Americana Rhythm Music Magazine Issue #88

November 2020

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November 2020

Why am I telling you all this?

Guest Writer,

Scott Murray

While the effects of the pandemic have crippled the music industry, still, for some, there is the occasional opportunity to get out and perform under the right circumstances. Long time friend and musician, Scott Murray, had one such opportunity recently, and it seemed too good of a story not to share. This is Scott’s story.

I had my first gig of the year in Middletown, VA recently. It was a private party and I was asked if I knew a couple reggae tunes that I could play. I said yes I did.

(Because I know Greg Ward, one

I was living close to Ocean City Maryland when I was younger. A friend of mine worked in the seafood industry there and I’d gotten a job with him. We were swimming in salt water ponds fed by the ocean tides to see if we could get crabs to live in them in order to extend Maryland’s crab season. It didn’t work but it was a good idea.

One night we went to a beach bar where a cajun band called ‘The Zydecats’ was playing. It was said they were from the bayous of the Del Marva. All of their microphones on stage were occupied except one. There was a washboard hung on it and a note that said ‘he left the band for love’.

Apparently, the washboard player met a woman on vacation from Florida and was so smitten, he went home with her.

Played Cajun Music All Night

Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspondence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 or CONTRIBUTORS email to greg@americanarhythm.com. Copies of Americana Ed Tutwiler Rhythm are made available free at various pick up locations within Wayne Erbsen the publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the United Donna Ulisse States (only) for $24 US currency made payable by check or Mike Aiken money order sent to, Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, Andrew McKnight VA, 22812. Foreign subscription requests should be sent to Emily Kresky greg@americanarhythm.com. Copyright 2019. All rights reDon Brown served. Reproduction of any content, artwork or photographs DISTRIBUTION is strictly prohibited without permission of the publisher or origi- North River Publishing Integrated Music Media nal owner. All advertising material subject to approval.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Greg E. Tutwiler Associate Editor Ed Tutwiler MARKETING & PROMOTION Mark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com) Letters, Comments, Suggestions ADVERTISING greg@americanarhythm.com Business office 540-433-0360 www.americanarhythm.com advertising@americanarhythm.com

The guitar player broke a string and while he was putting a new one on, I asked him if he would mind me taking a hold of that board and playing with the band.

A Cajun band without a washboard player is like a bluegrass band with no banjo. He asked me if had any rhythm. I had been a drummer all through Jr. high, high school, and college, so I said yes. I strapped on the board and put the thimbles on my fingers, and played Cajun music all night. They made me an honorary member of the Zydecats. Named me ‘Cher ’ Lareau’, and said from there on out my home was in the bayous of the Del Marva.

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of the best reggae musicians around here, and I groove on his rhythms to some songs I know, but I didn’t tell them all that. I just said yes).

I got the flyer in the mail and they billed me as, ‘a real live Cajun guy playing songs from the bayou’!

Cher’ Lareau lives.

The ‘cajun’ gig was pretty fabulous. Apparently, the host thought I was from Louisiana.

During a break, she sent a guy over to ask me how to eat a crawdad. It was part of the seafood mix in the low country boil. I told him ‘you pinch the tail off because it’s like a little lobster and thumb the meat out of it, and then you pinch the head off and suck the juice out of that’.

He didn’t like it. Said it was too sweet and a little earthy. I said ‘that’s because it’s a bottom feeder.’ I laughed when he said ‘thanks Mr. Laveau’. I’d forgotten that when asked to introduce myself and my guest musician, ‘Mark Barreres,’ before we started playing I’d said, ‘I’m Cher Laveau and beside me on electric guitar is Bon Ton Louie Thibadeaux.

We’re the Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys from the bayous of the Del Marva!

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November 2020

Beached Music

By Edward Tutwiler

The year 2020 has not been kind to small business. The pandemic has imposed true hardships on the small business community.

From our prospective here at AR, none seem to have been hit harder that the music business.

Local music stores seem especially vulnerable.

Some weeks ago, several of us from AR were spending a few days on North Carolina’s outer banks. While we were not in the magazine mode or even in the music playing or listening mode, we could not pass up the opportunity to visit the Jubilee Music Store and see how Mr. Ronnie Swaim was weathering the storm. We found him to be in good spirits and ready to face the uncertain future as best he can. We asked him to tell us a bit about the Jubilee Music Store and how a country boy can survive.

He began by saying sales by internet merchants had already been making it hard for little mom and pop stores to survive when the virus pandemic added another woe. Mr. Swaim told us, “The schools are not operating during this pandemic and therefore will have no bands, and I do a lot of band rental for the school kids. With no school, they have turned the instruments back in to me. Band instrument rental was steady and the income loss is not going to be good.

Hopefully things will keep going if we can hold it all together.”

Jubilee Theater We wondered how long he had been in the music store business and how did that come about? He told us that he had been in this shopping center going on six years and at this current location almost two years. He quietly added, “Before the store, I operated the Outer Banks Jubilee Theater.”

Of course, we had to know more about that. Here is what he said, “It was once a twin movie theater

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building, and we fixed the building with a nice stage very similar to the Opry stage (in Nashville, TN). We did about three live shows a week booking acts such as Ronda Vincent and Dave Adkins for instance The theater also had a house Jubilee Band. I had quite a few folks working in the theater getting the shows together. We had a few church bus groups come down from Virginia Beach for the gospel shows. It went on a couple years but never really` took off. What happened is this: visitors come to the outer banks to fish, go to the beach, and maybe party a bit but not to attend live entertainment concerts. There finally came a time when the theater was not paying for itself and could not continue regardless of the amount of media advertising that I did.”

of advertising, word has spread, and they have gained a good following for the rental program.

Folks will now call before they leave home and ask Ronnie to have an instrument set up and waiting for them when they arrive. He said, “We may rent for a week or two weeks but have had folks rent for the whole summer.

We now do rentals for the school bands as well as doing repairs of those instruments.” As for repairs he added, “We are always ready to re-string or re-fret an instrument for a customer.

Amanda, who works here with

poster that was awarded by the local radio stations. That sure gave us a good feeling.”

Keeping It Fair “I believe in keeping the price fair; working with folks; and trying to keep a good name around here. I think so far we have been successful at doing that,” Ronnie added.

We noticed that there was a small performance stage in the store and asked about its purpose.

Swaim began by telling us that he was originally from Elkin, NC and

We asked Ronnie how the music store came to be. Swaim replied, I was acquainted with a lady who ran the only music store here in town. Her husband passed away, and she approached me about buying her store. There was room in the theater, and it occurred to me that a music store might be a good companion to the live music venue. So, I bought her store and she came along to help get it going and train me. Since I had done some light instrument repairs over the years, I had that experience so I added the repair service to the store as well.”

End Of A Run While the theater closed, the store was successful so Swaim relocated it to a store-front in a strip mall. With the repair business doing well, he started doing rentals to folks who come to the outer banks on vacation.

Visitors to the outer banks come by the store and rent an instrument to play during their vacation stay rather that having to make room in their car to bring one with them from home.

Doing rentals has been very successful for the store. With a bit

me, is great at refinishing a guitar or resetting a headstock.”

The store soon outgrew the first location and needed to relocate to the present location in the same mall about two years ago. The present location is about twice the size of the first and enjoys a good customer flow. Mr. Swaim was very proud to tell us, “We have a good following of people here at the store. We just won first place in a survey as the best music store on the outer banks. We received a big plaque and a large vinyl

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started playing music when he was 10 years old on an old Silvertone guitar he purchased from a neighbor for twelve dollars. He said the neighbor showed him how to make chords G, C, and D and told him he could play anything he ever wanted to play with those three chords. He related, “I have been messing with music every since.

I have a bluegrass band named Drifting Sands. We still play different places for parties and such. We did a regular show when the theater was active, and we still get together. The store has

November 2020

in business. He told us, “Folks will bring in an instrument to me for repair that they have ordered online. The set up of the instrument will be terrible, and the customer will need me to do all that is necessary to get it in a playable condition. I do not mind setting up the instrument and helping the customer in any way that I can. That is what I am here to do, and it helps in customer relationships. Doing this level of service helps gain respect with our customers.”

this small stage, and we block off half of the store and put out some chairs so we can get maybe 50 to 75 folks sitting out front.”

Open Mic Night He continued, “We did an open mike show on the stage every Thursday night that was really going well until this virus came along and messed things up. We also had some ticketed shows planned for Friday nights and had the flyers printed but that effort got cancelled as well because of the virus. We want to carry on in the fall as soon as the officials give the okay for groups to gather once again.”

Mr. Swaim says he tries to keep local musicians happy. Here’s how, “Sometimes they will be playing on stage and their microphone or amplifier will stop working. They will give me a call late in the evening, and I do not mind coming to the store to meet someone who is in the middle of a show and had an equipment failure. I think that level of service is what helps a business—just

being there for the community.”

I injected, “They would have trouble doing that on the internet would they not?” He laughed and replied, “Yes, they would for sure.”

Swaim continued by agreeing that customer service is what keeps an independent local store

Ronnie told us that not only do loyal tourist customers return to shop at the store each summer season but also new folks drop in that hear about Jubilee from their friends.”

Being a seasonal tourist location, the winter months are slower; however, local folks do come by to shop. Ronnie, said, “I have lived on the outer banks for 35 years and the area has really

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grown. Years earlier, winter months were slow but more recently there is music being played all year here. Of course, currently the pandemic has caused a halt to that. Still, summer time is the busy time.”

Keeping It Local If you have yet to discern what it takes for a small independent music business to make it in this day and time, know that solid product offerings backed by great customer service is most important.

To see that combination in action, the next time you visit the outer banks of North Carolina; slow down in Kill Devil Hills at milepost 5.5; turn in to the Seagate north shopping center; park in front of the Jubilee Music Store; and slip in the front door. Browse their great selection of electronic, acoustic, strings, brass, and woodwind instruments and have a chat with Mr. Ronnie Swaim. In the mean time, follow the Jubilee Music Store on Facebook® at: facebook.com/jubileemusicobx/ or look at their website at:www.obxjubileemusicstore.com/ .

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November 2020

Writing Slowly This time of Covid, which is how I will always think of these days, has slowed everything down to the old days. The old days meaning a past I never lived until now. Part of me is very thankful for this time. I’ve been cooking every night, no going out to a restaurant or grabbing some fast food. To keep it interesting I’ve given myself a challenge to try two new recipes a week so that things don’t start tasting the same. Another challenge that my husband and I gave each other is to not let a single mouthful of food go wasted. We try and turn leftovers into a new dish and keep things as fresh tasting as we can. We are successful

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about 95% of the time. I can honestly say that I haven’t missed dining out as much as I thought I would but I have missed going to a good bar; one with good bar food and chatting and laughing and music and, yes, a good cold one! It’s the social aspect of things that I really miss.

A Change Of Pace Another thing I’m thankful for during this time is the pace of a day. I’m not as frantic about what I need to accomplish. There are no hard and fast deadlines, well except this article deadline ... lol ... that I need to meet each day. However, just like the dinner

challenge, I have given myself the challenge of writing a gratitude list of 5 things I’m grateful for each day and posting it to my facebook page. I started three days after the Covid shutdown thinking that I would write them for fourteen days and gulp, tomorrow will be day number 150 ...One Hundred Fifty Days – I’ve been writing them. It’s hard to believe we have been in a pause mode for 153 or so days. So, the writer in me is being fed in this way. I try to be uplifting and share my journey with fans and friends and loved ones but the truth is, some days I’m unsure of what I’m doing. It’s this kind of honesty that really connects with all those journeying with me through these odd days. I feel as though we are all on a life raft together and we haven’t seen land yet.

Just Feels Slower Songwriting is still all up in my head. I find that even that process is feeling slower. I’ll get an idea and sing it into my phone and just let it start rambling around in my imagination for a bit while I toil through our construction project. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you all that on top of Covid we were hit by a tornado the first week of May

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and lost our barns and trees and incurred a little damage to our home.

We are trying to get things looking right again but it’s hard because there was so much damage in this area due to the previous BIG March tornado that there are no contractors available.

We are piecing it together as I write songs in my head. I’m sure I look like I’m daydreaming all day and I suppose I am. When I finally make it back into the house to get my guitar it’s almost a fully written song. Who says you can’t teach an old dog a new trick? I am managing to write a song a week, which is really off my game. I used to write about three songs a week, sigh, but what’s the rush, right?

The news continues to reflect a different view than the view I see here on our wee farm and I’m so sorry for all the chaos and anger. I know there are folks hurting badly through this time and I pray everyday they find relief. I pray for the health of our people and I pray for this awful sickness to leave us and let us return to some kind of normal. Until then I will go on looking for the little golden nuggets during this time of Covid. I find them, I do! There is a beauty in this newfound stroll I’m walking and I am sure I will write about it always

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November 2020

Stickley long considered himself to be a “sideman,” evidenced by his subsequent years in that role with Carolina bands Biscuit Burners and Town Mountain. He’d founded Jon Stickley Trio as a side project before he decided to focus on it, despite his assertion that “being a leader of the band is not the most comfortable position” for him. “Learning to be in charge was so rewarding,” he adds.

Jon Stickley Imagine that your life had a personal soundtrack. What would it sound like? Jon Stickley, a native North Carolinian and longtime national touring artist, has been interpreting his surroundings for so long that it’s natural that his music would evolve into a personal soundscape, lush with many miles of experience with his own Jon Stickley Trio.

“I think the music is inspired by the lifestyle,” Stickley says, when asked about the heavily rhythmic guitar music he writes. “I handle most of the driving in the band.

I’d get out of the van and play something that has that same energy, like a video game, weaving in and out of traffic.”

Appealing To Many Jon Stickley Trio has attracted fans of all ages into their pocket of the jamgrass landscape through almost a decade of national festival touring and four studio album releases.

Repeat listeners don’t seem to mind that the music can’t be easily categorized, and Stickley acknowledges that while bluegrass is his form of choice, the drumsguitar-violin trio members have become successful deviants of that form. “We try to incorporate the bluegrass technical side of things and put that into other genres. We use the same drive and keep the tone, articulation and technique where you’d want it to be in the bluegrass setting, and use it mainly over different chords and rhythms.”

A Certain Amount Of Pain With mountains for a backdrop— Stickley’s a longtime resident of Asheville—he’s developed an uncanny ability to transmute his environment and daily story into compelling musical ideas, rich with imagery and focused emotion, like a dramatic drive through the Alaskan wilderness.

Does flatpicking at this level come naturally to Stickley? “I have to ease into it,” he says. “If I don’t play for two days, there’s a rebuilding process for me.” He advises other players, “Acoustic guitar is a very physical instrument; it’s going to take a certain amount of pain and suffering before it gets comfortable. You’ve got to do some weight lifting—build your calluses, your muscles have to be strong enough to press down the frets. The strings are stiff. You’ve got to build to a basic level before you can start having fun.” When asked how he mentally prepares to play, Stickley explains that music is his meditation: “Music is my form of relaxation. It grounds me and gets me in a better headspace overall.”

Having had injuries in the past, he emphasizes that it’s important not to

over play. “Make the most beautiful sounds you can with what you’ve got at the time,” he explains.

And what are those sounds during these months of quarantine and isolation, now that his high-paced driving days have come to a pause?

“I barely leave the house, so the things that inspire me are more like looking out at my yard. So I’m not drawn to aggressive music, I’m drawn more to peaceful music,” Stickley says, naturally finding the muse in his situation. “I’ve been doing solo livestreaming for the first time ever—you have to keep the music going. It’s been an amazing step forward for me, and it’s forced me into some new ideas.”

While his self-professed Tony Rice guitar obsession is undeniable, Stickley has explored and mined his personal creativity to discover his own musical vista. And while his music is constantly evolving, Stickley confesses that he prefers to “go with the flow” rather than set concrete goals for his next chapter. “A lot of it is energy related,” he states. “The goals get defined as we move forward ” For more info, visit www.jonstickley.com.

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Fitting Background Stickley’s background in Parks and Recreation at North Carolina State University seems fitting when he presents his vivid musical concepts.

In 2003 he worked in Alaska as an intern with Alaska State Parks, and the timing roughly coincided with his transition from a gigging drummer playing hard punk to a dedicated acoustic bluegrass musician: “The energy, the fast tempos, excitement of it, and the fact that you could do it anywhere you wanted drew me to bluegrass,” he says. While he’d played a lot of punk and rock up to that point, he explains that “bluegrass was the backpacking version of that. You could do it camping; it was like music to go.”

Summers after college were spent in the Colorado music scene playing guitar with Durango-based Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band; and

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November 2020

Thanks to our partnership with ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com) we are honored to give you a peak at a few of the nation’s hardest working indie artists. Each month we select one entry to showcase for you here. Enjoy!

THIS MONTH’S FEATURE:

By Greg Tutwiler

Greg Blake

FEATURE ARTISTS Greg Blake grew up near the mountains in West Virginia. His young life was filled with the sounds of old country, mountain bluegrass, and gospel harmonies so prevalent in that part of the country. Some of his earliest memories are of himself sitting on the front porch of his grandparents’ southern West Virginia home, playing with his Matchbox and Hot Wheels die cast cars, tonka trucks, and G.I. Joe figures while listening to and singing along with the classic country music coming from his grandmother’s record player.

Early Exposure

“Grandmother was an avid fan of Charley Pride, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and many other country stars of the late 50s to the mid-60s,” Greg recalled. “I guess, since that’s what I had to listen to, I also took a liking to country music. As folks would stop by to visit, and have to step over me to get into the house, my grandmother told me that almost every visitor would comment on how surprised they were that I was actually ‘carrying a tune’ as I sang along.”

Greg and his granddad loved watching the Johnny Cash show on TV together too. “I remember how granddad would make an announcement that the time was approaching for ‘Johnny on the TV.’ and ‘… if you’re stayin’, you’re welcome to hush up and

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www.gregblakemusic.com the kids got older and less dependent and started moving out on their own, I made the decision to step away from the ministry in a full-time capacity as I had done for over 30 years, and pursue music professionally. I prefer to say ‘step away from … a full-time capacity’ as opposed to, ‘left’, or ‘retire.’ I still have occasion to give a sermon or bible lesson, do some pastoral counseling, perform weddings and funerals, etc. I kind of look at it as a lateral career move instead.”

The Pay Off

watch with him …’; otherwise, your visit was over,” Greg added.

He’d sit down in his big easy chair and pull it a little closer to the TV set; then I’d plop down on the floor and sit crossed-legged between grandpa and Johnny. To me, just like my grandpa, Johnny was larger than life. I admired how he, and other country stars would play the guitar while they sang.

Since I had the singin’ part down, all that was left was a guitar.”

to leave West Virginia to attend Kansas City College and Bible School (now known as Kansas Christian College). While there, he was selected to travel during the summers with a male quartet representing the college. “Looking back, it was probably those three consecutive summers traveling miles each day and singing every night that prepared me to be the “road warrior” that I am today as a full time musician.”

A Guitar For Christmas

Many offers to join various musical endeavors came and went in Greg’s 20s and 30s, but his calling as a minister prevailed, and he spent 33 years involved full time in Christian ministry as pastor of local churches, administrative leadership, Christian school education, and even a bible college professor. Still, music was a part of his life in some fashion, either through church situations, or local weekend groups.

When Greg turned seven years old, he started asking for a guitar for Christmas. One Saturday in November, his parents took him to G.C. Murphy’s Five and Dime store in South Charleston and told him to pick out a guitar. “I chose a full sized one (just like Johnny’s),” Greg recalled. “But they said it was ‘too big for me’ and that $30 was a little more than they wanted to spend. So I chose the smaller one instead for $10 and they put half down and dropped it off in the lay-way department until the week before Christmas.”

Music was always never far from center of Greg’s life. After graduating high school, he decided

A New Mission

“I didn’t become a full-time, traveling musician until I released my debut solo CD, Songs of Heart and Home, in September of 2015, after turning 51,” Greg said. “After

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Greg has since been nominated twice for the SPBGMA’s Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year, and won the Guitarist of the Year five times. He also won the Kansas State Flatpicking championship. After a move to Conifer, Colorado, he joined the all-star progressive bluegrass band, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado as the lead vocalist. They went on to record four, full length CDs and be named the 2016 Emerging Artist of the Year by the California Bluegrass Association and nominated the following year IBMA for that same title.

As members of that band began to move away from Colorado, it became harder to maintain the bands momentum. They played our last show February 14, 2020 at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in Boston to two standing ovations.

Now, Greg is poised to undertake is career as bandleader. With his new band, Greg Blake and Hometown, and his solo career, Greg just signed with Turnberry Records and heads into the studio in October. “I’m going to work on a handful of singles that will be the foundation for my sophomore solo album, People, Places and Songs. I also have the week before Christmas on the calendar as when the Hometown band will lay down tracks for its debut album.” Greg said. “I’m really stoked about getting back into the studio!”

November 2020

Coping With The Shutdown Through Music

By Edward Tutwiler Yes, it is old news now. The pandemic has turned all of our worlds a bit sideways. What are suddenly out of work musicians to do?

Many have turned to the internet and are making Facebook® and YouTube® websites their venues and using the Paypal® website as their tip jar. Others are offering subscription services directly to their fan base where they supply new music to these subscribers via various means. Hopefully, innovations such as these are at least keeping the wolf from huffing and puffing their doors down.

On a more local level, entertainers who often play live for only tips and gratitude face a maybe more daunting task in getting their job done. Recently, we received an email note from some local musician friends of the magazine describing how they are coping with the shutdown.

You may remember Don Depoy and Martha Hills who sometimes pen a column for AR telling about different aspects of old-time and roots music in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. They also perform as the old-time and root music duo, Me and Martha and had been doing 250 shows a year in a lot of nursing care and senior residential facilities. Of course, the pandemic ended their ministry in those places. They lamented in their note, “Music is a soother, healer and comforter for those most overlooked and sequestered. There is a need for our music even if we cannot be there in person.”

Musicians everywhere have become innovative to continue to reach their audiences, and Martha and Don are no exception. Their approach is to video record four shows a month that include guest musicians from the area along with themselves

playing favorite bluegrass and old time country music. They named their creation, Mountain Music Show.

The non-profit promoter, Shenandoah Music Trail (SMTrail), sponsors the recording, production and distribution of the video series as part of its educational outreach effort. They distribute these programs on multiple platforms accessible via internet links and DVDs with closed captioning for the hearing impaired. In addition, SMTrail has made arrangements with a local television station WHSV, Valley’s Fox Channel 43.1, to air the recordings on Sunday mornings at 8-AM. With this TV outlet in place, many of their traditional audiences can enjoy their music in a group setting around a television screen just as they once did in person.

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The goal for each program is to not only provide a place where viewers can safely enjoy familiar music, connect to the outside world and be entertained but also provide an opportunity for out of work or under employed musicians to showcase their talents.

While this somewhat novel approach might not fit the need of regional and national touring acts, it is a very helpful niche for this group of caring musicians who minister to the shut-in community.

Don and Martha are always looking for musicians, sponsors, advertisers and patrons to join in their effort. If you are interested in helping to keep them on the air, you can send an email to Mountainmusicshow@hotmail.com.

Their Facebook presence is at w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / meandmarthamusicduoorband/

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November 2020

Singing Hanks Blues Darrell Scott is more than just a song writer. He is a master story teller. His studies of literature and poetry at Tuffs University as a college student served to solidify his career as a wordsmith of the highest order. He’s written songs for many other artists along the way including Faith Hill, Keb, Mo’, and Montgomery Gentry.

One of my all time favorites is Travis Tritt’s rendition of, “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive.”

Of course, he’s been writing and recording his own music along the way as well, releasing 14 CD projects to date. In 2007, Darrell won Song of the Year award from the Americana Music Association for his song, “Hank William’s Ghost.” The track appears on the 2006 album, The Invisible Man. Several renditions of his song, “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” were used multiple times in the TV drama, Justified.

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In 2011, his album, A Crooked Road, won the Annual Independent Music Awards in the Country Album category.

The Blues Of Hank Darrell’s latest full length CD project is a tribute to Hank Williams, but one that is much different from the typical so-andso sings Hank Williams. Darrell Scott Sings The Blues Of Hank Williams is much more than a typical tribute project. “I always felt that Hank, on another level, was a blues artist; maybe not in the traditional sense of blues, but there’s so many songs of his with blues in the title,” Darrell told me.

“I grew up on Hank Willams’ music. My dad was a huge fan.

Even as a young boy, I knew all of his songs and music.” “I bet I heard the entire catalog from my crib,” he wrote in the CDs liner notes.

Hank Williams had a troubled and storied life, and a life long battle with alcohol. As a youngster, he was painfully shy, but would overcome that through the encouragement of a black street musician named Rufus “teetot” Payne. Legend suggests that Rufus showed Hank how to improvise music chords. He blended that influence of blues and other African American musical traditions with hillbilly and folk into his own unique style. Though his career ended at the young age of just 29, Williams recorded 35 singles, and is said to have written over 160 songs in the country and western genre’.

Many of those songs were sad in nature, lending themselves naturally to blues interpretations.

Simmering For Years “I’ve had the idea for many, many years, since my early 20s, actually,” Darrell said. “One day

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By Greg Tutwiler

I realized that I hadn’t been in the studio for years. I was surprised.

So I just put a date on the calendar and went to a studio, just myself and an engineer, because I couldn’t stand that I hadn’t been in a studio for so long. I did some other things, but what really stood out from this experimental session was all these Hank tunes. Then I knew, ‘okay, let’s do it.” And that started the process,” he said.

Darrell created a list of 20 to 25 songs that, in his opinion, were songs strong enough to be able to stand up to a blues interpretation.

“I wanted songs that were not so well traveled, songs that we hadn’t heard so much,” he said.

“Then, I just went down the list and hand picked the eight or nine that were hands down, ones I wanted to work with. That’s where we started.”

November 2020

“I’ve certainly known the Hank version of these songs, but I’ve always felt like there was a blues approach towards Hank’s music too. I wanted to connect those dots on this recording. Really, I could have easily created a second album as well. There are just so many of his songs that could handle a blues approach.”

The Right Sound Musically, there was a specific approach Darrell had in mind. For all of the songs, Darrell brought his electric guitar, and invited one of his favorite B3 players in for many of the sessions, Reece Wynans. “He’s just one the greatest Hammond B3 players in my opinion,” Darrell said. Danny Thompson added the bass licks, Marco Giovino sat in on drums, and Shab Cobb on the fiddle, rounded out the musical team for the recordings.

“In terms of interpretation, I found chord substitutions and different arrangements that would make sense,” he said. “We kept the players consistent through-out the whole album. But some would come and go – like not every song has drums; not everything has bass. But pretty much everything does have the B3 in it though,” he added. continued on page 12

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November 2020

Darrell Scott continued from page 11 Darrell’s father, Wayne Scott actually got to make an appearance on the record too.

According to the liner notes, Darrell said it was one of his proudest moments. His dad joined him for the song, “When God Comes And Gathers His Jewels.” “We had my dad sing on that song. We tracked in his kitchen in Scott Holler, Kentucky.

Feeling the song was short, I asked him on the next take to speak, (in the spirit of Luke The Drifter, an alternative name under which Hank Williams used to record his gospel music under); to recite, right out loud, his memories of the day his mother passed away – what you hear on the track is what came out, on the spot.”

Other songs featured on the record include, “Lost Highway,” “Fool About You,” and the eloquently spoken word song, “Men With Broken Hearts.”

Darrell wrote, reflecting on the music of Hank Williams; “I

recognized what he (dad) loved about Hank; poetic yet totally understandable - honest, heart broken, love sick and the possibility of forgiveness from a woman, or from one’s self, or

from one’s creator. I strived to be true to the song’s spirit and to offer my version of blues to them.”

Working The Down Time Since the CD was a summer release, Darrell hasn’t really had a chance to play these songs live for people yet, knowing that he, like so many others, have watched their performance opportunities be stifled by the shutdown. So he’s repurposed the time into other creative efforts.

“One of the things I was able to

do is begin a home studio build project at my house. That’s been really going great guns. I might have an actual working studio in the next couple of months. So that’s going to be a positive outcome of the pandemic,” he said. “It seemed like a great thing to do with my time at home.”

Darrell has also started a Patreon page which contains a bunch of content for subscribers. “I have one feature called Hogging The Covers, where I take a well known song and completely reinterpret it. I have another subject called, Production Talk, where I break down the recording process of a certain song, or how I went about doing a certain thing. There’s a bunch of content there that never really existed before, and would not have been possible if I hadn’t had the time to put it out there.

We’ve done a few live streams as well,” he said.

Darrell Scott Sings The Blues Of Hank Williams is available now at all of your favorite listening spots.

If you’d like to learn more about Darrell’s music you can visit www.DarrellScott.com.

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Bobbo Byrnes

Diamonds And Whisky

California’s Bobbo Byrnes is a storytelling singer/ songwriter – his music is bountiful with hints and flavors of the beloved 70s AM Gold. His latest release, Sea Green Number 5, is a more intimate approach; a mostly acoustic project, compared to his previous albums. Bobbo is also a painter, and the tracks for this album were recorded in his living room while he sat in front of his painting, SeaGreenNumber5.

Charlotte, North Carolina’s Jennifer Lauren – lead singer of the band, Diamonds and Whiskey says she’s been a Carolina girl her whole life; “born and raised here,” she said. “I’ve traveled all over, but this is home.

I don’t think I’ll ever leave.”

Bobbo started playing guitar when he was 17, cutting his teeth on music by groups like The Clash and U2. “They’re on my Mt. Rushmore of music for sure,” Bobbo said. “My mom listened to the country artists of the day too, so they all just seemed to merge together into whatever it is that I do now.” He grew up outside of Boston and moved to the west coast in his late 20s. “I dove into the scene when I first moved out here, and ended up playing with a guy named Sonny Mone who was the singer of Crazy Horse when Neil Young wasn’t,” he reflected recently.

She then took vocal lessons and learned how to sing Opera, and competed in high school and all over North Carolina as a young gal. “My dad’s a phenomenal singer, and it’s just in my blood,” she said.

Bobbo has his own studio now, helping other bands get their music out. And he also tunes pianos on the side. “I designed my life so that if I wasn’t making money playing shows and touring, then I could make money tuning pianos, or recording people in my studio – I never anticipated all three of those things going down at once,” he said, as we mused about the pandemic’s effect on the music industry.

Jennifer grew up without radio or TV, so secular music wasn’t something she really heard until she got to college. Singing in a band really didn’t happen for Jennifer until about five years ago. “I just decided I wanted to start playing out with a friend of mine just doing some cover gigs, I never really planned to start a band and record an album,” she said. “It was just therapy to get out and sing.”

Bobbo, and his band, The Fallen Stars, were named Best Live Band in 2015, by OC Weekly. They’ve been named Best Country/Americana Band by LA Music Critic Awards, Top Prospect of the Year

by Music Connection Magazine, and Top Ten Indie/Unsigned Release of the Year by the Los Angeles Music Examiner, just to name a few.

Diamonds and Whiskey says they are a “combination of barroom beauty and backwoods danger, beauty queen and hell-raiser alike.” They are sometimes referred to as a country version of the 80’s super group, Heart; “big vocals, staggering stage presence and incredible musicianship.”

Jennifer started playing piano at the age of four; “just as soon as I could reach the keys,” she said, “I taught myself to play by ear, then taught myself to read music once I started playing with choirs.”

About three years ago, Jennifer met guitarist Von Bury who became the bands first guitarist, and helped create an opportunity where she could sing rock and roll, and country. “People started looking at us like a country version of Heart, which really thrills me when they say that,” she said.” “I’m glad I was trained classically, but I’ve definitely changed my tune,” she quipped.

One additional fun fact; fans of the cult syfy classic, Firefly, will want to check out Bobbo’s record, Leaves On The Wind! He and his wife Tracy, both fans of the show, penned a separate track for each episode of the 13 in the series and released them on a CD project not long ago.

In 2019 their album, Heartbreak Queen earned them the phrase, “best rocking country album of the year

by Nashville Music Guide. And they went on to win the Carolina Music Awards Band Of The Year, and are nominated again for 2020. Their latest album, Heartbreak Queen is gaining plenty of attention on the charts.

To find out more, visit https://bobbobyrnes.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/diamondsandwhiskey/

To find out more, visit

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Gram Phillips British-American national, Alternative Country singer, Gram Phillips, who mostly performs as Tupelo Lime, loves to sing what he calls “stripped down Americana.” Gram got his musical exposure hanging out in the San Francisco punk music scene in the 70s and 80s, listening to groups like Flipper, MDC, and Negative Trend. But it was two years in the Trinity mountain region of California that led him to discover the acoustic musical blends of country, folk and blues. “It was real, real, acoustic music, being made by real people – and I fell in love all over again,” Gram recalled.

That experience encouraged Gram to go for a “wander,” as he called it, which he did, all around Europe, the Middle East, and Central America. He gathered sounds, and art, and inspiration that would lead him to create his own blend of acoustic music.

“I’m not one of these guys that picked up the guitar at the age of three and thought, ‘wow, this is what I want to do,” Gram reflected. “I have an English father and an American mother. As soon as I graduated high school and was able, I headed over to the United States. It was really that whole community of do-it-yourself artists that inspired me to pursue my own career.”

“I spent a long time traveling and listening to music, trying to really understand what was out there, and how I wanted to create it, and figuring out what it was that I wanted to do. I came late to the idea of being a professional musician, but I spent a long time in that apprenticeship process,” Gram said.

“Then this Alt. Country movement came along, and for me, that was the moment of revelation, or redemption. That was the time when I said, ‘Okay, this is how you express yourself,’ and then at that point I decided to make music a career.”

Gram has been releasing his latest music as singles, including the recent, “The Orange Rain.” Three Chords Country Music blog wrote, “The Orange Rain is gritty and haunting, a song that gets under your skin in a very good way.”

To find out more, visit www.tupelolime.com

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November 2020

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Barbara Jo Kammer Barbara Jo Kammer knows first hand the journey of addiction recovery, and the fruits of life on the other side of it. After struggling for years, she’s poured her new lease on life and her love for performing music into a career as a music therapist.

Not long ago, her group The Hippie Buckaroos, was named among the Best 10 Cover Bands in Colorado, by Westword magazine. And at 62, she recorded her first CD, One Song At A Time. “That CD was a celebration of 10 years in recovery, and the songs are really a reflection of that journey,” Barbara Jo said.

And now, just two years later, Barbara Jo is excited to have another CD project to her credit – her sophomore CD – Big Blue Sky In The Morning.

Although she doesn’t fancy herself as a songwriter per se, she did write one for this project, and even got to work with guest artists Greg Blake (see ReverbNation article) and Darrell Scott (see cover story). “I was so happy with having the opportunity to do my first album, but I knew that if it went well, I really would like to do another one,” she recalled. “Having the opportunity to go into the recording studio, again, with all of these amazing players from Colorado’s was a dream come true.”

“My goal is to offer any kind of hope or comfort with my music that I can,” Barbara Jo said.

Barbara Jo earned her Masters in music therapy in 2000, and said she figured out when she was in school what population she wanted to work with.

“It was elders,” she said. “I’ve been going to the retirement communities and offering up my music.”

The pandemic has altered her approach however.

Where she used to take her band mates along for inside performances, now she performs solo, outside their windows and in their courtyards. “It’s not ideal, but I’m really glad that I can still at least do it that way,” she said.

To find out more, visit www.barbarajokammer.com

14

The Foolks Emanuel Dron is from France, and runs a successful whiskey bar in Singapore. It’s a hobby turned profession, and he rather enjoys it.

But he says his first love has always been music. It’s those classic rock sounds of groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones that gets him excited. “My first love is actually the early artists of Sun Studio,” Emanuel said. As a lifelong musician, he’s always wanted to have a band of his own, and recreate some of those sounds he loves. So when the pandemic put the world on hold, it was just the opportunity he was looking for.

Emanuel enlisted musician acquaintances from across the world to help him track some of the songs he had written. Since they were all quarantined, they relied on the internet to help create their finished project. “I knew I would have at least three months with my business closed,” he said. “So I reached out to the musicians I wanted to help me put the project together.”

He decided to call the band, the Foolks; a word “based on a combination of the words “folks” (people) and “fool” (crazy),” Emanuel said. The lineup includes Jamie Wiltshire, lead vocalist (Cambridge, UK) , Emmanuel on guitar, Andrew Picha, drummer (Nashville, US), and Charles Berthoud (Massachusetts, US) on bass.

The five-song self titled EP is due out in November.

The first track, “The Most Beautiful Queen,” dropped in mid-August. It’s a catchy tune with a prominent bass line and a powerful guitar riff. If you immediately think Rolling Stones, it would be a compliment.

Emanuel would love to have the chance to hook up with his band live, and tour around the world sharing the Foolks brand of music if the opportunity would afford itself. However, that will not stop them from continuing to create music along the way. In fact, he has already begun writing songs for the next record. “We’ll keep recording what we like of course, just that old school sound, guitar, bass, and clean drums.” You know, real classic rock and roll music.

To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/TheFoolks

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Sugarcane Jane Anthony Crawford and Savana Lee make up the duo Sugarcane Jane. Hailing from the Gulf Coast of Alabama, these two have decades of musical experience between them. Anthony’s career began at the age of 18 when he went to work for Opryland, then on to the Grand Ole Opry with Roy Acuff. He eventually went on tour with artists like Sonny James, Neil Young, Steve Winwood, and Vince Gill.

“I had a lot of good fortune come my way by being in the right place at the right time,” Anthony exclaimed. “I’ve found if you have your talent, and you’re able to get along with people pretty well, you can find your way into some pretty amazing opportunities.”

But Anthony said he felt like it was his destiny, when he met Savana, to shift gears and work together on their duo career.

Savana was m a n a g i n g Deepfield Studios in Nashville when Anthony went in to work on a solo project several years ago. “I had been trying to be a songwriter,” Savana recalled, “when I ended up falling into a studio situation where Anthony came in to record. I really fell in love with his music.” The pair became fast friends and eventually began working together, and realized over time that there was more than friendship to the pairing. They married and started a family right away.

After Anthony finished up his tour with Neil in 2009, he moved back to Alabama to start a new phase of life and career with Savana. “She’s a great musician, and a great organizer as well, so she’s able to take real good care of that part of what we do,” Anthony said. “The nucleolus of who we are is based around our harmonies and the uniqueness of how we write songs.”

In 2019 the duo did become a band briefly, and went on tour with Dwight Yoakacsm, playing to standing ovations nearly every night. The latest project from Sugarcane Jane is actually their 10th CD, Ruffled Feathers: Songs In the Key of Me.

To find out more, visit www.sugarcanejane.com

November 2020

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High Fidelity Nashville based, traditional bluegrass band, High Fidelity was nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 2019 IBMA awards – an achievement to be proud of for sure. Jeremy Stephens, guitarist and lead vocalist for the group says he’s a big fan of the early male quartet music from the 1920’s and 30’s, and those influences certainly show up in their music, especially the new single released recently, “His Charming Life.”

“We formed in early 2014, basically to enter the SPBGMA International Band Championship that year,” Jeremy said. “It was Kurt Stephenson’s idea. (Banjo) and our goal was to play late 50s to early 60s bluegrass – Jim and Jesse, Reno and Smiley – music like that.” The band won the contest and set in motion a new contender on the bluegrass music circuit.

“Those first couple years we were all sort of doing our own thing,” Corrina Rose Logston, said (fiddle/ harmony vocalist). “We didn’t really have any intention that this would become a full time venture.

But we put a record together to actually get a gig in Arkansas. The venue required a band to actually have a commercial release in order to be booked.”

So the band put their first self titled, self release record together. They were subsequently contacted by Rebel Records and invited to create a second project under their label. “We’ve been really blessed,” Corrina said. “It has just unfolded onto itself from there on. It’s turned into this thing now, and we’re thinking, ‘wow! We never imagined it would get this far.” Vickie Vaughn, (upright bass) and Multi-instrumentalist and harmony vocalist Daniel Amick, round out the current line up.

Much of the inspiration for High Fidelity is drawn from bands like Don Reno & Red Smiley, The Stanley Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and a host of lesser known regional artists from the same era. Some folks have described them as the new Johnson Mountain Boys, interpreting classic era bluegrass through the fresh, young perspective of today’s generation.

To find out more, visit www.highfidelitybluegrass.com

Jerry Salley Jerry Salley has been a part of the Nashville music scene, writing and singing songs since 1982. He was born and raised in the small town of Chillicothe, Ohio.

At 18 he signed with SESAC, a song performing rights organization. Upon graduation from the University of Ohio, he moved to Nashville to begin his career in music, landing a job in the Country Music USA cast at the now defunct Opryland theme park.

Billboard Magazine called Jerry Salley, “one of Music Row’s greatest veteran tunesmiths.” It’s a title well earned. He was nominated in 2019 for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as for a GRAMMY for producing the multi-artist project, Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout. In 2018 and 2019 The IBMA awarded him with Songwriter of the Year. He’s been nominated for a Dove Award seven times, and won the 1990 Inspirational Song of the Year with “His Strength Is Perfect.” Over 500 different songs of his have been recorded, and his songs have sold in excess of 18 million records worldwide.

While Jerry is obviously a noted songwriter, he has also managed to record his own music along the way, notching six projects, including his latest, Bridges and Backroads. “I have seven new songs on this project,” Jerry said. “And I have several that I always thought would be hits back when I was writing and recording in the country music days.

I thought, ‘I’m probably not going to get them recorded in these days, so I made bluegrass arrangements for them.”

The first single release, “Let Me Be The Bridge,” is actually a 30 year old song Jerry co-wrote with long-time friend and mentor, Jim Rushing.

Additionally, Jerry brought in several friends and top bluegrass entertainers to help contribute to this project; Folks like Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Donna Ulisse, Brandon Rickman. Grand Ole Opry member Rhonda Vincent joins him for a duet on, “Waltz Through The Ages With Me,” and Donna Ulisse sings harmony on the new Salley/Ulisse tune, “Be Better To Your Neighbor.”

To find out more, visit www.jerrysalley.com

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Silas Hite Crown King, AZ was home to a young Silas Hite. It was a tiny mountain town where he spent his days exploring gold mines and hanging out with old cowboys and miners. Sounds like treasure for a future song writing career; and it was.

He’s now an Emmy-winning composer, having coscoring credits for blockbuster and independent films such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs; one he got to work on with his uncle, noted composer Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO). Mark’s studio is where he spent his early career days learning the ropes.

Silas’ music also appears in lots of children television programming, like Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! and Disney’s Dance-A-Lot Robot, as well as adult shows such as Blue Mountain State, Duck Dynasty, and Chef ’s Table. He has also scored hundreds of commercials for clients such as Apple, McDonalds, and Chevy.

While all of that makes for a rewarding career, Silas also likes to keep a part of himself close to the goldmine adventures and cowboy memories of his childhood days. So he spends his down time and spare moments writing and recording music under the moniker, The Satin Cowboy & The Seven Deadly Sins. “It’s how I stay grounded and keep in touch with my rural upbringing,” he commented recently.

To that end, Silas is set to release his seventh studio project, Amigos. “Composing has been my job for almost 18 years now,” he commented. “And it’s awesome. The styles I get asked to write for are all over the map – Strings, Rock and Roll, EDM – it’s all over the place. But the album I’m working on is very Americana; a blend of roots, rock, country, bluegrass; all that stuff mixed together. I don’t get to write in that style for work, but it’s something that’s very close to my heart.”

His first single, “Song For Tom Petty,” released in May, 2020, and is striking a chord with listeners all over the world. The full album is set for an August 25th release.

To find out more, visit www.silashite.com

15

November 2020

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Michael McMillan Glasgow, Scotland is home for singer/songwriter Michael McMillan. Michael has toured the world for nearly 30 years with his music, and earned numerous accolades along the way including album of the year nomination for his album, Cross Country, by UK Country Music Radio.

Stuart Cameron (Hotdisc Radio and TV) called his record, Missing Person, “Quite simply, this is one of the best British original albums recorded this century.”

Michael spent most of his childhood with his Grandfather, a shipyard worker and a classical violinist. “Now there’s a paradox,” Michael mused.

“He was a great guy. He would play classical music and tell me the stories behind each piece, which was much more interesting than just listening to it.”

When Michael was 13, he joined a Pipe Band, learning to play Highland Bagpipes and then drums.

“I traveled all over with them, and recall thinking, ‘this was a good gang to be in.”

Michael moved on to playing drums in rock bands and eventually ran away from home at 16, to London, where he played professionally on the London music scene for a few years before returning to Glasgow. “At that point I started writing lyrics. I loved listening to lyrics and the stories and images that the songwriters of that era told and created,” he said. It wasn’t until 2004 that he learned to play guitar, and set out on a solo career. He’s just released his sixth album, Whisky.

“I don’t have a set formula or format to my writing,” he said. “But I do like to get away somewhere quiet once I have collected enough material to work with. My inspirations over the years as far as songwriting goes started with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Hollies and The Kinks. Recently, I have been listening to Guy Clark, Gretchen Peters, Willie Nelson and Jason Isbell.

The one thing they (we) all have in common is being great story tellers, and that for me is what it’s really all about.”

To find out more, visit www.michaelmcmillanmusic.com

16

James Reams James Reams family heritage is rooted in southeastern Kentucky where he comes from a long line of traditional singers. He grew up playing both old-time and bluegrass music, and spent much time as a young adult playing up and down the eastern seaboard. When James’ mother fell ill, he moved west to care for her.

Subsequently, he made new musician friends and eventually formed a west coast version of his band, The Barnstormers. “I was always fascinated by the story of Earl Taylor, who would do sort of the same thing,” James recalled. “It works great for logistics, expenses, etc. We even cut an album a few years ago, using musicians from both coasts.”

James Reams and the Barnstomers have released nine CD projects to date, and were nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year in 2002 by the IBMA. In 2011 their album, One Foot in the Honky Tonk, landed on two top-ten lists, and the single, “Almost Hear The Blues,” charted nationally.

James is known as an ambassador of Bluegrass for his dedication to, and deep involvement in, the thriving bluegrass and Americana music community. To that end, a documentary released in 2013, Making History With The Pioneers Of Bluegrass, James featured priceless interviews with pioneers and legends of the bluegrass industry that he had collected through the years.

The latest chapter in James’ career features a biodocumentary about his life and career. “At first when they approached me about making the film I thought, ‘nobody knows who the heck James Reams is, but that’s actually part of the story,” he said recently. “A guy like me can make music close to 30 years, make a film with pioneers, and have a career doing something I love – the film is hopefully inspirational for folks who may be passionate about something like that too, but may not have had all the breaks.”

The film, Like A Flowing River: A Bluegrass Passage, released mid-August of 2020. It is as much a story of hope as it is a musician’s tale. It’s a film for all who are carried along on the sometimes peaceful and other times, raging river that is bluegrass.

To find out more, visit www.jamesreams.com

www.AmericanaRhythm.com

Lucie Tiger When Lucie Tiger was a kid growing up in Sydney Australia, her family would take little road trips through the Australian countryside.

“What we used to do to pass the time was play a lot of music while we traveled,” Lucy recalled. “We listened to a lot of 70s stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt; you know, all that good stuff. I loved that music. It was like the perfect road tripping music.”

Lucie’s dad brought home a guitar one day and showed her the basics. “Once I caught on and figured out how to play some of the songs I loved, I thought, ‘I would love to write the kind of music I grew up listening to,” she recalled. So that is what she did.

She began looking into where a lot of this music she was inspired by had been created as well, and discovered much of it had been recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. So when it came time to record her latest EP, she headed to the United States – Muscle Shoals to be specific – and got to work laying down her latest songs that she now lovingly calls, “Road Trip Americana.”

In 2019 Lucie won the lucrative, Songs On Stage Award, at the Australian Music Week, and has been industry-nominated twice for the prestigious Award for Songwriting Excellence by the Australian Songwriters Association. She toured the US in 2019 and was all set to do the same in 2020 before Covid came along. That tour has been rescheduled for 2021.

Her EP, Gasoline, spent five weeks on the AMRAP Metro charts reaching #1 the week after its launch, and #9 on the Daily Play MPE Country chart. She was set to record the next album in September with the Muscle Shoals musicians live in Alabama again, but that has been switched to a remote recording session. “They will record the music there, and I will record the vocals here in Australia. It’s a little different, but I’m sure it will sound just as good,” Lucie said.

To find out more, visit www.lucietigermusic.com

November 2020

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KC Beck Military veteran, KC Beck was born in Denver, Colorado, and currently resides just outside of Austin Texas where he has based his music career since 2005.

KC fondly recalls a moment when he was seven or eight years old, being on stage, at a biker toy run. He credits that moment with inspiring him to want to return again as an entertainer. It wasn’t long after that he picked up the guitar, around the age of 13. KC’s dad was a musician at an early age as well, and toured frequently with professional musicians from Colorado in the 70s.

KC recorded his first album while he was a PFC in the Army stationed at Ft. Hood in 2005, The Cove Studio Sessions. KC was injured around the same time. Prior to that, he had been in conversations with Broken Bow Records to release his material. “When they found out I was enlisted, they informed me they couldn’t continue contract talks,” KC said. “That was pretty devastating.”

Out of the military, KC went to Iraq as a contractor in 2007. His next album, My Car and My Guitar, was recorded in 2008 while he was still in Iraq.

The acoustic track of, “That’s Just Me,” was used in the indie film project, 50 States, A horse With No Name.

In 2010, he returned to Texas and married his wife Bianca. He graduated from Texas State University in 2013. But the years following his return from Iraq found him struggling with post military health issues and saw his music career suffer as a result.

Finally, in 2018 he had begun to see his health improve and a return to his music career.

Today he finds himself with a rocking new country song making the rounds across the U.S. “It was inspired by a fellow soldier who I served with in Iraq,” KC said. The song, “The Machinist,” “is a hell of a fight song that motivates listeners to keep pushing on through the hardships of life,” KC added.

To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/Kcbeckband

Katie Knipp Katie Knipp has been an indie blues artist for nearly 20 years; recently racking up a number 10 hit on the Blues Albums Billboard Charts with her fifth album release titled “Take it With You.” After having two children close together; and battling through all that comes with being a mommy; she’s quite happy to be putting renewed attention on her music career.

Katie says she’s been singing since the third grade, and taught herself how to play the piano as a teenager. “When I got to college I thought, ‘okay, I’m going to major in medicine now,’ ‘cause you gotta make money, right?” But when she entered choir class, she recalls; “They were playing Mozart’s Requiem, and I just started to cry. At that moment I decided, that even if it’s a much harder life path, I’ve got to get my degree in music.”

Since then She has opened for Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Joan Osborne, The Hidalgos (David Hidalgo of Los Lobos), The Doobie Brothers, Tim Reynolds, Jon Cleary, Ruthie Foster, Joe Louis Walker, The James Hunter Six, William Duvall of Alice in Chains, just to name a few.

She’s not just a powerful singer; she’s not just a great piano player; she is also well versed in slide guitar and the harmonica. She has won two SAMMIES; 2020 and 2019 (Sacramento Music Awards) for Best Blues Artist, and was nominated as Artist of The Year by The Sacramento News and Review.

Jim Stanard Jim Stanard grew up hanging out at legendary music spots like Main Point Coffeehouse in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where he saw great young musicians like Tom Rush, Doc Watson, and Bruce Springsteen. He saw Bob Dylan in Philadelphia in 1966, and attended Woodstock in 1969. It was an incredible era of music, and Jim fell in love with it. It inspired him play and perform – so much that he sold his childhood coin collection to buy his first guitar – a Martin D-28.

But as it does for so many, life happened. Adult responsibilities got in the way of the carefree life of a guitar player. Jim went on to develop a successful career in the world of finance and insurance. While that Martin D-28 took up closet space somewhere in his house, his love for music and the memories it afforded him were never far from his heart. Jim always carried around a line from Dylan that said, ‘he not busy being born is busy dying.’

It was a line that never got too far from Jim’s thoughts. “Oh, that one I’ve carried with me since college,” Jim reflected. In the early 2000’s, nearing retirement, he let those memories out of bag, so to speak, and took a chance at reviving his outward love for music.

He had become acquainted with Jon Skibic, of the Afghan Whigs, whom he took guitar lessons from, and Kip Winger, front man for the platinumselling rock band, Winger, who he engaged for vocal lessons. The result was his first ever record with songs he had written.

Katie says she has a goal with this new leg of her career. ”I want to be the first woman in my position to still get on the Billboard charts, and get onto commercial radio, not just college and internet radio; sell a million units; and have songs placed on TV shows and movies, all without being gone 200 days a year on tour. I still want to be able to raise my boys and perform whenever I can, because I love performing, but also being present for my family.”

That experience, and the renewed love of playing and performing, and now writing, led him to do it again; this time with the some vocal contributions from new friends Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul, and Mary) and his daughter, Bethany. The album, Color Outside The Lines, is the follow up to the 2018 debut release, Bucket List. “Through the process of the first record I really got the bug to write songs,” Jim said. “Initially, I didn’t know how any of this would turn out, but I put the time into it, and I’m quite happy with the results.”

To find out more, visit www.katieknipp.com

To find out more, visit www.jimstanardmusic.com

www.AmericanaRhythm.com

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November 2020

Music From The National Scene

Music From Your Neighbors

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elcome to a new edition of SPINS! I hope somewhere soon, if not already, you get to enjoy a little live music before 2020 is over.

Good news is, artists are still making music. And as long as they keep making it, we’ll keep telling you about it! So check these out! And please tell ‘em we sent you. And, support your favorite musician so they can keep making the music!

Got one you want us to consider? send it to: Uncle Woody The Spin Doctor PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812

Darrell Scott Sings The Blues Of Hank Williams

Cary Morin

Joselyn & Don

Ted Russell Kamp

Emily Baker

Dockside Saints www.carymorin.com Cary found a guitar his brother left behind when he went off to college. He’s been playing music ever since. His latest record, Dockside Saints, is a fresh mix of blues, folk, and acoustic roots. There’s even a hint of Cajun. Good stuff

Soar

A Dark Murmuration Of Words

www.joselynanddon.com

Down In The Den www.tedrussellkamp.com

This Montana pair met in LA while jamming in the Venice arts community. Their debut album, Soar, finds them exploring country roots, folk, and American soul. Joselyn’s sultry vocals lock you in from the very first track

Ted is a well known bassist for artists like Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter, Whitey Morgan, and more. but he writes and records his own music too. Gritty, rootsy soulful, Americana stuff. We think you’ll dig Ted’s music

This UK folk singer has a deep catalog of music that streteches the boundries of folk/Americana music. Her latest, A Dark Murmuration Of Words, explores a catalog of themes that are close to Emily’s heart

Lorraine Jordan And Carolina Road

Trae Sheehan

James Lee Baker

Mike Thomas

Postcards From The Country

100 Summers

www.traesheehan.com

www.jamesleebaker.com

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www.thirtytigerscom

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www.darrellscott.com

Bill Monroe’s ‘Ol Mandolin www.carolinaroadband.com

[See cover story] This latest installment from Darrell Scott marks a return to the studio after a few years without a recorded project. He picked a good subject. His interpretation of lesser know Hank Williams tunes is spot on

Lorraine Jordan is one of the hardest working ladies in Bluegrass. Carolina Road is one of the top traditional acts out there today. Their latest showcases Lorraine’s new Gibson Mandolin, and honors the traditions of Mr. Monroe

22 year old Trae was raised on a small alpaca farm in West Virginia. He began writing songs as soon as he learned how to play. His latest project is a stripped down, more intimate experience with his well traveled stories. You’ll want to give them a spin

The ultimate singer/songwriter experience - James Lee Baker’s 100 Summers is a total listening experience.

With a hint of Cat Stevens sound, James delievers each song like a story you must hear through to the end. This is one to experience

Three Reasons www.mikethomasmusic.com After a season trying to find his groove in the Nashville scene, Mike took a decade off to start a family and pursue a career in another industry. In 2017, he got the bug again and formed a band. His latest here should be proof he ought to stick around a while

Wood & Wire

Kristen Grainger & True North

Phil Leadbetter and The All Stars of Bluegrass

The Two Tracks Cheeers To Solitude

Ray Cardwell Just A Little Rain

www.thetwotracks.com

www.raycardwell.com

This Wyoming based Americana group’s latest, Cheers To Solitude, delivers a solid collection of down the middle Americana, folk rock tunes with a hint of High Lonesome tradition mixed in for good measure. This effort will not disappoint

Ray Cardwell is no newcommer to the bluegrass world. First singing in the family band, The Cardwell Family, then as a member of New Tradition in the 90’s.

Here on his latest, Just A Little Rain, his four-octive vocals steel the show

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No Matter Where It Goes From Here

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Ghost Tattoo

Swing For The Fences

www.woodandwireband.com

www.truenorthband.com

www.unclephilonline.com

This is their first release since their Grammy nominated North Of Despair CD. With bluegrass instruments, their punk, jazz, and hardcore backgrounds make it hard to call it bluegrass. But we dig the rootsy sound anyway

This Oregon based band perfers the description, Pacific Northwest Americana.

They have a destinctive sound, yet still something familiar, and comfortable about their music. Their latest here should serve them well

Phil has survived stage four cancer five times in 10 years yet, still maintains a bluegrass band and career. His music is always top shelf, and their latest is no exception.

This is one CD to add to your collection for sure

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You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812

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www.AmericanaRhythm.com

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November 2020

By Greg Tutwiler

Scotland’s Malcolm MacWatt Malcolm MacWatt got his first guitar at age 12. When his dad bought him the Johnny Cash at San Quentin album, he was hooked. “It was all about roots music from there on,” he said. He was especially into the more traditional, folk elements of it, with roots going all the way back to Britain and Europe. He wrote his first song when he was 13 years old.

Last year, Maverick magazine recognized Malcolm for his powerful songwriting skills with a four star review for his 2019 album, Three Truths and The Chord.

“Country is heart, guts and soul music, born out of difficult times, and I try to keep that in my writing, whether it’s a country song or otherwise,” he says. “In one way or another, I’ve lived my songs. They’re very personal and honest, but at every gig people always tell me how they relate to them. I love when that happens.”

Malcolm has plenty of experiences to draw on for his lyrical content as well. He spent weeks at a time away from home working on the

North Sea oil rigs in the middle of the ocean. “I listened to a lot of guys talking about their lives – marriage, divorce, good times and bad. I also read a lot to pass the time. Later, I became a journalist documenting people’s lives, going to the criminal courts and listening to real life hardships as well as the feel good stories. My last job was working in inner-city schools supporting children f r o m vulnerable backgrounds – another side of L o n d o n that has found its way into some of my songs.”

Malcolm has a new record out now called, Dial It Back. It’s a collection of songs linked through a mid-70s country rock production. “I really

www.AmericanaRhythm.com

wanted to tap into the rock bands that influenced me as a teenager,” he said. “We just imagined Gram Parsons, Keith, Ron & Charlie, Duane & Eric, Nicky Hopkins and Ron Blair getting off their faces and jamming together.”

Malcolm also released two EPs shortly afterwards as the recording process for the album was so quick, and he had money left over. For the latest EP, SKAIL – an old Scots word meaning to scatter, disperse and sail overseas – “I wanted to explore the roots of country music using experiences of 18th century Scottish emigration to the New World. It’s a Celtic/Americana crossover and Canadian and American listeners have really responded to it,” he said.

This is Malcom’s passion and in spite of the Pandemic, he’s determined to realize his dream as a professional musician. “I saved as much money as possible and quit work in January 2019 to do music full time for a couple of years.

So right now I’m leeching off my wife,” he laughed. “I’m a fully qualified luthier – I trained with some excellent guitar makers – and I am planning to go back to doing guitar repairs and set-ups at some point ”

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