Chris Knight

Residence: Slaughters, Kentucky
Genres: Americana, Singer/Songwriter, Country, Rock
Website: www.chrisknight.net

In the summer of 1996 inside a sweltering singlewide trailer outside a small Kentucky mining town, an unknown singer-songwriter named Chris Knight recorded an ‘unofficial’ batch of tracks prior to the release of his major label debut album. Over the next decade, through a combination of leaks, bootlegs and legend, those sessions would become something much more. “People have been talking about these tapes ever since I recorded them,” Chris Knight says. “To me, they were rough and stark and I never thought they’d see the light of day.” Ten years and four acclaimed albums later, The Trailer Tapes remain a remarkable moment in time less captured than cornered, a portrait of the artist as a ferociously talented young man. And for the artist The New York Times would soon call “the last of a dying breed … a hard-nosed iconoclast with an acoustic guitar and a college degree”, The Trailer Tapes have now arrived as the long-missing first chapter of one of the most uncompromising careers in music today.

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Beggars’ Caravan
Hometown: Durham, NC
Style: Jam Band, Indie Rock
Website:  www.beggarscaravan.com

Since officially forming in Durham, NC, Beggars’ Caravan rolled into the indie rock scene in 1999 with highly distributed copies of their self-titled demo along with various fan recordings of their earliest live shows. Singer/songwriter Chris Barkley and guitarist/songwriter Kevin Thornton began blending their sorted musical backgrounds in college, both already drawing on professional training on various instruments as well as on experience performing both nationally and internationally. They soon would be joined by Brandon Allen on percussion, whose extensive experience and unique rhythmic playing style intertwined with bassist Paul Benner’s keen sense of groove established a mighty foundation to the rootsy, home-grown melodic rock that has become the trademark Caravan sound.

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The Derailers
Hometown: Austin
Style: Beatles-meets-Bakersfield
Website: www.derailers.com

It was their mutual love for the music of legendary country artist Buck Owens that originally brought The Derailers together back in the ’90s, and with the release of their eighth album, Under the Influence of Buck, the honky-tonkin’ boys from Austin bring their music all the way back to the source with a rollicking and heartfelt tribute to the timeless music of Buck Owens.

As the band has evolved over the years, perfecting its patented “Beatles-meets-Bakersfield” sound, The Derailers have always looked to Owens and his band, the Buckaroos, for inspiration. Their love and respect for the music Owens made is as unabashed and real as the performances that are captured on this special album. Well-loved standards like “I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail,” “Cryin’ Time” and “Together Again” are delivered fresh, and the band dusts off lesser-known Owens songs like “Down On the Corner of Love” and “Who’s’ Gonna Mow Your Grass” with passion-fueled versions that do the Buckaroos proud.

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Penguin’s musical style is deeply rooted in 70’s classic rock and roll. Their original music has the “rock” of Led Zeppelin, the funk of early Stevie Wonder, and a splash of Pink Floydian psychedelia, all blended together with the soulful blues of well-crafted guitar leads.

Penguin’s goal is as natural as it is simple: “To bring back and play honest music that has been lost by today’s trend of regurgitated commercialism, hype, and stereotype”. They believe that today’s best musicians must be students of yesterday’s best musicians, and their unique sound is proof of that. Penguin is excited by the overwhelmingly positive response their music is receiving, is looking forward to big things in 2008.

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Jason Eady & The Wayward Apostles
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Genre: Texas Country, Bluegrass & Blues
Website: www.jasoneady.com

Jason Eady is a singer-songwriter whose music is a distillation of country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, folk and Southern rock, but in essence is roots all the way, with organic arrangements, genuine lyrics, and strong lead and harmony vocals, no matter what style of song he is writing.

Originally from Jackson, Miss., Eady started playing guitar at age 13, played in various cover bands around the state, and reveled in exposure to Mississippi’s varied musical genres. It all worked to infuse his music – through his days in Nashville, the re-ignition of his dream to touch listeners’ hearts and minds with his original songs after a stint as a U.S. Air Force translator, and his August 2005 debut album, FROM UNDERNEATH THE OLD, which was produced by Texas songwriter Walt Wilkins and instrumentalist Tim Lorsch and which peaked at #9 on XM Channel 12 (X Country).

The same month Eady would meet musicians that would become his next touring and studio band. Scott Davis of The Woodlands moved to Fort Worth to attend TCU and graduated with a degree in radio-TV-film-video, playing in several Dallas-Fort Worth area bands including Woodeye, Chatterton and Quaker City. He plays guitar, mandolin, accordion, Dobro, lap steel and banjo and sings harmony vocals.

Kenny Smith, from Dallas-Fort Worth, has been playing drums professionally for more than 10 years, playing in Woodeye and Chatterton with Davis. Six months after meeting Smith at a private party, where the two played some impromptu songs together, Eady began putting together a band, and Smith was the first person he called.

Bass player Jordan Kiener was a perfect fit, too; he had moved to Denton to start a musical career after earning a degree at Oklahoma in instrumental music education, focusing on jazz and playing clarinet and bass. He answered Eady’s ad and was the only person auditioned, after band members heard his playing and high harmonies.

Together the quartet is Jason Eady & The Wayward Apostles, so named to spread the word about the band’s roots-music origins while putting its own spin on tradition. From different musical backgrounds and incorporating them all, theirs is a unique sound.

Touring regionally and nationally for the past year with cuts from its upcoming album, WILD EYED SERENADE, has earned the band airplay on Americana stations. It was tracked live in one open room to give it a live and authentic roots sound.

Eady continues to stay true to his roots music and touching audiences with its honesty and inspiration – the thing he’s always wanted to do.

The Band of Heathens
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Genre: Rock & Blues Roots
Website: www.bandofheathens.com

The formation of The Band of Heathens is as natural and organic as the music they create. In early spring 2006, the three principle songwriters, Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist, were sharing the bill every Wednesday night at the venerable Austin club Momo’s. Originally, it started as each songwriter performing his own set. But in a short time they started sharing the stage equally and collaborating on each other’s songs, with bassist Seth Whitney as the anchor of the rhythm section. The Wednesday night series was billed as “The Good Time Supper Club.” Largely improvised and unrehearsed, the shows quickly gained in popularity and word spread throughout Austin that if you wanted live music on Wednesday night, Momo’s was the place to be.

A misprint in a local paper billed the act as “The Heathens.” The moniker stuck and soon The Band of Heathens began to cultivate a loyal and growing legion of fans that immediately took to the expert musicianship, the finely-crafted songs and the band’s distinct quality of having three front men, each one of whom sings, writes and plays lead guitar. In March 2007, drummer John Chipman joined the band and helped fortify their country-soul-rock-and-roll sound.

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Dane Varese
Hometown: Madison, WI
Genre: Pop/Rock
http://www.myspace.com/danevarese

What is the Dane Varese Band? It is Dane’s voice and unique vocal delivery—exceptional by any measure. It is 100,000 plus MySpace views, over 110,000 song plays by fans around the world, and over 100,000 hits on the band’s initial press release. It is a young band, light years beyond its age in terms of musicianship and performance. It is the Official Song of the City of Madison, Wisconsin, as chosen by the city council. It is Dane’s magnetic on-stage charisma and an inspired live show that includes extensive crowd interaction, behind the head guitar solos, and feel-good, original songs that captivate audiences upon first listen. It is a new group on an exhilarating rise that has already garnered national attention. It is the Dane Varese Band.

The Dane Varese Band, a pop-rock quartet from Madison, Wisconsin, has played some of the best venues and festivals. From their home base in Madison to Oregon, Indiana, and Nashville, this band is making a move on the national scene. The band’s songs have received airplay on radio stations across the country, including on-air interviews from Madison to Tampa, Florida, and the debut CD is currently featured on KZUM in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Dane Varese Band has also appeared on Indy’s Music Channel and Fox 59’s morning show in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This band appeals to virtually every type of audience. From hard rock fans as openers for Rockstar INXS runner-up Marty Casey to sharing the stage with blues artist Mark David Group, the Dane Varese Band continues to reveal its versatility and talent. The band has gained appeal from diverse audiences at festivals such as the World’s Largest Bratfest and the Indiana State Fair.

A rare blend of talent, youth, professionalism, and humility, the Dane Varese Band has only just begun. Jamison, the agent for Club Annex, best describes this band: “The Dane Varese Band puts on the show of a major label act without the attitude.” Canadian music reviewer John Wirth echoes Jamison’s sentiment: “Dane has the sound of Jason Mraz, the delivery of Rob Thomas, and the soul of James Taylor.” After the band’s appearances in Indianapolis, 96.3 on-air personality Deacon shares that “I think those guys are VERY talented and will go FAR. Tell them never to stop!” Don’t you worry about that, Deacon. Finally, music producer Terence Thompson, whose “Heaven Can Wait” is featured on Michael Jackson’s “Invincible” CD, has strong feelings about this band. “No doubt, I would love to work with them. We could make some fire.”

Trent Summar & The New Row Mob
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Genres: Americana, Country, Farm Rock
Website: www.trentsummarmusic.com

Not that labels in music matter much — at least they shouldn’t — but Trent Summar has an evocative and altogether hard-to-resist term for the music he makes: Farm rock.

That probably says it well enough. But in case further explanation helps, we’re talking about that intersection where Chuck Berry rock and George Jones country converge. We’re talking about love songs that veer off the beaten path with honest slices of rural imagery and humor.

It’s a place on the musical map that’s entirely familiar but just a little too rowdy, a little too much fun (and in truth, too rooted in tradition) to be called mainstream country

If you’ve heard Summar’s 2000 debut album, the critically acclaimed Trent Summar & The New Row Mob, or seen his raucous live act in recent years, you may already be a staunch farm rock adherent.

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Pure Prairie League
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Genres: Americana, Country, Rock
Website: www.pureprairieleague.com

Their rich history goes back to 1969 in the Southern Ohio area where a group of young musicians initially played cover tunes at local bars. Original member Craig Fuller and early member George Powell were beginning to stir their song writing abilities around the time original drummer Tom McGail happened to catch a late night 1939 Errol Flyn flick called Dodge City. The movie’s Pure Prairie League was the woman’s temperance union attempting to clean up Kansas’ most lawless town. RCA signed Pure Prairie League after seeing them play in Cleveland, Ohio. The first album was released the following year. The most memorable thing about it was the Norman Rockwell cover from a 1927 Saturday Evening Post cover, ” recalls Mike Reilly. (more…)

Buzz Cason
Hometown: Nashville
Genres: Americana, Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Website: www.buzzcason.com

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As 2007 arrived, Buzz Cason was the only songwriter credited with cuts by pop icons, the Beatles, Pearl Jam and U2 – not to mention Martina McBride, Gloria Estefan, Jan & Dean, The Derailers, Placido Domingo and even the Oak Ridge Boys. And it all started because of girls.

In 1956, Buzz (then an Inglewood, TN teenager) was given the opportunity to lip-synch “White Christmas” on the Noel Ball Saturday Showcase, a local talent show on WSIX-TV (ABC). Reluctant to delve into a television musical, Jim Seymore, a fellow art student organizing the show told him, “It’ll be fun and there’ll be lots of girls there!” Buzz did enjoy himself and afterwards met other musicians at the television station to later form a band they named The Casuals. Generally recognized as Nashville’s first rock-n-roll band, The Casual’s first album also launched Buzz’s songwriting career with, “My Love Song For You,” co-written with band-mate Richard Williams. By 1957, The Casuals had become a national touring act, replacing The Everly Brothers on a tour of 60 fair dates.

During this same period, Buzz met Bobby Russell, an aspiring writer at the old Globe Recording Studio in Nashville located above Mom’s Tavern (now Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge) and the two began to co-write. At the urging and support of Gary Walker of Lowery Music, they wrote and recorded “Tennessee” as a studio group, The Todds. The song was covered in ‘58 by Jan and Dean, their first Hot 100 record on the BILLBOARD chart, and thus an association of more than 25 years began. Prior to moving to California, Buzz wrote another Todd’s single with Russell, “Popsicle,” which went on to become another Top 20 record for Jan and Dean in 1963.
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Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros

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

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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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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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Gary Nicholson

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

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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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