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 ...

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 ...

Tim Raybon’s musical trek began early, as he played with his dad and brothers in the family band The American Bluegrass Express, starting at age eleven. With Central Florida as its base, the band met with great success throughout the South during the mid-1970s, affording Tim the opportunity to sharpen his skills by playing festivals and concerts where he shared ...

David Starr’s unique mix of soulful vocals and honest lyrics has helped him create a folk/roots sound all his own, which, in turn has garnered him prestigious showcase performances at Folk Alliance International, AmericanaFest, and Southwest Regional Folk Alliance. It has also consistently landed him at the top of the Colorado Music Chart. A master guitarist, he is endorsed by ...

For 25-year-old Jake Ybarra (pronounced “e-BAR-a”), the first step on his creative journey came in Harlingen, Texas, where he was born into a musical household. With a classically trained pianist for a mother, a semi-professional horn player for a dad, and a couple of guitar-playing brothers, music was constantly in young Jake’s ears. When he was eight, the family moved ...

Since his father’s passing in 2004, singer/guitarist Danny Paisley has preserved and advanced the tradition of classic bluegrass begun by his dad, Bob Paisley, who, along with Ted Lundy, performed originally as the Southern Mountain Boys, then later as The Southern Grass, the latter of which became quite popular on the festival circuit. The band was made up mostly of ...

Hailing from Florida and currently playing with the Radio Ramblers with Joe Mullins, fiddler Jason Barie got an early start on his musical road. Starting at age 10, he took classical lessons at school, but his dad had something else in mind. “Dad found a little music store in Tampa called the Bluegrass Parlor, which offered lessons on all of ...

Morgan Tucker is an Australian alternative country singer-songwriter with true “country” bona fides, as he comes from a small town in New South Wales, called Dorrigo. He counts as his key musical influences outlaw country pioneers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, along with modern-day torch bearers Sturgill Simpson and Charley Crockett. After sampling a wide range of music styles, ...

Crandall Creek came into being in 2015 when Jerry Andrews decided he wanted to start a bluegrass band. Jerry also had some stories to tell, which would best be shared via songwriting. He brought together a bluegrass band that created its own music with an ear toward the mountain harmonies he heard as a child, growing up in Moundsville, West ...

“All my life I’ve always ended up rotating back to music as a means of survival, whether it be for my mental state, or possibly financial state.” So says Murphy, a folk/blues-style singer-songwriter with a difficult early life story, and also a unique experience of musical self-discovery and wider fame. While dealing with childhood challenges like a lack of reliable ...