News/Thoughts

Monthly Archives: April 2020

Cirque Americana

Singer/songwriter Peter Fand is the mandolinist and lead singer for the band, Tin Toy Car. This Las Vegas based Americana band was formed in 2016 with their initial CD, Falling, Rust and Bones, starting out at #17 on the AAA music charts. “We had some initial success with our first album,” Peter recalled, “But right after it came out, I went ...

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Saying Good-by To Arthur Conner

This post is shared with permission from Chris Sexton. Chris plays fiddle for the VA based Bluegrass band, Nothin’ Fancy. He is a music teacher, and adjunct professor, but most importantly, a long time friend of renowned fiddle maker, Arthur Conner. Sadly, Arthur passed away recently.   I shared this picture about a year ago. The fiddles in my arms ...

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Blue In Carolina

This summer marks 13 years since the band Carolina Blue first got its start. That’s when friends Bobby Powell and Tim Jones, together with the help from their friend Woddy Platt (Steep Canyon Rangers) went in to the studio to record their first record, Nothing So Blue. “I went by Woody’s house to pitch him some songs,” Bobby remembers. “He ...

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Appalachian Recovery

Often we here at Americana Rhythm wax poetic about the romantic mystery of the Appalachian Mountain region; the music; and the people who reside there. Nevertheless, just like other places in the world have their sad parts, our beloved mountain region does as well. Anyone who pays attention to the news is aware of the pockets of poverty that exist ...

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Goldtone Instruments

One of the things I love about being a traveling musician is the people I get to meet and where I get to meet them. About four years ago, while recording Wayward Troubadour, I started playing this nice, steel resonator that was one of the studio guitars. I would play it, put it down and keep going back to it. It ...

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Conversation With Irene Kelley

The soul of a songwriter shines in the body of their work. I teach songwriters all the time and even the most beginner songwriter has their heart and soul shimmer somewhere in their creation. When that shimmer comes out like the brightest sun, it could possibly be an Irene Kelley song. This incredibly talented songstress leaves a listener with no ...

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Dressed For Success

Country music fans of the 1950s can easily call up a mental picture of their favorite performers and visualize those folks in their glitzy stage garb. You may remember when singer Glen Campbell immortalized those fancy suited folks as Rhinestone Cowboys. During that era, anyone who was anyone that performed on the stage of the Nashville, TN Grand Ole Opry ...

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Camille Rae Shadows Dance Tonight

In 2015 Camille Rae released her debut album, I Need Me, with her single, “Shadows Dance Tonight,” charting to No. 55 on Nashville’s Music Row Chart. Her 2017 release, Come Fine Me, landed the single, “I Need Me,” at the number 26 position. This Mount Vernon, Kentucky born singer/songwriter began performing as a young girl in church. By the age ...

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The Boxcar Junkies

Although Brandon Allen, songwriter and lead vocalist for the Boxcar Junkies, hails from Indiana, his nomadic mind set has led him in many directions throughout his career, influencing not just his songwriting, but his view of life as a whole. He had extreme hearing loss as a child – not exactly someone you’d think would end up with a career ...

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Brooklyn Folk Fest

[The 2020 festival is rescheduled for November 6th – 8th.] For Eli Smith, growing up in downtown Manhattan and Greenwich Village, the allure of Folk Music’s distant past was enough to inspire him to create The Brooklyn Folk Festival 12 years ago. “Of course many know in the 50s and 60s this area was big for folk music, but when ...

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