News/Thoughts

Tag Archives: Americana Music Profiles

A Different Kind Of Country

To call Richie Kaye’s musical background “eclectic” is not to flippantly employ a cool word to portray a somewhat wide range of interests; it’s the only appropriate way to describe the influences on this “singing performer with a guitar.” He grew up listening to everything from opera, to the Rat Pack, and jazz of all kinds, including the jazz-rock fusion ...

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Re-branding For The Future

Originally known as Southbound, the five-piece Dayton, Ohio band now called Ludlow Creek made the change when the time had finally come to stake their claim to the territory of “original” rather than “cover” as the group’s prime descriptor. They even went so far as to reissue some of their material under the new name when they realized the need ...

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Sara Syms Re-Calibrating

For Sara Syms, the songs on her upcoming album, The Darkest Light, (due out in August 2022) are an echo of her past, as well as a bold step forward. Before becoming a solo artist and recording two Americana records (Way Back Home and Fade To Blue, the latter garnering a nomination for the International Music and Entertainment Awards’ Americana ...

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Telling Powerful Stories

After 25 years in Austin, Texas, working as a psychotherapist who played music on the side, eleven years ago John McDonough “took a break” from his therapy practice to recharge from burnout and allow his musical side to grow. That break has topped a decade, so John considers himself a retired psychotherapist and full-time musician. About a year ago, John ...

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Transcending the Suffering

Coming out of the original late seventies “punk” scene in Pittsburgh, PA, with his band No Shelter (known for the song “Brooks Robinson’s Camp”) at a certain point Robert Wagner realized his songwriting muse was looking for a more direct outlet to listeners’ ears, minds and hearts. The band was part of Western PA punk’s “first wave,” which Robert describes ...

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Restless Muse

Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Lewitt recalls a mixture of the usual motivations and an unusual limitation combining to launch him toward a career in music. “As a teenager in the eighties,” he recounts in a biographical sketch on his website, “I dreamed about being the next Bruce Springsteen or Bryan Adams. I would enthusiastically sing along to all of ...

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Tom Galloway; Wreckage

Singer-songwriter, Tom Galloway, was born in Georgia, and raised in Texas, where he caught the music bug and gigged his way through college. He eventually found himself in a touring band called Mama’s Love, a musical extension of those college days. As lead singer, and principal songwriter, Tom began honing his love and talent into a unique blend of expression ...

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Inspired By A One String Guitar

Ben Hemming had reached a crossroads in his life, and felt a need to take some time to sort things out. The Englishman’s growing appreciation of American blues helped him chart a course across the Atlantic to embark on a true pilgrimage, to Memphis, New Orleans and other places important to the blues. Along the way he picked up an ...

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Overcoming Fear and Sharing Truth

Hailing from Peoria, Illinois, Paul Adams remembers his first encounter with the magic of music hearing and playing the trumpet as a child. Later he majored in ethnomusicology, and began building instruments and recording. He also spent time working in the realm of community mental health. Until he embarked on his current project, This Curious Wonder, Paul worked in multiple ...

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It Happened At The Gravel Yard

Originating in the Mountainview, Arkansas area (the self-styled “folk music capital of the world”), the band actually started in a gravel yard, one of many venues in the town’s lively bluegrass scene. As Aaron Farris, the band’s cofounder and upright bass player, explains, “The cool thing about it is, you can come from anywhere, bring your acoustic instrument, and on ...

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