News/Thoughts

Tag Archives: Americana Music Profiles

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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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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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Americana Down Under

It was an incapacitating car accident in his late teens that moved Perth, Western Australian artist Andy Michaels to pick up a guitar. The result was a fusion of eclectic tastes and melodic sounds featuring hints of folk, country, Americana and contemporary pop. His latest project, Incendiary Heart, a 14-track, pop leaning mixture, with nostalgic influences from the 70s and ...

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400 Songs And Counting

After years of working with and for other artists, Australian musician Rod McCormack decided it was finally time to release a project of his own. His debut CD, Fingerprints, is schedule to be released September 20th. Rod got to check an item off his bucket list recently by performing an album release show at the famed Station Inn in Nashville, ...

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Nylon Strings and a World of Possibilities

Zack Walther was a child of the 80s. When given the choice of band, choir, or art in elementary school, on the advice of his best friend at the time, they chose choir. “I was in it from then on,” he said. Zack grew up singing in the school choir and learning to play piano by ear on his brother’s ...

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