Joshua Hyslop

Kris Allen

Shallow Alcove

Golden Oak 

John Berry 

Christie Lenée 

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0vziNl6NBK4?si=j629nS0Sxpjx8d5N" start="0"></iframe></div>In 2019, seasoned sideman Jon Tyler Wiley began recording his first solo album. He played all the instruments himself, so when it was time to perform the songs live, he called up a group of his friends to rehearse the material for live shows, and the Virginia Choir was born. This diversely talented cast of musicians quickly forged its identity, playing energetic live shows drawing from influences as diverse as Americana, World Music, and good, old-fashioned, barroom rock and roll. Vents Magazine calls them “A group that you most definitely need to know, [performing] arena-filling, vibrant, soaring Americana goodness.” Glide Magazine says that the band “…contrasts alt-country and Americana with explosions of anthemic rock to make for a sound that is truly one of a kind.” Their upcoming LP, “Pictures in the Dark,” is due on March 28th.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://jontylerwiley.com/">https://jontylerwiley.com/</a>

Jon Tyler Wiley and His Virginia Choir

The Rusty Wright Band

Mike Viola

AJAYE

The Rollin' Rust

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_1Y8bKimwsY?si=aYgeYKofzOGOSOks" start="0"></iframe></div>Best known for her stop-you-in-your-tracks voice, Liz Longley is an accomplished singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. With her deeply emotional songs, Longley has earned accolades from some of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country and cultivated a following that enthusiastically supports the creation of her music.In 2020, Longley's "Funeral For My Past" received widespread acclaim, with Forbes hailing it as a "stunning new album." Billboard described it as spanning genres from Americana to gospel-flavored soul to shimmering pop anthems. The album was also included in Newsweek's list of "100 Albums Released in 2020 to Put on Your Radar.”2024 brings a new release from Liz, "It's Me Again," an EP featuring acoustic remakes of career-defining songs. Notably, among the revisited songs is "Unraveling," a track that previously earned Longley the prestigious BMI John Lennon Scholarship Award. Fans eagerly anticipate this next chapter in her career, alongside hints of an upcoming full-length record.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.lizlongley.com/">https://www.lizlongley.com/</a>

Liz Longley: It’s Me Again Tour

Meaghan Farrell 

Griffin House 

Kristy Cox & Grasstime

Gareth Pearson

Ari Hest

Nick Shillace

Ordinary Elephant - Album Release Show

Cole Ritter and the Night Owls

Dan Rodriguez

Kenny Nelson

The Talbott Brothers were born and raised in Imperial, Nebraska, a rural midwest town located a stone's throw from the Colorado and Kansas border consisting of two thousand people. Siblings Nick and Ty started writing songs at a young age after discovering their dad’s old guitar and vinyl collection and being introduced to rock and roll, blues and country music that their parents always had playing in the truck or at home. Not being born into a music community or having industry connections, they mowed lawns, loaded trucks and relied on their blue collar upbringing until they could afford a van on Craigslist to tour the country playing dive bars, coffee shops and honkytonks with a pile of burned CDs full of songs they recorded at a friend's cabin, making one fan at a time along the way. Their song ‘We Got Love’ (2017) brought them national recognition selling out shows across the US and their albums ‘Ghost Talker’ (2019) and ‘Letters’ (2022) garnered attention from 'Rolling Stone,’ 'Billboard' and 'The Boot' calling their music “cinematic,” “captivating blood harmonies” and "for fans of John Mayer, Mumford &amp; Sons and Jason Isbell.” With over 3 million combined streams on Spotify, The Talbott Brothers blend their influences of rock, folk, pop and blues to create an infectious sound that is uniquely their own. They spent much of the last few years touring around the world, from headline shows to sharing the stage with Needtobreathe, Wild Rivers, Johnnyswim, ZZ Ward and many more. They’ve also dipped their feet into the festival circuit playing The Rock Boat, Portland Folk Festival and Pure Imagination Festival.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thetalbottbrothers.com/">https://thetalbottbrothers.com/</a>Haley JohnsenHaley Johnsen is a Portland, Oregon-born musician with a knack for genre-bending and a hard-earned career path that is uniquely her own. Raised listening to powerhouse singers such as Brandi Carlile, Grace Potter, and Annie Lennox, her greatest inspirations become apparent in her stunning vocals, introspective lyricism, and cross-pollinated style of indie-pop, and Americana music. Haley has the type of showmanship that is electric, earnest, and whole heartedly endearing. With or without a band, you can be sure to leave her shows with a smile on your face while whiping tears from your eyes.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://haleyjohnsenmusic.com/"> www.haleyjohnsenmusic.com</a>

The Talbott Brothers 

The Kaleo Songwriters are a vibrant and dynamic young musical collective. Originating as a local collaborative effort, this group comprises middle and high school students from various corners of Oakland County, brought together by their shared passion for songwriting and music creation.Meeting weekly, these talented young individuals come together to craft original compositions, blending their diverse perspectives and musical influences into a harmonious fusion of creativity. Guided by seasoned professionals within the industry, Kaleo Songwriters receive invaluable mentorship, allowing them to refine their skills and navigate the intricate landscape of the music world.Over the years, Kaleo Songwriters have made their mark on the local music scene, leaving audiences inspired with their live performances. Through their captivating melodies and heartfelt lyrics, they weave narratives that resonate deeply with listeners, capturing the essence of youth and the human experience.With several albums to their name, each showcasing their evolution as artists, Kaleo Songwriters continue to push boundaries and defy expectations. Their music serves as a testament to the power of collaboration and the boundless creativity of young minds.Beyond the stage, Kaleo Songwriters remain deeply rooted in their community, using their music as a vehicle for positive change and connection. Through benefit concerts, outreach programs, and community events, they strive to make a difference and inspire others to pursue their artistic passions.As they continue to carve out their place in the musical landscape, Kaleo Songwriters stand as shining examples of the transformative power of music and the limitless potential of youth. With each chord struck and every lyric penned, they invite listeners on a journey of self-discovery and shared expression, leaving an indelible mark on hearts and minds alike.Learn more at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.kaleoarts.org">www.kaleoarts.org</a>

Kaleo Songwriters

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dJJ5orY6h-w?si=RpVdb1h2O3AezQd_" start="0"></iframe></div>Raised in the mountains of Montana and making a home on the road, Ira Wolf's music and writing are vulnerably honest as she explores heartache, homesickness, and the highs and lows of an unconventional wandering lifestyle. She draws from personal experience and connects on an intimate level with her audience through her truthful lyrics and melancholy vocals. Since she began touring in 2014, Ira has earned more than 100 million plays on Spotify, performed across six continents, and shared stages with artists such as Penny and Sparrow, Dead Man Winter, Adeem the Artist, David Ramirez, and Andrea von Kampen. She’s been featured for her songwriting and vocal style at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, Kerrville Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Americanafest, and Midwest Music Fest, and continues to travel the U.S. while living full time in a camper van.After releasing her third album, The Closest Thing to Home, Ira took a step away from music to focus on her mental health and other passions. She recently finished recording her highly-anticipated fourth studio record, Rock Bottom, and began releasing singles in anticipation of the album release October 13th. Ira plans to continue touring both nationally and internationally in the coming months.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://irawolfmusic.com/">http://irawolfmusic.com/</a>

Ira Wolf 

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WVLSO-TeWgo?si=Tro8q26kUqK7i_z4" start="0"></iframe></div>To date Atlanta, Georgia based songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling has released 7 albums and played thousands of concerts across the US and EU. Over the last decade Stelling has toured as both headliner and as support for Son Little, Mavis Staples, and The Devil Makes Three, Ben Harper (who produced his 2020 album Best of Luck) and many others. Stelling released a trio of albums for indie favorite Anti- records (Tom Waits, Merle Haggard, Niko Case) and has performed multiple times at Newport Folk Festival and on CBS Saturday Morning. Stelling is known for his intricate finger-style guitar and road tested vocal delivery.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.christopherpaulstelling.com￼">http://www.christopherpaulstelling.com </a>

Christopher Paul Stelling

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qPN2QDoP5ac?si=9cbqQvB7IvUs8_66" start="0"></iframe></div>A Philadelphia musician who proudly carries a torch for the city’s soul legacy, Mutlu makes a connection with every audience.Coming up in the Philly scene, he played around town and in area clubs before landing his first tour opening for Joe Jackson. Since then he’s toured across the U.S. and Europe with his musical brother, Amos Lee, who discovered Mutlu’s music just as both of their careers were taking off. In addition he’s found an advocate with Daryl Hall &amp; John Oates, who invited Mutlu to support a national theater tour.Mutlu (pronounced moot’-lu) is a first-generation American whose parents moved from Turkey to the United States in the 1970s. He discovered the strength of his voice in high school while singing in a Broadway revue. He liked being on stage but didn’t anticipate pursuing it as a career. However, while earning a marketing degree from Drexel University, he spent innumerable hours practicing guitar, writing songs, and playing open mic nights. Now roughly fifteen years into a career as a professional musician, he believes that his Turkish heritage informs his perspective as an artist.“From a writing standpoint, having that multicultural background from a young age fuels your creativity in a different way,” he believes. “It makes you empathize with things differently than you would have.”Whether crooning a love song like “Caramel” (which echoes the Gamble &amp; Huff output of the ‘70s), spreading optimism in “Lifeline,” or sharing a look into his own life as in “Scarred,” Mutlu can bring his diverse catalog together through the power of his voice. He’s been recognized by the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Philadelphia Inquirer for his sweet, silky tone. Bruce Warren of WXPN once described Mutlu’s music as “a mix of soul, reggae, world music and folk, all tied together in the singer-songwriter tradition.”“The vocal connection, that’s the cornerstone of everything I do,” he says. “Everything else is in service of that, performance-wise and production-wise. In R&amp;B and soul music, singers try to really emotionally connect, vocally. It’s about that special thing that can happen when you really dig down deep and give a performance that moves people.”Mutlu launched his music career on Manhattan Records with the 2008 album, Livin’ It, produced by mentor and friend T Bone Wolk. Since then, he’s developed his international audience through touring, multiple appearances on Live From Daryl’s House, and a steady stream of independent singles and EPs, most recently 2019’s Good Trouble. He cites songs like “Livin’ It,” “Hello Morning,” and “One Life With You” as staples in his set, yet he believes that the show experience is far more than just playing the same material every night.“For people who know the songs, it’s about giving something more than they would get on the record,” he says. “I tour a lot solo, and for me it’s about going beyond just playing the songs. It’s about creating a community and finding a way to connect with people.”<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.mutlusounds.com/">http://www.mutlusounds.com/</a>

Mutlu

Don Ross 

Vaden Landers

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N1vuWOP-3yg?controls=0" start="0"></iframe></div>An Electric Harp concert with the HARP TWINS that is dazzling, comedic, and loved by audiences of all ages!! From The Rolling Stones to Metallica, Nordic-fantasy originals to ancient Celtic tunes, the Harp Twins’ show is electrifying one moment and haunting the next. Plus, don’t miss the powerful finale as the Harp Twins are joined by the Volfgang Twins on double Viking Drums for some rockin’ Nordic-inspired music!<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.harptwins.com/">https://www.harptwins.com/</a>

Harp Twins Electric Spring Fling

Slim Gambill 

Celebrating the 10 anniversary of their album "Campfire," Rend Collective is sharing good news. The Ireland-hailing Rend Collective is harkening back to their&nbsp;roots-y, unique sound -&nbsp;originally birthed out of Bangor, Ireland – for their sixth studio album, Good News, released January 19.Taking on the moniker “Purveyors of Good News,” Rend Collective is barreling down the road of authenticity, and simple old-fashioned Gospel. Grown away from industry or formula, each song from Good News&nbsp;is deeply connected to the band’s roots in missional community - a group of people, or extended family, who are united through Christian&nbsp;community&nbsp;around a common service and witness to a particular neighborhood or network of relationships – much like the band themselves.With Good News, Rend Collective has chosen not to shy away from the brokenness and suffering, but rather through music and lyric that continues to push boundaries in the band’s own unique way, brings light to the darkness. This album is an invitation to all of us – to lament, to remember, and to share in the good&nbsp;news that belongs to all of us.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://rendcollective.com/">https://rendcollective.com/</a>

20 Front Street presents Rend Collective - Campfire Tour at Flagstar Strand Theatre

One Ton Trolley

Kate Hinote Trio and Voxanna

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2QvItTr8ZAM?si=U5Uk96uZ1PxLN_Bn" start="0"></iframe></div>MFGS has been presenting contemporary guitar performances and workshops to audiences in Southeast Michigan since 2002. It has been quite a while since we have been able to introduce a new contemporary guitar voice to Southeast Michigan. While new to us, Australian guitarist Kyran Daniel is a seasoned artist in the acoustic guitar world as he toured internationally with guitar legends such as Tommy Emmanuel and Kotaro Oshio when he was just 17 years old! In 2007, Kyran’s debut album ‘Per Se’ (released under his former name, Kieran Murphy) became a highly influential work in the fingerstyle guitar community.With his illustrious background, Kyran was awarded a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he studied under some of the best songwriting &amp; production professors in contemporary music. In 2017, after completing his degree at Berklee, Kyran honed his skillset by focusing on session work, production, and songwriting for some of Australia’s top charting acts. Since 2022, he has returned to his roots as a solo artist and has been on a world tour alongside his mentor Tommy Emmanuel as well as other notable guitarists such as Richard Smith, Jim Kimo West, and Andrea Valeri. Kyran is currently completing a new solo acoustic album due for release in 2024.We truly feel fortunate to have the opportunity to present Kyran Daniel to MFGS friends as his cinematic soundscapes and jaw-dropping performances present an experience you won’t want to miss.“I knew at that time he would be an incredible force in music…he was always received with thunderous applause and standing ovations.” Tommy Emmanuel“Inspired by the technical artistry and influence of Italy, Kyran embraces the guitar techniques of his mentor Tommy Emmanuel to create cinematic soundscapes full of passion, grandeur and mystery.” Melbourne Recital Hall<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.kyrandaniel.com/">www.kyrandaniel.com</a>

Kyran Daniel 

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/0Xr2ez3-6YA?si=teCuOqDs3GItgilA">https://youtu.be/0Xr2ez3-6YA?si=teCuOqDs3GItgilA</a>Will Hoge is a mainstay of 21st century rock &amp; roll, carrying the torch for a blue-collar sound rooted in ringing Telecaster guitars and anthemic songwriting. He makes music for roadhouses and rallies, for car stereos and dive-bar jukeboxes, for Saturday night hell-raising and Sunday morning comedowns. In an era of social media influencers looking to fast-track their way to fame, Hoge has proudly taken the long way around, dedicating himself not to the destination, but to the journey itself. The trek continues with Wings On My Shoes, the twelfth studio album in a career whose milestones include Number One hits, Grammy nods, major-label record deals, and hard-won independence. Written amidst the doom and gloom of a pandemic that brought his touring schedule to a standstill, it's a record that seeks out silver linings, emphasizing bright moments over looming darkness. For Hoge, Wings On My Shoes also marks a recommitment to the amplified Americana sound that's earned him a global audience, as well nods from Rolling Stone, Forbes, and NPR. "I always want to embrace change — to accept new things artistically— but at the end of the day, I can try to run from this idea that I love good, guitar-based rock &amp; roll music, or I can wear that badge of honor," he says. "I'm in the 'wearing the badge of honor' phase now." He wears it proudly with songs like "All I Can Take," a fast 'n' furious blast of bar-band bombast that he recorded in a single take. "Dead Man's Hand" slows the tempo but deepens the groove, with Hoge delivering a Springsteen-sized story of desperation and dirty business dealings. "John Prine's Cadillac" celebrates life and love with power chords, cymbal crashes, and a nod to Hoge's songwriting hero, while "It's Just You" remakes the jubilant jangle of Buddy Holly's best work into a heartland-rock love song. Recorded during a week's worth of live performances at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios, Wings On My Shoes spotlights the chemistry shared by Hoge and his group of hard-touring road warriors: guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths. Hoge pulls triple-duty as the album's writer, frontman, and producer, while guest multi-instrumentalist Joshua Grange adds touches of pedal steel and organ throughout. Featuring few overdubs and zero studio trickery, Wings On My Shoes stands tall as a document of a hardscrabble band at work, wearing its rough edges with pride, sweating and stomping its way toward rock &amp; roll redemption. "There are common things we all love — the Beatles, the Stones, the Mount Rushmore of rock music — but everyone brings their own influences to the table," Hoge says of Wings' lineup, whose members previously joined him on Tiny Little Movies and My American Dream. "Allen comes from a punk-rock background. Christopher is a Detroit native with Motown influences. Thom loves Johhny Marr and does great things with guitar effects. As we're arranging the songs, I'm encouraging these guys to push a little bit and help steer. I don't want to make a record where I play everything, because that defeats the whole purpose of ensemble playing. I'm trying to incorporate everyone else's gifts into what we're doing." At its core, though, Wings On My Shoes remains a songwriter's record. Hoge began writing these 10 songs months into the Covid pandemic, his world rattled by the isolation that came with the world's shelter-in-place recommendation. "I was a mess," he remembers. "I didn't realize how much this touring lifestyle had afforded me a certain level of built-in vulnerability and connection with people. Normally, you get into a van with a group of musicians, and you naturally hang out during the weeks that follow, and there's a communal aspect. There's a feeling of being connected. I'd gotten used to that, and without it, I went through something of a nervous breakdown. I needed to recenter myself." Hoge revamped his schedule, making time for daily blocks of journaling, exercise, and songwriting. He meditated. He practiced yoga. He read and wrote. "It was regimented and unsexy," he admits, "but it helped. There was a real focus on songwriting once again. Over the course of eight to nine months, that's where the music came from, and I got really excited about this new batch of songs." Those daily songwriting sessions yielded more than full-throttle rockers. On the acoustic "Whose God Is This," Hoge explores the middle ground between classic country textures and irreverent Bible School takeaways. "Queenie" finds him strumming a gentle salute to the strong, determined women in his life, while the stunning "The Last One To Go" — a career highlight, laced with gorgeous strings and interwoven acoustic guitars — tackles hard realities about marriage and mortality. Wings On My Shoes makes room for all of it, highlighting the diverse perspectives of a craftsman whose songs turn southern storytelling into universal sentiment. Years before Americana music received its own category at the Grammy Awards, Will Hoge was on the frontlines, helping to pilot and popularize the genre's blend of American roots music. With Wings On My Shoes, he distills that sound down to its strongest ingredients, steering himself from roadhouse rock &amp; roll to southern soul, from guitar-driven grease 'n' grit to Tennessee twang, from amplified barn-burners to acoustic numbers. For Will Hoge, that's how you take flight, and Wings On My Shoes finds him flying high.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.willhoge.com/">https://www.willhoge.com/</a>

Will Hoge

<a href="https://youtu.be/0Xr2ez3-6YA?si=teCuOqDs3GItgilA" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/0Xr2ez3-6YA?si=teCuOqDs3GItgilA</a> Will Hoge is a mainstay of 21st century rock &amp; roll, carrying the torch for a blue-collar sound rooted in ringing Telecaster guitars and anthemic songwriting. He makes music for roadhouses and rallies, for car stereos and dive-bar jukeboxes, for Saturday night hell-raising and Sunday morning comedowns. In an era of social media influencers looking to fast-track their way to fame, Hoge has proudly taken the long way around, dedicating himself not to the destination, but to the journey itself.&nbsp;The trek continues with Wings On My Shoes, the twelfth studio album in a career whose milestones include Number One hits, Grammy nods, major-label record deals, and hard-won independence. Written amidst the doom and gloom of a pandemic that brought his touring schedule to a standstill, it's a record that seeks out silver linings, emphasizing bright moments over looming darkness. For Hoge, Wings On My Shoes also marks a recommitment to the amplified Americana sound that's earned him a global audience, as well nods from Rolling Stone, Forbes, and NPR.&nbsp;"I always want to embrace change — to accept new things artistically— but at the end of the day, I can try to run from this idea that I love good, guitar-based rock &amp; roll music, or I can wear that badge of honor," he says. "I'm in the 'wearing the badge of honor' phase now."&nbsp;He wears it proudly with songs like "All I Can Take," a fast 'n' furious blast of bar-band bombast that he recorded in a single take. "Dead Man's Hand" slows the tempo but deepens the groove, with Hoge delivering a Springsteen-sized story of desperation and dirty business dealings. "John Prine's Cadillac" celebrates life and love with power chords, cymbal crashes, and a nod to Hoge's songwriting hero, while "It's Just You" remakes the jubilant jangle of Buddy Holly's best work into a heartland-rock love song.&nbsp;Recorded during a week's worth of live performances at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios, Wings On My Shoes spotlights the chemistry shared by Hoge and his group of hard-touring road warriors: guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths. Hoge pulls triple-duty as the album's writer, frontman, and producer, while guest multi-instrumentalist Joshua Grange adds touches of pedal steel and organ throughout. Featuring few overdubs and zero studio trickery, Wings On My Shoes stands tall as a document of a hardscrabble band at work, wearing its rough edges with pride, sweating and stomping its way toward rock &amp; roll redemption.&nbsp;"There are common things we all love — the Beatles, the Stones, the Mount Rushmore of rock music — but everyone brings their own influences to the table," Hoge says of Wings' lineup, whose members previously joined him on Tiny Little Movies and My American Dream. "Allen comes from a punk-rock background. Christopher is a Detroit native with Motown influences. Thom loves Johhny Marr and does great things with guitar effects. As we're arranging the songs, I'm encouraging these guys to push a little bit and help steer. I don't want to make a record where I play everything, because that defeats the whole purpose of ensemble playing. I'm trying to incorporate everyone else's gifts into what we're doing."&nbsp;At its core, though, Wings On My Shoes remains a songwriter's record. Hoge began writing these 10 songs months into the Covid pandemic, his world rattled by the isolation that came with the world's shelter-in-place recommendation. "I was a mess," he remembers. "I didn't realize how much this touring lifestyle had afforded me a certain level of built-in vulnerability and connection with people. Normally, you get into a van with a group of musicians, and you naturally hang out during the weeks that follow, and there's a communal aspect. There's a feeling of being connected. I'd gotten used to that, and without it, I went through something of a nervous breakdown. I needed to recenter myself."&nbsp;Hoge revamped his schedule, making time for daily blocks of journaling, exercise, and songwriting. He meditated. He practiced yoga. He read and wrote. "It was regimented and unsexy," he admits, "but it helped. There was a real focus on songwriting once again. Over the course of eight to nine months, that's where the music came from, and I got really excited about this new batch of songs."&nbsp;Those daily songwriting sessions yielded more than full-throttle rockers. On the acoustic "Whose God Is This," Hoge explores the middle ground between classic country textures and irreverent Bible School takeaways. "Queenie" finds him strumming a gentle salute to the strong, determined women in his life, while the stunning "The Last One To Go" — a career highlight, laced with gorgeous strings and interwoven acoustic guitars — tackles hard realities about marriage and mortality. Wings On My Shoes makes room for all of it, highlighting the diverse perspectives of a craftsman whose songs turn southern storytelling into universal sentiment.&nbsp;Years before Americana music received its own category at the Grammy Awards, Will Hoge was on the frontlines, helping to pilot and popularize the genre's blend of American roots music. With Wings On My Shoes, he distills that sound down to its strongest ingredients, steering himself from roadhouse rock &amp; roll to southern soul, from guitar-driven grease 'n' grit to Tennessee twang, from amplified barn-burners to acoustic numbers. For Will Hoge, that's how you take flight, and Wings On My Shoes finds him flying high. <a href="https://www.willhoge.com/" target="_blank">https://www.willhoge.com/</a>

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvOkPEokH7U?si=7sgTZbY1Txb7EAz8" start="0"></iframe></div>Scott Gilmore and Sarah Vitort are Fox and Bones—energetic offbeat folksters with a retro pop-rock bent who have been setting the world alight with a handclapping, foot-stomping good time since 2016. The indomitable duo has brought their optimistic Americana polish to international stages shared with the likes of Rayland Baxter, The Dead South, ZZ Ward, The Talbott Brothers and Horse Feathers among others. At Fox and Bones’ core is an unrelenting backbone that represents honest-to-goodness folklore dreams, wrapped in the delectable shine of a duo with a combined 25+ years of songwriting experience. They’re akin to Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Shovels &amp; Rope as a relatable, soul-stirring, retro-tinged folk-rock outfit that knows how to shatter a crowd’s hearts and put them back together all in the same utterance. Scott’s powerhouse grit and Sarah’s resonant tone combine with A-grade songwriting chops to create accessible, relatable, and often heart-rending folk-rock music. Their hardworking artistic output has earned them first place at the 2023 Tucson Folk Festival songwriting contest and second place in the International Acoustic Music Awards, amongst other accolades. The duo also founded Portland’s Folk Festival: an annual, three-night celebration of folk and roots music at the iconic Crystal Ballroom.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://foxandbones.com/">https://foxandbones.com/</a>

Fox and Bones 

Szlachetka & Sarah Aili

Inspired at age 30, singer/songwriter&nbsp;Al Bettis picked up a guitar and a notepad and got to work. The self-trained acoustic guitarist has gained popularity for his smooth vocals and sincere lyrics. His shows are a journey through love, heartbreak and redemption as he offers stories about the musings behind many of his songs. Reminiscent of legends like Al Green and Otis Redding, with musical influence from artists such as Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz his soothing voice and raw sound is something you surely want to experience<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.albettis.com/">https://www.albettis.com/</a>Adam Plomaritas effortlessly arrives at the seamless intersection of sophisticated rock, country, and soul. The Ypsilanti, Michigan-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist intricately fuses a warm, bluesy trinity of sound across his thoughtful, intimate catalog.With hints of Michael McDonald, Amos Lee, and Ray Charles, Plomaritas wraps listeners in a soothing, genre-defying embrace. His emotive vocals, hypnotic instrumentation, and introspective tales provide a comforting reassurance about overcoming challenges in life and love.In 2013, Plomaritas released his noteworthy, fan-funded album, The Hard Way, which was largely tracked live to two-inch analog tape. The album featured memorable collaborations with Chris DuPont, Joe Dart (Vulfpeck), Mike Shea (My Dear Disco/Ella Riot), Billy Harrington, and others.Affectionately dubbed the “Telecaster-toting grizzly,” Plomaritas continued to share a series of ingenious covers and compelling originals, including the hearty, pedal steel-drenched single, “The Other Side,” in 2018. He accompanied those releases with revered live sets at The Ark, 20 Front Street, and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.Plomaritas’ newest effort is a long awaited EP entitled “Old Time Love.”<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.adamplomaritas.com/">https://www.adamplomaritas.com/</a>

Al Bettis and Adam Plomaritas

<a href="https://youtu.be/kF95H097l60?si=tFnWhL6KSVfCwg_-" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/kF95H097l60?si=tFnWhL6KSVfCwg_-</a> Much has changed for singer-songwriter Alice Peacock since her last solo studio album, 2009’s Love Remains. She’s had three kids, moved to Cincinnati and … gotten 10 years older. “Feel the weight of the world on my shoulders/ Am I wiser or am I just older?” she sings on “Dry Spell,” from her new collection, Minnesota. The record suggests that despite her “wondering what all is yet to be,” she has indeed attained a measure of wisdom. She uses the word “midlife” but does not follow it by “crisis.” She views her current outlook more as an awareness of life’s fragility and an appreciation of its sweetness. “Being a parent, I don’t know that I could love any more than I do right now,” she says, “so I’ve also never been more vulnerable. I have everything to lose.” Further evidence of this contemplative spirit can be heard on album closer “God Be Near Me,” about which Peacock says, “I wrote a hymn out of nowhere! I was sitting at the piano one day going, ‘Am I completely screwing this all up?’ And I found myself thinking, ‘Help me to stay focused on love.’” The lyrics ask, “Help me to surrender/ And love the world the way you do/ Now and ever after/ And live in love the way you do.” On Minnesota, Peacock explores an understanding of love, in particular, that transcends hearts and flowers, Sturm und Drang. “Resting in the Quiet” acknowledges “a glimpse of the divine” in unspoken eloquence: “We don’t have to talk about it/ We don’t have to say a word/ We can wrap ourselves in silence/ Cause I’ve already heard/ Everything your eyes are saying.” A departure from romantic love, “Free and Wild” is a lullaby sung from the point of view of someone “with a love so fierce” it hurts. Peacock likens parenthood to “going through life with your heart outside your body.” The album’s title track is a love song to her home state, where her family spends their summers. “I’ve lived in Illinois and Tennessee and now Ohio and I love them all, but there’s something about home … As soon as I get back to Minnesota and hear the birds and smell the air, I feel, ‘This is mine; this is me.’” In the song she recalls sitting in “sacred silence,” watching “the electric light show playing wide across the sky.” The song “Minnesota” was written in 2018, but some of the album Minnesota was written in 2015, the year Peacock took the third annual Real Women Real Songs challenge – which meant writing 52 songs in 52 weeks. Among them were “Resting in the Quiet,” “Free and Wild,” “In Your Own Backyard” and “Paranoid.” Their appearance on the new record reflects the songwriter’s love of – and commitment to – songwriting itself. She says of that period in her life: “I was momming full time. The twins were about three, my first-born had just started school, and it was busy. Before they came along, inspiration would strike and I’d go with it. I used to write in the middle of the night. But now … I need my sleep! I can’t pursue the muse whenever she decides to arrive. I have to just show up and say, ‘OK, here I am. Time to write!’ It’s less romantic but still satisfying.” The writing of Minnesota thus progressed at its own pace, but recording an album was another matter. She was able to collaborate on “Dry Spell” with Wayne Kirkpatrick (author of Eric Clapton’s Grammy Song of the Year “Change the World”), on “Isn’t That Me and You” with Minnesotan Jon Vezner (cowriter of Kathy Mattea’s Grammy Best Country Song “Where’ve You Been”), and on “Your Own Backyard” with Dirk Freymuth (Kottonmouth Kings, John Gorka, Peter Ostroushko). Getting in a room with musicians and a producer, however, was a heavier lift. The timing had to work. She credits Grammy Award-winning producer/keyboardist Phil Madeira, guitarist Will Kimbrough, bassist Chris Donahue and drummer Bryan Owings – aka Emmylou Harris’ Red Dirt Boys – for helping the stars align: “I got a call. They said, ‘Hey, we’re in town if you want to do some recording.’ And I said, ‘Why, yes, I do.’” The town was Nashville, where Peacock and the Boys cut the basic tracks for Minnesota in four days. “They’ve played together so much,” she says, “that they have this easy musical conversation, so the process was effortless. We didn’t do more than two takes. I didn’t even overdub any lead vocals, which was a little terrifying. Sometimes I’d listen to my vocal and say, ‘I might have been able to sing that a little better,’ and Phil would say, ‘No, actually, that was a pretty great performance.’ Or one of the guys would say of his own part, ‘That take didn’t make me mad.’ We just went for it.” Peacock, Kirkpatrick and James Hollihan (Bill Gaither, Mighty Clouds of Joy) played acoustic guitar on the record, though John Mark Painter (Brandi Carlile, Kings of Leon, Ben Folds) played the lion’s share of acoustic and also played horns, notably on “Paranoid,” which finds Peacock in a New Orleans musical setting, ever the storyteller, channeling Tom Waits on one of the album’s not-so-autobiographical outings. Minnesota was recorded at the Butcher Shoppe with engineer Sean Sullivan (Beck, Sturgill Simpson). Derri Daugherty, lead singer and guitarist for the Choir, mixed the disc and sang harmonies with Peacock on several songs, including the title cut, which she calls “an almost-duet.” Peacock had not been in the studio since recording 2011’s Myrick Peacock, her duo project with fellow “preacher’s kid” Danny Myrick. (2014’s Live From Space was recorded live at Space, the intimate Evanston, Ill., venue Peacock played regularly in her Chicago days.) But now that she’s done having babies, she intends to return to the studio at regular intervals, having already started writing songs for a follow-up to Minnesota. “When all the focus was on me, on my music, I’d think, ‘I’m looking forward to putting the focus on something else; I’m really tired of thinking about myself.’ These days, as much as it possibly can be, the focus is back on my work.” During her tenure as full-time mom, Peacock did manage to “keep a toe in the water” with one-off shows. “Not just for me, not just for my fans,” she says. “It’s good for the kids to see me connecting with audiences, to see the passion I have for music.” With the release of Minnesota, she plans to jump back in with both feet, hitting cities on tour she hasn’t visited in years. She acknowledges how lucky she is to have a co-parent holding down the home front, her husband of 21 years. “We’re staying together for the math homework,” she insists. “It takes both of us to figure it out.” Like many couples with young children, she admits they don’t have much time alone together. They fall into bed exhausted. But she also relates: “We ran into each other recently. He was driving his car; I was driving mine. He pulls around and rolls down the window, and he somehow caught me off-guard. I just looked at him smiling at me and thought, ‘Did I really win this prize?’” That recognition recalls a line from “Your Own Backyard”: “Before your life goes slipping by you/ Open up your eyes.” “Things feel very sacred to me at this time in my life,” Peacock confides. “You reach an age where you begin to lose people. The beautiful moments we have, like being out in nature up in Minnesota – ‘the moon waxing over the water, the loon calling to her lover’ – I keep telling myself, ‘Take it in because this is it.’” <a href="https://www.alicepeacock.com/" target="_blank">https://www.alicepeacock.com/</a>

Alice Peacock

Join us for an incredible songwriters round featuring four amazing singer-songwriters who are all Michigan Made!Sammie Hershock:Sammie Hershock almost became a cloistered Catholic nun at the age of 18. Now she travels around Michigan singing songs about not knowing the answers. She weaves her humor and playfulness into the depth of the human existence, and it is a regular occurrence for audience members to laugh and cry simultaneously. Hershock is an award-winning Michigan based songwriter, classically trained pianist, and young mother of three incredible children. She majored in sacred music with an emphasis on the pipe organ: and though you won’t currently find her behind an organ at a church, you may find little pieces of that influence sprinkled throughout her original folk music.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.sammiehershock.com/">https://www.sammiehershock.com/</a>Kyle Rasche: Very few people pronounce Kyle Rasche’s last name correctly. It rhymes with “Kashi”, but with an R. Try it. Now put more emphasis on the RAH than the SHEE. RAH-shee. Rasche. Kyle Rasche. There. See? You nailed it. At risk of missing out on the always enjoyable experience of being called “Rash” on live radio, Kyle Rasche named his moniker Chain of Lakes, after the swimming holes surrounding the family cabin in northern Michigan. Now 12 years, seven records, and countless collaborations in, his Chain of Lakes have aged well; supplying the Midwest with earnest, atmospheric, and soulful songs that can evoke both tears and laughter from verse to chorus. Simply put, Kyle Rasche has carved his place as one of West Michigan’s most dependable songsmiths of the poetic, soul-bearing sort. 2021/22 saw his foray back into the solo-songwriter world, with a pile of new songs, and an updated list of accolades - including being named a winner in Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious NewFolk Songwriting Competition in 2022 (also a finalist in 2021), and a runner-up badge from Great River Folk’s 2021 Songwriter Contest. 2022 was also a prolific year for Rasche who recorded a collection of children's songs, work on two new original musicals, and released two full-length LPs: May's The Catch Album, and November's Songs That Didn't Make The Record<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://chainoflakessongs.com/home">https://chainoflakessongs.com/home</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nicholasjamesthomasma.com/home">Nicholas James Thomasma</a>: Traveling&nbsp; around in a bright orange 1973 Volkswagen Bus, singer songwriter and&nbsp; Earthwork Music artist Nicholas James Thomasma combines stories and&nbsp; songs with humor and wit for a show that can be enjoyed by all ages.&nbsp; Whether he’s performing with his backing band Nicholas James and the&nbsp; Bandwagon or as a solo acoustic act, Nicholas charms the audience with&nbsp; his playful sense of humor and real life stories. An award winning&nbsp; songwriter, Nicholas is also the curator of a monthly songwriter&nbsp; in-the-round concert series called the Songtellers at the Midtown in&nbsp; Grand Rapids, MI and is the Secretary for the Michigan Music Alliance.&nbsp; "Singer-songwriter Nicholas James Thomasma is a Grand Rapids native and a&nbsp; Michigander to the core. He even has the Great Lakes tattooed on his&nbsp; arm and professes real love for the region in earthy, country-imbued&nbsp; songs drenched in honesty and authenticity. Thomasma also happens to be a&nbsp; supremely talented singer"<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nicholasjamesthomasma.com/home">https://nicholasjamesthomasma.com/</a>Spencer LaJoye makes queer indie folk music for everyone. With a coy smile, a wink to the back row, and carefree expertise, they spin their crystalline vocals through a loop pedal while strumming the weathered acoustic guitar they acquired for leading worship in high school. “I don’t believe in much anymore,” they announce to teary-eyed audiences, “except a little bit of everything. And you. And me. And that art can change the world simply by making us feel something.” LaJoye is an East Coast singer/songwriter with Midwest roots, a classically-trained violinist with a proclivity for Broadway vocals, and a student of Americana music with a theology degree hanging in their studio.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.spencerlajoye.com/">https://www.spencerlajoye.com/</a>

Michigan Made Songwriters Round featuring Sammie Hershock, Kyle Rasche, Nicholas James Thomasma and Spencer LaJoye

<a href="https://youtu.be/qMakec3DFBk?si=qiTxNox_oZULGF_Y" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/qMakec3DFBk?si=qiTxNox_oZULGF_Y</a> On Saturday mornings in a small bedroom in East Tennessee, ten-year-old Jill Andrews would slide Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation into her tape deck, jump up onto the bed, knot her t-shirt at the waist, and start jamming. She sang in front of the mirror, played all the invisible instruments, and wondered over and over about a future that would take her beyond the checkerboard lawns and fresh blacktop of the suburbs. She wasn’t left wondering for long. Just a few years later, Andrews was on tour, singing, writing, and playing with one the nation’s fastest-rising Americana groups. From her years in the Everybodyfields, to her critically acclaimed solo career, to her latest collaboration, Hush Kids, which she co-founded with Nashville songwriter and producer, Peter Groenwald, Andrews has delivered irresistibly melodic, genre-bending music for nearly two decades. Anchored by frank songwriting but continuously and unapologetically evolving, Andrews’ tape deck currently hosts a range of influences from Joni Mitchell to Diana Ross to Wilco to contemporaries, Brandi Carlile and Phoebe Bridgers. The result is bold, infectious, introspective music that has served as the backdrop to some of America’s most beloved television series including Grey’s Anatomy, This Is Us, Nashville, and Wynnona Earp, to which she composed the theme. Modern Age, her latest release, is an unironic return to that small pink bedroom in East Tennessee, a meditation on childhood and changing times, growing up and looking back. In moments, the epitome of 90s pop perfection with airy synths and shimmering vocals and in others, pared down and heart-wrenchingly intimate, Modern Age is dripping in reverence for a simpler time, when the world was as big as your high school, when love was waiting by the phone, when we wondered about the future instead of lived in it. With addictive hooks that evoke Susannah Hoffs and Kate Bush, Modern Age is at once a time capsule of and a love letter to the places we all began.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.jillandrews.com" target="_blank">https://www.jillandrews.com</a>

Jill Andrews

Joe Pug

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3teytCuqsUg?si=TZRRCKNtjbrG08Ax" start="0"></iframe></div>Powered by soaring sister harmonies, this quirky trio's unbottled chemistry quickly connects them to their audience. Renée Coughlin, Noelle Frances Coughlin, and Hillary Watson are the three distinct lead singers/songwriters of The Pairs. Together they offer a unique blend of music with stories of life's hope, hilarity, and hardship. These classically trained vocalists blur the line between the stage and the crowd as if we've pulled up a seat around their family's lively kitchen table. This award-winning group has been touring internationally in Canada, the USA, and Europe since 2022 and released their third studio album titled, "When Will We Find Our Way?" in October 2023.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thepairsmusic.com/">https://thepairsmusic.com/</a>

The Pairs

3 x CMAA ‘Golden Guitar’, 2 x Australian Folk Music and Music Victoria Award winners, The Weeping Willows (Laura Coates and Andrew Wrigglesworth) are a couple of old souls, steeped in Bluegrass tradition and draped in Gothic Americana imagery. They regale their audiences with stories of sunshine and romance, God and The Devil, murder and decay. Real music.2017-2023 has seen The Weeping Willows nominated for 14 x CMAA ‘Golden Guitar’ awards, 7 x Australian Folk Music Awards (AFMAs), 4 x Country Music Channel (CMC) awards, 2 x National Live Music Awards (NLMAs), performing an Official Showcase at AmericanaFest (USA) and appearing at Folk Alliance International (USA), Maverick Festival (UK), Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Out On The Weekend and the Australian Americana Music Honours. In recent years they have supported Lukas Nelson &amp; POTR (USA), Hayes Carll (USA), Iris DeMent (USA), Willie Watson (USA), Eilen Jewell (USA), Cory Branan (USA) and Kevin Welch (USA) and completed national and international tours in support of their three LPs, including sophomore album, Before Darkness Comes A-Callin’, which received four-star reviews in Rolling Stone, The Australian and The Music. A Weeping Willows performance, whether live on location or caught on tape will always delight.“…a mature, courageous and beguiling experience.” – No Depression (USA)“…on the way to making some serious waves in Americana.” – AmericanaUK (UK)“…stunning acoustic guitar work, heavenly harmonies, and a haunting melody rooted in American Gothic.” – Pop Matters (USA)★★★★ – Rolling Stone, Rhythms Magazine, The Music and The Australia

The Weeping Willows

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tmx3mG0ANeI?si=DZIAVSL3DoBrA-Gg" start="0"></iframe></div>Presenting the premier Kanin Wren's Taylor Swift Experience: VIP Edition in Michigan! This exclusive, acoustic-focused show is limited to 80 seats, ensuring an intimate experience. Every attendee is a VIP and will gain access to a post-show meet and greet with Kanin Wren, receive a signed poster, and enjoy a memorable performance playing Taylor Swift's greatest hits from "You Belong With Me" to "Midnights."

Kanin Wren's Taylor Swift Experience: VIP Version - 7:30 PM Show

<a href="https://youtu.be/tmx3mG0ANeI?si=DZIAVSL3DoBrA-Gg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/tmx3mG0ANeI?si=DZIAVSL3DoBrA-Gg</a> Presenting the premier Kanin Wren's Taylor Swift Experience: VIP Edition in Michigan! This exclusive, acoustic-focused show is limited to 80 seats, ensuring an intimate experience. Every attendee is a VIP and will gain access to a post-show meet and greet with Kanin Wren, receive a signed poster, and enjoy a memorable performance playing Taylor Swift's greatest hits from "You Belong With Me" to "Midnights." Kanin Wren leads this dynamic tribute, delivering accurate musical renditions, engaging choreography, and multiple costume changes, celebrating the musical journey of Taylor Swift. This act is not just a show; it’s a must-see event for fans of all ages. Originating from a deep appreciation for Taylor Swift's music, lyrics, and persona, this event evolved into a spectacular entertainment piece. The powerful voice of Kanin Wren, accompanied by top-tier musicians, will guide the audience through a 90-minute journey across Swift’s discography, from her debut to her latest era, "Midnights." Secure your seat for an immersive musical experience and witness Kanin's exceptional talents as a singer, songwriter, and musician in this limited, one-of-a-kind Taylor Swift experience. <a href="https://www.kaninwren.com/taylorswiftexperience" target="_blank">https://www.kaninwren.com/taylorswiftexperience</a>

Kanin Wren's Taylor Swift Experience: VIP Version - 4 PM Show

<a href="https://youtu.be/18CLQtztS9A?si=AAzeirYd3PqjoIGS" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/18CLQtztS9A?si=AAzeirYd3PqjoIGS</a> A modern country-pop artist with timeless twang, Grace West was just 12 years old when she picked up her grandfather's guitar and strummed her first song. Music had always been a daily part of her life, from the gospel songs she sang in the church choir to the Motown classics that rang throughout her family's Detroit-area home. Even so, something changed the day Grace began making music of her own, sparking a meteoric career that would soon see her signing a publishing deal as a teenager, relocating to Nashville shortly after graduation, and creating a sound that blended northern roots with southern living.&nbsp;&nbsp; From Motor City to Music City, Grace's path has been thoroughly defined by music. Her grandfather — a guitar player who loved iconic rock acts like Led Zeppelin — was an early inspiration, as were the musical theater productions that Grace starred in as a child. Coming from a long line of Detroit natives, she also felt herself drawn to Motown music, whose songs told classic tales of life and love. And then there was Nashville, a town separated from Detroit by 530 long miles, yet still near and dear to Grace's heart from a very young age. She loved country music, and as soon as she learned her first handful of guitar chords, she was playing her own country songs at local venues.&nbsp; "I'm making pop-country with an old-school vibe," she says proudly, nodding to Luke Combs and other contemporary stars who've straddled the border between country music's classic traditions and modern makeover. "I love bringing the elements of classic country — the foundation of the genre — into a more modern sound."&nbsp; Grace secured second place on season 23 of NBC’s The Voice. As Blake Shelton’s last button push ever, he calls her “The real deal.” She went on to highlight her “pure” vocals and her love for the country music genre throughout the season.&nbsp; Since the show, West continues to write and perform and is currently working on releasing an EP. <a href="https://www.thegracewest.com/" target="_blank">https://www.thegracewest.com/</a>

Grace West - Rescheduled Date 

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/0RdIs9uaf3c?si=69hLO8CIT_oLL6TU">https://youtu.be/0RdIs9uaf3c?si=69hLO8CIT_oLL6TU</a> On Eliza Edens’ sophomore album We’ll Become the Flowers, she seeks to understand what happens after the end. Whether grappling with heartache or a loved one's mortality, the Brooklyn-based songwriter reimagines endings not as finite events but as devotional experiences that give way to new beginnings. Edens takes inspiration from folk luminaries such as Nick Drake, Karen Dalton and Elizabeth Cotten, sowing her compositions with introspection born from her own grief. What emerges is a glowing collection of songs that serve as a map through tumult, toward hope. Edens sings and writes with an equally tender reverie as in her 2020 debut album Time Away From Time. But where We’ll Become the Flowers diverges, is in its narrative vulnerability. Each song is bursting: with sorrow, with anger, with the miracle of existence. “I wrote this album out of emotional necessity,” Edens says. "I had just gone through a breakup. And around the same time, my mother was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. I was spending a lot of my time trying to understand what it means to watch the hopeful person who raised me seem to slowly fade away before my eyes.” As the pandemic loomed, Edens turned to music: "This project was a rope I used to pull myself out of misery, to view the despair I was feeling from a different angle. It was also my escape.” After a successful crowdfunding campaign, Edens recorded We’ll Become the Flowers during a two-week session in July 2021 in a Minneapolis attic. She worked with her trusted friends and collaborators – co-producer and bassist Pat Keen, audio engineer and guitarist Dexter Wolfe, and drummer Shane Leonard. Going into each session, they envisioned an atmosphere of experimentation which led them to reconceptualize many of Edens’ songs. “I Needed You,” for example, changed from “a glum breakup waltz” into “a song that’s feeling good about feeling bad,” Edens says, recalling Leonard’s words after he suggested changing the time signature. In We’ll Become the Flowers, Edens’ voice rings out sweet yet sorrowful; playful yet certain; hers is a voice capable of embodying emotion in all its complexity. When Edens asks, in the record’s opener, “How do I get there?” she stretches out the last word as if to emphasize its infinite possibilities. Yet Edens never remains in the abstract; instead, she takes us along on her emotional journey, speaking honestly, intimately, and specifically about her process: “I tried to start by weeding through the trauma in my bones,” she sings in the next verse of “How.” “To rearrange the memories / Forgive and not keep score.” In “Tom and Jerry,” Edens’ songwriting becomes more whimsical. “Oh it’s getting so hard to choose / And I’m chewing on all the alternate routes,” Edens sings, using a playful rhyme with alliterative echo. In “I Needed You,” Edens uses the repetition of her hook to convey how her feelings toward her former lover have shifted over time. The first time she sings, “I needed you,” her voice is steeped in nostalgia, romanticizing the lover’s “flannel shirt and calming words.” But the final time Edens sings, “I needed you,” her tone has shifted: she’s harsher, irreverent even – and as if in response to remembering how much she thought she needed them, she breaks into laughter. But Edens’ conviction as a songwriter comes across most clearly in “For the Song.” “And when the rage comes around,” she sings, “And every critic’s tearing up her ground / The truth becomes power.” In this last phrase, her voice is as direct and unwavering as her words. Creating We’ll Become the Flowers started as a way for Edens to plant her grief. What took root, however, is a series of offerings. These come in the form of scenes that are both familiar yet deeply personal to Edens: singing loudly on the highway, wandering a graveyard, dancing in the wilderness, watching her mother plant flowers, wishing to create her own shine, reminding herself that the only seed worth planting is hope. Through Edens’ words, we glimpse the possibility of change, of forgiveness, of acceptance and, in numinous spurts, joy. If we see Edens’ album as a conversation—between Edens and herself and between Edens and the listener—then the conversation opens with a question that she poses in the first song, “But how do I get there?” In the album’s denouement, “Julia,” Edens returns to this question, changed, and with a final offering: “The pen is in your hand,” she reminds us. “And the key is in your certainty.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.eliza-edens.com/">https://www.eliza-edens.com/</a>Turner PorterThe future was hanging over Turner Porter like a sword. After taking a two year hiatus from his music to compete in bass fishing tournaments and wrestling with relocating back in Detroit, he was in a corner. Porter got to work with this newfound energy, amassing a collection of over 50 songs ranging from acoustic country winter vignettes to noise rock anthems and playing shows from Michigan to Nashville.“Ain’t Goin’ Back”, his first single of 2024, is an ode to moving forward in the face of fear. Sparse, raw and recorded live on WDET in April of last year, the energy of the words in a limited setting compelled Porter to release it as is. The song paints a landscape of Midwest living, from the opening line "look just like a scarecrow smoking solo in the wind" to the burned out remnants of industry "1980 obituaries graffitied on the wall". Coupled with Porter's signature rasp, the song is a message to 2024. "We got our little lives off track/baby, we ain't goin' back".Self described as having a “Country mind, Rust Belt heart”, Turner Porter’s songs are influenced by the likes Tyler Childers, Wilco and Bruce Springsteen. He has toured the United States and Canada extensively, opening for acts like Michigan Rattlers, Jess Williamson, RF Shannon, Jenny O. and more. Porter has taken his sincere and panoramic country folk songs to festivals such as SXSW (Austin), AmericanaFest (Nashville), New Colossus (NYC) and Pig &amp; Whiskey (Detroit).

Eliza Edens

Founded in 2018, Soul Forest is an Americana folk artist from Oxford Michigan. With a style that ranges from classical, blues, folk, western, old time country and bluegrass roots, Soul Forest is a cinematic orchestrated soundscape of powerful human emotions. You will hear nostalgic and sentimental melodies with epic climatic points that soar. Growing up Matt composed a symphony played by the members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and attended college courses at Berklee College of Music at the age of 15. The first record will be released February 2nd, 2023 at the 20 Front Street show in Lake Orion, Michigan.&nbsp; Alec LaCasse Alec LaCasse is a sculptor, teacher, and singer-songwriter living in Oakland, MI. Guitar has always been a respite for the sculptor of nearly two decades, offering the feeling of immediate joy in a world of slow and arduous work.&nbsp;His artwork and instruction can be found at <a href="www.aleclacasse.com" target="_blank">www.aleclacasse.com</a>

Soul Forest 

<a href="https://youtu.be/u22Ir9-uyNU?si=a1vceGH-EwsiIxwS" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/u22Ir9-uyNU?si=a1vceGH-EwsiIxwS</a> "Every note we play is a chapter in our story, a journey through the heart of American roots music. We're The Wildwoods, where each lyric is a leaf in the vast forest of our sound."&nbsp; In the heart of Lincoln, Nebraska, The Wildwoods emerge as a folk/Americana trio, a musical tapestry woven by husband-and-wife duo, Noah (guitar) and Chloe Gose (violin), accompanied by bassist Andrew Vaggalis. Their story is a symphony of exploration and connection, a journey that has taken them from the Midwest to international stages, carving out a unique place in the folk landscape.&nbsp;Their presence has graced stages alongside artists such as Mighty Poplar, Sierra Ferrell, Aiofe O’ Donovan, Melissa Carper, Jamie Wyatt and Joe Nichols at concerts and festivals like Summerfest, FreshGrass and the Oyster Ridge Music Festival. The Wildwoods have become a force in the folk scene, boasting accolades like being finalists at the FreshGrass Music Festival Band competition and Gems on VHS "Gems in the Rough" competition in 2023. Their songwriting prowess is underscored by semi-final placements in the International Songwriting competition, with tracks like "Untitled" and "Way of Train." Recognized consistently at the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards, they were crowned "Best Band" by the Lincoln Journal Star’s Lincoln Choice Awards in 2022. Their sonic journey unfolds through albums like the debut "Sweet Nostalgia" (2017), followed by "Birdie &amp; Goose" (2017), "Across A Midwest Sky" (2019), and their latest masterpiece, "Foxfield Saint John" (2023). The band's evolution is evident in each track, a testament to their commitment to pushing musical boundaries. United by a passion for folk/Americana, the trio’s influences range from Watchhouse and&nbsp;Nickel Creek,&nbsp;to Gillian Welch &amp; David Rawlings. Their music, though comfortably under the folk/Americana umbrella, weaves intricate chord structures and emotional textures that defy genre boundaries. Together, their harmonies resonate with artful sincerity, drawing inspiration from nature, their shared experiences of growing up in Nebraska and life on the road.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.thewildwoodsband.com/" target="_blank">https://www.thewildwoodsband.com/</a>

The Wildwoods 

Blackman/ArnoldSophisticated world jazz guitarists that approach their music with fire &amp; intensity. Their style is influenced by Latin, jazz, flamenco, bossa nova, tango, funk, gypsy, soul, India, Africa &amp; Armenia.<iframe-embed frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="" metaposition="flex-start" metatype="youtube"></iframe-embed>

Blackman/Arnold - World Music Guitar Trio

Ohly<iframe-embed frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="" metaposition="flex-start" metatype="youtube"></iframe-embed>Christian Ohly is a storyteller, first and foremost. The Detroit-based indie folk singer-songwriter finds opportunity in using the framework of the song to share a distinct and personal story. Everyone has loved and felt loss, and Ohly’s stories articulate what it’s like to be human – hopeful, troubling, confusing, romantic, and filled with all the weird details of life.Miracle, the debut LP releasing this fall, finds Ohly sharing his own personal stories, observations, and insights on love, loss, nostalgia and heartbreak. From intimate guitar strums to orchestral spectacles, Miracle reflects on the challenges and triumphs of life. The strength of Ohly’s voice is anchored by lush production from Michigan producer John Katona, who worked closely with Ohly to create a cohesive, yet exploratory record that weaves together folk, indie rock, country, jazz, and even punk.Ohly has opened for national acts like Susto and The Brook and the Bluff, performed at SXSW in Austin last year, and played a small festival in LES Manhattan. Band lineups have included anywhere from 1 - 5 other talented Detroit musicians. He looks forward to putting out his best work yet and getting on the road in the fall.Socials:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/ohlymusic/">https://www.instagram.com/ohlymusic/</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/ohlymusic/">https://www.facebook.com/ohlymusic/</a>Jack Droppers<iframe-embed frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="" metaposition="flex-start" metatype="youtube"></iframe-embed>Jack Droppers can’t do a cartwheel but you already knew that. You probably walked into the gig, took one look at that ragamuffin in a denim jacket, and said to yourself, “there is no chance that dad can do a cartwheel!” And you’re right, he can’t. In fact, he can’t do a cartwheel, nor a backflip, nor a two-octave jump, nor write a hit single, nor be friends with someone famous, nor do more than one photoshoot a year. There is absolutely nothing flashy, sexy, or trendy about Jack Droppers &amp; the Best Intentions.Perhaps that is why Grand Rapids, a small city tucked away on the west side of Michigan, is the perfect spot for Droppers and co. to have handcrafted their discography. Once called “the furniture city”, Grand Rapids is home to artisans, builders, and a stubborn protestant work ethic. It’s not particularly pretentious and you probably won’t vacation here. It’s an apt metaphor for Jack Droppers &amp; the Best Intentions who, after three self-released records and three EP’s, just released their fourth record titled "Scooter" on Bird Fight Records.This record’s got everything you’d expect from the band: thoughtful (occasionally tongue-in-cheek) lyrics, a few four-part harmonies, skillful yet restrained guitar playing, lush and layered keys, a song that is vaguely religious, a rhythm section you feel in your chest and not a single cartwheel.Website:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.jackdroppers.com/">www.JackDroppers.com</a>Socials:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.jackdroppers.com/">instagram.com/jackdroppers</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.jackdroppers.com/">facebook.com/JDandTBI</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.jackdroppers.com/">twitter.com/jdroppersmusic</a>

Ohly and Jack Droppers

Joe Hertler &amp; The Rainbow Seekers will make a sprightly young groove doctor out of anyone. With spectacular energy pulsating from every member of the band, the Rainbow Seekers could illuminate the very chambers of Heaven. Lead singer Joe Hertler splashes through lyrical puddles of golden rain, leaving his audience wearing flowery crowns and bubbling smiles. A ride on the Rainbow will take you across the mountains of Motown, through the fjords of folk, over the archipelagos of Americana, and-at last-into a funky firth, where only the fiercest of friendships can be found.The Rainbow Seekers began their historic quest 8 years ago, revolving around the pure, unadulterated songwriting of their fearless leader, Joe Hertler. Ryan Hoger was the first among the Seekers to find this lonely songsmith and recognize the twinkling magic in his beard. The young boy gave up all his earthly possessions (besides his guitar, of course) and became the first disciple of the Rainbow. With this, the core of the Rainbow was thereby established, and it didn’t take long for the Rainbow Seekers to continue their expansion. Multi-instrumentalist and notable auxiliary percussion maestro Micah Bracken journeyed from the bowels of Atlantis when he heard tell of the Rainbow, and the earth trembled as saxophonist and all-around badass Aaron Stinson descended from Olympus on a golden rainbow of his own. Then came thunder from the depths of space and as it picked up the bass, a soft exhale escaped the lips of every princess within a hundred moons, “Bambis,” they cooed. All the while, on the other ends of the earth, a young boy was hard at work, honing and sharpening his sticks for the day that the Rainbow would come his way, and when it landed at his door, Ryan McMahon climbed aboard.Since the early days, their quest has brought them across the nation and upon such noble gatherings as Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, and Summer Camp. As you'll know if you've seen the band, seeking the proverbial Rainbow is all about the live performance. "The live show is the purpose of the band. This is why we make music. Playing music is a symbiotic process, the crowd is as much a part of it as the musicians. We give as much energy and love as we can and we can feel that coming from the crowd as well" says Hertler. "We believe that performance is not a High Art operation, and that you should do anything you can to ensure that the crowd is having a good time. From piñatas to confetti, to fog, to flowers, to drum solos, to strobe lights, to Thor, to sword battles-literally anything goes.”If you're still reading this, at least one thing is true: The Rainbow Seekers have been waiting for you. If you'll only let them, they will shake the dust from your wildest expectations. They will roar into your life with rapturous frequencies, exuberant tone, and a joyfulness of purpose that has truly become a rare sight on stage. Join them in their celebration, and they will take you on a never-ending journey to a place you'll never be able to describe in words.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://joehertler.com/">https://joehertler.com/</a>

Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers

<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="true" autoplay="false" disablekbcontrols="false" enableiframeapi="false" endtime="0" ivloadpolicy="0" loop="false" modestbranding="false" origin="" playlist="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ZpG1DefuzI" start="0"></iframe></div>Following his 2019 win on Season 17 of The Voice, country artist Jake has landed a number of songs on the charts, including his&nbsp; powerful duet with Kelly Clarkson, ‘I Would’ve Loved You’. Jake and Kelly released a music video for the song to critical acclaim, including 8 million YouTube views and a feature on the TODAY Show with Hoda &amp; Jenna. The video has been featured on CMT, where it remains in rotation, and they have performed it live on The Ke lly Clarkson Show. Jake and his band continue to tour non-stop worldwide and he is a regular on The Grand Ole Opry.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.jakehoot.com/">https://www.jakehoot.com</a>

Jake Hoot 

Stephen Clark <a href="https://youtu.be/mAvyFEJZi1w" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/mAvyFEJZi1w</a> Stephen Clark is a storyteller. Sometimes he uses a TV camera; sometimes it’s a guitar. Either way Stephen’s passion is to tell a good story well. &nbsp; &nbsp;A veteran TV journalist and news anchor for four decades, his job took him to the far reaches of the Earth covering the stories that have shaped our lives. From wars in Bosnia and Somalia, to the Rodney King riots in the streets of LA. From earthquakes, wildfires, floods and blizzards, to the 9/11 attack on America Stephen has been there to tell the stories of the people caught in the middle. &nbsp; &nbsp;He brings that same journalist’s sense of story to the songs he writes. The adventures of people caught in the middle of life. &nbsp; Stephen’s musical life started long before his television career. A self confessed “band nerd” he survived high school by hunkering down in the band room learning to play every instrument he could get his hands on. It got him into a competitive music program at the University of Northern Colorado. &nbsp; But, always a sucker for shiny things, the flashing lights and dials of the college radio and TV stations eventually lured Stephen into the journalism program. Thus began his parallel journalistic journey. Writing TV stories at night and songs later at night. The stories, whether spoken on camera or sung from behind a guitar, share a DNA but, while his TV stories were always true and accurate, his songs need only be true. &nbsp; &nbsp;He draws his stories and the characters in them from a life on the road as an Air Force “brat” (seven or eight moves before 8th grade), from the people he’s met during his TV and radio career (another seven or eight cities) and from his family and friends. &nbsp;&nbsp; He has a keen eye for detail, a feel for emotion and a sharp sense of humor and brings it all to bear in the songs he writes. &nbsp; &nbsp;Stephen retired from Detroit’s WXYZ TV in 2018 but immediately transitioned into a job hosting the classic rock morning show on WOMC radio. &nbsp; During the pandemic of 2020, Stephen retired a second time and relocated to the sand, sun and surf of Southwest Florida. &nbsp; &nbsp;Today when he and his wife Larenne aren’t traveling the world, he’s in Nashville honing his songwriting craft in their historic loft two blocks from the legendary Ryman Theater, or on a beach in Florida where his friends have learned that anything they say or do may very well become a song. &nbsp; <a href="www.stephenclark.tv" target="_blank">www.stephenclark.tv</a> J.T. Harding <a href="https://youtu.be/uOp_eD6Ilto" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uOp_eD6Ilto</a> J.T. Harding was born and raised in south Detroit. Obsessed with MTV as a kid he formed bands in school then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his songwriting dream. He has written several number one hits including SMILE with Uncle Kracker, SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR Keith Urban, Beers and Sunshine Darius Rucker and SANGRIA for Blake Shelton. J.T.’s wild memoir PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR Will be released by Hatchette books in Feb 2022. &nbsp; &nbsp;Instagram @JTXROCKSTAR Steve Taylor <a href="https://youtu.be/3pfA2dxZ6p0" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/3pfA2dxZ6p0</a> Steve Taylor graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music with a degree in Songwriting. After returning to Michigan, he joined the popular Detroit band Vudu Hippies. The Vudu Hippies opened for such acts as Oasis, Spin Doctors, Grand Funk Railroad and Pat Benetar. In 2002, Steve completed a Master’s Degree in Music Theory at Wayne State University and produced the CD “Fall” for his band Five Days Straight. His song “Without” was featured on the show “Dawson’s Creek.” Steve performs as a solo acoustic artist, bringing his blend of soulful original material and songs by his favorite artists to more intimate settings. His trio, The Steve Taylor Three has performed all over Michigan and in Nashville while supporting their debut album “Check Your Baggage”. Their second full length album, “The Tenessee Sessions”, was recorded in Nashville and Memphis and released in March of 2018. Steve received 4 nominations in the 2019 Detroit Music Awards, including “Outstanding Americana Vocalist” and “Outstanding Americana Songwriter”. The Steve Taylor Three released their 3rd album “Earn Every Scar” in March of 2020. Steve and the band earned 6 Detroit Music Award Nominations including “Outstanding Americana Album” for “Earn Every Scar”. You can see Steve all around Detroit either solo, with The Steve Taylor Three, or playing mandolin in the Detroit-based Corktown Popes. While stuck at home durning the 2020 quarantine, Steve produced another solo album called “Beside Myself”. The Steve Taylor Three’s new album “Travel Light” was released in April of 2022. All their music available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever finer music is streamed. &nbsp; <a href="www.linktr.ee/stevetaylormusic.com" target="_blank">www.linktr.ee/stevetaylormusic.com</a>

A "Home for the Holidays" Songwriters Round featuring Stephen Clark, J.T. Harding and The Steve Taylor Three

Stephen Clark <a href="https://youtu.be/mAvyFEJZi1w" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/mAvyFEJZi1w</a> Stephen Clark is a storyteller. Sometimes he uses a TV camera; sometimes it’s a guitar. Either way Stephen’s passion is to tell a good story well.&nbsp;&nbsp;A veteran TV journalist and news anchor for four decades, his job took him to the far reaches of the Earth covering the stories that have shaped our lives. From wars in Bosnia and Somalia, to the Rodney King riots in the streets of LA. From earthquakes, wildfires, floods and blizzards, to the 9/11 attack on America Stephen has been there to tell the stories of the people caught in the middle.&nbsp;&nbsp;He brings that same journalist’s sense of story to the songs he writes. The adventures of people caught in the middle of life.&nbsp;Stephen’s musical life started long before his television career. A self confessed “band nerd” he survived high school by hunkering down in the band room learning to play every instrument he could get his hands on. It got him into a competitive music program at the University of Northern Colorado.&nbsp;But, always a sucker for shiny things, the flashing lights and dials of the college radio and TV stations eventually lured Stephen into the journalism program. Thus began his parallel journalistic journey. Writing TV stories at night and songs later at night. The stories, whether spoken on camera or sung from behind a guitar, share a DNA but, while his TV stories were always true and accurate, his songs need only be true.&nbsp;&nbsp;He draws his stories and the characters in them from a life on the road as an Air Force “brat” (seven or eight moves before 8th grade), from the people he’s met during his TV and radio career (another seven or eight cities) and from his family and friends.&nbsp;&nbsp;He has a keen eye for detail, a feel for emotion and a sharp sense of humor and brings it all to bear in the songs he writes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Stephen retired from Detroit’s WXYZ TV in 2018 but immediately transitioned into a job hosting the classic rock morning show on WOMC radio.&nbsp;During the pandemic of 2020, Stephen retired a second time and relocated to the sand, sun and surf of Southwest Florida.&nbsp;&nbsp;Today when he and his wife Larenne aren’t traveling the world, he’s in Nashville honing his songwriting craft in their historic loft two blocks from the legendary Ryman Theater, or on a beach in Florida where his friends have learned that anything they say or do may very well become a song.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.stephenclark.tv" target="_blank">www.stephenclark.tv</a> J.T. Harding <a href="https://youtu.be/uOp_eD6Ilto" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uOp_eD6Ilto</a> J.T. Harding was born and raised in south Detroit. Obsessed with MTV as a kid he formed bands in school then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his songwriting dream.&nbsp;He has written several number one hits including SMILE with Uncle Kracker, SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR&nbsp;Keith Urban, Beers and Sunshine Darius Rucker&nbsp;and SANGRIA for&nbsp;Blake Shelton. J.T.’s wild memoir PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR Will be released by Hatchette books in Feb 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;Instagram @JTXROCKSTAR Steve Taylor <a href="https://youtu.be/3pfA2dxZ6p0" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/3pfA2dxZ6p0</a> Steve Taylor graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music with a degree in Songwriting.&nbsp;After returning to Michigan, he joined the popular Detroit band Vudu Hippies. The Vudu Hippies opened for such acts as Oasis, Spin Doctors, Grand Funk Railroad and Pat Benetar. In 2002, Steve completed a Master’s Degree in Music Theory at Wayne State University and produced the CD “Fall” for his band Five Days Straight.&nbsp;His song “Without” was featured on the show “Dawson’s Creek.”&nbsp;Steve performs as a solo acoustic artist, bringing his blend of soulful original material and songs by his favorite artists to more intimate settings. His trio, The Steve Taylor Three has performed all over Michigan and in Nashville while supporting their debut album “Check Your Baggage”.&nbsp;Their second full length album, “The Tenessee Sessions”, was recorded in Nashville and Memphis and released in March of 2018.&nbsp;Steve received 4 nominations in the 2019 Detroit Music Awards, including “Outstanding Americana Vocalist” and “Outstanding Americana Songwriter”.&nbsp;The Steve Taylor Three released their 3rd album “Earn Every Scar” in March of 2020.&nbsp;Steve and the band earned 6 Detroit Music Award Nominations including “Outstanding Americana Album” for “Earn Every Scar”.&nbsp;You can see Steve all around Detroit either solo, with The Steve Taylor Three, or playing mandolin in the Detroit-based Corktown Popes.&nbsp;While stuck at home durning the 2020 quarantine, Steve produced another solo album called “Beside Myself”.&nbsp;The Steve Taylor Three’s new album “Travel Light” was released in April of 2022.&nbsp;All their music available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever finer music is streamed.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linktr.ee/stevetaylormusic.com" target="_blank">www.linktr.ee/stevetaylormusic.com</a>

<h4><a href="https://youtu.be/bOtkFFUoyGE?si=Qta47aj-hQqqwG6L" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/bOtkFFUoyGE?si=Qta47aj-hQqqwG6L</a></h4><h4> </h4><h4>Aaron Lewys originally hails from New Haven, Connecticut. He spent a large amount of his life in Ohio/Michigan and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Growing up in a creative family, Lewys has always been surrounded by music. He found church to be the ideal platform for him to perfect his skills as a vocalist and musician. He uses these skills to tour/direct university choirs, arrange and produce background vocals, and perform original music at local venues.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Aaron Lewys is most influenced by great storytellers and soulful vocalists. Some of his favorites include: Jazmine Sullivan, Justin Nozuka, Yebba, Tori Kelly, and MARO. Like these artists, Lewys tries to create engaging moments in his music to draw each listener in. He knows that well-crafted performances can change perspective, create memories, and invoke a conversation or thought that leads to growth when reflecting on the message. He loves imagery and hopes each song sends you to a place of visualizing and feeling every word.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Lewys' voice is commonly characterized as rich, smooth, and moving. When listening to his music you will sense singer-songwriter vibes. His soulful vocals turn melodies into experiences. Lewys loves to collaborate with other artists and always tries to write from a place of vulnerability. He loves to challenge himself as a musician and writer and hopes that people see versatility in his music. His process of creating music is best described as liberating and a form of expression.</h4> <a href="https://aaronlewysmusic.com/" target="_blank">https://aaronlewysmusic.com/</a>

Aaron Lewys

<a href="https://youtu.be/i2jMxDywwx0?si=Pr_pnufzavG4Hq06" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/i2jMxDywwx0?si=Pr_pnufzavG4Hq06</a> For over a decade, every&nbsp;Jill Jack&nbsp;"Celebrates the Holidays" show has sold out. The award-winning singer/songwriter and her illustrious band brings their high energy and creative life to all of your favorite holiday songs. A guaranteed night of pure joy to be had by one and all. Jill’s magical connection to her audience is the result of her generous artistry. By combining her gifts as a conceptual visionary with a warm gathering of musical influences, Jill touches that secret heart of ours with her melodies and lyrics. In her hometown of Detroit, Jill needs no further explanation. She’s been lauded in equal measure to her talents: Since 1997 she’s won dozens of Detroit Music Awards in every conceivable category that applies to a singer-songwriter. Jill extends the tradition of the confessional (i.e. achingly open, unafraid of intimacy) singer-songwriter, and is proud of that style and its continuation. You get all of Jill Jack in a performance—her blend of folk and rock traditions, her open humor. Jill keeps little of her process away from her audience; each show is about opening a window and shining a light into her songwriting, leading inevitably to the intense relationship with her fans.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jilljack.com" target="_blank">www.jilljack.com</a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JillJackMusic" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/JillJackMusic</a>

Jill Jack "Celebrates the Holidays" - 8 PM Show 

<a href="https://youtu.be/i2jMxDywwx0?si=Pr_pnufzavG4Hq06" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(99, 82, 243);">https://youtu.be/i2jMxDywwx0?si=Pr_pnufzavG4Hq06</a> For over a decade, every&nbsp;Jill Jack&nbsp;"Celebrates the Holidays" show has sold out. The award-winning singer/songwriter and her illustrious band brings their high energy and creative life to all of your favorite holiday songs. A guaranteed night of pure joy to be had by one and all. Jill’s magical connection to her audience is the result of her generous artistry. By combining her gifts as a conceptual visionary with a warm gathering of musical influences, Jill touches that secret heart of ours with her melodies and lyrics. In her hometown of Detroit, Jill needs no further explanation. She’s been lauded in equal measure to her talents: Since 1997 she’s won dozens of Detroit Music Awards in every conceivable category that applies to a singer-songwriter. Jill extends the tradition of the confessional (i.e. achingly open, unafraid of intimacy) singer-songwriter, and is proud of that style and its continuation. You get all of Jill Jack in a performance—her blend of folk and rock traditions, her open humor. Jill keeps little of her process away from her audience; each show is about opening a window and shining a light into her songwriting, leading inevitably to the intense relationship with her fans.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jilljack.com/" target="_blank">www.jilljack.com</a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JillJackMusic" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/JillJackMusic</a>

Jill Jack "Celebrates the Holidays" - 6 PM Show

Join us as we welcome these two amazing Nashville singer/songwriters to Lake Orion for a songwriters round! Jesse Wayne Taylor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1529154247510003&amp;extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&amp;ref=sharing&amp;mibextid=v7YzmG" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1529154247510003&amp;extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&amp;ref=sharing&amp;mibextid=v7YzmG</a> Unlike the majority of musicians in Nashville, singer, songwriter and musician, Jesse Wayne Taylor, is a born and bred middle Tennessee native. Growing up with a love for music, he experimented with writing lyrics as young as 7 years old. While singing in church throughout middle and high school, Jesse did not start playing guitar until he was 18. In his early years of college at Lipscomb University, he quickly realized that music would be a very big part of his life. While still in school he played around town any chance he could get. He graduated from Lipscomb University in 2015 with a degree in Public Relations. Following his college graduation, he decided to become a full time musician. Over the past few years he’s been “cutting his teeth,” playing any show he could get his hands on and writing song after song. As an independent artist, he has already released several projects. While also working on his own music over the last 3 years, he has also been the Music Instructor at an amazing non-profit called CreatiVets. This non-profit works with veterans that are struggling with PTS and they teach them to use art or music to help process their emotions. Primarily, he has been teaching guitar, piano, bass, harmonica and production techniques along with doing 1 on 1 writing songwriting sessions with veterans all over the country, but CreatiVets is always up to something new, so you never know what you might catch him doing! If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the programs, you can apply at creativets.org. <a href="https://www.jessewaynetaylor.com/" target="_blank">https://www.jessewaynetaylor.com/</a> David Evans Indianapolis native David Evans is a songwriter, artist, and multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, TN. Evans’ propensity for clever, turn-of-phrase lyrics and unique melodies make him an essential topliner in every room he finds himself in. As a songwriter, Evans has penned over 36 songs cut by various artists, garnering him over 6 million global streams. Being an artist himself, he has released several projects under his own name, including his newest single “It Ain’t You It’s Me”. Evans has also made a name for himself as a guitarist and backup vocalist for direct support acts opening for the likes of Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Cody Johnson and Lainey Wilson. With experience in multiple roles within the music industry, David Evans is truly a well-rounded songwriter who knows and reveres Nashville’s long tradition of well-crafted songs.

A Night in Nashville at 20 Front Street 

<a href="https://youtu.be/xSjyb15Vgmk?si=19nmCQqCrSy-u3eh" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/xSjyb15Vgmk?si=19nmCQqCrSy-u3eh</a> Ava Swiss was a Semi-finalist on NBC’s America's Got Talent, season 17. While on the show, she spread the message of hope, and that love is stronger than hate. Now, Ava writes her own music in hopes that people will feel something when they listen to it. She hopes it may even bring them a step closer to healing.&nbsp; Aside from writing, Ava frequently travels to Las Vegas, where she headlines in the AGT Superstars Live show, at the Luxor. She sang the National Anthem for the Detroit Lions last season and occasionally sings for the Detroit Pistons as well. Her passion for music is extremely deep, and she wants nothing more than to share that with the world.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/avaswissmusic/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/avaswissmusic/</a>

Ava Swiss - The Joy of Christmas

endprejudice presents The Jingle Jam hosted by La Shaun Phoenix Moore!&nbsp;The evening will be filled with festive music and poetry to celebrate the holidays.&nbsp;Detroit's best vocalists, poets, and monologists will be on stage to deck your hearts with love, warmth and hope for a peaceful holiday season along with well-wishes for the new year. Music by:BRYCE LPLaKesha DeShawn BynumMishMyla CabralSofia Goetz Poetry by:Jazmine JamaiSteven D. Thomas Featuring:The Drews Key&nbsp;Band Hosted by:La Shaun phoenix Moore

endprejudice presents The Jingle Jam

A WINTER'S EVENING WITH RYANHOOD <a href="https://youtu.be/8gu0ImAPdY8?si=zofnZC2OCcXGZ9kx" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/8gu0ImAPdY8?si=zofnZC2OCcXGZ9kx</a> “CHOCK FULL OF JOY . . . A SEASONAL DELIGHT.”&nbsp;&nbsp;—Cover Lay Down An evening of songs and storytelling, heartstrings and laughter, A Winter’s Evening with Ryanhood is a live holiday touring show based on the duo's record, On Christmas, that showcases the high-energy, big-harmony, dueling acoustic guitar approach that Ryanhood fans across the country have come to expect. Featuring a blend of original holiday compositions, wintry covers, and reworked classics woven together with holiday stories and memories, Ryan David Green and Cameron Hood invite audiences to experience the joy, depth, intimacy, and excitement of the holiday season by sharing A Winter's Evening with Ryanhood. <a href="https://ryanhood.com/holiday-show" target="_blank">https://ryanhood.com/holiday-show</a>

A Winter's Evening with Ryanhood

<a href="https://youtu.be/9A21dnbUMEU" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(99, 82, 243);">https://youtu.be/9A21dnbUMEU</a> ﻿A Stephen Kellogg performance is like watching Ted Lasso live. Whether you have heard of him before or not you will leave the show inspired, restored and having experienced an offering like no other. For more than two decades, this wordsmith, Tedx speaker, stand up comic, family man and troubadour, has delighted audiences around the world. Planet Bluegrass calls him “a firstclass songwriter with a poets gift for fresh imagery,” and Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz says of Kellogg, “there are few people in rock n’ roll who are just so great.” He has received the Armed Forces Entertainer of the Year award and has had his work nominated for a Grammy. Rolling Stone magazine describes his sound as “John Prine fronting the Heartbreakers.” Kellogg’s songs and stories speak to our lives with an immediacy scarcely seen in the modern landscape. Each perfomance paints a unique canvas that covers the full spectrum of human emotions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll go home with a full heart. <a href="https://www.stephenkellogg.com/" target="_blank">https://www.stephenkellogg.com/</a>

Stephen Kellogg presents the Sit Down & Stand-Up Tour: An evening of songs, stories and stand- up - 8:30 PM Show

<a href="https://youtu.be/9A21dnbUMEU" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/9A21dnbUMEU</a> A Stephen Kellogg performance is like watching Ted Lasso live. Whether you have heard of him before or not you will leave the show inspired, restored and having experienced an offering like no other. For more than two decades, this wordsmith, Tedx speaker, stand up comic, family man and troubadour, has delighted audiences around the world. Planet Bluegrass calls him “a firstclass songwriter with a poets gift for fresh imagery,” and Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz says of Kellogg, “there are few people in rock n’ roll who are just so great.” He has received the Armed Forces Entertainer of the Year award and has had his work nominated for a Grammy. Rolling Stone magazine describes his sound as “John Prine fronting the Heartbreakers.” Kellogg’s songs and stories speak to our lives with an immediacy scarcely seen in the modern landscape. Each perfomance paints a unique canvas that covers the full spectrum of human emotions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll go home with a full heart. <a href="https://www.stephenkellogg.com/" target="_blank">https://www.stephenkellogg.com/</a>

Stephen Kellogg presents the Sit Down & Stand-Up Tour: An evening of songs, stories and stand- up - 6 PM show

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUF1wUrNdk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUF1wUrNdk</a> Harp Twins Rockin’ Holiday Concert!&nbsp;You won't want to miss this all-ages concert full of magical winter music, Christmas classics, comedy, stories, and classic rock favorites!&nbsp;The Volfgang Twins will be featured on double drums for the exciting finale of the show! Free meet &amp; greet with the Harp Twins immediately following the concert. <a href="https://www.harptwins.com/" target="_blank">https://www.harptwins.com/</a>

Harp Twins Rockin' Holiday Concert

<a href="https://youtu.be/pGZJbfRPzO0?si=iZucHbZQfhE2sj6u" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(99, 82, 243);">https://youtu.be/pGZJbfRPzO0?si=iZucHbZQfhE2sj6u</a> Hi, I’m Dan. I’m a whiskey &amp; beer drinking, fishing &amp; hunting loving, motorcycle riding, quality food eating, hippie sympathizing, hobby farm running, people loving, husband &amp; father who lives in Minneapolis and shares a life with my amazing wife and two adorable sons named Oak and Alder. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI, and moved to Minneapolis when I was 18 to study music, and I stayed because I’m one of those crazy people that enjoys the snow and cold weather. Songwriting, and performing those songs for people, is both my trade and my passion. When I’m not in my studio writing and cutting records, or on the road playing shows, I’m usually playing in the woods with our boys, tending to our backyard chickens, eating fresh veggies from my wife’s huge garden, making syrup from our maple grove, or doing one of my many outdoor hobbies. Now here are a few things about my music career that I should probably share in a music bio: <ul><li>In September 2014 Budweiser released their "Friends Are Waiting" commercial campaign featuring me singing my song When You Come Home and it premiered during both The World Series &amp; The Super Bowl. </li><li>In February, 2018, I released my album 25 Years and the title track is now inching toward 1 million listens. </li><li>• In October, 2018, Miller Lite featured my newest single “So Good” in one of their commercials that played for months during NFL games on ESPN &amp; more. </li><li>In March, 2019, my song “You Feel Like Home” was featured in Explore Minnesota Tourism’s newest ad campaign. </li><li>In 2022 I released my album Troubadour Family Man. It’s my debut self-produced record and I couldn’t be more proud of it. </li><li>• Over the years I’ve had the honor of sharing the stage with some really cool artists &amp; bands including The Civil Wars, Andy Grammer, Eric Hutchinson, Matt Nathanson, NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, O.A.R., Haley Reinhart, Jon McLaughlin, Will Hoge, Drew Holcomb, Sister Hazel, and more.&nbsp;</li></ul> <a href="https://www.danrodriguezmusic.com/" target="_blank">https://www.danrodriguezmusic.com/</a>

Dan Rodriguez - The All I want for Christmas is Whiskey Tour - 8:30 PM Show

<a href="https://youtu.be/u7yXsvLd9As?si=R8XE6CTOVSAtPjzi" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/u7yXsvLd9As?si=R8XE6CTOVSAtPjzi</a> Brendan James is an American Singer-Songwriter in the pop/folk genre, akin to&nbsp;David Gray, Jason Mraz, and Elton John.&nbsp;Signed to Capitol Records at age 25, Universal Records at 28, James has reached the #1 spot on ITunes multiple times, accrued more than one million fans in 65 countries on Spotify, and has been played on multiple formats of American and European radio.&nbsp;He has collaborated or toured with the likes of John Mayer, John Legend, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Keb Mo, and Andy Grammar, and his songs have been placed in over 15 major television shows and films worldwide.&nbsp; Truly summing Brendan James up is a difficult task though.&nbsp;You’d have to meet him, talk with him, hear him sing his songs to understand his shocking talent and unique purpose in today’s over saturated music scene.&nbsp;As he puts it: ”What I hope to do is calm, strengthen, and transport my listeners to a better self, and in turn maybe I get there too.”&nbsp;And he means it.&nbsp;Penning songs on the topics of love, optimism, political enlightenment, simplifying, self empowerment, marriage equality, wanderlust, raising a family, aging, and adventuring aimlessly through the natural world, James has left no stone unturned in his six studio albums to date; and in his words, “I’ve only just begun.”&nbsp; Just home from a 6 month journey around the globe with his wife and two toddlers, James has a plethora of new material and is set to release 4 singles this year, with a full length album coming in the Spring of 2020.&nbsp;His first single, “Through Our Hands” is an autobiographical telling of his family’s trip to 10 countries, watching his children grow ever too quickly along the way.&nbsp;&nbsp; Find him on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and wherever else music is streamed or sold.&nbsp;Book him for a private show if you get the chance- a trend in performing that he has helped pioneer, and sees as the future of a better artist-audience connection.&nbsp;Or catch him in one of the many public venues he plays regularly in the US and abroad.&nbsp;Either way, bring a friend and take the ride.&nbsp;It’s the only one like it in today’s music biz.&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://brendanjames.com/" target="_blank">http://brendanjames.com/</a>

Brendan James

<a href="https://youtu.be/YdzquvhMaSc?si=yuiYgsVwj2ENgfdm" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/YdzquvhMaSc?si=yuiYgsVwj2ENgfdm</a> Brian Dunne is not your grandma’s antiseptic, pseudo baby boomer singer-songwriter. Known for his laugh-to-keep-from-crying, darkly humorous lyrics, Dunne’s work reconfigures the limiting nature of the genre into something less cotton candy young love, more burn down the banks. This DIY ethos, born from a healthy New York cynicism self-conceptualized, funded, and dragged to every willing venue, found an easy home at Kill Rock Stars along the likes of The Decemberists, Jeff Hanson, and Sleater- Kinney. Releasing his fourth album in early 2023, his first on KRS, Dunne is bending the sounds of American rock into masterfully composed, existentially poignant, wildly catchy renderings of being alive. <a href="https://www.briandunnemusic.net/" target="_blank">https://www.briandunnemusic.net/</a>

Brian Dunne 

<a href="https://youtu.be/sJCNAuKRnCo?si=y9QCjaSL54obnvvo" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/sJCNAuKRnCo?si=y9QCjaSL54obnvvo</a> With beginnings in early 2020, The Rebel Eves (formerly The Nashigan Trio) is a group formed from the joy of connection, love of creativity, and ultimately from a place of knowing too well that the gift of making music is not something to be taken for granted, especially as women. Comprised of three Michigan bred award winning songwriters, Katie Pederson, Grace Theisen and Jilian Linklater have spent the better part of the last decade writing, touring, and harmonizing across the country, landing between Nashville, TN and Michigan where The Nashigan Trio originally got its name. After the hardships of 2020/2021 prevented the experience of performing live music in traditional ways, the trio decided to create a stripped down acoustic show where vulnerability, connectivity and authenticity lead the way both in their stories and in their music. Over many conversations, tours, and reflections,&nbsp;they rebranded as "The Rebel Eves." Since then, they have been leaning further into writing honestly as women in an often times male dominated industry. The trio has a main goal of being empowering to, and empowered by one other and their listeners. Having played venues such as the Ark in Ann Arbor, MI, the BlueBird Cafe and The Basement in Nashville, TN, they sold out several shows on their first ever tour in the spring of 2023, and have won over the hearts of their audiences with their honest story telling, hair raising harmonies, and compelling lyricism that makes for true listening room moments attendees won’t soon forget. Cultivating moments of vulnerability, laughter, original songs, and incredible 3-part harmonies in their shows, they can promise you will walk away feeling inspired, connected, and hopeful. Stay tuned for more details about more shows throughout 2023.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.therebeleves.com" target="_blank">https://www.therebeleves.com</a>

The Rebel Eves

<a href="https://youtu.be/kNVE7VaC9x4?si=80wPXHZbiz5BW_rS" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/kNVE7VaC9x4?si=80wPXHZbiz5BW_rS</a> Join us for an unforgettable evening of music and memories as the Keynote Sisters mark their 10-year milestone! Sisters Phoebe and Jaclyn have been performing together since 2013, playing at festivals, listening rooms and private parties in Michigan. Accompanied by guitar, keyboard and cajon, the Keynote Sisters' sound pulls from influences of pop, folk, and Americana, tied together by their signature knit-tight harmonies.&nbsp; Sit back while you are taken through a musical journey through the past ten years, ornamented with anecdotes recounting the first decade of this sisterly duo. Whether you've been a fan from the very beginning or are discovering the Keynote Sisters for the first time, this anniversary concert is one you don't want to miss! <a href="https://keynotesisters.com/" target="_blank">www.keynotesisters.com</a>

Keynote Sisters 10-Year Anniversary Concert

<a href="https://youtu.be/wXXl0RMJbbI?si=zS-YduoXzMz0g1QC" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wXXl0RMJbbI?si=zS-YduoXzMz0g1QC</a> Mile Twelve, Boston’s modern string band, is back in motion. From the first manic downbeat of their virtuosic new record, Close Enough to Hear, you’ll discover a band that is ready to explode from a restless pandemic-induced hiatus. You’ll hear the same warmth and innovation that earned the band IBMA’s 2019 Album of the Year nomination and 2020 New Artist of the Year Award, and that’s gained them an international reputation as one of the most dynamic bands in contemporary acoustic music. Heard as a whole, Close Enough to Hear displays the vast creative potential of the bluegrass quintet — banjo (BB Bowness), mandolin (Korey Brodsky), fiddle (Ella Jordan), acoustic guitar (Evan Murphy) and upright bass (Nate Sabat) — in the hands of world-class musicians. <a href="https://miletwelveband.com/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">https://miletwelveband.com/</a>

Mile Twelve

<h3><a href="https://youtu.be/7kXBwUFvRno" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/7kXBwUFvRno</a></h3> "FOUNDED IN 2009, THE MALLETT BROTHERS BAND HAVE HAD MULTIPLE LINEUP CHANGES AND STYLISTIC SHIFTS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THEY’VE REMAINED STEADFAST IN DELIVERING HEARTFELT SONGS WITH EMOTIONAL LYRICISM, VIVID IMAGERY, AND DYNAMIC MUSICAL TONES…" -<a href="https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=http%3a%2f%2fnodepression.com%2falbum%2dreview%2fmallett%2dbrothers%2dband%2dtake%2dgamble%2dlosin%2dhorses%2dlisten%2dhere&amp;umid=7e8d1823-9f71-4fc4-b66e-d4597b8d3c6f&amp;auth=aea1da0310e2636c79a3a218cdf31d6564bf6a00-e7b016bb2aafda371b722f08b8e8965459114a86" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(214, 209, 209);"> </a><a href="https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=http%3a%2f%2fnodepression.com%2falbum%2dreview%2fmallett%2dbrothers%2dband%2dtake%2dgamble%2dlosin%2dhorses%2dlisten%2dhere&amp;umid=7e8d1823-9f71-4fc4-b66e-d4597b8d3c6f&amp;auth=aea1da0310e2636c79a3a218cdf31d6564bf6a00-e7b016bb2aafda371b722f08b8e8965459114a86" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(231, 208, 186);">NO DEPRESSION</a> The Mallett Brothers Band is an independent rock and roll / Americana / country band from Maine. Their busy tour schedule since forming in 2009 has helped them to build a dedicated fanbase across the U.S. and beyond while still calling the state of Maine their home. With a style that ranges from alt-country to Americana, country, jam and roots rock, theirs is a musical melting pot that's influenced equally by the singer/songwriter tradition as by harder rock, classic country and psychedelic sounds. <a href="https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.themallettbrothersband.com&amp;umid=f634c9a6-cf38-4451-93e7-66e8517ba1b3&amp;auth=aea1da0310e2636c79a3a218cdf31d6564bf6a00-e0592793804b5514aac1f74711cddc0673203e28" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">www.themallettbrothersband.com</a>

The Mallett Brothers Band

<a href="https://youtu.be/83cPa-e5cLY?si=Dtx2zTVwg3x3Jw6u" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/83cPa-e5cLY?si=Dtx2zTVwg3x3Jw6u</a> Aleksi Campagne is uniquely qualified to offer a contemporary, indie-folk take on the time-honoured fiddle-singing tradition. Aleksi grew up on stage. At five years old, he began performing alongside his mother, Canadian folk icon, Connie Kaldor. At nineteen, Aleksi moved to Paris to study under Jazz-violin legend Didier Lockwood. At twenty-one, Aleksi became the only student to have ever been accepted into the classical violin, the jazz violin and the jazz voice performance programs at McGill University. And, by twenty-five, with only a six-song EP, Aleksi graced the lineups of some of the most competitive folk festivals across Canada for three consecutive years - including the Regina, Canmore, and Bear Creek Folk Festivals. Most recently, Aleksi received both a Canada Council Grant and a FACTOR Grant to fully fund the recording and production of his highly-anticipated 10-song debut album For the Giving, launching fall 2023. Still based out of his hometown of Montreal, Aleksi floors audiences by singing while bowing his violin and seamlessly navigating songs in English and in French. His original music blends folk songwriting with an edgy, multi-layered sound resulting from his unique combination of voice, violin, and looping- effect pedals. “The dreamy orchestration and floaty vocals of ‘Another Day’ provide a silken sensory camouflage to Aleksi’s profound mastery of story-telling, letting the listener inside the heart of the singer with wordplay, imagery, pensive pauses and a thrillingly casual whistle solo.” -Paul Corby, Roots Music Canada https://www.aleksicampagne.com/&nbsp;

Aleksi Campagne 

<a href="https://youtu.be/NqfC6K7Wbr4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/NqfC6K7Wbr4</a> Bryan White is a Grammy award winning multi-platinum and gold artist with 6 #1 singles and an armful of major awards. His hits include ‘Someone Else’s Star’, ‘Rebecca Lynn’, ‘I’m Not Supposed To Love You Anymore’, and the iconic ‘From This Moment On’ with Shania Twain.‘God Gave Me You’ has recently become a smash sensation in the Philippines, topping the music charts in that country and putting Bryan back on the Billboard Charts (all genres world wide), Music Row Charts, iTunes Charts and trending regularly worldwide on Twitter. The song has garnered over 8 million official You Tube views as well as over 750 million views for unauthorized fan videos. About Bryan White:Bryan was born in Lawton/Fort Sill, (Comanche County) Oklahoma into a musical family. Growing up he listened to all kinds of music. His parents played in cover bands and thanks to his father, he learned to play drums while he was still very young. Drums came natural to him and he became so good at it that his parents frequently invited him to play with them. Since their bands played all different styles of music, White feels it gave him a great perspective and helped to make him the diverse artist that he is today. “Although country music has my heart, I still love and respect all kinds of musical expression.”&nbsp;One thing White never tires of mentioning is the day he heard the music of his musical mentor, Steve Wariner. “People talk about defining moments. For me, this was definitely one of them. I heard Steve’s voice and I immediately gravitated toward his tone and phrasing. I knew right then, at the age of fourteen, what I wanted to do with my life.” Fresh out of high school, White says he packed up his guitar, drum sticks, angst, dreams, and five hundred dollars that his family gave him and headed to Nashville to pursue a career in country music.&nbsp;The move proved to be beneficial. He charted seventeen singles on Billboard’s Country Charts, had six number one singles, two platinum records, two gold records, he joined forces with Shania Twain and together they took “From This Moment On” all the way up to number four on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart. He has garnered several awards for himself, including a Grammy, a CMA Horizon Award, and an ACM Top Male Vocalist award among them. And, with his songwriting, he helped several other artists climb the charts; Sawyer Brown and Diamond Rio both made it to the top five slot with songs co-written by White. He’s also had song recorded by Wynonna, Joe Diffie, LeAnn Rimes, Lila McCann, Jackie Lee, Love and Theft, just to name a few. The accolades led him to various TV appearances such as “The Tonight Show,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” NBC’s “The Today Show,” and “CBS This Morning.” However, despite all of his musical successes, it is an award from outside of the music arena that is probably the best indicator of who White really is; People Magazine named him one of their “50 most beautiful people” in the world and everyone who knows him finds it easy to understand why.&nbsp;White says he has always been grateful for all he’s been given throughout the years but now looking back in retrospect, he is more grateful than he’s ever been before. “To gain notoriety for doing something that’s second nature has always amazed me,” he says. “It’s incredible that I’ve gotten to work with so many of the people who’ve influenced me. It still blows my mind.”&nbsp;White took some time off to get away from the craziness of the music business and to start a family. “After a decade of building my career and being on the road so much, I was spent, mentally and physically,” he says. “I knew, I needed to get away and take some time to breathe and do some of the other things I had always dreamed of.” He did just that by marrying the beautiful actress Erika Page (One Life to Live/Days of Our Lives) and bringing sons Justin and Jackson into the world.&nbsp;When asked how his life has changed during his break from the industry, White responds, “I found my true identity, not only as an artist and a songwriter, but as a human being. I realize now that life is an incredible gift and it’s meant to be lived on purpose and outwardly. Music is a gift and a great vehicle but it’s really about what happens beyond the music for me. What kind of legacy did I leave as a husband, as a father, and a friend?”&nbsp;Bryan latest release “Shine” is available now on iTunes and in the Bryan White online store. It is a record supported 100% by his fans. When asked what he hopes to accomplish with this new album, Bryan smiles and says, “I’ve already swung the bat hard and put the ball out of the park. I have nothing left to prove, but I have a lot more to say.” White is sure to once again make a huge impact with his voice coupled with great songs full of heart and honesty. Never forgetting where he comes from or his past success, he looks ahead with confidence, determination, gratitude, and much anticipation to a future filled with more dreams…&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bryanwhite.com" target="_blank">www.bryanwhite.com</a>

Bryan White 

<a href="https://youtu.be/6BEr0fB7smw?si=ecbikpycmEdLuQus" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/6BEr0fB7smw?si=ecbikpycmEdLuQus</a> Wilson Thicket has the acoustic soul of an Appalachian string band, but there is more to this Thicket than just a patch of bluegrass! Wilson Thicket combines a hand-picked group of the top singers, instrumentalists, and songwriters that Michigan has to offer, with decades of performing experience under their collective belts. Old school favorites, creative covers, and dynamic original songs are all delivered with strong doses of vocal harmony and creative instrumental mastery. This music has plenty of roots and lots of grass. There may be some thorns, but also some flowers. Welcome to the thicket!&nbsp; Jason Dennie (Mandolin/Guitar/Vocals): Jason is among the top singers, songwriters, and musicians you will ever lay ears on! His mandolin work with acts such as Annie and Rod Capps, Jill Jack, Billy Brandt and the Sugarees, STELLA, Mark Lavengood Bluegrass Bonanza and others, led to 10 Detroit Music Award Nominations. Jason is also a three-time CAMMY AWARD Winner for Best Folk/Bluegrass Instrumentalist, the 2000 Gamble Rogers Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, and a 2011 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition finalist (with Wayward Roots). Jason has gained respect among guitar aficionados for his instrumental work, including 2000 release Just Enough (with guests including Sam Bush and Dave Pomeroy). His song “Five Points” was the theme song for the Acoustic Alternatives radio show on 107.1, hosted by John Bommarito. In recent years, his songwriting has been featured with Thunderwüde and is now on full display with Wilson Thicket! Jason proudly endorses K&amp;K Pickups Scott Kendall (Upright Bass): Being a fan of all types of music, Scott has found himself playing in bluegrass bands for most of his adult life, while also performing in ensembles as varied as math rock, jazz, classical, soul, funk, hip hop, blues, pop, metal, and pretty much any genre one can think of (regrettably he has never been a part of a Tuvan throat singing ensemble, but there's still time). He is astonishingly grateful to play with a band like Wilson Thicket, because the musicianship and camaraderie is spectacular and hilarious. You can also see him performing regularly with groups like the Dave Menzo Band, Child Sleep, Louie Lee, Soul Priority, and Fallow Land. Keith Billik (Banjo/Vocals): Keith’s fiery, dynamic banjo playing earns him the award for most notes-per-song of anyone in Wilson Thicket! Keith is best known for his recordings and performances with Lindsay Lou &amp; the Flatbellys, Mark Lavengood’s Bluegrass Bonanza, and many other groups in his nearly twenty years playing banjo. Keith is also the creator and host of The Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast, a show listened to by banjo enthusiasts worldwide, and which earned Keith a 2022 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award nomination for his involvement in the bluegrass industry. Keith is proud to endorse GHS Strings.&nbsp; Aaron Markovitz (Guitar/Mandolin/Vocals): While Aaron has had an eclectic musical upbringing with all sorts and kinds of influences, his style has settled somewhere in between electric blues and acoustic flat picking, bridging both styles with a common goal: pulling that sweet tone out of a geetar. Steadily throughout his music career, Markovitz has become better known as a songwriter. He spent several years writing songs and playing mandolin with the Detroit based group Escaping Pavement, which won a Detroit music award for outstanding recording in 2016 with “The Night Owl”. Most recently, Markovitz was endowed with the position of ‘Artist in Residence’ for Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the largest reform Jewish congregation in the country. Now it’s raining otherworldly talented men and the songs are flowing under this umbrella of killer musicians in Wilson Thicket!&nbsp; Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wilsonthicket5541 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilsonThicketBand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilsonthicket/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/wilsonthicket&nbsp;

Wilson Thicket

<a href="https://youtu.be/DtENXNNGG5s" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/DtENXNNGG5s</a> Stevie Rae Stephens, Sean Cunningham, and Kiernan McMullan have been playing together for the last 3 years in Nashville! The friendship runs deeper than the harmonies. The three songwriters began working together at a local bar in Nashville called Belcourt Taps. Before long, the three were running the bar and booking the music every weekend. It was in this time that they began singing and writing together and creating the first instance of&nbsp;Pindrop&nbsp;Songwriter Series, a night of music in Nashville named for its listening room environment and strong, supportive community of awe-inspiring songwriters. Over the years, the three have started touring the act as a Nashville writers round with a kick. You haven’t seen a writers’ round like this with harmonies, multi-instrumentals, and friendship. You can find us at&nbsp;Pindrop&nbsp;on Sundays at Cabana Taps in Nashville or on the road around the country! <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffersonrinckmusic/video/7131786886682742062" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffersonrinckmusic/video/7131786886682742062</a> Jefferson Rinck is a Michigan raised, Nashville based singer songwriter who has been penning songs with and for other artists for the last five years. Before focusing on songwriting, Jefferson spent the majority of his career playing in bands that have been privileged to share stages with acts like Local Natives, Mt Joy, Hippo Campus, The War &amp; Treaty, Susto, and more! After years of basically living on the road, his career is finally evolving into a solo venture which has sonically been compared to the Americana stylings of David Ramirez, Donovan Woods and James Bay, with his first batch of songs releasing periodically throughout 2023 <a href="https://youtu.be/M0zml2DM1Cw" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/M0zml2DM1Cw</a> International award winning songwriter Katie Pederson is a pop-piano songstress with midwest Michigan roots. Having toured the country with her lyrical and vulnerable songwriting on display, she has shared the stage with artists such as Mason Jennings, Matt Giraud, and Kyshona Armstrong. Gaining inspiration from pop piano icons, Katie’s newest project “Limitless,” is sure to capture the hearts of fans of Carol King, The Chicks, and Elton John.&nbsp;The lyrics of weave stories that take us through the mountains of Western Canada, all the way through the forests and plains of the Northwest United States, resolving finally home, at the shores of Lake Michigan where she connected with producer Jake Rye, of Social Recording Company to record her new album,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3t4tOktTETbYkbYxYKdQTc?si=MKCB811mQy687Kr3i2k28w" target="_blank">Limitless</a>, which is now available. Katie released a brand new single, Abstract Art, on October 21, 2022.&nbsp;The new single signifies the turning of a page to a new chapter for the up and coming songwriter. While her journey has been years in the making, her story it seems is just beginning. <a href="https://youtu.be/tZBta3-ePdQ?si=89ThFE91S_H70Cjm" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/tZBta3-ePdQ?si=89ThFE91S_H70Cjm</a> Award-winning folk-pop artist Genna Matthew finds the sonic sweet spot between timeless roots influences and dreamy indie-pop hooks. Her evocative lyrics and crystalline voice cut through the noise, straight to the core. Genna was raised by the vibrant Folk/Americana scene of central Virginia. Her bittersweet sound sugarcoats wistful lyrics with honey-smooth vocals. Her songwriting has been recognized both regionally and internationally, most recently as the Grand Prize Winner of Nashville’s Music City Songstar Competition. Her 2016 EP, ‘My Old Habits’, features a stellar cast of Virginia-rooted artists, including Johnny Stubblefield (Parachute), Sam Wilson (Sons of Bill), Chris Pandolfi (Infamous Stringdusters), Butch Taylor (Dave Matthews Band), and Matt Wood (Erin and the Wildfire). In 2018 she traded the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Spanish coast, where she completed her Masters in Contemporary Music Performance and Production at Berklee’s Valencia campus. Now based in Nashville, TN, Genna recently wrapped her first full-length record with producer Jake Finch. This forthcoming record is a vibrant departure from her Americana-forward EP, and explores a new sonic space that wraps her folk-inspired writing in a lush, indie-pop atmosphere.

A Pindrop Songwriter Series Review featuring Jefferson Rinck, Katie Pederson, Kiernan McMullan, Genna Matthew, Stevie Rae Stephens and Sean Cunningham

Songwriters in the Round An evening with Lane Ellens, Caitlin Cusack, Fay Burns and Clem Turner Curated original music with a focus on collaboration. Something different, every time. Lane Ellens Lane Ellens, a lakeshore native, has been writing and playing music in Michigan for the past 8 years. Housing textures ranging from hushed Americana to indie stadium pop his work reaches for the universally relatable minutiae of his surroundings. Songs for dim rooms and incense as much as steering wheels and westward motion. Caitlin Cusack Drawing from her own experiences with a life-changing brain injury and the pain of losing loved ones, Michigan-based musician Caitlin Cusack has discovered a path to healing through songwriting and now seeks to shine a light for others navigating their own darkness with her inspiring and uplifting music. <a href="https://caitlincusackmusic.com/" target="_blank">https://caitlincusackmusic.com/</a> Fay Burns <a href="https://youtu.be/s3izyJETGas?si=uDWWi505lhUIOqiN" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/s3izyJETGas?si=uDWWi505lhUIOqiN</a> Fiery, feminine, and fierce - Fay Burns steps out into the solo world with a new attitude and new music in tow. Unlike anything heard from the former member of Escaping Pavement, this new chapter sees her returning to her roots - rock’n’roll (with a touch of indie). Expect an electric and sassy sound on the award-winning singer-songwriter’s debut record due out in late 2023! <a href="fayburns.com" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">fayburns.com</a> Clem Turner ﻿Clem Turner is multi-talented artist, producer, and performer. With a background in theater, choir, and jazz band, he pursued a degree in audio engineering from Michigan University. Clem's passion for music led him to Los Angeles, where he appeared on a captivating game show, showcasing his musical talents and capturing industry attention. Returning to Michigan, he co-produced the highly acclaimed "Decades of Love" supergroup collaboration show, featuring renowned artists. Clem is currently working on his highly anticipated new record, further demonstrating his dedication to his craft and artistic exploration. With his versatile skills, unwavering dedication, and focus on songwriting and community engagement, Clem is already starting to impact the lives of many through his love of music.

Crooked Tree Creative Songwriters in the Round - An evening with Lane Ellens, Caitlin Cusack, Fay Burns and Clem Turner

<a href="https://youtu.be/dOBlH07cMts" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/dOBlH07cMts</a> Luca Stricagnoli, born and raised in Italy, is an acoustic guitarist known for his unique style and innovative playing techniques. His original approach to music has led him to a variety of successes from obtaining over 100 million views on his music videos to having the opportunity to perform all around the globe. Using up to five guitars in the same piece, modified capos, and self-conceived stratagems, Luca continually leaves his audiences in awe and wondering what’s next for the up-and-coming guitarist. In addition to his musical abilities, Luca brings an enthusiastic energy to the stage that attracts concert requests from every corner of the world. His music has been featured in countless magazines and TV channels and has grabbed the attention of world-famous artists such as the bands “Red Hot Chili Peppers” and “Walk Off The Earth”. Luca recently released his new album “What if?” in which he explores even more approaches to guitar playing. The first track of the album, featuring a new guitar invented by him and designed by Davide Serracini, obtained once again viral success with over 40 million views online and was published by magazines all over the world, such as NME, Spiegel and La Repubblica.The album tour, featuring award winning singer songwriter and loop-station-artist Meg Pfeiffer, crossed over ten countries in Europe, Asia and North America and keeps going. <a href="https://www.lucastricagnoli.com/" target="_blank">https://www.lucastricagnoli.com/</a>

Luca Stricagnoli

<a href="https://youtu.be/IDoAIHABg_Q?si=ITXvSXpuMZBTVieB" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/IDoAIHABg_Q?si=ITXvSXpuMZBTVieB</a> Following their Bluebird Cafe debut, Nashville based “A Tale Of Two” is an undeniable rising duo in today’s roots music scene.&nbsp; “Official Showcase Artist: 2022 Folk Alliance International Conference” &amp; 2022 Kerrville "New Folk Songwriting Contest Finalist"&nbsp; “A Tale Of Two wants to bring their records to life every time they perform… they do just that” - The Bluegrass Situation&nbsp; Combining the best of Americana and blues melodies with timeless Southern storytelling, award winning vocalist Stephanie Adlington and guitarist Aaron Lessard draw influence from the likes of Tom Waits and Ray LaMontagne, along with bedrock artists such as Patsy Cline and Hank Williams Sr. Not unlike the artists who inspired them, the duo’s songs frequently dabble in stories of revenge, drinking and feature sinners of all stripes and persuasions.&nbsp; Music Connection Magazine's "Top 20 Prospects of 2021" and "12 Artists You Need to Know" - Ditty TV Oozing an infectious stage presence and chemistry that carries over from the music to the back and forth banter between songs, “A Tale Of Two” offers a different kind of Americana – storytelling by a swampy pair of retro raconteurs spinning blues arias with soul, intrigue and power.&nbsp; “It is inspiring to hear a Nashville band with old-time songs and genuine talent…” - Americana UK <a href="https://www.taleoftwomusic.com/" target="_blank">https://www.taleoftwomusic.com/</a>

A Tale of Two

<a href="https://youtu.be/nlN3TGMuAfs?si=ixfk_bKrXnDloI9T" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/nlN3TGMuAfs?si=ixfk_bKrXnDloI9T</a> Wood Box Heroes Barry Bales upright bassJenee Fleenor lead vocal, fiddle Josh Martin lead vocal, guitar Matt Menefee banjoSeth Taylor mandolin, vocals Wood Box Heroes, the newly formed American acoustic super-group, is hardly anything like the bluegrass music you used to find in the cassette player of your grandad’s old chevy pickup truck. Deeply rooted in tradition while melding together an eclectic-array of sounds from the country, bluegrass, blues, jazz, rock, and classical varieties, paired with crafty and authentic songwriting, the band delivers a piercing listening experience that plunges deep into the caverns of the soul. Bringing together some of the world’s most highly lauded musicians in Matt Menefee (banjo-Mumford &amp; Sons, Cadillac Sky, Warren Haynes), Seth Taylor (mandolin-Mountain Heart, Dailey &amp; Vincent) and Barry Bales (bass- Alison Krauss &amp; Union Station) backing up the vocal magic of Jenee Fleenor (fiddle-Blake Shelton, Larry Cordle) and Josh Martin (singer/songwriter/guitarist), this unit has over a century of musical seasoning between them. Yet, it is quite astonishing that the years spent on separate roads, accompanying a spectrum of incredible artists and receiving some of the most sought-after honors and awards in the business, has led to this enigmatic musical intersection. Barry Bales (upright bass)Barry Bales is a recording/touring musician, songwriter, producer, and one of the most respected bassists in acoustic music with a storied 33-year career to back it up. A native of Mosheim, TN, Barry has been an integral member of Alison Krauss &amp; Union Station since 1990 and since has collected 15 Grammy awards and 23 International Bluegrass Music Association awards, including 4 Bass Player of the Year trophies. As a songwriter, Bales helped pen Chris Stapleton’s Top 10 hit “Nobody To Blame”, which went on to produce two ACM awards and a CMA award for Song of the Year. In the year 2000, Barry appeared in the box office smash “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” along with heavily contributing to the soundtrack. He has also recorded and/or performed with such artists as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Dwight Yoakam, and Vince Gill. Jenee Fleenor (lead vocal, fiddle)Jenee Fleenor is a singer, songwriter, recording artist and studio musician originally from Springdale, Arkansas, currently holding the title as the reigning 4-time CMA Musician of the Year. She was just a toddler when her musical journey began as she started Suzuki classical violin lessons and her singing voice showed up shortly thereafter, but it was her dream of being a fiddle player on Nashville recording sessions that drove her to leaveSpringdale fresh out of high school in 2001. Now, working on her 22nd year in Music City, Jenee’s dream has become reality as she is one of the most sought-after session musicians of the day and has played on countless hit songs like Jon Pardi’s “Heartache Medication” and “Dirt On My Boots”, Sam Hunt’s “Hard To Forget”, and Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t”, to name a few. Along with being the first woman to ever be nominated for a CMA award, let alone the first to win the award in 2019, she has won two Music Row awards (2019, 2022) and was the ACM Specialty Instrument Player of the Year in 2019. However, the storied studio career is just the tip of the iceberg for this good ol’ girl. Jenee has toured with a whole slew of artists since 2001, some of the most notable being Blake Shelton, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Terri Clark, Martina McBride, Don Williams, and Larry Cordle &amp; Lonesome Standard Time. As a songwriter, Fleenor has written with some of the best in the business and was nominated for an IBMA award when the Grascal’s and Dolly Parton recorded “I Am Strong”. In 2019 she made her debut as an artist on the Grand Ole Opry following the release of her song “Fiddle and Steel”, featuring a stunningly radiant vocal performance of heartfelt nostalgia for the sights and sounds of her childhood. Most currently, Jenee and four of her superbly talented fellow musicians have formed a new acoustic supergroup called the Wood Box Heroes, serving as the conduit for this insanely talented lady to travel back into the land of her singer/songwriter youth as the band finishes up their all-original debut album due out this fall. Josh Martin (lead vocal, guitar)Josh Martin is an artist from the coalfields of Eastern Kentucky whose musical works live somewhere beyond the outskirts of mainstream country music but comfortably on this side of the ancient bluegrass tones of his Appalachian heritage. Josh’s independently released 2019 album, Nothing Holding Me, displays a balancing act of timbral accessibility and lyrical credibility, replete with honest songwriting and extraordinary musicianship, while more current releases, like 2020’s “Cold Again”, “Strange Times”, and 2022’s “The Burden of the Mountains”, exude an untamed energy seldom found in popular music of the day. Moving to Nashville in 2013, Josh’s singing, songwriting and guitar playing helped him make quick friends with the legendary songwriting community on Music Row and in 2016 he inked his first publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music. Shortly thereafter, the team at Sony’s Treehouse Records released a tandem of pop country tunes in “How’d You Know” and “Just My Luck”, giving Martin some industry recognition, all the while leaving him with the feeling that there was much more to his artistry than what was commercially expected. Eventually parting ways, Josh stepped into the freedom to create and put on display his authentic take on American music, with traces of Guy Clark and Darrell Scott in his lyric, the echoes of Tony Rice in his guitar licks, and a hint of old-time spirituality in his brawny yet smooth baritone voice. Matt Menefee (banjo)Matt Menefee (Matt, theBanjoPlayer) is a Nashville-based musician, composer, recording artist, and trailblazer of the banjo. His immaculate talents are on full display in musical releases like 2020’s “Lazer Beast” and 2018’s “The Hit Points” that combine his passion for the instrument with his deep admiration for video game scores. Originally from Artesia, New Mexico, Matt was introduced to the banjo through his grandpa’s love of bluegrass music and felt an instant connection with the instrument. Influenced by a wide array of musical styles in his developing years, Matt challenged himself to push the bounds far beyond the standard utility of the banjo in American roots music and found himself translating the melodies and motifs of classical and jazz-oriented music onto the instrument. At age 17, he won the prestigious Winfield National Banjo Championship which proved to be the catalyst in the formation of two critically acclaimed bluegrass- acoustic supergroups—Cadillac Sky and Chessboxer. The seemingly “other-worldly” qualities of his playing has led to a prestigious track record as he has worked with the likes of Mumford &amp; Sons, Bela Fleck, Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, and Bruce Hornsby, to name a few. Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band / Gov’t Mule) states of Matt’s banjo playing, “Matt is one of the freshest and most interesting voices on any instrument I’ve heard in a long time. What a blast listening to him and playing music together!” John Cowan (founding member of New Grass Revival) also says, “Matt is technically one of the best musicians I have ever worked with. Yes, he is very gifted, but also he works non-stop at his craft.” Seth Taylor (mandolin, vocals)Seth Taylor is a multi-instrumentalist from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Seth grew up playing bluegrass and acoustic music and landed his first professional touring gig at age 15. After moving to Nashville in 2012 he joined acoustic / jam-band staple, Mountain Heart, and later became part owner of the band. Over the last several years Seth has shared the stage with countless artists including Grand Ole Opry members Dailey &amp; Vincent, Ricky Skaggs, and Carly Pearce to name a few. He frequently plays in the Opry house band and has performed on landmark stages such as The Ryman Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, and The Library of Congress. While touring has been a big part of Seth’s career, he has also become a sought-after session musician in Nashville. He’s played on countless recordings including Zach Bryan’s juggernaut 2022 album, American Heartbreak. In 2018 Seth formed a band with friends Aaron Williams, and Lacy Green called The Wonderful Nobodies, who have since released two albums (A/B,MORE) independently. Most recently he has joined the American acoustic supergroup, Wood Box Heroes, on mandolin. Fellow band mate, Jenee Fleenor says, “Seth is one of the most talented musicians I’ve had the pleasure of playing music with - on stage and in the studio. He has a musical maturity beyond his years but also brings a youthful- infectious-fearless energy to any room he graces! Everybody wants to play music with Seth Taylor!” iTunes - https://bit.ly/WBHEPitunesApple Music - https://bit.ly/WBHEPappleSpotify - https://bit.ly/WBHspotifyAmazon Music- https://bit.ly/WBHamazon YouTube Music - https://bit.ly/WBHyoutubem Facebook – http://facebook.com/woodboxheroes Instagram – http://instagram.com/woodboxheroes Website – http://woodboxheroes.com&nbsp;

Wood Box Heroes

<a href="https://youtu.be/6UwXF9AOXWw" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/6UwXF9AOXWw</a> Rooted in Americana and bathing in West Coast sunshine, Los Angeles-native, David Rosales aims to shed some light and happiness during this unprecedented time with his recently released eclectic 12-track sophomore LP — REVIVE . “Strange times need good vibes,” says Rosales. “I’m ready to give the world a much needed dose of positivity.” “Consistency &amp; virtuosity... a warm lingering embrace of the South... a hybrid with an added soulful genuine touch...It’s a joyous experience, a dazzling collection of why it’s good to be alive.” – Americana Highways “Fun, easygoing... light-hearted and carefree... a reminder to us all to live in the moment and not take the little joys of life for granted.” – The Boot “Lures you in with Rosales’ whiskey-soaked, resonant vocals as he and his band explode... a big beat and strong message of perseverance and empowerment.” – Rock &amp; Blues Muse In conjunction with the release of REVIVE, Rosales &amp; His Band of Scoundrels have been on the road, offering an uplifting and spirited live performance a sound that pairs well with contemporaries they have shared the stage with such as Ben Harper, Brandi Carlile, Matt Costa, The White Buffalo, Donavon Frankenreiter, Pokey LaFarge and Steep Canyon Rangers.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.davidrosalesmusic.com/" target="_blank">https://www.davidrosalesmusic.com/</a> Taylor DeRousse is an Indie Rock Singer-Songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. She also owns the music studio Tailored Harmonies Music Co. and is in her Graduate Studies pursuing a Masters degree in Business. DeRousse performs her own original music and is currently recording her debut album with Bird Fight Records. DeRousse's style reflects the influences of artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Alanis Morrissette, The Chicks, Stevie Nicks, and Carole King. Her writing style pairs nostalgic storytelling with tender emotion, creating a haunting musical landscape. You can find her performing across the Detroit area multiple times throughout the week. Find more info and events at her studio website <a href="tailoredharmoniesmusicco.com/music." target="_blank">tailoredharmoniesmusicco.com/music.</a>

David Rosales

<a href="%20https://youtu.be/pi0ttHapGdc?si=fwQmrERBDX0RPv7T" target="_blank"> https://youtu.be/pi0ttHapGdc?si=fwQmrERBDX0RPv7T</a> Sav Buist is not just part of the indie folk rock band, The Accidentals - she’s a story-teller.&nbsp; Hailing from Traverse City, Sav moved to Nashville to write songs with other story-tellers. That lists includes writers like Tom Paxton, Kim Richey, Dar Williams, Gretchen Peters, Mary Gauthier, Jamiee Harris, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman, Maia Sharp, Mary Bragg, and more... Sav’s songs have won the Kerrville NewFolk Songwriting Contest, 1st place at Songwriter Serenade, was the Judge's Choice Winner of the New England Songwriting Competition, a finalist in the Folk Acoustic category of the 39th Mid Atlantic Song Contest 2023, and recently won the Overall Grand Prize and First Place in the Folk Category for the 27th USA Songwriting Competition.&nbsp;&nbsp; Her song Cityview was a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, and her song The Line was a semi-finalist in American Songwriter.&nbsp;Her song Wildfire, co-written with her bandmate Katie Larson and Kim Richey, was the #1 song of the year at Folk Radio.&nbsp;&nbsp; NPR calls her, “one of the most compelling songwriters of our day”.Along with playing violin, viola, mandolin, guitar, bass, and banjo, Sav is a certified audio engineer, string arranger, and session worker.&nbsp;&nbsp; She describes herself as a problem-solver, lock picker, trailer packer-and-backer, bookworm, key lime pie baker, crow nerd, and cat parent - in her spare time.&nbsp; <a href="www.savbuist.com" target="_blank">www.savbuist.com</a> Sammie Hershock is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter with songs that catch your ear and grab you by the soul. Classically trained and working as a music teacher for over ten years, Sammie brings a unique depth to her original songs. Since coming onto the songwriters scene in mid 2021 she has pulled people into her sphere quickly. She’s since released an EP and three singles, received a “One-to-Watch” nomination from Nashville Songwriters Association, won the NSAI mid-michigan Chapter Songwriting Contest, and won the hearts of people all over Michigan. Sammie's latest project, a visual EP entitled Gold Sticker, will be releasing on YouTube on November 17. Sammie’s keyboard-led performances offer detailed melodic lines- contrasted with lyrics and feelings as grounded and heartfelt as she is.&nbsp;

Sav Buist (of The Accidentals)

<a href="https://youtu.be/ToMy5OfmtPA" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ToMy5OfmtPA</a> Hang on and let go, Here She Comes is heading out. Ride with the fine melodies of this new Jake Manzi album (out Aug 1). Seek the exuberance of his pop. Float in the shuffle and caress of thirteen dreamy tracks that jangle and twang against the shores of your heartland. Let yourself go there, beyond the cool sand, where tenderness can find you where it’s fun to pretend. Lose those heavy burdens. Be a fool, move your feet. You’re welcome to all you find here, courtesy of Jake. With a subtle touch for turning up pure song-stuff out of life, channeling the likes of Marshall Crenshaw and Tom Petty, of Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen, of the Wallflowers and Keane, Manzi offers you his singular take on what contemporary pop-rock can be. Hear richly layered vocal, guitar, and keyboard harmonies impressed on thumping and elastic grooves from locked in drums and bass. Be transfixed by high-strung Gibson acoustics that weave enchanting moments with the mellotron and clavinet, with the farfisa, the organ, and twelve-string accompaniments. Recorded live over four days at Spirithouse in Western Mass, Here She Comes sees the return of Griffin Goldsmith on drums, Jacob Rosazza on bass, and Caleb Rosazza on guitars and keys, with engineering by Danny Bernini and production by C. Rosazza and Manzi. Lush in tones of longing after all that’s left unsaid, Here She Comes with a wry smile and honest charm to bring the magic of the quiet moments we get caught up in and the hope in expectation for the joys of dreaming big. Opening for acts like Ron Sexsmith, NRBQ, Lori McKenna, Tomberlin, and Chris Collingwood, and collaborating with artists like Don Was and Mikaela Davis, Madison Cunningham and Dawes’s Griffin &amp; Taylor Goldsmith, Jake Manzi is a songwriter to be reckoned with and a unique talent to be enjoyed. <a href="https://www.jakemanzi.com/" target="_blank">https://www.jakemanzi.com/</a>

Jake Manzi - Record Release Show

<a href="https://youtu.be/_xCGL_IxQMs" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/_xCGL_IxQMs</a> Ari is a grammy nominated singer/songwriter who began his career as an independent artist in 2001. He built a loyal following touring the college circuit extensively between 2000 and 2003, after which he released two albums on Columbia Records, Someone To Tell (2004) and The Break-In (2007) all the while touring both in the U.S. and abroad with artists such as Martin Sexton, Suzanne Vega, and Ani Difranco. In 2008, Ari wrote, recorded and released a new song every Monday in his 52 project, and released Twelve Mondays in 2009, a collection of re-mixed fan favorites from 52. From 2010-2016, Ari continued to tour relentlessly and released four other LP's: Sunset Over Hope Street(2011), The Fire Plays(2012), Shouts And Whispers(2015), and the grammy nominated Silver Skies Blue(2017), a duets album with Judy Collins.&nbsp; Many of Ari's songs have appeared on TV and film - The Path, The Lincoln Lawyer, Private Practice, Army Wives, and One Tree Hill to name a few.&nbsp; To mark 20 years of making music, Ari released a retrospective album entitled I Remember When in December of 2021.&nbsp; <a href="www.arihest.com" target="_blank">www.arihest.com</a>

Ari Hest 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LksoYICGJLw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LksoYICGJLw</a> Addison Agen is an Indie-Folk singer-songwriter best known as Season 13’s first runner up on NBC’s The Voice. Based out of Nashville, TN, the 21-year-old’s raw and heart-wrenching voice welcomes listeners of all kinds to be grateful and self-reflective. More recently, Addison has shared the stage with artists such as Bob Seger, Gordon Lightfoot, Liz Longley The Winter Jam Tour and Kevin Bacon’s, The Bacon Brothers. Her music is woven together with themes of nostalgia, acceptance, and hopefulness. Addison’s debut full-length album, “When The Morning Comes”, is available on all major streaming platforms.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.addisonagen.com/" target="_blank">www.addisonagen.com</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36IL-5tXuwY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36IL-5tXuwY</a> &nbsp;Songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and poet Max Lockwood has a sound rooted in songcraft and heartfelt lyricism. His music is a unification of rock &amp; roll with folk and pop. With full arrangements and rich, poetic lyrics Max creates deep, sonic landscapes that reveal truths of love, adversity, growth.&nbsp;The intertwined essences bring a thoughtful and fresh new take on the singer-songwriter genre.&nbsp;Max channels the flair of Tom Petty and the eloquence of the Beat Generation’s finest to create his distinctive sound.&nbsp;His powerful voice, akin to Tom Petty or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Bruce+Springsteen+&amp;+The+E+Street+Band" target="_blank">Bruce Springsteen</a>, draws listeners in with its raw emotion. Max tells a story with each song with rich, vulnerable tones and unbridled spirit. When Max Lockwood sings, he captures the attention of any crowd.​Max Lockwood’s debut record, “Outrider”, served as his creative writing thesis at the University of Michigan. In 2019, Max released his self-titled sophomore album which Max describes as “pop-sensible”&nbsp;referring to the full and thoughtfully composed arrangements that reflect a refined maturity. The ‘Max Lockwood’ album is lush, featuring vocals from Lindsay Lou and Sam Cooper. Both albums hold true to the singer-songwriter approach with thoughtfully vulnerable lyrics.​Max is also the front man for The Insiders, a Michigan-based Tom Petty tribute. He plays bass with one of folk’s most-loved songbirds, May Erlewine. Max resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he is continuously writing and growing as a music educator.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.maxlockwoodmusic.com/" target="_blank">www.maxlockwoodmusic.com</a>

Addison Agen and Max Lockwood

<a href="https://youtu.be/2QF4SdRTjsM" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/2QF4SdRTjsM</a> Nigel&nbsp;Wearne&nbsp;saunters after dark in the music of the night, blending blues, jazz and Americana-noir. Hailing from Gunditjmara country in the deep south of Australia, he's a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with diverse influences such as Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones. A deep thinker and truth seeker with a penchant for all things peculiar, he sings of human frailty, grace and the cosmos; songwriting that cuts to the bone.&nbsp;Nigel&nbsp;has toured Australia, New Zealand, the US, UK and Canada and he's performed at a long list of music festivals, including MerleFest (USA), Cambridge Folk Festival (UK), Old Settler’s Music Festival (USA), UK Americana Music Week, Port Fairy Folk Festival (AUS) and the Adelaide Guitar Festival (AUS). His sophomore album,&nbsp;Black Crow&nbsp;garnered wide critical acclaim including a 4-STAR review in Rolling Stone, a nomination for Best Country Album at the Music Victoria Awards and debuted at #1 on Australia’s AMRAP Charts. Singer-songwriter, luthier, poet and gleaner;&nbsp;Wearne&nbsp;paints lyrical pictures with&nbsp;“the narrative-fuelled prose of Paul Kelly”&nbsp;– BEAT MAGAZINE. "Intoxicating New Orleans-tinged Americana… a bit of Waits, some Early James and C.W Stoneking"&nbsp;– POST TO WIRE“An eruption of energy, rhythm and melody”&nbsp;– RHYTHMS MAGAZINE“Poignant and mysterious”&nbsp;– MAVERICK MAGAZINE UK <a href="https://www.nigelwearne.com/" target="_blank">https://www.nigelwearne.com/</a>

Nigel Wearne

<a href="https://youtu.be/N0dYNnhDbWM?si=JlIu-AJe1h1Thv6J" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/N0dYNnhDbWM?si=JlIu-AJe1h1Thv6J</a> The Burney Sisters, comprised of sisters Emma-15, and&nbsp;13-year-old sister Bella, create music with a maturity and emotional intelligence that belies their age.&nbsp;Emma and Bella write keen and knowing songs while arranging for multiple instruments and structuring unique and resonant harmonies.&nbsp;The result-personal and penetrating music that both connects with and captivates their listener. Their soul nurturing sibling harmonies and tunes are reminiscent of The Avett Brothers, First Aid Kit, Lake Street Dive, The Staves, and Joseph. <a href="https://theburneysisters.com/" target="_blank">https://theburneysisters.com/</a>

The Burney Sisters

<a href="https://youtu.be/yuH4OTrhtac" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/yuH4OTrhtac</a> Electric Blue Yonder is a musical group like no other, featuring Beth Hataway and Johnny Veres as its core members. Their music takes the listener on a journey through space and time, blending influences from folk, rock, and ambient music into a unique sound that is both familiar and alien. Beth's haunting vocals and Johnny's intricate guitar work are the perfect match, creating a sonic landscape that captivates audiences and leaves them spellbound. Their music touches on themes of love, loss, and the search for meaning in an ever-changing world, conveying heartfelt emotions and genuine experiences. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Electric Blue Yonder continued to showcase their music through virtual performances and interviews, captivating audiences with their otherworldly sounds and unique blend of space-folk. Their debut album, "B/TST Between Space and Time," was released just two weeks before the pandemic began, but the band's unwavering commitment to their craft enabled them to overcome adversity and continue to create and perform. Their sophomore album, "Mourning Sounds," takes listeners on a metaphorical journey through the process of loss and grieving, highlighting the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and find a way forward. The album's message of friendship, perseverance, and radical acceptance resonates deeply, garnering critical acclaim from prestigious outlets such as American Songwriter, Americana UK, and V13. With their innovative blend of musical styles and themes, Electric Blue Yonder has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the world of indie music. Their continued growth and evolution as artists, while staying true to their unique sound and vision, is a testament to their talent and commitment to their craft. Their highly anticipated album, "MicroPARTY," promises to be a celebration of life's small moments, with catchy hooks and danceable beats that will have listeners grooving along in no time. The album's production is said to be top-notch, with expertly crafted layers of synths, guitar riffs, and vocals that create a sonic landscape that is both immersive and exhilarating. Electric Blue Yonder's music is a beacon of hope in a world that is ever more complex and uncertain, reminding listeners that the human spirit is capable of reaching for the stars. Their unique sound and commitment to their craft are sure to inspire and captivate audiences for years to come.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.electricblueyonder.com/" target="_blank">https://www.electricblueyonder.com/</a>

Electric Blue Yonder

<a href="https://youtu.be/kl1J9xsjEH0" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/kl1J9xsjEH0</a> From&nbsp;Kerrville Folk Festival main stage and 30A Songwriters Festival to listening rooms throughout the United States, Goldpine has been offering their own brand of raw Americana to audiences large and small. WINNER of the 2022 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest, the duo's bold harmonies are clearly a channel for their highly charged songwriting. Exposing the pains of severed relationships and unearthing the pursuits of love and purpose,&nbsp;Goldpine&nbsp;is cathartic, moody, and relevant. “Goldpine is folksy and falls within the Americana genre but their musical arrangements are very innovative and eclectic.” - Melissa Clarke (Americana Highways, July 7, 2022) <a href="https://goldpinemusic.com/" target="_blank">https://goldpinemusic.com/</a>

Goldpine

<a href="https://youtu.be/mgKqxoWbkQI" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/mgKqxoWbkQI</a> <h2>The early years</h2> Luke Bulla has been singing and playing music most of his life. Touring with and singing in his family band from age four, Luke took up the fiddle at seven.Over the course of the next few years, he won the National Fiddle Contest (in Weiser, Idaho) six times in his respective age categories. His seventh win came in the Grand Champion division at age sixteen, making him the youngest to have earned the title at the time. Entering Nashville’s Grand Master Fiddle Championship at age ten, Luke distinguished himself by being the youngest person to have made the top ten.In addition to violin, Luke plays guitar and mandolin, and sings and writes songs.<h2> </h2><h2>On to Nashville</h2> In the spring of 1999, Luke moved to Nashville to establish himself as a full time musician. He spent his early years in Tennessee playing fiddle in Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, which earned him his first Grammy Award.Following the Skaggs stint, he became a member of the John Cowan Band. More recently Luke has performed and/or recorded with Brandi Carlile, Jim Lauderdale, Darrell Scott, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Bryan Sutton, Kevin Costner &amp; Modern West, Russ Barenberg Trio, Shawn Colvin, Tony Rice, Chris Thile, Peter Rowan, Patty Griffin, Glen Phillips, Rodney Crowell, and Earl Scruggs, to name a few. Luke was also a perennial instructor at Mark O’Connor’s fiddle camps in his early Nashville years. <h2>Nashville and beyond</h2> With his long-time friend Casey Driessen, Luke founded the band Wisechild, which toured briefly with John Mayer and Counting Crows. He also had a band collaboration, W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration), which included members Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek, Fiction Family), Glen Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket), Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek, I’m With Her), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Imposters, The Attractions, Los Lobos), Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, Wilco, Sheryl Crow, Beck), and Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Cracker).In 2009, Luke released a solo EP&nbsp;featuring Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Aoife O’Donovan and more.That same year, Lyle Lovett asked Luke to join his Large Band, and he now tours full time in all of Lyle’s configurations.<h2> </h2><h2>Recording and more</h2> In 2015 Luke co-founded a Bluegrass/Americana record label,&nbsp;<a href="http://puremusicnashville.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(131, 151, 145);">Pure Music | Nashville</a>, with music and business executive John L. Heithaus. Luke’s LP,&nbsp;<a href="https://lukebulla.bandcamp.com/album/who-loves-you-better-remastered" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(131, 151, 145);">Who Loves You Better</a>, was released by the label in May of 2016. Recorded at Zac Brown’s studio, Southern Ground Nashville, the LP was produced by Grammy winner Bryan Sutton.Who Loves You Better&nbsp;showcases featured vocal&nbsp;performances by Sharon &amp; Cheryl White, Maura O’Connell, Lee Ann Womack, and Sara Jarosz, complemented by a veritable A-List of Americana’s finest musicians, including:&nbsp;Jerry Douglas, Noam Pikelny, Sam Bush,&nbsp;John Cowan, Sam Grisman, Bryan Sutton and more.Currently Luke is happy to be touring again and is working on a new EP. <a href="https://lukebulla.com/" target="_blank">https://lukebulla.com/</a>

Luke Bulla

<a href="&nbsp;https://youtu.be/G6z08I-k7B0" target="_blank">&nbsp;https://youtu.be/G6z08I-k7B0</a> Laughing with the Reckless: A Unique Heartbreakwritten by Joey Ryan – The Milk Carton Kids&nbsp;I’ve met a lot of people in a lot of places. I’ve gotten to know them for a half a night or half a day. I’ve performed in their towns. Tiny shows, usually, with sparse crowds. I’ve slept, after the shows, on their floors, couches, and in their spare rooms. I’ve pet their dogs, drunk their wine, met their kids, their parents, their neighbors, their roommates, stayed up drinking with them at their colleges, learned about the new floors they planned to put in the kitchen when their kids finally left the house. I’ve heard them take off early for work in the morning and found their penciled notes telling me to help myself to the cereal in the pantry. I’ve been for rides on their boats and tractors, been treated to meals in their kitchens and restaurants. I’ve listened to the songs they write in their spare time and heard about the bands they used to be in before they became teachers or bankers or social workers or UPS drivers.&nbsp;Often, I’ve imagined living their lives—wondering if I could be happy in that house there in Utah or Georgia or Idaho. I’ve meditated with a Shinto priest in a freezing river beneath his shrine at six in the morning wearing a loin cloth and chanting Misogi. That time I didn’t wonder. If I think about it for 20 seconds, I can recall the people I’ve gotten to know briefly but intensely in Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, Ohio, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, Maryland… time’s up, but there are more. For years, I lived a life that led to this kind of fellowship. The life of a troubadour, essentially, in the classic sense. Singing for whoever would listen, whoever would pay enough for gas and offer their hospitality as a bonus. It was the greatest time of my life.&nbsp;Jay Nash, now one half of The Contenders, introduced me to that life. The troubadour’s life. He and I traversed the country together many times in the mid-2000s. Most of the people I recalled meeting above, I met with Jay. He had been at it longer than I had, and was showing me the ropes. How to put together a livelihood with a guitar and a rental car. How to find healthy food at a truck stop. How to quiet a dive bar crowd. He introduced me to his troubadour friends, many of whom I would come to share rentals cars and couches and guest rooms with in the years that followed. We became friends in a way that’s only possible for people who have driven at least 50,000 miles together. A Platinum friendship. I know all of his songs and most of his secrets. And vice versa.&nbsp;A peculiar perspective developed in me after all those hundreds of days and nights spent getting to know all those different people in all those different places. It’s a perspective shared by Jay Nash and Josh Day and every troubadour I know, and everyone who’s ever spent a lot of time with strangers in intimate settings: I began to take for granted that people everywhere are much more alike than different. It’s not that we don’t come from different backgrounds, have different religious and political beliefs, different skin colors, different financial means, of course we do. But I’ll say it another way: the things that we all have in common are the things we all seem to care the most about, and the things we disagree about… are not. I’ll be the first to point out that insisting our commonalities outweigh our differences always seems vacuous when hollered, as it is so often, by politicians seeking to engender goodwill in a campaign speech or by celebrities peddling hashtags. But after all the years spent getting to know the people we’re talking about, it is the most salient truth I’ve come to know about our country.&nbsp;The Contenders have made an album that only this brand of troubadour’s optimism could have inspired. A tacit assumption, based on experience, that people are generally good and want the same things. But there’s a flip side, and Laughing with the Reckless is basically a sad album, as it deftly conveys that unique heartbreak that comes from having allowed oneself to be so hopeful—from being intimately connected to so many different kinds of people, knowing the joyful communion that comes so naturally when we’re together, and confronting the reality of how often and severely we fail to live up to that potential. For a troubadour, observing current American political discourse is like watching two brothers bludgeon each other in a fistfight, or two best friends get divorced. The people screaming at each other these days are not strangers to us. We know them. We’ve slept on their couches.&nbsp;So Laughing with the Reckless, with all its infectious rhythms and sublime two-part harmonies, grew out of those moments that are only possible when people “come together,” a phrase which, crucially, is not used on this album as a platitude. It’s meant literally. When Jay Nash and Josh Day sing, “if we all come together, we can see the light,” they mean actually, physically come together, as they have done with so many people for so long. They mean sit, eat, drink, talk, laugh, brag, embellish, confess, ramble, share, and reveal parts of ourselves we never meant to. The parts we might not even reveal to those who think they know us best, choosing instead to entrust our best secrets to the safekeeping of a stranger. When we do that, we find that our religion, our politics, our grievances almost never come to the forefront of the conversation, no matter how much of each other’s whiskey we drink. Our families, our work, our adolescent missteps, our friends, our sick parents, our hobbies, our songs, our favorite bands, our dreams—these are what are shared, because these, apparently, happily, are what actually define a person.&nbsp;Not many people know what it feels like, I fear, to be in so many strangers’ homes sharing music and stories, food and drink. But the troubadour knows. We do it all the time. And The Contenders mean to let you know it’s real, it gives them hope, and, lately, it breaks their hearts. <a href="http://www.wearethecontenders.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">www.wearethecontenders.com</a>

The Contenders

<a href="https://youtu.be/b6KijL4j73Q" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/b6KijL4j73Q</a> From the sidewalk to the stage, Streetlight Cadence will have you smiling, singing, and hopping on your feet before the evening’s end. A welcome departure from cookie-cutter pop music playlists - in an amazing display of lyrical storytelling and instrumental prowess.&nbsp; Originally formed in Honolulu, Streetlight Cadence has captured the hearts of many through their warm spirit and electric sound. You’ll know from the moment the show starts that this will not be an ordinary concert. It’s been a decade of living rooms and stadiums, but every audience adds something new. On the largest stages, the band pays homage to their busking days while bringing acoustic thunder to the most intimate settings. They even made an Emmy®-nominated television series about it! Really, it’s unsuspecting and welcoming, for friends old and new.&nbsp; If you dig acoustic folk rock vibes with hints of classical and bluegrass and are looking for a spectacular show with a bunch of down-to-earth musicians that feels like hanging out with family - Streetlight Cadence won’t disappoint.&nbsp; <a href="www.streetlightcadence.com" target="_blank">www.streetlightcadence</a><a href="streetlightcadence.com" target="_blank">.com</a>

Streetlight Cadence

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d_unCtXtCw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d_unCtXtCw</a> If you’re wondering what Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso Daniel Champagne did after his 44-city US tour over the summer of 2022, he proceeded immediately to Canada for 30 mostly sold-out shows and then to New Zealand for another 30 mostly sold-out shows. There’s a Christmas break, and then a monumental tour of Australia. Obviously the best word to describe Daniel is “relentless”.&nbsp;Daniel will bring his tour back to America starting in mid-July 2023 and continuing through October for an even more ambitious 50 shows! He’ll return to many venues he performed in 2022, and will be adding new shows in places he hasn’t performed in many years.&nbsp;One reviewer recently wrote “Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne must be seen to be believed’&nbsp;The story goes that Daniel first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamic live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road without looking back.&nbsp;The following decade saw him release 5 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe with upwards of 300 shows per year, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela.&nbsp;In early 2020 as the COVID pandemic ground all touring to a halt, Daniel returned to Australia writing music and further honing his craft and returned to international audiences with a swag of new songs and a complete new live show.&nbsp;His current release, “Shimmer Through The Windscreen” is making waves on the streaming services and promises great critical acclaim once it is circulated to the media.&nbsp;For fans of guitar, songs or just artistic expression at its finest, this show is a must see!&nbsp;<a href="http://www.danielchampagnemusic.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(124, 214, 184);">www.danielchampagnemusic.com</a>

Daniel Champagne

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d_unCtXtCw" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(99, 82, 243);">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d_unCtXtCw</a> If you’re wondering what Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso Daniel Champagne did after his 44-city US tour over the summer of 2022, he proceeded immediately to Canada for 30 mostly sold-out shows and then to New Zealand for another 30 mostly sold-out shows. There’s a Christmas break, and then a monumental tour of Australia. Obviously the best word to describe Daniel is “relentless”.&nbsp;Daniel will bring his tour back to America starting in mid-July 2023 and continuing through October for an even more ambitious 50 shows! He’ll return to many venues he performed in 2022, and will be adding new shows in places he hasn’t performed in many years.&nbsp;One reviewer recently wrote “Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne must be seen to be believed’&nbsp;The story goes that Daniel first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamic live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road without looking back.&nbsp;The following decade saw him release 5 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe with upwards of 300 shows per year, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela.&nbsp;In early 2020 as the COVID pandemic ground all touring to a halt, Daniel returned to Australia writing music and further honing his craft and returned to international audiences with a swag of new songs and a complete new live show.&nbsp;His current release, “Shimmer Through The Windscreen” is making waves on the streaming services and promises great critical acclaim once it is circulated to the media.&nbsp;For fans of guitar, songs or just artistic expression at its finest, this show is a must see!&nbsp;<a href="http://www.danielchampagnemusic.com/" target="_blank">www.danielchampagnemusic.com</a>

20 Front Street

@20frontstreet