Americana Rhythm Music Magazine #99

Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspondence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 or email to greg@americanarhythm.com. Copies of Americana Rhythm are made available free at various pick up locations within the publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the United States (only) for $24 US currency made payable by check or money order sent to, Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812. Foreign subscription requests should be sent to greg@americanarhythm.com. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content, artwork or photographs is strictly prohibited without permission of the publisher or original owner. All advertising material subject to approval.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF

Greg E. Tutwiler

Associate Editor Ed Tutwiler

MARKETING & PROMOTION

Mark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com)

ADVERTISING

Business office 540-433-0360 advertising@americanarhythm.com

Music, Mammals, And A Man With A Saw

I’ve been a singer/songwriter and touring musician for most of my life, and one of the big pay backs I get from being an on-the-road musician is the variety of people, places, and situations I find myself in. Let’s face it, the reality is, you spend much more time traveling, and waiting to travel, (airports, buses, traffic jams) than you do actually performing. So it makes your life much more fulfilling if you enjoy that aspect of the job as well as playing. This has always been true for me.

us. It was an incredible feeling to have one come alongside our small vessel, gently roll to one side and look right in my eye - Direct eye contact. It was an unbelievable thing to feel from a very large, warm-blooded, airbreathing mammal at sea.

CONTRIBUTORS

Ed Tutwiler

Wayne Erbsen

Donna Ulisse

Mike Aiken

Andrew McKnight

Dan Walsh

Rebecca Frazier

DISTRIBUTION

North River Publishing Integrated Music Media

Letters, Comments, Suggestions greg@americanarhythm.com www.americanarhythm.com

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My life and well-being are about motion. I live on a boat, and as I write this, she is gently rocking, and giving me a sense of motion and time. How many beats per minute is this swell? What sort of groove would this translate in a song? I get antsy being in one place for too long. Luckily I found music and performing when I was a teenager. They became the catalyst to move my life in a positive direction. My music has given me the vehicle to keep moving forward, meet new people, and experience life from a unique vantage point. As a songwriter, and storyteller, I am fortunate to be able to share these stories with others.

We, in this profession, are the direct descendants of wandering minstrels and troubadours. Hopefully, we are weaving our place in the fabric of the future past. Here are a couple of examples of this troubadour, modern day.

In my stage introduction to the song, “Save the Whales,” I tell the true story of crossing the North Atlantic Ocean with Amy on a 35’ sailboat. We were 1000 miles from any land, and found ourselves surrounded by humpback whales. They were mostly matching our speed of 6-7 mph, and were breaching, spouting, and traveling with

I desperately wanted to communicate with them, and the first thing I thought of was, my guitar. I dashed below and brought up a little battery powered amp and strapped it to the mast. (I thought maybe they would feel the vibration through the metal mast to the ship’s hull and then the water.) I sang and played to the whales for about two hours. They stayed and hung out with us and then moved on. They were an amazing audience that gave me the gift of this experience and memory. I’ve since shared the memory through story and song to many, many people. I didn’t make any money performing that day, but I was richly rewarded for being a musician and viewer of life.

Next; there was a time we were in Antigua, West Indies. We were anchored out, and I was booked a few times a week playing shows for tourists; Making just enough money to keep the boat afloat. It was New Year’s Eve. I had finished my show. It was late, and we were walking along the harbor, when I heard this beautiful music. We followed the music, and came across these three elderly gentlemen playing in the straw market. One had a guitar, one an accordion, and one a saw. They were great! They played traditional folk music of Antigua. I was enchanted and inspired. It was absolutely real, and from the heart, as is all good music.

These are just a few of the moments that keep me inspired to continue traveling, and sharing my songs, and stories, from town to town, country to country.

By Edward Tutwiler

The history of the US as a nation contains stories and legends of noteworthy traces, trails and roads that played a part in that founding history. Alas, these paths are no more—just dusty memories or modern noisy interstates.

Have no fear. There still exists a trail from a bygone era. That trail is Virginia’s Crooked Road or as maps would have it: US Route 58.

is known as The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

The Crooked What?

The Crooked Road is a driving trail through the mountains of Southwest VA that connects nine major venues and over 60 affiliated venues and festivals that visitors can enjoy every day of the year. The Crooked Road is a heritage trail to explore the musical history of the region along Virginia’s southwestern Blue Ridge and Cumberland Mountains. The marked route winds through miles of scenic terrain in southwest VA including 19 counties, four cities, and 54 towns.

Performing venues along The Crooked Road celebrate the musical heritage of the region’s Appalachian music: Old Time, Folk, and Bluegrass. It also celebrates traditional dance such as,clogging, buck dancing, square danceing and other traditional dances, as well as singing traditions of the region.

While this is no journal for a geography lesson, bear with us for a few words to set the stage.— US 58 is an east–west US highway that runs for 508 miles along the VA’s southern border from just northwest of Harrogate, TN to Virginia Beach, VA. It is the longest numbered route in Virginia.—end of geography lesson. In the past this road was called by some the most dangerous to drive in the state; and has been reputed to have been a route that more than a few moonshine runners traveled late at night, but now 330 miles of it

There are major venues along the way including the Heartwood, which is The Southwest Virginia Artisan Gateway in Abington; the Ralph Stanley Museum in Clintwood; the Carter Family Fold in Scott County; the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol; the Blue Ridge Music Center just off the Blue Ridge Parkway; County Sales and the Floyd Country Store in Floyd; and the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at Ferrum College.

Came To Be

The idea for Virginia’s Crooked Road came in early 2003 when a number of public officials, musicians, and other folks were interested in an economic

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development strategy for the Appalachian region and wanted to draw on the region’s rich musical heritage. Over time, the project grew, and today The Crooked Road and its affiliated venues span 19 counties. It begins in Rocky Mount, VA and continues to the Breaks Interstate Park on the Virginia border. Major venues along the route are located in Ferrum, Floyd, Galax, Abingdon, Bristol, Hiltons, Norton, and Clintwood, and affiliated venues are located in nine neighboring counties and several independent cities along the way.

The mission of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail is to support economic development by promoting heritage tourism and Blue Ridge and Appalachian culture. It is the hope that visitors will experience authentic mountain music where it was born.

In 2024, The Crooked Road will celebrate its 20th Anniversary. To

learn more about The Crooked Road, reach out to these contacts: www.thecrookedroadva.com; direct an email to info@thecrookedroad.org; or call (276) 492-2400, ext. 2409. If you wish, you can send a snail mail to :One Heartwood Circle, Abingdon, VA 24210

It is also worth noting that you can find out about regional events show-casing heritage music and similar weekly updates at https:/ /www.facebook.com/ thecrookedroadva.

On that note, let us end our little essay with this tidbit that Ms. Carrie Beck sent to us to whet your interest in making a road trip in 2023 on The Crooked Road. It is a list of weekly gatherings for all you pickers and listeners. She alluded that this is a good sampling but that you can find more events at: www.thecrookedroadva.com and at www.facebook.com/ thecrookedroadva.

Monday

Marion Monday Night Jam

7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Henderson

203 N Church St. Marion, VA 24354

www.thehenderson.org (276) 206-0627

Honey Bea’s Bluegrass Jam

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

392 S Railroad Ave

Honaker, VA 24260 (276) 873-5188

Ferrum College

Monday Night Jam

7:00 pm

Blue Ridge Institute & Museum Lobby

20 Museum Drive Ferrum, VA 24088 (540) 365-4412

Monday Night Biscuits and Jam

5:30 pm kitchen open, 6:30 - 9 jam

Crooked Road General Store

6292 Gate City Hwy Bristol, VA 24202

VFW Monday Night Jam

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

VFW Post 1115

701 W Stuart Drive

Hillsvillle, VA 24343

Tuesday

Chilhowie Bluegrass JAM-boree

5:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Chilhowie Lions Club

116 Industrial Park Road

Chilhowie, VA 24319

https://www.facebook.com/Ronbrickey2022

(423) 270-1359

Coffee Break Jam

8:30 am – 11:00 am

The Coffee Break

111 A N Main St Stuart, VA 24171

https://www.facebook.com/ TheCoffeeBreak73/ (276) 694-4232

Matthews Living History Farm Jam

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Matthews Living History Farm

476 White Pine Rd

Galax, VA 24333

https://matthewsfarmmuseum.org/events/ (276) 773-3080

Wednesday

Old Time Jam

7:00 pm

Twin Creeks Distillery

510 Franklin St Rocky Mount, VA 24151

www.twincreeksdistillery.com (540) 483-1266

Blacksburg Old Time Jam

Every Wednesday Night (seasonal)

7:00 pm

Blacksburg Market Square

https://www.facebook.com/blacksburgjam/

Wednesday Night Jam

7:00 pm

Macado’s – Emory

31025 Oxford Ave Emory, VA 24327

1908 Courthouse Jam

6:30 pm

Historic 1908 Courthouse

107 E. Main Street Independence, VA 24348

https://www.facebook.com/1908Courthouse

(276) 773-3711

Roanoke Old Time & Americana Jam

6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Golden Cactus Brewing

214 5th St SW Roanoke, VA 24016

www.facebook.com/groups/ 166264850665642

Thursday

Fries Thursday Night Jam

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Fries Community Center

316 W. Main Street Fries,VA 24330

www.friesva.com/thursday-night-music-jams/ Narrows Old Time Jam

5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MacArthur Inn

117 MacArthur Ln Narrows, VA 24124

www.facebook.com/macarthurinn (540) 726-7510

Thursday Acoustic Night Jam

Doors open at 6:00 pm; Jam 7 pm – 9 pm

Lay’s Hardware Center for the Arts

413 Front St E Coeburn, VA 24230

www.facebook.com/ LaysHardwareCenterForTheArts

(276) 807-7039

Crooked Road Jam – 1st Thursday of every month

Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace

1 Heartwood Circle

Abingdon, VA 24210

Friday

Allen Hicks Jam

6:00 pm

1844 Bethel Road Nickelsville, VA 24271

www.facebook.com/hicks-Friday-night-jam-

354625367946662 (276) 479-2739

Rabbit Ridge Pea Pickers Jam

6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Cleveland Recreation Center

6 Ivy Ridge Road Cleveland, VA 24225

www.facebook.com/RabbitRidgePeaPickers (276) 889-3846

Allison Gap Jam

7:00 pm

Palmer Mill Community Center

618 Palmer Avenue Saltville, VA 24370

https://www.facebook.com/VisitSmythCounty (276) 780-1498

Willis Gap Community Center Open Jam

6:00 pm

144 The Hollow Road Ararat, VA 24053

www.facebook.com/wego4music (276) 2519906

Axe Handle Distilling Community Bluegrass Picking

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

42236 Wilderness Rd, Pennington Gap, VA

https://facebook.com/AxeHandleDistilling

(276) 318-6162

Sunday

Floyd Country Store – Sunday Old-Time

Jam

1:30 pm

206 South Locust Street

Floyd, VA 24091

www.floydcountrystore.com

(540) 745-4563

Floyd Country Store – Sunday Bluegrass

Jam

4:00 pm

206 South Locust Street

Floyd, VA 24091

www.floydcountrystore.com

(540) 745-4563

Fiddlehead Diner

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

1101 W Stuart Dr.

Galax, VA

(276) 238-1801

https://www.facebook.com/fiddleheaddiner/

1011 W Stuart Dr, Galax, VA 24333

Turning Dispare Into Miracles

Wow, 2023 will forever be dubbed as miracles that come in disguise, at least in the world of me.

My husband had a massive heart attack on January 15, 2023 and was life flighted to Vanderbilt Hospital, where I was witness, via a video camera inserted into his wrist, to the second his life was saved. It was earth moving, life changing to watch his heart start beating again. I will never get over it. Farmer Rick looked at me and said, “Hi Honey,” and I looked back lovingly and said, “Don’t hi honey me after that show you just put on,” LOL. He is doing wonderful now, all clear from the trouble he gave us at the beginning

of the year. The first recognized miracle of ‘23.

Then came the break-out bleeding that put him back in the hospital a few weeks later, due to the heavy blood thinners they put him on while he heals from the stent. Now, I watch him go about his day with such care for fear that his usual “bull in a china palace” way of moving will scratch him and cause bleeding and a return back to Vanderbilt. Rick was in the habit of breaking a few glasses and plates per month, hence the constant buying of new pottery … but now … no new pottery needed … the second recognized miracle of ‘23.

A few weeks after the bleeding episode, we inherited his sister, now living under our roof and needing our help. That was an adjustment, because we have a wee house to go with our wee farm, only 1500 square feet of comfort and love. With my father living here at times, and now my sister in law, well, the walls are bulging, BUT, we now have someone to help with my dad when we have to hit the road and go on tour … the third recognized miracle of ‘23. My father, whom I call Little Daddy, had an issue where he couldn’t relieve himself on April 1st- a lousy April fools joke indeed. So, I thought it was a UTI, as he is a grand 86 years old. My brother took him to the ER where I was thinking they would give him a dose of

antibiotics, but instead, they did lots of tests, and had his family doctor tell me they were recommending hospice because they thought the spots in his bladder were cancerous. I grieved and cried my way through a week of hell, and was in Florida trying to get ready for a show, when my brother called and said it was a stone, not cancer … the fourth recognized miracle of ‘23.

On April 11th, I got the call I knew would someday come, that my mother had succumbed to dementia. After a tearful trip eleven hours down the road, by myself, because Farmer Rick, my husband had to stay to help his sister, I realized the kindness and mercy of my God in taking my mother the way He did,

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Donna is the IBMA Songwriter of the year for 2016, And 2017 Song of the Year winner. She was also the 2018 SPBGMA Songwriter of the year. Her latest CD, Livin’ Large, on Blueboy Records, was released in February 2022. DonnaUlisse.com

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in her sleep … the fifth recognized miracle of ‘23.

When I got to Yorktown, Virginia where my family is, I was met by all those I grew up around. Loving arms enfolded me like the warmest of blankets and together we got through the sadness of the loss of my mother by rejoicing instead of falling apart. My three brothers, their wives and children, and my many cousins, got together lots of evenings during the three weeks I was there, and laughed our way through precious memories, and made me realize a life well lived lives on past our deaths … the sixth recognized miracle of ‘23.

When I finally came back to the Wee Farm after three and a half weeks away, I had heard a great record playing on the radio that I had forgotten about with all the stuff swirling around me and it hit the charts. My gratitude for music has never been more appreciated. Music heals, and breathes, and keeps giving light to areas of my soul I had

thought went dark. Like a dedicated tortured artist, I started writing songs about what I was going through, and connected with other musicians and writers, and started filling in all the gaps between caretaking and grieving, and ta da … the seventh recognized miracle of ‘23.

Now I’m here, in June of ‘23, a survivor of bad things, but I made a conscious decision to look at them as good things, and through that decision, I am healing and laughing and loving life because each one of these things is as much a part of living as all the sunshine and butterflies. We dance to get through each day, right? I’m making mine a happy dance, a stomping good time. So, someone hit the intro to Uncle Pen, so I can kick up my heels, and I hope to recognize the rest of the miracles of ‘23.

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

Crafting A Song Crafting A Crafting A Song Crafting A

FEATURE ARTISTS

Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter, Mike Mangione, recently released a new 11 track CD entitled, Blood & Water, his sixth full-length album. “The blood signifies the sacrifice, an open wound, pain and the giving of self,” he explained recently. “The water represents cleansing, rebirth, growth, life and becoming anew. My desire is to dwell with the listener and ponder these things together.”

Leaving His Roots Leaving Roots Roots

Mike grew up in Chicago, but eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue his love of music. He then bought a van to live in while he toured the U.S., before settling into a little town along Lake Michigan, north of Milwaukee Wisconsin. Mike recalls his mother actually introducing he and his brother to music, “to keep us from fighting,” he said; His brother on guitar, and Mike on drums. “He still plays with me today.”

“I grew up on a lot of Dylan, Van Morrison, The Band, stuff like that,” Mike said. “My uncles actually gave me my childhood nickname, Spike Jones, after The Band lyric from “Cripple Creek.” The unique thing about my childhood, I think, is that I appreciated the greats of my time early on. I had a few ear candy tapes, but for the most part, it was deep music, even as a child. As a teen, I really got into Levon Helm,

Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois and Tom Waits. They spoke of something bigger than themselves, and I felt the weight of it all.”

Mike developed his taste for music in high school like so many other musicians. “I went to a great school in Chicago that appreciated the arts,” he recalled. “A lot of great performers came out of there in my time from Actor, Arian Moyad, Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, Actress Emily Bergl, and Star Wars voice and former band mate Sam Witwer. Our school rallied behind the arts. The Choir program was incredible, and that’s where I began to see the future.” He went on to attend Marquette University, specifically, because it was in a city, so he could study, and have venues to perform in. ”It was there that I felt music had some legs for me,” Mike said.

Formative Years Formative Years Formative Years Formative Years

Mike’s time on the road, in his van, were important formative years for his career as well. “When I lived in a van, I learned how to play and engage an audience.” He said. “You learn fast when the TV is on behind you in Eaton, Ohio, and you don’t know a soul in sight. I learned how to use silence as another instrument; and how to draw others in and converse with ‘em.”

“I watched a lot of other artists, and learned from them too. Eventually I started playing better shows, and becoming friends with some really inspirational people. The other artists around me mixed with my love from the tradition of Americana, and it’s my biggest influence still.”

Mike’s advice when attempting to write a song – “don’t force it. I go through cycles. Writing time, editing and fine tuning time, recording time and finally release and playing. I’m always playing, but the intention shifts when I have new material. I do this because I now have more responsibility, and need to be artist, husband, and dad. When I am in writing time, I record all of my ideas. They are all melodic at first. When I listen back, if something catches my attention, I mark it, and then come back. When I come back, I listen for any lyrics that might fit the cadence and emotion. I then spend months, even years, writing the story and arranging the song. Some songs come out in one night, and some take five years. I never rush it, and I am more than willing to leave a song off a record, only to appear years later on another release. “Better Days,” on this latest release, is an example of one of those long developments.”

Mike says playing live is his favorite way to share his music. “The performance is the real deal,” he said. “When I can either bomb or have my music resonate your heart, that’s when I feel the intention of the music being realized. I love small, intimate house concerts or listening rooms. I love sharing a whole night and then talking with the audience, learning about them. It feels so complete.”

“I started music because it was the best way for me to express myself. If I go to a party, I never feel totally understood and may be a little quiet. If I play a house concert and then hang out with the audience after, I feel like I’ve expressed myself fully, and can really go deep with people in conversation. I Love That!

www.mikemangione.com www.mikemangione.com

County Sales; Surviving And Thriving Celebrating 50 Years

Many know Floyd as one of the premier destinations for Appalachian arts of all varieties. However, Floyd is also known globally as the long-time home of County Sales. Since 1973, County Sales has been the world’s premier bluegrass and old-time music record store and distributor. Multiple generations of musicians and music enthusiasts would eagerly await their County Sales mailer to check out the latest in traditional music albums and would plan their pilgrimage to Talley’s Alley in downtown Floyd to scour the musical goldmine located under the old Pix theater. Now located on the main drag of town diagonally from The Floyd Country Store, County Sales continues to serve our community and far beyond as the world’s premier bluegrass and old-time music record store.

In The Beginning

County Sales was initially opened as the distribution arm of County Records, a storied record label formed by Dave Freeman in New York City in 1965. Freeman, like so many urban youths during the American folk music revival, was enthralled with traditional, rural music styles captured on 78 RPM records from the pre-World War II period. To share his passion for these old discs, especially those of early stringband music, Dave began compiling and releasing long-play albums of the old 78 RPM recordings. Freeman noted that in his travels through the southern mountain south in search of music and music makers that bands seemed to have their own endemic sound in nearly every different county. Hence the name of his fledgling label, County Records. Soon,

County Records began releasing new recordings in the 1960s by a range of bluegrass, gospel and old-time artists such as E.C. Ball, The Shenandoah Cutups, Larry Richardson, Curly Seckler, Tommy Jarrell and many more.

Strageic Move

At the encouragement of Floyd County resident and longtime postal worker, Maurice Slusher, Dave Freeman moved his family and operations of County Records to downtown Floyd, Virginia in 1973. Only a stone’s throw

from the county’s one stop light, County Sales found a home and forged a legacy. For forty-five years ‘the basement’ on Talley’s Alley was a destination for traditional music enthusiasts the world over. Generations of musicians and collectors alike knew County Sales as THE place to have their music available for sale and THE place to find old songs and new sounds alike. In 2018, the decision was made to shudder the doors of County Sales due to the ever growing digital era of music sharing. Dylan Locke, owner of the Floyd Country Store, along with friends and supporters, saw the value in continuing this staple of Floyd and reopened County Sales under new ownership in its current location on Locust Street in 2019.

For many independent artists and bands today, it is difficult and very expensive to distribute their albums beyond their home communities and live performances. County Sales has shipped Appalachia’s music around the globe for over fifty years and with that long history and loyal customer base, County Sales works to serve independent artists and labels alike as their resource for sharing their music with a wider audience. Traditional music masters like Jeff Little, Larry Sigmon, Bruce Molsky, Sammy Shelor, Ronnie Reno and many more rely on County Sales as a key outlet for sharing their releases with the world. As we move further into the digital era, County Sales works hard to help those preserving and passing on traditional music by connecting international listeners and learners to their art.

Filling A Niche’

County Sales also faithfully serves the often-forgotten demographic of people who do not have technological access to digital music streaming. For many older or geographically isolated people, ordering a physical CD is still a necessity to be able to enjoy new and classic recordings alike. Physical CDs are also the preferred method of learning music for many. Having an

album of any kind in-hand allow you, the listener, to take in the full project as the artist intended it with images, outlay and the full pallete of an albums outlay. With an album in hand you get the full liner notes where the artist shares the history and their personal connection to the songs they chose to put on the album. Think of it like the conversation and personal connection you would have with the artist themselves when getting their music in person.

Now as part of the 501c3 nonprofit Handmade Music, County Sales is working to help traditional artists share their music abroad and to preserve, provide, and reissue classic cuts and unreleased material. For decades, Floyd has been a key musical destination in Virginia’s Blue Ridge. On warm Friday nights, music makers and music lovers gather on the streets of downtown Floyd to share and learn Appalachia’s musical traditions. Founded in 2016, the

What’s One The Way

County Sales is excited to announce new initiatives as it takes the first steps of its next 50 year journey serving and preserving traditional music as a 501c3 non-profit. A series of new recordings of local music masters are beginning during 2023. Reissues like the classic 1973 County Records album ‘Kenny Baker Country,’ long out of print and an invaluable document of one of the fiddle’s key masters, will be available on vinyl through County Sales in 2023. Along with serving largely as a distribution arm for musicians and music lovers, County Sales is working to continue documenting and making available music that otherwise would go unheard just as County Records began doing more than half a century ago.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary as a staple of both the Floyd, Virginia and traditional music communities, County Sales will hold a 50th anniversary celebration throughout the first weekend of August (4th-6th) 2023. The half-century bash will entail, among other things, listening sessions, live performances, artist meet and greets, in-store and online discounts, refreshments and jamming. Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for a weekend filled with good friends and great music!

The resurgence in the popularity of vinyl long-play albums, or LPs, has County Sales working to connect folks to both new old stock, previously loved and newly issued or repressed vinyl albums of bluegrass and old-time music. They specialize in processing record collections of traditional music for countless more people to enjoy. Folks coming to visit County Sales will also find a hearty selection of traditional music related books, DVDs, cassette tapes and 78 RPM records.

Handmade Music School specializes in passing on Appalachia’s traditional music through in-person and virtual instruction for all ages. County Sales now serves as the archive from which students and enthusiasts alike can dive deep into their styles and instruments as well as the vessel through which music that hasn’t been heard publicly in years or maybe never heard can, be shared.

Through your friendship and support, County Sales plans to serve Floyd and far beyond for decades to come! As a 501c3 nonprofit they are now accepting donations of all kinds to help support County Sales and Handmade Music School. Have an instrument to pass on to other musicians? Have a collection of traditional music 45s, 78s or 33s! LPs to find new homes for? Looking for a worthy cause to support to ensure the longevity of our region’s cultural heritage? Drop by and visit us in Floyd, Virginia or visit County Sales online at www.countysales.com See you soon!

Goodnight, Texas

The coast to coast duo of San Francisco based, Avi Vinocur (formerly of The Stone Foxes), and North Carolina’s Patrick Dyer Wolf, make up the clever collaboration of what has been lovingly dubbed, garage roots Appalachian. Calling themselves, Goodnight, Texas, the pair have somehow managed to make the band work –despite living in opposite ends of the US.

Their music, all original, has a vintage feel, almost familiar, yet unique at the same time, driven by the organic nature of their instruments – In this case, a banjo, acoustic guitar, and a 1918 mandolin, combined with the storytelling folk rock band feel that comes with adding the remaining pieces of the group when they get to travel as a full band. It then becomes a five-piece band where folk, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll, along with dry wit and dark truths, meet hope and utmost sincerity.

Avi and Patrick met in 2007, when Patrick briefly lived in San Francisco. But they didn’t start playing together until after Patrick moved back to North Carolina. In 2010 they started

By Greg Tutwiler

actually named, Goodnight. It’s about 45 minutes from Amarillo, TX. “Goodnight, along with a lot of other places in the middle of the country, are places that we didn’t grow up in, and we didn’t really know much about, but we were always fascinated by,” Avi said. “We wanted to learn about them and wanted to go there and meet the people. So Goodnight piqued our interest when we found the name on a map. We decided to go figure out what it was, and name our band after it, and hope the people there didn’t hate that. They were all very, very welcoming and excited.”

touring together, and put out their first album in 2012, as Good Night, Texas.

Interestingly, the band’s name comes from a town in Texas

The band plays bluegrass instruments, but more like a rock band – in this case, kind of heavy, and kind of dark. “We’ve always struggled to define our genre,” Avi exclaimed; “What exactly are we? A few people have thrown out names, like Doom Country, and Garage Appalachian. And then certainly things like, Folk Rock, or Antique Store Rock. There’s a lot of words, but we’ve never figured out the perfect one

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ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

RC Hall

When asked about is introduction to music, RC Hall recalls, “my old man bellowing out Hank Snow tunes in the old Galaxie 500 on family road trips when I was a kid.” He adds, “I grew up in backcountry Missouri listening to The Beatles, Skynyrd, Iron Maiden and Zeppelin, alongside ’80s and ’90s country.”

RC has lived what to some would seem like many lives. At 55, he’s been a wrangler, ski bum, mountain guide, and even a National Geographic photographer and writer, which literally led him to the ends of the Earth, including Antarctica, Patagonia and Mozambique on once-in-a-lifetime assignments. But after suffering burnout, RC put his camera away for the first time in years, and reacquainted himself with an old friend: the guitar.

I had never intended to be a singersongwriter, but in the winter of 2011-12, I spent six months woodshedding by myself in a cabin in the Ozarks trying to become a competent chicken picker. With all that time to myself, songs just started popping out. I wrote them down and kept playing them, along with my favorite covers.”

“I have been in some wild situations in my life, but I have never been so terrified as I was at that first gig at the VFW Hall in Buena Vista,” RC says. It was enough to keep him moving forward. He had borrowed a guitar from a “cowboy” singer that night, and when he handed the instrument, the guy said, “You got it, son!...It felt really good to hear that…I just decided to keep chipping away at it.”

By 2015, RC had started laying down some demos at his home studio. When he hit 55 years on the planet, he felt it was “now or never” for his pursuit of music. “In 2021, I decided to contact Lloyd Maines to see if he would produce an album for me.” Hall says. His “crappy home-made demos” were enough to get Lloyd’s attention and, a year and-a-half later he has produced his first offering, Wood, Wire and Whiskey

To find out more, visit www.www.rchall.net

Songs From The Road Band

“Bluegrass is, by nature, a collaborative form of music,” says Charles R Humphrey III, Songs From the Road Band’s bassist and bandleader. The band began as a part-time collective of western North Carolina musicians, but has grown, over the years, into a full-time touring band, with “community” remaining its driving force. This spirit of collaboration became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, through which Pay Your Dues, the band’s debut, was born.

“Like all other musicians, we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands,” says Charles. “We used much of that time writing and creating music with others.” The band later headed to Asheville’s famed Echo Mountain Recording and spent time laying down the tracks that would become Pay Your Dues. “During the pandemic, our music community became more important to us than ever, and we wanted the album to reflect that.” Recording during the pandemic did pose some challenges, and the release has been a long time in the making. With the exception of the album’s lone cover (a fan-favorite ‘grassed-up version of Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”), all the tracks on the album are co-writes between Charles and other writers.

“I’ve been accused—it’s not a bad thing—of being a ‘frying pan writer’ as opposed to a ‘crockpot writer,’” Charles says, when asked about his process. Considering the 140-plus songs that the band culled to generate the album, he describes it further: “When I write, I make an appointment, and I cowrite. I like to start from scratch. I tell people don’t show up with too much, because we don’t want to change anything and hurt anybody’s feelings. It’s very rare that it takes longer than two hours. We’ll do a little work tape and have our lyrics and that song’s done. Then it’s just a matter of finding a home for it.”

The band is looking forward to extensive touring to expose their music to a wider audience. Charles is also making a little time for one of his other passions: fly fishing. “It’s not coincidence that the tour ends up in Idaho and Montana, where the fly fishing is excellent.”

To find out more, visit www.songsfromtheroadband.com

“All my life I’ve always ended up rotating back to music as a means of survival, whether it be for my mental state, or possibly financial state.” So says Murphy, a folk/blues-style singer-songwriter with a difficult early life story, and also a unique experience of musical self-discovery and wider fame.

While dealing with childhood challenges like a lack of reliable living circumstances and even homelessness, along with a degenerative eye disease, Murphy turned to music for solace and identity. As a young adult, he decided to follow the music where it would lead him. He says, “This is a defining point where I said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna suffer and struggle, I’m gonna go try to make a difference for myself. If I can’t get hours at my job, I’m gonna go play guitar, because it made me feel better, and I can make other people feel better.” After getting a welcoming reaction from the people down at the Baltimore pier where he went to busk, Murphy had an important realization. “I knew for a moment that I was doing something positive with being just who I was,” he says.

Later, after refocusing on YouTube as a venue for sharing his music, he was invited to audition for American Idol (Season 19, 2021), becoming a fan favorite, despite not progressing to the final round. Nonetheless, the exposure afforded by the show propelled Murphy forward on his mission to share music and raise spirits everywhere he went. Never one to simply bask in his own success, he offers words of encouragement to other performers and anyone looking to take a new step in life: “...even if you’re not sure how well you will be received, go in as genuinely as you can, because everyone needs someone that commits to themselves.”

These days, along with a busy touring schedule, Murphy also makes time to share his talents and positivity with students at TheRecW (The Recording Workshop) in Chillicothe, Ohio. His most recent release is a 7-song EP, called, appropriately, Extended Play, available now on Spotify, and is teasing “something wonderful” to be released in late 2023.

To find out more, visit www.murphymusic.netcom

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

Goodnight, continued from page 12

to capture it. However; one of the ones that made us smile was, Garage Appalachians, so we somewhat adopted that.”

The sound itself was not entirely intentional though. “I think we wrote music that just felt like this, but in combination with other music,” Avi reflected. “Then we decided to try to focus on it, and expand on the specific sound we were doing. We picked up the mandolin and banjo secondarily. They were not our main instruments, but we really felt playing them inspired us. They added to the songs, and the sound gave us new creative ideas, and new ways of songwriting came out of them in our hands. So we were inspired by that, and kept it going. I got really into Tim Erickson at one point. He’s a real traditionalist. He does a lot of Celtic and traditional singing, and instrumentals, and he plays a lot of old instruments. There were these videos that he would put online, and it was super

inspiring to me. I thought, I kind of want to be like that; writing songs in a more conventional way. I’d like to use these instruments to try to make something that

feels both like a current song, but on these old instruments.

I wanted to make them feel mysterious, and have the listener feel like; ‘are they cover songs? Are they traditional? Are they not?’

We like trying to see how far we can go with playing with the blurred line between what’s traditional and what’s original. We do play all original, but we try to make it sound as if, maybe you’ve heard it before.”

It was like a mission statement at the beginning of the band. It’s fun to make songs that sound like they’re really old. Did they actually write it like that like?

Avi says the band has evolved a fair amount since the beginning. “But I definitely still try to tell

stories that are, you know, dark in nature, or possibly maybe the song sounds happy with the concept that music is much darker. The lyrics are much darker I think. It’s an inspiring canvas to start with,” he said. “And then you can sort of build off of that. I still sort of dig around that for inspiration. I read a lot of stories about American history. It can be inspiring to just find a story, and try to picture what a soundtrack to that might be.

When writing songs, Avi says that most often it’s the melody part of the song he gets first. “I’ll have lyrics sort of in a pile; notes and one-liners, and such. I will find that new melody and then sift through the pile and see what that lines up. So yeah, for the most part, the music usually comes first. And then the idea comes after. But there are some times where you just write a poem, and you’re like, I’m gonna figure out what this is afterwards.”

Article and cover photos by Brittany Powers

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

Crandall CreekMorgan Tucker

Crandall Creek came into being in 2015 when Jerry Andrews decided he wanted to start a bluegrass band. Jerry also had some stories to tell, which would best be shared via songwriting. He brought together a bluegrass band that created its own music with an ear toward the mountain harmonies he heard as a child, growing up in Moundsville, West Virginia.

Rewinding to when music first got its hooks into him, Jerry recalls without hesitation that he was ten years old when he first got his hands on a guitar. “We had an Epiphone semi-hollowbody guitar. It was black. I remember it like it was yesterday…I found a Mel Bay handbook and taught myself how to play guitar.” He played rock music in high school, then later country, but in 1982, as Jerry describes it, he “put the guitar down, and I didn’t look at an instrument until 2015.” Family and holding down multiple jobs took Jerry’s focus off music for a while.

Music got jolted back to life for Jerry when he decided he wanted to see Donna Ulisse in concert. “She came to Glenville State College in West Virginia and did a songwriting seminar and a concert…I called to get tickets and oddly enough they said they weren’t handling the tickets but they’d give me a number to call.” When he dialed the Nashville number, Jerry ended up on the line with none other than Donna Ulisse herself. She told him to bring his guitar and play some of the songs he had written back with his country band at her songwriting clinic.

Not long after reviving his passion for music and songwriting, Jerry assembled the group that would become Crandall Creek. Their third and latest album is a nine-track effort called Handprints on the Glass They have also recently released a new single, “Refrigerator Homemade Picture Show.” Written with bandmate Kathy Wigman Lesnock. Jerry explains that “the song came to me one day as a cascade of my grandkid’s artwork peeled off the refrigerator door. As I picked it up, it made me think of all the creativity kids have. Sometimes I wouldn’t know what the picture in the drawing was, but I applauded just the same.”

Morgan Tucker is an Australian alternative country singer-songwriter with true “country” bona fides, as he comes from a small town in New South Wales, called Dorrigo. He counts as his key musical influences outlaw country pioneers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, along with modern-day torch bearers Sturgill Simpson and Charley Crockett.

After sampling a wide range of music styles, by his mid-twenties Morgan ultimately arrived “at home” in the alternative country realm. “Up to then I put my toe in few different types of music,” he recalls, “ranging from hardcore and punk to hip-hop…as you do as a teenager…”

Morgan fronted the Sydney alt-country/rock band Billygoat & the Mongrels from 2005 to 2013. Known for their raucous high energy shows they earned a loyal following through Sydney’s inner west, playing regularly at top live music venues and festivals. The group released two albums and an EP, and their song “My old Friends” was featured on the TV show 600 Bottles of Wine . During his time with the band, Morgan began to hone his writing chops.

In 2013, Morgan moved back to Dorrigo and has continued to write and perform, playing solo with bands across NSW’s mid north, north coast and northern tablelands.

Towards the end of 2022, he released his debut solo album For Better or Worse.

“It’s a collection of songs written over the last ten years, since I moved away from Sydney and back up home to the mountains at Dorrigo,” Morgan says. “I’m very good at starting songs but not very good at finishing them. So, to get these eleven songs there’s probably another hundred that never got finished.” The album came about when Morgan made a connection with Australian country music legend, Bill Chambers. “Then when I had the deadline in my head, that’s when four or five of the songs got written, in the few months leading up to the album.”

Jason Barie

Hailing from Florida and currently playing with the Radio Ramblers with Joe Mullins, fiddler Jason Barie got an early start on his musical road. Starting at age 10, he took classical lessons at school, but his dad had something else in mind. “Dad found a little music store in Tampa called the Bluegrass Parlor, which offered lessons on all of the bluegrass instruments and sold vintage records,” Jason remembers. “I started fiddle lessons at that store and by age 14 had joined my first band. By age 15 I was working on stage as a freelance fiddler for many local bands in central Florida.”

In fact, Jason was so dedicated to mastering the art of fiddle-playing, he spent so many hours working on tunes for various fiddle competitions, he was able to claim the title of Florida State Champion. He would go on to claim the title a total of six times. After graduating high school, Jason stayed the course and continued down his personal road to professional success, landing his first national touring gig with Florida-based group Sand Mountain. The next nine years saw a series of gigs with various groups, including legends Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express and Jesse McReynolds and The Virginia Boys. These two groups provided Jason with the opportunity to play the Grand Ole Opry.

Never one to sit still in his career, Jason continues the progression: “I then spent two years with Larry Stephenson as his first ever fiddle player. The call came in January of 2009 to audition with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. I spent almost six years working side by side with the Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductee. I am now touring with the Ohio radio man Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers.”

Not surprisingly, Jason has garnered numerous awards and has been involved with Grammynominated recordings through so many years of playing with the cream of the bluegrass crop.

Jason has recorded four albums of his own (as the driving force with a lot of other musicians along for the ride). The latest release is called Radioactive.

Listen to the expanded interviews by searching Americana Music Profiles on all of your favorite Podcast platforms!

ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

Danny PaisleyJake Ybarra

Since his father’s passing in 2004, singer/guitarist Danny Paisley has preserved and advanced the tradition of classic bluegrass begun by his dad, Bob Paisley, who, along with Ted Lundy, performed originally as the Southern Mountain Boys, then later as The Southern Grass, the latter of which became quite popular on the festival circuit. The band was made up mostly of Paisley’s and Lundy’s sons.

Danny Paisley and The Southern Grass have carved their own niche in the bluegrass world, producing consecutive chart-topping albums. The group has been given over 15 Bluegrass Music Award Nominations and won the 2009 IBMA Song of the Year for “Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away.” In 2021, Danny Paisley joined an elite group of vocalists to be awarded the IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year for the third time, an achievement attained by only five others in Bluegrass music history.

Concerning the ongoing “family band” nature of his music, Danny says, “We just keep passing the tradition on…Ryan [his 22-year-old son and the band’s mandolin player] has different ideas than I do, and I had different ideas than my father did, so we each put our little mark on the music, and just keep on going. I think that’s what music is all about.”

While holding to the traditions of bluegrass, Danny embraces the need for changes that can speak to the current generations of listeners: “We can’t expect young people to be drawn to music singing about cabins and old mountain homes…a young person today doesn’t relate to living a hard life deep in the mountains and growing up in a cabin…” For Danny, putting together new recordings is all about finding a balance of the old and the new. “It’s hard in today’s age to find fresh songs…a lot of my fans like to hear the old ones that I’ve been playing for 30 years…but to bring in new people I have other songs…”

The band’s latest release is Bluegrass Troubadour, which features 10 tracks by 10 different writers, including “Fancy Gap Runaway” by Ryan Paisley.

David Starr

For 25-year-old Jake Ybarra (pronounced “e-BARa”), the first step on his creative journey came in Harlingen, Texas, where he was born into a musical household. With a classically trained pianist for a mother, a semi-professional horn player for a dad, and a couple of guitar-playing brothers, music was constantly in young Jake’s ears. When he was eight, the family moved to Greenville, South Carolina, and music began leaving a permanent mark.

“We grew up Southern Baptist,” he explains, “so I sang in a bunch of quartets and boys choirs growing up. One was a group called Chicora Voices, and we would do recitals, sometimes with the Greenville Symphony. You learn to listen and learn what your voice can do.”

When he hit the age of 15, Jake put aside dreams of baseball stardom to dive into music more seriously, initially playing in a series of rock bands in school. However, as he moved on to college at Furman University, Jake’s attention was drifting toward storytelling and creating his own music.

“I found myself listening less to rock bands and more to lyricists,” he recalls. Thinking about influential albums, he says, “The first ones that really got to me were Jason Isbell’s Southeastern and The Freewheeling Bob Dylan. Until then I didn’t realize how sad songs could be, but they could also be beautiful at the same time. That led me to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, James McMurtry, John Prine and Lucinda Williams.”

After graduating, Jake turned his attention to songwriting fulltime. In 2020 he recorded what he calls his “pandemic project,” a foursong EP called Basement Songs, and posted it on Instagram. It garnered enough attention to land him a management deal and an opportunity to record his debut album, Something In The Water, with producer William Gawley.

“It is very gratifying when I get on stage and I see people reacting emotionally,” he says. “I know they’re into the words as much as the music.”

David Starr’s unique mix of soulful vocals and honest lyrics has helped him create a folk/roots sound all his own, which, in turn has garnered him prestigious showcase performances at Folk Alliance International, AmericanaFest, and Southwest Regional Folk Alliance. It has also consistently landed him at the top of the Colorado Music Chart. A master guitarist, he is endorsed by Breedlove Guitars and was honored to create his own limited edition signature guitar with the company.

The Arkansas native has honed his playing and songwriting during a decades-long career that has seen him release more than 10 albums. While touring internationally, David has shared the stage with esteemed artists like John Oates and John McEuen, and opened for acts like America, John Oates (Hall & Oates), Travis Tritt, Restless Heart, Karla Bonoff, The Steel Wheels, Survivor, and many others.

Music was a constant in his life from an early age. After initially playing drums, David later taught himself guitar. “As long as I can remember I was picking at guitars trying to figure stuff out. As a singing drummer growing up, at some point I thought, ‘You know I just want to be out front and part of that thing,’ so I taught myself enough to get by.

David’s latest project is Better Me. It includes highenergy acoustic-driven songs such as the title track and “Closer To You,” the feisty blues-rock “Poison The Water,” as well as the haunting “Any Chance Of Going Home,” which features classic fingerpicking with Starr’s sharpened storytelling lyrics.

He is a founding member of the board for the Grand Mesa Arts & Events Center in Cedaredge, an intimate event space aimed at attracting musicians and visual artists to Colorado’s Western Slope. He also produces the town’s annual Apple Fest, which draws over 15,000 people to the area, securing live music from more than a dozen acts on the Starr’s Guitar Stage over the course of the three-day festival.

Cantrell Returns To Bluegrass Radio

Radio personality, Kyle Cantrell, joined Sirius Satellite Radio in 2002 as an on-air host. In 2005 he became the Program Director for XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. In 2008 Sirius and XM merged, and Kyle added programming duties for various other channels as well. He received numerous awards during his time with Sirius XM, including IBMA’s Broadcaster of the Year five times, SPBGMA DJ of the Year nine times, and he was inducted to the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2019.

Kyle began his radio career over 43 years ago as an on-air announcer on WMTS in Murfreesboro, Tennessee before joining the staff at Nashville’s WSM, where he stayed for 20 years, including 10 as the station’s program director.

Recently, Sirius XM decided to pair down its staff, reportedly do to budget cuts, and sadly, for the

Bluegrass audience, Kyle’s position there was eliminated –thus removing him and his voice from the airwaves for the first time in decades. It was a great loss to the bluegrass community –however, Kyle was not finished with his knowledgeable contributions to bluegrass music.

Recently introducing a brand new, online bluegrass radio station called Banjo Radio – Kyle plans to deliver Bluegrass programming via live streaming, through the various available streaming platforms, including Apple Radio, Spotify, etc., and eventually a downloadable App.

“We’re building a community like no other,” Kyle said. “I’m excited about the future of bluegrass music, and I’m really hoping people will join me on my mission to share the music I love, and its artists, with Bluegrass fans worldwide!”

“My goal is to keep this free for everyone,” Kyle said. “I’ve personally invested thousands of dollars in equipment and services to get this off the ground and

there will be large ongoing expenses. While we plan to enlist corporate sponsors, I’m really hoping this will be primarily a grassroots effort – ‘radio for the people and by the people.’”

Of course fans and listeners can get on board as financial supports as well. “In addition to suggested amounts, patrons will be given the option to contribute any amount they choose one-time, monthly, or annually. As an incentive for support, those who contribute $30 or more will be sent an official, limited edition, BanjoRadio t-shirt at no additional cost.”

“For more information, visit www.BanjoRadio.com and follow on Facebook @OfficialBanjoRadio.

What Is NAMM?

By Greg Tutwiler

Anaheim, CA, and has been one of the world’s largest music trade events leading up to the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic in 2020. Normally, averaging well over 100,000 attendees, the 2023 show drew less than half of its past attendance. Typically, held in early January, holding the 2023 conference in April was likely one of the factors in the shortfall in attendance.

NAMM, the National NAMM, the National Association of Music of Music Association of Music of Music of Merchants, Merchants, Merchants, Merchants, held its annual conference and trade show this past April, again at the Anaheim convention center. Founded in 1901 as the National Association of Piano Dealers of America, the organization is a not-for-profit association that promotes the pleasures and benefits of making music. Its first convention was held in Baltimore that same year. In 1919, the organization was renamed to NAMM to better define the broader scope that it was serving.

Every year since 1976, the convention has been held in

I first attended NAMM in the late 90s, as coproducer of Singerand Musician Magazine. NAMM is the event to attend, if you’re in any part of the music industry where keeping your

finger on the pulse of what’s happening, matters to you. And as a writer, and producer of music related content, it’s been a major source of pertinent information for us at Americana Music Magazine for the past 15 years.

NAMM NAMM Rebound

NAMM has been trying to work its way back to a normal schedule since having to cancel the 2020 show. In 2021 the show was held exclusively on-line. A paired down version was held live in June of 2022, prior to the 2023 April show. NAMM is finally planning to be back on track for its January 2024 show – held once again at the 1.8 million square foot Anaheim Convention Center, January 25 - 28, 2024.

The music industry, as a whole, is still trying to recover from the pandemic shutdown. Touring bands are slowly beginning to fill out their calendars –but it may still take a while before they all return to a comfortable schedule – if ever. We’ve also lost several venues and festivals over the past three years.

However, the resilience of musicians, and their deep love for their craft, has kept their fans entertained and supplied with new music, in spite of the world condition.

NAMM is an integral part of that process, and we are very glad to see things beginning to come back to life.

For many, NAMM is more than just business, it’s also a homecoming of sorts. It’s a reunion of industry friends , and a central place where attendees can reconnect, network, and encourage each other for the coming year.

We’ll be there again in January, 2024, gathering intel on the latest industry gear, and providing our usual video and social media reports so you can play along. If NAMM is on your radar, maybe we can connect live and in person, like I did this year (in the below picture) with my good friend, and ARMM contributor, Mike Aiken.

Singer/ songwriter Marty Falle may be riding a fresh wave onto the Americana music scene with his latest single, Kentucky Bluestar, from his recently released album of the same name, but Nashville’s noted musician, arranger and producer, Johnathan Yudkin, predicts there’s more to come.

“What is setting Marty apart from other bluegrass artists is that he’s not trying to fit into the bluegrass lane,” says Yudkin, who has worked with everyone from Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood to Steven Tyler and Toby Keith. “He’s made his own lane, and he doesn’t even think in terms of what is popular. His songs come from the heart –they’re unpretentious, not overthought. And that’s why I look at him as an artist.”

Mentor and Friend

Falle and Yudkin have been friends and collaborators for years, meeting shortly after Falle’s Hoochie Coochie Gal from the Buckeye State blew up on the internet more than a decade ago.

“He was basically a good artist trying to find himself,” reflects Yudkin. “Later, when I got involved with his writing, he’d send me ideas and we’d go back and forth. I can be blunt with people, but he listened.”

These days Yudkin marvels at Falle’s ability to weave stories into his lyrics that flow like poetry.

“It’s an instinctive thing with Marty,” he adds, “and his voice isn’t standard bluegrass material. He sounds different and interesting. It’s believable and I like that.”

Evolution as an Artist

As a young musician, Falle leaned towards rock and country, but a few years ago while he and Yudkin were talking about future endeavors, they looked at each other and exclaimed, “Let’s do bluegrass!”

“It worked,” quips Yudkin, explaining that taking away the hard rock allowed Marty’s talent to shine, or as he puts it: “If you take the cheese sauce off of something, there’s a whole lot of good food under there!”

The Album & Accolades

A firm believer in the magic of live recording, Yudkin assembled a team of musicians at County Q Studio in Nashville for Falle’s newest 11-track album that included Rob Ikes (dobro) because “he always delivers,” Carl Miner (guitar) for his versatility and ability to cut loose (check out his flat picking on the fast-paced Daddy’s Shotgun), Mike Bub (bass) who’s “savvy” about studio work, and Matt Menefee, who’s stellar on the banjo.

Marty Falle

To find out more, visit www.martyfallemusic.com

Backup vocals by Marty Slayton, longtime vocalist with George Strait, and Kim Parent, touring vocalist with Brooks and Dunn, added to the flow the project.

While the mournful ballad Cherokee about the Trail of Tears and the thrumming beat of Ridin’ , a heartwrenching plea to escape life on the road, are captivating tracks that display Falle’s versatility, it’s the toe-tapping, feel-good Kentucky Bluestar that’s surging.

“It’s a solid piece of music that has the state name, the state flower, and that phrase – Kentucky Bluestar, you’re the one for me – that is wonderfully cohesive with 3-part harmony so that is like Carter Mountain League gold,” boasts Yudkin.

Listeners and critics apparently agree. The single recently Peaked at #8 on the Top 50 APD Bluegrass / Folk Albums in April and rose to #6 on The Bluegrass Today Singles Chart in May. Handpicked for airplay by award winning DJs, and syndicated coast to coast, the song has reached audiences across the country

Falle, who was featured in the April edition of Bluegrass Today and selected as the cover story for the June release of Bluegrass Standard Magazine, says, “It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.”

“But you won’t see a picture of me in Bluegrass Standard,” he laughs. “They’re using photos of my album cover (a colorful rendering of the wildflower) that was created by Disney artist, TJ Matousek.”

With future endeavors already in the works, Falle is sure to become a familiar face in the months to come.

ARTICLES BY DAN WALSH

Tim Raybon Dean M. Collins

Tim Raybon’s musical trek began early, as he played with his dad and brothers in the family band The American Bluegrass Express, starting at age eleven. With Central Florida as its base, the band met with great success throughout the South during the mid-1970s, affording Tim the opportunity to sharpen his skills by playing festivals and concerts where he shared the stage with some of the greatest legends in Bluegrass music, including Bill Monroe, the McReynolds, and the Osborne Brothers.

Entering the 1980s, as his brother Marty made his way to Nashville and ultimately the band Shenandoah, Tim says, “I went on to college and just kind of fiddled around with music.” He ended up working in construction with his dad, and playing music on the weekends.

In the early ‘90s, the explosion of what was at the time called “new country” reignited Tim’s musical motivation. He landed a house band gig at the iconic Sanford, Florida club, the Barn, and began splitting his time between Florida and Nashville, where he was pursuing a music career more intentionally.

1997 brought a musical reunion to Tim and his brother Marty that produced the certified gold hit “Butterfly Kisses.” That same year the Raybon Brothers were nominated for the CMA Duo of the Year.

In 2019, along with Daniel Grindstaff, Tim founded the popular bluegrass band Merle Monroe. When a band member suggested writing a Christmas song to jumpstart the band’s quest for name recognition, as their first release was due out the following March, Tim found he was up to the challenge.

The group rebranded as The Tim Raybon Band in 2022. It currently features a roster of extraordinary musicians and showcases Tim’s story-telling ability through his masterful vocal delivery of a song. The group has been building anticipation for its third studio album, I Can Get Used To This, by releasing a series of singles over the last few months.

To find out more, visit www.timraybon.com

Dean M. Collins says, “I always joke that my ‘side gig’ is as a commercial airline pilot…” The country/ Americana/bluegrass singer-guitarist served as a Navy pilot and now flies for Delta Airlines. But music has a been a constant throughout his highflying life.

He remembers his takeoff in songwriting and playing as a distinct moment during his teens, while growing up on a large farm in Kentucky. Dean pulled a neglected guitar given to him by his mom out of the closet in an attempt to help memorize a poem for school by setting it to music. The guitar became a constant companion, leading to a college rock band and his first recording experience. “[It was] my first time in a recording studio and I said, ‘Man this is where I want to be.’ That was in ‘87. I’ve been making music (against all better judgment) ever since.” Dean would go on to make three albums before departing for deployment on an aircraft carrier during the Desert Shield/Desert Storm conflict.

After 10 years of active duty, followed by 10 years in reserve service concurrent with work of Delta that understandably decreased his “free time”, now Dean has more recently put his music career back on his radar. This focus has culminated in a new album, Land Where The Wishes Come True, due out in June 2023.

Supported by renowned guest musicians who together have received more than 60 Grammy Awards, Dean’s new album invites listeners on a journey through past loves, missed opportunities, precious bonds and experiences, all gathered along his life’s path. From all these moments, he weaves a dense, constant web of memories and impressions.

For now, fans will have to enjoy Dean’s music by recording only. “I’m kind of unusual in that I’m the only person in this group of musicians who doesn’t really play live. My big gig this year is playing at my 40th high school reunion.”

To find out more, visit www.deanmcollins.com

Jake Dryzal

Jake Dryzal is a singer-songwriter and producer from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Raised in a musicloving household, Jake’s creativity blossomed at an early age. Although his family didn’t have a music performance background, the 24-year-old was immersed in it nonetheless. “My parents collected CDs when I was a little kid, and I would go through their collection and I discovered a lot of my favorite artists that way. And they also had VH1 on the TV a lot and that really got me into wanting to do music as a career.”

Jake began to write music under the name Blue Navy, starting in 2011. For the earlier part of the decade, Jake used Blue Navy as a musical experiment, writing songs on his sister’s piano (which he was never taught to play), and using video editing software to mix his tracks. After trying out some other genres (post-metal, emo) with some collaborators, Jake returned to the studio in an attempt to finally achieve his singular sound as Blue Navy. Being heavily influenced by dream pop and post-rock music, he tried to create more ethereal textures within his music. The end result was his first official full-length album, Mine, released in 2016. Moving into a new phase of musical exploration, Jake recently released an album (and debuted a new musical identity) called Great American Racer. He describes it as “a folk rock/alt-country concept album about the heroin and opioid epidemic that has been raging in Rust Belt America for the past several decades.” He recalls that “at first I thought maybe this problem is a little exaggerated, but then when I was really growing up, it started to trickle down into my own family life, with my friends and my family members. And I just thought that this is a very serious problem that I needed to address.”

Jake continues, “Lyrically, the album draws parallels between Johnstown, Pennsylvania’s three historic floods (particularly the 1889 one) and the city’s diminishing industries with the current horrors of substance abuse.” Jake has been hard at work on this labor of love since 2018, writing, playing and recording the majority of the material himself.

To find out more, visit https://whatsittoyajake.wixsite.com/jakedryzal

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DaleAnn Bradley

Music is like a flower that can grow anywhere, under any conditions. For Dale Ann Bradley, the minimal approach to music of her Primitive Baptist upbringing in Bell County, Kentucky, was all that was required to start a flourishing career as a singer. Although no musical instruments were permitted at the church which she attended, Dale Ann’s love for music began at an early age. Growing up singing all the church songs acapella likely helped her develop her vocal gift and grew her ability to pull every emotion out of a song.

Of course, for anything to grow, it needs a little water and nourishment. Dale Ann recalls her great uncle’s part in cultivating her musical gift. After finding success in the big city, he bought her an 8-track tape player as well as tapes from her favorite entertainers.

She was around fourteen when she received her first guitar. “It was a little plywood, small body guitar, but it had six strings and I made a pick from a milk jug. Drove everybody crazy.” Music had taken a firm root in Dale

Ann’s soul: “I never thought of doing anything else.”

A beloved high school music teacher had a big influence, giving Dale Ann her first major performing experience. He and his wife sang weekly during the summers at Pine Mountain State Park and invited Dale Ann to join them. This band became known as Back Porch Grass, and it helped Dale Ann grow her musicianship to the next level. Regional gigs and a couple of 45 RPM singles resulted. Through the band, she met her future collaborators, the New Coon Creek Girls, as well as Harold McGeorge, whose help brought her to the door of Kentucky’s famous Renfro Valley, home of her first extensive entertainment contract.

While at Renfro Valley, she performed on all shows and recorded on The Sunday Morning Gatherin’, the second oldest radio show in America next to The Grand Ole Opry. Dale Ann also recorded two solo albums during her tenure at Renfro Valley. “I can’t put a price on all I learned at Renfro Valley,” Dale Ann says. She joined the New Coon Creek Girls while at the Valley, performing with them until 1997 and recording four albums.

About her songwriting, Dale Ann says “Something has to just kind of stay

with me quite a while, then it just kind of comes together…I love melodies. It seems like the melodies are what brings the lyrics.” When putting together an album, she adds, “I try to get as many experiences and feeling in there as I can.”

Dale Ann’s latest album, Kentucky For Me, is a very special one for the singer, as it is dedicated to her home state, and features a number of Kentuckian musicians. “This is my love song to Kentucky,” she says.

For more information, visit www.daleannbradley.com.

Music From Your Neighbors

welcome to the Summer edition of SPINS for 2023. Festival days are here we’ve already enjoyed some of our favorite acts! Have you? Thank you for checking out all these great new CDs! Make sure you go see live music whenever you can too! We’ll keep telling you all about the good stuff right here! Oh, and please tell them we sent you! Buy their CD. Support your favorite musician so they can keep making music!

Got one you want us to consider? send it to: Uncle Woody

The Spin Doctor, PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812

Benson Pick Your Posion www.ksbbanjo.com

This banjo and mandolin weilding couple have been a force to reckon with in the bluegrass industry for yearsand now it’s time for an official solo project of their own. Wayne and Kristin Scott Benson present Pick Your Poison.

The Scooches Lift You Up www.thescooches.com

Betina Hershey and Nick Russo team up on this new venture to create a new 12 song collection. The world class band has been labled a “trancendent breath of fresh air.” Lift You Up is slated for a July 2023 release.

Music From Around The World

Dale Ann Bradley Kentucky For Me www.daleannbradley.com

Dale Ann Bradley is a six-time IBMA vocalist of the Year recipient, along with many other accolades. Her new 11 song CD, Kentucky For Me , includes several collaborations with noted industry icons. This is simply good music.

David Childers and the Serprnts Melancholy Angel www.davidchilders.com

Mount Holly, NC is home for singer-songwriter David Childers. The former lawyer gave up the practice to pursue his passion for music. We think it was a great idea. His music is a delight to listen to.

Dreadnot

Good Ol’ Days www.thefullertons.net/dreadnot.com

“Neon” Leon Fullerton’s story is for another day. This album, Good Ol’ Days, was created by “old friends and relations of Leon Fullerton” to showcase some of their favorite songs of his. This is a legacy album dedicated to reviving and celebrating his memory.

Cinder Well Cadence www.hearthmusic.com

Amelia Baker’s experimental folk project, Cinder Well, and their new release, Cadence

It is said to be about recapturing the rhythms of life after a time of deep isolation.

Amelia’s haunting voice and the albums oceanic vibe make for a facinating listen.

My Brother’s Keeper Field Guide www.mybrotherskeeperband.com

This Cincinnati, OH based contemporary bluegrass quartet is made up of brothers, Titus, Joshua, and Benjamin Luckaupt, along with Wayne Murray. They have been nominated for four Josies. Their latest project is well worth a listen.

Daryl Mosley

A Life Well Lived www.darylmosley.com

Daryl Mosley has been writing and recording bluegrass music for more than 30 years, writing ten #1 songs. He has been named SPBGMA songwriter of the year three times. This third solo project, A Life Well Lived, is already a timeless treasure.

Savoy Brown Blues All Around www.savoybrown.com

Any serious conversation about modern blues music must contain the name Savoy Brown. Formed in 1965 by guitarist Kim Simmonds, This iconic band has just released their 41st recorded project. This is a must add to any serious blues collection.

Rinestone Revival

www.thekodynorrisshow.com

Rinestone Revival is the latest release from the reigning two-time SPBGMA Entertainer of the Year. Their energetic stage show, and flashy, embroided western suits, entertains audiences young and old, with their throw back music and stage performances.

The Contenders

The Contenders

www.mightycontenders.com

A story much like a Hollywood movie - The Contenders recorded their only album just months before the bands demise. The 1978 album got very little attention - but has recently been reissued. Any fan of 70s mellow rock music will love this nostalgia feel record.

Lindley Creek

Whispers In The Wind

www.lindleycreek.com

Whispers In The Wind is the sophomore release from multi-nominated IBMA Momentum awarded Lindley Creek. This 12 song project, produced by Jim VanCleve, features the bands spirited, traditional sounds highlighted by their insightful lyrics.

Conrad Fisher

Trouble With A Hammer

www.ashbrookmusicgroup.com

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is home for Conrad Fisher - where he draws inspirition from a deep well of musical influences ranging from Don Williams, to Buck Owens, to Tom Petty. Trouble With A Hammer has earned him a lot of attention.

& Carolina Road

A Little Bit Of Grass

www.carolinaroadband.com

Lorraine Jordan founded Carolina Road in the mid - 2000s, and went on to land four #1 hits, as well as multiple IBMA and SPBGMA industry awards. Their latest - A Little Bit Of Grass - another set of good,solid, traditional grass.

You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812 / greg@americanarhythm.com

The Kody Norris Show

Lorraine Jordan