Fabrice Vignati grew up in France listening to and playing the rich French cultural music, growing to love Gypsy Jazz, and even the revival of the Rockabilly sounds in the 1980s. Tracy grew up in Georgia exposed to country and rural cultural music as well as developing a love for Jazz. “When I was 13 or 14, I got a ...
Read More »Tag Archives: Americana Music Profiles
Welcome To The Gravel Church
Kristian Montgomery works in the construction industry, when he’s not out sharing his music. Although he was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, when he was a young boy, his family moved to New England where his dad worked as a fisherman. He spent some time living with his grandparents, where he went to church with his grandmother. “That’s where ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »Grand Ole Opry At 19
Growing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Darren Nicholson grew up with music as a staple of life. “They taught music in the schools as a regular part of the curriculum,” he recalled. “Music and dance was just part of the culture here. Just about everybody in my family played bluegrass and country music; and this was long ...
Read More »Return To Roots
Raised in rural Montgomery County, Virginia, Steve Thomas’s early years as a young boy were mostly isolated – spent living on a working farm with seven brothers and sisters. But like many growing up in a rural setting, music was the main source of entertainment. The Southern Appalachians were a great location for music, and Steve learned early on that ...
Read More »The Family Sowell
One of the favorite style of acts among bluegrass fans these days is sibling harmony and family bands. Knoxville, Tennessee is the home base for one of those up and coming groups; The Family Sowell. The brother/sister ensemble ranges from ages 23 down to 13. Jacob, Joshua, twin sisters – Naomi and Abigail, John-Mark, and Justin all share in the ...
Read More »Americana, Classic Country Roots
Colorado musician Lee Sims turned a middle school talent show performance into a musical career that resulted in a Colorado Entertainer of the year award in 2001; Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame Entertainer of the year in 2003; and a three time Golden Music Award Winner in Nashville, TN. Lee’s dad served in military and was in charge of ...
Read More »Frances Mooney
Frances Mooney has been playing music for over 50 years. This Atlanta Country Music Hall of Famer was a high profile singer and bass player with The Bluegrass Generation in the Louisville, KY bluegrass scene in the mid-70s during the early days of Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill. Both actually contributed to a few of the early Bluegrass Generation albums. Born and ...
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