vibe imbues her new album. Sequestered in her NOLA home, she wrote the first song for Buck Up, "Bed," in November 2016: "I'm not gonna get out of bed today/I've tried to do it but what can I say/Every time I turn on the news it's a kick to the head/Why don't you wake me up when the president's dead." "That song shook loose a lot of feelings I had about the political landscape and growing up in America," Blanton reports. "If I can write one song that really captures the feeling of a project, then the rest come more easily." In fact, bed imagery trickles throughout the album's tracks.

For the recording, Blanton returned to the south Jersey studio of guitarist Pete Donnelly (the Figgs, Graham Parker), who coproduced Buck Up with Blanton. Joining them was her longtime bassist and sometime co-writer Joe Plowman, keyboardist Patrick Firth, and drummer Nicholas Falk.

While her lyrics grapple with some dark subject matter, Blanton's engaging, captivating vocals are relaxed and flirty on "Jacket," her ode to the female gaze and masturbation. She sounds wistful and sweet on the strings-and-accordion-accented "Harbor," and sex-drenched on "Desire," "an apocalyptic love story," one of her favorite genres, she says. "Lust and passion and romantic energy are a beautiful, joyful source of pleasure in life," says Blanton, "but also a source for heartache and devastation. It reminds you of how short life is, so it feels very connected to death and mortality to me. One of my major inspirations as a songwriter is feeling the erotic connection. When I get connected to the erotic force, I feel so turned on by life and also hooked up to death at the same point." Song ideas flow when she "goes out there and looks for some sexy young man who's a mess -- that's the muse that works for me. That's where I get my mojo." In addition to songcraft, her erotic life inspired her to invent "a sexy card game, The F'ing Truth," says Blanton, intended for "people who f' and tell" and deemed a "f'ing blast" by sex columnist Dan Savage.

Blanton's thing for bad boys can bring moody moments to her songs, but her cheeky takedown of male hipsters adds lighthearted fun to Buck Up. The upbeat "Mustache," a co- write with Plowman, asks, "why'd you have to grow that mustache," while its sonics, complete with calliope-sounding keys, is her homage to another musical favorite, The Supremes.

The heart of the album, says Blanton, resides within the pop-rock anthem, "American Kid." Its hummable tune camouflages Blanton's downhearted lyrics detailing disillusionment that comes with the realization that "we done them wrong": "It's my journey from being a standard liberal moderate to being really radicalized and losing my belief in American capitalism. I want to connect with this feeling of 'we can be compassionate and we can change what we're doing and not take it lying down.'"

At the crossroads of nihilism and determination -- the former described in the harrowing "Battle" ("I know I won't survive the battle in my heart") -- Blanton chooses to "Buck Up," which closes the album with mirth. "Buck Up" is a "rallying cry," says Blanton. "Enough with the sadness and wallowing about America. We have to get people together to make change, even though it's daunting." Paraphrasing Tom Waits, she quips, "I hope this album will help to improve the quality of our suffering." And with a feisty nod to the work of another hero, John Prine, she coos, "Make 'em laugh if you can't lick 'em."

Joe Louis Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Blues Music Award winner celebrates a career that exceeds a half a century. His new album Everybody Wants A Piece cements his legacy as a prolific torchbearer for the blues. Looking back on his rich history, Walker shares, "I'd like to be known for the credibility of a lifetime of being true to my music and the blues. Sometimes I feel I've learned more from my failures, than from my success . But that's made me stronger and more adventurous. And helped me create my own style . I'd like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, 'That's Joe Louis Walker.'"

Always an artist deeply expressive lyrically, Walker continues to write and sing about themes that are universal. On "Black & Blue" he talks about a love affair that's falling apart, but there's an effort to keep it going. He offers, "The lyric 'Let's find a quiet place, A place out of town...We Need to talk this thru, Be honest & True' says it all in trying to save the relationship." He cites the title track as a composition that might not have a deep meaning, but in presenting the thought, "Everybody wants a piece of your love," offers a double entendre that speaks for itself. With a deep history and background in gospel, Walker looks towards Wade in the Water" as an instant all time favorite. He reveals, "The inspirational lyric 'The water is deep, the water is cold, it chills my body, BUT NOT MY SOUL" is expressing my belief that the spiritual will carry you through when the physical can't."

This time out Joe has brought on Paul Nelson to produce his album which was recorded at his famed Chop Shop studio on the east coast. Nelson is a Grammy winning guitarist/producer who was rock/blues legend Johnny Winter's guitarist, and who also appears as guest guitarist on two tracks on Everybody Wants A Piece.

A true powerhouse guitar virtuoso, unique singer and prolific songwriter, he has toured extensively throughout his career, performed at the world's most renowned music festivals, and earned a legion of dedicated fans. Walker's 1986 debut album Cold Is the Night on HighTone announced his arrival in stunning fashion, and his subsequent output has only served to further establish Walker as one of the leading bluesmen on the scene.

Born on December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, at age 14, he took up the guitar. Just two years later, he was a known quantity on the Bay Area music scene, playing blues with an occasional foray into psychedelic rock. For a while, he roomed with Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead. Walker even made a brief pilgrimage to Chicago to check out the blues scene there. In 1975, burned out on blues, Walker turned to God, singing for the next decade with a gospel group, the Spiritual Corinthians. When the Corinthians played the 1985 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Walker was inspired to embrace his blues roots again. He assembled the Boss Talkers, and throughout the 1990s merged many of his gospel, jazz, soul, funk and rock influences with his trademark blues sensibilities on recordings released by Polydor/Polygram. These albums feature Walker's collaborations with a diverse group of first-rate artists including Branford Marsalis, James Cotton, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Walker has steadily released recordings since the turn of the millennium, and recently signed to Provogue / Mascot Label Group.

NPR Music has called Walker "a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues," and he is already being referred to within the blues world as a living legend. However, at this stage of his life, Walker profoundly shares, "I'd really like to inspire younger musicians to carry on the legacy of blues/roots music. But play, and do it your way. Don't be afraid to mix it up. There's no right, or wrong way. Just the way you wanna express yourself. And above all, ENJOY YOURSELF."

For over two decades, Cowboy Mouth has dished up its unique style of rock & roll gumbo, mixing a rowdy spirit reflective of the band's hometown -- New Orleans -- with the fierce firepower of a group that lives on the road. These Louisiana natives have played more than 2,500 concerts and launched their signature song, "Jenny Says," into the upper half of the Billboard rock charts. Above all else, they earned a well-deserved rep as a raucous, redemptive, live music experience.

Formed during the glory days of grunge music, Cowboy Mouth forged a different sound from the very start. It's a sound rooted in rock, punk, blues, and the attitude of the Big Easy, a town known for its week-long parties and swampy, southern vibe. Bandleader Fred LeBlanc, who'd previously sharpened his teeth with the punk band Dash Rip Rock, pulls double-duty as the group's frontman and drummer, leading the charge with his larger-than-life personality and percussive attack. During the band's early days, record companies warned him against singing and drumming at the same time, claiming that audiences would never go for it... but by the mid-'90s, those same record companies were clamoring to sign the band to a major-label deal.

In other words, in a decade filled with angsty alt-rock, Cowboy Mouth stood out for all the right reasons.

The band released its original music with MCA Records, then Atlantic Records. Once the 2000s kicked into gear, the band released music on its own label, cutting out the middleman and focusing on the biggest thing that's kept Cowboy Mouth afloat since 1990: the audience.

"Cowboy Mouth isn't so much about the people onstage as it is about the feeling in the crowd," says LeBlanc.

The people onstage certainly help, though. Since the band's inception, LeBlanc has shared that stage with guitarist John Thomas Griffith (formerly of the band Red Rockers and singer / co-writer of their hit song "China"). Now backed by bandmates Matt Jones on guitar and Brian Broussard on bass, LeBlanc and Griffith have led Cowboy Mouth on a wild, critically-acclaimed ride, selling more than 500,000 albums domestically, playing shows with artists like Bo Diddley (whose bluesy, beat-driven music has always been a big influence on Cowboy Mouth's own sound), and performing in front of more than 9 million fans.

Cowboy Mouth's music lives in concert with its loyal fans! Fred's raw and engaging performance style has played ring leader to the audience for decades.

"Our shows are celebratory, life-affirming experiences," LeBlanc says proudly. "With every show, no matter where it is, we try to turn it into New Orleans during the middle of Mardi Gras. It's an unique live concert experience. It's like a southern gospel revival without the religion."

Over the years, an estimated 9 million people would agree. We hope to see you all out on the road!

"Here's to life!" Fans around the world can be found singing the chorus of the Roger Clyne-penned fan favorite "Mekong" and toasting their glasses in unison to celebrate life through rock-n-roll. But the inspiration for the song dates back to the time Roger went to Taipei, Taiwan, as a college student to teach English during the day and busk with his guitar at night for money.

Today, as Clyne prepares to record his 11th studio album, he continues to transform his life experiences, inspirations, observations and his own muses into timeless music. And whether he's wearing his Converse high tops, boots or sandals, Clyne's blend of punk rock, country-western and mariachi influences have made him, drummer PH Naffah, guitarist Jim Dalton and bassist Nick Scropos -- collectively known as Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers -- one of America's best live rock-n-roll bands.

Starting with the seminal Tempe quartet, The Refreshments, Clyne and Naffah put the fun in rock during the 90s grunge era with a sense of humor. They also started what would become a trademark sound on all future albums by adding mariachi horns, something Clyne was influenced by while in college studying Cultural Anthropology with an ethnography study of mariachis during a three month immersion stay with a local family in Ensenada, Mexico.

The Refreshments' debut album, "Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy," became a cult classic. It produced the alternative radio hit "Banditos" which also had significant airplay on MTV and earned The Freshies an appearance on The Conan O'Brien Show. Clyne then penned and performed the theme song for the Mike Judge animated TV series, King of Hill. In 2017, Here's to Life: The story of The Refreshments, was released. The feature-length documentary was a hit with fans and critics alike.

Changes within their record label and internal band issues resulted in Clyne and Naffah going on a vision quest of sorts in the Whetstone Mountains near the Clyne Ranch in Southeastern Arizona. It was there that Clyne found inspiration in the rolling hills and the jukeboxes of small town taverns that still played Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash -- music he had shed from his youth in favor of bands like Camper Van Beethoven & They Might Be Giants. But after reconnecting with those old country records, Clyne and Naffah wrote and recorded under a new moniker what would become Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers' debut album, "Honky Tonk Union."

The album was the perfect combination of classic rock and twang, and fans immediately connected with it. Their independent release, "Honky Tonk Union," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's internet sales chart in 1999 prompting a call from a Billboard exec to their Manager demanding, " Who the hell is Roger Clyne and why is he #1 on my chart?!" beating out much better known artists

RCPM released eight more albums that landed in the top ten of Billboard's Internet Sales Chart, including a No. 1 debut for their third album, "Americano!" -- all without the backing of a major record label and while flying under the radar of commercial radio.

In 2019, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers were inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, joining the likes of fellow Arizona legends Alice Cooper, Buck Owens, Glen Campbell, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt and Waylon Jennings.

Later that fall, RCPM was invited by a man who, like Roger, also knows a little something about tequila and throwing big parties in Mexico. The band headlined Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Cantina on the eve of Hagar's weekend birthday celebration.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have curated their own annual music festival, Circus Mexicus, in the sleepy beach town of Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, which draws thousands of fans from around the world. The festival not only has a major impact on the local economy, but charity events hosted by the band and fans alike help raise money for a local orphanage, support local youth sports and help feed shelter animals.

Clyne not only sings about life in the border-lands, he also produces his own ultra-premium spirit, Mexican Moonshine Tequila (soon to be re-named Canción Tequila). Owned by the entire band, it was the official tequila at the Arizona Diamondbacks Chase stadium in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Started in 2011, the award-winning spirit is distributed in multiple states as well as Sonora, Mexico.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have toured all over the US and achieved a faithful following through hard work and great music. They have done this all while being independent, without the safety net of a label or a label's radio promotion department. Dubbed "The Springsteen of the Southwest," by the Asbury Park Press. The band delivers exciting live performances that garner declarations like the one from emcee Jay Peterman of the Seinfeld TV show at Alice Cooper's annual Christmas Pudding event, "Young man, you light that stage a-flame!"

The R&B Cadets played their first gig shortly after New Year's in 1980 and their last in the summer of 1986. In that time they got a lot of folks out on the dance floor, playing a distinctive mix of of deep soul cuts from Paul Cebar's massive record collection and some sparkling originals, written by John Sieger, often in tandem with Michael Feldman, a friend and now longtime host of Public Radio's Whad'ya Know?

Splitting lead duties with Sieger and Cebar was the lovely chanteuse, Robin Pluer. Owner of one the lovelier voice heard in the midwest, Ms. Pluer was a dollop of sweetness at the top of the band's deep range. Rounding out the lineup was Mike Sieger, John's brother and vocal doppelganger, who played bass. Original drummer Cy Costabile, was later replaced by Bobby Schneider and the saxophonist Juli Wood was replaced by keyboard/sax man Bob Jennings.

In it's prime, the band had a large following in Milwaukee, where they were pretty much the house band at the late, lamented Century Hall. They travelled well too, with fans in the Twin Cities, Chicago, Madison and even New York where they played legendary clubs like CBGB's, The Knitting Factory and The Lone Star. Their only record, Top Happy, came out in 198-. It featured a song produced by Nick Lowe, a fan who had stumbled across them after playing a show in Milwaukee. The record got great reviews and could have been the start of even bigger things, but like many bands, people were pulling, and being pulled, in different directions.

The positive result of their breakup was two, then three very vital and entertaining acts. There was Semi-Twang, which concentrated on John's songs and did a record, Salty Tears for Warner Brothers that gathered more love than sales. John later moved to nashville and had many of his songs recorded by artist like Dwight Yoakam, Flaco Jimenez and The Bodeans.

Paul and Robin continued with the beefed up and ever-popular Milwaukeeans, releasing a record in the 1990s on Shenachie that got radio play around the country. That lineup stayed around until Robin bid adieu. Tired of touring and now married, she headed to New York for a while, before returning. She has carved out a special niche between soul, swing, standards and the French chanson that she loves, and is still performing today.

In 2009 Semi-Twang reunited and have released two CDs, both of which garnered raves. Paul has continued non-stop, his latest was out last year with his most recent moniker, Tomorrow Sound. The three headed beast has been in rehearsal, tightening up songs old and new. The crowd at their first reunion gig in many years was up and dancing at the first down beat, you probably will be too.

He may be one of the most lauded artists in the contemporary blues arena today, and rightfully so, but for Mike Zito, the thing that counts the most is maintaining his honesty, authenticity and integrity. Those are the qualities that have steered Zito's career since the beginning and continue to define every effort he's offered since.

"I have nothing to hide; it seems my honesty is what people relate to most," he once told Vintage Guitar magazine. "Anders (Osborne) told me early on, 'If you don't believe what you're singing, you'll never be a good singer.' I try not to write fluff; I try to make every word count."

That point became convincingly clear with his last record 2018's First Class Life, a collection of songs that detailed his journey from addiction to sobriety and the subsequent success he achieved through his award-winning body of work. A multiple award winner and nominee, Zito has built his career on an ability to tap into tradition while maintaining contemporary credence all at the same time.

Zito's upcoming album -- his 16th -- due this November on Ruf Records and descriptively titled Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, finds him broadening his boundaries still further even as it marks a return to his roots. The album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne and, significantly, Chuck's grandson, Charles Berry III.

"This was a very special project for me," Zito says. "I lived in Chuck's hometown of St. Louis for 32 years, and I worked at a small musical instrument store where his drummer also happened to be employed. Chuck's son would drop by on occasion as well. He was an icon, and rightfully so. I've been playing his songs since I was a kid. Needless to say, he was a tremendous influence on my career, and, of course, on many other musicians' as well."

Produced by Zito himself, the album was recorded at his own Marz Studios and mixed and mastered by David Farrell. "We recorded the basic tracks and then sent them to each guest musician," Zito recalls. "They added their contributions and then sent the files back to us. The process took a year to complete."

Naturally, patience and perseverance have been Zito's stock and trade since the beginning. He began playing guitar at the age of five, and by the time he reached his late teens, he was already a fixture on the local St. Louis music scene. He initially released his music independently and then signed with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. "Pearl River," the title track of his 2009 album for the label, won Song of the Year at the Blues Music Awards and marked his first collaboration with Cyril Nevill, with whom he'd later work in the Royal Southern Brotherhood. A steady succession of critically acclaimed albums followed, culminating in 2011's Greyhound, which was nominated for Best Rock Blues Album at that year's Blue Music Awards ceremony in Memphis. Two years later, he signed with Ruf Records and released Gone to Texas, the story of how he gained his sobriety, offered an emotional homage to the state that left an indelible imprint on his entire life. It also marked the debut of his band, the Wheel.

From 2010 to 2014, Zito also played an integral role in the super group of sorts, Royal Southern Brotherhood. The group released two albums and a DVD, Songs from the Road -- Live in Germany, winner of the year's Blues Music Award for Best DVD. He also made his mark behind the boards by producing albums for Samantha Fish, Albert Castiglia, Ally Venable, Jeremiah Johnson, Jimmy Carpenter, and many others.

Meanwhile, the accolades keep coming. His album Make Blues Not War debuted on the Billboard Blues Album Chart at number one and garnered him recognition as the 2018 Rock Blues Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards. Last year's First Class Life followed suit, also entering the charts at number one. Alternate Root magazine insisted that "The First Class Life that Mike Zito titles his upcoming album can be heard in the sweet sound of Blue Soul rising like heat waves from his guitar and his vocal." American Blues Scene said "Mike Zito's return to the blues is, in a word, triumphant!" No Depression declared, "Once again, Zito has delivered the goods, a first class package with no postage due."

Now, with Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, Mike Zito again does what he does best, making an album that's humble, heartfelt, skilled and sublime....and, to paraphrase Chuck himself, letting it rock all at the same time.

Some folks are lucky to find what they love to do at an early age and settle in for the long haul working to expand and improve their work over the arc of a lifetime. Willy Porter is one of those folks. He has followed his own path to explore the sacred language that music truly is. 30 years after his solo recording debut, he continues to reach further into his guitar & pen while stretching the form of what his own music can be. He's currently working on his 13th album for release in early 2022.

Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle-- at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.

Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).

In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements.

In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt." Porter's follow-up release, Human Kindness (2015) incorporated all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great selection of songs bearing the influence of soul, rock, blues/Americana, showcasing Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.

After touring extensively together for more than two years, Porter and Nickerson released a full-length disc of original co-writes: Bonfire to Ash (2016). Produced by Grammy winning producer Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Jonatha Brooke) and featuring Bassist Zev Katz and Drummer/Producer Ben Wittman, Bonfire to Ash is a record that charts the experiences bridging the intimate with the universal. Porter and Nickerson borrow from their strong stage chemistry to render the same kind of musical conversation that unfolds in performance within a studio setting. This dialogic style broadens to consider the connections and values forged in the communities we call home ("Living Proof") and in the responsibility we have to the planet that gives itself to house us ("Plant A Garden"). Bonfire to Ash compiles candid snapshots of the human journey, exposing ideas such as hope, regret, love, loss, and connection that remain immutable against time, history, or place.

In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.

Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.

Sue Foley is a multi-award winning musician and of the one of the finest blues and roots artists working today. Foley spent her early childhood in Canada, mesmerized by her father's guitar and started her professional career at sixteen. By twenty-one, Foley was liv-ing in Austin, TX and recording for Antone's--the esteemed blues label and historic nightclub that helped launch the career of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Her first release, Young Girl Blues, quickly rooted her unique talents as a proficient blues guitarist, inspired songwriter and cap-tivating vocalist. Foley has toured steadily with her band, toting her signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster--working and sharing the stage with greats such as BB King, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty. In 2001, she won the prestigious Juno Award (Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for her CD, Love Coming Down. Foley also holds the record for the most Maple Blues Awards (seventeen) and has earned three Trophees de Blues de France. She has also garnered several nominations at the International Blues Music Awardsin Memphis, TN.

As an offshoot to her professional recording and touring career, Foley started a project called Guitar Woman based around dozens of interviews she conducted with the world's leading female guitarists. From 2001-2008, she wrote articles, organized and pro-moted concerts, and worked on a book--fueling her passion for gender studies in music and her desire to bring the work of great women guitar players to light. The Guitar Womanproject entered a period of dormancy from 2009-2015 while Foley pursued several musical collaborations and returned to university to get her graduate's degree. Plans are in the works to finish Guitar Woman in the coming months.

2016 brought Foley full circle when she returned to Austin, TX and started collaborat-ing with some of her old friends and many Texas musical legends including Jimmie Vaughan and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top). Foley is the only female member of the famed "Jungle Show" which features Gibbons, Vaughan, B3 virtuoso Mike Flanigin and Chris 'Whipper' Layton (formerly of Steve Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble). "The Jungle Show" was one of the hottest tickets in Austin in 2016. After playing two sold out shows at Austin City Limits Live 3TEN Club in December, Foley entered the studio with her Texan pals and laid down tracks for what will undoubtably be her best and most successful album to date; The Ice Queen.

The Nielsen Trust - a Midwest musical legacy of memories, dreams and nightmares. The Nielsen Trust promises an intimate look at the life and songs of a family that isn't completely f#*ked up. A very special evening of songs and stories from the uniquely colorful world of growing up Nielsen. Not the American Osbournes.

"Hey, have you heard about that rockin' new family band, the Nielsen Trust?"

"The Nelson Trust? You mean like Ozzie and Harriet? Ricky? They're not what I
would call rockin'."

"Rick, yes, but not Nelson, Nielsen. Rick Nielsen, y'know, the guy from Cheap Trick? He and two of his sons have formed a side band. It's gonna be cool! Like the Griswolds on acid."

"Wait, doesn't Cheap Trick tour all the time? And isn't Daxx Nielsen their drummer? And doesn't Miles Nielsen have a band of his own? And isn't Miles'wife Kelly a singer and songwriter as well? How will they find the time?"

True, true, true and true. But that's not enough to slow the hyper-musical Nielsen family. The Nielsen Trust, established 2019, connects the family's generations -- a sign of trust -- for very special evenings of songs and stories from the uniquely colorful world of growing up Nielsen.

Rick promises "a Midwest musical legacy -- memories, dreams and nightmares"and notes, ominously, "The Nielsens are not your warm, fuzzy and cuddly musical group. We're not the American Osbournes."Or, as Miles puts it, "a way to experience music and stories between a father and his family, an intimate look at the life and songs of a family that isn't completely f#*ked up."

The back story: Miles and Daxx started off playing together in Harmony Riley, a Midwest quintet which released albums in 1999 and 2002. Then Daxx went off to drum for surf legend Dick Dale, Brandi Carlile and others. He got the "you are needed" call from Cheap Trick in 2010.

Big brother Miles played bass for Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons and then launched his solo career with the Rusted Hearts. His fourth album, Ohbahoy, has just been released, and that's not counting the EP, Weep & Willow, he and his wife Kelly Steward issued in 2016. She has a new album, Tales and Tributes of the Deserving and Not So, as well. Rick, well, he's been playing a hundred-plus Cheap Trick shows a year all over the world, while writing and recording non-stop. So, with characteristic Midwest industry (and the encouragement of wife and mom Karen Nielsen), the four are testing family bonds by adding another musical project to their busy lives.

Actually, Daxx says, music has the power to intensify family ties. "Miles and I played in a band together for years and built an amazing chemistry. Rick and I have now played together for years and have also formed a great bond. When the three of us are all together it's going to be incredible."

With Miles out front as singer and storyteller, they're working up lesser-known songs from Rick's enormous Cheap Trick catalogue, adding some Miles and Kelly originals, choice covers and, who knows?, maybe writing some new tunes together. Asked for some titles, Miles says they're thinking about such Trick tunes as "Can't Hold On," "Didn't Know I Had It," "Fan Club" and "On Top of the World."

The goal, Miles says, is to play a dozen shows a year, accentuate the rock side ("dynamic and delicate") more than he normally does and give the family legend a chance to play in a band that he doesn't have to lead. Miles and Kelly will bring their three teenagers along to ensure that the binding of generations and the handing down of traditions continues for a long time to come. For the fans, the shows offer an intimate connection, an invitation to the Nielsen world, which may be rock star glamorous from the outside, but inside the checkerboard there's a family just like yours and mine. Well, maybe not just like...

Rick once had the fretboard of a red Les Paul Jr. inlaid with the words "You know you like it." That didn't sound too trustworthy a sentiment. But this time, with the Nielsen Trust, you know he means it.

Anthony Gomes, #1 Billboard Blues Artist, is a triple threat force as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Blues Revue Magazine recently declared that, "Gomes' formidable guitar chops and authentic singing place him in the forefront of modern blues." This, along with his high-energy shows and dynamic stage presence, make him one of the top draws on the Rock/Blues circuit today. Gomes has headlined concerts in 17 countries and has had the honor of sharing the stage with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Robert Plant, Joe Bonamassa, Heart, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Word of Gomes' electrifying performances has reached Eric Clapton, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman, Toby Keith, Jonny Lang, Ron White and Vince Vaughn who have all attended Gomes' concerts. After experiencing Gomes live, John Goodman referred to him as "a pure soul brother" and comedian Ron White declared his official endorsement of Anthony Gomes. Perhaps the greatest complement was offered by Morgan Freeman who jokingly professed that Anthony was, "not bad for a white boy."

In addition to performing, Gomes is an award winning blues history scholar, earning the University of Toronto's C.P. Stacey Award for the highest overall academic grade point average by a history major. Anthony completed his master's degree thesis on the racial and cultural evolution of blues music, graduating with high distinction.

Believing that music can inspire the human spirit, Anthony founded the Music Is The Medicine Foundation in 2010. This non-profit organization is dedicated to changing the lives of others through the healing power of music. Through private donations and winning sizable grants from State Farm Insurance and CVS Pharmacy, the foundation has funded songwriting scholarships, offered music education programs, and donated musical instruments to those in need.

Born in Toronto, Canada to a Portuguese father and a French-Canadian mother, Gomes began playing guitar in his early teens and was drawn to the blues sounds of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

He relocated to Chicago in the late '90s to learn from the blues masters. During his brief stint as a sideman for Magic Slim and the Teardrops, Gomes put together his own group and won the first annual Buddy Guy's Legends "Best Unsigned Blues Band" competition in 1998. Later that year, Gomes released his debut CD, Blues in Technicolor, which introduced him as a guitar-slinger loaded with impressive firepower.

On 2002's Unity, he accomplished the album's title with a heavy mix of styles leading Bandit Blues Radio to name it one of the "Top 30 Essential Blues CDs" of all time. Gomes was elevated to the top of the blues field just one year later when BluesWax Magazine named him "Artist of the Year," an award he would claim for several years in a row due to his endless commitment and touring. Music Is the Medicine (2006) peaked at number four on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart, only to be outdone by LIVE (2008) debuting at number one. In 2012, Gomes received critical acclaim for his release of Up 2 Zero. The album was named the "Best Blues CD of 2012" by A1 Blues.com and the Blues Underground Network voted the album "Best Blues Rock CD of 2012." The accolades continued in 2013 with the release of Gomes' gusty acoustic album ...Before The Beginning. Blues 411 honored the release with the "Jimi Award" for best Blues/Rock CD of 2013 and it continues to make many "Best Albums of the Year" lists.

Gomes shows no signs of slowing down. 2015 will see the release of Electric Field Holler, a guitar driven blues infused rock 'n' roll album that showcases Gomes' blistering six string work and whiskey soaked voice. "I feel like this will be our pinnacle year in terms of creativity and artistic achievement," says Gomes, "it's time to turn it up."

Returning to the studio as Watkins Family Hour, Sean and Sara Watkins consider brother sister a duo-centric record -- yet one that feels bigger than just two people. With Sean primarily on guitar and Sara on fiddle, and with both of them sharing vocals, the siblings enlisted producer Mike Viola (Jenny Lewis, Mandy Moore, J.S. Ondara) and mixer-engineer Clay Blair to harness the energy and honesty of their live sound.

"From the beginning, our goal was to work on these songs to be as strong as they could be, just the two of us," Sara explains. "And with a few exceptions on the record, that's really how things were. It was a tight little group of us, working dense days where we could squeeze them in.

Sean (who is four years older than Sara) adds, "Because of the limited amount of time we had collectively to spend in the studio, there was a general sense of urgency, which I think the three of us (Sara, Mike and I) kinda strive for on these days. We didn't have that much time and that made it fun and exciting. It was just us, in one room, facing each other with some really great mics, often playing and singing at the same time, trying to capture what Sara and I do in a real way."

For the first time, the Los Angeles-based siblings carved out time to write with each other, often during the naptime of Sara's toddler. They took early versions of the new songs to Viola, who instinctively rearranged some of the song structures in an effort to draw attention to interesting lyrics or surprising arrangements.

"Mike brings a diverse musical-history to his production work," Sean says. "He's worked with a lot of people [from The Figgs to Fall Out Boy] that surpass just bluegrass or folk, but his sense of the songwriting craft and melody is right in line with us. He was bringing ideas that we would have never had, and vice versa."

As Watkins Family Hour's first project since a self-titled debut album in 2015, brother sister begins with "The Cure," which Sean was inspired to write after watching Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. The concept of throwing things away is evident in the lyrics; there's also a sense of knowing that you're in an unhealthy relationship, but still choosing to avoid fixing it.

"Part of the fun of being a songwriter is being able to write about something that started from an image and then transcends that image to speak to something greater," Sara observes.

Sara chose the beautiful "Neighborhood Name" after hearing it on a record by Courtney Hartman and Taylor Ashton, while "Just Another Reason" is an original that Sean describes as having "a vague, nebulous vibe" lingering below the surface. In contrast, the instrumental "Snow Tunnel" is like an epiphany, titled after Sean's memory of driving through Zion National Park, emerging from the darkness of a loud tunnel into a peaceful panorama of snow.

Moving from one landscape to the next -- literally and musically -- is nothing new to Sean and Sara Watkins, who have performed separately and together for nearly their whole lives. Growing up near San Diego, they played countless shows at a local pizza place in Carlsbad, California, with their childhood friend, Chris Thile. As young adults, those three musicians broke out nationally as Nickel Creek, an acoustic ensemble that sold millions of albums, won a Grammy, and toured the world.

Encouraged by a local club owner in Los Angeles, Sean and Sara formed Watkins Family Hour in 2002 as an outlet to try out some original songs and a few covers that wouldn't work in Nickel Creek. That club, Largo, has since become the home base for Watkins Family Hour, whose shows frequently pair musicians who seem to have little in common, yet find a shared language in their music.

With Nickel Creek on hiatus, Sean and Sara released multiple solo albums and pursued other collaborations, most recently with Sara's involvement in I'm With Her. However, the siblings gravitated toward the idea of another Watkins Family Hour album after realizing that their calendars afforded them a rare opportunity to write, record, and tour together.

Their musical chemistry is clear on songs like "Lafayette," an ode to Hollywood as well as the hometowns left behind by its aspiring stars; "Fake Badge, Real Gun," about confronting authority figures as well as your own beliefs; "Miles of Desert Sand," whose haunting coda underscores the vivid imagery of immigration; and "Bella and Ivan," a playful instrumental named for a friend's two dogs who love to wrestle.

Two choice covers complete brother sister. Warren Zevon's poignant "Accidentally Like a Martyr," which they unearthed for a tribute show, conveys all the complicated facets of love, and "Keep It Clean," the rabble-rousing Charley Jordan gem from the '30s, serves as a grand finale, with David Garza, Gaby Moreno, and John C. Reilly all chiming in on vocals.

"That's just fun to sing," Sean says. "Going into this record, we wanted to focus on the duo-centric thing, but this was a chance to lean into the group aspect, and have some of the people that have been a part of the Family Hour but weren't on the first record that we made years ago."

However, brother sister remains exactly that -- the result of a brother and sister creating music.

"It felt really good to dig into the potential of two people," Sara says. "There are a few songs on the record where Matt Chamberlain comes in to play drums, and we filled in the low end in a few cases with Mike Viola playing MOOG or piano, but the primary goal of this record became to see what we could do when it is just the two of us. The arrangements and the writing were all focused on that. Listening now, I'm really proud of what we did. These are songs that would not have come out of either one of us individually, and it feels like a band sound, like this is what we do, the two of us."

The third album from Maggie Rose, Have a Seat is the work of a phenomenally gifted artist showing the full extent of her power. After years of honing her chops and making her name as a force-of-nature vocalist, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter has dreamed up her own unbridled collision of rock-and-roll, soul, folk, funk, and R&B: a fittingly eclectic sound for a musician whose live experience includes opening for Heart and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, touring as direct support for Kelly Clarkson, and sharing the Cayamo Cruise bill with Emmylou Harris and Jason Isbell--all in 2019 alone. Centered on the stunning vocal command she's revealed in taking the stage at The Grand Ole Opry over 80 times, Have a Seat finds Rose approaching her music with more confidence and clarity of vision than ever, ultimately sharing a selection of songs both timeless and urgent.

Produced by Ben Tanner of Alabama Shakes, Have a Seat came to life at the iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. In a series of pre-pandemic sessions, Rose recorded live with a lineup of heavy-hitters that includes bassist David Hood of the Swampers (the group of session musicians who played on records from legends like Aretha Franklin and Etta James) and guitarist Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, Levon Helm), along with her longtime bandmates/collaborators Larry Florman (background vocals/percussion), Alex Haddad (guitars), and Sarah Tomek (drums) of Them Vibes. Also featuring an esteemed string section and swampy horn ensemble--in a way that's never been so integral to Rose's sonic aesthetic--Have a Seat continues the free-flowing musical exploration she first began on her powerhouse 2018 album Change the Whole Thing. "I had the idea of recording at FAME in the back of my mind throughout the entire writing process for this project," says Rose, who first visited the studio upon performing as part of the Muscle Shoals to Music Row program in late 2018. "I took a lot of inspiration from the Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett records that came out of that very room, playing up my R&B sensibilities more than ever and really tapping into my soul and its connection to this music."

Like any great soul singer, Rose beautifully captures the tensions of the current moment, gently presenting her pensive social commentary while providing much-needed reprieve from the everyday chaos. "These songs were written during a contentious time, and there are undertones to the lyrics that are influenced by the state of our world politics and the politics of the music industry," she says. "The title Have a Seat is responsorial, placing an emphasis on inclusivity--like, 'Here, sit down. Let's try talking to each other.' One of the most loving things we can do is listen and make others feel heard--give people the space to speak their mind and be themselves. However, there's also an intended meaning to the title that points to the power in occupying the seat that's designated to you: I am claiming a seat I believe is rightfully mine, and I want others to do the same."

One of the lead singles to Have a Seat, "For Your Consideration" arrives as a full-hearted plea for understanding and compassion, its smoldering verse and stormy chorus brilliantly mimicking the back-and-forth of a heated argument. "When I wrote that song I'd just been in L.A. and seen all the billboards on Sunset for some awards show that was about to happen," says Rose. "I decided to repurpose the phrase 'For Your Consideration' to make it about the aftermath of a fight, where the people are so caught up in saying what they want to say that they never actually listen to each other."

The slow-burning opening track to Have a Seat, "What Are We Fighting For" offers a gorgeous introduction to the album's message of loving solidarity, its power intensified by Rose's tender yet mighty vocals and the soul-soothing harmonies of Karita Law and Shanay Johnson (a duo known for their work with Brittany Howard and Emily King). On "Do It," Rose veers into a brighter mood, bringing fiery horns and breezy rhythms to a personal mission statement she sums up as "doubling down on being an individual." With its ethereal textures and hypnotic guitar tones, "Saint" unfolds as a delicate refusal to succumb to the expectations of others. ("That song's about admitting to not being perfect and being okay with that," says Rose. "It's something we should stop expecting of women--because women are many things, and saintly is not a requirement.") And on tracks like "Are We There Yet"--a crystalline piece of symphonic pop graced with lush and luminous string work--Rose ventures into unsparing self-reflection. "'Are We There Yet' is a song about the way we all torture ourselves with our ambitions," she says. "Instead of always thinking about the next thing I want to go out and get, I'm trying to just focus on enjoying what I already have--which is really pretty great."

With its standouts also including "What Makes You Tick" (a gloriously funky track co-written with and featuring blues guitarist and Grammy nominee Marcus King), Have a Seat finds Rose boldly elevating her songwriting and sound while reclaiming the joyful freedom of her early years. Growing up in Maryland, she cut her teeth sneaking into nearby bars to sing with a Bruce Springsteen cover band at the age of 16, then moved to Nashville several years later after being discovered as a potential breakout country star. Although she soon achieved major success on Music Row and earned acclaim from the likes of the New York Times--who hailed her as a "sturdy heartbreaker...full of astute, aggrieved songwriting...and attitude that even in the post-Miranda Lambert era feels knifelike"--Rose grew increasingly restless within the confines of country. After expanding her musical palette on Change the Whole Thing, she found herself embraced by luminaries in the rock and pop and Americana worlds, and even became massively beloved by the jam-band community (thanks in no small part to her exhilarating performance at the Peach Music Festival in 2019). Quickly gaining recognition as a fiercely independent artist, she was eventually tapped by Osiris Media to create "Salute the Songbird with Maggie Rose": a weekly podcast based on candid conversations between Rose and her favorite female trailblazers in music, including Martina McBride and Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine.

For Rose, the charmed experience of recording in Muscle Shoals has catalyzed the start of a thrilling new era in her musical evolution. "Working with musicians of that caliber and knowing they were giving my music so much attention definitely made me thrive," she says. "I felt so safe going deep into the emotional places within the songs, and I think you can feel that love and camaraderie when you listen to the record." At the same time, Have a Seat is undeniably the sound of an artist fully coming into her own, without concession or compromise. "I've worked in this industry for over a decade, and I feel like I've finally carved out a lane that's genre-bending and all my own," she says. "I had to really fight to find that space for myself, and this record is my way of staking my claim."

Greg Koch and the Koch-Marshall Trio consist of American guitarist Greg Koch, his son Dylan Koch on drums and Hammond B3 specialist Toby Lee Marshall. At the heart of this organ trio is a blues sensibility - but Koch's compositions are an amalgam of rock, funk, jazz and country served up with heavy grooves and dynamic improvisations delivered with no small dose of humor and occasional wild abandon.

Milwaukee native Greg Koch has forged a successful career as a guitar player's guitarist. He has been called "fiendishly talented" by author and former editor- in-chief of Guitar Player Magazine Tom Wheeler and "scary good" by guitar phenom Joe Bonamassa. In addition to his 15 releases on multiple record labels which feature his unique take on a variety of American guitar styles and his versatile compositions, Koch is widely known for his lengthy tenure as an international ambassador for Fender Guitars which listed him in their "Top Ten Unsung Guitarists" onÂ Fender.com.Â He is also a best-selling author and video instructor for music publisher Hal Leonard. Greg is a contributing columnist for a variety of guitar magazines including Guitar Player Magazine which listed Greg's "Chief's Blues" in their "40 Badass Blues Solos You Must Hear" and Premier Guitar. For the last few years Greg is renowned for his wildly popular internet videos (which number in the thousands with views exceeding 50 million) originating from the legendary Colorado guitar shop Wildwood Guitars.

Dylan Koch gravitated to the drums early on in his life using kitchen utensils to play along with music as soon as he could walk. After digesting an early diet of Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell and John Bonham, Dylan was mentored by the legendary Tom Brechtlein (Chick Corea/Robben Ford). In high school Dylan participated in the Jazz Institute at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and furthered his studies at the McNally Smith School of Music in the Twin Cities. While still in his teens he performed with young guitar guns Tallan Noble Latz and Jared James Nichols and has performed alongside his father with such artists as Robben Ford, Little Feat's Paul Barrere, Jon Cleary, David Grissom, Roscoe Beck and Malford Milligan. Dylan was recently nominated for drummer of the year by the Wisconsin Area Music Awards (WAMI). â€‹

Toby Lee Marshall's screaming B3 is the perfect compliment to the musical stew that is the Koch songbook. Hailing from the Twin Cities area he came from a musical family, playing piano for years until falling under the spell of the sound of the organ while at a baseball game at age seven. His fascination for the Hammond B3 took hold after his Dad took him to see Steve Cherewan playing with Dr. Mambo's Combo at their legendary residency at Bunker's in Minneapolis. Steve mentored Toby in the ways of the B3 and he hit the ground running landing a gig with bluesman Lonnie Brooks while still a teen. He would go on to travel the world as a member of Bernard Allison's band. After taking a hiatus to spend some family time, Toby is returning to music with a vehemence and the Koch-Marshall format gives him a long leash to let his freak flag fly, providing groovy bass lines, sinuous chordal work and incendiary solos.

The trio blends the explosive guitar manipulations of Greg, the groove-centric, power-pocket playing of his son Dylan on drums (who share many telepathic musical moments) and the glorious, Hammond organ stylings of the uber-talented Toby Marshall, Gregâ€™s compositions are properly portrayed in the blues drenched, funk, chicken-fried, gospelly, jazz-rock panorama in which they were conceived.

Duke Tumatoe, born William "Bill" Severen Fiorio in 1947, is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He has gigged with Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, John Fogerty and George Thorogood. He was a founding member of arena-rock giants REO Speedwagon. He has released fifteen albums as the bandleader of Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs and Duke Tumatoe & The Power Trio. His 1988 live album I Like My Job was produced by John Fogerty. He typically plays more than 100 dates per year.

Duke Tumatoe was born in June 1947 in Chicago. His father was a first-generation Italian whose family hailed from San Bonifacio, Italy, a northern Italian town outside Verona. He grew up in Beverly, a neighborhood on the Southwest side of Chicago.

The South Side of Chicago was also the birthplace of urban, electric blues, which was a huge influence on Tumatoe. As a teen, he often visited the legendary market at Maxwell Street to hear live blues. He says, "I first saw Muddy Waters when I was 13. We were hearing that stuff all the time and just assumed everybody was, too. I knew all the old guys, and I'd see them every day. I can't believe I took that for granted."

He learned to play drums at age 14 and guitar a year after that

In 1965, Tumatoe enrolled in college at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and founded a short-lived band called Lothar & The Handpeople. This band was named by CBS News Correspondent and Emmy Award winner Bill Geist, a classmate of Tumatoe's.

In 1967, while living in Champaign, Illinois, Tumatoe was an original member of early REO Speedwagon, alongside Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer. The band started as a soul band, inspired by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and The Doors. In 1969, the band decided to take a more straightforward rock and roll approach, so Tumatoe, who wanted to play blues music, left the group to pursue his own musical endeavors. Tumatoe says, "It became more and more obvious that we weren't meant to play together...They're really hard-working people. I have nothing but good things to say about them."

In 1969, Tumatoe founded Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs. The band featured guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. They toured for thirteen years and released three albums. The All-Star Frogs featured keyboardist James Mitchell Hill, whose playing has been compared to Booker T. Jones. Hill continues to play with Tumatoe through the present day.

In 1983, Tumatoe disbanded The All-Star Frogs. He had moved to Indianapolis and was looking to form a group closer to his new home. The new group consisted of guitar, bass, drums and keys, though certain lineup changes featured two guitarists and no keys. The Power Trio performed an average of 200 dates per year. They have released twelve albums to date.

In 1987, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival undertook his own ethnomusicologist mission by traveling through the South and Midwest to discover regional acts that couldn't be heard on the radio. While passing through Mishawaka, Indiana, Fogerty heard a radio advertisement for Duke Tumatoe, whose name caught his attention. He attended the show that evening and was so impressed that he returned to the club on four consecutive evenings to see more.

"The first time I heard Duke it gave me chills," said Fogerty. "I hadn't experienced energy like that in a long time. It was like walking in on Jimmy Swaggart in his heyday. Everybody in the audience was shouting and screaming and having a good time. I mean the crowd was just eating out of this guy's hand. Immediately the light went on in my head--somebody ought to record these guys."

For the first time, Fogerty decided to try his hand as a record producer. He played a cassette of a live recording of Duke to Warner Bros. Records President Lenny Waronker and got the go-ahead to begin recording what would become the 1988 live album, I Like My Job. Determined to capture the live energy of the band, Fogerty assembled over 24 hours of live recordings before beginning the mixing process. Fogerty and engineer Alan Johnson spent three focused months mixing the record.

Of the mixing process, Fogerty said, "I'd take a piece of a song from one night and add pieces from other nights...a bridge here, a chorus there. I was looking to get as close to that feeling I had when I first saw him. At the same time, it was important to me that I didn't mess with the material itself. Duke is a great songwriter, and great song interpreter. I really wasn't able to tell which tunes were originals and which were covers and that's the way I liked it. This is his music, played his way. I just sort of assembled the best moments." Capturing Tumatoe's crowd interaction was a prominent concern. "That interaction was vital. Which is why you get a lot of call and response on the record. Duke is a very quick guy. And very funny. He knows how to work a crowd and it was my hope that the energy would come across on record."

Shortly after moving to Indianapolis in 1980, Tumatoe befriended Tom Griswold of "The Bob & Tom Show," a nationally-syndicated radio program that fuses comedy and music. In 1985, Tumatoe was looking for a way to promote a local blues club called Uncle Slugs, and Griswold suggested he write a song about the city's new NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts, which had formerly been the Baltimore Colts. The result was the tongue-in-cheek "Lord Help Our Colts," a catchy twelve-bar blues jingle with a static chorus and verses that could easily be updated to recap each game. "I, of course, wrote the song in a form that I thought if necessary, I could easily update, which turned out to be a real good thing, a smart move," says Tumatoe. To date, he has sung more than 800 versions over the past thirty years.

Tumatoe performed the songs weekly on air, and though they were a hit with fans, some of the players and coaches took umbrage to his lyrics, especially when Tumatoe couldn't resist taking a dig. On a few different occasions, Tumatoe barely avoided physical altercations initiated by drunken quarterbacks or angry coaches. Says Tumatoe, "I think people miss a basic thing about the blues, and I don't understand why they don't get it. Blues is a light-hearted music. They're stories that make fun of what goes on in your life. Don't get me wrong, I'm a football fan. I enjoy these games. I watch them all. But the premise of all these guys getting millions and millions of dollars to play a kids' game is in and of itself not serious. It's a cause to celebrate when they're winning, but it really doesn't affect your life other than it's nice when your team is doing well. And these guys are getting millions of dollars, and these guys are bitching about it when you criticize their performance? I didn't really criticize their performance. I just made it rhyme."

Tumatoe is a self-taught guitarist who learned to play by watching Chicago's blues legends. His guitar playing has been described as "B.B. King played through Jimi Hendrix (with a touch of Andy Gill)."

Tumatoe's songs are noted for their humor, something he explains as, "There are two elements of the blues. There's the general intensity of the music...and an element of humor, some twist in the lyrics. It's like a comedian turning something sad into something funny."

Michael McDermott burst onto the scene in his early 20s with his exceptional debut, 620 W. Surf and subsequently found himself touted as Rock's 'Next Big Thing'. MTV, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and even author, Stephen King added their appreciative nods and having the backing of Giant Records and prestigious producers like, Brian Koppelman and Don Gehman, seemed to go a long way towards assuring his success - overnight success.

The missteps and failures that followed, the collapse of an industry that once embraced him as its next sensation, are troubles and travails that either ruin a person completely, or they force a change of attitude and staunch determination to gather one's resolve to not only survive, but overcome. McDermott vowed to do both. Ten albums in, it's resulted in Willow Springs (Pauper Sky, June 17, 2016), one of the most honest, daring and defiant recordings of McDermott's career. Named for the small town where he now resides with his wife and young daughter, it reflects a certain circumspect about his life, the situations he's encountered, while realizing that ultimately, his fate resided in his own hands.

"This is an album of reckoning I suppose," McDermott reflects. "There was a real cacophony of change going on in my life at the time... being a new father, losing my own father, leaving the city for the country, dealing with sobriety, grief, death, mortality, shame and forgiveness. It was a veritable emotional tsunami and yet somehow I had to navigate through it all. That journey is reflected in these songs. Willow Springs is the name of the place where I took refuge and had to confront a lot of things".

Recorded at his home in the country and fan-funded, Willow Springs finds McDermott behind the boards as producer for the first time with longtime producer and collaborator, Lex Price doing the mix. Having enlisted a stellar support group of musicians -- including multi-instrumentalist, Price; guitarist, Will Kimbrough; keyboard player, John Deaderick ; sax player Rich Parenteau; and McDermott's wife, Heather Horton on backing vocals - McDermott found himself able to craft the unassuming yet cutting sound he envisioned.

Indeed, the results bear out the fact that Willow Springs is the most honest and expressive album of McDermott's extraordinary 25 year career. Songs such as, 'These Last Few Days', 'Getaway Car', 'Half Empty Kinda Guy', 'One Minus One' and the title track, convey all at once, a sound that's both reflective and confessional - borne by stark emotion and a tattered, battered delivery that's both sobering and sublime. McDermott remains more determined than ever, and Willow Springs is the result. "My enthusiasm is only matched by my desire to continue to evolve as an artist" he insists.

Accolades and kudos can be accumulated one minute and quickly dissipate the next. After all, the music biz is a fickle beast and it doesn't matter how much you pleased the masses last year, last month or even last week, but rather, about what you offer today.

Today, McDermott has offered his best.

Kudos to Michael McDermott - overnight success.

In Chicago, a city overflowing with unrivaled blues talent, world-renowned Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials have been standing tall for almost 30 years. The band's big sound, fueled by Lil' Ed's gloriously rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending, along with his rough-edged, soulful vocals, is as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. The Chicago Sun-Times says, "Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor."

Lil' Ed Williams comes to the blues naturally. His uncle, Chicago slide guitar king and master songwriter J.B. Hutto, taught him how to feel, not just play the blues. Nine albums and thousands of performances later, Lil' Ed is now universally hailed as a giant of the genre. Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials--bassist (and Ed's half-brother) James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton--have remained together for nearly 30 years (an extraordinary feat for any group), the band fueling Ed's songs with their rock-solid, road-tested, telepathic musicianship.

The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials is the musically electrifying, emotionally intense and downright fun new album from the band Guitar Player calls "a snarling boogie-blues machine...they blow down the walls." The CD features Lil' Ed's incendiary playing and playful, passionate singing, with the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cooking like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of authentic, deeply rooted Chicago blues. Williams wrote or co-wrote all but two of album's 14 songs, the other gems written by Uncle J.B. The Chicago Reader says the band's music "is a soundtrack for dancing and celebration infused with a sense of hard-won survival. Williams attacks his lyrics like he attacks his guitar: with bare-bones intensity that makes each word sound like a matter of life or death."

Born in Chicago on April 8, 1955, in the heart of Chicago's tough West Side, Ed grew up surrounded by music. He was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Ed and Pookie received lessons and support from their famous uncle. "J.B. taught me everything I know," says Ed. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him." Ed and Pookie spent their teen years making music together, and in 1975 formed the first incarnation of The Blues Imperials. They played their first gig at a West Side club called Big Duke's Blue Flame, splitting the $6 take four ways. Over the next few years, the group played every club in the neighborhood. Even so, they still needed day jobs to pay the bills. Ed worked ten hours a day as a buffer at the Red Carpet Car Wash. Pookie drove a school bus. Night after night they played their roaring brand of blues in tiny clubs, and eventually the word reached Alligator president Bruce Iglauer.

At the time, Iglauer was looking for local talent for The New Bluebloods, an anthology of some of Chicago's younger blues musicians. "Ed and his band had a good reputation," recalls Iglauer. "I had only seen them live once or twice. I knew Ed was a hot slide player, but I had no idea what he and the band were really capable of. I just knew that their music reminded me of Hound Dog Taylor and J.B. Hutto, two of my favorite musicians. It seemed like having a band this rough and ready would be a nice change of pace for the anthology, so I asked them to come down to the studio and cut a couple of songs. I never expected what happened."

The band--never having been in a recording studio before--treated the studio like a club, playing live to Iglauer, the engineer, and all the people on the other side of the control room glass. After Ed recorded his two rehearsed songs quickly, there was still plenty of studio time left, so they just kept playing. After 10 songs were in the can, Iglauer offered the band a full album contract. The end result of the session was 30 songs cut in three hours with no overdubs and only one second take. Twelve of those songs became the band's debut album, Roughhousin', released in September of 1986.

The national press reacted with amazement to the blues world's new discovery. Feature stories ran in Spin, Musician, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune and dozens of other publications. The Village Voice declared, "Roughhousin' just may be the blues album of the year." The New York Times raved, "Raw-boned, old-fashioned Chicago blues has a new young master--Lil' Ed Williams."

But it wasn't until 1987, when guitarist Mike Garrett joined the band, and a year later, when Garrett recruited his Detroit hometown friend Kelly Littleton to play drums, that things really began to take off. Garrett's risk-taking rhythm guitar work and Littleton's unpredictable, old school drumming were the perfect complement to Lil' Ed's and Pookie's rambunctious playing. With their 1989 album Chicken, Gravy & Biscuits, doors opened and audiences poured in. Through relentless touring, the group crystallized, becoming tighter with each performance, more adept in their abilities to read each other's musical moves. Their spontaneous and unpredictable live show became legendary among blues fans worldwide.

They have played the Chicago Blues Festival multiple times, and have appeared at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The San Diego Blues Festival, The Pennsylvania Blues Festival and dozens of other festivals around the country. Satisfying worldwide demand, they have performed at festivals in Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Japan, Australia, India, Turkey and Panama.

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials released eight Alligator albums between 1986 and 2012. With each one, the band's national and international stature grew as their fan base--known internationally as "Ed Heads"--continued to expand. With 2006's Rattleshake, Ed and company reached a whole new audience. Die-hard "Ed Head" Conan O'Brien brought the band before millions of television viewers on two separate occasions. Success and accolades never stop pouring in. Living Blues called 2012's Jump Start "scorching and soulful" with "crafty, clever lyrics...joyous and stomping."

The group took home the Living Blues Award for Best Live Performer in 2011, 2012 and 2013. They won the prestigious Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year in both 2007 and 2009. The Associated Press says, "Williams fills Chicago's biggest shoes with more life and heat than anyone on stage today."

With The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, the band continues to bring their blistering Chicago blues to "Ed Heads" new and old. Their infectious energy, joyful showmanship and masterful playing have been honed to a razor's edge by their many years together. Lil' Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have seen sports stars and presidents, musical fads and fashion trends come and go. Meanwhile, their fiery music has more than stood the test of time. "We're not band members," says Williams, "we're family, and families stay together." Night after night, gig after riotous gig, the musical family called Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials bring their big, dynamic Chicago blues sound to fans across the country and around the world

Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the great soul interpreters of her generation", Bettye LaVette is a vocalist who can take any type of song and make it completely her own. To quote the late, great George Jones, "Bettye is truly a singer's singer".

Her career began in 1962, at the age of 16, in Detroit, Michigan. Her first single "My Man - He's a Loving Man", was released on Atlantic Records. This led to tours with headliners such as Ben E. King, Clyde McPhatter and then up-and-comer, Otis Redding. She recorded for numerous major labels, including Atco, Epic, and Motown, over the course of the 1960s through the 1980s. She also worked alongside Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway in the touring company of the Toni Award winning musical, Bubbling Brown Sugar.

The 2000s started what she calls her "Fifth Career". Her CD, A Woman Like Me, won the W.C. Handy Award in 2004 for Comeback Blues Album of the Year. She was also given a prestigous Pioneer Award by The Rhythm & Blues Foundation, was inducted into the Detroit Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, given an Unsung Award by the National R&B Society, and inducted into The Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation. She has received Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Female Blues Singer and Best Soul Blues Female Artist. Since 2002, she has released 8 albums, 5 of which have received Grammy nominations.

In 2017, she signed with Verve Records and has since recorded 2 albums, both of which were produced by Steve Jordan. The first was Things Have Changed, an album consisting of all Bob Dylan songs. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. Her latest, Blackbirds, is Bettye's homage to the Black female singers of the 1950s who came before her.

Blackbirds was released during the midst of the pandemic in 2020, and, being unable to tour, Bettye is just now performing the record for live audiences a year after it's release. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. She will be playing the album in it's entirety, along with other songs from her catalogue.

Fans, critics and artists have nothing but high praise for her live show and her vocal prowess. Now, at 75 years old and in her 59th year in show business, she is still performing with the ferocity of a woman half her age. She is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today.

When people learn that singer/songwriter Shana Morrison is Van Morrison's adult daughter, the first thing they want to know is how much she has been influenced by her father. Van Morrison's writing has influenced his daughter's work, but not tremendously; Shana's gritty, bluesy, approach to pop/rock and roots rock actually owes a lot more to female singer/songwriters like Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge. When Shana's recordings are playing, one doesn't think of "Brown-Eyed Girl" or "Moondance" (two of her father's big hits). One is more likely to think of Sheryl Crow, Joan Osborne, Patti Rothberg, and some of the other female singer/songwriters who emerged in the '90s. Nonetheless, Van Morrison did a lot to encourage his daughter's interest in music. Growing up in the same house as the man who gave us "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," Shana was inevitably exposed to a great deal of music: rock, R&B, blues, jazz, and folk, as well as Irish/Celtic music. Unlike her father, she wasn't born in Belfast, Ireland; she was born in Kingston, NY, on April 7, 1970, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, Morrison acquired an extensive knowledge of Celtic music thanks to her Irish relatives. When the singer/songwriter reached adulthood, she wasn't necessarily planning to follow in her father's footsteps; realizing that only a very small fraction of the people who pursued careers in music would earn a good living at it (let alone enjoy her father's success), Morrison studied business administration as a graduate student and wanted something outside of music to fall back on. Nonetheless, Morrison did, in fact, end up devoting all of her time to music. After graduating from college in 1993, Morrison went on the road with her father's Rhythm and Soul Revue as a featured artist. She did a lot of songwriting then and after that tour ended in 1994, she formed her own band Caledonia. Not to be confused with an excellent but little-known New York goth rock outfit that also went by Caledonia in the '90s, Morrison's band was named after one of her dad's songs. She soon acquired a small local following in the Bay Area and in 1997, she recorded her debut album, which was also called Caledonia. Her album was originally released on her own label, Belfast Violet, but in 1999, the CD was reissued by the Brisbane, CA-based Monster Music. It was also in 1999 that Morrison collaborated with Northern California bluesman Roy Rogers (not to be confused with the famous Cincinnati-born cowboy vocalist) on the album Everybody's Angel. In 2001, she signed with Vanguard and recorded 7 Wishes, which was produced by guitarist Steve Buckingham. Vanguard released 7 Wishes in April 2002; "Smoke in Bed" became the album's lead single. She released That's Who I Am, which was produced by Morrison herself on her own label, Belfast Violet Records, in 2006. On March 4, 2010, Morrison released her latest album, Joyride. Like her previous release, the new album is on the Belfast Violet label, with Jim Lauderdale contributing vocals for a duet on "He Won't Send Roses".

Jen Chapin's music is urban folk soul -- story songs that search for community and shared meaning, powered by the funk and improvisation of the city. Critics have hailed her work as "brilliant.. soulfully poetic" (NPR), "thoughtful ... worth-savoring" (People), "addictive" (Boston Globe), "smart, observant, lyrically deft, politically aware and emotionally intuitive" (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

JazzTimes has called her "a first-rate storyteller" while Relix regards her as "one of the freshest voices singing today." Jen has been featured on "Late Nite with Conan O'Brien", NPR's Mountain Stage and WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, Sirius Satellite's The Loft with Mike Marrone and Mary Sue Twohy's The Village, been honored by the USA Songwriting Competition, has performed on stage with Bruce Springsteen, and has opened up for Bruce Hornsby, Smokey Robinson, and the Neville Brothers..

Her performances are powerful, spotlighting the world-class musicianship and rare chemistry of Grammy-nominated acoustic bassist/husband Stephan Crump and "unflappable melodist" (New York Times) guitarist Jamie Fox.

Jen's music reflects a diversity of experience. She is mother to 8 year old Maceo and 4 year old Van Crump. She is an activist, with a life-long involvement in WhyHunger (founded in 1975 by Jen's late father Harry Chapin), an organization that champions innovative, community-based solutions to hunger and poverty.

Reckoning, Jen's first full-length album of her original songs in 7 years, produced by 5-time Grammy award winner Kevin Killen. Reckoning is "songs of ambition (and the lack thereof), of anger, and gratitude, of privilege, and being without, of being overwhelmed but still hungry for more life. In short, of family."

Grammy Award-winning country star John Berry continues to celebrate 40 years as a Country music performer and songwriter as well as his 26th anniversary since signing his first record deal with his most recent single "The Richest Man" from the new album Thomas Road. In 2019, Berry was diagnosed with throat cancer, requiring 35 treatments combined of radiation and chemotherapy. In 2018 charted at #30 on the Music Row Breakout Charts with the single, "Beautifully Broken," which is featured in the soundtrack for the movie of the same name. The singer-songwriter rose to stardom on the country charts of the 1990s with such mega hits as Your Love Amazes Me, Standing on the Edge of Goodbye and She's Taken a Shine. His annual Christmas tours brighten the holidays for thousands, as does his electrifying rendition of O' Holy Night.

During the 90s and early 2000s, John placed 20 singles on the country charts, 6 of which went Top 5, with Your Love Amazes Me, scoring a #1 on the Billboard and Radio & Records Country Chart as well as Standing on the Edge of Goodbye and She's Taken a Shine earning the #1 slot in Radio & Records. He has earned multiple Gold and Platinum records over the years. John was nominated for the ACM Top New Male Vocalist in 1994, won a Grammy Award in 1996 for his participation in Amazing Grace: A Country Salute to Gospel Vol. 1, was nominated for another Grammy in 1995 for his smash hit Your Love Amazes Me and was nominated for the CMA Horizon Award and Top Male Vocalist Award in 1995. In 1997 he was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year (for Long Haired Country Boy with Charlie Daniels and Hal Ketchum) and in 2013 John was nominated for the Mainstream Country Male Artist by the ICM Awards. And thanks to the miracles of modern technology, he even sang a duet with the late, great Patsy Cline.

"I love what I do, with a passion not seen in quite some time. I'm hopeful and excited about the future. I love singing and always will. I have a bus, an incredible stage presentation, a great band, hands-on management team and I'm always all dressed up and ready to go."

John's enduringly powerful performances draw on a lifetime of making music and living life. Born in South Carolina and raised in Georgia, he began playing guitar at 13, performing shows at age 14 and making records at age 19. "By the time I was 17, I knew that music was what I wanted to do with my life"; and he has done it well ever since.

Between 1979 and 1990 he recorded and marketed six albums on his own labels. The Graduation Song, which he wrote during his senior year in high school, became a perennial favorite at graduation ceremonies. It appeared on two of his early collections.

Those early discs and John's strong regional popularity attracted attention on Music Row. Capitol Records signed him to his first major label contract in 1992. Berry's co-written hits A Mind of Her Own and Kiss Me in the Car introduced him to radio audiences in 1993. Then Your Love Amazes Me, What's in it for Me and You and Only You thrust him to stardom in 1994. Standing on the Edge of Goodbye, I Think About it all the Time, and If I Had Any Pride Left at All were all major hits the following year, with Standing on the Edge of Goodbye earning John the coveted 1995 Grammy nomination.

But it was his stunning performance of the title track of the 1995 CD O' Holy Night that led to his most enduring legacy to date. John began doing special Christmas tours that year and 2016 marks his 20th anniversary holiday concert tour. He has big plans to celebrate and involve the fans like never before for this anniversary celebration. He has also issued three more Christmas-music collections. If O' Holy Night is all that anyone remembers of me, that's fine with me," he comments about his perennial Christmas popularity. "It is a truly inspired piece of music."

Happily, there were more successes to come. The hit Change My Mind earned John a Top-5 spot on the Country music charts in 1996. She's Taken a Shine became an even bigger hit in 1997. Both fans and the media took note again when There He Goes was released as a 1999 duet with Patsy Cline.

In 2002, Berry returned to making records for his own company, Clear Sky Records. Songs and Stories, a double CD was issued that year.

In 2003, John Berry released his I Give My Heart collection and its critically applauded wedding anthem Will You Marry Me. The disc also contained his versions of such classic love songs as Time in a Bottle, If, Love Look What You've Done to Me, Faithfully, Lady and Let's Stay Together. I Give My Heart inspired still another popular concert series, The Love Tour.

In 2008, Those Were the Days, was released, marking John's return to mainstream country music. He created his first Christian-music CD in 2011. In 2012, John published the combination book and CD, again titled Songs and Stories. Over the years he has continued to tour steadily.

"We just have a great group of fans who welcome us every year. They are always there."

In late 2015 John launched a crowd funded Kickstarter project that proved very successful. Overwhelmed by the fan response, John assembled an all-star studio team and cut both a Country album entitled What I Love the Most and a new album simply titled Christmas and released both in late 2016. Blessed with the ability to make the music he wanted to make (and not what a label dictated) allowed John the time to write and create what many music critics who have heard bits & pieces are saying could be his best, most complete project yet. "I'm excited to have been able to release this new music and bring it to the fans through a new distribution agreement with Sony RED. It's a new time in the music business and technology allows me to be closer to my fans and interact in new ways. You know, God just keeps blessing me. There are new opportunities coming at every turn."

"With time, I've learned that the road to fulfillment is doing what I was called to do, love to do, and then doing it the best I can, regardless of the circumstances. And for me, that is making music and singing for people."

2017 found John touring in several configurations (acoustic solo, acoustic trio and full band) with plans to release another new album followed by the continuation of his legendary Christmas Tour. He and his family moved back to Music City after several years in Georgia, and 2017 saw John pursuing a touring and personal appearance schedule that is more active than ever. Given his wide range of music and number of releases, John is fortunate in that he can book a solo show with just himself and guitar, a small-band acoustic show or a full-band engagement and has more than enough hit material to captivate a crowd and deliver an evening full of musical memories.

Also, in August of 2017 John launched a new, weekly internationally syndicated television show entitled Songs and Stories with John Berry that explored the songs and stories that changed the lives of his weekly guest. Superstar guests in Season 1 of the show included Billy Ray Cyrus, Billy Dean, Mo Pitney, Neal McCoy, Suzy Bogguss, Collin Raye, Craig Morgan, Mark Wills, Delbert McClinton, Clay Walker and Lee Roy Parnell.

2018 John celebrated his 25th anniversary since signing his major label deal, Season 2 of Songs and Stories with John Berry aired multiple times weekly to over 105 million homes across the United States as well as the UK and New Zealand on great networks like Heartland Television, The Family Channel, The Country Channel, Phil Mack's Keep it Country (UK), Country TV (New Zealand) and AMGTV.

In 2018 charted at #30 on the Music Row Breakout Charts with the single, "Beautifully Broken," which is featured in the soundtrack for the movie of the same name. John also toured the country in all performance sectors, releasing several new projects and a few surprises.

2019 continued to celebrate the 26th anniversary since signing his first record deal with his most recent single "The Richest Man" from the new album Thomas Road.

In January 2019 , Berry was diagnosed with throat cancer, requiring 35 treatments combined of radiation and chemotherapy. A benefit concert was held with performers such as Garth Brooks, The Oak Ridge Boys, Vince Gill and over 24 other high profile entertainers from Country, Americana and Rock, raising funds to offset his out of pocket medical expenses, while also donating a significant portion of the proceeds earned to others in the music community in need via Music Health Alliance.

2020 has many as of yet undisclosed plans which will include his annual John Berry Songs and Stories Christmas Tour, marking its 24th year.

I remember walking into an old school gym and hearing a barrage of wonderful sound... it was tight, lush, rocking, and loud. As I neared the stage to get a glimpse of the band generating this heat, I was amazed to see only three guys on stage. How could so much music be produced by so few?! I smiled at my girlfriend (now wife) who had brought me there, and I think she knew that I was in love... not with her, but with the band.

So began my introduction to Zebra some sixteen years ago (1982). It was a typical gig for the day - a
St. Christopher's Catholic Youth dance in a New Orleans suburb. The place was packed, as usual, mostly teenage guys, too young for area bars, with a smattering of finely dressed females to keep things interesting. The band was roaring through a set of well-rehearsed originals mixed in with crowd-pleasing covers from Zeppelin, Bowie, the Moody Blues, ZZ Top, Montrose, and others.

That night was also special because Zebra was about to sign with Atlantic Records, home of Led Zeppelin, Yes, AC/DC, and other hard rock heroes of the day. After seven years of three-set gigs in clubs and gyms, the band had finally made it to the big time. The gig had the combined aura of thank you note to fans, going away party and victory lap, all rolled into one.

Fast forward to 1998, after twenty-plus years as a power rock trio, Zebra is a band of legendary status in two "hometown" areas (Louisiana and Long Island), but are woefully under-appreciated in much of the remaining rock world. We hope this retrospective collection corrects that oversight. Further, the band continues its frequent touring and a new studio offering should be released within the year.

So, if you're an old-time fan, this is the only Christmas / birthday / anniversary / bar mitzvah / graduation / Arbor Day gift you'll ever need. Indulge your friends - this is the best CD they've never heard. And if you're a newcomer - welcome to the fan club you'll never leave...

Zebra is Randy, Guy, and Felix. Randy Jackson is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and lead guitarist extraordinaire. His guitar playing and vocal stylings are reminiscent of Zeppelin's Page / Plant, with a dash of Moody Blues, Rush, and Yes thrown in for good measure. Combine all that with Jackson's own unique vision, flair, and musicianship, and you've got quite a talent. Randy's earliest musical influences were the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

Guy Gelso, drums, percussion, and backing vocals, hits the skins with bombastic power and a precise rhythm. While Guy was also a big Zeppelin fan, his real musical influence was Jimi Hendrix, or more correctly, Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Listen closely to classics like Purple Haze and you'll see why.

Felix Hanemann ties it all together on bass, keyboards and backing vocals. In concert, Felix moves comfortably between his thundering bass guitar and searing Korg synthesizer. Felix's influences were the Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and Cat Stevens.

Felix and Randy are New Orleans natives, while Guy is a Californian, who came to New Orleans for the 1972 Mardi Gras and never left. Randy and Felix first played together in 1973 as teenagers in a five-piece band fronted by Felix called Shepherd's Bush. Once that band broke up, Randy and Guy got together and were eventually joined by Felix and a fourth member (Tim Thorson) in a band called Maelstrom. That was late 1974. When Tim left after only a few months, Zebra was born in February 1975.

"We were sitting around an uptown New Orleans bar called the Boot trying to come up with a name," recalls Randy, "after a few pitchers of beer, we saw a picture of a lady riding a Zebra (actually from a 1922 Vogue Magazine cover) on the wall, liked the image and decided that was it".

After rehearsing for several months in a French Quarter warehouse, the band quickly gained a reputation as a hard rocking cover band in the New Orleans bar and high school dance scene. Some originals, penned by Randy, were soon added to the set, which further fueled their appeal. Zebra was all over town - Rip Van Winkle's, Huck's Levee Bar, the Quarternote, Old Man Rivers, the CYO dances - playing practically every night.

Even at this early stage, the band was looking for more. Someone suggested they check out the thriving Long Island, NY rock club scene. Bands like Twisted Sister, Rat Race Choir, and the Good Rats were cranking out significant rock 'n' roll in the late 70s, playing clubs like Speaks, Hammerheads, The Mad Hatter, and Chaucers Ale House. So, Zebra played its first Long Island gig on New Year's Eve 1976, at a club called "The 1890s" in the town of Baldwin.

For several years, Zebra split gigs between Long Island - where they all eventually moved - and south Louisiana. Two demo tapes were also recorded around this time - the first in New York and later a second one in Los Angeles. Between the two, most of the songs from the first album were covered. As Zebra shopped the tapes to record labels, radio stations in both New York (WBAB-FM) and New Orleans (WRNO-FM) gave the band an important boost by airing songs from the demo. In particular, "Who's Behind the Door?" became a frequent request.

In late 1982, Jason Flom signed Zebra to a five-record deal with Atlantic, although only the first was guaranteed. The self-titled debut, Zebra, was released on March 25, 1983 and became the fastest selling debut record in Atlantic Records history, selling an amazing 75,000 copies in the first week. Talk about pent up demand! The album stayed on the Billboard charts for eight months, peaking at number 29.

Veteran producer Jack Douglas, who's prior work included Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic" and John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" LPs, was at the helm for Zebra's first two albums. "Who's Behind the Door" and "Tell Me What You Want" were released as singles, and both were given the MTV video treatment, which was still a rather new concept at the time. From any perspective, the debut was a top-notch affair and a roaring success. One fan wrote simply, "Good riffs and kicks ass". I guess that says it all.

Then came the press. Billboard's review applauded the trio's "obvious musical prowess" and commented on its "strong regional following", but also said it "offered nothing new in terms of musical licks or ideas". It was the kind of mixed review from the music press that has hampered the band's national success, even as the "vote of the people" (record sales, concert attendance, and just plain exuberance) said otherwise. Of course, bashing hard rock and heavy metal bands was hardly a novel concept (check out any Zeppelin review written in the 1970s), so in reality, Billboard's words were rather kind.

Rolling Stone magazine, which made its 1980s editorial perspective clear when it called heavy metal music "the idiot-bastard spawn of rock, the eternal embarrassment that will not die", simply chose not to review Zebra's debut (or any other album!) at all. A strange fact considering Rolling Stone's review of virtually every major label rock release and the album's quick sales out the gate. Unfortunately, there are way too many examples of Zebra being ignored or short-changed by the national music press, primarily through a mind-numbing disease I'll call "lazy rock writer's cramp". In other words, it's easier to just call Zebra "another Zep clone" than to actually listen closely to an album or maybe, God forbid, attend a concert and see for yourself. These guys deserve better. But I digress...

Back to the Zebra album. Six songs from Zebra are found here - "Tell Me What You Want", "One More Chance", "As I Said Before", "Who's Behind the Door", "Take Your Fingers from My Hair", and "The La La Song". These songs are Zebra's roots; they established the fan base that still returns twenty years later to watch Zebra's legendary live shows, as well as a new generation of twenty-somethings still wanting to rock.

Speaking of live shows, Zebra supported the first album by opening on national tours with Loverboy, Cheap Trick, and a few dates with Journey. Even before the first album release, Zebra had gained considerable attention opening for the likes of Kiss, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, and Molly Hatchet. A newspaper review of the 3/1/83 Nassau Coliseum Zebra / Aerosmith show told this story: "With the capacity crowd's response to Zebra's electrifying performance was so overwhelming, Steven Tyler and company declined to take the stage for an hour and a half in order to allow everyone to simmer down. Unfortunately for them, the delaying tactic backfired... when the headliners eventually did appear, a renewed chorus of Zebra cheers greeted them".

Just as a bit of road trivia, Zebra later had standout groups like Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Bryan Adams open for them. They were twice featured on two nationally syndicated radio programs, the King Biscuit Flour Hour (concerts) and Rockline (interviews). The largest crowd Zebra played to was about 50,000 as the opening act for Sammy Hagar at Chicago's Soldier Field. Another huge crowd was at a 1983 rock festival at City Park Stadium in New Orleans, featuring Bryan Adams, Zebra, Foghat, and Journey. Finally, as a touring "lowlight", the band had its equipment stolen after a 1981 Houston gig. Fortunately, they were rescued from near extinction when Long Island rock club supergroups Twisted Sister, Rat Race Choir, the Good Rats, and Southern Cross staged a benefit concert on Zebra's behalf. The equipment was replaced, and the band rolled on.

Late in the summer of 1984, Zebra's second album, No Telling Lies, was released amid great expectations. Let's just say it never happened. Album sales never took off and there was no hit single. Elvis Costello once remarked that bands have twenty years to write their first album, but only six months to write the second, so why are we surprised by the sophomore jinx? While hardly a weak effort, Lies did not contain the same musical punch, lyrical polish, or song-by-song consistency as the first album. One review called it "hit and miss hard rock" with muddled synthesizers and drums mixed too far out front.

Still, Billboard saw "a well executed use of hooks, with "Lullaby" the best bet for airplay". "Lullaby" is not a typical Zebra song. As a heartfelt tribute to John Lennon, who had been slain in 1980, it was much more Beatlesque in its style and delivery. It did get some airplay on contemporary adult radio stations not interested in Zebra before (or since). Two other highlights were classic Zebra numbers from the demo days: "Wait Until the Summer's Gone and "Bears". Those two were also released as MTV videos; directed by the undisputed champion of '80s hard rock video fantasies, Marty Callner (Aerosmith, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake - fine women, fast cars, loud music; remember?). "But No More" serves as a fourth track from Lies included here, and is among the few tracks recorded by Zebra not written solely by Randy Jackson.

A triple bill tour with Zebra opening for Survivor and REO Speedwagon was the primary national support effort for No Telling Lies. Again, while allowing Zebra to play before typically packed mid-sized arenas, it also limited playing time to 40 minute sets, which they split between both albums. Bottom line result: No Telling Lies continued to be outsold by the Zebra album, which eventually went gold, and is now approaching platinum status (1 million copies sold). Randy admits today that mistakes were made with No Telling Lies; the band felt rushed to get out new product, and, in general, they were "disappointed with the results".

That backdrop makes the follow-up effort released in 1986, 3.V, even more amazing in my mind. Zebra's third studio effort is nothing less than a modern rock classic. There's a depth and maturity in both the music and lyrics not present on the first two albums. The debut Zebra album stands tall as a "greatest hits" package of songs written during the band's "minor league" years; many paying tribute to musical styles admired by the band (e.g., Zeppelin, Yes). But 3.V works for an entirely different reason: it is Zebra creating its own style, asserting its own musical direction, producing its own work, and sounding like no other band. The songs are fresh and exciting; the vocals are crisp, and the musical production flawless. Included here are fine examples: "Time", "Better Not Call", and "Hard Living Without You". (As a bonus, this collection also includes two outtakes from the 3.V sessions: "Children at Heart" and "Riverside"). This is the band's finest studio hour (er, 40 minutes). This time, Billboard raved in its 11/15/86 issue, "Recommended. Distinctive vocals front this well-produced project, which should be a welcome addition to album rock radio".

Unfortunately, with all that said, it wasn't. The album sold somewhat better than the second, but not nearly as well as the first. The guys opted for an "east of the Mississippi" club tour as the headliner, rather than another round as a support act. In hindsight, it might have hindered the album's exposure, but they wanted to get back to playing full sets in front of their fans. Meanwhile, Atlantic's interest in Zebra waned, and in a bit of corporate "what have ya done for me lately" expense pruning, the label unceremoniously dropped the band. Their hot debut band was now an expendable commodity...which would likely end the story for many bands, but not Zebra. The band has continued over the past decade as the undisputed best live rock band in Louisiana and as a premiere attraction in the Long Island area. Zebra plays several dozen club and festival dates each year, sometimes roaming to adjacent states like Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and New Jersey with great success.

Their concert prowess did not go unnoticed by Atlantic. In 1989, after many fan requests, Zebra's old label asked if they'd like to release a live album. A couple of shows were recorded on Long Island in November 1989, and the excellent Zebra Live album resulted. Released in 1990, the album captures the band's energy and features Zebra's only official recording of a Led Zeppelin song, "The Ocean", a concert favorite for many years.

Atlantic also encouraged Randy to record what was basically a solo project called Randy Jackson's China Rain. Unfortunately, in another binge of corporate accounting stupidity, they later dropped support for the project, which caused Randy to seek its release on his own in Europe, and finally, in 1993, have it imported to the States. A rarely seen video was made for "You're Only Lonely Today". Other standout tracks on China Rain include "Last Forever" and "Light of My Love".

In the last few years, Felix and Randy have supplemented their Zebra work with awesome solo acoustic shows. Felix plays acoustic guitar and piano for his unplugged shows, while singing his own originals (from Shepherd's Bush and beyond), along with tunes from Rod Stewart, Clapton, Dylan, Hootie and the Blowfish, Oasis, and a pile of others. Felix is also in the pre-production stage of a solo album release, featuring his songs "written over the last 20 years, but not consistent with the kind of stuff Zebra puts out". Guy, who returned in 1998 with a vengeance after a one-year battle with breast cancer, is starting up a blues band.

Randy's solo gigs feature acoustic versions of Zebra, Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues, and the best renditions of Beatles tunes this side of Paul McCartney. Earlier, Randy had dabbled in a solo, high-tech computerized MIDI concert, with incredible results - count yourself among the fortunate few if you saw any of these shows. Unfortunately, it required tons of equipment and setup time, so Randy's current "unplugged" shows are a more practical alternative. Randy's also done studio and road work as a backing musician, such as a 1989 tour with Jefferson Airplane.

And finally, Randy's also involved as the featured vocalist in a symphonic "Music of Led Zeppelin" program, conducted and arranged by Brent Havens. Basically, Brent and Randy take their talents around the country to play with local symphony orchestras. To date, the program has played to rave reviews with the Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Virginia Symphonies. A second production, where he sings the music of Pink Floyd, had its premiere with the Atlanta Symphony this summer. More shows are coming; watch for a date near you!
Busy, talented guys, all three, but still having Zebra as their musical focus. Randy says "the fans keep it going", while Guy notes that "We get onstage and we just click. I know exactly what they're going to do, and which way they're going to move. It feels very comfortable to be up there." Felix summed things up by saying "Zebra is the longest lasting thing in my life, professionally or personally. I just don't see an end"... which is great news for us! Fans know the fourth studio album has been a long-time coming. But glimpses of its likely contents have been tantalizingly presented in recent live shows. Having seen a couple of Zebra shows just days before I wrote this, I can say the same energy and passion that I witnessed all those years ago is still there.

Listening to the last song before the encores, "Tell Me What You Want", it struck me why Zebra's music still hits so close to home: it's simply the passion of the performance - on stage or CD - that so brilliantly captures a state of mind, a feeling, a bevy of emotions. Randy's lyrics and music often confront disturbed times in everyday people's lives; they take a slice of life and lay out all the conflicting emotions in a three minute sonic boom. In "Tell Me What You Want", we have the aftermath of an argument with a lover, and during its performance, you can feel the swirl of emotions - anger, frustration, love, passion, bitterness, desperation - of the moment through the music. All of this has been compacted into the intense flurry of wailing guitar notes, Guy's bombastic drums, Felix's whining synthesizers, and the dead-on pain conveyed in Randy's singing. I listen and I am there; my mind and heart put on display through words and music.

I was once told they do this in operas, but I don't know Italian, and the music just doesn't feel the same...
So, keep rockin' guys!

Colin J. Hulin
September 1998

Since his neo-psychedelic Green On Red days, Chuck Prophet has been turning out country, folk, blues, and Brill Building classicism. THE LAND THAT TIME FORGET is something different, a weather vane picking up signals from outer space -- or maybe it's the Heartland.

Priced out of his beloved hometown, San Francisco, Prophet found himself re-energized in Upstate NY just a few miles from the Vermont border -- and made a record that is much a 21st century exorcism as it is America.

The songs inhabit a world where a Fast Kid might be on the run from the truant officer or a handsy boss...or the Immigration Service. These are love songs that turn political on a dime (Love Doesn't Come from the Barrel of a Gun), and melodic hallucinations about kicking back in the Oval Office after hours "talking to my baby, saying baby, let's not fight."

Where else besides a Chuck Prophet LP are songs going to come at you from both the Tenderloin and an English roundabout, with stopovers in Nixonland and a love-struck mirror on a Saturday night while a workingman tries his Best Shirt On? With special appearances by the ghost of Johnny Thunders and Willie Wonka and John the Baptist and the train that brought Abraham Lincoln home one last time.

In Waving Goodbye, a young girl leaves small town attitudes behind to conquer the world one gig at a time. Then there's a dance Marathon, lost in time and reborn as a reality show. According to Womankind, men had their run, but it's over. (The good news is he can still try to sing his way into her heart.)

And it all leads up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where a singer has his say, in two and a half loping verses and a middle eight.

Here's Chuck:

"Have any of you been to a 24-hour Walmart on the outskirts of Pittsburgh after midnight lately? It was just me and a couple tweakers roaming the auto parts aisles. We got along just fine. Long story short, I fixed that guitar by my lonesome and am playing it right now. I'm kind of proud of that."

"I will say this, though, about Ohio. Some of my truest hard earned fans are in Ohio. Go on and call it a fly-over-state, but not while Chrissie Hynde is in earshot, unless you want a vegan boot up your ass. All I'm saying is that a state is a lot more than which candidate won by how many votes. I mean you gotta feel sorry for the conservatives. The only songs they can play at their rallies without getting hit with a cease and desist order are by Ted Nugent and Charlie Daniels. And those two sure aren't shy about expressing their opinions."

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT got off the ground in the Money Belt, only to find its legs in the Borscht Belt. Musically it has deep roots, from the Southern Delta to the discos of Munich. There's a kind of folkish inevitability to it, lots of acoustic instruments, on top of each other and side by side. But as much as folk music is the soil all music grows from, it never hurts to have a boiler room. So, there's always a rhythm section shuffling under your feet here.

Written mostly with longtime co-conspirator klipschutz, this LP steps out of Chuck Prophet's comfort zone ("two guitars, bass, and drums"). After nailing three tracks in S.F. with Grammy-winning alchemist Matt Winegar, Prophet confesses, "We hit a wall. Schedules. Money. Towed vehicles: a thousand large to get one van out of lockup."

So he went out on tour, a solo tour. Driving through the Catskills he dropped into Kenny Siegal's Old Soul Studios, in a "5-bedroom Greek Revival listed on the National Registry," Chuck and Kenny immediately began to argue. Over anything. Whether it was too hot or too cold (according to WHOM?). At the end of the day -- "a very long day, three weeks of them -- let's just say Kenny's the man. At Old Soul, musicians drop in, sometimes complete blind dates. We did everything live. The drummer gigs with Kevin Morby. The bass player, out of some jazz scene. Piano player, an honorary Bad Seed. A mish mash of personalities and styles. Turns out you can make a lot of noise with acoustic instruments, if there are enough of them."

When asked about his life, Prophet is candid and evasive all at once: "What do you want to know. Death, health issues, financial hijinks, I've had them all the past few years. We lost my dad and we lost Stephie's dad too. The basement flooded. My shoulder went out. I got hives over 80% of my body; was quarantined. The only break I caught was when the ear, eye, nose, and throat doctors were all in the same building. Oh, and I almost got killed about seven times in rented cars in snowstorms, lost on the way to gigs. Hey, maybe we should talk about songs instead."

KICK - The INXS Experience is the USA's most captivating salute and tribute to the internationally acclaimed rock band, INXS.

Formed in 2014, two years after INXS stopped touring, KICK - The INXS Experience has beautifully managed to capture the spirit of INXS in both its sound and live performance, bringing the highest level of musicianship to the audience while showing a true passion for the music of INXS. Vocalist, guitarist, and singer-songwriter Cory Massi is the founding frontman of KICK, and has long held a respect and admiration for the late great Michael Hutchence. Massi even auditioned for the reality TV show, Rockstar: INXS, in 2004, where contestants competed to become the new lead vocalist for INXS. What convinced him to audition? "I loved Michael's singing and his personality," notes Massi. "I saw INXS when I was a teenager in '88 and '89; they were great, and the people were just gaga over them. Michael left a big impression with his star power; he really had it, that guy. Our range is similar and I just went for it. I had to sing "Mystify" acappella so I was kind of nervous because I didn't have a band behind me. There was a camera a foot away from my face and it was out of my comfort zone; I would probably still feel uncomfortable today. I didn't get the gig: I was one of the last people to try out and I think by the time I auditioned they had already made their selection. No excuse: it was a good experience. We include "Mystify" in our set and when I sing it, I have my band with me and we love the music, so we play it with a lot of heart."

KICK is already garnering the attention, admiration, and accolades of well-seasoned "ears" in the music industry. Radio personalities in several markets have been quick to offer praise; WZXL / Atlantic City program director Steve Raymond, a longtime fan of INXS, raved after listening to only part of one song, "Wow! These guys have got the vibe down. Really impressive!" 107.1 The BOSS (WWZY)'s midday air personality Michele Amabile concurred, "I had to go back and listen again with my eyes closed.... I could have sworn I was hearing Michael Hutchence!"

Sounding like legendary frontman Michael Hutchence is no easy task. "I guess the hardest thing, the most challenging thing when I started KICK," acknowledges Massi, "was capturing the great variety in Hutchence's voice. He can sound sensitive and soft and he can be super strong and really belt it out and sometimes that all happens within one phrase or even a word. It took a lot of self-control to capture how he projects his lyrics and the music. It's impossible to really sound and look like him; he's an Adonis, another Jim Morrison, Morrison in a pop sense. I can't mimic that; all I can do is do my best to capture his spirit."

The focus has been on faithfully recreating the music in its most powerful sense; an in-the-pocket bottom end from bass player Don Leslie and drummer Gary Forbes, a brilliant combination of piano and synth by John Cassidy, the signature guitar tones produced by guitarist Todd King and Jason Taylor, the saxophone by Nottingham, England's Tom Wheat, and the spot-on lead vocals by Cory Massi, all lend to a powerful high-energy show. KICK - The INXS Experience will take you back. It will reignite your passion for INXS. It will introduce you to music that is still as fresh today as the day it was written; from "Original Sin" to "Elegantly Wasted" and everything in between, including (but not limited to) "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," "What You Need," "Don't Change," "Listen Like Thieves," "The One Thing," "Bitter Tears," "Suicide Blonde," "Not Enough Time," "Beautiful Girl," and "Devil Inside."

Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew breath, its greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin' suggests that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy Brown's iconic leader is happy to confirm it. "Blues has always dealt with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I've always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin' have that hoodoo vibe..."

Released in 2017 on Ruf Records, Witchy Feelin' proves the Devil still has all the best tunes. From the thrillingly brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the hands of a master, with Simmonds reigniting the seismic vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the '60s British blues boom. "On this album, I tried my best to get my voice in its power zone," he explains. "I'm a baritone singer. I like listening to singers I can relate to, such as J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, Tony Joe White and Tom Rush. For my guitar playing, I still get inspiration from Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and all the Chicago players I grew up listening to back in '63... but I always listen to new music too."

Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this ageless bluesman. "The songs on this album have been two years in the making," he reflects. "I tried to write songs that had a personal point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On Vintage Man, I wrote about being the type of guy who doesn't change as he gets older. I wrote about the power of love on Why Did You Hoodoo Me. And with Guitar Slinger, I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player in an old country bar -- as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in '69."

Anyone who witnessed Savoy Brown leave the blocks in 1965 would speak of a similar epiphany. Back then, the band were the spark that ignited the blues-boom, signing to Decca, opening for Cream's first London show and boasting a lead guitarist who was being namedropped in the same reverential breath as peers like Clapton and Hendrix (with whom Simmonds jammed). Already, the guitarist was emerging as the band's driving force. "I had a vision," he reflects. "When I started the band back in 1965, the concept was to be a British version of a Chicago blues band. And the exciting thing now is, that vision is still alive."

Soon, Savoy Brown had achieved what most British bands never did -- success in America -- and became a major US draw thanks to their high-energy material and tireless work ethic. "There's far too much said about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," Simmonds told Classic Rock. "It's a clichÃ©. We were all extremely hard-working guys. When we came over to America, we were like a little army. I look at that time as being filled with incredible talent."
Times changed, of course, and by 1979, Simmonds had moved from a London he no longer recognised -- "The punks were everywhere!" -- to settle permanently in New York. The Savoy Brown bandmembers came and went, and the music scene shifted around him, but the guitarist stuck thrillingly to his guns and reaped the rewards, performing in iconic venues like Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore East and West, releasing thirty-odd albums, and later enjoying a well-deserved induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk Of Fame.

Even in the post-millennium, while his peers grow soft and drift into semi-retirement, Simmonds retains a vision and an edge, spitting out acclaimed albums that include 2011's Voodoo Moon, 2014's Goin' To The Delta, 2015's The Devil To Pay -- and the emphatic new addition to Savoy Brown's catalogue, Witchy Feelin'. "I'm amazed that I still have the energy inside me to play guitar, create music and write songs," he considers. "I've been blessed in my life and I thank God for that. I've never been a believer in holding on to the past -- I don't look over my shoulder and congratulate myself. I always want to climb the next mountain -- and I'm very pleased with this new album..."

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