News/Thoughts

Americana Music Profiles

Jack Nelson

Jack Nelson is a life-long Texan. He currently is based in College Station, he was born in Corpus Christi, spent his early years on the nearby King Ranch, and got an education at Sam Houston State in Huntsville. He says, “Aside from the five years I spent in the Navy, traveling around the world…I’ve called Texas home…” Jack has had ...

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Little Jane & The Pistol Whips

The Long Road Ahead is the third album by Little Jane and the Pistol Whips, a Montana band propelled by singer-songwriter Ashley Jane Holland. The songs are largely inspired by the blue-collar, union-focused world her husband works in as a high-voltage lineman. “If I can write songs that inspire a whole group of workers…that are out there working their butts ...

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Sands Hall

For Sands Hall, music was an early creative outlet with which she has had a varied relationship over the years. From her first songwriting attempt at age 14, through time pursuing writing and theater ambitions in New York, and a sojourn in LA where “her kind of music” was discouraged by the circle in which she found herself, she made ...

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Kevin Slick, ‘That’s What I’m Gonna Do’

Kevin Slick has been playing music professionally, in many different ways, for four decades, the latter two of those being primarily within the Americana/folk/bluegrass fold. He also expresses his creativity as a visual artist. He remembers a very specific date that set his trajectory on being a musician: “I like to tell people that I became a musician on February ...

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Carrie Newcomer

“I’m kind of prolific, I guess,” Carrie Newcomer says, when asked about her most recent album, A Great Wild Mercy, being her 20th release. “I’m really grateful. I get to do this thing I love, and continue to put out albums…” She adds, “I’m really excited about this new one. I feel like it pushed a lot of growing edges…” ...

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Eddie Witz

“It was always a love and a passion,” Eddie Witz says, referring to the place of music in his life. He credits childhood successes at music lessons and school piano performances with giving him a confidence that helped propel him toward theater arts in high school and all the way through to graduation from USC as a theater major. Eddie ...

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The Close

Americana trio The Close combines the Nashville-honed talents of Shannon Walker, Lori J. Rowton, and James McKinney. Each member brings powerful singing and songwriting to the table, which help The Close craft songs that engage audiences with deep emotions carried by lush harmonies. Their second release and first full-length album is called Orbit. The band has been pleasantly surprised at ...

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Dale Ann, Kentucky For Me

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 ...

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The Flying Singer-Guitarist

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 high-flying life. He remembers his takeoff in songwriting and playing as a distinct moment during his teens, while growing up ...

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Singer-Songwriter Jake Dryzal

Jake Dryzal is a singer-songwriter and producer from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Raised in a music-loving 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 ...

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