Americana Gazette June - July 2012

MERICANA GAZETT E A June / July 2012

FEATURE STORY KRISTI ROSE AND FATS KAPLIN Peter Cooper Kate Campbell Girlyman Chelle Rose Bobby Bare, Sr. Steel Bridge Festival The Bluefields Joanna Smith Glenn Worf Ed Littlefield, Jr. Bill & Wendy Schmidt Big Bang String Thing Angela Easterling CD Reviews New this issue!

Bluegrass Page Beat Goes On by Mauro Magellan

AMERICANA GAZETTE `Greetings: This is our 4th Anniversary Issue for the Americana Gazette! I can’t believe that four years have flown by.

It’s hard to believe that just four years ago we were struggling to find enough content to fill 20 pages, where now we are blessed with more content than space! Because we are turning four years old we have decided to add four more pages to the Americana Gazette. Included in those pages are a page totally dedicated to Blue Grass Music and Happenings, an Artist/Band page for artists to list their contact info on (check the website for info on this), a New Music page that will feature new acts and their contact info, and a page for additional stories.

Thank you to all of our staff who have made the Americana Gazette what it is! You are the best! Thank you to all of the great folks and establishments that let us place our magazines in their buildings for distribution, and to all the wonderful people/artists that have granted us interviews, publicists that have set up interviews, individuals that have sent us CD’s to review, to our great friends for helping out delivering papers and supporting the Americana Gazette. And thanks most of all to you – our readers. We hope you will continue to read the magazine and enjoy it as much as we enjoy writing the stories! THANK YOU!!!

We are updating our website and Facebook pages (look for those changes over the summer), blogging about everything Americana, expanding the number of copies we print for a wider distribution throughout Wisconsin, and bringing more great Americana acts to Wisconsin over the next 18 months for your listening pleasure.

Also check out the new image below where you can just lay your smart phone over the drawing and with your QR reader, it will take you directly to our website where you can check out the latest issue and our past issues as well.

PUBLISHER Joyce Ziehli • jziehli@advisorymgt.com

Anne Sullivan

SENIOR EDITOR Andy Ziehli • aziehli@advisorymgt.com

Bobby Westfall

STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOS

Rosemary Ziehli

Celia Carr

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Travis Cooper

Ric Genthe • rgenthe@charter.net

Litt Dubay

GUEST WRITERS Peter Cooper Rebecca Thompson

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Welcome to

Americana Gazette TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHERE TO LOOK 4 Kate Campbell 6 Girlyman 8 Kristi Rose & Fats Kaplin 9 Chelle Rose 10 Litt DuBay 11 Brief History of the Outhouse Rosemary Ziehli 11 B-Side - Celia Carr 12 Bobby Bare, Sr. 14 Steel Bridge Songfest 15 The Bluefield’s 16 Bucket List by Bob Hoffman 17 Joanna Smith 18 Glenn Worf 19 New Music 19 Bob’s Guitar Corner 20 Robert’s Ramblings 21 Bluegrass Music 22 Pet Note - Daisy 23 Ed Littlefield, Jr. 24 And The Beat Goes On by Mauro Magellan 24 On The Road With Peter Cooper 25 50 by Jim Smith 26 Angela Easterling 27 Complacency 27 Rick Recalls 28 Sugar River Shoppe with Bill & Wendy Schmidt 30 Big Bang String Thing 32 - 35 CD Review

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The Americana Gazette is printed by: The Print Center • Brodhead, Wi. 53520 AMERICANA GAZETTE % Andy & Joyce Ziehli P.O. BOX 208 • Belleville, WI. 53508 OFFICE: 608-424-6300 Andy Cell: 608-558-8131 Joyce Cell: 608-558-8132 w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

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Kate Campbell

A Voice from the South

In the musty little theater at Auburn University, the place she had earned her masters degree, Kate Campbell gazed out across the faces, many of them old friends, and introduced the songs on “1000 Pound Machine,” her latest CD. When she came to the ballad,“Red Clay After Rain,” she quoted the Langston Hughes poem that inspired it: When I get to be a composer I'm gonna write me some music about Daybreak in Alabama And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist And falling out of heaven like soft dew.

I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it And the scent of pine needles And the smell of red clay after rain

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With imagery borrowed only partly from Hughes, Campbell delivered a song about leaving the South: I got on that train and I never looked back. Rode it up north ‘til I ran out of track. She was lamenting, she knew, a sad migration common through much of the twentieth century, particularly among African-Americans who were tired of racial discrimination in the South, and lured by the promise of northern jobs. Still, they were leaving something precious behind,family perhaps,or maybe even some piece of themselves, embodied in memories of the land. So Campbell wrote and sang these words: I miss red clay after the rain Dying the rivers with that crimson stain I miss cotton, camellias, curtains of cane And red clay after the rain I’ve always thought that nobody among the ranks of Nashville songwriters understands w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

the South any better than Kate Campbell. Born in 1961, she spent her early years in Sledge, Mississippi, hometown of Charley Pride and she remembers hearing“Kiss an Angel Good-Morning”on the radio, loving that earthy, sunburned voice. Later, her father, a white Baptist preacher who had taken a stand for racial equality,moved the family to Nashville where some of Kate’s early musical heroes were Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.

But from the beginning, there was also Elvis.To Kate, it was hard to imagine a performer more southern. Presley came from a town not far from Sledge, and he seemed in his very DNA to have absorbed the music of Tupelo and the rich, flat delta country around it.There was, first of all,the music of the churches. Whatever his demons later in life, Elvis felt that music deep in his bones and even near the end of his career, one of his favorite songs was a hymn,“How GreatThou Art.”When he sang it in his shows, his voice would soar to a different dimension, and the crowds were reminded once again why people often called him the King. In the end, however, the pressure of that adulation may have killed him, and Campbell wrote a song about that tragedy as well, a ballad called“Tupelo’s Too Far,”which recounted the underside of Presley’s fame.

I never dreamed I would be a king, much less a star I never knew that what I loved could also break my heart I always thought if I just sang, everything would be all right I don’t know what went wrong, but I’m lonesome tonight As Campbell understood, the sadness did nothing to diminish the legacy of a Mississippi singer who had ushered in the era of rock‘n’roll – and had done it in the early 1950s by deliberately crossing the old barriers of race. The A-side of Presley’s first 45, recorded for Sun Records of Memphis, featured the Arthur Crudup delta-blues song, “That All Right, Mama,”and the flip side,“Blue Moon of Kentucky,”was a bluegrass standard from Bill Monroe.

In her formative years, Campbell thought a lot about such things, particularly during her time at Auburn University, when she studied history under Professor Wayne Flynt.A native Alabamian from a working class family, Flynt was an expert on the race and class in the South, and Campbell was so inspired by his teaching that she thought for awhile of pursuing a career in academia.After earning her Masters degree at Auburn, she began work on a Ph.D. at Vanderbilt, but the lure of music was simply too strong.

With the support of her husband, Ira Campbell, she left Vanderbilt and pursued a full-time career as a songwriter. In 1998, she released an album called“Visions of Plenty”and many of us encountered her music for the first time. I remember hearing the title cut on a trip through western North Carolina, but the lyrics transported me back home – back to the Alabama-Mississippi world of painted sunsets and cotton fields blooming in the rich delta soil. Campbell captured the beauty of this part of the South, and she did it with a helping of irony and sadness.

She began writing the song on a trip back to Sledge, the Mississippi town where she had lived as a girl, and at first the images on Highway 61 were fully as beautiful as she had remembered, the cotton turning gold in the October sun. But then she began to notice the billboards, the garish, intrusive advertisements for casinos, and the false and cruel allure of easy money.

A sign went up for Harrah’s on Highway 61 Promising we’d all be winners soon So every Friday evening I go and spin the wheel Sometimes I win, most times I lose In Campbell’s hands,“Visions of Plenty” became a poignant story of innocence lost, of rural people losing faith in the system and pursuing the new American Dream – not of success on the other side of hard work,but rather the hope of getting rich quick,which all too often only made things worse. Listening to the lyrics delivered in Campbell’s silky soprano, with only the barest hint of a twang, I thought of the words of her favorite southern author, the great Mississippian, Eudora Welty.

“One place understood well,” Ms.Welty once declared,“helps us understand all places better.” That has certainly been Campbell’s hope, and thus she has chosen to write what she knows. Over the course of her fourteen albums, none of them hits, but all of them consistently praised by the critics, she has written about faith and family and civil rights, about the land and the people who struggle to make a living from it, and about southern literature and music. One of her best-known songs,“Crazy in Alabama,” took its title from a Mark Childress novel.Appearing first on her“Visions of Plenty”CD, with harmony vocals from Emmylou Harris, the song looks back on the turbulent civil rights years from the vantage point of a child. But over the course of Campbell’s body of work,with its occasional dives into the South’s murky waters,it is also clear that hers is a region she still loves. Her song,“Look Away,” inspired by a Eudora Welty interview on public television, makes the case, as Welty did, that even the antebellum South with its terrible,indefensible stain of slavery,was a place that yearned for culture and beauty.

And thus the tainted history is double-edged.

themes, though there are some musical changes, subtle enough at first listen. For one thing, Campbell is playing the piano and not the guitar as she usually does, and the title cut,“1000 Pound Machine,” which she wrote with her producer,Will Kimbrough, is itself an ode to the grand piano.Together, they researched the inner workings of the instrument and wrote a quirky, melodious anthem about keys being pressed and the hammer falling on the strings,sending vibrations across the soundboard until suddenly, miraculously there is music. Of all the songs on the new record “Red Clay After Rain,” inspired by one of America’s great poets, may be the strongest, but there are others that I found equally as memorable.“Wait for Another Day” is a love song filled with southern imagery.“Montgomery to Mobile” recounts an imaginary bus trip made by George Wallace and Rosa Parks, and “Spoonerville” extols the music of Muscle Shoals, particularly the keyboard work of Spooner Oldham, who, among his other credits, played organ on the Percy Sledge hit,“When a Man Loves a Woman.”

“There’s a lot of ‘Alabama’ in this record,” says Campbell,“a lot of things southern. But I have spent my whole life in the fertile crescent of the South. I was born in New Orleans. My earliest memories are of the Mississippi Delta, and I’ve spent the majority of my life in Nashville. I also went to college in Alabama and as a songwriter all these things are a part of who I am.”

They are also a part of “1000 Pound Machine,” an album recorded in Nashville and Muscle Shoals, in which Campbell has found a way to be – once again – simply and elegantly herself.

Written by: Frye Gaillard Photos supplied.

It’s a long and slow surrender, retreating from the past It’s important to remember to fly the flag half-mast Campbell’s most recent album, released earlier this year, continues to build on familiar w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

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Far from Speechless:

Girlyman’s grassroots music speaks volumes Every generation has its seminal events, those that inhabit its collective psyche and define its dreams. For mine, they included Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong’s first steps across the moon; I collected every NASA mission patch and dreamed of becoming an astronaut. For Doris Muramatsu,Ty Greenstein and Nate Borofsky, September 11th, 2001 was such an event.

The three friends were rehearsing in New York together for the first time as Girlyman, when the planes flew into the iconic towers of Manhattan. That day they made several commitments--to making music their vocation, to truly being themselves, and to not take themselves too seriously.

“We realized that life is too short not to do what you love, what brings you joy,”Nate says, looking at Doris, who nods from her seat in the corner of the High Noon Saloon’s green room in Madison,Wisconsin. Since then, Girlyman has grown into one of the most innovative independent acts on the American music scene, garnering a diverse audience so passionate about the band that it’s as if they have a small army,a base that they can mobilize—and indeed have-when needed.

It’s not hard to see why: these prolific songwriters produce intelligent music, both vibrant and rueful (Nothing Left), provocative and poignant (Somewhere Different Now) and unabashedly celebratory (Young James Dean)—with sentiments salient to our times. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to interview these creative musicians, particularly as Doris has recently recovered from leukemia—a diagnosis as crushing as it was unexpected. Doris’ struggle to grapple with a life-threatening disease and all it evokes—from depression to spiritual rebirth—haunts the music on Girlyman’s most recent album, Supernova.

Girlyman’s self-titled “leading-edge, three-part harmony folk pop” is an appropriately genre-defying label;their largely acoustic music ranges from jazz to dowop to engine-throbbing rock. Clear-eyed observers of human nature, Girlyman infuses their songs with complex three part harmonies that mark the band’s sound.Their beautiful, intertwining voices and distinctive arrangements are accompanied by spare, thoughtful contributions from the keyboard, cello and other instruments.They deliver a bright banjo and mandolin in their self-styled “Girlygrass,” bringing audiences to their feet with full-tilt hill songs like KitteryTide.

And they show uncanny skill at fashioning the most elegant of contemporary waltzes: the contrapuntal harmonies behind Everything’s Easy are exhilarating, the lilting nostalgia of Easy Bake Ovens, evocative. The influences of folkrevival icons like Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan, as well as Simon and Garfunkel and the Beatles are apparent in Girlyman’s work. Yet the risks the group has taken with harmony are unlike any of their predecessors, and have yielded a considerably more sophisticated repertoire. Their gift for turning a poetic truth broaches that of Paul Simon and equals that of their closest contemporary influence, the Indigo Girls.

Childhood friends from New Jersey, Doris and Ty have performed together since their youth, inspired by hearing Paul Simon’s,The Boxer at the age of eight. Both classically trained musicians, they played through college at Sarah Lawrence, where they met Nate, an award-winning singer-songwriter in his own right.The three soon were experimenting with increasingly complex vocal arrangements and collaborating on original work.They rapidly realized that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” and that their destinies were bound together by the intricate harmonies that have become the band’s signature, as well as by witness of the fall of the Twin Towers.The bond be-

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tween band members is strong; it’s apparent their friendships run deep.

They share a remarkable level of trust, something audiences quickly perceive and to which they respond.The scrutiny the musicians give themselves and how they experience life is one of the most compelling features of their work. From the rueful complicity in one’s own self-destruction to the resistance to faith we harbor after yet another loss, they courageously go where few will tread. Taking on the risk of sharing such deeply personal exploration, Girlyman offers to their audience the most intimate of musical gifts: vehicles for catharsis and healing.

Another Girlyman talent is being able to articulate the issues we all struggle to voice.

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perience. “Life is too short not to have fun,we decided,”smiles Doris.

And they do—in their occasional oddball lyric, unexpected ending, and exotic harmony—as well as in their stage performances. Creativity in the world of acoustic music means multiple tunings and swapping of instruments between songs, challenging one’s partners on stage to compensate for time spent twisting knobs. Nate’s vocal improvisations, punctuated by JJ’s saucy percussion, more than alleviate the tedium of tuning. This evening it was Madison’s single digit temperatures that fueled Nate’s impresario flight (he can pull off an elegant falsetto when needed). Audiences love it—the interplay between JJ’s anthropomordrumsticks and the phic not-so-patiently waiting band members goes beyond the conventional nod to the local to become a neat bit of jazzy vaudeville. So far I’ve never seen Nate get in so deep that he couldn’t get out of trouble.

truths accessible through structural and melodic metaphors that are irresistible to our ears. We experience the hesitant hopefulness in St.Augustine, reluctantly emerge from the company of loneliness in Speechless because the emotions they capture, while elusive, are familiar to us. Like the poetry of Leonard Cohen, Girlyman uses imagery just recognizable enough for a listener to see themselves in their songs,leaving enough ambiguity to allow us to make it our own. I also enjoy Girlyman’s irreverent edge, visible in their casual, comfortable playfulness with gender identity onstage as well as in their music They adeptly walk the line between using self-deprecating humor to social purpose,while paying respectful tribute to the oft-unrecognized expanse of human experience.

In 2003,Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls picked up one of the band’s independently-produced albums and released it under her record label as Remember Who I Am, followed by a second, Little Star. Girlyman’s capacity for producing a wider range of sound and musical contrast increased significantly with the addition in 2010 of JJ Jones, a largely self-taught drummer, who performed with the Canadian band Po’Girl when they opened for Girlyman on tour. JJ’s addition has contributed nuance and panache to Girlyman’s music. She’s simply one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen,one of the few who uses every percussive surface to maximum advantage.

When I ask whether each takes on specific roles in creating their music,Nate and Doris acknowledge they tend to have different strengths. “I’m the melody person,” he says, “Ty’s more about lyrics; Doris is the one who comes up with arrangements.” Each musician takes the lead on developing their own songs, bringing them to the others, who provide a lyric here or melodic line there as they work through them, the songs emerging organically from the process. JJ, largely a performer until recently, finds this approach to songwriting gratifying. “When one person is out of ideas, someone else almost always has another to offer. It keeps the process moving, and that much input adds a lot of richness.” Still, anyone who has collaborated on songwriting knows the process can be trying. “The single biggest challenge is to let go of any attachment to the ideas you come up with,”Nate shares.“It can be scary to suggest a lyric or a melody and have the other person not like it.“ Give yourself permission to write bad songs, Nate advises. “If I give myself permission to write bad songs and just write them, it keeps the energy moving. It might take ten or twenty ‘bad’ songs to get to a ‘good’ one that I use, but at least it's moving forward.”

The talent each of these individuals possesses in their own right fuels Girlyman’s success as an ensemble. Nate’s light tenor moves easily from plaintive ballads to laconic observations of love lost reminiscent of Aimee Mann. In its higher range, His voice lends a gentle, ethereal quality to songs like Everything’s Easy. Doris’ clear soprano moves incandescently across the scale; her pure, fully dimensional phrasing would delight the most demanding of librettists. In the stillest moments of songs like Speechless, you feel your heart slow with her breath.As a lyricist,Ty’s practice of extending metaphors out toward a precipice keeps an unpredictable edge to Girlyman’s songs.

Most writers would stop at the easy close. Ty jumps, leaving much to imagination and powerful effect (Soul of You). Ty’s expressive alto brings quiet energy to her introspective ballads, nursing a negotiation of life from pain to acceptance, if not peace, in songs like Break Me Slow.Together, these musicians create a remarkable movement and moment, from songcraft to performance. They share dead-on pitch, a willingness to be vulnerable before an audience, and an extraordinary capacity for creating intimacy with that audience. Undoubtedly a challenge to execute flawlessly in live performance, Girlyman’s music is at their best nothing short of jaw dropping,able to move audiences like few others this generation.

Girlyman has attracted a diversity of admirers, from families, teens and kids, to the thirtysomethings and sliver-haired boomers that populated the High Noon Saloon that February night, which they’ve translated into a strong supportive fan base. Their live performances have wide appeal; the connection between band members and the rapport they build with the audience generates energy--as does JJ’s performance on the drums. It’s a total body experience for JJ; she mesmerized my husband, our guests and I that night as she flew deftly across the spectrum of bass, snare and cymbals with impeccable skill.

A large part of Girlyman’s appeal is just who these four remarkable people are. As unpretentious as they are gracious, they unhesitatingly welcomed me into the privacy of their green room for an interview. They write themselves into their music and pour their passion into their performances.“There's something very deep about singing in harmony,” Nate maintains. “It's like a metaphor we all interpret on a deep biological level - that we can coexist beautifully with each other, even though the parts we're singing are all different.” Together,these qualities imbue a spirituality into the Girlyman experience. Some part of each song, whether lyric, harmony or melody, will touch every listener.

With the release of Supernova, Girlyman’s aspirations are to reach out to and inspire their fans, as well as to continue to grow as musicians. In getting closer to their own truths, Girlyman gets closer to the universal—and so to new heights and acclaim with their music. Girlyman has an important role to play not just in music, but popular culture. In their grassroots ascension from backyard venues to national recognition, we learn that music can be a safe, playful, place where you can put yourself out there and find kinship with an unexpected many.

Peoples’ affinity for Girlyman’s music reminds us that the expression of emotion, highly refracted through gender in the U.S., is not always well-tolerated in some American subcultures. Girlyman deliberately plays with gender as a social construct;they challenge our expectations by highlighting or downplaying conventionally feminine and masculine traits. In a society tiring of illusions, Disney-spun love, and of putting up defenses against daily bullying and its adult kin,the music of Girlyman offers us a vehicle for understanding and expressing ourselves that also asks something of us: to be courageous.

Girlyman celebrates the human voice in every sense of the word.

They inspire us to accept ourselves, each other, and aspire to greater faith and heights—all in their humblest of anthems. In a society where we have few means to help us make sense of our emotions and to find our personal truths—much less with which to share them—Girlyman’s interlacing of word, sound and soul offers us the gift of many renewals.And so perhaps, outfitted with my iPod and Supernova, I will myself find a new route toward my childhood dream and Girlyman’s music will fill my observatory, if not my spacecraft, with iridescent harmony.

Story and photos supplied by:Anne Gravel Sullivan Check them out at: www.girlyman.com

Another characteristic this troupe shares is a powerful blue streak of courage: they consistently put their ideas—crazy, weird, subversive, and silly—out there for us to exw w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

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Kristi Rose & Fats Kaplin, My kind of People!

As I have said before in the pages of the Americana Gazette it is an honor to meet and write about your musical heroes. Fats Kaplin is one of mine! I had interviewed Fats for our first anniversary issue back in 2009, and since then he and his lovely and talented wife Kristi Rose have become wonderfully close friends of Joyce and mine. Both Kristi and Fats are multi-talented artists, besides being two of the nicest people you will ever meet! Kristi is a wonderful singer with pipes that will blow you away with her many different singing styles and her vocal range. Fats plays more instruments than you can count on two hands, and he plays them all better than anyone I can think of!

They are performers who have created a highly eclectic musical genre, (and a way of life) known as Pulp Country. It is a world of cinematic proportion where rural and urban collide.Their very particular slant on the world is shaped by their individual backgrounds. She is from a farm in far Southern Illinois, an area historically known as “Little Egypt” that has a dark, hard scrabble past.Their numerous critically acclaimed albums include the classic “This Is Pulp Country!” --“Kristi Rose- Live In Holland”, ---- Fats’“The Fatman Cometh” ---“World of Wonder-Downunder”---numerous EPs and their most recent, an album for the Christmas Season in 2010,“I Wonder As I Wander”.

As a duo, Kristi Rose & Fats have played venues ranging from major festivals and clubs in the U.S., Canada and Europe to intimate House Concerts and Listening Rooms.

Fats grew up in Manhattan. His beginnings started out in the Folk scene that was going on in New York/Greenwich Village in the early 60’s. He starting playing at age 11, and within a year of learning the banjo he started watching Pete Seeger on Public TV and his show Rainbow Quest. Seeger would bring on different Folk artists every week. Well one week he brought on his brothers band The New Lost City Ramblers. They were young men at the time, and they wore white shirts with sleeve garters and played old time string band music. Fats just flipped out and thought it was the greatest music he had ever heard. They were so authentic, just like the records he had heard of that old style of music with fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Fats went and got himself a cheap fiddle and taught continued on page 29

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GHOST OF BROWDER HOLLER

CHELLE ROSE – RELEASES 2ND CD

How many of you have heard of Chelle Rose? Well if you haven’t heard of her and her music, you definitely need to check her out. She is one amazingly talented lady! I just received a copy of her new CD,“Ghost of Browder Holler” and I absolutely loved it! Chelle Rose is from Nashville and I had the sweet opportunity of talking with her and found out that we have many mutual friends. Paul Griffith is the drummer in her band, Bones Hillman is her bass player and she is dear friends with Warner, Deb and Blanche Hodges. A small world it is indeed!

Chelle’s new CD,“Ghost of Browder Holler”, her second CD, was released on May 8, 2012. The album was produced by Ray Wylie Hubbard. The album features Elizabeth Cook, Ian McLagan and the McCrary Sisters.

The album’s opening track,“Browder Holler Boy,” starts the set with a haunting slide guitar invocation and then spins a true tale of Rose’s first love,Timothy Andrew Helton, who died young in a canoeing accident, but returned to visit her as a noisy spirit.The tune also features Hubbard’s gritty supporting vocals and laid back harmonica. “Alimony,” is a playful but dead-serious account of the marriage she ended in order to attain her dream of becoming a songwriter and performer.There’s more than a hint of Exile on Main Street to “Rufus Morgan (Preacher Man),” which features legendary Faces keyboardist Ian“Mac”McLagan and Nashville’s leading spiritual singing family the McCrary Sisters. Rose wrote the song as a tribute to a rural holy man from her family tree, and its lyrics are a virtual tour of Western North Carolina’s richly forested land, where her “grannymom” often took her to visit other family members during childhood summers.

“When I get homesick,I pine for Western North Carolina sometimes even more so than EastTennessee,”says Rose, who moved to Nashville in 1996.“My maternal family lives on both sides of the Smoky Mountains. I grew up there among the people I still know and love.I've always felt connected and consoled by the mountains and my people there, so writing about them comes very natural to me.There are many settings and characters rich for the mining.”“Leona Barnett,” written by her fellow East Tennessean Adam Hill, is the story of a woman driven to work in the mines after her husband is killed in a mining accident. And “Wild Violets Pretty,” which features Grammy-nominated Americana star Elizabeth Cook as guest vocalist, is about losing an unborn child.

“Sometimes I can’t perform a song live until I’ve had time to heal from a deep wound, and often the healing begins with the song,” explains Rose.“I write a lot and don’t really look for material, so you know if I'm covering someone else’s song I am feeling it with every ounce of my soul.” w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Joyce: Hi Chelle. What’s the weather like today there in Nashville?

Chelle: It’s a beautiful 77 degrees today. Probably warmer than there in Wisconsin?

Joyce: Yea, we aren’t quite there yet. Let’s start out by telling me about your youth and how you got into music as a career?

Chelle: When I was a little girl I played piano by ear. This was fun to me. I was never very serious and I was certainly not my piano teacher’s favorite student. My grannymom raised me and on the day that she would leave to go get groceries, I was home alone and I’d just play my music. Music was always there. I never thought I’d grow up to be a performer/songwriter. Well, I did have to get a real job. I did accounting for a number of years, guess I was pretty good at it. It was very stressful and I was very unhappy at that. I got my first guitar around age 25 and started writing every day. I loved it.

I also started listening to good music about this time too.

I had to listen to what was on the radio as I didn’t have a big record collection. I started listening to songwriters like Lucinda Williams,Steve Earle,andTownes Van Zandt.

When I moved to Nashville in 1996 I started paying attention to what was going on around town, especially with Lucinda Williams,Steve Earle,Buddy Miller,Malcolm Holcombe, R.B. Morris, David Olney and Marshall Chapman. Many of these are now my friends, but I never got to meet Townes Van Zandt. I was devastated to hear of his passing in January 1997. I did however sit on a back church pew at his service, he played a huge part in my journey to become a songwriter.

I just kind of jumped in the fry pan and just started playing around. My last record came out in 2000,so it’s been awhile. It has been a slow progression. I guess things happen the way they are supposed to!

Joyce: Tell me about the songwriting.

Chelle: Mostly from life experiences. I do make some stuff up for the benefit of the song, but the core is usually close to me or a friend.

Chelle: Yea, it will be on June 7th at the Station Inn in Nashville. My best friend, Elizabeth Cook and the McCrary Sisters will be making special guests appearances.

It will be fun! Come on down.

We’re at The Shed in Maryville on August 17 and back again with Ray Wylie Hubbard on September 8. Still booking summer dates as well as looking at some fall dates with Ray Wylie.

Joyce: I wish I could, but I have already been to Nashville 3 times this year and am going again next week. I do have to work at my other job sometimes.(we laugh) Any hobbies?

Chelle: I have 2 young children that I like to spend as much time as I can with. We go to the river,have picnics go swimming, etc. My son is in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to spending quality time with my kids, I am always involved with some type of project or tinkering with photography. (We chatted awhile about his TKD, Chelle doing a kick boxing class with Nanci Griffith, and me being a First Degree Black Belt in TKD, and Chelle being a certified life guard.)

Joyce: Any other words of wisdom to pass along before I let you get out and enjoy your beautiful day? I think I’ve already talked your ear off this morning.

Chelle: Surround yourself with the best musicians you can. They will inspire and push you,and make you work harder and in the end you will be stronger as a musician and as a person.

Joyce: Good advice! Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. I really enjoyed visiting with you and look forward to meeting you in person on one of my trips to Nashville. Good luck with the new CD and have a great time at the CD Release party on the 7th!

Chelle: Thank you Joyce. It was great talking with you too. Say hello to Warner, Deb and Blanche next time you see them.

For more information on Chelle Rose go to: www.chellerose.com where you can connect to her FB, Twitter,YouTube. www.myspace.com/chellerosemusic

Joyce: Will you be touring to promote this new CD? Chelle: I haven’t toured outside of the Southeast since 2002, when we had a three week run in the UK. I’ve been on the local scene. I am getting ready to tour with Ray Wylie Hubbard, a wonderful character, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Ghost of Browder Holler is available through all online outlets including iTunes as well as chellerose.com Story by: Joyce Ziehli Information and photos supplied from Cary Baker of Conqueroo.

Joyce: You have a CD release party coming up real soon.

Where is that at?

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Litt DuBay’s

Rant!

Hi folks Ole Litt Dubay here. I can’t believe that it has been four years since I have been able to brighten your mundane lives up with my words of wisdom! I can’t believe it either that Ziehli has not been able to fire me. Some folks over that last four years have written in and wondered about just who Ole Litt is.

They want to know how I got started in journalism. Well here’s the skinny on it.

I was born in the 50’s. Not the year, the temperature so I’ve always been kind of warm

by Litt DuBay blooded versus my brother who was born in the 30’s and has serial killer tendencies but that’s another column. Anyway I’m not as old as my parent’s wish I would act but younger than my girlfriends wishes I was. I got started writing in the first grade, you know the basic letters, numbers and such. For awhile I was into Yellow Journalism in High School, but then my folks bought me some white papered tablets instead of those yellow legal pads. Anyway I digress. After I went to College at the UW Flipside I graduated with degrees in Pre Law and Pre Med (cause I couldn’t get into those type of classes because of my low testosterone levels) I took a job as a truck driver for the U.S. Border Patrol (at least that’s what they told me they were) hauling people from one side of the border to another. That worked out pretty good until I got busted in Laredo and spent the next 10 years doing hard time as a backup dancer for Madonna. During this time which I like to call my low spot I took up writing again to make a few bucks. After getting a couple of my stories printed in Penthouse Forums I decide that I wanted to pursue writing as my career.

So I moved back to Wisconsin and started writing for some loco newspapers about the drug problems in America and their respective towns. That worked out pretty good until I got busted for drugs and indecent exposure. I took a picture of myself in a bathing suit and using petroleum jelly illegally as an afro you know those drugs that make you Horney, and posted it on MySpace. They said the suit did not cover up enough skin. I told the Judge I was handicapped cause I had more skin than suit. He said that being a smart ass was not a handicap. I told him that I agreed,but it was better to be a smart ass and playing the field than to be a bench warmer like him. He did not see the humor in my story so hence I returned to jail where Ziehli found me (that’s another story in itself involving Goat dancing and other Hootchie Koo weird stuff) and promised the judge he would rehabilitate me,and gave me a job! So that’s how I came to write at the Americana Gazette! Hope that satisfies your curiosity.

Well Ziehli got in trouble with the Face book Cops. It seems he was friending too many people he did not know and they threatened to ban him from Face book for life! I ain’t kidding on this. First of all isn’t that the purpose of Face book to make friends on line? I bet all those big music stars like Marc Barnaby and John Miller don’t know everyone who is there friend on Face book. Especially Miller cause God knows he isn’t any good at making friends anyway!

Ziehli’s just back from hobgoblin with all those big stars in Nashville again. Going out to fancy dining joints like the Waffle House and Wendell Smith’s with Phil Lee. They even got a gift from Phil. A Genuine authentic Gretsch Statue of a guy playing the accordion. It was in Richard Bennett’s house and Marty Stuart’s house too. Their wives made them get rid of it so it ended up at Phil’s house. Maggie made him get rid of it so Ziehli has Phil Lee and Joyce Ziehli it now in the Studio. It will rest there for a year than return to Nashville, where Warner Hodges will take ownership in 2013, unless the Mayans take over the world!

It seems that there is a rumor circulating that I have been asked to be Mitt Romney’s running mate for the presidential election this November. I want to clear this up immediately! This is clearly a Republican smear campaign on my good name and character. They heard I was running for office in 2013 which is not true. I was running from office 213 because the burrito I had for lunch was making an early exit, hence my smear campaign!

Enough said!

Now for my rant. Hopefully our long nightmare will soon be over in Wisconsin, Walker and the short Fitzwhatits brother will be voted out of office, and we’ll have a new Governor and speaker of the Senate. Can’t come too quick for me! Those two yahoo’s with the other Fitzwhatits brother have done more damage to Wisconsin than a squirrel loose in your underwear looking for nuts right after you’ve had a vasectomy!

Walker has to rely and go out of state to raise money. If those other states Warner E. Hodges love him so much we’ll trade them him, the two brothers, and a future draft pick for a chance at a better future here in the dairy state. His only footnote in history will be that he was the only Governor booted from office in less than 18 months of service. I cannot think of anything worse than the thought of Scott Walker wining reelection for the state of Wisconsin. Enough said!

Finally thanks to everyone who reads my column and comments on it. I don’t really care what you think, but I am glad you take the time out of your busy lives to be enlightened by me! As a wise friend of mine once told me “Always strive to be yourself, unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman!

By: Litt Dubay

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in our area. He thereafter used the house facilities.

Old outhouses that were once routinely burned or torn down are now sold to the highest bidder. If the building cannot be saved, the alert salvagers know that the seat board alone will bring $25.00.Often someone digging in a particular spot where long ago sat an outhouse will find all kinds of odd things. People used to throw all manner of things down the hole of the outhouse,using it as a garbage dump.Such things as jewelry, old money, coins, old spectacles, silverware and glass ware.

Between the years 1933-1945 The WPA, under Franklin D Roosevelt’s administration, built 2,309,239 sanitary outhouses. Federally trained and funded specialists built these outhouses the government had crews going all over the countryside rebuilding any outhouse that was worth saving and building ones where existing models did not meet government standards.The new and improved models had concrete bases, airtight seat lids, and screened ventilation.

A Brief History Of The Outhouse I used to write an article a month for a newsletter for the Senior citizens of our town.

The paper came out once a month and for most of the time I wrote about my family and some misadventures I had with them growing up.On occasion a particular subject would get my attention and I would explore writing about it.That is how I became interested in the history of the outhouse and its place in America. It is a bit of Americana.

I found a most interesting book on the subject in our local library.The title was THE VANISHING AMERICAN OUTHOUSE by Ronald S. Barlow. It was a tall book with a soft cover. It was very easy to handle. The book contains nearly 200 photographs and plan drawings of privies constructed between 1820 and 1940.Who would ever believe all the interesting facts on the subject? I once again reviewed the book for this article and then went on the web. It was amazing all the websites on this particular structure.

The outhouse was invented about 500 years ago.They first came into existence in Europe in the fifteenth century.There is a reason why a crescent and sun are carved into the door of the outhouse.They served to identify which was to be used by the women and which was to be used by the men.The moon was to signify Luna the ancient crescent shaped figure who was the universal symbol for womanhood. Sol, a sunburst pattern, was to signify the men’s outhouse.The cutouts also served as vents for fresh air and also to let in light, as they had no windows.These signs were necessary for identification because in early times only a fraction of the population could read or write.

As time went by Innkeepers thought maintaining a man’s outhouse was unnecessary.

They could go out in the woods and relieve themselves.That left only the outhouse marked with a crescent moon.

Two –holer outhouses were not built so that two people could use them at the same time. One hole was made smaller to enable children to use them without being afraid of falling into the pit below. The largest outhouse contained twelve holes and was built by a hotel in Montana. The average size of an outhouse was about 4 ft square by 7ft high.The pit where the waste fell was sometimes as much as 20 feet deep.This prevented the outhouse from being moved frequently and to save work.

There were two story outhouses that were built as free standing units.They were built to provide access for snowed in miners, loggers, and hunters. If there were drifts up to 10 to 12 feet high the bottom unit was pretty much unavailable in other units double vaulted shafts protected lower story occupants against unpleasant surprises.The upper floor’s waste dropped down behind the wall of the lower floor’s outhouse. Most folks were leery of using ground floor seats when anyone was busy upstairs.There was always the possibility of a leaky floor or a “peeping tom.”

Victorian ladies liked their outhouses to be charming as well as functional.They sometimes painted or wallpapered the insides to make it a more pleasant place to be. At one point in my life we lived in a home without indoor plumbing. Not for very long though. My parents purchased the home in late fall and the bathroom and indoor plumbing could not be installed until spring.To the back wall of the outhouse was an oil painting by a local artist. It featured a small child sitting on a rug with a large red ball in her hands.The artist’s signature was written in the right hand corner of the painting. I do not remember what became of the painting when the house was torn down.

Next door to us lived a retired schoolteacher and the janitor of the local school district.

The house was owned by the woman’s father who also lived with them. On their back lot sat an old outhouse.This was the domain of the old man. He did not like the facilities in the house and always used the outhouse. One day a tornado went through our town and demolished the building right to the ground.That was the end of outhouses

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The outhouse has been referred to by many names, The word privy comes from the Latin word “Privus” or private place, It has been called the back house, the pokey, the loo, the closet, the federal building, and the white house.This is just to name a few. So if you had a friend who said they had spent a lot of time at the white house, it doesn’t necessarily mean the Government employed them.

Thomas Crapper has been believed to be the inventor of the first flush toilet or Water Closet. Other sources I have come upon say that he has been given credit for it. He was a master plumber and held many patents for plumbing products. However,Alexander Cumming was the first person to patent the siphonic flush and his invention was further developed years later by plumbers by the name of Joseph Bramah and Thomas Twyford. No matter who did it, it changed the way we live and the landscape of America.

Phil Lee

Story by: Rosemary Ziehli

B-Side Oh my goodness it’s getting warm! And don’t get me wrong, I’m as thrilled about this as the next person (maybe even more so), but it also scares the heck out of me. It’s not s’posed to be this warm in March, and I sure hope this isn’t an indicator that we’ll have another scary hot summer. Still, I’m incredibly excited to start seeing tulips and daffodils and having actual rain (although I’m probably rather unique in that last bit). I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for it to get green too quickly.

Why is it that the chords to really good songs refuse to be found? I swear I’ve spend about an hour combing the internet for Music to Me by Bill Stains, and it’s not on YouTube, nor do the chords appear to want to sneak out from under their invisibility cloak (Harry Potter! I warned you…). I found the lyrics in maybe two places, but the chords are nowhere to be found. Still, I know they exist, because I know somebody who has them… *begins formulating robbery plans*.

Brief sidetracked moment: I keep seeing these adds on the internet that say ‘I’m Bob Dylan (for want of a better random name), and I’m a Mormon,’ which frankly make me laugh. I’ve got nothing against Mormons; I just find it a little funny that they advertise.

Who knows; it’s one way to increase personage. Gigity (anybody?).

Let’s talk about Ukuleles. Everybody plays them now. I kid you not. I know at least five people, and I’ve heard other people talking about people who I don’t know. It used to be kind of a hipster-ish thing – Joseph Birdsong of the Bedazzled Ukulele fame and various others – but now it’s becoming a thing.There are kids who bring them to school. I dunno… I just find it strange and sudden and strange…. Also, ukulele is incredibly difficult to spell.

I’ll leave you with something I find absolutely wonderful: a lot of male harmony.

Schooner Fare and Stan Rodgers-esque stuff, you know what I’m talking about. Sometimes on Simply Folk they’ll play a song that’s got maybe five voices layered, mostly men, with maybe one woman, and it sounds amazing.This tends to happen a lot with older songs, or songs of the sea, and sometimes I get goosebumps.

Fare the well for I must leave thee, do not let this parting grieve the, for remember that the best of friends must part; must part! I’ll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree, and may the world go well with thee! (There is a Tavern in the Town, in case you were wondering.)

Written by: Celia Carr

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Bobby Bare, Sr.

Still doing it his way!

Bobby Bare is one of the all-time greatest country singers to ever call Nashville home!

Bobby Bare deserves to be and should be in the Country Music Hall of Fame! Bobby Bare is my hero!

Bobby Bare stands tall and is easy going as Joyce and I met him at the RFD Television Studios in Nashville in April 2012. He is there to tape a segment of Larry’s Country Diner. The television station is awe-inspiring and a little intimidating to those of us not used to the bright lights and constant action going on behind the scenes. Bare as he is known in Nashville circles, is calm and not at all affected by the whirl wind of activity going on all around him. He takes the sound stage and makes it his own. He jokes with the audience and the cast like they are all his old friends. Bare sings four songs including That’s how I got to Memphis and Marge is at the Lincoln Park Inn, both written by his old friendTom T.Hall,Streets of Baltimore (one of my favorite all-time songs), and the Mermaid Song. I am awe struck by the way Bare delivers these songs and how he has the audience in the palm of his hand. After the show taping I finally get my interview with Bobby Bare!

AG: So how’s fishing been lately?

Bare: Well I got this rich friend down around Waverly who builds his own boats and has his own lake there. I was catching 10 pounders. It’s not real fishing though. In a week or so I’m going bass fishing at Dell Hollow, now that’s real fishing!

AG: You have had a long and varied career singing great songs. How do you go about picking songs to sing?

AG: Bobby it is a wonderful opportunity to get to finally sit-down and talk to you!

Bare: I just listen to songs that hit me. I get them from many places. Most of the time a friend will tell me about a great song that they have heard and I get a copy of it and take a listen for myself. That’ how I usually find the really great songs. Sometimes I go to great writers and ask what they have. Sometimes a publisher will call me and say “you’ve got to listen to this song.” That’s what happened withTomT.Hall’s,Lincoln Park Inn. His publisher called me on Thanksgiving and said you’ve got to come hear this song right away. So I got in the car and drove downtown and gave it a listen. It was a fantastic song! I said “yea you’re right” and I recorded it. Of course I was a big fan of Tom T.’s anyway and to get to record one of his songs just made it better.

Bare: Better late than never! (laughs). I owe you an interview!

AG: You have cut a lot of Tom T’s, Shel Silverstein, and Bob McDill’s songs. In fact my

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favorite Bobby Bare song is McDill’s Put a little lovin on me. How did you go about picking that song?

Bare: I did a whole album of McDill’s songs called Me & McDill. We went down to Muscle Shoals and cut that record. I just love McDill’s writing.

AG: Did you use the Muscle Shoals’ musicians to cut the record?

Bare: Sure did. We used all those hot pickers down there. They are all so great.

AG: One of my favorite albums of yours is the one Rodney Crowell produced. You had so many great cuts on that record. New Cut Road,White Freightliner Blues,Call Me the Breeze, etc. I love the way you cut Call Me the Breeze. My band plays it the funky way you cut that record. The groove you had is incredible.

Bare: On that album Rodney brought in most of Emmylou Harris’s Hot band to play on it. Tony Brown, Emory Gordy, a great bass player,Albert Lee, and Ricky Skaggs. We cut a couple Townes Van Zandt songs. I had met Townes back in the late 60’s. I had an A Frame cabin on Centerville Lake. Mickey Newberry had the place next to mine.

I was standing out on the porch and Mickey came over and said “Bobby there’s someone you need to meet”, and it was Townes. He sang Tecumseh Valley and I loved that song and never forgot about it. When I went to record with Rodney one of us brought the song up and we both loved it so we cut it. I still think I cut a great track with that one. I had also cut Four Strong Winds by Townes way back in the 60’s. He had a song I had always loved called Summer Wages and I recorded that too!

AG: That is a fantastic album.One of the all-time greatest ever cut in my opinion! I told Rodney that when I interviewed him. He told me that it was one of his favorite records he ever worked on.

Bare: Well thank you. I really loved making that record. It’s got great songs and sound.

AG: You were one of the first people to stand up to Music Row and get to cut your own records producing them and picking the pickers to play on them. How did that come about?

Bare: I’ll tell you how that all got started. Chet stopped producing in the late 60’s.

Elvis came to town and Chet was producing him. He would come to town and mess around and not get started recording until two in the morning. Chet was producing 20 plus others acts and he just got tired of it, so he quit producing. They stuck me with a lot of other producers and it just did not work out.

I had always wanted to work with Jerry Kennedy and my contract was up with RCA so I went over to Mercury with Jerry. We had good success. We recorded That’s how I got to Memphis, Come Sunday, I took a memory to lunch, another great Tom T. Song.

My contract ran out after two years at Mercury. Jack Clement was trying to get me to come to JMI records and Chet was trying to get me to come back to RCA so I went back. I told Chet you got too many producers over here and it’s too confusing to me.

Chet said“why don’t you produce your own records? I’ve known you long enough that I know you know what to do.” I did Ride me down easy and then I put out an album of the same name. Then I started doing stuff completely out in left field for Nashville and RCA standards. I was working with Shel Silverstein and snuck in his stuff before anyone knew what I was doing. Jerry Bradley was running it by then, and he told me “If I had known what you were doing I would have stopped you right then!”

That was about the time Waylon and I were real close friends. I told him what I was doing and he went to RCA and told them he wanted to produce his own records. They were not real happy about it, but they had to let him. That opened up a huge can of worms! It was really not a big deal for me but when Waylon did it the dam broke and the rest is history.The was not really a big “Outlaw” thing like the press made it out to be.

AG: Walt Houston played guitar for you for a long time.

I’ve got a lot of fishing trips coming up. I’ve got a two week trip in a week from now.

AG: Is your wife good with all this fishing?

Bare: She is now! (laughs) She wasn’t always good with it. We went through a period of time when the word fishing was considered the “F” word (laughs)!

AG: How long have you been married?

Bare:Since 1964. It’s sneaking up on 50 years.Way too long for her to get mad anymore about fishing! There’s not a lot she can do about anyway!

AG: Joyce got that way about my guitar buying. She doesn’t say anything anymore.

Bare: How many guitars do you have?

AG: Oh about 45.

Bare: Heck if things get tough you can get on EBay and sell them and have enough money to live on for 10 years or so (laughs)! Bobby Jr. does that all time. They just did a movie about him. Followed him around for a year and filmed him.They were over at his house and he has his guitars hanging on the wall. He was showing them to the camera and telling a little about them, and I stepped in the row of them. When he came to me he said“next to my Les Paul is my dad,and this is the bass Waylon gave me”, and then moved on to the next one like I was part of his collection. (we laugh) AG: So what’s after Scandinavia?

Bare: I got some fair dates coming up and some Casino’s. I usually book dates in the summer where I can go fishing. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan - places where there are good lakes with a lot of fish.

Bare: I really miss him.

AG: What advice would you give to an artist starting out today?

AG: Well the first time I ever got on stage to play Country Music was with Walt Houston in Verona,WI. He was in a band playing with Jim Dawson. Dawson walked off stage to get a drink and Walt said over the mic "is there a bass player in the house”. My friends pushed me out of my seat and Walt threw the bass over my neck and away we went. I played three songs with him. Walt was the best picker in town at that time and it was quite an honor to be able to play a few songs with him.

Bare: It’s something that you’ve got to love and have such a passion for you’d do it for free. If you don’t have the passion for it, you will never make it. I was eaten up by Country Music. That’s all I could think of when I was a teenager.

Bare: Any train wrecks?

AG: No it went pretty well.Walt was great about telling me the chords and changeups. He told me what to play. It was a blast.

Bare: Walt was a good one!

AG: What’s upcoming and new for you?

Bare: I’ve got a new album coming out in Scandinavia in the latter part of May and a tour in June. I wrote or co-wrote all the songs on this record. A song that I co-wrote and sang with Petter Oien got entered into the Euro song competition and became a hit there. It’s the same contest that launched ABBA, Julio Escalis, and Englebert Humperdinck. It’s been around for over 50 years. It’s bigger than American Idol is here.

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Today if you are good you can build up a following and maintain them through the internet. That’s a huge advantage over the way I and all the others had back when we started. The bigger you can build that the better it is for you. If you can get 5,000 fans to follow you on the internet you’ve got 5,000 fans already to buy your record. That is huge! Plus you’ve got 5,000 people to come to your shows. If you can get 10,000 hard core fans on the internet in your herd you are home free. That’s like having a 1,000,000 record seller.

You’ve got to nurture that. If you do, the big money record people will come and find you! They have no choice!

AG: Thank you so much for your time and this interview Bare: You are Welcome!

Written by:Andy Ziehli Photos by: Joyce Ziehli

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Steel Bridge Songfest 2012 Preliminary Schedule of Events STURGEON BAY,WI - The eighth annual Steel Bridge Songfest will once again rock the Door County town of Sturgeon Bay from Thursday, June 7th through Sunday, June 10th, with a record number of songwriters and bands performing at twelve indoor and outdoor venues.

Citizens for Our Bridge, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting and preserving the historical significance of Sturgeon Bay's Michigan Street Bridge, hosts the annual volunteer-run event.Central to the festivities is the "Construction Zone," a weeklong songwriting marathon hosted by the Holiday Music Motel that infuses the festival with a slew of new songs each year.The songs are written and recorded at the motel and performed on stage during the festival by the writers (the “Construction Crew”*), and are later made available for sale at local businesses and through the Steel Bridge and Holiday websites. Fifty-five songwriters in every genre of music (from as far away as New Zealand) are taking part this year.This year's festival will mark the release of the latest edition of Steel Bridge Songs, Volume 7.

Steel Bridge Songfest 2012 Highlights: Pub Crawl with Saferide Program June 7th, 8th, & 9th, 9 p.m. – 2 a.m.: 12 indoor and outdoor venues, 100+ bands, free trolley transportation! Thursday, June 7th is Door County Appreciation Night, and is free to the public (no passes required).

Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP) June 8th & 9th, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.:Two evenings of music at Sturgeon Bay’s premier theater, featuring the Construction Zone songwriters and the songs written at the Holiday Music Motel in the days preceding the festival weekend. Friday’s show includes the Young Songwriter’s Showcase, hosted by 2012 Door County Idol winner Lena MacDonald.

2-Day Outdoor Festival at The Holiday Music Motel June 9th & 10th, 12:30 – 5:30 p.m. Two outdoor stages (parking lot and rooftop), food and beer vendors, FREE to the public!

Steel Bridge Songfest ALL-ACCESS PASSES are JUST $20/$25 and can be purchased online through Ticket Star Online, by phone at (800) 895-0071, or in person at the Holiday Music Motel, Untitled Used and Rare Books, and the Steel Bridge office located at 221 Louisiana St. in Sturgeon Bay. NOTE:This is a preliminary schedule.Times, venues and performers are all subject to change. Many more artists’ names and specifics will be added in as the festival approaches. Check www.steelbridgesongfest.org for the most up to date information.

Thursday June 7th “Door County Appreciation Night” (All venues are FREE, no passes required) 6pm-10pm Glas Coffeehouse - Construction Zone Songwriter Showcase hosted by Anna Sacks featuring Robin Bienemann, Delaney Davidson,Angelo De Augustine, Ruby James, Eric McFadden, James Hall, Rick Wood, Andrea Wittgens, Matthew Julian Walters, Danielle French, Elliot Goettelman,Tarl Knight,Victoria Vox, Mark Raddatz, Geri X, Chris Aaron, Aaron English 6pm-9pm Nautical Inn Patio Groove Session and Friends 6pm-10pm Kitty O'Riley's (heated, covered patio) Various artists TBA, hosted by Marybeth Mattson and Seth Raddatz with special guest Jeanne Kuhns. 9pm-Midnight Kimz Galley Cafe (serving food until 12am!!) Open mic, hosted by Meaghan Owens with special guests.

9pm-1am East Side Pub Crawl (Butch's, Red Room, Poh's, Cherry Lanes, Nautical Inn, Van’s) More than 40 bands and solos including Delta Routine, Southside Stranglers, Wisconsin Beef Commission, Little Cisco and the Rhythm Dogs, Boom 42, Dead Modern Villains, Liv Meuller, and more TBA. Cigar Box Guitar Madness with Purgatory Hill, John Lowe, Hymn For Her,Voodoo Highway, Stacey Puckett, and Guitar Hero Sheema.

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Rap/Hip-Hop Party hosted by DJ Nolan Scott, featuring Storitela, Chump Service, MC Swigz, Lumberjack Cash, Landon Capelle, and more TBA. For a more detailed and complete schedule/listing, check http://steelbridgesongfest.org.

Friday June 8th 3pm-7pm Glas Coffeehouse Patio (indoors if raining) Various Artists TBA, hosted By Craig Greenberg and Andrea Wittgens 6pm-9pm Nautical Beer Garden (indoors if raining) The Form, Favorite Shape Triangle, Joseph Peterson and the Transparent Seas, and more TBA. 7pm-10pm Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP) 7pm-8:30pm: Young Songwriters Showcase, Hosted by Lena MacDonald (2012 Door County Idol) andTarl Knight,featuring Brittany Hallet (2012 Miss Door County), Caleb Navarro,Liam Hall,Angelo DeAugustine,Anya Kopischke and more.8:30pm-10pm:Construction Zone Songwriters“In The Round”Hosted by Victoria Vox and Freedy Johnston, featuring the 2012 Construction Crew* 7pm-10pm Kitty O'Riley's Pub (heated, covered patio) Various Artists TBA, hosted by The Offseason with special guests. 9pm12am Kimz Galley Cafe Open Mic, hosted by Kory Murphy with special guests. 9pm-2am Pub Crawl (Red Room, Butch’s, Poh's, Cherry Lanes, Nautical.

Kitty O’Riley’s Pub, Beach Harbor) featuring Geri X, Favorite ShapeTriangle,The Legendary Sons of Crack Daniels, Delaney Davidson,The Form, Copper Box, Black Market Parts, The Sonnets, Ida Jo, Wamsley, Honey Get The Gun,Thy Dirty Deuce, Farm League, She Said, Copperbox, James Hall, Bear Suit Sucker Punch,Victims of the American Dream, Black Water Lies, Candy Machine Guns, Bloody Crows, Jerry Duginski, Dead Horse,Mr.Tall Pants andThe Shorts,Alex White of Elf Lettuce, Little Damn Matthew, Right Rongly, and more! For a more detailed and complete schedule/listing, check http://steelbridgesongfest.org.

Saturday June 9th 12:30pm-5:30pm Holiday Music Motel,Two stages--parking lot and rooftop.(In case of rain, music moves to Cherry Lanes.) Victoria Williams,Freedy Johnston,Thy Dirty Deuce,Darcade, Mike Mangione Band,The Raddatz’s (Mark, Seth, and Austin, playing together and with their own bands), The 2012 Construction Crew* and more TBA. 6pm9pm Nautical Beer Garden (inside if raining) ) Freddie Lee Band, Cody P and Sammy B, and more TBA. 7pm-10pmTAP "2012 Steel Bridge All-Star Revue" featuring the entire 2012 Construction Crew* and special guests, hosted by James Hall. 8pm-12am Kimz Galley Cafe Open Mic, hosted by Tarl Knight with guest artists. 9pm-2am Pub Crawl (Butch's, Red Room, Poh's, Cherry Lanes, Nautical. Kitty's, Beach Harbor) featuring Chris Aaron, Boheme 66, Steve Sullivan andThe Factory,Freddy Lee Band,Underground Day 1, Elastik Waste Banned, A Minute Jack Forum, Kim Manning’s Jam Factory, Groove Session, Lantz Lazwell,The People Brothers Band, Fun With Atoms, West Adeline, The Whiskeybelles, Mike Mangione Band, Guitar Hero Sheema, Jacob Green and the River Water Tribe, Ruby James,Victoria Williams,Walter Salas-Humara, Bruce and Jeremy Reaves, Brothers Gun, Early Thomas & The Devil Inside, She Said and more TBA. For a more detailed and complete schedule/listing, check http://steelbridgesongfest.org.

Sunday June 10th 12:30pm-5:30pm Holiday Music Motel, Two stages--parking lot and rooftop (in case of rain,music moves to Cherry Lanes)TOIVO,Crude Humor,BenThere Dan That,The 2012 Construction Crew** and more TBA. Visit www.steelbridgesongfest.org for a full list of performers and the four-day performance schedule.

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The Bluefield’s Release CD “PURE” at Grimey’s New and Pre-Loved Music

Warner E. Hodges, Keith Brogdon, Joe Blanton and Dan Baird

For most of us“lay”folks a CD release party is an opportunity to go hear some cool new music from our favorite artists in a big noisy club, and maybe, just maybe we can talk to the artists for a minute or so before they are overwhelmed by the other attendees.

The Bluefield’s had one of those shows last Labor Day weekend and it was an event to remember! This time they did it a little differently. They stripped down their live rigs, set up shop in the middle of Grimey’s Record Store in Nashville and played a short set to a very enthusiastic crowd, some who came from England and Canada to attend! It was intimate, classy, and just plain ole fun to watch Dan Baird, Joe Blanton, Warner Hodges and Keith Brogdon run through a short eight song set of tunes from their new CD Pure and has the opportunity to really connect with the crowd!

The Bluefield’s played some of the best rock & roll I have heard in years. The songs were tight, well-constructed with pure rock & roll adrenalin flowing from the first note to the last chord! As a live act it is hard to beat Joe Blanton both as a vocalist and performer. The man has it all, the look, talent, and the best rock voice going today!

Baird switched to bass on this project and his take no prisoners approach to the bass is equal to his guitar playing. Dan Baird is fluent and graceful in his playing. He plucks just the right notes at the right time to make the bottom end of these songs resonate from the basement to the attic! Warner Hodges is the guitar! A man with very few peers of equal status,Hodges fingers blazed new territory on his GoldTop Les Paul,Telecaster, Gibson Double neck, and his father’s Gretsch Viking throughout the performance. A star on any stage, the small performing area did not hold back his large stage enthusiasm throughout the show. Drummer Keith Brogdon is a fantastic drummer.

This was the first time I had seen him play and he blew me away. He plays in the pocket and his style is reminiscent of Charlie Watts and Al Wilson. He was so tight and funky in his playing that you could set your watch to his timing.

The Bluefield’s are a band that holds nothing back when performing, or when talking to fans. These guys love to perform and love to hang out with the folks that come to see them. Pictures for any and everyone who wanted one taken, along with autographing the CD’s and posters folks brought with them; these guys are tops in my book for being true to their craft, and to their fans.

The Bluefields are putting together a residency at The Hiwatt Club (Mercy Lounge in Nashville).They will be performing every Tuesday at 7:00 PM starting July 31st for 4 straight weeks.

Check them out.

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The Bluefield’s Pure Underground Treehouse Records Rock & Roll So let’s talk about the CD. “Pure” is a collection of 14 songs that run the gambit from pure 70’s style Hard Rock to 2012 Americana. This CD has it all! There are Ballads, Bar Rock, Southern Rock, Americana, Indie Rock, and straight old Rock & Roll!

Blanton engineered, mixed, and mastered the CD in his home studio (The Underground Treehouse). He also designed the CD Cover and played guitar and sang on Pure. His ability to juggle so many hats is a testament to his talent and skill both in front of and behind the board. Hodges guitar playing is incredible on this record. His ultra-smooth rock tones and flying fingers give Pure a unique sound and sets the bar high for other players trying to copy his licks!

He also played mandolin on Trainwreck (my favorite song). Baird laid down the bass parts and really showed what a multi-talented player he really is. His licks and runs dominate these songs. The bass is a lead instrument in his hands. Playing drums on the CD was Steve Gorman who did an excellent job of interpreting what the Bluefield’s needed and wanted for this record. Michael Webb added some B3 organ. All the songs were written by Blanton, Baird, and Hodges.

My favorite cuts on the CD are Bad Old Days, Belong, If not now when, Lay it on the line, Flat out gone,Train wreck, and 100 watt girl. These songs show the depth and experience of the Bluefield’s as writers and performers. There is not a bad song on this CD. They all are exceptionally well written and recorded. A five star CD if I ever heard one!

This CD is an excellent addition to any collection! It sets the mark high for other Rock & Roll bands to reach. The Bluefield’s are a seasoned group of professional musicians making a very loud statement that “Rock & Roll is not dead!” It may have aged a little like fine wine, but it still kicks butt like 110 proof Tennessee Whiskey!

You may purchase the CD at www.bluefields.com Written by:Andy Ziehli Photos by: Joyce Ziehli

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What’s on Your Bucket List?

What’s on your bucket list? A hike down the Grand Canyon? A walk down the red carpet? Visiting all fifty states? A hot air balloon ride? An extended tour of Europe? Attending a Super Bowl? Lunch with your favorite celebrity? A long walk in John Muir redwood forest? Has your bucket list changed throughout the years? I bet the one you had at age fourteen is vastly different from one you made at twenty-four or forty-four or whatever age you are at this moment.

There are a few items checked off my bucket list: toes in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, attending a Wisconsin victory in the Rose Bowl, being in the crowd watching the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, visit both Disneyland and Disneyworld, but there is another one checked off, and it brings to mind the story around that accomplishment.

Back in the day a group of us unattached friends both male and female would often gather for dinner on a Saturday night somewhere in Madison.We would meet around 6:15 or so somewhere on State Street, and once we were gathered, a decision would be reached as to the location of that week’s supper/dinner. In good weather we simply met outside the old Civic Center, and in bad weather we met inside the Civic Center. I would sometimes go early for a matinee movie I wanted to see,and then I would go to Mass at 5 PM at a church just off State Street. Thus it was on an April Saturday some years ago that I did just that: first a movie, then church, and then I would join the group for dinner. That particular Saturday the meeting time was 7 PM. Mass was done before six,and I headed to the Civic Center to use the public restrooms located there on the lower level. If you went into the Civic Center on a side street,you only had to walk a few steps to stairs to the lower level, and the bath rooms were located at the bottom of those stairs.Thus it was that I made my way to that back door or some people would say the side door. Without looking I grabbed the handle to pull the door open. Nothing happened. I pulled again and again the door did not open. So I reached over to the companion door and tugged at the handle. Nothing opened.

Then it struck me the obvious fact the Civic Center was locked/closed for the day. It was one of those rare occasions that nothing was booked for that evening. Keeping an unused building open while it is not being used would be a big waste of money and utilities.

At that moment, too, I realized I was not alone at those doors. Two men and a woman, all very well dressed, were behind me. Before I could speak one man reached to open the door. “That is strange,” he said. “I guess it is closed for tonight as apparently there is nothing scheduled for it,”I replied. “That can’t be,”he said,“we are here for the horse fair. Our horses are being shown at the fair tonight. That’s why we are here from the Twin Cities.” By that time I had turned facing them, and I said,“No, the horse fair won’t be here. There is no place to show horses in here. This is a place for concerts and plays and musical events.” “But I know this is where we were told to be,” the other man responded. It was at that moment that the words “horse fair” struck a meaning to me.

My good friends Ron and Pat often talked about the Horse Fair at the Dane County Coliseum. So it was then I explained to the three that they needed to be there and not here at the Civic Center.

“How do we get there?” one of the men asked. I thought a moment about how to give them directions because of the many one-way streets in the area and how the lakes make it difficult to give a straight route set of directions.

“I guess I need to know where you are parked before I attempt to show you a good route to the Coliseum.” The other man gestured,“Over there on a side street.” “Let me walk with you to the vehicle, and then I can show you a quick way to get there," I added.

We walked a block, and at the corner they indicated a block off State Street as their location. As I looked all I could see was a big black limousine parked in the area they had pointed out. The woman spoke for the first time, “Those are our drivers by the vehicle,” she said. Two young looking uniformed men were actually polishing the limousine as it sat there. “Why don’t you come to the fair with us? You can be our guest and you can guide our drivers to the place we need to be.” Ride in a limousine! That was one of my bucket list items. It had been on all my lists no matter at what age I had made one. But what would my friends do when I did

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not show up? Would they look for me? Would they call the police? Would they call my home wondering about my absence? There were no cell phones then as there are today wherein you can connect so easily to others. ‘Well, I have other plans, but if you want, I can ride along to the Coliseum guiding the drivers there, and they can let you off, bring me back here, and hopefully they will find their way to the Coliseum without me at that point.”

They agreed to the plan; one of the uniformed men opened a door for me, and he motioned me inside. I slumped down into a very plush back seat, and the three of them sat across from me. I called out the directions to begin the trip, and one of the men opened a small refrigerator and brought out a bottle of champagne which he proceeded to open. “Would you like to share a glass of champagne with us?” I don’t think I had ever tasted champagne before, but it seemed like the perfect thing to do in the back seat of a very plush limo. From somewhere glasses were produced and the drinks poured. “To our hero,” he proposed and we toasted the event. I called out the necessary directions when needed. In my mind I wanted to plot the longest route possible to delay the end of the ride, but I knew the route needed to be simple so the drivers could find their way on their own in just a short time. I pointed out points of interest on the route, and they explained their situation. The two men were lawyers in the same firm, and the woman’s husband had also been a partner. He had died a year before, and they had hired the woman as their executive secretary. The three of them owned show horses, and one horse was being shown for the first time at this Horse Fair, and they all came down for the occasion. It was the first time she had traveled with them. Previously it had been her husband.

In no time we were at the entrance to the Coliseum, and once again they invited me to join them for the show promising to delivery me to my car when it was over. But I declined,and then we headed to back to State Street. I asked the drivers if they thought they could find the route we had just taken, and they said they could, so I directed them back via Park Street thinking it would give me a longer ride. At each stop light, I would look out at the cars around me hoping that someone might be there seeing me alone in a limo with two uniformed attendants and holding a glass of champagne. But no one that I knew saw me. People would stare into the car and I am sure wonder, “Who is that guy in that big plush limo?”

The two young men told me during that trip back that they were high school seniors; one was the son of the woman and the other his best friend. They needed money for college, and they were hired to be the drivers of this limo. This was their first overnight and out-of-town trip, and they were so protective of the limo that they planned to sleep in it to protect it all night long in the hotel parking lot.

My friends were waiting for me wondering why I was late for the meeting, and when I told them my story, they laughed at it and refused to believe me. So from behind my back I produced my empty champagne class and the napkin with the law firm engraving. The next day when I told my grandmother of the adventure, she stared at me asking,“Weren’t you afraid they would kidnap you?” “No,” I laughed,“just look at me-I am hardly kidnap material, and who could or would pay any ransom for me?”

And now for the most disappointing thing about this adventure. The champagne glass was not glass! It was a cheap plastic glass you can buy by the gross at any party store.

But I did get an item checked off my bucket list.

Written by: Bob Hoffman w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

NASHVILLE’S JOANNA SMITH Releases New Single

"We Can't Be Friends"

I received an email with a picture of a pretty country gal and was asked if I’d like to interview her. She had a new single coming out entitled, "We Can't Be Friends". I checked out her website – she is Joanna Smith of Nashville.

What I found when I started reading her bio was this cute little story of how it all began for Joanna - When she was five, her mother entered her in the Little Miss King Cotton Horse Show Pageant.“I did my little interview this judge asked,‘Now Joanna what would you like to be when you grow up?’And I said,‘well I already am a country music singer, a professional country music singer, I just don’t get to get up on stage much,” Smith recalls with a laugh.“That was the beginning. I had a gig the next weekend singing at the Little Miss Peanut Pageant.That was the definitely the beginning of my music career.” After reading this I just had to speak with her to see how the rest of her life was going!

Below is a little background on Joanna from her website and then my chat with her, please read on.

Raised in a part of the country known for farming, Georgia red clay and family values, Joanna Smith had Music City aspirations at an early age. Growing up in Arlington, GA, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it small-town in Southwest Georgia, Smith got the performance bug from an intoxicating combination childhood tape recorder and listening to strong women of country including The Judds, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton.

Encouraged by her family, Joanna Smith entered every performance opportunity available and was committed to perfecting her live shows.Asked at an early age what she wanted to be when she grew up she replied,“I already AM a professional country music singer but I just don’t get to get on the stage much!” Fixing that, Smith took to every stage in the Southeast!

21 by now so I could get into the bars to play. I played Tootsie’s for four years and was discovered and landed a record deal with Columbia.

“Borrowed Wedding Dress” is a song I wrote after a phone conversation with my mother about a lavish wedding in their small hometown.“You should have seen the show they put on.The flowers must have cost more than my car’ and she was going on [saying] ‘I wish the best for them and I hope they make it, but I’m going to tell you something, when me and your daddy were married, I got married in a borrowed wedding dress. I borrowed it and returned it the next day and we are just as married.’When she said that, she was being sassy and had no hint of self pity but it really affected me.”

I kept thinking about the title“Borrowed Wedding Dress”and I sat down to write with my friend Leslie Satcher.

We pitched several songs to Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood and then I was asked if I would like to be an artist? I answered,“That’s why I am here”. I had been passed by twice so I was really trying to play it cool. That’s how I got to where I am.

Joyce: How did you start writing songs?

Joanna: My Dad was a writer. I started writing as well and then when I moved to Nashville I started putting my writing and music together. It just kind of comes naturally.

Joyce:Where do you play out?

Joanna: I play a lot of big festivals in the summer and I played a Western Festival in France which was a lot of fun. With my new single coming out, I hope to acquire some bigger gigs. I have released 2 EP’s with little samples of my music, but the CD should be released hopefully this Fall. We just really play wherever we can get a gig.

She’d had years of practice performing for crowds when at 18 she was tapped to join Mustang Sally,an all girl country band.Smith then decided to head to Nashville and pursue her music full-time, leaving a full scholarship to Auburn University. Despite a short run with Mustang Sally, Joanna Smith had fallen in love with Tennessee and decided to remain here permanently.With no connections and in a new city, she set out writing and singing demos, and in a little over a year signed her first publishing deal with Big Borassa Music. Since then, she has had two songs cut (“Flying By” on Billy Ray Cyrus’ latest record, HOME AT LAST), and has opened for Glen Campbell at the Ryman Auditorium.

Joanna: Wisconsin is one state I have not played in yet. Been to Minnesota though.

Would love to play in Wisconsin sometime.

Joanna spent her evenings playing on Broadway performing at the famed Tootsie’s and her days networking around the row. After four years playing the honky tonk, she signed a contract with Sony Music Nashville, a publishing deal with Sony/ATV-Monument and has begun work recording her first full-length studio record.

Joyce: What are some future goals?

“I want to sing country songs that hard-working, real people can relate to. Songs that folks can connect with through the ups and downs of life.” she says, and, after listening to her songs you immediately know; Smith knows how to reach out and touch a universal chord, a natural ability that makes her songs great.

Joyce: Joanna,I read you were discovered while performing atTootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Broadway in Nashville. Tell me about this.

Joanna: When I first started, I thought I just had to wait to be discovered. So I moved to Nashville after my freshman year in college and joined an all girl band. I was immediately fired from the band for no apparent reason, it just happened. I really had nothing going on so I started writing songs and publishing them. I entered a contest at Tootsie’s and I won which allowed me to perform at the Ryman Auditorium. I was w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Joyce: Ever played in Wisconsin?

Joyce: What do you do for fun and relaxation?

Joanna: I love horses and going on trail rides. I have a horse that I’m training here in Nashville, and that really takes up a lot of my time and is like therapy to me. I also love to read and play golf and am training for a marathon.

Joanna: Next year I hope to have zero time for my hobbies and that I will be sitting back stage waiting to perform and complaining about how busy I am and have no time!!!! (she laughs) I’m 26 years old and I love country music. I absolutely love what I do. I have had some struggling but I am like a pioneer woman – I want it all!!!

Joyce: Well Joanna – good luck to you in your future endeavors. I will look you up on my next trip to Nashville. Please check her out at www.joannasmithofficial.com and listen for her new single – “We Can’t Be Friends”.

Joanna: Thank you Joyce. I look forward to meeting you in person.

Written by: Joyce Ziehli Background information from Joanna’s website Photos furnished.

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Glenn Worf Laying Down the Low Groove in the Music City Glenn Worf has been one of the top session bass players in Nashville for many years now. Playing on hundreds of records through the years, he has been recording and touring with Mark Knopfler ever since Mark’s first solo record ‘Golden Heart’. I caught up with Glenn in Nashville to talk about his journey from the Dairy State to the Music City and what’s been keeping him busy lately.

Travis- So, you were born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin.What’s your musical background and what drew you to the bass?

Travis- Did you have some connections here to get ya going?

Glenn-I’ve always said that my musical roots really begin in Madison because when I was a kid there was so much music being made there.And many great bands came to play there.We had a piano in the house and my mom and dad played a little bit. Music was kind of a foreign subject in our house.

Travis- No great album collections?

Glenn- Not really.They would play some.It mainly came through my friends.And music came to me pretty early on.As far as how bass came to me, in 1968 my folks took me to San Antonio,Texas and we went to the HemisFair, and there was this, sort of poor man’s Herb Alpert and the Tiajana Brass thing going on. And as fate would have it, I took a seat in front of the largest amp on the stage.And it turned out to be the bass amp, though I didn’t know that when I sat down. When the band came out and the bass player started playing,every note he hit played literally hit me in the gut.It was a pretty profound moment.Years later I was telling one my buddies here in Nashville that story and he said he was actually playing drums for that band on that day. A guy named Tommy Wills.We couldn’t believe it!

Travis-So even though there were some things happening in Wisconsin musically,there just wasn’t enough to keep you there? Was that what eventually brought you to Nashville?

Glenn- Indirectly. I played in bands from ’68 and was working with some great musicians there. But I still knew little about music. So I went to Eau Claire for 2 years and had some great professors.They bent the rules, got me in and tried their best to get me up to speed.There was a healthy club scene but I realized I didn’t want to have to travel my entire life. And after playing bass for awhile and really starting to listen to music in a whole new way, I realized I wanted to be one of those guys who play on records. Nobody I knew had a clue on how you went about getting into that. I began to work with some musicians from L.A. , Nevada and Nashville. I knew if I wanted to be on a record I would have to go to one of those music centers and get something going. I made a visit here. It was closer to Madison. More economical than L.A.

Glenn-Not really. I had one keyboard friend here who was plugged into the session scene here.And he convinced me that I should forget about L.A.; you need to come here because half of L.A. is going to be here in a couple of years. Some people say Nashville is a town of clicks, well it’s not as evil sounding as that. It is built on social contacts and knowing people. It ultimately led to some work offers.

Travis- That kind of answers my next question… I was wondering how hard it actually was to break into the session scene at that time. But did your name get around pretty quickly?

Glenn- No.Actually, it was heartbreakingly difficult to tell the truth. In the first year I was able to work with some, and got some road work for a couple of years. I saved some money, got married in that time, and had our first child. So I was always behind the eight ball financially. Rent is a serious commodity when you got a baby to feed. So I stuck with the road thing, did a session when I could. Showcases. Just trying to meet contacts. One thing that made it difficult was that there was a generation of guys who built and created the music industry in this town. So there was no reason for them to call a new kid who was fresh off the bus.Plus ,there was a huge influx of L.A.guys coming to town, including some brilliant bass players that already had a tremendous track record.

Travis-Guys like Leland Sklar….?

Glenn- Well, he never moved here but was in town a lot. Guys like David Hungate moved here. Joe Osborn moved here. Willie Weeks….all these guys came in about the same time.These guys were brilliant players and everybody knew about them. Many times I was thinking…’Man, who am I kidding?’ But, by and by the networks that I cultivated were enough to just keep our nostrils above the waterline.After about 4 or 5 years of struggling, I began to make a living at it. But I also realized that if I want people to call me, I have to give them a reason to call me. If I was just going to emulate my heroes, why would anyone call me? What would they want ME to do? continued on page 31

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Why Not Check Out Some New Music?

Bob’s Guitar Corner # 4

THE DIRT DRIFTERS RELEASE NEW SINGLE “THERE SHE GOES” OFF DEBUT ALBUM THIS IS MY BLOOD Nashville, TN – March 21, 2012; Acclaimed newcomers The Dirt Drifters recently released their new single, “There She Goes,” off their well-received debut album This Is My Blood.The multi-talented Nashville five-piece is made up of —Matt Fleener (lead vocals/guitar), Ryan Fleener (vocals/guitar), Jeff Middleton (vocals/ guitars), Jeremy Little (bass) and Nick Diamond (drums).“Finally, here’s a Nashville Combo that gets the outlaw/alt-country aesthetic right,” said the San Francisco Examiner of This Is My Blood -- an album Los Angeles magazine called “full of honky-tonk attitude and tunes to stomp a boot to.” Produced by Justin Niebank (Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban),This Is My Blood features 11 tracks, 10 of which were either written/cowritten by the band.The album also features a guest appearance by musical legend Willie Nelson on the standout track“I’ll Shut Up Now.”For further information on The Dirt Drifters and all upcoming tour dates, please visit www.thedirtdrifters.com.

Info supplied by:WMN Publicity - Nikki Herceg 615 214 1446 / Nikki.Herceg@wmg.com ETTA BRITT – OUT OF THE SHADOWS Since she emerged on the music scene in 1978, Etta Britt has developed a solid reputation as a singer’s singer.An in-demand session vocalist and performer,Britt has lent her voice to backing better known artists — Delbert McClinton, Kenny Rogers,Al Kooper, among them. But on her debut for Wrinkled Records,Out of the Shadows,(Release Date April 24) Britt is finally stepping into the spotlight. "Singing with Etta makes me feel like I'm fifty again.

She sings her ass off! " — Delbert McClinton “Etta Britt - big voice.Will throw that thang down hard!

But she might have impressed me the most on one of those ‘oh Hell, the-audience-forgot-to-show-up-to-the-gig’ nights we all have.Most singers/players just mail it in. Fifteen folks out there (that includes a bartender and a waitress), and half way through the opening of the first song Etta and I make eye contact.We both grin. I was sayin' "_ _ _ _ it, let's rock". She was sayin' the same thing, maybe just a little nicer.Maybe not.I kinda think "not".So we did — rock that is.And we did not let up on that gas pedal till the set was over. I'm damn proud of that gig, and her.

That's me some Etta Britt.”

— Dan Baird Info by: Lance Cowan LCMedia COWBOY PLAYGROUND Please note that this gallopingly good collection of tunes features top Western artists like Riders in the Sky,Wylie & the Wild West and Ian Tyson, plus the feel-good cowgirl band Cowboy Envy. Kindie artists, including Grammy winner Buck Howdy,Johnny Bregar and Victor Johnson (it's his fourth time on a Putumayo Kids CD, and he recorded this never released w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

song just for Putumayo) provided excellent new arrangements of classic cowboy tunes. This is music from America's heritage,and it'd be fine fare for summer,particularly the Fourth of July.

Info supplied by: Beth Blenz-Cluca, Sugar mountain PR "Little Big Sky" - Susan Cattaneo Susan Cattaneo.Susan has opened for such artists as Rickie Lee Jones and Bela Fleck. Her cd, "Brave and Wild" was selected as the 2009 “Boston Artist Debut of the Year” and one of the “Top 10” Records of the Year. www.susancattaneo.com Info supplied by: Music City News Media & Marketing • 38 Music Square East,2nd Floor • Nashville •TN • 37203 MARK BATES DELIVERS STUNNING SOPHOMORE EFFORT Young Los Angeles Based Singer/Songwriter Revives Music Career with Night Songs/Produced by Erik Liljestrand

if it means being left behind," Bates says. "I've felt that way a lot in my life.Stubbornly grasping onto those memories and dreams can fill you with hope or fill you with madness. I think this album has equal parts of both and I think most of us fight that battle at one point or another in our lives."

Night Songs was produced by the multitalented Eric Liljestrand, who first heard Bates' demos in the summer of 2011. "I was immediately struck by two things: his honesty and his economy," says Liljestrand, who has won a Grammy Award as engineer / mixer,and was co-producer of the Lucinda Williams albums,Blessed and Little Honey.

About Bates, he says: "He can convey an enormous amount with very few words." Liljestrand cites as an example the opening line from Bates' song "Rosie": "Charlene became afraid, so she left, and I just stayed."

Liljestrand says, "I'm immediately hooked: What's the story? What happened?"

Information provided by: Mike Farley Michael J. Media Group

"Most of the songs on this record are about holding on to something, even

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Robert’s Ramblings

ning show DOWNTON ABBEY. It is another British show and patterned after UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS. It is set in the era before and during World War I. I suppose you could suggest the show features all the typical British stereotype characters imaginable, but that makes for great viewing. Maggie Smith plays the grandmother to love, to hate, and to fear.

She is in a time warp which makes her character distrust anything out of her time warped comfort zone. As a viewer you look forward to the antics of both the British upper crust and their many servants. And the world of servants is full of layers with an “acceptable” pecking order. I think my favorite characters in this series are found among the servants. I have enjoyed two seasons of this series, and I am anxious for the next one.

They are back!

They arrived almost on cue the first week of May. We finally had two fairly warm days with high humidity. I knew they would be back, so I cleaned the feeders, mixed the food, filled the feeders, hung them up on the lower deck, and then I waited. Within an hour, I saw the first one flying into the space, eye the feeder, and finally land on a perch and took the first sips. My summer friends,the hummingbirds, are back visiting almost on a constant basis. We apparently have a healthy environment for them, and from now until late September you will be able to spot a hummingbird almost constantly at one of my feeders. They are not very sociable with each other, and they tend to drive the second visitor away before the first visitor will land on the perch and eat. Occasionally two will be at the feeder at the same time but always on opposite sides while eating. But most of the time they will eat solo. I have seen some fierce battles in the air around the feeder with one dive bombing the other and driving them off into the nearby grassy or wooded areas around the house. Some times one will perch somewhere on the deck for minutes resting there for a spell. Those are good times to get a close up look at those small but marvelous creatures. On rainy days the attendance is up at my feeders, and a most popular visiting time at the feeders is the time just before sunset as all of them in my area come for their bedtime snack. If you sit still under the feeder, a hummingbird will hover right before your face or fly close to check out your brightly colored shirt. Welcome back!

If you want a movie recommendation among the current movies, then I would suggest SALMON FISHING ON THE YEMEN. It is a very enjoyable time at the movies. While the basic plot is original, it follows a typical format in movie making, but the characters are likeable, and it attempts to show the Western World a human side of the Middle East what we usually get on the evening news. The recent home viewing of the movies THE IDES OF MARCH, 50/50, and MONEYBALL made for some good movie going, too. All three are worth the effort to rent or borrow from the library. Each of the three is better than the average movie.

You keeping score? A rabbit has now joined the squirrels for eating under the bird feeders. At least a rabbit doesn’t try to climb onto the feeders and chew his (or her) way into the feeder tube or to knock the cover off and dump all the feed out. If I am lucky, that rabbit isn’t interested in doing that. I think he (or she) is happy enough on the ground eating the spilled seeds. Now it has crossed my mind that the rabbit is in cahoots with the Skyline squirrel population. Perhaps the rabbit has done some good deed for the squirrels some time in the past, and now the squirrels are paying back that deed by knocking the seeds to the ground for that rather fat rabbit. Anyhow at any given time most mornings you will find layers of animals in the feeding zone: rabbit and ground-eating birds on the ground,squirrel and brave birds around the feeders in the lower branches, and shy birds waiting in the tree top for the hungry critters down below to leave.

If you search the sky above the trees, you might spot a hawk eyeing everybody in that feeding zone, and in the nearby field a neighbor’s cat may be lurking waiting for the opportunity to leap into the zone for its meal.

Let’s call this nature’s soap opera.

Written by: Bob Hoffman

AMERICANA GAZETTE SUBSCRIPTION

Our time in Florida was perfect. We had 13 out of 14 perfect weather days, and on our first two weeks home this March we had two more perfect weeks of weather as we experienced some summer weather in early March. The beach was as wonderful as ever, the sound of the waves so inviting, the sand was so smooth, the morning dolphin visits an early morning highlight, and we had hours of sunshine to enjoy sitting under or near our favorite palm trees. The beach was less crowded this year, and it was an easy task claiming your beach chairs for the daily sunning, reading, and people watching.

The Americana Gazette is a free bimonthly publication and may be picked up at area locations. However if you would like a copy mailed to you, please fill out the following information and submit a check for $15.00 to:Americana Gazette, P.O. Box 208, Belleville, Wi. 53508.

Congratulations to the birth mother of this publication, Joyce! She ran for the local school board and was elected to it with the most votes of any candidate. This was her first effort in running for office.

________________________________________________________ First Name Last Name

Using the facilities of one of those DVD rental services has brought me much enjoyment of some television series. I started with BOARDWALK EMPIRE. I had noticed how many awards the show was winning the past two years, and I wondered how good it could really be. Well,in my opinion it is good. It deserves its awards.

The cast is big, but it is easy to figure out their dynamics and the telling of this show dealing with the action of the Mob in Atlantic City (hence Boardwalk). The acting is strong, and to be honest some of you might be turned off by the violence and sexual aspects of the plot. I have seen and enjoyed all the shows from the first two seasons, and I am anxious to see more.Another series that caught my attention was called THE HOUR. It is a British show telling the behind the scenes story of a television news show similar to America’s Sixty Minutes. It was a mini series, and in addition to learning what the happenings are surrounding a television news program, the series contains a mystery full of intrigue.

________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City State ______________________ Zip Code 1 Year Subscription - $15.00 2 Year Subscription - $25.00 Date:______________________________________

The third series that caught my attention during the past winter is another award win-

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A PET NOTE

DAISY – THE PRINCESS!

I have known Ms. Daisy for a number of years as on my nightly walk with my two Springer Spaniels, we walk by Daisy’s house where she is usually outside in their beautiful flower garden with my family, Kaethe, Chris and “T”. Andy and I stop to talk to Ms. Daisy. And as we do so, our “boys”, Duncan and Wylie are trying to kiss Ms. Daisy through the fence. On one of these walks, I interviewed Ms. Daisy for this issue. She was really excited as she has been waiting for this interview for awhile now. Here is what the Princess had to say: My name is Daisy, aka diddle dumpling, precious puddin’ pie, lil' lunker or the littlest giant. I am a Great Pyrenees and was rescued, then adopted from the Great Pyrenees Society in Champagne-Urbana Illinois when I was 7 months old. I had a rough life, living on the streets until someone turned me into the Humane Society. I was turned in three times before I was sent off to the rescue agency. I still get all scared when I see people in baseball hats and motorcycles!! I am eight years old and since my Mom has such a green thumb, she named me Daisy because I am white in color and always fresh looking and I absolutely love flowers, especially daisies.

Now my days are pretty quiet. After all,I am eight years old and all that running around is for the young pups. However I do serve as a constant companion and keep watch over our home by barking at all passerby’s from the window. When the little children ride their bicycles on the sidewalk by the fence, I try to race along with them. I’m really pretty fast for my age. My family tries to toss me a stick or have me fetch a ball every once in awhile. This is really undignified, but I do it just to humor them. Three times only, three is the limit. Then I’m done with this silly tedious game.

I absolutely love a plain Culver’s hamburger after one of my hikes at the New Glarus State Park or the Prairie Moraine Dog Park. Who wouldn’t? No need for me to watch my girlish figure anymore. This is a real treat for me. No cheese, though. I will spit that

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right out. I do not like cheese, any flavor. Maybe I don’t like cheese because I am originally from Illinois, not Wisconsin.

Rocky also lives in our house. Rocky is our cat and when it is cold in the Winter, I let Rocky sleep in my bed. We get along and are really great friends. I also have many neighborhood four legged friends and share our beautiful flower garden with some squirrels, rabbits and birds.

So when any of you Belleville people are walking by my house, give me a wave or say hello, and check out our beautiful garden. I’m a celebrity now, I made the Americana Gazette. I hope all this fame doesn’t go to my pretty little head!!! I may have to ask Mom about getting a statue of me made for the flower garden though.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Information and photos supplied by: Kaethe Paynter w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Musician, Rancher, Southern Gentleman…

Explore a little bit of the West with Ed Littlefield, Jr. “One of the Best Pedal Steele Players Around” says Cowboy Jack Clement!!!

My good friend, Lance Cowan from LC Media sent me a CD from Ed Littlefield, Jr.,“My Western Home”.Later on I received the newly released CD,“Marley’s Ghost”,which also features Ed Littlefield, Jr. “Marley’s Ghost” was produced by Cowboy Jack Clement.

Cowboy Jack stated that he considers Ed to be one of the best pedal steel players in America. So on that note, I thought I best check this guy out. Soon after that Michael Nash called me and helped me set up an interview.

Ed Littlefield, Jr. is a multi talented artist/ instrumentalist, vocals, pedal Steele guitar, Highland bagpipes,keyboards,mandolin,Dobro,fiddle,bass and lead guitar just to mention a few. “My Western Home” is his second solo album and features cowboy classics such as “Get Along Little Doggies”,“Red River Valley” and “Darcy Farrow” and “Four Strong Winds”. When listening to the CD, I was imagining sitting around a campfire in an old western movie. Ed is one of a kind pedal Steele guitarists; among his influences are Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, Hank Williams, Doc Watson, Ernest Tubb, The Grateful Dead,The Band, and The Rolling Stones.

Ed was born into a family which became one of the largest holders of ranch land in the west. That family business, Utah Construction Company, was responsible for building half the tunnels and railroad trestles west of the Mississippi. In the mid‘70’s Ed played with a six piece country western band all over the Pacific Northwest. They played up tempo truck driving hillbilly barroom music for working class folks,mostly loggers and cowboys. Ed told me they are pretty much the same, cowboys and loggers, with different hats and boots, but one ropes cows, the other logs!

In 1986 Ed became a member of Marley’s Ghost, an eclectic roots band possessed of multi-instrumentalist chops, harmonies and a music vocabulary that runs deep and wide. Still playing 25 years later, recent albums have been produced by Nick Forster, Van Dyke Parks and Cowboy Jack Clement, the latter of whose worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash,Waylon Jennings and many others. The new release of“Marley’s Ghost”features Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show and Marty Stuart. Cowboy Jack wanted to include Charley Pride in this project, but it just didn’t work out.

Now on to our interview---

Black and I both taught some workshops together. That was fun. We have been great friends ever since.

Joyce: Cowboy Jack Clement has been quoted saying that you are one of the best Steele pedal guitar players around. How did you meet up with the Cowboy?

Ed: I try to live up to that quote! It actually makes me practice a lot more. If Jack thinks I’m that good, I better practice. (he laughs.) This is truly a great honor, as Jack knows a lot more national Steele players than I do!

Well, a friend of mine,Walter Forbes, early 70’s has known Jack for about 30 years. He was on the Grand Ole Opry, played guitar and banjo and sang. They were buddies. Me being a West coast guy, I never lived in Nashville; had played there a few times though.

I didn’t really know who Cowboy Jack Clement was. I was clueless. Well, Marley's Ghost played out at the Station Inn, I believe, and Walter came to see us play and brought this old gray haired feller with him. He introduced him to me and I thought it was just one of Walter’s golfing buddies. As time went by,Cowboy Jack really seemed interested in making a record with the band. He thought that would be great and so did I. I found some stuff out about Cowboy that I obviously should have googled him earlier. Stuff like he was Johnny Cash’s best friend. I was working in his house a couple of days before I realized this man was the author of “Just A Girl I Used To Know”.

Then I realized I was working in God’s house!!! This is the one song alone that should qualify Cowboy Jack for the Country Western Music Hall of Fame. I googled him then and thought “Oh Jesus – look who I am working with!”

Joyce: Wow, Cowboy Jack is a very dear friend of mine. It is such an honor to talk with him. I get all tingly inside when he hugs and kisses me.

Ed: Yea, he will do that to you.

Joyce: Do you go out touring now to promote your CD’s?

Ed: Yea, we will start again around the middle of June. We usually play all over the United States. Even trying to get up to Wisconsin. Just took the plunge and bought myself a tour bus.

Joyce: Good afternoon Ed. Let’s talk about your background a little bit.

Joyce: Wow, that must be exciting. Traveling in style?

Ed: I was born in 1948 in San Francisco and grew up in a suburban environment, with a ranching background. My brother and I figured that living too close to a city sucked the life out of us, and we wanted to be rural and have horses. Our sister had no interest and was quite happy living in Manhattan. When I was 10 years old, I played guitar, banjo and mandolin. When I was at Stanford,I started stabbing at playing the Steele guitar. I got my first pedal Steele guitar when I was 20 years old. Then I started being a Steele guitar player and I had some sort of affinity for it. The first time I touched it, I could make pretty music with it instantly – go figure that!

Joyce: Ed did you ever have any Steele guitar lessons?

Ed: When I was 21, one of my favorite Steele players, Bobby Black came over and we hung out. He showed me a few things, how to play harmonics using the palm of my hand instead of finger tips/thumbs. My friend and I watched Bobby play and we wondered a couple of things. 1) Would we ever be that old and 2) whether we would ever play that good? (we laugh) Yes, to both of those questions. About 4 years ago, Bobby w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Ed: Yes, it is really much cheaper and more efficient than traveling by plane.

(Ed and I went on to talk about some other interesting stuff such as growing up on the farm, horses, travel by sea, etc. We had quite the chat. Ed is a very interesting and intelligent gentleman. But I will save all that for another time.)

Please check Ed Littlefield out at; www.sagearts.com/htrec/edli.html His CD,“My Western Home” is absolutely amazing. You will be in for a real treat. Also check out our review of the new Marley’s Ghost CD in this issue as well.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Photo supplied.

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And The Beat Goes On!

On The Road With East Nashville’s PETER COOPER!

Mauro Magellan

Anthropologists and historians have long speculated percussion instruments were the first musical tools. Others have argued, the human voice was the first, and percussion tools such as, hands, sticks and logs came in second to the evolution of music. OK, for the sake of argument let’s just say who cares, apart from anthropologists, historians and those other people whoever they are.

Percussion is an ancient art.The Drum set, however is a modern instrument relatively speaking. Creeping into existence in the Late 1800s (I know that’s a long time ago but I did say relatively) its evolution brought the American music scene into its own. Rag, Jazz, Blues....Rock & Roll, need I say more? Drums; still crazy after all these years.There was, however, a dark period in the 1980s. People in the industry got caught up in technology and producers and drummers alike forgot who they were.There was actually a time a drummer couldn’t do high end studio work without a floppy disk—just that in itself, “floppy ” should have raised a red flag! I blame in part the German band Kraftwerk. Autobahn was a cool album but come on folks, it was a novelty not real music; music is supposed to be played by people. OK, I am a bit of a Luddite.A Luddite was person in a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, that replaced them with less skilled, low wage labor.Today they are known as DJs. (Not the radio kind) For years this thing went on and still survives today in Hip Hop, techno-pop and disco.Appropriate for those styles but it doesn’t dominate the art of hitting things. Nowadays at least we have a choice and the kids seem to be making that choice. Ironically, electronic drums have been getting better, too. Real drums still outsell the electronic apparatus.They don’t come close to what a real drum can do.The snare alone can produce a myriad of sounds just by slight changes in technique, position and pressure. What they do is well is play quietly; politely.You can’t stick it to the man if he (or she) can’t hear you! Today the “traps” are back and here to stay or until we get another set of dumb ideas introduced to us that’s new and mediocre. But time has proven the real thing always outlasts the other.

Much of today’s music, however still uses sampled drums and even concerts are partially digitized. Not my idea of a real performance but who can argue with success?

Lady Gaga made it work for her along with countless others so called “artists”. OK, cheap shot they are artists, performance artists. Now back to real drums; a cool thing about them is you get two different drummers on one kit and the sound changes with each player. I always say there are no shitty drums just shitty drummers. Playing an instrument, any instrument produces the same result.The sound is sensitive to the players touch.That’s why a real good drummer can make a bad drum kit sound really good.

The dynamic range is infinite unlike those fake drums.Try doing a simple squeeze and you’ll get something other than a steady crescendo. I can best describe what I’m talking about by example. In Dan Baird & Homemade Sin we do a song off our album called “Two for Tuesday.”The live version starts out with a Rhythm and Blues feel. My right hand rides the floor tom in such a way that the sound is on top of the beat and a little punchy. My snare I play off to the side of the drum and back of the shoulder of my stick.That gets me a thinner higher pitch tone. I keep it on top of the beat (snappy) and the song has an entire different feel as a result. Then when Dan starts singing the line like the album I move my snare hand to the middle of the drum and to a meatier part of the stick, the shoulder. I put the strikes to just behind the beat.That makes it sound bigger and more rock like. John Bonham played behind the beat. But there’s more! When going to the pre-chorus I tighten up the hi hat and use the shoulder of my stick then when it’s time to go to the chorus and all hell breaks loose and I slosh my hi hat making it sound like a drunken sailor but switching to the upper part of the shoulder.I do that because if I stay on the shoulder of the stick all hell really does break loose which for certain shows why the hell not? With the Jimmys dynamic range is even more important due to the nature of our jump/swing blues. Playing blues on a fake drum set would just totally suck. Don’t know how else to put it.

In short it’s much more interesting not to mention challenging to play an instrument that reacts to you not you to it.With that privilege comes a lot of hard work sacrifice and heartbreak but the rewards are golden. So, if you play drums, play them like you mean it and find out why it’s survived thousands of years.

Peter Cooper

People sometimes ask what I’ve been up to.

That’s really kind of an essay question,but I don’t mind essays,and,anyway,the answers are entertaining enough for me.For the most part,I’ve been home weekdays,and on the road on weekends, performing in my duo with Eric Brace. When we’re on the road, things go kind of like this: •We get in a car or an airplane on a Thursday or a Friday.We either drive along, talk and listen to music (recent favorites include Kevin Gordon’s “Gloryland,” Chris Smither’s “Hundred Dollar Valentine”and Jon Byrd’s“Down At The Well of Wishes”), or we fly and read magazines, then rent a car and get back into driving, chatting and listening mode.

•We arrive somewhere. In January, it was Florida. February was Southern California.

March was the Carolinas,April the Midwest and the southwest, and May took us back to California, down to Alabama and up to Virginia.

•We get to a venue and check the sound, then we grab some really good food, sometimes with friends.

•We sing our songs, and people clap for us and tell us they’re happy to see and hear us.

•Lather,rinse,repeat,and get back home to East Nashville by sometime on a Monday afternoon.

Yes, folks, this is the much-maligned, ever-so-wearying “life on the road.” Go places, see things, meet people, sing songs, shake hands, talk and smile. Sometimes we manage to catch a baseball game,too.Sound hard? Right,it’s not.Some musicians say,“I play for free.

They pay me for the travel.” Me, I enjoy the travel nearly as much as the playing. I don’t enjoy the separation from family, but most everything is a piece of cake. Someone recently wrote to me,wanting to know if I could contribute something for a book she was putting together about“horror stories from the road.”But I got nothin’.Nothin’but gratitude, anyway.Thus far, gratitude abounds in my 2012. Eric and I were nominated for a Grammy award for the I Love:TomT.Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow album we co-produced.

We lost the Grammy,but we were able get some recognition for an album that featured Tom T., Bobby Bare, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Duane Eddy, Jim Lauderdale, Jon Byrd, Mark Horn and so many people we respect, like and admire.

Our travels have been breezy, highlighted by many kindnesses all along the way. We were thrilled that the great John Prine asked us to open some shows for him in Indiana and Illinois, and even happier to stand with him on grand stages and sing his classic song,“Paradise,” with him.

At home in Tennessee this year, we’ve played at the famed Bluebird Cafe with Eric Taylor and Nanci Griffith, we’ve been hosting radio shows for the greatest country station in the world,WSM, and we’ve been playing live Internet shows via www.stageit.com, where we talk with friends and fans across the miles.Oh,and I’m about halfway through a new album that’ll likely come out in 2013.The first two songs from that album -“Opening Day” and “Grandma’s Tattoo” - are available for free download at www.redbeetrecords.com.The record company tells me I’m getting rich from these free downloads, and I’ll take‘em at their word.I’m looking forward to getting back to Wisconsin this fall, hopefully in conjunction with the should-be defending Super Bowl champ Packers.Ah, you can’t win ‘em all. See you on the road, I hope. I’ll be the one with the dumb smile on his face.

Written by: Mauro Magellan Peter Cooper East Nashville,TN

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Fifty!

50. What a great number! 50% off something means HALF off! (I know, rocket scientist!) That’s a lot! If I get 50% of a pizza, I get HALF the thing. I like that! And according to the great Paul Simon there are no less than 50 ways to leave your lover. 50, pretty darn nifty.

Maybe the coolest 50 ever is that this year, the Beach Boy’s turn 50. This summer the 5 remaining Beach Boy’s: Brian, Mike,Al, Bruce and David are hitting the road in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the band. Sadly Dennis and Carl will not join them on stage (both having passed) but they will be there in spirit. I bet as the harmony lines are sung their parts will just be heard in our hearts by all of us who love this band so much. Never did I think I would be able to attend a show with the actual surviving members on stage at the same time and not just one or two touring under the name The Beach Boys.

Bob recorded a segment from the CBS Sunday Morning show recently, and the Beach Boys were featured. After the segment I looked at Bob and said,“Why, oh, why, does every interview with the band always focus on the same subjects?” They don’t get along. Brian has endured some personal struggles. Mike did not like the SMiLE record. There was not one comment about the joy so many feel listening to Beach Boys music. Not one question about how making music, both together and separately, has shaped their lives. Not one word spoken about the groundbreaking music that this band created. This 50th anniversary is one to be celebrated! Not many bands can look back on a body of work that has had so many special moments.

If you are a casual Beach Boys fan, with perhaps “Endless Summer” in your music collection and having that as your only exposure to their music, I hereby invite you to explore some of their release that you have never heard of.

Most of us know of “Pet Sounds”. Enough has been said of that record already. Just after the surf and car songs, came the beautiful music. “All Summer Long”,“The Beach Boys Today!” and “Summer Days and Summer Nights!” are the works right before“Pet Sounds”. Brian, while thrilled with the success of the early records, was eager to expand. Give them a spin if you want to hear some amazing harmonies and ground breaking arrangements. Just after “Pet Sounds” and abandoned“SMiLE”efforts come my favorite period of the Beach Boys. The band was evolving with Brian playing less a role in both songwriting and production. Albums like “Wild Honey”,“Friends”,“Sunflower”,“Surfs Up” (my two personal favorites) and“Holland”round out the releases that I think are simply amazing. The band stepped up as writers and producers proving that Brian was not the only Beach Boy who could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

On a production note, if you listen to these albums on a quality sound system you will hear some truly state of the art production. The Beach Boys were very aware of quality. The “sound” of these records still amazes me. Nowhere will you find, in pop music, the depth of tone as you do on Beach Boy records. So many have only heard their songs on the radio. If that is you, pick up a re-mastered CD or better yet, a quality vinyl LP (just make sure you have a great turntable!) and settle in and LISTEN. The difference you will hear will be kind of like looking at a quality automobile with admiration, then getting in and driving it. It is a whole different experience.

I wish I could sit down with the band for an hour and interview them. I would ask them how the music they have created has shaped their lives. What is it like to put something like “Sunflower” on their turntable and to realize, I did that! How does it feel to know that the thing they made their life’s work had reached out and uplifted so many people!

I so appreciate all the sacrifice and raw rehearsal time given by these men for so many years. With the release of “The SMiLE Sessions” we get a glimpse into what creating these amazing records was like. For example the precise phraseby-phrase construction of the song melodies. The“once again please”from Brian to the musicians gathered as he massaged them into expressing the sounds he heard in his head, and the amazing patience from the guys as they took direction from Brian. Like with all masters, the Beach Boys make it look and sound easy.The songs we all sing along with are truly amazing pieces of vibrational art.

I know you must be tired of hearing about the Beach Boys from me here in the Gazette. I know they are not considered “Americana”. It is pretty simple for me: It is like your favorite food, you just can’t wait to tell someone about it because it brings you such joy, and you hope it will do the same for them.

Play some Beach Boys music this summer. Listen to an album of theirs that you have never heard before. See if you don’t agree that this band truly is a treasure worth celebrating!

Oh, yes, another nifty 50 this year. Me! When I was in my teens I thought turning 50 would be great. Some of my favorite people back then were 50ish and I so admired them. There was something about that number that had my attention 36 years ago.

What I have come to realize is, by this time in one’s life there is a lot of experience explored. I have self knowledge that only time and experience can reveal. I also feel very fortunate to be very excited about what is ahead for me. It is almost like the personal “work” years are coming to a close. I have worked hard and diligently on self awareness. I have tested and explored and have a pretty good idea about what is joyful for me. I also now have the courage to simply pursue what feels authentic to me above all else. Saying no to something that a few years ago I would have done because I believed it created character for me. That is a good feeling. Nope, sorry, it just does not feel good to me, I appreciate the offer however!

Do I have everything I dreamed of having? No. Have I done everything I dreamed of doing? No. I will never get it all done. That is okay with me. My thoughts are powerful. My feelings are powerful too. My thoughts and feelings are all the raw material I need to create any experience in my life.

I am so appreciative to be at my 50 year mark, and so happy. I truly believe the years to come will be filled to the brim with all the things I love. Life really is good!

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What You Need to Know About Songwriter/Performer

ANGELA EASTERLING! I had the pleasure of visiting with Angela Easterling. What a very talented young lady.

I can’t give you a better background about her, than what she sent me herself, so read this about her and then dive into our conversation.

Angela Easterling was raised in the South Carolina foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Much of her childhood was spent on the Greer, SC farm that has been in her family since 1791, seven generations. She embraced her heritage in a big way as a writer and an artist on her debut album, "Earning Her Wings", chosen as "Americana Pick of the Year" by Smart Choice Music. Her second album,“BlackTop Road”, produced by Will Kimbrough, was released in July ’09, landing in the top 5 for adds to the Americana radio charts and debuting on the Americana top 40 chart in September, where it remained for 7 weeks. It has been highly praised in the press and was chosen as a top pick in both Oxford American and Country Weekly.The title song tells of her family's struggle to hold onto their farmland in the face of widespread development and represents a bold new step in her singing and songwriting. She was selected for an official Americana Convention Showcase and also named a 2009 & 2010 Kerrville New Folk Finalist and a 2011 Telluride Troubadour.The Boston Herald named her song“The Picture” “Best Political Country Song” in their 2009 Year’s best music.WNCW Listeners chose the album as one of the top CD’s of the year and one of the Top 20 by regional artists. Angela's music was featured in commercials (Southwestern Bell) and several of her songs were used in the series "Horsepower" on Animal Planet. She appeared alongside music legend Charlie Louvin on WSM radio’s“Music City Roots Live from the Loveless”show and was invited to appear on the WSMhosted stage at the 2010 CMA Music Festival/Fan Fair, where her entire set was broadcast live. Angela has appeared on the nationally broadcast public radio program “Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know” and was also recently interviewed by noted NPR journalist Bob Edwards. She has received much airplay on Sirius/XM “Outlaw Country” channel and was invited to perform at the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Root’s Music.

Angela constantly tours the east coast, both solo and duo and has appeared with her crowd-pleasing band The Beguilers at numerous town fairs and music festivals throughout the Southeast. She has opened for, among others,The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Sarah Jarosz, Robbie Fulks, Mary Gauthier, Ray Price (at the Birchmere), Suzy Bogguss, Ellis Paul,Radney Foster,The Oak Ridge Boys,and Lori McKenna.

Angela’s last album “Beguiler”, produced by Will Kimbrough and recorded with her band plus special guests Byron House (Band of Joy), Fats Kaplin & more was released July 19, 2011. She released a new album “Mon secret” (My Secret) on February 14, 2012.This album is notable as it is her first to be entirely in French, with original songs by Angela and her co-writer, Marianne Bessy.

Angela and I had a great chat. She is very easy to talk with and we could have talked for hours, but here are some of the topics we touched on.

Joyce:Angela, you already have quite a career going. Why hasn’t Peter Cooper or Eric Brace introduced you to me before? You are a well kept secret to our parts. Tell me how this all came about.

Angela: I grew up performing, singing and playing clarinet in school, singing in chorus. When I was 11 or 12 I really got into doing theatre. During my high school years, I was singing, dancing and mostly doing musicals. I sort of thought this was the path my life would be taking. I have a Music Theatre Major from College. I was planning on going to NewYork to be on Broadway. Then in my freshman year in College I started singing and song writing and felt strongly that I wanted to play guitar and write songs.

I got a guitar and learned a few chords in a week and started writing. The whole idea of going to New York kind of faded away after that. I decided to not sing other people’s songs, but pursue my own music.

I did not grow up listening to Country Music. We listened to Grandma’s Opera records.

I wasn’t really exposed to it, even though I grew up here in South Carolina. It was like a dormant gene in me and finally came out. Johnny Cash was the first Country artist I fell in love with. I also started listening to Emmy Lou Harris and she is my #1 influence.

I finished up school in Los Angeles and stayed out there for awhile. It has a real cool

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Angela Easterling and Brandon Turner

country music scene with Dwight Yoakum, Lucinda Williams,Anne McCue and so on.

It was a great nurturing space for me to write, but after 2 years, I released my CD in 2007, and I wanted to tour. The cost of living was high and I was working just to pay the rent and that’s what led me to move back to the East Coast. That’s my long story – short!

Joyce: You just released your new CD in February. Did you write all the songs?

Angela: Yea, I wrote all the songs and music, with help from my friend, Marianne Bessy.

The new CD is in French and I think it turned out pretty good. I decided to release it on Valentine’s Day, it was a Tuesday which is record release day. People have been real curious about it. Once they listen, they tend to love it. I have all the songs translated in English on my website so you can see what I am saying. It is very unusual to do an Americana album in French. It was a challenge. I had to come up with rhymes, and make it flow as well as sing in a different language. I took the challenge to see if I could do it.

Joyce: Where do you tour?

Angela: I do most of my touring up and down the East Coast.

I go to California and Texas every year. I have been to Ohio, but never to Wisconsin. I would like to reach out and tour some more mid-western states.

Joyce: Let’s talk about future goals?

Angela: I want to keep touring and play some better places and make more albums. Now that I have done the French CD, I feel that my slate is clean, projects finished and I can start fresh on a new album. I love playing and touring. I get to meet lots of wonderful people and visit small towns all over the US. I want to grow as a writer.

Joyce: You worked with some fabulous musicians,Fats Kaplin and Will Kimbrough? What was that like?

Angela: Yes, they have played on my CD. Fats played on 3 of my albums. (We talked about Fats for awhile and his performance on SNL (Saturday Night Live. Also what a talented musician and basically nice fellow he is.) Will is an amazingly talented man and it was great to be in the studio with both him and Fats. You just can’t beat these folks.

Joyce: Any hobbies?

Angela: My favorite past time is baseball. I love to go to baseball games. We have a minor league, the Red Sox Team and I am over the moon with that.

Joyce: Well, thank you Angela for your time. I think I have taken up more of your time than I meant to. I wish you the best in your music career.

Angela: Thank you so much Joyce. It was a pleasure talking with you.

For more information on Angela Easterling, check out: http://www.reverbnation.com/angelaeasterling www.angelaeasterling.com http://www.youtube.com/user/wingsstars www.facebook.com/AngelaEasterlingMusic Story by: Joyce Ziehli Information and photos provided by Angela Easterling. w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

COMPLACENCY The Musicians Worst Enemy

RICK RECALLS

Everyone I know as fallen under the spell of complacency at least once in their musical careers, most of us more times than we would like to admit! You know the feeling, things are great, we have gigs, people are hanging out through the whole show, they like all our songs, it’s as easy as turning on the radio and lip sinking to it like the big stars do, and that’s when it hits you! I’m not making music,‘I’m just whoring for the money and I’ve become a walking talking jukebox! Now for some that’s just what they wanted to be, on auto pilot like the band at the local Holiday Inn. For most of us though that got into music to be a performer, songwriter, and/or working musicians nothing could be worse. Like the words from a Fogerty’s Lodi “If I only had a dollar, For every song I’ve sung, And every time I had to play, While people sat there drunk” becoming the uninspiring musician is most musician’s hell!

In 1961 my older brother gave me a record player that he had cobbled together and mounted in a small wooden box. It had one tiny speaker and played only 45rpm records.He also gave me his entire record collection. I still hear the world in mono.Within a year I had gotten an old 1930’s drum set and was making money playing in a band.Thanks for the jump start bro. my brother’s gift of music set a whole universe in motion for me, one that certainly no-one could have predicted.

When this happens it is usually one of the following that has caused it: • Band mates don’t want to change or rock the boat.

• The monies too good to quit.

• I just got lazy.

• No one cares about what I play or say anyway.

Let’s look at these four and see what can be done to correct it and bring back the fire and creativity that made you want to be a musician in the first place.

PAY- DIRT My reason for relating this little story is this: I’ve spent fifty years prospecting through mountains of 78’s, 45’s, lp’s, cd’s, tv and movie scores, and now the internet and I know I’ve found gold, real pay-dirt.

In this and upcoming issues of Americana Gazette I’ll be suggesting specific tunes for study and your listening pleasure. Some you may already have heard, but others are rather obscure. I’ll tell you why I think the suggested tune is notable and sometimes give a little background on the writer or performer.

Amazingly, you should be able to find most of these tunes on YouTube. I’ll try to cover all genres and eras of American music. It’s my hope that I can pass on the gift of music that my brother gave to me, and who knows, someone might even find a little sweet inspiration. I certainly did. Let’s begin.

“SOMETHING HEAVY” by Eddie Hinton A troubled song by a troubled guy. Often called the white Otis Redding. Part of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Played with everyone from Aretha to Elvis. It’s one guitar and one voice.You can actually hear his breathing becoming more difficult with each verse. Mental illness and addiction were his undoing.Who knew blueeyed soul could hurt so good.

Band mates don’t want to change or rock the boat. This usually can be related to the fact that you have outgrown the band you are in. The other guys just want to make money and don’t want to put in the effort to learn new material because they are getting paid just fine for doing what they have been doing for the past 10 years. When this happens it’s time to move on. They will never change and you will be miserable. Look for others who have the desire and work ethic you need to get better and move up the food chain.

“FEEL SO GOOD” by Dr. Isaiah Ross Literally a one-man-band as he drives this one and a-half chord guitar boogie with bass drum and high hat. Check out the tone on his harp! Magic.

The monies too good to quit. Money is the root of all evil when it comes to making music. Bad bands get paid big money to copy others and you get paid crap to write your own material. Americans love to copy whatever someone else is doing if it is successful, that’s just the way we are. Being innovative is hard work and the rewards don’t always appear on schedule for the work you put in. Don’t take a job just for the money. Take a job if it will raise your stock in your music community. The money will come if you are good, different, and original. It always has and always will.

“FU MANCHU” by Desmond Dekker I get a chill every time I play this tune by one of Jamaica’s finest writers and performers. His voice is both beautiful and scary. Great organ sound against that slashing guitar. Listen to the tone on the kick drum. The whole thing has monster tension. Great over-all record.

I just got lazy. Mostly this means I have no follow through. Work hard, network, and be viable. That makes it exciting and the laziness will go away. All laziness is, is the lack of commitment and effort. Don’t lose these or you are sunk!

No one cares about what I play or say anyway. If you believe that, you don’t need to be a musician. Find a new venue or club to play. Write and perform songs that catch people’s ears and hearts. Musicians have the most power to influence change, calls to action, and social responsibility by their words and deeds. Sure we all have those bummer gigs where no one is paying attention, change the mood by making them pay attention. Put some life into your show. You are in control when you are on stage, not the crowd. Silence works wonders for getting someone’s attention. Try it and see! If you are honest and open with your audience they will connect with you.

“ THE CRAVE “ (original version) by Jelly Roll Morton He called the feeling he gave his tunes the (Spanish tinge). I call it one snaky tango.

“WATUSI ZOMBIE” by Jan Davis A popular California session guitar player.Worked with Dick Dale.Don’t even know what to say except “crank this tune up”!

By: Rick Harris

So don’t become complacent and stop giving a shit what you are doing. Standup take control of the room and make them hear your message and songs. You may surprise yourself!

Written by:Andy Ziehli

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Building on Legacies:

Behind the Scenes at the Sugar River Shoppe From the moment you walk into the Sugar River Shoppe, there’s a bit of mystery in the air. The polished hardwood floors glow in the low light.

A sculpture of a horse’s head casts its copper mane across a wall.Turquoise and silver necklaces gleam like smiles from a glass case. Johnny Cash’s deep baritone accompanies customers as they stroll around the Shoppe. Not many people can say they’ve lived out their dreams during their lifetimes—even once, much less two or three times. Yet that’s exactly what Billy and Wendy Schmidt have done. Each an artist in their own right, they successfully fielded the challenges of making professional careers of their art—and, at the close of those careers, started a new one when they opened the Shoppe in 2003.

Bill and Wendy Schmidt

The Children Are Hope

Billy and Wendy met at Joe’s White Elephant (now Sir Buck’s), a Monroe bar and music hotspot in the 1970s. Wendy was a fan of Billy’s rock band, Birth, which he and his friends started in LaCrosse before moving to Monroe. Originally the band’s lead singer, Billy played with Birth for nearly eight years, taking up guitar and diversifying his skills as the band sought a recording contract.After Birth broke up, they reformed as Yancy Derringer. Billy later rejoined Yancy for a year as their drummer, but at the same time invested in a recording system and began to experiment. Recognizing his gifts lay less in performing and more in writing and producing, Billy opened a recording studio first in Chicago, then later in Tuscon, where he and Wendy raised their three children over 11 years. In Chicago, Billy worked with a variety of musicians, many pursuing solo careers after having established themselves in such well-known bands as the Commodores and Alice Cooper.Billy’s neighbor,Barry Mraz, a world-renowned producer who worked with Styx and other bands during the 70's and 80's, mentored him in the recording process.

During this time,Wendy, a native of Freeport, Illinois, had unknowingly begun her career as a visual artist by sketching portraits in her college cafeteria. “Anyone who wanted their portrait done, I would sketch,” she smiles.An art teacher recognized her talent and encouraged her go into professional portraiture. Wendy began taking her skills on the road. She traveled to a lot of festivals, working art shows that garnered a lot of attention for her pastels. After she and Billy married,Wendy went into portraiture full-time, working first for Portraits Chicago, then as a freelance artist, cultivating a clientele on Chicago’s North Shore. While there was a lot of pressure—painting images that meet a client’s expectations can be a challenge--Wendy’s people skills as well as her painting were more than up to the job. One of her favorite memories is of painting the Marshall Field family, including their three children.

Moving to Tuscon was an adventure for the Schmidts. Billy set up a new studio and Wendy became manager of a shop she admired. Tuscon proved a great place to raise their children, Leah Renee, Brandon, and Derek. Billy continued to write songs, occasionally doing jingles, and added audio production to his repertoire, working with clients that ranged from rappers to lawyers. It was like working with a diverse clientele, Billy grins. “Running a studio is a lot of work,” he confirms.“It’s as much psychology as it is music.”

Wendy dreamed of opening her own shop, however, and after eleven years longed for the more temperate climate of Wisconsin. But with such a move came a lot of unknowns and little guarantee of success. Wendy had done her research, however, and with faith and the help of a good friend who ran her own shop in Tuscon, she took the plunge.New Glarus,with its welcoming,friendly people and artistic community,Wendy says, was the ideal choice of location. They sold their house, found a storefront, and opened the Sugar River Shoppe. It began as something of a cooperative, where local

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artists such as Helen Endres and Stephanie Elkins rented rooms to show their work. Eventually, Wendy added her own artwork and expanded the pieces she sold to include Bill’s photography. These days, Billy is into Americana music: Johnny Cash, Keb Mo’ and Bonnie Raitt—though David Gilmour is still his favorite guitarist. He’s opened a semi-private recording studio in order to pursue his own music. Billy’s expert ear and disposition for collaboration, however, has led to what has become a common role for him—working with aspiring musicians and coaching those with promise into careers. He speaks highly of one young Tuscon musician, Corey Batten, who has an exceptional voice and skill for writing country songs. “He was just a kid,” Billy extols,“he started out as a shower singer—but he was amazing. And as nice a human being as you’ll ever meet.” Billy took Corey to Nashville, where he introduced him to the contacts he’d made over the years, including a VP at Atlantic Records. Doors began opening for Corey, who now has three songs that have been number one on the country charts, including Blake Shelton’s “She Wouldn’t Be Gone.” Today, Billy continues to write his own songs and is working on several recording projects, including one with another blossoming artist, Cherie Norquay. She has been chosen to perform at Wisconsin’s largest Christian music gathering, “Lifefest.”

Meanwhile, at the Shoppe,Wendy plans her next trip to the southwest, where she’ll spend three weeks of the winter visiting art shows and reviewing vendors’ wares.

When I ask Wendy how she selects her pieces,she replies“God has a lot to do with that; I say a prayer before I go in and ask for guidance.”Wendy also gives credit for lessons learned in running a shop to the women for whom she worked in Tuscon. “I watched them operate their shop, watched the mistakes they made and learned from them,” she says. Vintage, Latin and other colorfully-embroidered clothing, as well as Native American art, are Wendy’s passion; her eye for vivid colors and intricate detail brighten the Shoppe. It’s a delight to walk around the rooms, each as carefully laid out as an art museum, feeling like you’re traveling back in time—sometimes a couple of centuries (she buys pueblo art from the Zuni and Navajo), sometimes to the Bohemian sixties.

Asked what he believes is his greatest accomplishment,Billy says“raising my three children. They’re almost perfect,” he jokes. The pride he and Wendy feel is evident; unsurprisingly, two of them have chosen artistic paths themselves. Nonetheless, some of Billy’s fondest memories are of performing Led Zepplin, Grand Funk and the Stones with the band on the road. Wendy articulates how blessed the two feel: “We’ve done everything we wanted to prove to ourselves we could do.” She’s clearly found her home here in the Shoppe, amid its bright colors, evocative art, and warm, comfortable atmosphere. Not that these two don’t have their hands full—but they’re used to doing the hard work needed to fulfill their visions. Billy is pulling a band together for Cherie so she can perform this summer in Oshkosh. Wendy anticipates another busy summer season for the Shoppe and hopes the new merchandise she selected will prove as popular as past years. Wendy and Billy will always remain busy, building on their legacies. I’ve no doubt but to expect new creative enterprises from them in years to come.

Check out their website at: www.sugarrivergallery.com or visit them at 108 5th Avenue, New Glarus,WI. 53574 608-527-4290 Story and photos supplied by:Anne Gravel Sullivan

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kristi and fats... continued from page 8

AG: Is it hard when both of you are full time musicians to find time as a couple?

himself to play. He went and found a couple of their records at the New York City library and then discovered all the great folk recordings that were also there. These were mostly all 78’s. That’s how he taught himself to play. He stayed away from Bluegrass because it was too modern for him. Fats said that “I was just trying to get back to my roots. My mother’s parents came from South Carolina. They were not musicians, but this style of music came from this area. I never played Rock & Roll music growing up. I just played String Band, Early Jazz, and Blues.”

Both: Not really, we’re always a couple. Whether we’re on the road together or we’re at home, even when we are separated, we’re connected.

AG: How often do you tour as a couple?

Kristi grew up in Southern Illinois on a farm near Carbondale. She went to Marquette University in Milwaukee for a while then moved to New York City. In New York she played in a Rock & Roll Band and studied acting. Kristi Rose as a singer has been compared to artists ranging from Wanda Jackson to Patti Smith. According to the Nashville Scene “As a singer Kristi Rose is someone whose eyes and ears are forever open to the world of the hyper-kitsch, the intense “Trucolor” of American popular culture.” She can still recall the childhood thrill of hearing Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” for the first time, which helped to influence her to be a singer. Kristi Rose was working the hillbilly underground years before it was working in downtown Nashville. Kristi arrived in Nashville in 1992, bringing with her a decade’s worth of touring experience and a strong following in Europe. She has appeared in music videos, on stage, and has sung in many venues throughout Nashville, the U.S., and Europe. She is an excellent songwriter.

AG: Kristi what is your favorite type of venue or show to play?

Both Fats and Kristi compliment each other’s talents wonderfully. Never over shadowing the other, a performance by this fantastic duo is always a musical treat! Forever busy, Fats is currently on tour with Jack White, keeping up a studio musician career, and writing and recording a new CD with Kristi. He is also playing a few dates this year in Canada with Kane,Welch, Kaplin, playing some dates with Eric Brace & Peter Cooper, Paul Burch and others . Kristi and Fats have dates of their own throughout the rest of 2012. Fats is playing in New Glarus,Wisconsin on December 1st at Puempel’s with Tom Mason and the Blue Buccaneers. Kristi is also busy recording, both in Nashville and in Los Angeles, where she works with her longtime friend, producer/composer Peitor Angell.

This interview took place over a couple of breakfast meetings at Athens in Nashville (my favorite place to eat breakfast) and a dinner eating Kabobs with green rice and finally through an email. As I said before Fats and Kristi are two of our favorite people. Here’s what they have been up to lately.

AG: How long have you each been musicians?

Kristi Rose: Pretty much our whole lives. Our adult lives. Fats first went on the road professionally at 17. And except for a stint as a craps dealer for a couple of years in Las Vegas, when he was 21, that’s all he’s done.

AG:Who influenced you to become musicians?

Fats: My Uncle Tom, who was my mother’s brother, was a personal influence. He played banjo and got me started when I was about 11. From there I quickly picked up the fiddle, and then....so on. I became aware of the New Lost City Ramblers and they had a huge effect on me. The whole folk scene in the 1960’s was happening in NYC and I was very drawn to it, even as a kid.

Kristi Rose: Though I was raised on the farm, my family was musical and were always very appreciative of musical talent. Lots of choral singing, lots of folks with really good voices and good natural musical instincts in my extended family. My mother was from Canada, growing up she had some sort of regular role on a nationally broadcast radio sitcom. Before she married my Dad she had a brief career as a disc jockey. So she certainly knew about performing, and there was a lot of that in my house growing up.

AG:When was the first time you were on stage to perform?

Fats: The first time I was onstage was as a kid magician, vanishing handkerchiefs, multiplying billiard balls, that sort of thing. Also influenced by my Uncle Tom. He was a pretty interesting guy.

Kristi Rose: The earliest times that I remember singing would be for family and friends. I had a great aunt who sang opera and classical music, and was somewhat known in Canada. As a very little girl, I used to try to mimic my aunt singing Italian arias....which meant I was standing by the piano wailing gibberish. I would be stood up in front of everyone wearing a boa, doing things like, belting out “Hello Dolly” complete with Louis Armstrong imitations. It all felt completely natural to me. In our house that was just normal.

AG:When did you decide to become professional musicians?

Both: Neither of us really has a distinct memory of deciding that this is what we were going to do professionally...It’s just what we did.

Both: It can vary from year to year. There are chunks of time when we’ll be out doing shows quite a bit, or out for a stretch of time. Then there are times where Fats is out on the road with someone else, or one of us is working on a different project.

Kristi Rose: One with people in it! Joking aside, whether it’s a big, beautiful theater or a house concert, it’s the vibe of the place that makes it work. The people, the response of the audience.

AG: Fats the same question for you.

Fats: Ditto.

AG: Fats you have quite a resume as a studio musician. Who are some of the folks you have recorded with?

Fats:Well, since I have recorded with a lot of people over the years, let’s just look at the past year. I’ve been doing a lot of sessions at Third Man, which is always great cause it is so wildly diverse. I’ve gotten to record with Beck; I’ve been working on Karen Elson’s new album. I did Jack White’s new album “Blunderbuss”. In the past 6 months or so, I’ve done sessions with Kelly Willis and Bruce Robeson, Caroline Herring, of course Kevin Welch and Kieran Kane. I do a lot of work with Paul Burch. I’ve gone out to Tulsa to record with Steve Ripley. I’ve been doing some music for film projects, particularly with Stacy Dean Campbell, and others. Of course I’m always recording in our studio in Southern Illinois. This is where Kristi Rose is from and we have a small studio there. She and I can just sort of hole up and write and record.

AG: Fats how many different instruments do you play and how did you become so proficient on them?

Fats: I play most any stringed instrument, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and steel, so on. Oh, and 3 row button accordion, which is its own thing. I have a great interest in Turkish/Greek/Middle Eastern music, so I also play oud and saz. Kristi Rose’s sister lives in Turkey and she’s bringing me a cumbus this summer. A new instrument can become very obsessive for me and I can spend a lot of time with it...researching tunings, history. I’ve done this since I was a kid.

AG: Kristi I saw you in a video with the Old Crow Medicine show. Can you tell us how that came about?

Kristi Rose:That was for the song “Wagon Wheel” That was one of those lucky things; it was during a period of time where I was gone a lot. I was in town (Nashville) for only one day between trips and THAT was the day they were shooting the video. I believe I was called for it because Norm Parenteau of Acony, suggested me. The directors gave it an old, small time carny vibe. Very cool! I was sort of a madam character to the Hootchie Cootchie gals...played by the girls in the neo-burlesque troupe “Panty Raid”. That video has been out there for years now and people will still come up to me and comment on it.

AG: Fats you are currently working with Jack White. You played on his new album and you are touring with him. What’s that like?

Fats:Working with Jack is always great, whether in the studio or touring. He’s a brilliant musician and has a fearless approach to everything he does. The musicians, crew and other people that he surrounds himself with are a fascinating and diverse bunch. I’ve really been enjoying it a lot. It's very rejuvenating.

AG:Tell us about the shows you two play around Nashville as a couple.

Both: We do play in Nashville occasionally, and we do have our favorite places.

Music City Roots at the Loveless Barn is outstanding, and also locally The Family Wash in East Nashville is a favorite place to play and try out new material. It’s a great musicians’ hang. You know there really are a lot of very cool places to play in Nashville. They don’t call it Music City for nuthin’.

AG: Kristi you come from a more rock and roll background than Fats, can you tell us about that.

Kristi Rose: In the 1980’s, when Fats was playing on a more country circuit of festivals and clubs, I was in a band called the Midnight Walkers. Based out of NYC. continued on page 35

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Big Bang String Thing

Bluegrass, Jazz grass, New grass, and these folks can really play! I sat down with the members Bob Westfall, Chris Wagoner, Mary Gaines, and Micah Olsan to talk about strings and things.

AG:What’s the instrumentation?

prices with lower pay.

CW: It seems that fewer folks in general are going out to see live music, compounded by the economy which has forced most music venues to pay less than ever.On the positive side, the economy seems to be perking up a bit and new music venues have been popping up, ran by young arts and culture scene.

MO: Mandolin, Fiddle, Guitar, and Bass.

AG:Who are some of the folks you have played with?

AG: How long have you been playing together?

BW: It’s been half our lives for Chris, Mary and I.And it’s been really great with a whole lot of cooking, laughter and great music. Micah’s been with us for 5 years.

MG: We’ve (collectively) shared the stage with some great artist’s, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall,Alex DeGrassi, Leo Kottke, John Harford, David Grisman,Asleep at the Wheel, Doc Watson,Taj Majhal,The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lyle Lovett, David Bromberg,Taj Majhal, and more.

CW: Mary, Bob and I have been playing together in one form or another since we met at the Mifflin Street Block Party in 1987 when it featured all classical music and one lemonade stand.

AG:What do you like about playing in this group?

AG:Who are you influences?

BW:For myself I’ve always felt influence by everything I’ve heard. I think that we are all a little like that, whether you like it or not.

MO: Radiohead,Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Ben Harper, Michael Hedges, Punch Brothers and Andrew Bird.

BW:We all get along really well and enjoy playing together and laughing which makes for better music, I think.

MO:The challenge and the strings.

MG:It’s challenging and exciting.There are complex arrangements and varying time signatures and humorous sections that you have to keep it together while playing them.

Its fun!

CW:The interesting thing about bands is that everyone brings in different influences and the combination tends to make it unique. Some of us have had classical training but also a diverse jazz and folk background, even stints in roots-rock groups.The top alternative string players such as Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, David Grisman and Tony Rice have certainly influenced the sound of this band.

CW: The coffee and baked goods at rehearsals… and of course when we’re really clickin’ on stage and the tempo’s really up there and we’re totally in the pocket.

AG: How would you describe you music?

MO: Become a DJ – more money.

BW:That’s the hitch business wise, none of us has ever fit into a specific “category” in the record stores. We do a lot of original things that I have written, as well as some other choice material. Its bluegrass, jazz, swing but it’s got this infusion of Latin, swing, pop and classical as well. By that I mean the arrangements are intentional yet there’s an improvisational aspect that leaves room for fun and adventure in the music.

CW: Start with a really good“product”– your music. Be sure you’re excited about what you’re doing and can get behind it business wise.

AG: Can you give any advice to folks who want to work in the music business as performers?

AG:What is the biggest thrill you have had performing?

BW: Honestly for me it’s every time we play.

MO:Awesome!

CW:A fun mix of bluegrass, Latin, jazz and a few arrangements of great Beatles tunes as well as originals.

CW: Every so often the stars align and everyone is playing “out of their heads” - totally connected and not getting in our own way, when that happens it feel like you can play absolutely anything.

AG:Who does your music appeal to?

AG:Why do you do it?

BW:I think folks who just like good music love what we do.We seem to be able to cross the age barrier and people of all ages enjoy our diversity of styles.

MG: Not only is it our chosen profession, but playing music is also a life long passion, and a calling.We do it because this is how we want to spend our lives, making music.

MO:Yuppies, hippies, college kinds and NPR listeners.

BW: It’s what makes us tick!

CW:A surprisingly wide range of people – from the younger jam – band crowd to more traditional folks and bluegrass loves and some jazz lovers.To watch them all interact at shows in entertaining to us.

AG:Where are you playing soon?

AG: Is it harder today to make a living as a performer than it was 10 years ago?

MO: Not for me.

MG: Harder to make a living,YES! The recession combined with rising insurance costs have driven local and regional venues to be unable to compensate us in the way they used to and going on the road is more difficult as well when you combine high gas

6/1 Tyranena Brewing Co. in Lake Mills 6/7 & 6/21 at The Merchant in downtown Madison 6/12 – Urban Theatre/ Live TV taping Madison 6/15 –Café Carpe in Fort Atkinson 7/3 –Hydro Street Brewing Co in Columbus,WI 7/28 – Current Music Fest, Sun Prairie Music Fest.

AG:Thanks for talking with me.

Story and photo’s by: Rebecca Thompson

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worf... continued from page 18

Travis- Did you come through the ranks with guys like Brent Mason and Michael Rhodes?

Glenn- Very much so. In fact Michael was already here and doing really well. He was someone I wasn’t aware of until I moved here but I remember the first few times I heard him and thought ‘oh man, this is a truckload of bass right here!’ (Laughs) But he was one of my friends and I still regard him as one of my brothers in this town.And so, you do compete in this town,but it’s a very friendly competition.He and I have worked for a lot of the same producers, split records throughout the years. But there is a real sincere support system here.And if I can’t get to something,I ALWAYS tell people about Rhodes…or David Hungate and on and on.

Travis- And considering the vast amount of records being made here in the 90’s, I'm sure there was a lot of work to go around…

Glenn- Oh yeah.All kinds of things lined up then for this town to be buried in work.

People used to book you months and months in advance because they wanted this specific band and the only way to get you was by doing that.But that sort of was a short lived era there. Prior to that, the work was getting done by just a handful of people.

Back then the record would be done in about a day. Everything went down at once. It was a ‘single based’ way of doing rather than an album based way.Then when CD’s came out, there was re-releases so the record companies got more money from that.

People were discovering a ‘new’ kind of country, though I’m not really sure that it was.

Younger writers and producers….

Travis- Sort of the Garth Brooks effect. I’m sure things were changing before that, but it seemed like when he hit, everything changed…

Glenn- Yeah…he was sort of the pinnacle of it. But now the town reminds me so much of when I first came here.The budgets are not there like they were in the 90’s heyday.

People are not quite as busy.Things are done more quickly again.And there’s no booking way far in advance.

Travis- And unfortunately many of the studios didn’t survive that change either…

Glenn- Yeah, that’s the unfortunate reality in the music business in general, but in particular the recording side of it.It was a failure of excess and a failure to foresee the buying habits of the people were changing. It’s a very different day and part of that is that some can’t do what they used to.The studios were not one time investments, the upkeep of gear, updating the gear.The upkeep of the buildings themselves. Plus having to compete with home studios. Maybe they don’t sound as good, but I’m not sure what kind of priority that is for the average listener anymore.

Travis- So sadly…..it’s not.

Glenn- Yeah and I think it will be a real travesty if we lose all the studios.

Travis- With all the artists that you’ve had a chance to work with, are there any standout ones that you were really excited about working with? Maybe ones that you grew up listening to…

Glenn- There’s certainly quite a few. I did a track just yesterday with Allan Jackson and John Fogerty.We cut that old CCR song,‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain?’ I’ve been lucky to work with Allan over the years, but it was a kick and a half to hear John’s voice over the headphones. Everyone in the room turned and lit up! I’ve been lucky enough to work with so many of my heroes, George Jones,Tammy Wynette, George Strait, & Emmylou Harris.

Travis- And you played with George and Merle on the ‘Kicking Out the Footlights’ record. Fun session?

Glenn- Yeah! One of the few times I ever worked with Haggard. Since my instrument isn’t that loud, as fate would have it, they had me in the studio room with them. But when they walked in and started singin’…the hair stood up on the back of my neck!

There’s something about some of those iconic voices, you hear them, you grow up listening to them,hear them on the radio orTV…but it’s totally something else when you hear those voices over the headphones and being there. Just a thrill and a half just to be sharing oxygen with them! (Laughs) It’s those things that keep you from ever taking it for granted.

Travis- Well, I’m just going to come and say it…the records that you, Chuck Ainlay and Mark Knopfler make just don’t get any better sounding in my opinion!

Glenn- Well thanks! Chuck is truly world class. So working with him has been one of the high water marks for me.And getting to play with Mark Knopfler…if I had to pick one thing that I’m most proud of…my association and friendship with him.I’ve learned so much. He is such an astonishing musician, writer, producer, all those things. He’s always expanding the horizons for us.And we’ve been invited so deeply into his music.

Not just a sideman/leader thing. Everybody who is there, is there because they have something he wants to hear from them. Not just the note they play, but their instincts.

Travis- Can you tell us how that relationship started?

actually get to hear what I do that I’m not allowed to do in the studio. So, I was playing at the Bluebird Café when they had bands,and I didn’t know it, but Mark had come in and was sitting at the bar listening to the first set.And I walked by and he stuck his hand out and he introduced himself. It blew me away that he was there so I talked to him for a minute.Told him I was a fan and big admirer of his music.And I left it at that and didn’t want to take too much of his time.The phone rang about 3 or 4 months later to see if I wanted to play on the Golden Heart record.Which was actually a track called ‘Speedway at Nazareth’…

Travis- Wow! Which appeared later on ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’….

Glenn- Yeah. We actually cut it then. When we re-cut it years later, it became a completely different version. But it was an instance that being on that stage at that time led to meeting Mark.

Travis- So were Chuck and Mark wanting to make their records here in Nashville?

Glenn- Well, we made the Shangri-La album out in Malibu. But most of the others were made in various studios in town.

Travis- So Chuck is not a guy who has to have a certain studio to get his sound?

Glenn- No. I‘ve literally seen Chuck go into studios that couldn’t even pass electricity from one side of the console to the other. It’s kind of how Shangri La was. Chuck spent the first 2 days like a miner under the console soldering and trying to get things to work; to the point where we thought we were going to have to abort and move elsewhere. So it was driven by what Chuck is able to do anywhere,and what Mark wanted sonically. Mark, after working a few albums here and because of the body of the songs, he had a mental image that the Shangri La album should be recorded out there. He wanted it all recorded at one studio. He even told me at the beginning of the record he wanted me to pick one bass to use for the whole record. He told Chad Cromwell just one drum kit. And then after that, Mark and Chuck designed Mark’s studio in London. And for me, it’s the greatest studio I’ve ever seen or been in.Any sound you can think of.You just can’t find those rooms anymore.And with Mark, at an age when most guys are going to the golf course or a yacht, and he has other interests, but the main thrust of his being is still being a creative musician. A songwriter first and foremost and being an artist.

Travis- And that’s one thing that just can’t be overlooked. Of course there is the guitar aspect of what he does, what he is writing lyrically is as good as any of the greats.

Glenn- I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but he would tell you that he’s a folk musician.Which he is…he heavily discounts his own guitar playing. I always hounded him about it, you play one note and it means more than 6,000 wanna-bes. It’s such an evocative style. It’s just as much a part of him as his lyrics, melodies…the whole package.

Travis- With you and the rhythm section, Richard Bennett…you guys must’ve had a history of working together prior.Was the transition to become a band fairly easy?

Glenn- It was not at first only because Mark had worked with Dire Straits, then a lot of other session musicians.When he first became a solo artist, I’m not sure he knew exactly who he wanted to be.Which is why ‘Golden Heart’ is kind of all over the place musically. It was cut with a lot of different musicians. Different music styles were represented. It was his first step into being a solo artist.What made it tricky for us is that we didn’t know him yet.We would all offer up our suggestions. Sometimes they would work and sometimes they wouldn’t.As the years have gone by, it’s become more of a band. Nobody in the band is just going to say,’oh I know Mark, and whatever I play will be cool.’ We’d rather do something that would miss it by a mile just to see if it will lead to something cooler.

Travis- Does it look like you’ll make more records with Mark? More tours planned?

Glenn- We always say at the end of a tour,‘we hope there’s another one!’ I think he’ll create until he tips over. It’s who he is. I hope to be a part of that as long as he’ll have me.As far as tours, we’re finding ways to keep doing it.We have a short tour booked this fall opening for Bob Dylan.We’re scheduled to do a full tour with Mark next year.

Not sure if that will be in the U.S. or not.

Travis- Are you starting to get into the producer role as well?

Glenn- Yeah. I’ve had people say ‘when are you going to put down the bass and go be a producer?’ I’ve never wanted to do that.To this day, I love playing the bass. I play it every day, whether I’m working or not. I’m at the house practicing and trying to learn.

But I’ll be doing more work with Chuck Ainlay and Frank Lidell.

Travis- I have to ask, are you planning any trips back home to Wisconsin this summer?

(Laughs) Glenn- (laughs) Oh yeah. My wife and I bought a little farmhouse in Door County.We try to get up there a few times a year. Our kids still think of Wisconsin as vacation time.

We have family still back in that state.We’ve been here a long time,but that’s still home.

Always has been and always will be.

Written by: By:Travis Cooper Picture furnished.

Glenn- Its funny, I was busy in the studio and I was in a couple of local bands here and was playing in clubs 4 or 5 nights a week. I remember telling my wife that I know this is really rough, but I keep thinking that if I play with all these local bands, people will w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

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CD Review

Lynn Taylor ♪♪♪♪♪ “Barfly” • Good Dirt Records • Americana/Blues

Lynn Taylor is another fine example of why East Nashville is the coolest place on Earth to hear and see music. Taylor and the Barflies have put out a killer CD that keeps you interested from the first note until the last. The Barflies themselves are quite the backing band (Jim Gray Bass, Paul Burch Drums, Sergio Webb Guitar,Thomm Jutz Guitar, Jen Gunderman Piano, Organ, and Accordion, and Graham Gray backing vocals). They alone could hold your attention with their musical ability. With the added bonus of fine lyrics and well-structured songs by Taylor, this CD is a winner all around.

The CD starts out with a funky little tune called“It’s alright”that gets your foot tapping and you hear racing.“Decatur Street” reminds me of the kind of songs Jonathon Edwards was writing in the 70’s. That’s a good thing! Those type of out of sorts songs are not quite on the meter that musicians appreciate. “Once Again” is a fantastic song that most of us have lived at least twice in our lives. It proves that guys just don’t get it when it comes to behaving! The Scotty Moore guitar licks really add to the song. “Go Back” is a very cool bluesy song recorded very cool.

Being a studio owner and producer I always look for unique sounds when I listen to CD’s and this song in particular really caught my ears. Sonically it is very cool, very retro and stark. Hats off to Burch and Taylor for KISS (Keep it simple stupid) recording on this song and the whole CD. Many times when people record they pile on all the studio tricks they can to “enhance” tracks and end up ruining them. Taylor and Burch let the songs dictate the recoding not the other way around and my hat’s off to you guys for that!

This is one hell of a record and deserves as much press and airtime it can gather! I love this CD! There I said it. I have yet to be disappointed by anything coming out of East Nashville these past four years, and this CD is no exception. Taylor is an okay in my book! This CD speaks volumes of his talent and the talented folks that played on it.

Rock on Lynn Taylor!!!

Review by:Andy Ziehli Rev. John DeLore ♪♪♪♪♪ “Little John the Conqueror” • Americana What transpires when a Wisconsinite transports himself to Brooklyn, NY, and then sets out to make his own brand of Americana music? After giving“Little John the Conqueror”a few listens we see, in this case, where it has taken the Reverend John DeLore.

Don't let the Rev.Moniker scare you off,(an online ordainment,after a night of whiskey in his case) for awhile there is occasional salvation to his tales, but they are neither preachy nor narrow in scope.

“Little John the Conqueror”is a travelogue of sorts. A song-cycle in which DeLore takes us on his journey: love, life, death, they are all represented in a literate sort of semi(Southern) gothic way.You become entrapped by his tale, and engrained in his story line, awaiting the outcome of what transpires for the narrator.

Musically “Little John the Conqueror” is well crafted country tinged pop, with a mixture of folk and blues.Acoustic based fleshed out with full band sound and occasionally orchestration. A hot pedal steel guitar is an added treat! It’s not so much a ‘laid-back’ approach as simply a (sometimes) mid-tempo gape, reminding me of Byrdsera ‘Ballad of Easy Rider’ in both song structure and pacing. In fact DeLore’s vocals have that same subtle nuance that McGuinn offers.A weathered pitch which pulls you into the story line of a song.While nothing bolts out immediately at you the songs and melodies tend to stay with you, long after you have listened; a chorus here, a hook there, wanting another listen.

Marley’s Ghost ♪♪♪♪♪ Jubilee • Sage Arts Records • Americana Marley’s Ghost is one of the all-time American Bands in America!

Hell they were Americana before it was Americana! Jubilee is a celebration of their 25 years of playing together. Quite a milestone for any band!

This album like their last two albums were produced by legendary producer extraordinaire Cowboy Jack Clement. For those of you who are not audiophile’s like the rest of us, Cowboy Jack Clement wrote the book on recording and producing hit records.

Starting in the 1950’s through today, Jack Clement is the man!!! His production of this CD reflects his total understanding of letting the songs stand on their own and keeping the gimmicks out of recording.

On Jubilee, Marley’s Ghost recruited some special friends to help celebrate their 25 years including Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Marty Stuart, Larry Campbell, and Old Crow Medicine Show. Campbell’s fret work is worth the album on its own, let alone the fantastic musicianship of the players of Marley’s Ghost. These guys are seasoned pros who know how to write and play great music!

This album is filled with great songs that lift and take you to a new musical plain. Dan Wheetman wrote five of the thirteen songs here. The others came from great songwriters like Kris Kristofferson, Bobby Womack, John Prine, Levon Helm, Larry Campbell, Butch Hancock, and Katy Moffat. My favorites are “Wake up Mama”, a rollicking 50’s rock a billy song that could have come straight out of Sun Studios. Larry Campbell plays a hell of a mean lead guitar on this number. A very cool version of Bobby Womack’s“It’s all over now”with Cowboy and Old Crow Medicine Show playing and singing on it. “Unwed Fathers”with Emmylou Harris on vocals is a fantastic John Prine and Bobby Braddock song.“Hank & Audrey”is another fantastic country song you don’t hear on the radio today which is a crime. “Lonely Night” is a hand clapping song written by Mike Phelan. The last song“She made me lose my Blues”is a fitting close to one fantastic album. It fits perfectly in this collection and leaves the listener with a smile and great memories of Jubilee.

Marley’s Ghost is a wonderful band that knows how to play and make great records!

Do whatever you have to do to find this CD and buy it! I’m sure you’ll agree with me that this is Americana Music at its best!

Review by:Andy Ziehli Paul Thorn ♪♪♪♪♪ “What The Hell Is Goin’ On?” • Blues/rock “What The Hell...”, is a 13 song covers collection, Paul Thorn’s first release since 2010’s “Pimps and Preachers”. I am usually a tad reserved when confronted with such releases. On the one hand you realize it is a stop-gap, a release made for ‘already’ fans, awaiting the release of a new original work.Yet on the other you want to dig in and find out about influences and the possible surprises an artist will give you.

Thorn covers all the bases that we have come to expect from a P.T. album:The rough and tumble pop/rock,“Don't Let Me Down Again” (Lindsey Buckingham); down and dirty,snakey blues,“Snake Blues”(Ray Wylie Hubbard);and the Southern gospel grooves that he loves,“Shelter Me Lord” (Buddy Miller).And that is just the first three songs!

Given the range of songwriters from Big Al Anderson to Elvin Bishop-who even makes an appearance on the Bishop penned title cut, the proceedings could have easily turned into a mess.But,throughout the discThorn and his band mates whip up a steady storm, giving each song the needed vibe it needs/deserves.They revel in these tunes and it shows in the performances. A very eclectic choice of material all given the southern blues/rock and gruff/soul vocals that Thorn is known for.

A pair of highlights for me and more for the surprise factor than anything else: Buckingham’s afore mentioned“Don’t Let Me down Again”, a pre-Fleetwood Mac song originally found on Buckingham Nicks. A guttural pop slice!, and the Crescent City pop masterpiece “Small Town Talk” originally done by the late Bobby Charles (and co-written by Charles and Rick Danko).As with the original this one has me humming along long after having played it. Amazing vocals (reminiscent of Charles himself) and the organ hook, damn!

So forget my earlier apprehensions.If this is the album that is going to break PaulThorn so be it. So sit back and enjoy a truly wonderful listen. Please check out Thorns website; you can order ‘What The Hell...’ along with a Live Bootleg, and even a Paul Thorn lunchbox!!??

Review by: Mark Gerking

The Reverend John DeLore has been making albums for some time now. Each is worth checking out, and ‘Little John the Conqueror’ may be the best of them all.Well worth your listening investment.

Review by: Mark Gerking

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David Olney ♪♪♪♪♪ The Stone • Americana/Folk Only Olney! Leave it to David to put out a 6-song mini album. (His second in a series of thematic minis)This one is based on the“Greatest Story Ever Told”, the Easter story.A gutsy move, a pretty heavy topic and one that in anyone else’s hands might come off as a mere re-treaded tale/pompous propaganda or simply preachy.These are not spirituals of morality and higher powers,but lay witness to a familiar to many times story given a fresh and new interpretation. Not that the story has changed, but through the crafting of Olney the perspective certainly has. Set to music both beautiful and raucous as needed, it is the perspective of the narrative in these songs which sets this rendering of the story apart from how others have told it.

This is a conceptualization that Olney has wanted to piece together for a long time.

Three of the songs have been previously released, (although all are given new interpretations to fit into a thematic whole. and it is the perspective from which Olney writes/performs these songs that lures in the listener:“Jerusalem Tomorrow”- the story of a mystified and down-on-his-luck“healer,”“Brays-a beautiful song of mystery and pride, (as told through the eyes of a donkey) “Barabbas”- a tale of luck, relief and bewilderment, “Brains”, an out-and-out rocker complete with muddy guitars and skonking harp in which Judas' inquisitors demand to know "who the brains of the operation are", “A Soldiers Report” in which the Roman guard of the tomb of Jesus tells what happened on his watch. These are all tales that while familiar bring a new light onto the subjects at hand.

Brilliantly assisted in the recording studio by long time Olney cohort’s producer & multiinstrumentalist/percussionist Jack Irwin, guitarist Sergio Webb, and bassist Dave Roe, Olney gives the songs for the most part a blues/folk feel that is understated, yet highly appropriate. Indeed, the use of various percussion devices and the subtle beauty of Webb’s classical guitar flesh out the songs giving each their proper due. It is in Olney’s voice-a powerful poetic instrument unto itself-that pulls everything together.

With “The Stone” Olney has once again proven himself a unique poet, singer, and songsmith.“The Stone”continues his own brand of hard-bitten tales,from a man who has the ability to breathe life into them, as only he can conjure. It shouldn’t come as a revelation.

Review by: Mark Gerking Grant Peeples ♪♪♪♪♪ Prior Convictions • Independent Release Roots/Americana Patriots, priests, pole-dancing for god, and the politics of belief.This CD isn’t easy,but it’s real as hell,and beautiful t’boot.To quote Grant Peeples;“when you’re diggin’ for the truth you’re messin’ with some dangerous stuff.” Believe me this guy is opening every door, peeking behind every curtain, and turning over every rock, looking for all the dangerous stuff he can find.

His lyrics are powerful and direct. His voice is simple and true. His vision is clear and his politics are honest. The instrumental performances on this CD are sublime and the production values are through the roof. This recording has its own atmosphere.

Vibrato drips from the guitar, the drums hypnotize, and (Joel Guzman,s) accordion wraps its warm arms around you like a lover. Listen to it, my favorite tune (Last Nite I Dreamed In Spanish); like I said,“real as hell, and beautiful t’boot.” Love this CD. Review by: Rick Harris Tab Benoit ♪♪♪♪♪ Legacy: The Best Of Concord Music Group Blues/Americana Tab Benoit may not be a household name to most people in the Great White North we call home, but to guitar pickers Benoit is a hero. My friend and super guitar picker Marc Barnaby has been raving about Benoit to me for years. Tab Benoit is Louisiana’s No. 1 roots export. More than just an acclaimed bluesman, he is an indefatigable conservation advocate. Benoit is a driving force behind Voice of the Wetlands, an organization working to save Louisiana’s wetlands. In 2010, he received the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Benoit also starred in the IMAX motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to restore the wetlands.

This CD is a collection of songs that is both impressive and balls to the walls in quality and substance. They range from bluesy swaying tunes to all out rockers! Benoit’s soulful voice is as good as his fine guitar playing. The songs are both original and covers done in a style that only Benoit can pull off (just check out track three Screaming Jay Hawkins“I put a spell on you”) to make others songs his! His guitar tone is unique as is his playing style. His funky side is quite evident on Stephen Stills “For what it’s worth”, a real tribute to Stills. Benoit’s Muddy Bottom Blues is a real ass kicking song with some of the coolest guitar work I’ve heard in a while. Not complicated at all but relevant in both tone and simplicity. “Coming on Strong” is a wonderful Cajun Country song that Benoit gets help from Billy Joe Shaver and Waylon Thibodeaux. Benoit’s cover of Otis Redding’s “These arms of mine” is a superlative rendition that Redding would be proud of. The grittiest tune on the CD is Mike Henderson’s and Glen Worf’s Whiskey Store. On this tune Benoit really shoes his swampy bluesy guitar and vocals w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

style. The last song and fittingly is Benoit’s own Bayou Boogie where he pulls out all the stops both vocally and especially guitar picking wise.

This CD is an excellent collection to start with if you are not familiar with Benoit and his fantastic guitar style. It’s a great addition to your collection. Some of the cuts are new renditions of older cuts. I loved this CD! It made me think of hot humid nights in a smoky roadhouse where you don’t break the house rules, or you might end up as gator bait! Rock on Tab Benoit! You are the king!

Review by:Andy Ziehli Hobart Brothers & Lil’ Sis Hobart ♪♪♪♪♪ At Least we have each other Freedom Records Roots Rock/Americana Holy Cow! Does this CD Rock!!! I am blown away by this release!

Please sign me up for the family reunion of the Hobart’s! This album is filled with quality music to the 100th degree! Can you tell I love it! I don’t think I’ve run across a better written album this year! Not one bad song on this album. If you like Rock, Pop, and Americana music you will love this album!

Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston and Susan Cowsill are “The Hobart Brothers featuring Lil’ Sis Hobart”. Helping out the family on this CD are Andrew DuPlantis on Bass Guitar and Russ Broussard on drums. “At Least We Have Each Other”features 10 songs co-written by the three singer-songwriters in the studio. It was recorded in late 2010

by John and Mary Podio at Top Hat Recording in Austin,Texas.

I don’t even know where to start naming my favorite tracks here. They are all my favorites! First Susan Cowsill is one of my favorite writers today. I loved her when she recorded with the Continental Drifters and her solo work is out of this world! She writes a mean song and her voice is true to every note she sings. Freedy Johntson is another fantastic songwriter that blows me away. Jon Dee Graham is new to me, but if all his work is like this I’m a fan! Anyway back to the songs. I can’t pick a favorite here. They are all that good! The one’s that really caught my ear and had me by the collar are: Ballad of little sis (Didn’t I love her) a toe tapping smile grooving song from the first bar, Why don’t I hunt a bluesy rock tune that gets you grooving from the first guitar chord, I never knew there would be you a very classy 60’s Pop style song, All things being equal is an Americana style song done to perfection, and I am sorry, a sad tale that really gets you in the heart.

As you can tell I love this CD! I hope that the Hobart Brothers and Lil’ Sis Hobart hit the road and come to Wisconsin and rock us all night long with their fantastic music.

This CD is a MUST for your collection! Go buy it!

Review by: Andy Ziehli Josh Harty ♪♪♪♪♪ Nowhere Magnolia Recording Company Recorded and Mixed by Chris Cunnningham, Basecamp Recording Josh Harty's Nowhere leaves me feeling touched.His haunting voice is a gift for telling woes, but Harty hones that gift with talent as he layers on more haunting with a little fiddle here and a mandolin there from Trevor Krieger. Josh an artful tour guide through only seven songs on the album. The songwriter's stories are brutal truths sugar-coated with the strings of his simple guitar. You'll listen over and over and be left with something new each time.

"Whiskey and Morphine" and "Sweet Solution" are both tunes that dare to say out loud what we all could have at one time or another. "Nowhere" intensely cautions us where we're in such a hurry to get. There seems to be such a disciplined reserve from this son-of-a-preacher-man. The rest of us might have just blurted out too much more to keep it interesting. "Brave and alarming" came the reviews of these songs from their first release in the UK- well put. Keep this short list from Josh Harty on your short list.

Review by: Anne Miller Audrey Auld ♪♪♪♪ Resurrection Moon • Reckless Records Resurrection Moon is something of a 'greatest hits' collection from Audrey Auld's storied 15 year career with a couple of new works thrown in. Fellow songwriter Terry McArthur (co-writer of "Resurrection Moon") labels these songs Auld's "scars and moments of revelation". This chronicle of a woman's growth, pain and favorites lays a clean foundation of brisk and unexpected melodies topped off with Audrey's crisp clear voice and crisp clear stories. Songs taken from The Fallen (2000); Losing Faith (2003);Texas (2005) and Lost Men & Angry Girls (2007) all make up this playlist.

This compilation of originals spans from fresh folksy to classic country (sans twang), but mostly lands squarely on the genre of great-live-set. Hats off to Audrey making me tap my toe first and unravel her stories second. The crispness of these tunes is almost indigo-girls-esque, but only takes one strong voice to tell the song-stories. Great album, keep it near.

Review by:Anne Miller

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Bruce Springsteen ♪♪♪♪♪ Wrecking Ball • Style: Rock-Americana Columbia Records This is without any question one of the finest CDs I’ve ever heard.

As Springsteen made clear in a Rolling Stone interview with Jon Stewart, every cut on the album was written initially as a folk song, just Springsteen on acoustic guitar. No surprise there. Springsteen, after all,won a folk Grammy for his 1996 album“The Ghost ofTom Joad,”and more than most rock ‘n’ rollers – really, more than most performers in any genre – he has long been committed to lyrics that matter.There are plenty of those on this CD, and for the most part they come through loud and clear, even as the arrangements morph and grow from folk to full-bodied rock‘n’roll.The music itself is nearly symphonic in its wall of sound, joyful, redemptive, while the lyrics explore the sad, dark corners of American life.As always, Springsteen’s focus is the underdog – in this case, the people left out of the American dream.

One of my favorite cuts (and Springsteen’s too, based on things he has said about it) is a working class ballad called“Jack of All Trades.”The character in the song yearns for a time when “we’ll start caring for each other like Jesus said that we might.”But he believes instead that we live in an age when “the banker man grows fat, working man grows thin,” and thus he is driven to fantasies as harsh as the times:“If I had me a gun, I’d find the bastards and shoot‘em on sight.”In the end Springsteen’s character can only promise his wife,“I’m a jack of all trades, darling we’ll be all right.” Such are the sensibilities of the album, hard and tender all at one time. In the opening cut,“We Take Care of Our Own,” the chorus affirms that taking care of each other is what Americans do, or should,“wherever this flag is flown.” But the verses remember the times when we don’t, with allusions, for example, to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when help was far too long in coming.

From the shotgun shack to the Super Dome There ain’t no help, the cavalry stayed home Springsteen, however, is not a mournful performer. He clearly believes – much like the blues performers of the past, whose chord progressions are frequently hinted at on this record – that one of the primary roles of music is to transform sadness into beauty.

And that is what Springsteen does. For me the most stirring song on the album has something of the feel of a rock ‘n’ roll psalm – an anthem of people coming together and moving toward a “Land of Hope and Dreams.”There are “saints and sinners … whores and gamblers … fools and kings” and in the end they all just “thank the Lord.”

After a little while of listening to Bruce Springsteen, that is exactly how you are likely to feel.

Review by: Frye Gaillard Stephen David Austin ♪♪♪♪ A Bakersfield Dozen • Independent release Country/Country Rock I can tell you two things about Stephen David Austin; first, he’s a fine story teller. His lyrics are strong, clear, clean, and cohesive. No confusion or beating-around the-bush. Second, he sure knows how to pick his fellow musicians. His crew is top notch in every way.

From the first Tele twang to the last and everything in between these L.A. musicians are great and provide an excellent vehicle to carry each song.The tunes weave a nice pattern between humor (Best Ex I Ever Had) to the dark side of life (Heroes And Heroin) then back again. Many artists have used this template through the years and it almost always works. It certainly does here. He can use humor very effectively but has no trouble changing gears when the dirty deed needs tellin’.The stand-out track as far as I’m concerned is (Kansas Ain’t In Kansas Anymore).It really shines with strong lyrics, lots of edgy layered guitars, and a killer back-round vocal by (Teresa James). She really put the kiss on the rose for me. Stephen David Austin has blended the right ingredients and cooked himself up A Bakersfield Dozen. Nice Job. Review by: Rick Harris THE dB’s • Falling Off The Sky • Bar/None Pop/Alt Rock I’m telling you right out of the gate, I love these guys.This North Carolina band has been at this for decades yet, this CD sounds fresh as a daisy.They lean to the retro side but never try to pull you back.

They’re not trying to make now sound like then.They’ve found a way to make then sound like now. And that’s pretty impressive. If you think you know where the next Beatlesque chord is going you just might be wrong.These tunes are very melodically driven and can take some interesting twists and turns.They can both fool and surprise.The lyrics are pop in style but reflect lives in change. It’s solid songwriting throughout. My favorite tune is the CD opener “That Time Is Gone”. From its scratchy rhythm- guitar beginning, killer drums, and pulsing organ, to its hooky guitar riff that won’t stop poking you in the side, it does not disappoint.Add a fine vocal performance and a line like “greasy grey green glass” and you’ve got one cool song.This CD is terrific and I would encourage you to buy it.What the hell, it’s only money.The dB’s are rock and roll!

Review by: Rick Harris

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Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem ♪♪♪♪♪ Some Bright Morning Produced by: Chris Rival with Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem • Mayhem Music Some Bright Morning could be the new slang for that genre of your iPod play list that serves as your go-to, your anytime, any company, shuffle in the shuffle that propels the gathering's conversation forward then wanes some letting the reconnection of treasured ones take over. In our house that means The Mavericks or any Nick Lowe.This collection of covers and originals is loaded with character and uncontrived. How refreshing.

Rani Arbo's fiddle serves as both lead and best supporting along with Andrew Kinsey's uke and banjo cleverly bandied here and there. The liner notes claim this work left them all calling it beautiful and alive: "music" Chris Rival would say they said with a shrug.They nailed it- layers of vocals take courteous turns with smart and crisp guitar.

This CD is a mouthful of rich flavors and you can taste every nuance. Guest help from Ray Bonneville (harmonica) on Travelin' Shoes and from Mark Erelli (steel guitar) on a handful of tunes round out the effort. Great album, makes you feel like you saw the show.

Review by: Anne Miller Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer ♪♪♪♪♪ • Rocking the Uke Community Music, Inc. • Folk, Swing, Blues on the Uke This is a very interesting CD! It’s all Ukulele music and fantastic vocals. It’s mostly standards and a few originals thrown in and it’s good! I have to tell you that I was not that thrilled to listen to Ukulele music but this CD changed my mind! These Ladies can play and sing!

They are very competent pickers in their own rights. They play flawlessly and pick some pretty hard songs on the four strings they have. Dark Eyes is a wonderful instrumental that shows their skills on the Uke. Blues Stay away from me,an old Delmore Brothers tune (a favorite of mine) is done with style and grace. Comes Love is another fantastic song that really catches your ear. Cathy Fink’s arrangement of Snowdrop is very, very good! She can really play. I’ve heard this song played on the mandolin and it’s a tough tune to pick. Fink does a great job on it here. The final song The Hukilau Song by Jake Owen says it all! Take me away now!

This is a fantastic CD to put you in a good mood no matter how down you are. It’s filled with happy go lucky songs and old standards that will put a smile on your face. If you are looking for a CD that your under eight year old kids will love just as much as your grandparents, this CD is the one. It’s a true family listening experience created and recorded by two fine musicians! It’s a sun shinny day every time you put it on.

Review by:Andy Ziehli The Steep Canyon Rangers ♪♪♪♪♪ Know body knows you • Rounder Records Bluegrass/Country I’ve got to come clean about something right from the start. In all honesty (hold on to your chairs) I’m just not that crazy about Bluegrass. There, I’ve said it.Yeah,Yeah I know. I’m sure my name has already been given to the House Un-American Activities Committee for further review, but think about the spot I’m in. My boss Andy Ziehli, a real tyrant I might add calls me up to his plush (looks like Elvis’s bedroom) 13th floor office and says to me,“look Harris you uncultured heathen, everyone around here knows your opinion of bluegrass and you’re dead wrong. Don’t you realize that bluegrass is one of the jewels in the crown of American- music? Now I’m going to give you a chance to redeem yourself you knuckle-headed snob.The Steep Canyon Rangers have a new CD and I want you to review it. Give ‘em a fair shake, and don’t screw up.” I scurried out of his office like a lemming looking for the seashore.

Back in my car I take a minute to read their press release.Hmmm….worked with Steve Martin, that’s wild and crazy. Hmmm….Grammy nominated. Entertainers of the year….ok.This is their 5th album….alright. I start my car, pop in their CD, and off I go.

1st song…bam! Great vocals, great songwriting, great musicianship. 2nd song…bam!

The same. 3rd song…bam! The same. 4th song….“Between Midnight and Dawn”(now my personal favorite).Bam! Ok,what’s going on here? I’m a quarter of the way through this thing and all I can say is Amazing, and you know what? The other eight tunes were just as good.

Unlike so many bluegrass records every single song was completely unique.There’s a lot of country in this band. I thought I could hear just a whisper of Gram Parsons.The singing (all 5 members sing) was terrific.Their musician-ship is second to none. I was especially struck with Mike Guggino’s mandolin playing.It’s melodic,perfectly phrased, and unhurried,and maybe that’s the best way to describe this CD unhurried.The songs come first,the bluegrass comes second.Highly recommended!This is the best bluegrass I’ve ever heard. I guess sometimes the boss is right.

Review by: Rick Harris

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Nanci Griffith ♪♪♪♪ • Intersection • Style: Americana Hell No! Records This new album by Nanci Griffith is, well, pure Nanci Griffith. Having already won a Grammy and an Americana Lifetime Achievement Award, Griffith may well be in line for more accolades with this CD. Recorded at her Nashville home,“Intersection”offers a serious nod to politics with the song “Hell No” – an ode of sorts to the Occupy Wall Street movement. But Griffith writes from her heart as well as her head, and many of these songs are deeply personal, coming, she explains, after a particularly turbulent time in her life.

Her writing throughout the CD is strong, with songs such as “Bethlehem Steel,”“Bad Seed,”and the title cut,“Intersection,”but some of my favorite cuts are the covers.“Waiting on a Dark-Eyed Gal,” written by Ronny Wayne Davis, has been recorded in the past by artists ranging from Kevin Welch to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but Griffith, with what some have called her“folkabilly”arrangement, does it as well as anybody.And her musical admiration is clear in her rendition of Loretta Lynn’s“High on a Mountain Top,” a reaffirmation of the deep country roots of Griffith’s music.

Earlier in her career, people began to recognize her name when artists such as Kathy Mattea (“Love at the Five and Dime”) and Suzy Bogguss (“Outbound Plane”) had major hits with her compositions. For some listeners, especially more traditional fans of country music,there was something a little quirky about Griffith’s voice,something a bit too folky perhaps in her arrangements. But with the emergent popularity of Americana music, Griffith has long since found a home as a recording artist in her own right. Musically, I think,“Intersection” is Griffith at her best. She is ably backed by many of her friends, including Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, Pete and Maura Kennedy, and Pat McInerney and Richard Bailey. In addition, her voice is strong and sure and convincing, and she is clearly, on every cut, an artist at home with her craft. If you’re Nanci Griffith fan you’ll like this record, and if you’re not already a fan, you may become one.

Review by: Frye Gaillard Rachel Harlow—Feathers and Twine Nashville-based songwriter and vocalist Rachel Harlow’s debut album, Feathers and Twine, is an elegant entrée into the world of indie music. Harlow’s classically trained soprano,well suited to jazz rhythms and vocalizations, synthesizes rather than spans a range of musical genres on this album. The solid, spiritually-themed ballad “A Tree” incorporates a languid pedal steel yet has a jazz/waltz beat underlying it. “Holes” features a bustling, contemporary melody accompanied by a pleasantly appropriate banjo,lending it a light but worldly-wise feel. The spritely“When the Circus LeavesTown”reminds me a bit of Paul Simon’s“Feeling Groovy,”but feels like it would fit well in one of Stephen Sondheim’s less cynical Broadway musicals.

The result of collaboration between Bryan Clark, one of Harlow’s professors in the Music Department at Belmont University,Feathers andTwine showcases Harlow’s songwriting talents within the instrumental frameworks created by Clark, also an independent producer. Many of Harlow’s songs have a gypsy feel to them; their rhythms support what appears to be her vocal signature, a swirling soprano that lifts and tumbles, sweeping in an arc across the scale. She has a nice vocal as well as melodic range, with an ability to achieve the soothing, simple jazz characteristic of Nora Jones and the more improvisational style of Joni Mitchell. Harlow’s creative use of rhythm in the songs’ vocal track and her earnest and insightful lyrics remind me a little of Lisa Loeb, capable of rapid and precise jazz deliveries, she applies them to pop melodies and delivers them as if she were the breeze blowing bubbles out of a child’s wand.

While her sound is alternately light jazz and pop, Harlow’s music has strong overtones of Christian rock. Her songs feature a great many allusions to biblical and classical stories, metaphors and themes. She has a gift for using words to vividly depict the characters in her songs and to bring their stories to life. “Nehemy”for example,tells the tale of a destitute Latina girl unable to work hard enough to either escape her solitary life or realize the dream of living as the white girls do, as they safely “button their whitecollar lives.” Many of Harlow’s songs raise issues of social justice, as with“Widowbird,” a poor woman’s (or man’s) anthem both dark and inspirational. Some of these themes are borne in part out of the mission work in which Harlow was engaged between 2007 and 2008 in South Africa. The song “Cain,” she writes on her website, was directly inspired by her experiences there.

kristi and fats... continued from page 29

Though we definitely had a whole roots thing going, it was a total stripped down 3 piece punk rock band. I guess the term “Cowpunk” was coined because of bands like ours, because we did some great country songs in our shows like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Leona Williams. We played places like the Pyramid, Danceteria, Peppermint Lounge, Irving Plaza,The Rat in Boston, 9:30 in D.C. Those kinds of places.

In Europe we played rock clubs and festivals. Even World Music festivals. Fats and I were both touring in Europe a lot in the 1980’s, but our paths never crossed...totally different worlds it seems country and rock. That period of time in NYC was so energizing. You could do anything!

AG: How did you meet?

Fats: We were aware of each other before we both lived in Nashville. We actually were both in bands that were on Rounder Records during the same period of time.

We really connected once we got to Music City. Cliché though it may sound we met at the Bluebird. I was playing with the Mavericks there. This was right after they’d signed with MCA. Kristi Rose came to the show, and I spied her in the audience.

The rest, as they say.....

AG:Tell us about your new CD you are working on and when do you plan to release it?

Fats: Our new CD was recorded entirely up at the farm in Southern Illinois, an area known as “Little Egypt”. This is where Kristi Rose was born and raised. We also recorded our Christmas album there. We take a lot of inspiration from the area. The rivers, the history and legends, the family legacy. We do a lot of recording there. The new album is entirely Kristi Rose and I except for our good friend and great drummer Mickey Grimm, who came across the Wabash to play some drums. Otherwise it’s all just us. Almost all songs we wrote together. We hope to have it out by end of summer, but certainly this year.

Kristi Rose: I want to add, that when Fats says “it’s just us”, that he plays all sort of instruments on this album. He did the arrangements and plays guitar, steel, mandolin, accordion, viola, clarinet and who knows what else. There’s a lot of texture here, some very lush tracks.

AG: Can you give any advice to couples who want to work in the music business as performers?

Both: Uhhh....No. (We all laugh) AG:What is the biggest thrill you two have had performing together?

Both: It’s difficult to answer what has been the biggest “thrill”. The things that really stick with you, the things you remember aren’t necessarily “thrills”. It’s those moments when you feel really connected onstage. It’s the times when you realize someone has been really affected by your music...by what it is you are doing. It’s the experiences that you share some good, some bad together. We get to go to all sorts of places. We’ve found ourselves sharing experiences with people in different countries and situations around the world. These are the things you take with you and remember.

AG:The music business has changed since you two came to Nashville. What would you tell folks today thinking about moving there to become artists?

Both: Look, Nashville has been very good to us. So we think it’s great. We like it.

Advice? Be diverse. Roll with it. Don’t get stuck in the mud of yesterday’s ideas.

But I guess that could be advice for anyplace on the planet. The world turns on its axis so you might as well too.

Written by:Andy Ziehli Cover Photo by: Deone Jahnke Picture of Fats by: Kelly Kerr Picture of Fats & Kristi on stage by: Mary Sack Picture of Kristi by Joyce Ziehli Find Kristi Rose and Fats' at: www.pulpcountry.com Find them on Facebook at: Facebook/Kristi Rose and Fats Kaplin

In a few songs, the words occasionally seem to overwhelm the music, interlacing the melody and instrumental arrangements in a kind of stream-of consciousness motif.

Harlow acknowledges this characteristic of herself in the amusing “Words,” the sixth track on the album. Listeners will appreciate the innovative percussion in many of the tracks; they were a little heavy on a couple of tracks and impinged just slightly on Harlow’s vocals, as if trying to keep up with her. Overall, Harlow and Clark have produced a beautiful and artistically engaging album, one that will keep many looking forward to more from this promising new artist.

Review by: Anne Gravel Sullivan

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