Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros

Hometown: Austin, Texas
Genres: Americana, Rock, Country
Website: www.waltwilkins.com

CMT.com’s Top 10 Artist for 2007!

“If there is a better songwriter on the planet, I’m not aware of it.” - Pat Green

“Walt Wilkins is the salt of the earth. He writes like it. He sings like it. He acts like it.” - Jack Ingram

San Antonio-born Walt Wilkins has been called a genius, more than once, and a writer the caliber of John Steinbeck and his voice as comfortable as a pair of old blue jeans, and he is, and has, all of that. His crafting of story-songs, hard-edged vocals to sing them and a plaintive guitar have made him a fixture of the Texas music scene (and Nashville before that). He’s put his magical touch on recordings by new and veteran artists, too many to count.

Is he near done? Hasn’t he done it all? Double hell no.

With The Mystiqueros, Wilkins has created something of a “Texas Hill Country super-group” that features five great singers and four great songwriters from the heart of the Lone Star State, all of whom have made their own records and are flush with recording credits.

Onstage and in the studio, Wilkins is joined by Bill Small (bass, percussion, acoustic guitar), John M. Greenberg (electric guitars), Ramon Rodriguez (drums, percussion) and Marcus Eldridge (electric guitars). Live performances around Texas are being likened to both outlaw country and classic rock bands, and they’re captured on Diamonds in the Sun on Palo Duro Records.

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Charlie Louvin
Residence: Nashville
Hometown: Henager, Alabama
Genres: Americana, Singer/Songwriter, Country
Website: www.charlielouvinbros.com

2008 Grammy Award Nominee!

The term “living legend” gets thrown around quite a bit, but it actually applies to Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin.

The magical harmonies and depth of feeling found on Louvin Brothers recordings of the 50’s and 60’s inspired a new generation of musicians, firmly establishing the Louvins’ stature as one of the most influential duos in country music history.

In 2006, the Tompkins Square label reached out to Charlie about making his first new studio album in over ten years. They enlisted Mark Nevers, who engineered sessions for many top country artists, and produced Calexico, Lambchop, Candi Staton among others. Guests on the album include Elvis Costello, George Jones, Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Tom T. Hall, Tift Merritt, Marty Stuart, Bobby Bare Sr., David Kilgour, members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop, Clem Snide, Superchunk and more.

Louvin enjoyed the experience. “Mark Nevers is one of the best engineers I’ve ever worked with. My brother and I cut our teeth on some of those old songs and they influenced us tremendously. I’m glad we’re able to remind people of them.”

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Miles from Nowhere

Hometown: Paris, Texas
Genres: Americana, Rock, Country
Website: www.milesfromnowhereband.com

Miles From Nowhere was formed in the summer of 2004 when Merrol Ray decided he was through with being a guitar for hire and knew it was time to do his own thing. With a few phone calls, the genesis of what would become Miles From Nowhere was conceived. Ray found himself a drummer then called his younger cousin Adam. He knew Adam would be interested because he would occasionally bring his guitar over and sing parts of songs that he had learned. Practicing in Ray’s Dad’s welding shop, they began auditioning bass players with none quite working out. Finally a phone call that Ray had placed weeks before, paid off. Joey showed up, played one song, Ray said, “You’re in for life; quit, and I’ll kill you.” After only five months the original drummer left the band so Ray called Wesley Joe to play drums. Disappointment turned into joy, Miles From Nowhere was born.

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Elizabeth Cook
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Genres: Americana, Country
Website: www.elizabeth-cook.com

In contemporary country music, it’s a rare performer who will dare to take on the industry on her own hogs-and-kisses terms. But for the artist whom Nanci Griffith has called “this generation’s Loretta Lynn,” it takes a certain tenacity to meld smart attitude with classic tradition, the credibility of a life lived with genuine hillbilly passion, and the integrity to write an acclaimed cache of uncommonly cool songs. In other words, for Elizabeth Cook, it takes balls.

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Michael Johnathon
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Genre: Folk, Singer/Songwriter
Website: www.woodsongs.com

We are pleased to announce that folk singer/author Michael Johnathon will be both performing his musical craft and hosting Woodsongs Sunday at Chattahippie, which will feature a wide and ecelect mix of folk and roots music throughout the day.

Every Monday night, musical history is made as the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour begins its regular radio and television broadcast at the Kentucky Theatre. Tour buses deliver visitors from faraway places; crowds scramble for good seats. Volunteers wearing black shirts finish their sound checks and adjust their cameras.

The house is packed as stage lights dim. Michael Johnathon comes onstage and introduces himself as a folksinger, songwriter and tree hugger. What he doesn’t say is he’s also a playwright, producer, author and touring artist. Johnathon has a worldwide radio audience exceeding a million listeners each week. He also created the world’s first multi-camera weekly series broadcast on the Internet.

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By Casey Phillips, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Finding enough funding, unraveling the tangle of bureaucratic red tape and booking the right acts are all major hurdles to getting a music festival to succeed.

But ultimately, it all comes down to Mother Nature, local festival organizers said.

From smaller, one-day affairs with a handful of artists to sprawling events such as Riverbend, success or failure hangs on the weather more than any other factor, they said.

“The weather is probably the biggest situation you can’t do anything about,” said Paul Smith, who works with operations at the Chattanooga branch of Texas-based Palo Duro Records. The label is planning to host the inaugural year of their Chattahippie Americana music festival in September.

[Read the full article]

Gary Nicholson

Residence: Nashville
Hometown: Garland, Texas
Genres: Americana, Singer/Songwriter, Country, Blues, Rock
Website: www.garynicholson.com

A 2006 nominee for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Gary Nicholson has had more than 350 of his songs recorded, has won 26 ASCAP songwriting awards and is responsible for more than a dozen major hits. Unlike most tunesmiths, he is not bound by musical genre. His songs routinely top the country hit parade. But rock bands, blues artists, folk stars and bluegrass acts have also embraced him as a songwriter.

“I’ve never found it difficult to ’shift gears’ between different musical styles,” Nicholson says. “I let myself be dictated by the needs of the artist or of the writer I’m collaborating with. A lot of these guys are just looking for good lyrics. Songwriting is songwriting. A song is a song.”

As a guitarist, Gary Nicholson has brightened recording sessions and/or concert stages with the likes of Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Bobby Bare, Delbert McClinton and Tracy Nelson. During his long career, he has also played lead guitar in at least 10 of his own bands.

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