News/Thoughts

Americana Music Profiles

Adele Lassiter

As a young girl, Adele Lassiter was inspired by the love of music her mom and grandmother exuded, and felt drawn, early on to singing and songwriting as her own mode of expression. During her high school years, Adele developed her musical skills in a number of separate ways at first. While she continued writing songs for herself that she ...

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Rik Ferrell

Originally from Annapolis, MD, Rik Ferrell, has effectively established for himself a summertime music career with a season that runs all year long. “I bounce back and forth between the Mid-Atlantic and South Florida…that’s where my people are,” Rik says. “…It’s so great to be outdoors in the Mid-Atlantic in the summertime…I’m totally fine in Florida any time of year ...

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Marques Morel

“After previously enjoying listening to music and playing a little bit of drums and harmonica, I didn’t really start writing songs or learning to play guitar until my late twenties,” says Americana troubadour, Marques Morel. An itinerant logger and woodworker, he began carrying an acoustic guitar his father had given him, in his truck. However, two years went by before ...

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Heather Smith

Born and raised for her first 14 years in the Detroit area, Heather Smith found herself in the very different environs of a very small New England town as she transitioned to her high school years. She says “It’s not the easiest thing to do…” but now considers it her rightful home, where she belongs. And although her road to ...

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Eleyet McConnell

Not a single artist but a duo, Eleyet McConnell is the moniker spouses Chris and Angie (nee Eleyet) McConnell use to describe their vehicle for delivering music to their appreciative audiences. They met in 2013 and immediately clicked musically. Both hailing from rural Ohio, they ended up together in a cover band based in Urbana (OH). “…She might go from ...

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From China To Appalachia

The amazing musical collaboration of Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer spans more than 40 years, has resulted in 53 albums and garnered two Grammy awards, among many other accolades (including over 60 WAMMIE Awards for folk, bluegrass and children’s music from the Washington Area Music Association) based on their strong vocal harmonies and mastery of guitar, five-string banjo, ukulele, mandolin, ...

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Alexa Rose

Unlike so many artists we’ve profiled Alexa Rose (her real name) says, “I grew up in not a very musical family. I was just always drawn to singing and writing songs. Then when I was 13, my uncle gave me a guitar…” Once she dug in with her new songwriting tool, one musical predecessor came to light: “As soon as ...

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Marty Falle Hits Again With Fourth Bluegrass LP

Marty Falle just released his fourth original Bluegrass LP in less than one year. One of Nashville’s most prolific Bluegrass singer-songwriters released “Appalachia Rust” on August 1, 2024. As of August 15th, Marty Falle “Appalachia Rust” has charted #1 for 15 straight days on the APD Top 50 Bluegrass Albums. In addition, Falle has four total albums in the APD ...

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Here Comes Jig Jam

To paraphrase the Irish band’s PR material, JigJam is a bluegrass/Americana outfit that is here in America to “take back” the music styles that can be traced, in part, back “across the pond” to their musically prolific home isle. The band’s appropriately titled fifth album, Across The Pond, was released on March 1. Jamie McKeogh says “The theme throughout is ...

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Sugarcane Jane

Anthony Crawford and Savana Lee, collectively known as Sugarcane Jane, have been lauded as “one of the best duos since Johnny and June” (Nancy Dunham, The Washington Times). So, how did this pair, now hailing from Loxley, Alabama, come together and attain such a level of acclaim? Savana recalls meeting Anthony while she was living the aspiring artist’s life in ...

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