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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Durango McMurphy’s Troubadour Journey
Durango McMurphy began his troubadour journey in his twenties, when he put down his trumpet and picked up a guitar to liberate his voice to sing. Originally immersed in the soul music that horns are such a key part of, he was drawn to the other American types of music. “If I’ve gotta put myself into a bag, it would ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »Better Late Than Never
The All Canadian Soundclash is a recording/performing project from Ottawan singer and songwriter Andrew Michelin, spotlighting original indie folk and alternative rock through well-crafted songs and exciting live performances. Michelin tries to take a less-is-more philosophy when it comes to creating his music, which features accessible, hook-laden melodies, a la The Beatles. In the early 1990s, while still in high ...
Read More »Straying From The Mainstream
While the three members of the Nashvillains—Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, and Brett Boyett—are each accomplished Music City veterans, with many song credits for major artists (Keith Urban, The Chicks, James Taylor, Lauren Alaina, among many more) and media placements (Friday Night Lights, Everybody Loves Raymond) in their individual resumes, they have come together to create a record that defies the ...
Read More »Kevin Slick; Coming Home
Coming Home, the new album by Kevin Slick, which was recorded over several years, is a collection of songs drawing from the folk, singer-songwriter and Americana traditions. The title arose as the artist began performing solo once again after a ten-year stretch of playing primarily in bluegrass bands on Colorado’s Front Range. The songs on this recording, whether original or ...
Read More »In Tune With The Seasons
Like many a budding musician, Graeme James’ first exposure to playing an instrument took the form of violin lessons, starting at the age of seven. (He had asked his parents at age five, but, as he puts it, “…they kind of let that slide…Two years later I still wanted to, so they said let’s give it a go…”) Unlike most, ...
Read More »Dutch Master of Americana
In the words of Marino Serdons of Belgium’s Keys and Chords (www.keysandchords.com), “You wouldn’t expect a Dutch singer-songwriter with the talents of a real American country musician. In Belgium and France they would say ‘chapeau.’ Respect!” He was referring to Eric Devries, a lifelong resident of of the Netherlands and one of that country’s most prominent Americana singer-songwriters. He has ...
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