The Great Recession Orchestra is a jazz-based musical ensemble from Fort Worth, Texas, that practices the fine art of Western Swing. They are also on a mission to popularize modern arrangements of some traditional songs that were recorded by Milton Brown from 1931-1936.
Milton Brown was the Founding Father of Western Swing.
Out on the Jacksboro Highway in 1936, singer Milton Brown fell asleep at the wheel of his hot black Pontiac and soon died of his injuries and pneumonia.
In the five years before his death, Milton was the leader of his Musical Brownies, a jazzy, shirt-and-tie Texas ensemble that did not wear cowboy hats. The group was the most popular regional dance band of that era, and their Fort Worth radio show, which aired every day at noon, was a huge hit, too.
But most importantly, Milton was the man who, from 1932 until 1936, hired very skilled musicians “to be” the Brownies. He encouraged his players to blend regional hillbilly music with the era’s hi-octane jazz and pop styles. Together they created the blend that became Western Swing. Their sound was infused with the spirit and styles of Louis Armstrong and Stephane Grappelli.
While Milton was very successful during these early Depression years, his close friend Bob Wills was struggling to make a living in Waco and Tyler. Milton and Bob had been founding members of The Lightcrust Doughboys, however, it was not until after Milton’s death that Bob followed Milton’s lead and incorporated a good shot of jazz into the music of his Texas Plyaboys. Then, after 1940, Bob’s career took off, and he went on to become the King of Western Swing.
But Milton got there first. Milton Brown invented Western Swing.
Gangstagrass
Rench has teamed up with T.O.N.E-Z (the same rapper featured on “Long Hard Times To Come” and “On The Run”, as seen on 'Justified') and some hot bluegrass players to produce a full length album of serious bluegrass picking and sick flow on the mic, like you won’t hear anywhere else.
The album also includes a track featuring Brooklyn underground emcee Tomasia and a track featuring the incredible voice of bluegrass singer Jen Larson. The beats are pure thumping Rench funk, and over the authentic bluegrass banjo, fiddle, and resonator guitar, the rhymes are hard and heavy.
www.gangstagrass.com
www.myspace.com/gangstagrass
Gary Hunn
From Muscle Shoals to Liverpool and from Memphis to Seattle great sounds often emerge from the most unlikely places.
In that spirit Gary Hunn has created a 21st century take on Haggard/Jones country music on a tropical island in Australia’s far north! While his album sounds like it could have been crafted in a place where people eat grits and cornbread for breakfast ‘Dust & Gin’ was actually written on Magnetic Island – his home of almost 30 years.
'Dust & Gin' is a fresh take on classic honky tonk made with major help from co-producer Josh Schuberth and a band featuring Lisha Kayrooz (piano) and Phil Baker (pedal steel and dobro). Recorded in Townsville and mixed in Sydney the tunes retain a ‘born out of time’ feeling that reflects the unusual place of their creation.
Even though everything’s upside down in the land downunder, the deep tropics are still an unlikely place to find such a lingering – indeed thriving – outpost of Nashville’s glory days.
According to the singer/songwriter, he began exploring the honky tonk mode after years of dabbling in other musical forms including old time blues and garage rock. A former record store owner and enthusiastic musicologist the late life embrace of old school country sounds was driven by the darker lyrical themes running through his life and work at the time.
As a result Hunn has delved deep into personal turmoil to fuel a disc which contains some of the blackest songs in the country; dripping with pathos primed imagery.
It’s an album of searing heartache and disillusion.
As with the best moments of Haggard or Jones, the romance of real life is utterly shattered in evocative songs like “Buy A Gun Or Go To Memphis”.
Gary Hunn’s ongoing love of this musical form positions him as a first-rate preservationist of classic country songwriting; someone who is out of step with the times and who is quietly proud of it. His stand for the country values of yesteryear is understated and yet often thrilling.
“I know I was being influenced by other changes in my life on a fairly deep and personal level at the time of writing all these songs”, he explains from his Island idyll. “There were transitions and changes going on that I either didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand. I wanted to remember how I felt but I don’t keep a diary, It’s just not my thing. That’s why I write songs. I write from a place where I’m not sure what I’m referring to so that months or years down the track I can hopefully look back and go “ah, that’s what I was actually thinking and feeling back then!”
Gary Wright
Visionary songwriter, performer and all-around musical pioneer Gary Wright has spent more than forty years shattering conventional ideas about how to make chart topping rock music. Not only have his classic songs “Dream Weaver”, “Love is Alive” and “Really Wanna Know You” proven their genius by achieving hit status in four different decades; Wright’s musical wizardry has also extended, more than once, to changing the very sound and texture of contemporary pop.
As far back as the late 70’s Wright was challenging audiences with pioneering instrumentation and cutting edge keyboard technology. His innovative techniques and professionalism have afforded him the opportunity to be a longtime collaborator and creative influence to fellow artists ranging from his contemporaries George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Mick Jones (of Foreigner) and Joe Cocker to 90’s “rap” artists Third Base, Tone Loc and Busta Rhymes, as well as Eminem, Salt N Pepa, Joan Osborne, Anastacia and Mya.
It all began in 1967, after earning a degree in psychology and then touring Germany as a singer/songwriter, that Wright met Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and moved to London, where he formed the rock group Spooky Tooth. That year, Island released the group’s first record ‘It’s All About’, which immediately won critical acclaim and launched the group on a successful career path that included sold out U.S. tours with rock legends Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones, and culminated in the band’s classic second album ‘Spooky Two’.
After two critically praised solo albums on A&M Records, ‘Extraction’ (1971) and ‘Footprint’ (1972), and three more with a revived Spooky Tooth including Mick Jones (later of Foreigner), Gary signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1974. His ground breaking 1975 release ‘The Dream Weaver’ stretched the pop music envelope by featuring the first ever all keyboard/synthesizer band, and by pioneering technologies in cut down versions of synthesizers and drum machines that revolutionized the musical instrument business and changed the sound of pop, rock and R&B forever.
In 1976, the song “Dream Weaver” hit #1 in the charts, and its follow up release “Love is Alive” climbed to #2. In all, “The Dream Weaver” resulted in sales of over two million albums and two million singles. In a business where even the biggest success is often written in the wind, the popular appeal of Wright’s songwriting genius has endured.
The 1970’s were extremely prolific for Wright as he also produced records for Traffic and Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller’s production company. He quickly became a part of London’s elite session musicians, playing keyboards on George Harrison’s 1970 classic ‘All Things Must Pass’, which also featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Dave Mason and other greats. Thus began a continuing musical relationship with Harrison that embraced playing keyboards as well as co writing several songs on George’s subsequent albums.
Together with Harrison, Wright visited India in 1974 as a guest of Ravi Shankar. That visit developed into a long term relationship with Shankar as well as some of India’s other leading classical artists, which ultimately blossomed in his award winning 1988 album ‘Who I Am’ (Cypress Records) that used an all star cast of musicians including a South Indian percussion section and performances by classical Indian masters Lakshmi Shankar and L. Subramanian.
In 1991, Warner Bros. Records asked Wright to remake “Dream Weaver” for the Wayne’s World movie soundtrack. which went on to become Billboard’s #1 soundtrack album; selling over two million copies. “Dream Weaver’’ was also featured in the Golden Globe winning picture The People vs. Larry Flynt.
In addition to movie placements, Gary’s creative output also extended to film scoring, with music for the Alan Rudolph thriller Endangered Species, the Sylvester Stallone directed Stayin’ Alive, the Oscar winning German film Fire and Ice, and the 2000 IMAX release Ski to the Max, both directed by Willie Bogner.
In 1995, Gary issued a world music album titled ‘First Signs of Life’, which incorporated music and percussion from Brazil and Nigeria and featured guest performances by George Harrison and drummer Terry Bozzio. The music collaborations continued with his solo effort ‘Human Love’, a studio album that featured guest artists Jeff Lynne, L. Shankar and Steve Farris.
The year 2001 brought two new cover versions of “Love is Alive,” one by singer Anastacia, whose International sales topped 3.5 million; the other by Joan Osborne whose version became the first single for the Michael Douglas/Matt Dylan film One Night at McCool’s. Other music placements followed, as “Dream Weaver” and “Love is Alive” were featured in the films Daddy Day Care and Coyote Ugly respectively.
Elsewhere, a new generation of artists were discovering Wright as Eminem recorded one of Gary’s songs and retitled it “Spend Some Time” for his 2004 ‘Encore’ album while DJ Armand Van Helden sampled “Comin’ Apart” from Gary Wright’s ‘The Right Place’ album and renamed it “My My My”. This funky dance remix became a huge hit in Europe and Asia in 2004 & 2005; selling over ten million copies.
The year 2007 marked the 40th Anniversary of Spooky Tooth and ushered in the release of a ‘Nomad Poets’ live DVD. featuring Gary and original members Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie. The band followed it up with sold out European tours in 2008 & 2009. During this stretch, Spooky Tooth was invited by Chris Blackwell to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Island Records by performing at a concert in London in May 2009 along with such artists as U2, Grace Jones, Amy Winehouse, Keane, Sly & Robbie and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens).
In 2008, Gary became the newest touring member of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band before releasing an instrumental album of ambient music called ‘Waiting To Catch the Light’ and an EP called ‘The Light of a Million Suns’ that featured a duet with his son Dorian on a re-record of his hit song “Love Is Alive”.
As Gary Wright begins another new decade as a musical pioneer, this one is immediately highlighted by the 2010 release of ‘Connected’, his first pop rock album in over twenty years and a brilliant culmination of Wright’s vast life experiences, songwriting ability and production know how. ‘Connected’ also continues a lifelong tradition of embracing esteemed musical camaraderie as the album’s first single “Satisfied” features performances by Ringo Starr on drums, with Joe Walsh and Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter on guitar.
In addition to shows throughout the year with his own band to support his new material, Gary will, once again, traverse the U.S. during the summer; touring as a member of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band. In the fall of 2010, Gary will appear in Martin Scorcese’s highly anticipated “George Harrison biopic” while “Dream Weaver” will be prominently featured in Disney’s Toy Story 3 movie and the TV show Glee.
http://thedreamweaver.com
www.myspace.com/therealdreamweaver
Gaucho Gil
"Jerry Giddens, the singing, songwriting former Baptist youth minister from North Louisiana and former Austin denizen, has been calling the Hollywood area home for a couple of years.
With fellow folk rockers Michael Packard, Luis Ruiz, Dale Daniels and young steel guitar ace Chris Lawrence, Giddens formed a band called Gaucho Gil, named for an iconic gaucho outlaw-turned-saint from Argentina.
The band has released a new CD, "The Ballad of Gaucho Gil."
Prayer :
“Oh! Gauchito Gil, I ask you humbly in an interval before God. The miracle that I ask you, and I promise you that I complied with my promise and before God you are here to see, and I offered you my faithful gratitude and demonstration of faith in God and in you Gauchito Gil... Amen...”
Geoff Pearlman
Originally from Omaha, NE, songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer and engineer Geoff Pearlman began his musical journey by starting guitar lessons at age 9. After years of lessons and practice, Geoff attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 1991.
Since leaving Boston, Geoff has toured as a guitarist with Grammy winner Shelby Lynne and producer/songwriter Linda Perry. Relocating from Sand Francisco to Los Angeles in 2000, Geoff currently plays with many of LA's local favorites including Quincy Coleman, AM, Acadamy Award® nominee Bird York, Buck Johnson, Jill Sobule, Walk the Line co-star Waylon Payne, Dead Rock West, Zack Hexum and Heather Waters to name but a few, and has even jammed with Laurie Morgan, Norah Jones and John Waite.
In the studio, Geoff’s guitar playing has appeared on the multi-platinum records Disney’s “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana” as well as recordings by Island recording artist Jon Mclaughlin, and singer Joan Osborne.
Geoff is also a busy studio engineer/producer/composer having worked on various projects for television and music. He has composed for the Travel Channel, the Food Network and Mattel and several independent projects and his own original songs have been used on television programs such as Jag.
As an independent artist, Geoff has released a full length CD "Anything at All" and an EP entitled "Someplace Like Nowhere", containing the songs "The Man with the Unbreakable Heart", “Caroline and "Nightmare Waiting to Happen". Working with a cast of fabulous musicians (including drummer Bryan Head, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, bassists Dave Meshell and Jon Evans), Geoff has self-produced this new EP in the sonic shadows of classic records such as Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" and the Beatles' "Rubber Soul", once again mixing and co-producing with Tori Amos' bassist Jon Evans at his studio San Pablo Recorders in Oakland, CA.
Gerry Beckley
Gerry Beckley is a founding member of the rock band America. Born in Fort Worth, Texas on September 12, 1952 to an American father and an English mother. He began playing the piano at age 3 and the guitar a few years later. By 1962 he was playing guitar in The Vanguards an instrumental surf music band in Virginia. He spent every summer in England and soon discovered British invasion music.
In 1967 Beckley's father became the commander at the U.S. Air Force Base at West Ruislip, near London. Gerry attended Central High School in Hartfordshire where he played in various school bands and met his soon to be band members, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek.
Gerry has continued success with the rock band America as well as his solo releases Van Go Gan , Go Man Go (a re-mix of Van Go Gan) and the brand new album Horizontal Fall.
Gerry has worked with a wide variety of musicians on many projects. One of the most notable is the recording Like a Brother done with Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Robert Lamm of Chicago. Beckley-Lamm-Wilson released Like a Brother in2001.
Gerry Griffin
Gerry Griffin is an uncommon artist and human being. A performing songwriter whose hard earned authenticity can be heard in every note.
Gerry's songs are intensely poetic and presented in a dramatic and highly original musical style. His material ranges from insightful observations of life, its eccentricities and its humour, to tender songs of love and relationships, separation and loss. His insightful lyrical observations are supported by an esoteric melding of musical styles and influences - Folk, country, blues, rock, celtic and elements of North African music.
"Moment To Moment" is Gerry’s second CD. This time around, he has really honed his musical vision, paring things to their bare essentials.
The vocal harmonies, African thumb piano and Appalachian dulcimer that Heather Houston contributes are super tight, and seem to heighten the emotional intensity of Gerry's wonderfully "whiskey-soaked" vocals and "analog-soaked" acoustic guitars.
Gerry has a knack for turning immaculate musical and lyrical phrases, but perhaps the most important element he brings to this disc is the human element. And it runs boldly through his work, asserting personal truths, without pretence or apology.
Ghost Trains
In just over 12 months from their first ever show, UK acoustic three-piece Ghost Trains have gone from strength to strength. They have released two full length albums, toured both the US and Europe, supported major names all over the UK and have garnered the attention of the national (and international) music press.
Following a sold out Russian tour in April 2011, the band are now looking for partners to help make Ghost Trains a major success across the world, and are currently in discussions with a number of organizations across Europe.
Ghost Trains are a UK based alternative acoustic group comprising of singer-songwriter Tim Ellis, guitarist and harmony singer Elijah Wolfenheart and percussionist Gregory Wood.
Having formed in late summer 2009 the band began work on their debut album at once in their Staffordshire based studio. Posting tracks online throughout the process, word fast began to spread across the internet and when the completed album, “Where Lovers Die”, was made free to download in March 2010 a mad scramble for copies ensued.
With a sound perhaps best described as a blend of folk melancholy and classic 60’s pop, 10,000 downloads of their 2010 debut album “Where Lovers Die” earned the group a cult status amongst music lovers across the world. A status that was built on even further with their follow-up in 2011, the more commercial-sounding “Sniffing Round L.A.”.
The bands mix of melancholy and melody, Tim’s dark lyrics and Elijah’s distinctive altered tunings have seen them gather fans from high school kids to granddads, rave fans to Goths – all of whom seem to love there ”astonishing, wonderful songs”- (Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music). Even before they made their live debut in Manchester in April 2010, Ghost Trains myspace-page was receiving over 200 plays a day and facebook fans regularly changed their status updates to Ghost Trains lyrics. Recent gigs have seen fans travelling from across Europe to watch the band perform and bizarrely, the formation of a fan club in Iran!
June 2010 saw the band they played their first BBC session on the Genevieve Tudor Folk Show, and although not strictly folk (think more a darker, harder version of Crowded House), Genevieve had no qualms about saying live on air how she expected “great things from Ghost Trains… I’m very much looking forward to the day I can tell people how they once played on my show”.
Having seen Ghost Trains perform at The Acoustic Festival Of Britain in May 2010, Acoustic Magazine writer Andy Hughes declared them to be “the most exciting new group I have heard in years” and subsequently his patronage is leading to all sorts of openings.
Following the release of a video for lead album track “Miss Emily”, the band was booked to play on tours of California (September 2010) and Latvia plus Russia running into April 2011, and in summer 2011 the band is going for their first European tour.
In short Ghost Trains work harder than anyone else and they know exactly where they want to go.
http://ghosttrains.net
www.myspace.com/ghosttrains
Giulia Millanta
Giulia Millanta was a lonesome, wayward child, a turbulent adolescent with a restless soul, and a single-minded young woman whose greatest passions were wine, sun-dried tomatoes, horses and music. In fact she started to play the guitar and sing old, traditional folk songs at a tender age. She was born in Florence, but has always been something of a gypsy. Today, curiosity and a willingness to experiment are the traits that make Giulia, and her music, stand out.
Her search for a personal form of expression, which accrued over the years, distinguished her first work, “Giulia and the Dizzyness”, released in May of 2008 on Cavern Jatt Records. The album has Anglo-Saxon roots and mixes the folk-acoustic tradition with new sounds. The CD release tour brought Giulia to several cities throughout Italy and England, and to New York, where she performed at clubs such as Arlene’s Grocery, Goodbye Blue Monday, and Nightingale Lounge.
She performed at the Acoustic Guitar Meeting in Sarzana, where she won the Carisch Award "New Sounds of Acoustic Music", in May of 2010.
"Dropping Down" is her latest album. Two years after her first release, Giulia delivers a multivalent musical performance, showing her skills in every aspect of production. The album is in fact entirely written (except for the cover, 'Paranoid', by Black Sabbath), arranged and produced by the young singer/songwriter. A host of internationally renown artists collaborated in the production of the album, including: Michael Manring, Ed Gerhard, Stefano “Cocco” Cantini, Ettore Bonafè, Matteo Addabbo and many others.
In "Dropping Down" Giulia and the acoustic guitar are the common themes that thread through this folk-rock album. "Dropping Down" tells stories, describes personalities and discerns states of mind with the realistic and disenchanted eye of one who is 'dropping down', but with a touch of the mad hope of someone floating through blue skies.....
www.giuliamillanta.com
www.myspace.com/giuliamillanta
The Good Intentions
Liverpool’s premier Americana band, The Good Intentions are about to release their second album 'Someone Else's Time' on Boronda Records.
The band is primarily centred around R Peter Davies, song writer, guitarist, and lead vocal, supported by harmony vocals from Gabrielle Monk, who also plays autoharp and accordion. Their songs have an old time feel with great tunes, clear harmonies, thoughtful lyrics, and good instrumentation. Having worked together for around 3 years their work took off when they collaborated with Boronda Records and established session musicians in LA to produce their first album, 'Poor Boy' to critical acclaim.
'Someone Else's Time' was recorded in LA, Liverpool and Nashville, featuring additional musicians, Brantley Kearns, ( Dwight Yoakam) , David Jackson (with Emmylou Harris, John Denver), additional vocals from Erice Brace, and guitar, mandolin, and dobro from Rick Shea, who also produced the album. Rick Shea is, of course, well-known as a longtime member of Dave Alvin’s ‘Guilty Men’.
Sample tracks are available on their website.
If you want to hear the songs your ancestors were listening to as they travelled the lost highway, get the album now!
www.thegoodintentions.co.uk
www.myspace.com/thegoodintentionsmyspace
Good Lovelies
Funny and upbeat, with just a pinch of sass, the Good Lovelies' textbook three-part harmonies, constant instrument swapping and witty on-stage banter have enlivened the folk music landscape since they joined forces in 2006 for their first show at Toronto's funky Gladstone Hotel.
How the Good Lovelies (Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore) got together is a bit of a mystery: Sue remembers meeting her band mates during a limbo competition, Caroline thinks they met at a chess tournament, but Kerri is convinced they first crossed paths during a bar fight.....
Whatever the story may be, the ladies immediately realized they had something special, so they hit the road on a mission to charm Canadian audiences coast to coast.
Their tireless rain or shine outlook and undeniable mutual respect have helped the trio weather years of constant touring. With jaunts to Australia, the UK and the US in their 2011 schedule, the Good Lovelies' road-tested tenacity will bring them further afield than ever before.
Lighthearted songwriting and irresistibly buoyant dispositions have made them the darlings of the summer festival circuit, including spots at the storied Mariposa and Hillside Festivals and the Montreal Jazz Festival. They have toured with Stuart McLean and the Vinyl CafÈ and appeared on stages and in studios with Broken Social Scene, Kathleen Edwards and Jill Barber.
In addition to their acclaimed holiday album, "Under The Mistletoe" (2009), which showcases old and new seasonal tunes (including three original songs), the Good Lovelies' self-titled full-length album (also released in 2009) proved their blithe brand of folk music has year-round appeal. With this record, the Good Lovelies won New Emerging Artist at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. In 2010, this same album received a Juno for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year.
"Let the Rain Fall", their 3rd full-length album, is an ode to camaraderie. With equal parts city and country, highway and home, wistfulness and sass, the Good Lovelies' good humour and self-assurance shines through from the toe-tapping start of "Made for Rain" to the sweet final notes in the French-flecked "Mrs T". In between, you'll hear reflections on urban imperfections with "Backyard", straight-up love songs like "Best I Know" and upbeat numbers like "Kiss Me in the Kitchen".
The album, like the Good Lovelies, has a universal appeal, sure to please not just their fellow Canadians, but those south of the border and across the pond too.
"Let The Rain Fall," say the Good Lovelies, confident that bright and breezy days lie ahead.
www.goodlovelies.com
www.sixshooterrecords.com
Gordie Tentrees
Yukon roots music songwriter Gordie Tentrees has just released his 3rd album, 'Mercy Or Sin', produced by Juno Award-winning producer Bob Hamilton. Joining Gordie (dobro, guitar, harmonica) on the CD release tour is legendary multi-instrumentalist Ken Hermanson (banjo, lapsteel, guitar).
Gordie Tentrees is from the cold and rustic Yukon Territory and writes like a doppelganger of the preeminent Texas storytellers on his third album, 'Mercy Or Sin'. “Alfred” leads off the record, a darkly poignant acoustic tale, that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Guy Clark-album. (“Walks with a hitch, right side hip, reads a dirt palm, right before he spits, thinks on the rain, hollers for the end, Alfred is old his blood ain't thin”).
But don’t settle in for a languid country/folk songwriter album, because he brings on resophonic guitar and stomp board on a roaring “No Integrity Man”.
He was selected by CBC’s Song Quest in 2009 as one of Canada’s top songwriters and hosted the prestigous SOCAN songwriters circle at the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards. The song "Mercy Or Sin" was a finalist in the 2009 International Songwriting Competition out of 15 000 entries.
He also performed at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver for the New Songs New Voices Show. Tentrees was selected as the best of Canada’s songwriters to perform during the games.
'Mercy Or Sin' is the much-anticipated follow up to critically-acclaimed 'Bottleneck To Wire (2007) and '29 Loads Of Freight' (2004). This album finally captures the bands dynamic live show and unique growth of songwriter Gordie Tentrees. There are 12 tracks delivering story-driven songs, edgy foot-stompers and heart-worn odes that can only be cultivated by a road warrior.
Gordie has toured relentlessly in North America, Europe and the UK, building an international buzz in the roots music world. He has toured with Fred Eaglesmith, Kelly Joe Phelps, Ray Wylie Hubbard and shared stages with the D-Rangers, Rick Fines, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, performed a CBC Saturday Night Blues concert, and showcased at North American Folk Alliance, Western Canadian Music Awards and South by Southwest.
Gordie will be performing 200 shows in support of 'Mercy Or Sin all across Canada, US, Europe and the UK.
www.myspace.com/gordietentrees
www.sonicbids.com/gordietentrees
Gordon Bonham
Gordon Bonham brings together a mix of styles from the Mississippi Delta to the back alleys of Chicago, from big Texas shuffles to jumpin’ West Coast swing. After several years of tearing up the road, Bonham brings it all together in Indiana, the Crossroads of America.
Bonham has performed several times with the legendary Pinetop Perkins, most notably in Cleveland along with Robert Lockwood, Jr, as part of the grand opening of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. He played off and on for ten years with the late Indianapolis blues mandolin man, Yank Rachell, as well as Chicago piano man Jimmy Walker. Gordon has worked three times with Bo Diddley as band leader, and rang in the 2000 new year at the Slippery Noodle playing with Blues Brother Matt “Guitar” Murphy. Other notable gigs include a mini tour with “Ice Cream Man” John Brimm and sharing the Main Stage at the Chicago Blues Fest with Billy Boy Arnold and the late Sunny Land Slim. Bonham has also opened for such greats as Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Solomon Burke and B.B.King.
Locally, Bonham was a founding member of the critically acclaimed Cooler Kings, followed by the Gordon Bonham Blues Band. Their CD “Low Down & Blue” was chosen by David Lindquist of the Indianapolis Star as #3 of the Top Ten Releases of 1999. He continues to be a host of the blues jam at the world famous Slippery Noodle Inn and appears every Monday with Indy’s favorite “all star band” Soul Bus.
With two European tours and a growing list of memorable gigs, the credentials continue to stack up, making Gordon Bonham’s music a must have for anyone who appreciates serious and soulful blues.
New album "Soon In The Morning" out soon.
The Gourds
One of roots music’s most fervent leaders, Texas greats, The Gourds will be releasing their Vanguard Records debut, “Old Mad Joy”, on September 13th, 2011. Produced by Larry Campbell at the historic Levon Helm Studios a.k.a. ‘The Barn’, “Old Mad Joy” embraces the eccentric character and sonic range of the band while pushing their sound to the next level.
From the beginning notes of the first track, "I Want It So Bad", it is clear that something new is emerging. Larry Campbell (Levon Helm’s producer and musical director of Helm’s Midnight Rambles’) held the key to making it all work. "'Coach' Campbell found the strengths in our weaknesses and the vulnerabilities in our strengths and challenged our pre-determined aesthetic sensibilities", states frontman Kevin Russell, "his qualification and compassion instilled in us a desire to achieve more than we thought we could as a combo and as individuals".
The foundation of “Old Mad Joy” is its five basic elements - Claude Bernard’s accordion and keyboards bring on the caustic boogie and blown-out bellows. Kevin Russell’s original brand of gospel spirituals contrast with Jimmy Smith’s dark-and-twisted imagery, Max Johnston’s multiple-instrumental cache including banjo, rub-board, mandolin and fiddle, and Keith Langford’s drumming puts the whole train into motion.
Based in Austin, TX, and formed in 1994, The Gourds have released ten studio records and multiple live recordings and soundtracks. In 2006, they performed in an episode of the NBC show ‘Friday Night Lights’ and have been featured on PBS’ ‘Austin City Limits’.
The Gourds high-energy live shows and endless touring have earned them the reputation as a ‘must see’ artist. The band will be kicking off the release of “Old Mad Joy” with a show in Los Angeles at The Echo on September 13th. “Old Mad Joy” is The Gourds 11th studio release and Vanguard Records debut.
http://publicity.vanguardrecords.com
Grand Atlantic
Every now and then, critics and music fans look nostalgically back and the ‘golden era’ of pop, somewhere around the mid-60’s to early 70’s, and sigh ‘why don’t they make those kind of records any more?’. Why indeed? Perhaps because in the rush to shove mass-produced filler down the kids’ throats via video and mobile phones, making quality music designed to last didn’t seem important. Grand Atlantic, however, have managed to do what seemed impossible – created a lush, melody-drenched set of songs that combine minor-key melancholy with killer pop choruses. By ignoring the rules, they have drawn elements from the past and made them seem new again. This is the album that the major-label show-ponies would have given their right arms to make. You see, you have to be outsiders to pull this off – the kids that sat in the bedroom obsessing over who played on the second Kinks album; the dreamers who analysed every lyric on ‘Pink Moon’; the Edie Sedgwick fans. The thinkers. The romantics.
It was the release of their debut EP ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, that saw Grand Atlantic soar into Australia’s national consciousness. Released in November ’06, ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ created a storm of approval locally and overseas. The ‘2006 Drum Media Writers Poll’ listed it as one of the top ten 'EPs Of The Year' and the title track’s superb stop-motion video, which screened nationally via Rage and Channel V, gained the band high rotation at venues all across Australia, NZ and USA on the Nightlife rock channel.
“Bands can sometimes do the big guitar pop-rock thing and sometimes do the orchestral pop thing, but somehow Grand Atlantic can do them both equally well and resolve them into an enthralling package” The Courier Mail.
2007 didn't prove any slower for Grand Atlantic and the praise continues. Throughout the year they toured the East Coast of Australia three times, and were handpicked to perform at the internationally renowned Adelaide Fuse Festival and BigSound conferences. In April they placed 3rd in the ‘Rock Category’ of the 2006 International Songwriting Competition (ISC) with their track "Coolite", while "Wonderful Tragedy" also garnered an ISC Honourable Mention in the main ‘Performance’ category; both are tracks from the album. The lads shone above over 15,000 entrants from nearly 90 countries, which merely hints at the breadth found on ‘This Is Grand Atlantic’.
It’s there from the ambitious opening track, "Prelude". Piano, gentle horns, impeccable strings, and Phil Usher’s vocals lull you into a kind of reverie – just enough to set you up for the 1-2 sucker-punch of Coolite and Smoke & Mirrors, which rocket from the speakers to grab you by the throat and demand you pay attention. You getting the picture yet? "Chaos Theory" unloads some good old-fashioned psychedelia in a haze of guitar feedback and opium-slow drums, building to the sweet release of the chorus – “it’s all coming together now”. Yes, indeed it is. "Wonderful Tragedy" is ambitious, bittersweet, resigned but never beaten – it’s as if the band is in on some secret that the rest of us are left to guess at. It’ll cut you to the bone. And there are still eight more tracks…
‘This Is Grand Atlantic’ was released in Australia in June 07 through Popboomerang/MGM and has been heralded as one of the year’s best pop/rock Australian releases. Conjuring up the wide-ranging sonic textures and songwriting smarts of the Beatles and the Beach Boys but wrapping it all in a beautifully-produced modern sound, this is one that any fan of intelligent, melodic pop rock will need to investigate... this is Grand Atlantic.
Grant Peeples
"Grant Peeples latest release is a clean but brooding Americana sound from a finger-in-your-eye songwriter. A biting, edgy, irreverent southern leftneck. Articulate twang. Thinking-man's songs. Part Prine, part McMurtry, part Che Guevara.
Grant Peeples calls his music “Alternative Southern.” Though this is not a genre or sub-genre that one finds on song manifests, it fits this unique songwriter well. It is implicitly political, cultural and relevant.
These are songs about a South that wheezes in the shadows of ruinous real estate developments and suburban sprawl, and the steeple of the staid Episcopal Church. It is bad teeth, pit bulls and body odor, dirt under the fingernails, fast-food obesity, chain smokers, tattooed faces, shady county sheriffs. There are meth labs and racism and guns. A fearless guy on death row and a guy who ties his cheating girlfriend to the railroad tracks, only to console her with sips of whiskey as the train comes chugging around the bend. “This is real country,” explains one of these hard hitting songs. “Man, and it ain’t pretty.”
It is Flannery O’Conner set to music. Songs that almost gloat on the ugly underbelly of a class divided society, while sticking their collective tongue out at the lame sentimentality of today’s neo-country (a Peeples term) music. The sound is classic, sparse, twangy, and guitar driven, and cut from the same cloth that songwriters like Guy Clark, Lucinda Williams and Ray Wylie Hubbard knit their own tunes.
It’s all sung with Peeples’ commanding, seasoned voice. It’s a rough, edgy voice that works like a bucksaw on his recurrent themes of poverty, class struggle, hypocrisy and environmental ruin. From one song to the next, the mood shifts quickly from dark to comedic and back again. The dark is foreboding; the comedic is ironic, and always at the expense of one convention or another: church, state, the Executive branch, or the rural landscape from which Peeples himself hails.
Greg Copeland
Singer-songwriter Greg Copeland is a Southern California native whose depth of feeling for music – and natural ability to conjure it up with spare,graceful melodies and lyrics that are plainspoken poetry – has been in inverse proportion to his body of work. That balance tips with hisnew album, 2008’s 'DIANA & JAMES', an earthy, folk-flavored collection of 12 original songs produced by acclaimed musician Greg Leisz, a pedal steel master and ace guitarist who plays on every track. The disc follows uphis1982 Jackson Browne-produced debut album 'Revenge Will Come' (Geffen), which allmusic.com calls “a first-rate singer-songwriter affair”and was included in Time Magazine’s 1982 year-end 10 Best list (along with Bruce Springsteen’s 'Nebraska' and Richard & Linda Thompson’s 'Shoot Out the Lights').
Copeland and Browne have been friends since they attended high school together in Fullerton, CA, and then entered the L.A. music scene in the late ’60s. For a time, they lived in a compound of duplexes and triplexes in Echo Park, near Dodger Stadium, where J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey were also neighbors. In addition to collaborating on 'Revenge Will Come', Copeland co-wrote the song “Candy,” which appears on Browne’s album 'Lives In The Balance'. His credits also include the song “El Salvador,” which Joan Baez recorded in 1989, and David Lindley covered “Revenge Will Come” on his 2008 album 'Big Twang'.
During Copeland’s long hiatus from music-making, he and his wife raised two sons. He started songwriting again in 2000 – “I could feel it coming. The odometer clicked over and it was like I came out of a deep freeze. Songs just started pouring out. It took me a couple of years to really trust it. After a while, I was leaving one job and starting another, and I decided to give myself a hundred days to do nothing but write. Most of the songs on this record appeared in a rush of bits and pieces during that period, and it took me nearly four years to sort them out.”
The title characters, Copeland says, “recur throughout the songs. They’re the same two people moving through different lives, almost like three-dimensional chess. It’s not a concept album, but a lot of little interconnections link the songs together.” For example, the character in “I Am The One” was responsible for the death of the woman in “Muddy Water.” Listeners might also recognize the character in “The Only Wicked Thing” as Hank Williams on the night he died.
Throughout, Copeland’s warm, plaintive vocals and lilting melodies come alive against the backdrop of his novelist’s gift for narrative and a pragmatist’s sense of unadorned emotion. 'DIANA & JAMES' was recorded at Groovemasters in Santa Monica and Winslow Ct. Studio in Los Angeles. Copeland is accompanied by a stellar group of musicians that include, in addition to Greg Leisz on guitars: Jennifer Condos and Bob Glaub (bass); David Piltch (upright bass); Jay Bellerose, Danny Frankel and Don Heffington (drums and percussion); Patrick Warren (keyboards); Phil Parlapiano (keyboards and horns); and Gabe Witcher (violin). Carla Kihlstedt – a founding member of groups including Tin Hat, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and 2 Foot Yard – is also featured on violin and delivers a gorgeous co-lead vocal on “Palace Of Love.” Rosie Flores and Heather Waters appear on harmony vocals.
Reflecting on his return to songwriting, Copeland says, “It’s like that saying, ‘if you build it they will come.’ If you offer yourself to it, if you show up, the songs will come to you. But first you have to show up. You do your best and hope another one comes, but you never know.” As for offering up his first album in 25 years, Copeland says, “it’s like putting a baby in a little reed boat and pushing it out into the river.”
'DIANA & JAMES' sets sail on Inside Recordings on October 7, 2008.
"Diana & James" available here.
Greg Koons
One month before the U.S. release of his critically acclaimed debut album, “Welcome to the Nowhere Motel”, Greg Koons, an epileptic since the age of 24, was driving his truck alone on a U.S. solo-acoustic tour and suffered numerous complex partial- seizures. As a result, he streamed in and out of consciousness and inexplicably managed to drive his vehicle 644 kilometers in the wrong direction. After his vehicle ran low on gas, he walked the streets of Dedham, MA, alone, incoherent, and severely disoriented, side effects of his medical condition.
He was spotted having a Gran Mal seizure in an empty parking lot and was transported for treatment at a local Boston hospital. After a handful of cancelled gigs and a dubious future for his debut album, Greg was back on the road in only one week but this time with a new driver, his 68 year old father. An ex-truck driver and Vietnam veteran.
Together the two disappeared into the fabric of America traveling over 40,000 kilometers and through 35 states. Greg played 120 gigs en route to his album being named “One of the Top 10 Americana Albums”, all while living off the dollar menu at McDonald’s and mainly camping or sleeping in their 1996 two-door, GMC pick-up truck.
"Welcome To The Nowhere Motel", co-produced by Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Army Navy) and Matt Keating, epitomizes a labor of love and showcases Greg Koons’ poignant and melodic songwriting. In collaboration with a slew of critically acclaimed musicians, such as Jason Mercer on bass (Ani DiFranco, Ron Sexsmith), Jordan Richardson on drums (Ben Harper & Relentless 7), the late Duane Jarvis on dobro (Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam), Kirk Swan on guitar (John Wesley Harding, Dumptruck), and indie great Matt Keating on keyboards and guitars. The result of this endeavor in the words of C.M.T. is, “A hidden gem for the adventurous listener”
Born in Harrisburg, PA, Greg first started playing guitar at age fourteen and has never looked back. After receiving his GED, he moved to Hollywood, CA, where he was a housekeeper at the notorious Chateau Marmont Hotel on the Sunset Strip. It was there, between doing laundry and taking out trash, that Koons first honed his skills at matching melodies with words, covertly done on the lobby piano at night. It would be the beginning of his gritty songwriting described by Roy Kasten of 881.KDHX in St. Louis as “having the same hard fought, wise and worn narrative forms as Steve Earle, John Prine, and Townes Van Zandt”, and “creating vivid portraits of people and places that make it through loneliness and loss, and emerge stronger and more alive for it”.
Greg recently finished shooting a video in Hollywood for his song, “Los Angeles Looks Prettier On TV" and is currently holed up in Pennsylvania writing his second album, planning a US tour this fall.
www.myspace.com/gregkoons
www.sonicbids.com/gregkoons
Groove Eddy
Groove Eddy, aka Eddie Cole, is a roots-folk artist from the Dandenong ranges outside of Melbourne, Australia. He’s been a drifter, an odd jobs man and guitar teacher. He is also an accomplished singer, player and songwriter.
2010 sees him releasing Groove Eddy’s first album: ‘Overload’.
‘Overload’ brings Eddy’s guitar playing and singing to the fore with his band of Nigel Picknell on drums, bassist Joel Hulme, vocalist Amber Rose and on a couple of tracks, violinist/vocalist Judy Hamilton.
This is folk-roots music with echoes from Prince and Pink Floyd, to Ben Harper and James Taylor, which showcases a totally original voice alongside some wonderful guitar playing. Some of his previous recordings have had airplay across Australia on ABC and community radio, but it’s with this record that he’s starting to garner some serious attention.
He’s played and busked around the country over a twenty-year period, honing his skills and sailing the winds of fortune.
www.grooveeddy.com
www.myspace.com/grooveeddy
Guthrie Kennard
Nobody ever accused Guthrie Kennard of trying to get into the music business by traveling “easy street.” He picked up a guitar when he was a kid in Virginia, and before long he was playing the bass for a twist band at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. He’s one of those great lifer musicians who seems most comfortable heading down some bumpy road, looking for one more juke joint and a decent three-night gig.
For most of his career, Guthrie has been a friendly face and a familiar, big-pocket bassist on the professional blues curcuit. He’s worked with, around and for most of the legends.
Some years back, his longtime employer — Ray Wylie Hubbard — realized that Guthrie was sitting on a large box of his own terrific songs. Ray realized, too, that Guthrie owned a voice that some critic somewhere said sounded like “Tom Waits trying to get out of Bob Dylan’s body”.
We all smiled and enjoyed that - So Ray decided to produce a record for Guthrie, and that went well.
Now, some years later, Guthrie has recorded two more fine CD’s, and, as a singer-songwriter, he’s played a thousand more nights in venues as large as big European festivals and as small as Fort Worth biker bars, where he knows the name of every patron in the room. Guthrie’s on the road, and he ain’t gonna stop.
For those of us who know him and like his tunes, he’s already a legend.
Gypsy Soul
Back In 1990, Cilette Swann and Roman Morykit were both searching for something. Imagine being an American in Paris learning to sing in French, phonetically. That’s how Cilette began her career, singing in Paris jazz clubs. Imagine living in London, being signed to major recording contract with A&M Records, and watching it fall out from under you, mid-recording. That’s how Roman found himself needing a change.
Both were feeling creatively stifled and through a series of life’s coincidences, they found each other in Edinburgh, Scotland. Recognizing a musical kinship, they started writing songs together and Gypsy Soul was born. Their musical relationship blossomed into love and the two got married in November 1991.
Earlier that year, on a flight back to Scotland after visiting Cilette’s family in the US, the pair met a Los Angeles movie producer. After chatting about the industry, they ended up buying her a train ticket as she had no local currency. Little did they know that this gesture would result in her setting up numerous meetings with Cannon Pictures and others, which inspired a move to LA.
For the next few years they wrote more songs and cultivated their sound playing in LA venues such as The Troubadour and Luna Park. Then with the financial support of friends and family, they decided to record their debut CD, “Test Of Time” in 1995. While in the studio, Cilette was working for the French camera company, Aaton, who were so impressed with the music, that they offered equipment - free of charge - to produce a music video. With 14 volunteers and donations from other LA production companies, Cilette’s assistant, a budding filmmaker, directed the band’s first video for the single, 'Silent Tears'. Inspired by the duo’s passion, a friend, Michael Eames, financed the pressing of the first 1000 CD's.
Armed with their audio and visual wares, the duo started to tour and attracted the attention of a small independent record company. They released the CD nationally and 'Silent Tears' hit the Top 40 AC radio charts with artists such as Celine Dion and Brian Adams. However, just as the single was taking off, the record company ran out of money and the duo’s career stalled.
Again, friends and family supported the band as they sat out the remainder of their contract for a year and wrote more songs. Roman and Cilette then made the decision to start their own record company, marking the birth of Off The Beaten Track Recordings. They secured national distribution and released their sophomore effort “Sanctuary”.
Since that time, Gypsy Soul has released ten albums, along with a live DVD recorded at the Triple Door in Seattle. They have sold over 1.5 million downloads worldwide, as well as over 120,000 CD's in the US alone. Michael Eames, who has now been their publisher for over 15 years, has licensed their music in TV shows and movies which have aired over all over the world. Besides worldwide digital release and physical release in the US, the duo's recordings have also been physically issued in Korea, South Africa and Japan, (where 'Silent Tears' was chosen as the theme to a popular TV show).
In 2008, Gypsy Soul’s fans donated over $27,000 in funding for the duo’s 9th CD, “Wanderlust.” Roman and Cilette continue to tour the Western States and Europe, playing venues from coffee houses to art and wine festivals and theaters that seat anywhere from 200 to 2000 people. Despite their unique, multicultural sound, the duo has managed to earn a Top 40 hit at AC Radio, a Top 5 hit in the International New Age charts and a Top 10 hit on the Folk DJ charts winning numerous independent music awards (including, Lilith Fair and Just Plain Folks) along the way.
Recognizing the generous support they have received, Cilette and Roman pay it forward at every opportunity. They continue to produce annual fundraisers for food banks, bereavement centers, alcohol recovery centers and AIDs clinics, as well as music career workshops at colleges. Is this a rags to riches story? Not at all, but it is a story of perseverance, belief and loving support from their friends, family and fans. A true American story.
G R O
Gangstagrass
Gary Hunn
Gary Wright
Gaucho Gil
Geoff Pearlman
Gerry Beckley
Gerry Griffin
Ghost Trains
Giulia Millanta
Good Intentions
Good Lovelies
Gordie Tentrees
Gordon Bonham
Gourds
Grand Atlantic
Grant Peeples
Greg Copeland
Greg Koons
Groove Eddy
Guthrie Kennard
Gypsy Soul
