The Greg Horne Band is performing on the Blue Plate Special (Tuesday, July 26th at noon). We hope you’ll join in on the radio or online, or come down to the studio and enjoy the show today!

The band has a new album, Working on Engines, which is out now. Learn more at http://www.greghornemusic.com/.

In the meantime, we sat down with Greg Horne to find out more about his backstory. He was kind enough to share his story, in his own words.

This is the latest in our Bullet Backstory series. Take it away Greg!

• Biggest musical influences – To play well with somebody you have to listen a lot and try to understand what their music is about. A big chunk of my musical life has always been playing as a support musician for lots of other people, so those people are probably my biggest set of influences. As far as who I’ve listened to and absorbed into my own work, the list is too large to be reasonable. Scratching the surface: Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson, Buck Owens and Don Rich, Mavis and Pops Staples, Michael Hedges, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Howlin’ Wolf, Billy Bragg, Tommy Jarrell, Lou Reed, Patti Smith…
• What made you decide to pursue music as a career? – Through my school years I studied both music and art, bouncing between them. Eventually I found that music was sort of winning out for me in terms of time, focus and ideas. I studied music history and also learned a lot about teaching music from some great mentors. In my case music as a career involves performing and recording, but also teaching, writing and always learning.
• What advice do you have for young musicians who are trying to hone their craft? What has helped me the most was listening to and studying so many different types of music as a young person. Find people you like and then find out who they based their art on, even if it’s in different genres than you are used to. Then take those interests and put yourself in as many musical situations as possible. And practice, of course. That’s a lifelong thing!
• What’s your favorite thing to do in Knoxville? Playing gigs with my friends, like Jay Clark, R.B. Morris, and the Bearded, or hanging out and watching other friends play. Also listening to my wife Paige Travis when she’s on WDVX hosting Tennessee Shines!
• If you could work with any musician (living or deceased) who would it be and why? There are so many folks I’d love to meet, not so much to get my own thing out with them but just to see them be the people they are. Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper come to mind. They seem to be such cool people and have had such a huge positive impact rock, soul and blues. I’d also love to meet Doug Kershaw, the cajun fiddler. He’s 80 and as far as I know he’s still rockin’.
• Anything else you’d like to share? Favorite WDVX memory, etc? My favorite WDVX memory is a tie between my trips to the camper to play in Studio C, and watching Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale play a WDVX anniversary show from the wings at the Bijou Theatre.

WDVX is excited to welcome Sarah Jarosz Friday afternoon, July 22nd for an in-studio interview and special solo performance. Tune in online or on the radio to catch the show. Sarah will be taking the stage later Friday night at the Bijou Theatre so get your tickets now!

Sarah Jarosz grew up in Wimberley, Texas, and began singing during early childhood. She got her first mandolin for Christmas when she was just nine years old. Even at that tender age, she dedicated herself to mastering the instrument, along with the guitar and clawhammer banjo. At the ripe old age of eleven, she performed at the first bluegrass festival and quickly earned a reputation as a young phenom on the festival circuit. She quickly soaked up all the traditional influences surrounding her in that environment and merged her own unique sense of songwriting style with what she learned.

Says Sarah: “From an early age, I’ve had a strong desire to create music. I was also fortunate to be surrounded by older, accomplished musicians who were my mentors.  From the very beginning, all of my heroes looked out for me and challenged me in the best ways.  It was great being raised in music that way.  I always felt completely supported, and I think that that attitude affected the way I approach music now.”

In the summer of 2007, she met Sugar Hill Records A&R representative Gary Paczosa after performing at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. He was impressed enough to invite her to Nashville to do some recording. The next year when she was only sixteen years old, Sarah got the opportunity to sign with Sugar Hill and began the work on her 2009 debut album Song Up In Her Head. Her second album, 2011’s Follow Me Down grew her fan base and her relentless touring earned her fans from across the musical spectrum.

By 2013, Sarah had released her third album, Build Me Up From Bones, which earned her Grammy nominations for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song. Sarah toured for much of 2014, criss-crossing the United States and even making trips to England, Ireland, and Scotland. She also made an appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival.

In 2015 Sarah toured as part of supergroup I’m With Her, which includes Sarah Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan.

“After singing my own songs for so many years, it was eye-opening to shift gears and be a part of something different. We’ve only been a band for a year, but I’ve learned so much from it already, and I definitely brought some of those lessons to Undercurrent,” says Sarah.

“I’m just trying to become more focused and more honest, and trying to be a better listener and observer of the world around me,” says Sarah.  “That’s what I tried to do on Undercurrent, and I’m really pleased with how true this record feels to me.  In some ways, it feels like my first record, in the sense that it was the first time I could focus all of my energy on it.  Everything felt like it was leading to this moment.”

Don’t forget to listen to Sarah on WDVX for the live in-studio performance, July 22nd!