The Love Language, initiated by Stuart McLamb, is a fortunate by-product of the North Carolina native's rudderless mid-20s, where a tempest of breakup, inebriation, and incarceration found the abandoned songwriter embarking on a storage-space recording project to slow his seeming disintegration. The growing body of emotional fight songs, committed to MP3 with a high-school era multitrack recorder, became postcards from exile, a way to let his friends and former flames know he was getting along, battered but not beaten. The self-immolating beauty of the budget correspondences was exhausting and triumphant; McLamb's dalliances with ... [read more]rejection and redemption would be minted in a self-titled debut on Portland independent label Bladen County in March of 2009.

Soon afterwards, the mighty ensemble band version of The Love Language-a dysfunctional symphony of musical vagrants-disbanded to pursue personal projects. McLamb, who had roamed the state since recording The Love Language, moved back to Raleigh where Libraries engineer/producer BJ Burton adopted the one-man band and helped harness the extraordinary might generated during these sessions. Among the moments captured on Libraries are Spector-esque walls of reckless sound, cavernous drums, middle-school percussion, and moody swells of stringed instruments, all decorated hastily with stray leads, which bleed beautifully all over everything.

The effective average of McLamb's madness and Burton's discipline rendered an album in the classic sense, in which no song is expendable and no passage is without purpose. With Libraries, McLamb transitioned from a guy who could write a good album to an individual who can maintain a good band. The sooner we listen, the sooner we may figure this whole love thing out.
 

“Ultimately, these songs are about spirituality and trying to find your place in the world,” Griffin House says of Flying Upside Down (Nettwerk, April 29), an album that dramatically marks the 27-year-old Ohioan’s coming of age as an artist of formidable skills. “Specifically, it’s the continuing story of what’s happening in my life, following the realization that the more specific I am about my own life and things that have happened to me, the more people will feel it universally.”

The 13-track collection, filled with intensely personal, richly detailed vignettes of the highs and lows of House’s existence, showcases a young artist whose openly emotional singing, poetic lyrics and spiraling melodies recall Jackson Browne circa Late for the Sky. Embedded in Flying Upside Down is a song cycle chronicling the arc of a relationship, from the first kiss (“Let Me In”) to the emotionally lacerating moment of truth (“Heart of Stone”) and its anguished aftermath (the title song). These psychologically penetrating songs are set against a backdrop of the lives of family members (“Better Than Love,” “Hangin’ On [Tom’s Song]”) and friends, including some serving in the Middle East (“I Remember [It’s Happening Again]”). Completing the tableau is a pair of spiky, head-clearing rockers (“One Thing,” “Good for You”).

House describes the recording of Flying Upside Down “a dream come true,” thanks in large measure to the drop-dead studio band assembled by producer Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow), including a pair of Hall of Famers in Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell. A huge Tom Petty fan, House found it immensely gratifying that these great players related so strongly and brought so much to his own music. Also making major contributions were Beck’s longtime bass player, Justin Mendal-Johnson, drummer Victor Indrizzo (Macy Gray, Aimee Mann, Daniel Lanois) and violinist Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek).

Last August, on CBS Sunday Morning, critic Bill Flanagan raved about House’s first album, Lost and Found, putting the newcomer on his short list of the best emerging songwriters in the U.S., alongside Ray LaMontagne and Joseph Arthur. “I bought [House’s] CD [after a show in New York City],” said Flanagan, “and this never happens: I took it home and must have listened to it 20 times that weekend. I was knocked out.”

Flanagan further noted that Lost and Found revealed “a young man with a young man’s influences,” citing Wilco, U2 and Ryan Adams as primary touchstones. House acknowledges the accuracy of this assessment. “I was wearing my influences on my sleeve at 22 or 23,” he says. Flying Upside Down, by contrast, is without question the work of a major artist, one whose music resonates with hard-earned insights. While it possesses striking emotional depth and intellectual acuity, the album is also wholly accessible, a hook-laden thing of beauty.

The Band of Heathens, an Austin-based group, played the best set I came across during my five nights in town (at SXSW 2009)."  - Jim Fusilli, Wall Street Journal

"With their wealth of wonderful tunes, it's easy to see why Texas music great Ray Wylie Hubbard signed on to produce this fabulous first effort."   - Michael Berick, No Depression

"Their music balances between studio-slick and devil-may-care sloppiness, with equal parts southern rock, '50's R&B, and Louisiana swamp-rock with a punkish swagger, they conjure a post-modern roots rock...This debut may establish the band as the next big thing from Austin." - Vintage Guitar Magazine, The Hit List

"Most bands are lucky to have one good songwriter in the group and super lucky to have two. This band has three poets who can deliver at the top of anyone's lyrical game. They all three are songwriting treasures… one of the best Americana records ever made." - Keith Howerton, Texas Music Times

"This is real spit and sawdust Southern rock with tremendously gritty vocals and scything guitars."
- David Knowles, Maverick Magazine

"The Band of Heathens make the transition from live recordings to the studio pleasingly well on this 2008 release." - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Touring behind current album One Foot in the Ether, Austin band is on the road all summer and fall, with appearance at Lollapalooza

AUSTIN, Texas — While the Band of Heathens’ new song “Free Again” will keep fans happily humming and tapping, it will probably raise some eyebrows as well. The track — available for free on the band’s web site on July 15 — references the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. “It’s sure to be the feel-good hit of the summer,” quips band member Ed Jurdi. “Imagine the Silver Surfer making his way through Brian Wilson’s brain and ending up on summer holiday in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s the loose plot of the tune.”
In between tour segments, the band took a couple of days in the studio to record some new material. The two-day session yielded three songs showcasing the group’s wide musical horizons. In a move that that echoes the hallmark of the Heathens’ independent spirit, they’ve decided to release one song from those sessions as a free track to fans.

“A big belief of the band is that we shouldn’t put limitations on when we release material,” says Jurdi. “We are always available and open to the creative muse. If we’re working on something that feels good, the next logical step is to share it with people who have helped us create our own little space in this weird and woolly time.”

The Band of Heathens’ One Foot in the Ether made it to #1 on the Americana airplay charts as did its eponymous predecessor. For the second year in a row they are nominated for Americana Music Honors & Awards – this year for “Best Group,” last year for “Best Emerging Artist.” The band appeared on PBS’ Austin City Limits program last November on a bill with Elvis Costello. In the past year they have toured ceaselessly hitting such festivals as Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Wakarusa. Maverick magazine called One Foot in the Ether album “a quality album from a quality group,” adding, “If you haven’t caught up with this group, why not?”

“Free Again” takes the view that as long as there’s gas in the tank, food in the fridge and America’s Got Talent on TV, we’re good, right? From the lyrics: “Flip the channel, turn the dial, watch tomorrow going on today. We go sinking further down the mess that we have made. Just asking for forgiveness ’cause we all know that Jesus saves.” Someone somewhere, the song hopes, has figured it out and will fix it and put it back together again.
So sit back and enjoy the summer, bring the family and enjoy the sand. If a few tar balls wash up on the beach, not to worry.
As much as the Band of Heathens would love to join the ranks of beach-goers, they remain on tour all summer and into the fall.
 

Off White Party

FEATURING

MachineFunk "Tribute to Widespread Panic" was formed in the summer of 2006 in Florence, SC. The band has toured the southeast for the last three years covering the music of Widespread Panic. Night after night their set lists are never the same, with having over 120 songs in their repertoire you will not see the same show twice. They also include songs from Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Talking Heads and many others. MachineFunk has shared the stage with musicians from The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, North Mississippi Allstars, and Jojo Herman of Widespread Panic. Each show is a musical journey that can't be explained, only experienced! We thank you for your support. See you on the road!

Our "fun and energetic" music encourages an uplifting syncopation. The Pop/Rock/Reggae fused with Latin Rhythms combination entices virgin ears to stop and listen. A mix between Cafe Tacuba, Ozomatli, Manu Chao, Santana and Dave Mathews Band, make the music experience a treat to anyone in presence.

Family friendly to all ages and groups, our music is funky, rhythmically catchy and vibrant. Our instrumentation is powerful, skillful and relieving. We are musically influenced by jazz, Latin, rock and reggae backgrounds. Influential bands range from domestic to international bands. The collections of different cultures, ultimately, collide to form the Tropic Culture Band.

NEWS FLASH:

"Best Latin Showcase Artist 2008" by Charlotte Music Awards.

Our Song " Its Called Love" Made it the Creative Loafing "Homebrew" compilation CD 2008.

Our Song "Eliminate The Hate" made it to the Indezonic Radio Vol. 1 Compilation CD 2009.

The Books emerged in June 2002 with the release of their first album Thought for Food, after two years of working on and off in makeshift studios in New York, Los Angeles, Andover MA, and Hot Springs NC. To The Books’ total surprise the album received rave reviews throughout the independent music community and worldwide press. Though The Books are hard to categorize they are often pressed in interviews to categorize themselves. It took them almost as long as the making of their album to come up with this remotely suitable answer: blipworld / fakegrass / speedblues / chamberclick / eccentrock / country&eastern / glitch post-anything music with samples, closely followed by “food band”. In late 2002 The Books took up residence in the quiet post-industrial hamlet of North Adams, MA and began carving out a new album, which was released in October 2003 as The Lemon of Pink again to worldwide acclaim.

The main difference from Thought for Food is its greater coherence and more intimate character, due chiefly to the fact that the entire album was composed in a tiny pantry adjoining the kitchen of their apartment over a continuous period of six months. Immediately after completing The Lemon of Pink, The Books created their website (www.thebooksmusic.com) and rehearsed a one-off show which was performed in October 2003 at the Third Coast Audio Festival in Chicago before – again to their great surprise – a very enthusiastic audience. At that time they also collaborated with veteran radio maker Gregory Whitehead on the 90-minute radio play “The Loneliest Road,” commissioned by BBC3, which went on to win the Sony Academy Gold Award in the drama category in May 2004.

Today The Books are working in North Adams and New York, furiously writing and recording their next album to be released in April 2005 and are working excitedly on their live show for tour in the Spring. Aside from their slowly developing vocal and instrumental skills, their insane library of recorded sound samples has been expanded to include a quickly growing collection of video samples which they intend to use both on stage and for installations and movies of a more permanent nature. Add to that machines which rhythmically blow giant smoke rings and a rattling filing cabinet as a rhythm section and you might get a sense of what The Books are up to for the next season or two. Of course they will also bring their instruments: cello, guitar, bass guitar, samplers, mandolins, a clavinet and whatever else sounds right.

“It was a wonderful moment,” says The Gracious Few’s chief protagonist, guitarist, and co songwriter Chad Taylor of a particular late winters 2010 day in Sausalito California. “As I loosened the grip on my guitar after that final take, I knew the past was exactly that. It can’t come back to haunt me. It can only influence me and our future as a band. Primarily because we’ve all already been there.” Typically Taylor would be back in his home state of Pennsylvania at this time of year, perhaps even shoveling snow, but most likely thinking about his feature film company or other varied business interests, certainly not music. But in that moment warmth came over him as the strings still resonated, “I looked into the control room, and the guys, and thought this very nearly didn’t happen.”

Cody Dickinson - Guitar/Drums/Piano/Washboard
Doc Samba - Bass/Vocals
Ed 'Hot' Cleveland - Drums
Daniel Coburn - Vocals/Harp
Kirk Smithhart - Guitar/Vocals

HILL COUNTRY REVUE is THE modern blues band for the new generation. Formed by Cody Dickinson from The North Mississippi Allstars in 2008, it features, Kirk Smithhart, Ed “Hot” Cleveland, Doc Samba, and ‘Dixie’ Dan Coburn. The band’s debut album, ‘Make a Move’, was released by Razor and Tie Records in May 2009. “This is really back to the roots of blues,” says Cody of the record. “It's funky. Really nasty, that's the best way to describe it. Gritty, messy, stripped-down.”
The Hill Country Revue represents a return to juke-joint one-chord trance blues of north Mississippi, styles made famous by local blues legends like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. By drawing from the traditional songs and modes of the Hill Country, the band stays true to its roots yet pushes the boundary by incorporating new songs and elements for the next generation.

As part of the North Mississippi Allstars, Cody Dickinson has three Grammy nominated albums under his belt. He has shared the stage with artists as diverse as Kid Rock, Dave Matthews Band and Mavis Staples, and toured all over the world steadily since 1996, earning a legion of fans.

Kirk Smithhart was awarded The Albert King award for Best Guitarist by the Blues Foundation when he was only 19. Since then he has taken his cutting-edge blues guitar style to music lovers all over the world. He grew up in the vibrant blues scene around Jackson, Mississippi and has been turning heads in Memphis as the best new guitarist in town.

Daniel Robert Coburn, born and raised in Flint MI, cut his teeth playing punk rock and hardcore. He eventually went back to his roots and formed Dixie Hustler in 2001. Dixie Hustler released their album "Self Titled" on Diamond D Records produced by Aaron Julison of Kid Rock and Cody Dickinson.

Edward Cleveland grew up surrounded by the gospel music of Memphis, spending his childhood playing drums in his church ensemble. In his late teens, Eddie toured with gospel great Olanda Draper and began taking his craft as a drummer more seriously. Since then he has recorded and toured with a number of lauded musicians including Shalamar, Howard Hewitt, and Roy Young.

No doubt that Senegalese born Doc Samba represents the future of a whole West African generation of musicians. Born into a family of musicians, he started learning music from a young age and picked up the bass guitar at the age of 14. His talent was quickly noticed and soon he was playing and recording with both national and international artists such as Jerry Gordon, The Marcus Johnson Project, Raheem Devaughn and many more.

 

The real thing, people, a star with potential to permanently affect the musical landscape and keep us entertained for years to come." —Billboard

A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up in the 80's, uninterested in the sounds of the day, and fueled his dreams on the timeless sounds of classic rock and roll. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build his following singing on the streets of Harvard Square and gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In The Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend's attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case busking.

1996-2002 Sexton released Black Sheep, The American, Wonder Bar and Live Wide Open (mixed by Jon Alagia – Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer). The activity and worldwide touring behind these records laid the foundation for the career he enjoys today with an uncommonly loyal fan base, selling out venues from Nokia Theatre (NY) to LA's House of Blues.

Happily and fiercely independent, Martin Sexton launched his own label KTR (2002). Since then, his continual success through his diversity infiltrates many musical worlds – ranging everywhere from Jam Cruise to Denver's Mile High Fest to Mayercraft Carrier to Carnegie Hall. His songs are featured in film and television including recent placements on NBC's Scrubs and Showtime's hit series Brotherhood.

"Martin Sexton is ripe with raw, expansive talent. His voice comes in a hundred impossible shades. His songs are sweet and spirited and soulful. His repertoire is like a cross-country tour of the American musical vernacular." —Boston Globe
PRESENTED BY ALL IN ENTERTAINMENT

Singing with a passion and fervor directly influenced by the classic soul heroes, JJ Grey has written and recorded five albums of original songs steeped in the rhythm & blues, rock, and country soul of his native backwoods home outside Jacksonville, Florida. Grey comes from a long tradition of Southern storytellers and, in that spirit, he fills his songs with details that are at once vivid, personal and universal. After a decade of hard touring, he still spends eight months of the year on the road, bringing his music to a loyal, ever-growing, worldwide fanbase

Before Tyler Hilton wrote the songs that appear on his new album The Storms We Share he had never written anything but love songs. "It’s not that I was uninterested in things other than love, but it was love that made me want to write songs," the 26-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist says. Which would have been fine except that Hilton had been working on a new album for three years and had already scrapped hundreds of songs that he didn’t consider good enough. Uninspired, he was having a hard time motivating himself to keep going.

"I started coming up with these lyrics that were little pep talks to myself, like ‘Come on, you can do this. You just have to clear your head and keep going,’" Hilton says. "So several of the tracks on this album, like ‘Keep On,’ ‘Somehow,’ and ‘This World Will Turn Your Way,’ are these encouraging, hopeful tunes, which I’d never usually write, but that’s what was coming out of me at the time."

The uplifting theme of those songs eventually served as the inspiration for the album’s title. "I was looking for a phrase that communicated how we all have something in common," Hilton says. "I was spending a lot of time in the South and in Canada and whenever there was a storm, you could be standing in line at the grocery store next to a stranger and they’d inevitably remark about the crazy weather. That’s when it hit me: Everyone shares one common thing — weathering the storms together. And that became a metaphor about recognizing that we all need to be encouraged to weather the storms. Sometimes you need to remind yourself that dreams can happen, but they may take time so can’t give up, which basically describes the last four years of my life. That’s what ‘This World Will Turn Your Way’ is about. I wrote it last and it thematically sums up the whole album in that I took everything I learned and put it into that one song."

The Storms We Share is a vividly drawn, emotionally resonant snapshot from these years, which Hilton spent trying to make a follow-up to his 2004 major-label debut The Tracks of Tyler Hilton. That album, which spawned the Top 40 singles "When It Comes" and "How Love Should Be," introduced the then-21-year-old Palm Springs, Calif., native to the public via Warner Bros. Records’ now-defunct label Maverick Records. After the label folded, Warner Bros. executives told Hilton they loved his music, believed in him as an artist, and wanted him to stay with the label. "They basically said, ‘We want you to make a record that really represents who you are now,’ Hilton says. "So essentially I had limitless options, which can be too much of a good thing. I would try things that I had always wanted to do, but they didn’t sound as exciting as I thought they would. It was frustrating." After a few false starts and some time living in Nashville, Hilton moved back to Los Angeles where he was introduced to producer Matt Serletic (Matchbox Twenty, Collective Soul) who suggested the two get together for a writing session.

One of Chicago’s most exciting new bands, On The Run, has steadily developed a loyal fan base that can best be described as rabid. Packing venues up and down the east coast and of course in their hometown, the band seamlessly blends genres and touches audiences of all age groups and walks of life. A combination of skilled songwriting and a stage show that you will not soon forget, has earned On the Run invitations to play at some of the nations most esteemed venues including Chicago's "The Metro" and NYC's "Webster Hall" among many others.

Their sound can best be described as a unique blend of soulful vocals, thoughtful, attention grabbing guitar riffs complimented with a tight, pocket oriented rhythm section - all accented by the group’s saxophonist. This volatile combination, combined with On the Run's attention to detail and dynamics makes for danceable, yet all the while emotional music. On The Run has been recognized for unabashedly tackling difficult subjects and feel good music alike to reflect the whole range of human emotion.

Rock, Roots, Reggae, Blues; the band does them all a service without overplaying any one genre. They are in some respects a jam band, but know how to employ song structure and refuse to let lyrical content fall by the wayside. Ultimately, it seems that On the Run has taken the stylistics and musicality that have worked for many of the greats in the past; and have made it their own. The result is a sound that is new and refreshing, yet nostalgic at the same time.

The Infamous Stringdusters & Trampled by Turtles - Fly Palomino Tour

"Countrypolitan transcends music. It's a lifestyle, not a category of music," says Southern Culture on the Skids front man, Rick Miller. "It's where rural and urban sensibilities meet. I mean, it's when you see trucker hats being sold in Beverly Hills boutiques or notice folks eating pork in Mebane, where I live, drinking a glass of merlot. Or best yet, when you see a motor sport invented by backwoods moonshine runners and bootleggers broadcast on Sunday afternoon into potentially every living room in America, there ain't no doubt it's a countrypolitan world and SCOTS' new album, Countrypolitan Favorites, is the soundtrack for it."

Long the bards of downward mobility, Southern Culture on the Skids have always embodied countrypolitan. Recently described by Dwight Yoakam (in Filter) as "really on the outside, like Dick Dale meets Hank Thompson," SCOTS have mixed high and low culture for decades, endlessly touring, serving up moonshine martinis and poultry picking for fans everywhere. Now, with their new fifteen song covers collection, Countrypolitan Favorites, they've given the Go-Go country treatment to some of their favorite songs, creating a tasty buffet of tunes from Don Gibson to T-Rex.

"It's a party record," Miller says. As if anything Southern Culture on the Skids might put on tape wouldn't be a party record.

Since 1983, when they formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, SCOTS have played their unique hybrid of Americana, surf, R&B, rockabilly, and swamp pop (the band describes their sound as "toe sucking geek rock - kinda weird, but it feels good when you're doing it"), all the while driving fans into ecstatic, sweat drenched paroxysms of joy. Assisted by his cohorts in white trash renaissance - drummer Dave Hartman and bassist/singer/heartbreaker Mary Huff - Miller and crew have been prolific and ubiquitous for over twenty years. From their 1985 debut Voodoo Beach Party, to the international smash, 1998's Dirt Track Date (featuring the hit single "Camel Walk"), and up to their last studio album, 2004's barnstormer Mojo Box, Southern Culture on the Skids have continued to throw what Rolling Stone dubbed "a hell raising rock and roll party." Their 2005 live outing, Doublewide and Live!, captured all of this on tape, dirty and rough and wild.

"The live album was so raunchy," Miller said, "the production on this one we wanted to be slick."

Recorded at Miller's own studio (The Kudzu Ranch), Countrypolitan Favorites might be slick in spots, but there's no mistaking that this is the same Southern Culture on the Skids who wrote "Eight Piece Box."

"Countrypolitan was an outgrowth of the Nashville sound of the 60's. It was an attempt to go more mainstream and put dents in the pop charts and create more sophisticated tunes - for country jetsetters," Miller says. "It was a deliberate blend of country and pop. I always think it's cool to blur the lines between genres," Miller adds, "But we took the countrypolitan concept a bit further [on Countrypolitan Favorites], adding and subtracting, updating - getting respectfully irreverent, you know, close to the cuff but all mixed up."

And mix it up they did, giving traditional country songs the rock treatment, and vice versa. T-Rex's "Life's a Gas" appears here with country harmonies atop heavy synthesizer; "O Lonesome Me" has an upbeat twist, again with the harmony vocals; "Tobacco Road" sounds like CCR, while CCR's "Tombstone Shadow" gets stacked with three part bluegrass harmonies, and "No Longer a Sweetheart of Mine," originally a bluegrass tune by Reno and Smiley, gets rocked up with surf guitar and honky tonk piano and more harmony vocals. "Funnel of Love" (made famous by Wanda Jackson) is a standout track, featuring Mary Huff's sultry lead vocal, and her duet with Rick on the swingers-on-the-rocks classic, "Let's Invite Them Over" (an Onie Wheeler original), explores the relationship of a couple who don't love each other, but do love their best friends.

"Let's Invite Them Over" is the most thematically correct song on the album, as far as countrypolitan goes," Dr. Miller says. "It's suburban roulette!"

When asked why the "countrypolitan" social phenomenon works so well when put into a musical context, Miller expounded, "It's an overlap of high and low culture. Homogenization, though probably not a good thing, makes for some interesting observations." Sounds like a true academic. But then Dr. Miller added, "But we're not sociologists or anything. I mean, we just want to party."

And so, let us party, with Southern Culture on the Skids' Countrypolitan Favorites.
 

Pat McGee, after nearly fourteen years of touring, feels the need to mix things up a bit.

The namesake and leader of the Pat McGee Band may only be going by his own name when he performs these days, but it doesn't mean the band itself is finished. "We recently decided to change how we do things," says McGee. "I have been doing some solo, duo, and trio touring, in addition to full band dates. It keeps things interesting." This shift and Pat's revolving live lineups will give fans some variations in the live setting that are sure to please.

With the full national release of "These Days (The Virginia Sessions)" planned for March 10th, 2009, McGee was able to whet fans' appetites for some new music with the iTunes-only release of "Live From The Southland" in January 2009. The recording was made at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA, and charted at #5 on the iTunes Rock Chart.

"While I continue the work on my next record, due out later this year, 'These Days' will finally get the full release we always hoped it would have," says McGee of the album that was previously only sold at band concerts. A song from the record, "Come Back Home," will be serviced to radio as well as to the United States Armed Forces, who will be able to download the track for free. "I wrote 'Come Back Home' with 'These Days' producer Todd Wright, "says McGee. "It started off as a story about the distance between a military couple - those many miles and oceans apart, stretches of time. As we were working on that track, the band suffered a major blow. Our longtime drummer and friend of over twelve years, Chris Williams, passed away suddenly. We were shaken to the core, and his family was devastated. So, the lyrical content of the song was crafted to tell both stories: being away from someone you love and also hearing the news of their passing and just not wanting to believe it all."

To make the story even more heart-wrenching, Williams' little brother, Blake was killed last year in Iraq while on patrol. "He served our nation in the Army Reserves, "says McGee, " and he had dreams of coming back to the states and taking up where his brother left off." Blake's platoon knew of his love for the Pat McGee Band, and they used "Come Back Home" in a video tribute to all the courageous men and women that thet lost in the month of March. "Later that summer, at Wolf Trap outside of DC, "remembers McGee, " members of Blake's platoon drove up from North Carolina to be there to pay tribute to him as we performed 'Come Back Home' that night in front of 7,000 people. It was something I will never forget."

Pat McGee Band is one of the most successful touring bands nationwide, bringing original melodic rock, trademark rich harmonies, heartfelt lyrics, strong musicianship and energy to shows that are flat out fun. Over the last fourteen years, the band typically performed around 250 shows a year - selling out many top venues and building a strong nationwide fan base. The band has been on the bill with major artists, such as Allman Brothers Bans, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, Counting Crows, Blues Traveler, and James Taylor.

Pat McGee Band has produced seven albums, three independently, one with Giant/Warner Brothers, one with Warner Brothers, a CD/DVD with Kirtland Records and now, the latest independent release "These Days (The Virginia Sessions)." The band's independent albums include "from the wood", "Revel", "General Admission" (live) and their most recent album "These Days (The Virginia Sessions)." Pat is currently in the writing phase for the next album, including some co-writing opportunities he has taken part in recently with Emerson Hart (ex Tonic), Stephen Kellogg and Ryan Newell (Sister Hazel). Fans can expect a new album soon featuring this work.

While in college, Pat produced his solo debut album "from the wood." After graduating, he formed Pat McGee Band in 1995, which played often in the Richmond and DC- areas and up and down the East coast before becoming a national headline band playing shows at the premier 1000-to-2000 seat venues in the U.S. and Canada. Early on, the band allowed fans to tape live shows and encouraged them to trade those recording. A fan-sponsored group "Identities", named after one of Pat's first songs, helped spread the music far and wide in the early years. Many of those original Identities remain the band's most loyal fans.

PMB is a seven-time veteran of the popular Rock Boat cruises, and Pat also appeared on Cayamo Concert Cruise, an entertainment cruise featuring some of the top singer-songwriters in the business. PMB performed on NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" and has been seen on many ESPN events. Pat and the band have performed the National Anthem at many major league sports events, including a Washington Redskins game, which for Pat, a long-time Redskins fan, was one of the highlights of his career. The band has performed for PGA golfer John Daly's charity events.

Too energetic to be labeled just "folk", and not angry enough to be pegged "alternative", Eddie from Ohio continues to defy description with their unique blend of vocals and acoustic instrumentation. A bedrock foundation of hand and stick percussion and a textural flavoring of guitar/bass/harmonica support the four-part harmonies and lyrically-driven original music. While this combination has drawn comparisons like the Grateful Dead meets Peter, Paul & Mary, or like Jewel fronts the Bare Naked Ladies, EFO fuses a multitude of musical influences to create their own trademark sound. Performing Songwriter writes, "The manic strumminess recalls Ani DiFranco or Dave Matthews, but there's also a deep undercurrent of high, lonesome mountain harmony that should appeal to fans of Alison Krauss and Union Station."

    * Location: McGlohon Theatre      345 North College St.       Charlotte, NC 28202    * Price: Prices begin at $29.50

• Presented By: MaxxMusic, Visulite Theatre & Blumenthal PAC

Location: McGlohon Theatre

• Price: Prices begin at $39.50

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When you think of “grassroots” and “down to Earth,” you don’t normally think of a movie star. You especially don't think of a movie star the caliber of Jeff Daniels. Yet that is exactly what Jeff has accomplished with his second CD Grandfather’s Hat. With the follow-up album to Live and Unplugged, Daniels has proven that he is not an actor who sings, but an accomplished singer/songwriter who’s musical talent does not require the support of his acting.

• Presented By: MaxxMusic, Visulite Theatre & Blumenthal PAC
• Location: McGlohon Theatre
  345 North College St.
  Charlotte, NC 28202
• Price: Prices begin at $22.50

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Hot Rize has marked over 30 years in the bluegrass history book. Following the untimely passing of guitarist Charles Sawtelle in 1999, the band reorganized in 2002 with Bryan Sutton on guitar (joining Tim O'Brien on lead and harmony vocals, mandolin and fiddle; Pete Wernick on banjo and harmony vocals; and Nick Forster on bass and main harmony singer) and has continued to play several shows each year, delivering its high-energy, soulful, and unique sound to fans old and new.

Though many years from its full-time touring period of 1978-1990, Hot Rize has kept its legend growing by delivering first-class music and entertainment as only it can.  For an electric outlet, Hot Rize will transform into their alter ego Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers, a straight honky-tonk/Western Swing band that parodies hardcore 1950's country music.

The new double-CD album Untold and Unsung showcases John McCutcheon's double-barreled talents as both a singer/songwriter/instrumental virtuoso and as a world-class storyteller. The first CD, Untold, was recorded live at the 2008 National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Whether taking us along on a trip with his teenage son and his friends or recounting a meeting with a construction worker from the Sydney Opera House, John exhibits what the Washington Post called, "storytelling with the power of fine literature."

The album's second CD, Unsung, features some of the most compelling and popular songwriting of John's career. Sara Tucholosky tells the story of a young college softball player and her brush with true sportsmanship. Streets of Sarajevo recounts the story of Vedran Smailovic, the "cellist of Sarajevo," who makes a guest appearance on cello for the song. And Old People in Love is a sure-to-be classic with the added treat of Suzy Boggus dueting with John.