April 2022
Pedal board, cables, guitars, spares, strings…check!
Prep For Spring Touring Season Hopefully 2022 brings us a good touring and traveling year! Dates are filling in for the US and Europe. Yet at this time of year, January and February, things are still a little slow and as do my annual survey/ inspection of my road gear. I want to know that it is ready to go. I want to avoid that feeling on stage when something doesn’t work and you know it’s because you haven’t used it in a while. The first thing I do is give my setup a look-over to see if the current lineup of pedals, amps and guitars still suits my needs. The songs nor the band are the same as five years ago. Gear has evolved and improved. It just pays to reevaluate everything.
Amp Simulator
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 Dan Walsh greg@americanarhythm.com. Copyright 2022. All rights reRebecca Frazier 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
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First up is my pedal board. Mine is homemade, built for size and weight. I take it to Europe and it has to fit into my luggage as well as into small cars. The board is used for both acoustic instruments and electric. An A-B switch defines if the signal goes to FOH for acoustics or to an amp for electrics. After suffering through bad (as in who knows what) backline amps I decided to look this year at amp, simulators. I wanted a good simulator stomp box that I could run my signal chain through and have that act and sound like a good amp. As it turns out there are a few that I own that I thought would work well.
Stomp Boxes OK, got the simulator that suits me. Now, to make it fit my limited board space. Changes had to be made. The Baggs Venue I use for my acoustic guitar and mandolin is the largest thing on the board but I am NOT giving that up. I start looking at the cute, little mini stomp boxes that are available…they are lighter, smaller…hmmm. So I switched out
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a couple of those full size stomp boxes for the minis. That helped.
Patch Cables Now, patch cables, can I save any space here? Well it turns out I could if I made some custom cables. After A LOT of trial and error I made it all fit the board. While on tour I would never take the time and I cannot afford a technician to do this for me, plus I enjoy the process. Next, I went through all my cables and replaced or fixed the noisy ones. Are they the best length and the correct end configuration? If not, change it. It is best not to wing it and always better to know your stuff is right.
Instruments If you are like me, there wasn’t a lot of work last year and a few of my favorite road guitars sat, unused. They sat in climatecontrolled spaces but they all needed to be inspected and tested. One of these is a Takamine OM; A guitar I had put away with the batteries in the preamp. Bad move. I plugged it in…nothing. I saw the batteries had corroded and ruined the preamp. My fault, I know better but it happened. Time to swap the preamp. Next, my Collings OM needed to go to my favorite guitar tech in Virginia Beach (Rosewood) for a neck adjustment and setup. After switching some of my pedals, I decided to add a tone control to the Fishman pickup on my resonator. Now I am ready for the songs and band configuration.
The Rest Finally it’s time to look at the ‘little’ things - strings, picks, capos, slides etc. One of the significant consequences of the pandemic is how many products are backordered. I use 12-56 acoustic strings and the brand I prefer was unavailable for three months. Don’t wait to get what you need. The moral of all this is don’t wait to visit your gear until it’s time to hit the road. Use this down time, and get your gear ready to roll. Then, when it’s time, all you have to think about is delivering your best performance
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April 2022
On The Bus With Bill
together with demand for performances.
A short time ago, a publishing house sent to Americana Rhythm’s publisher an advance copy of an upcoming new release they planned for the spring of 2022. The book is a bluegrass memoir for want of a better description; the title of which is: On The Bus With Bill Monroe. The memoir was written by Mr. Mark Hembree who spent five years as the bass player in Bill Monroe’s famous backing band, The Bluegrass Boys. The book is published by the very well respected University of Illinois Press. Mark Hembree is a bassist, vocalist, writer, and editor. From 1979 to 1984, Mark Hembree worked for Bill Monroe as a Blue Grass Boy. After his stint with Monroe, Hembree became a founding member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and was a touring member of that band until 1988. Mark is the son of an English teacher from Kansas and a father born and raised in North Carolina. The family settled in Appleton, Wisconsin where Mark’s life began. In the forward to the book, Hembree writes, “To Dad who came out of the hills and brought the music with him, and to Mom, the English teacher who never stopped correcting me.” Mark’s Dad ingrained in Mark’s mind from early age knowledge of bluegrass music and the mystic that surrounds it gleaned from his own childhood in North Carolina. Mark and his dad spent their Saturday nights listening to the Grand Ole’ Opry; and joining the picking parties that dad held in their home. Armed with a guitar and later a bass, Hembree knocked around the Denver area after high-school as a member of
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By Edward Tutwiler
several bluegrass bands with a modest degree of success.
It Changed Everything It was at a bluegrass festival in Mukwonago where Mark and a friend were attending that changed everything for him. Friends from a band that Mark had been playing with told him that Bill Monroe needed a new bass player as his current player was leaving. Mark’s buddy goaded him into asking Monroe for an audition, which he did. It was granted backstage just before Monroe was going on stage for his last set. While he was not told if he passed the audition he nonetheless gave Monroe his contact information. A week later he got a telephone call from Bill Monroe telling him to be in Nashville in two weeks to meet the tour bus at a certain time and place to start a tour. Thus this 24 year old Yankee boy from Appleton, Wisconsin started a five-year musical and cultural odyssey with five unfriendly, untrusting strangers from rural Kentucky.
Late In The Game Bill Monroe was 68 years old when Hembree joined The Bluegrass Boys in 1979. Monroe had been making music professionally since 1929 and had formed the first edition of the Blue Grass Boys. In October 1939, Monroe successfully auditioned for a regular spot on the Grand Ole Opry. By 1945, Monroe had formed that well known classic lineup of players, and created the sound that soon became known as bluegrass. Monroe rode the wave but did not innovate or change style. Rather, he became bitter and spiteful as that new sound became universally copied by country music pickers. By the 1950s, bluegrass music was no longer new, and Bill Monroe’s commercial fortunes had begun to slip. Rock-and-roll swept the youth culture and the Nashville Sound became mainstream country music. While Monroe remained a mainstay on the Grand Ole Opry, he no longer found success in recording and struggled to keep his band
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little live
Mark Hembree summed it up best, “Monroe watched from not so far away as Flatt and Scruggs’s fame eclipsed his own. Holding fast to the style he believed had been stolen from him, unwilling to make such compromises as taking a bit part in a hokey, TV sitcom (as Flatt and Scruggs did in The Beverly Hillbillies), Bill gained a reputation as an ascetic — a stern disciplinarian who could be cruel to his’ band members, and a purist who labeled any divergent style of bluegrass ‘no kind of music, that ain’t no part of nothin’. You can see that look on his face in a lot of photos from the 1950s and 1960s. Whatever else was going on around him in the picture, Bill still looked angry and aggrieved. The defensive reticence of his childhood seemed to have returned.”
Found By Folk Fortunately for Bill Monroe, the 1960’s folk revival discovered his music and elevated his popularity abet as a folk act rather than a country music act. Hembree went on to tell that with the folk fad, the world rediscovered Bill Monroe. The new folk music crowd also discovered that many of the top bluegrass bands were staffed with former Blue Grass Boys, and that the teachers from which they were learning the music from regarded Monroe as a music giant. To quote Mark Hembree once more, “Bill, now older and gray, straight backed and broad shouldered, looked every bit the part. He was as strong as ever but he was still a hard man to know. He preferred to say less, not more, like most country folks in the South: tight
April 2022
For the next five years Mark Hembree rode Bill Monroe’s tour bus, played bass as a Blue Grass Boy and endured the slings and arrows from a boss who never offered a compliment, was mostly sarcastic, and regularly withheld vital information about tour schedules, venues, and set lists. Add to that, band mates who at first resented his addition to the band, resented his non-southern sensibilities and seemed to go out of their way to make life on the road as grim as possible.
lipped, guarded, not volunteering information; cards always close to the vest.” Mark went on to tell that years later a country music historian reported that Monroe became a nicer person after he stopped thinking everyone was stealing his music, and he came to accept and enjoy his role as patriarch. That said, and while he did grow more tolerant, it was not by a lot. Mark tells us, “‘That ain’t no kind of music’ was his usual assessment of progressive bands, although if they were successful enough he might admit, ‘They’ve got their own style, and the college kids likes ‘em.’ Bill was a purist . . . onstage he felt obligated to sound as he always had and thought that fans would be disappointed otherwise.” Nevertheless, for better or worst, this is the Bill Monroe that young Mark Hembree auditioned for and in who’s ramshackle house trailer office he stood two weeks later waiting to board the tour bus.
The following excerpts from Mark concerning
that first tour seems to sum up the previous observations, “Bill said to be at his office at noon. The secretary, eyed me indifferently and said, ‘He ain’t here.’ I told her I was the new bass player and she shrugged and replied, ‘none of my business.’ I asked her if Bill would be back soon and she shrugged again and told me he was at lunch. I asked if I could wait and got no reply. I waited around and Monroe eventually returned.” Mark goes on to tell that Monroe greeted him in the same manner as the office secretary, told him that they would not leave for a while, and laid down on the office couch and went to sleep. The rest of the band arrived at 6 PM and the bus eventually got on the road. Hembree was made to sit up front as they rolled east on the interstate.
Left Alone Mark awoke the next morning to an empty bus. All the others had continued on page 9
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I moved to Nashville—songs with words. I’d written instrumental music up to that point. So that’s a big part of the change; all of a sudden being surrounded by songs. I’ve always loved songs, and then the combination of those two factors gave me the courage to put myself out there and try to write a song.”
Guitarist Jordan Tice Many artists struggle to remain inspired, but guitarist Jordan Tice has made it a habit to follow his muse wherever it leads. The musical landscape of Tice’s recordings, 2006 to present, provides a fascinating window into an artistic evolution. On his most recent albums, he’s singing insightful yet lighthearted original songs while backing himself up with intricate fingerstyle country blues guitar stylings. Tice’s late-aughts releases, over a decade ago, brought an intense array of all-instrumental, progressive, grass-influenced music; and before that, in 2006, Tice offered up a selection of traditional flatpicking and Irish-influenced compositions. The entire gamut ushers an experience that is informed, shreddy, and heady— while later swinging full circle to vocal songs that sound relaxed, effortless and just plain funny. Rarely does an artist evolve so drastically in such a short period of time. What brought about the transformation from a ‘flatpicker’ identity to a songwriting fingerstyle player identity? “I’ve always loved songs, and part of it is feeling,” Tice explains. “I do the next thing, I’m always learning different things and playing with different people. In terms of album output, I take the path of least resistance. I make things with the people around me and make music that I’m interested in listening to at the time. That’s the reason for all the changes; I get into this different thing and try to assimilate it into my style.” Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, Tice was surrounded by traditional music, as both of his parents played bluegrass. Yet when Tice started
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playing guitar at age 12, he started a rock band with his friends and did not take an interest in traditional acoustic music until age 16. “My folks had been trying to get me hooked, and I resisted it for a long time. But I realized I loved the music and the community and all of
At this time, Tice had been making waves as an accomplished flatpicker in the bluegrass world, and he was touring nationally with the acoustic ‘super group’ Hawktail, which includes fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie. Yet Tice’s 2020 offering, ‘Motivational Speakeasy,’ features his fingerstyle guitar compositions and complex arrangements for his original vocal songs. “Up until 2015, I considered myself an instrumental writer and
Tice’s natural flow in his artistic vision is in symmetry with his approach to improvisation and composition. He learned the basics of jazz guitar and scale theory in high school and college, and he has been improvising ever since. “In the best-case scenario, in the times I feel like I really surprise myself, I feel like I’m not thinking at all,” he says, describing his improvisational process. He says he is thinking, “but it’s a subconscious, faster way of thinking; you’re letting it out of the way. But there are things I do to fall back on when it doesn’t flow like that.” He allows himself a similar freedom in his compositional process. “Sometimes I have an idea of a concept, sometimes I hear words that could be the genesis for a song, sometimes it all comes at the same time,” he says. “Sometimes I’m slogging it out, doing a million iterations, and sometimes it just pops out on the first try; I think the continuum of both extremes and everything in between on every axis is present in all of my albums.” Tice has taught guitar for many years, and he gives meaningful advice for those aspiring to advance their skills. “This is a powerful thing. You ask yourself—what would it be so cool to be able to do? That could be something very different. Maybe it’s improvising, maybe it’s playing a fiddle tune, or strumming chords and singing, but what do you actually want to do? It seems people often come to educational situations with a nebulous idea of what they want to do—that’s worthless; it’s not focused enough. What gives you visceral pleasure to be able to do? Then really focus on that, break that down, really figure out a way to advance at that in bite-size incremental but consistent steps.”
the people my parents would bring into the house. I finally succumbed to the bluegrass tranquilizer dart,” he jokes. Tice played regionally and then majored in composition at Towson University. “I always wrote music; that was the key thing,” he says. After a stint in Boston, Tice moved to Nashville in 2015. “All of a sudden I was surrounded by songs,” he says. “I really wrote my first songs in 2015. I finished my first three songs within the first few days
flatpicker, basically,” he confesses. “I didn’t play fingerstyle or write songs, and those came about at the same time. I was feeling less aligned with the idea of being a bluegrass picker and instrumentalist, and switched my identity to more of a Pan-American guitar person, someone who might be flatpicking, might play fingerstyle, might play a traditional song, might sing a song they wrote; that all started for me in 2015. I was listening to a lot of Doc Watson and Norman Blake,” he muses.
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When asked how he envisions his future, Tice, now 34, exhibits an innate joy and satisfaction with the life he’s crafted for himself. “More of the same. I really love playing music, creating music—maybe no more global pandemics to complicate everything! Just more learning, playing, writing; trying to get better, and having an avenue to make records and play for people. I’m quite grateful to have this avenue to do what I do ”
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not the case, and just like a bad movie script, on day 352 I came down with Covid and got to document my experience those last few weeks.
My Runaway Life My life has run away from me these last months and I’ve been chasing it around trying to catch up to it, without much luck. Call me crazy, but I have felt a shift in the winds of my career for the positive, and I’m going to throw a wild guess that it might just have something to do with my Wee Farm Musings I post daily from my FaceBook sites. It all started about three weeks into the “sheltering in place” era of Covid, in March of 2020. We were all scrambling for a foothold on a world that was upended from anything normal. My husband and I jumped on Facebook like lots of my fellow artists and sang some songs for folks starving to connect with others in this isolation period. I quickly found that the social media platform was saturated in live performances, so I switched gears and started hosting “The Sunday Gatherings” where I would talk into the camera on a live feed and interact with those that chose to join us. The loneliness was as thick as fog across a river on a summer evening after the rain. This feeling
moved me beyond anything I am as an artist to touch the part of me that follows my faith. I had a friend challenge me during those first days to list five things I was grateful for each day, and that’s what I did. The thing is, I took it on as my mission, because the response I received was so sincere and needed. I faithfully got up every morning and went for coffee first and then my keyboard second, typing as fast as my thoughts could run, about every mundane part of my previous day, all the while I was trying to make the fifth point something spiritual and uplifting for those suffering from loneliness. Facebook became something else for me in those days. It became my voice through endless days of silence across our world and I got to share a different Donna with people who needed to take part in my gratitudes.
But as promised, I stopped cold on day 366 and told myself, “job well done,” and went about the business of trying to regain my artist life back as the world slowly started opening back up. Here’s the interesting thing though, the flood of private messages and public ones too, telling me how much they missed my Covid diary, was overwhelming. When I started touring a little, folks would come up to my record table to commiserate about how much they missed my writings. I was shocked at how many followers I had garnered during that time, shocked! I sat one morning after opening my messages up to more lamenting about missing the daily posts and said to myself, “girl, you need to get back in the game;” and that’s what I did. I started that morning with The Wee Farm
Musings; and am currently on post #117. Again, I type out the most honest parts of my life and people really seem to connect with them. It is such a lovely journey we are all on together because I know I’m not in this alone. When the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music, [lovingly known as SPBGMA] came along this past February and named me Songwriter of the Year and Female Vocalist, I know it was greatly because so many people feel like they know me a little through these musings. As a matter of fact, we performed on the big stage at this event and I asked, by show of hands, how many were following the Wee Farm Musings, and was so touched by the amount of hands in the air. Isn’t God glorious; to take the ramblings of this girl and set them on fire, and put them in front of those that need my musings most? I am thankful every day for this chance to help others just by using the gift God handed me…the pen!
I told everyone that I would commit to 365 entries and not a day longer, thinking that the shutdown would certainly be over long before my year long commitment; However that was
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On The Road
You can purchase Mark’s book directly from the publisher at this web site: https:// w w w. p r e s s . u i l l i n o i s . e d u / b o o k s / ?id=37mpc3xr9780252044427. It is also available upon its release from most major book retailers as well.
Continued from page 5 gone off to find food not bothering to wake Mark who by now had not had anything to eat since the previous morning. (Fortunately, festival food eventually became available.) Mark spent the day alone. No one spoke to him and there had been no rehearsal for the show. The only activity he had shared with the band was shoe shining. Mark summed up that first day on tour with Bill Monroe like this, “The day passed with no rehearsal, no instructions, and little to no conversation. Finally, around 7:30 PM, the Boys began dressing for the show. I got dressed, carried my bass to a backstage room, and tuned up. We warmed up with two or three tunes, and then it was time to go on. Just like that, I was a Blue Grass Boy.”
wonderful, well written first-hand account of a poorly treated and poorly paid musician’s life on the road. The reader finds himself wishing and rooting for Mark’s success throughout the book. I recommend this book to you without reservation. It is well constructed, well written and draws the reader into the depths of subject with ease.
Hembree’s career as a national touring musician ended in 19989 with a serious tourbus accident but he is still making music with his friends. Readers can catch up with his current goings on by looking at his Facebook® page: https://www.facebook.com/ themarkhembreeband/ Bill Monroe’s last performance occurred on March 15, 1996. He ended his touring and playing career in April of 1996, following a stroke. Monroe died on September 9, 1996, in Springfield, Tennessee, four days before his 85th birthday.
The remainder of Mark Hembee’s memoir is filled with amusing, often poignant stories of life on the road as a Blue Grass Boy. The book is arranged generally in a chronological order. As it progresses, the reader finds a young man with non-southern sensibilities becoming more confident in his role as part of the most famous bluegrass band on the road but never quite sure of Monroe’s motives nor reasoning, and a musician who never fully felt at home with his band mates. When Mark told Monroe that he was leaving to start his own band, Monroe never spoke to him again for several years and then only when Mark made the first move. Mark tells us that from the earliest days, he kept detailed notes always with the plan in mind to write this book yet soon realizing he was too close at the time to do so. It took many years and prodding by friends and colleagues before the time finally seemed right. Thus, armed with his notes from long ago and personal remembrances to vivid to forget, he produced this gem. Mark said that he purposely did not read any of the many other books written by Bill Monroe’s friends, enemies, and fellow musicians before he started his own effort and that he did this to prevent thoughts of others from clouding his own. He also said that he did not delve too deeply into Monroe’s personal life; rather, deciding to leave that to others while he would instead mostly detail their professional association during this five year ride.
Well Worth The Read As a reviewer, I truly liked and enjoyed this book. I read it once and immediately found myself reading it from cover to cover a second time. Mark Hembree has presented a
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April 2022
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
The Revenue Man
FEATURE ARTISTS Glenn Hunter Brown, also known as The Revenue Man, has just released his debut album, 25 Years Behind. Glenn claims he sounds like “a beardless Cody Jinks, a Tyler Childers low harmony , or an ugly Shaky Graves,” when talking about the songs on this new project, that encapsulates an unwelcome family legacy, romantic nostalgia, and even a folk classic. Glen understands that songwriting is all about perspective, and that’s why he offers listeners two perspectives. In addition to the original album, he’s offering a version of five songs recorded at Nashville’s legendary Sun Studios. “I play solo acoustic shows as well as full band shows,” says Brown. “I wanted to give people a taste of both sounds, and these songs are strong enough to hold up to that.” Glen is currently operating from Nashville, TN, “which may, perhaps be the worst place for an Americana artist to live,” he suggested. “I moved around a lot, but spent the most time in Southern California, and the D. C. area. I do truly love the South though, in particular, Tennessee. Glen was classically trained on Cello when he was younger, and was also taught some piano before switching to bass when he started
playing in social bands. “I really didn’t move to guitar till I had to,” he recalled. “I was always the back ground singer in other bands. Not sure why, as I do all the vocals now.”
music was quite a ways down the page. I didn’t want anything positive to come from his name, so I adopted a stage name. “The Revenue Man” goes back to the old days of moonshine.”
While Glen has pitched in recording on a lot of other projects, but he says; “if we are being technical, under different names with different bands, I’ve played on five different albums of which three of those are solo.”
“The title track of the album, 25 Years Behind, is about my father, who was 25 years old when he had me. It’s basically me saying ‘I am not going to be him. I am going to break the cycle and be the best father I can be.’ The album also deals with regret and the realization that it’s all going to be ok eventually.”
“I think making an album is a lost medium / art. That’s what I’m trying to do now; have some cohesive thoughts / songs that I’ve put together to try to make a real album. Hopefully with the resurgence of vinyl, that medium will return.” I asked Glen where he came up with the name Revenue Man. “I am a junior by name. My father was not a good person. He died in prison. There was a time if you googled my name you’d get his torrid history as the top hits. My
Covid really screwed touring musicians. There were unrealized tours and plans that are just now being revisited. While the album received well over one million streams over all platforms, Glen says he’s definitely planning on getting back out on the road with his full band. “One of the good things about being a musician in Nashville is the ability to put together an amazing band relatively easily,” he said.
Glen says he has a lot in the works for the coming months. “We will soon be releasing a hybrid vinyl album. One side will have five songs from the produced version of 25 Years Behind, the other side will have the same five songs done live acoustically at Sun Studios in Memphis. Getting to record there was a religious experience. I recently got back into vinyl (I’m not sure if it was for the added expense or the inconvenience), so I am very excited about that. “Additionally, we are currently shopping for producers / mixers for the next album. The album is written and all the basic tracks are recorded. We will be using a few members of Shooter Jennings band, and I am really hoping we can get him involved. Tim David Kelly did 25 Years Behind, and did an amazing job, but it was a bit out of his comfort zone / wheelhouse. The working title for the new record is, Where the Bones are Buried. It is a bit nostalgic, but also has a theme of redemption to it. It’s 10 songs, and we will release this on all streaming platforms and on vinyl, shooting for a release date of December 2022.”
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Colin Hay Still At Work Growing up in the 70s and 80s, through my student life years, I’m quite partial to the music of that era. I spent my first two years of college in 1983 and 1984 in a small college in North Carolina. My freshman year especially, was quite profound and exciting. It was the early days of MTV, and we still listened to our portable music on cassette tapes and boom boxes. My dorm mates and I had four albums that made up the majority of the sound track of those freshman days. Gap Band’s greatest hits, Alabama’s greatest hits, Yaz – Upstairs At Eric’s, and Men At Work – Business As Usual. We wore those cassettes out. I remember one particular Friday afternoon, riding with a buddy in his convertible MG Midget, top down, road tripping to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with Men At Work blaring all the way there and back. To this day, it is a very nostalgic record in my personal library.
When the opportunity arose to speak with Colin Hay, lead singer of Men At Work, I was thrilled. Colin’s response to my praise for that pivotal record; “It is a really good driving record,” he quipped, and we had a chuckle. “It was a very exciting record for us to make,” he continued. “It only took 10 days to record the whole thing. But things were different then, you know? We just didn’t have that much time. We were on the road a lot. And we had a studio that wasn’t the best. I think we had a week or 10 days of preproduction, which was really an important thing; whipping the songs into shape before we actually went into the studio, that really helped a lot.”
By Greg Tutwiler
least four or five nights a week all over the city and surrounding areas. We always had aspirations of making it, and touring internationally, and having a record deal. We had our aspirations of greatness for sure. And CBS Records (which went on to become Sony) were the only record company that was interested in us, which was handy for us, because that’s the kind of label that we wanted. It turned out to be a horrible deal, but you know, at the time, we just wanted to make a record,” Colin recalled.
Early Success The band had been together for about two years before they went into the studio to record the Business As Usual record. “It seemed like a long time back then,” Colin said. “You know, when you’re younger, two years is a long time. We were playing at
Of course anyone who grew up in the 80s is familiar with the songs of that record - it seemed like they were on every channel you turned to. With hit singles like, “Who Can It Be Now,” “Down Under,” and “Be Good Johnny,” Men At Work established themselves as a top performing act of the early-80s, continued on page 17
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April 2022
Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms! ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH
Meet Dan Walsh - we are thrilled to have him as our Profiles writer! Dan is a freelance writer and editor from Rochester, NY. He spent more than 15 years editing Mobile Beat Magazine, a leading publication for event entertainers. His writing focus on performers and music grew out of his own background as a musician and songwriter. Beyond his fixation on words and music, Dan enjoys spending time with his wife, Susan, his son Julian and their two dogs.
Dana Cooper Born in Missouri and pursuing music in LA and Texas, Dana Cooper is now based in Nashville. Along the way, he has made 28 albums and won numerous awards. It all started very early for Dana, with his earliest memories including his father taking him to pop a coin in the jukebox and listening to Dana sing along with Hank Williams & Ernest Tubb, and walking, train hopping and bus riding to see Tubb in concert. Although he also shared his family’s propensity for visual art, Dana followed the musical muse and ended up in LA with a record contract back in 1973. Despite enjoying working with members of The Section, Russ Kunkel and Leleand Sklar, as well as other luminaries, as well as putting in the hard work of touring to support it, the record didn’t go anywhere and he was dropped. “It was devastating when I lost my deal, but about a year later I realized it was one of the best things that could have happened to me…” With hindsight, Dana realized that the rock & roll lifestyle that he was sliding into might have been even worse for him. He ended up taking more of a “troubadour” approach, resulting in a long, productive musical journey. “I was just thinking the other day, what an interesting path it’s been for me, and how fortunate I’ve been…As impoverished as I may have been at any point in time, I’ve always had music to turn to.”
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Eric Devries In the words of Marino Serdons of Belgium’s Keys and Chords (www.keysandchords.com) “You wouldn’t expect a Dutch singer-songwriter with the talents of a real American country musician. In Belgium and France they would say ‘chapeau.’ Respect!” He was referring to Eric Devries, a lifelong resident of the Netherlands and one of that country’s most p r o m i n e n t Americana singersongwriters. He has been compared to greats like Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell. His third solo record, Close to Home, came out in 2014. After getting his start on stage in the late-70s punk scene, Eric first made his Americana mark in the 1990s as the frontman of the Amsterdam-based band The Big Easy. By 2004 he had come out with his solo debut, Little of a Romeo. How did Eric’s seemingly dramatic musical lane change from punk to country come about? “I think mainly the attitude—the do it yourself attitude in punk—I found the same attitude in country, going back to Hank Williams or Johnny Cash; singing what you mean to say…It’s that kind of honesty, jokingly called ‘three chords and the truth,’—I thought there were similarities.” He has also absorbed a wide variety of American sounds from his parents’ eclectic record collection and the radio growing up.
Dana’s latest milepost is I Can Face the Truth. Unlike his previous recordings, which often resulted when he had accumulated a critical mass of new tunes and felt the time was right to release them, this one came out of a conversation with co-producer and multiinstrumentalist Dave Coleman back in 2018. “My career, honestly, was kind of languishing…For a couple of years…I was still doing it, and loving it when I could get up on stage and play, but really in a quandary as to what I was going to do next.” He ran into Dave at a club where he was playing with his band and Dave invited him over to his studio. After recording what would be the album’s title track, they committed to a project together. It took a while to amass the needed songs, but Dana’s renewed drive kept him going.
Eric came to songwriting quickly upon entering the world of music performance. “As soon as I learned the ‘three chords’ I was writing my own songs.” After some punk success, but ultimately no record deal, he took a step back from music for a few years. But when he spent some time in another country he borrowed an acoustic guitar and found himself “writing lyrics about things that I experienced while being abroad,” he remembers. “And suddenly I felt like a folk musician.” After a seven year gap, in November 2021, Eric released a new album, Song and Dance Man, which he attributes, in part (like so many other musicians over the past two years) to having more than enough time on his hands: “That’s when I decided I had enough time again, when the pandemic and the lookdown started, to record the new album.”
To find out more, visit www.danacoopermusic.com
To find out more, visit www.ericdevries.info
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April 2022
Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms! ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH
Graeme James Like many a budding musician, Graeme James’ first exposure to playing an instrument took the form of violin lessons, starting at the age of seven. (He had asked his parents at age five, but, as he puts it, “...they kind of let that slide…Two years later I still wanted to, so they said let’s give it a go…”) Unlike most, however, Graeme went on to become a m u l t i instrumentalist of the highest order. After a career as a classical violinist was nixed due to repetitive motion injuries, while still in university he ended up picking up the guitar and trying his hand at songwriting. After rediscovering his connection to his family’s love of folk music (and the various instruments involved in their “folk band”), acquiring a loop pedal, then circling back to the violin from a different angle, he felt like all the pieces had fallen into place for his musical self-expression. Graeme’s initial efforts to build a music career saw him “touring” various streets of Wellington (New Zealand’s capital and third largest city) and beyond, as a busker. “It was very organic…Street performance is brilliant for proof of concept. Even then, I was able to get people to stop and engage with what I was doing.” For Graeme’s latest record, Seasons, a move to the Netherlands prompted reflections on changes in nature and relationships, and even generated one new entry in the canon of shipwreck songs (“The Voyage of the James Caird,” about Sir Ernest Shackleton’s miraculous small boat voyage). On this release the artist contemplates the cycles of life and the human condition, as measured by nature’s own time clock. About the album, Graeme says, “I came up with the idea for it pre-Covid, and just kind of sat and wrote a lot of stuff based around seasonal themes…[I was] using the seasons as a metaphor for various aspects of human existence.” To find out more, visit www.graemejamesmusic.com
Kevin Slick Coming Home, the new album by Kevin Slick, which was recorded over several years, is a collection of songs drawing from the folk, singer-songwriter and Americana traditions. The title arose as the artist began performing solo once again after a 10 year stretch of playing primarily in bluegrass bands on Colorado’s Front Range. The songs on this recording, whether original or traditional, also represent a reconnection with what first inspired Kevin as a young acoustic musician. After landing in Colorado in 2005, Kevin says, “I’ve been playing predominantly bluegrass music, mostly mandolin in different groups…It seems the bluegrass world is also kind of expanding, with artists like Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle and people like that…” So when he started doing more solo gigs, he discovered, “...well gosh, I can play this kind of music I’ve been writing and performing for a long time, more in the folk-roots-Americana vein, and I can even do it a bluegrass festival, because people are into it…” Kevin has a thoughtful take on the diversity currently blurring the boundaries between genres. “I see a lot of the music I’m putting out now…as somehow being ‘roots’ of bluegrass music. It didn’t just burst from Bill M o n r o e ’s forehead…He was listening to the blues, certainly, with Arnold Schultz and the Carter Family and people like that, and so, I think you actually honor the roots of bluegrass music by playing a wider diversity of sounds…roots, the Celtic traditions…country and folk and ballads.” Kevin grew up hearing bluegrass music in his home. He began songwriting at a young age, and got started recording as well. “My father was an electrical engineer…We always had pretty good stereo equipment around the house, and reel-to-reel tape recorders…I would sit around and make up songs when I was eight, nine, ten years old. Fortunately, none of those have survived,” he laughed. To find out more, visit www.kevinslick.com
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Nashvillians While the three members of the Nashvillains— Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, and Brett Boyett— are each accomplished Music City veterans, with many song credits for major artists (Keith Urban, The Chicks, James Taylor, Lauren Alaina, among many more) and media placements (Friday Night Lights, Everybody Loves Raymond) in their individual resumes, they have come together to create a record that defies the conventions of the mainstream. The nine songs on Tumble Down tell a complete story, with each track relating to the previous following song. As they were writing, the band seized upon a theme running through all their songs and fleshed it out into something more unified than the typical country record offers. “Our original inspiration,” says Scott Lindsey, “was to tell a story about a man that has made bad decisions that have sent his life into a downward spiral. In three simple words, the album is beautiful, dramatic, and classic, and we hope everyone loves it as much as we do.” The group’s approach to writing the album’s material broke them out of the confines of their usual radio-oriented endeavors. “We all came from a background of writing for radio,” says Troy Johnson, “trying to write something that’s a hit that’s country pop-oriented, and with this project we were able to let go of that to a certain degree and focus more on the cinematic style of songwriting.” As Brett Boyett declares, “We are a country band with an album that we believe is so emotionally impactful that we would stake our careers on it— and we have. Explaining the origin of the band’s “villainous” moniker, Brett says “I just kind of came up with it. I always loved outlaw country and dark country…[I thought] surely someone has that—it’s such a good name…I checked it out…I said to my business partner, ‘I don’t think anyone has that name.’ So we trademarked it…It kind of glued everything and all of us together.” To find out more, visit www.nashvillainsband.com
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April 2022
Buffalo Rose Wins Top Honors at IAMAs Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!
The All Canadian Soundclash The All Canadian Soundclash is a recording/ performing project from Ottawan singer and songwriter Andrew Michelin, spotlighting original indie folk and alternative rock through well-crafted songs and exciting live performances. Michelin tries to take a less-is-more philosophy when it comes to creating his music, which features accessible, hook-laden melodies, a la The Beatles. In the early 1990s, while still in high school, Andrew was the lead singer of the alternative band Bufflehead, a powerful presence in the Ottawa music scene and subsequently throughout Ontario and beyond. After Bufflehead disbanded, Andrew pursued other interests, primarily in the visual arts, which led him to a career as a graphic designer. “Of course the time comes when everyone goes away to college…” Andrew remembers. “I just went ‘on hiatus’ for a long time—but still writing songs…” Traditional songwriting runs deep in Michelin’s family. His grandfather, Stewart, a member of one of the last generations of Indigenous trappers in northern Canada that traded with the Hudson’s Bay Company, also wrote songs. While out in the wilderness in isolation for weeks at a time, trappers would write songs. When they all came home they would share them with one another to see who wrote the best one. One of Stewart’s pieces, “The Grand River Song,” has been recorded and performed by numerous Canadian musicians. Andrew’s reemergence as a songwriter began just before the pandemic hit, two years ago, with the encouragement of long-time friend and renowned producer Dale Murray. “[He] put out a call-to-action on Facebook, saying he had some room in his studio, if anyone wanted to record,” Andrew recalls. “I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I reached out to him…Everything just fell into place.”
To find out more, visit theallcanadiansoundclash.com
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ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH
The Gravel Yard Originating in the Mountainview, Arkansas area (the self-styled “folk music capital of the world”), the band actually started in a gravel yard, one of many venues in the town’s lively bluegrass scene. As Aaron Farris, the band’s cofounder and upright bass player, explains, “The cool thing about it is, you can come from anywhere, bring your acoustic instrument, and on a Friday or Saturday night, they have jams all over town…[the] group started playing in an actual gravel yard there; one by one we started picking up players, then the locals and visitors started asking, ‘Is the “gravel yard band” gonna be around?’” Thus an informal gathering of players started to gel into a distinct musical entity known as The Gravel Yard. They began amassing a steady following and playing larger and larger venues. Like the many shades to be found among the stones of an actual gravel yard, the band’s sound is best be described as an e c l e c t i c amalgamation of hard-driving traditional bluegrass, country soul and vivid Americana, with rock undertones. Their second album, Strange Times, brings an updated lineup representing these different colors. Joining Aaron as Mountainview natives and traditional bluegrass enthusiasts are Tiffany Turner on banjo and Titus Turner on mandolin. Lead singer Christopher Denny brings a folk/Americana sensibility and a unique, almost old-timey vocal sound. Fiddle player Cliff Prowse and guitarist Matt Clampit provide the bluesy rock tones. All together, The Gravel Yard is a bluegrass group that melds a lot of styles together into a rich, ear-pleasing mixture. Apart from their freshly unique arrangement of the Bill Monroe classic, “Dark Hollow” and “West Virginia My Home” by Hazel Dickens, the rest of the album is all original music. Aaron sums up Strange Times this way: “If you are a diehard traditional bluegrass fan, I think we’ve got enough of that, to where you’re gonna enjoy it. If you’re interested in stuff that’s little more eclectic, you should also find something that you would like on this album.” To find out more, visit www.thegravelyard.com
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Buffalo Rose, the charismatic six-piece modern folk/Americana band from Pittsburgh, won top honors in the 18th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), including the award for Best Group. Made up of band members Lucy Clabby (vocals), Margot Jezerc (vocals), Bryce Rabideau (mandolin), Malcolm Inglis (dobro), Jason Rafalak (upright bass), and McLaughlin (guitar, and vocals), Buffalo Rose takes the singer-songwriter tradition to a new level, with emotive, meticulously arranged songs, inspired by a world of idiosyncratic influences that never let a dull or predictable moment creep in.
“We are so excited and honored to have won the 18th Annual IAMA First Prize for Best Group/ Duo Award and the Overall Grand Prize,” says Shane McLaughlin. “This truly comes at an incredible time for us. The band is just getting back on the road after a very long two years, (due to the pandemic), and we can’t wait to see the new places that this opportunity will take us to…A massive thank you to our team and all of our wonderful fans! We have so much new music coming this year and can’t wait to share it with you all!” Other winners include: Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster and Tom Eaton, who won Best Instrumental for their song “The Confluence”. They are also currently nominated for Best New Age album at this year’s Grammy awards, taking place on April 3rd. Jonathan Edwards won Best Folk Award for his song “Right Where I Am”, Jonathan is known for his hit song “Sunshine,” which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ada Pasternak won for Best Female Artist, while Julian Taylor took Best Male Artist. Randall Hanson & MohaviSoul won first prize for Country/Bluegrass with the song “Make It Up.” IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) promotes the art and artistry of acoustic music performance and artistry. In its 19th year, IAMA has a proven track record of winners going on to get signed and hit the Billboard Charts. Notable previous winners include Ellis Paul, Jonatha Brooke, David Francey, AJ Croce and Meghan Trainor. Go to www.inacoustic.com/winners for info on winners and finalists.
April 2022
Cover Story continued from page 12 and Business As Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. Riding the success of that album, Men At Work cut a few more records before parting ways as a band. That was nearly 40 years ago, but for Colin Hay, the music never stopped. ‘Is it hard to believe it’s been that long?’ I asked. “Yes. And no,” he exclaimed. “When I think what’s happened since then; I came to live in the United States in ’89 or ’90, and continued making music. That was the most momentous thing that I did in terms of uprooting everything. I couldn’t really imagine doing anything else. I never really particularly wanted to do anything else. I’m lucky because I get to do what I’ve always wanted. I don’t really look back that often in terms of what if ... what if this happened or this didn’t happen. That band was quite short lived. I always had great aspirations to be in a great band. And I think that we got close in a way. We made a couple of really good records, but we just didn’t stay together. That’s really what you have to do if you want to solidify everything as a band. As a group of people, you either kind of grow together and figure things out and you get stronger, or you don’t. That band was just short lived. We perhaps could have done a bit more if we had stayed together. But that’s just not what happened. So after the band was over, I just pretty much started again on my own, and have been on my own ever since. But for sure, that music has held up quite well.” Not Quite Solo Doing it on his own doesn’t always mean solo, although he does that quite often as well. There is a new iteration of Men At Work that he also frequently performs with (Colin as the only original member), as well as being a member of Ringo Starr and His All Star band. “I’ve done that since 2003,” Colin said. “I’ve done
four or five tours with them up to this point. It’s fantastic. Edgar Winter’s back playing in the band again. Steve Lukather from Toto has been doing it for a few years now too; and Hemi Stewart from The Average White Band; so a lot of great songs get played.” And of course Colin has a new record of his own, Now And Even More, coming out this March (2022). “Due to the lock down, I had more time to be at home, which was quite unusual,” Colin said. “I don’t normally have this much time at home. So I also recorded a covers album as well, which came out in August called, I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.”
New Music Regarding the record of original material, Colin said, “I just record what I think are the best songs that I’ve got at any particular time, but I think this is definitely the best offering today of what I have. Of course everyone says that, but you want every record to be better than the last one. I had maybe 20 new songs that we recorded, so I’ve got a bunch of songs left over, which I really liked, but we used what we though fit on this one.” As for the future; Colin loves making music, so he says he’ll continue to write and perform. He’ll be on tour with this new album through November of 2022, including a solo set at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC in late April. “I have some stories I still want to tell,” Colin said. “So there are a lot of things I’d still like to do in my career. But mainly what I’m really trying to do is just become a better guitar player. That’s a lifelong thing. I really like playing the guitar, more now than ever. I just like it. And I like practicing. I like playing and messing around with different teachers online and stuff like that. You get to pick up so many different things that way. Plus, it’s just good for your brain as you get older ”
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April 2022
Festival 2022 Compiled By Edward Tutwiler
The editors at Americana Rhythm recently did a deep dive into the depths of the internet and came up with a short list of Americana string-music centric festivals in which you might be interested. The number of festivals being held in 2022 is overwhelming. Our list is merely a tiny representative sampling. Without any doubt, we missed some very important ones during our search. Nevertheless, here are a few (and we do emphasize the word few) that may be within driving distance of your location. The selections are in no particular order except sorted by opening date trusting you will further investigate any you find interesting. Good hunting!
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APRIL
Old Settler’ Music Festival April 21 Tilmon, Tx https://oldsettlersmusicfest.org High Water Fest April 23 Charleston, SC https://www.highwaterfest.com Merlefest April 28 Wilksboro, NC https://merlefest.org Little Roy & Lizzy Music Festival April 28 Lincolnton, GA 0https://littleroyandlizzy.com Tuck Fest April 29 Charlotte, NC https://tuckfest.whitewater.org Charm City Bluegrass Festival April 29 Baltimore, MD https://charmcitybluegrass.com
Upper East Tennessee Fiddler’s Convention April 30 Flag Pond, TN https://www.otfiddlersconvention.com
MAY Mr. B’s Bluegrass Festival May 5 Woodford, VA (757) 660-8904 also on Facebook® Malpass Brothers Country & Bluegrass
May 5 Denton, NC https://dentonfarmpark.com/bluegrassfestival Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival May 12 Gettysburg, PA https://www.gettysburgbluegrass.com Folk Alliance May 18 Kansas City, MO https://folk.org/programs/conference Bloomin’ BBQ & Bluegrass May 20 Sevierville, TN https://festivalnet.com/ Sevierville_Chamber_of_Commerce
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Dr. Ralph Stanley’s Hills of Home May 25 Coeburn, VA https://drralphstanleyfestival.com Rooster Walk May 26 Martinsville, VA https://roosterwalk.com Dell Fest May 26 Cumberland, MD https://delfest.com
JUNE Graves Mountain Music Festival June 2 Syria, VA https://gravesmountainmusic.com/ Cherokee Bluegrass Festival June 9 Cherokee, NC https://www.blueridgemusicnc.com/ event/cherokee-bluegrass-festival Dailey & Vincent’s American Made Music Fest June 10 Albertville AL https://www.daileyandvincent.com
April 2022
ROMP Festival June 22 Owensboro, KY https://rompfest.com Red Wing Roots June 24 Mt Solon, VA https://www.redwingroots.com Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival June 29 Centre Hall, PA https://remingtonrydeband.com/ remington-ryde-bluegrass-festival
JULY Wayside Bluegrass Festival July 14 Stuart, VA https://waysidebluegrassfestival.com/ Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival July 14 Oak Hill, NY https://greyfoxbluegrass.com/festival Grassroots Finger Lakes Festival July 21 Trumansburg, NY https://www.grassrootsfest.org/
Floydfest July 27 Floyd, VA https://floydfest.com
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST Pickin’ in Parsons Aug 2 Parsons, WV https://www.fiverivercampground.com/ pickin-in-parsons.html Old Fiddler’s Convention Aug 5 Galax, VA https://www.oldfiddlersconvention.com Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival Aug 18 Gettysburg, PA 21https:// www.gettysburgbluegrass.com/ North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival Aug 18 Marion, NC https://www.blueridgemusicnc.com/ event/annual-north-carolina-statebluegrass-festival
Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival Sept 2 Elon, NC https://campspringsevents.com Earl Scruggs Music Festival Sept 2 Shelby, NC https://earlscruggsmusicfest.com Bristol Rhythm Roots Reunion Festival Sept 8 Bristol VA/TN https://birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/ festival Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration Sept 8 Beaver Dam, KY https:// www.jerusalemridgefestival.com/ Americanafest Sept 13 Nashville, TN https://americanamusic.org/events/ americanafest
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Dailey & Vincent’s American Made Music Fest Sept 15 Hiawassee, GA https://www.daileyandvincent.com Watermelon Pickers’ Fest Sept 15 Berryville, VA https://watermelonpickersfest.com Upperco Music Festival Sept 21 Upperco, MD https://www.uppercovfc.org/content/ festival/ Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival Sept 22 Buena Vista, VA www.NothinFancyBluegrass.com IBMA World of Bluegrass Sept 27 Raleigh, NC https://worldofbluegrass.org I’m sure we missed a few, maybe even one of your favorites. Got one you’d like us to add to the list? You can submit it for consideration by emailing all the details to americanarhythm@aol.com, subject line, festival addition.
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April 2022
Whey Jennings; Grandson of a Legand By Sherry Nelson
The moment he walks out on stage in his black leather vest, black cowboy hat, and signature Jennings swagger, a palpable energy builds in the air. It is that iconic sound of plangent tones that for generations has cut deep into the soul and hearts of music fans all across the world. He is Whey Jennings, Grandson of Waylon Jennings, the Patron Saint of Country Music’s Outlaw Movement. The moment you hear the vocal quality of Whey Jennings, you realize you are witnessing a rebirth and resurgence that great Outlaw Waylon Jennings, who in his
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day, changed the sound and business of what country music is today. Just like his grandfather, Whey carries himself as an honest and true ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ who loves music, making music, and offering quality entertaining to his growing fan base. He is every bit the rugged and handsome entertainer his grandfather was, carrying that old country charm as he connects with fans in person after his shows; on social media to comments sent to him by the massive volume of extreme views; and through downloads
of his performances. Those too young to have seen the original Highwaymen perform – Legends Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson – are being respected and paralleled by a new generation of Country
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Music Outlaws – Whey Jennings, Matt Kennon, Creed Fisher, Thomas Gabriel, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, and Cody Jinks – who with a tip of their hat are once again making music that is honest, raw, and from the heart.
April 2022
The One To Watch Whey Jennings is a relatively new country artist having performed roughly the past three years but has already earned the title, “The ‘One To Watch’ in 2021" by his peers because of his uniquely deep and sexy Jennings’ baritone voice that is as Americana as his cowboy hat. In 2019 Whey Jennings released Live at the Nashville Palace and people took notice of his distinctive Jennings vocals and sound. Then in 2020, he released his follow up album Gypsy Soul which became a turning point in Whey’s career revealing the depth of his songwriting and vocal range not heard since his grandfather Waylon’s “Rambling Man,” and “Good Hearted Woman.” Gypsy Soul is a mix of Hillbilly Rock, Western Honkytonk, Southern Rock, Funk, Folk, and a hint of Gospel. The song “Lead Me Home” Whey wrote as a tribute to his father Terry Jennings (who played bass alongside his father Waylon Jennings in the 1970’s and 80’s). The emotional lyrics and range of Whey’s voice are so powerful that it should be the anthem of the United States Blue Angels Flight Squadron or for every Patriot returning home to their families. Just like his grandfather, Whey’s music has that plainspoken honesty and sensibility that is connecting him with an evergrowing audience across the nation. Those who remember his grandfather on stage, remember that it was never a simple musical performance but more of a conversation that connected him to the audience. Today Whey is connecting in that same way with audiences young and old, rich, and poor, from east to west, and north to south. His manager Tammy Carolus says, “Whey Jennings is a true hidden gem who is kind, honest, and humble and with one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard. No auto tone needed with him, ever! He has a natural God given sound that
is literally in his blood, and he is mesmerizing folks with music that people not only hear but feel.”
Becoming A Headliner Quickly moving from performer among a roster of entertainers at festivals and concerts with such luminaries as David Allan Coe, Kid Rock, Lorrie Morgan, Trace Adkins, The Confederate Railroad, and the late Great Charlie Daniels Whey is now the headlining act. Elvis Presley moved audiences with his rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’, and, in the summer of 2021, Whey Jennings struck a chord with his acoustic version of ‘Hallelujah’, bringing people to their feet in exuberance. Lynda Evjen, a power player in the Nashville music and entertainment scene said, “Whey, I knew your Granddaddy Waylon, and you have something very special in you that I believe will take you even further than you can imagine”. His Grandfather Waylon Jennings famously said, “there is always one more way to do things and that’s your way”, and with Whey’s talent, honesty, and integrity those dividends are paying off. I asked Whey if he ever feels the presence of his Grandfather while performing? “Pretty much every song I feel his presence, even off the stage because he has been a very big influence in my life, and I will always be grateful to him for that, and I hope I can make him and all my family proud of what I am doing.” Shooter Jennings, Whey’s Uncle, was the first to call him out on stage (after that famous and unexpected performance Whey did with his grandfather at the age of four). His Grandmother, Country Music Icon Jessi Colter and cousin Struggle Jennings continue to support him as he plays many of the same venues as his grandfather – The Galloping Goose in Arizona, Billy Bob’s in Texas, and The
Porterfield Music Festival. Whey Jennings is undeniably one of the fiercest and fastest growing Outlaw Country entertainers with his own unique musical style mix of Southern Rock and Blues that he has described as “if Waylon Jennings and Lynyrd Skynyrd had a baby”. With talent rooted
in his lineage, there is no denying the authenticity of his sound and in his lyrics that many argue are the perfect tone for any episode of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone. When your words are simple and relatable you can reach a much wider audience because in that simple language, the listener is much more adept to impose their own experiences and perceptions, making his music timeless.
The Year For Whey 2022 is already shaping up to be another record-breaking year for Whey Jennings. He has the much anticipated release of his new album, If It Wasn’t for the Sinnin’. Whey has developed a new partnership with record label Dirt Rock Empire and just inked a deal with Bang Productions, which encompasses future Concert Tours, TV and Media appearances, and Merchandising. Whey’s Manager, Tammy Carolus, proudly boasts that Whey Jennings is a dream client whose
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talent, good manners, and professionalism precedes him in the industry, and she no longer finds the “need to sell him”. “You can see the longevity of his success in the eyes of his audience and the rhythm in their clapping hands and dancing. It truly is a rewarding and euphoric moment at the end of each concert because you KNOW Whey has touched more people with happiness and a lingering spring in their stride and not many people can do that! I get emails every day from the most amazing people telling me how Whey has touched them with his music, or how they danced to his music at their wedding.” Whey has said he loves performing and connecting with people who enjoy his music and love the family he is blessed to be apart of, and when you see the crowds at any of his concerts dancing and singing along, you can’t help but sense these people are some of the greatest fans in the world. Fun fact - Whey has also enjoyed some of the finest beef jerky and cheesecake brought to him at his concerts by ticket holders who learned those are his favorite treats. According to his manager, “Whey’s fans are something extra special – not only do they have great taste in music, but they sure know how to surprise Whey with his favorite snacks!” As more people began to feel Whey’s music and connect with his love of country, love of family, and great respect for those who protect the freedoms that make America great, my hope is the inevitable, ‘a coming full circle’ collaboration between Whey Jennings and one of the last remaining Original Outlaws and Highwaymen of Country Music – the Legendary Willie Nelson. So, in the spirit of Whey Jennings, Waylon and Willie, I raise my glass to you and say Blessed are we that that magical Jennings Outlaw music and sound touches your soul as it has for so many generations before
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April 2022
Music From Around The World
Music From Your Neighbors
welcome to the Spring edition of SPINS for 2022. We can’t wait for festival days! Thank you for supporting all these great musicians! Make sure you go see them live where ever you can! We’ll keep telling you about them right here! Check out these new additions, and please tell them we sent you. Buy their CD. Support your favorite musician so they can keep making their music! Got one you want us to consider? send it to: Uncle Woody The Spin Doctor PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812
Alias James Free Country
Chris Castino & Chicken Wire Empire
Tammy Rogers & Thomm Jutz
Magnolia Drive
Fresh Pickles www.chriscastino.com Chris’s main gig is as band leader and songwriter for his band, The Big Wu. On his latest solo project, Fresh Pickles, He calls on several industry friends (Sam Bush, Tim O’brian, etc.) to assemble this high energy string set
Timeless
Southern Currency
Surely Will Be Singing
www.magnoliadrive.com
www.jeffersonross.com
www.tmountainfever.com
This Mississippi bluegrass band has maintained nearly the same talent for the past 10 years - a feat hard to do in the bluegrass world. Timeless is the band’s sophomore project, ripe with that contemporary bluegrass vibe
Southern Currency is the latest from songwriter, Jefferson Ross. “Each song has a different mood as each southern state has a different mood,” Jefferson commented. This album is an ode to Jefferson’s homeland, and it works
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Tammy Rogers is probably most noted as the driving force behind the Steeldrivers; Thomm, of course, as a prolific guitarist and songwriter. This pandemic born colaboration is on point! We’ll see a lot more of these two
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Jefferson Ross
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Darren Nicholson
Nora Brown
Trout Fishing In America
Alice Di Micele
Sidetrack My Engine
Safe House
www.akiasjames.com
Man On A Mission www.darrennicholson.net
www.jalopyrecords.com
www.troutmusic.com
Every Seed We Plant www.alicedimicele.com
Free Country is the debut release from singer-songwriter, Alias Jones. His musical roots run deep, and are evident in this hot paced Americana, alt-Country, Old-School Country with an alt-rock buzz. You’ll get addicted to the vibe pretty quick
Commonly known as a member of the multi-award winning Balsam Range - Darren is loaded with ideas and talent on his own accord. Darren draws on friendships and years of creativity to put forth a collection that will surely stand on it’s own merit
This project was recorded in an underground brick arched cellar on an Ampex tape machine using vintage RCA ribbon mics - 30’ below ground in an 1850s lagering tunnel. Couple that with the talented vocals of Nora Brown, wow! What a cool sound
Safe House is this long time duo’s 25th full length album. Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet have been playing music together for over 45 years. Named after Richard Brautigan’s novel, Trout Fishing In America, these musicians continue to please
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Alice is an independent musician with a career spanning three-decades. Her music often reflects her perspective of the times we’re in, inspiring and connecting people through her insightful lyrics and melodies. Every Seed We Plant is her 16th album
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Back Porchestra
Cedar Hill
Kevin Slick
The Pine Hearts
Surrender Hill
Voice In My Head
New Chapter
Coming Home
Lost Love Songs
www.backporchestra.com
www.cedarhillbluegrass.net
www.kevinslick.com
www.hearthmusic.com
Just Another Honky Tonk In A Quiet Western Town
This shelter in place inspired group took advantage of the quieter times during the pandemic to fashion a minimalistic approach to music, reflecting a “going back to the basics” approach. The result - a nifty set full of fun. You might even dance to it
Cedar Hill has it’s beginnings all the way back to 1967. The long standing tradition of this group traces it’s bluegrass roots to the Ozark Hills of Missouri and Arkansas. New Chapter is a dynamic mix of traditional tunes with a fresh contemporary breeze
Coming Home is a collection of songs Kevin has recorded over the past few years - gathered here and remastered for this project. This Colorado musician blends a unique mix of Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Americana roots to create a fun ride-around sound
Traveling and songwriting are two constants in The Pine Heart’s Joey Capoccia. One of the tunes on the band’s new record was penned at the South Pole where Joey was working as a carpenter. This acoustic trio’s record is well worth a spin or two
Husband and wife duo, Robin Dean Salmon and Afton Seekins wrote and produced this album during the pandemic from their northern Georgia home. The two record set is a fantastic, allaround, Americana project
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www.surrenderhill.com
You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812 / greg@americanarhythm.com
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www.AmericanaRhythm.com
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April 2022
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