East Tennessee's Own WDVX

The WDVX Big Plate - 5/10 - Full Chord / The Plate Scrapers
2024-05-10 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
When it comes to movers and shakers in the bluegrass world, Full Cord is a super-group on the rise.
After winning the prestigious 2022 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition in Colorado, the Michigan-based group followed that with another much-coveted honor when the International Bluegrass Music Association named Full Cord its “Momentum Award Band of the Year.”
While mandolinist Brian Oberlin notes the band’s music “is new and fresh to the ears of seasoned bluegrass fans,” the bluegrass traditions in Full Cord have deep roots.
The group’s members – Oberlin, guitarist Eric Langejans, bassist Todd Kirchner and fiddler Grant Flick – boast decades of musical artistry, with experience in popular performing bands from Michigan to Oregon. And with the recent addition of award-winning, Colorado-based banjoist Ricky Mier, Full Cord is poised to take the next step in its journey as a bluegrass powerhouse: The band’s debut album on Nashville’s Dark Shadow Recordings is set to drop in 2023.
Full Cord’s songwriting has reached a new “tipping point,” Manager Katie Kirchner suggests, enhanced by the group’s vast repertoire and robust experience in numerous band projects over the years.
And Oberlin insists the band is “just hitting its stride” – ready to follow in the footsteps of fellow Michigan bluegrass icons Billy Strings and Greensky Bluegrass as yet another star in the making.

Born from the tradition of Bluegrass jams and potlucks, The Plate Scrapers — Derek Kretzer (banjo), Andrew Jordan (guitar), Robbie Mann (fiddle), Jody Mosser (dobro), and Kevin Johnson (bass) — have been putting in the work and showcasing their love for the genre since 2014. They have since released 3 studio albums, 3 live albums, and have toured relentlessly up and down the east coast and into the midwest. In 2019, they won the Podunk Bluegrass Telefunken Band Contest. They have been featured on WAMU Bluegrass Country Radio, performed as an IBMA Official Showcase artist, and their latest release, Destination Horizon (2020) debuted at #9 on the Bluegrass Album Billboard charts with rave reviews from Bluegrass Today.
As a band that strives to maintain a healthy equilibrium between their diverse musical backgrounds and the traditional Appalachian sounds, they have wowed audiences across the entire spectrum. This progressively minded Bluegrass act truly feels at home on any stage. They’ve provided direct support for bluegrass legends such as The Seldom Scene, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, and Larry Keel. On the other side of that coin, they aren’t afraid to get weird at a late night festival slot and have become well known for their tastefully balanced and refreshingly diverse song-writing. Catch their live show and you’ll be sure to receive a full helping of hard-driving bluegrass favorites and heart-wrenching country ballads. Dig into their recorded originals, however, and you’ll find tracks ranging from thoughtful folk lyricism to gritty tales of harrowing adventure. ​
The Plate Scrapers passion for bluegrass and performing shines thru their music and performances. Such is evident in their musical prowess and creative chemistry on stage, guaranteeing a unique and immersive experience each time. The band continues to be fueled by loyal fans and an unrelenting drive to continue moving forward…casually.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/11 - Blue Shadows
2024-05-11 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Come help us welcome to the WDVX Stage Blue Shadows!

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/13 - Mo Stroemel
2024-05-13 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Mo Stroemel has been writing and performing for over thirty years. Appearances include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Nashville, New York, Atlantic City, Toronto and London. His songs connect with people of all ages and his personable and easy-going style make his live appearances fun and intimate. Mo currently performs as a solo act and with friends, including the Red Dirt Poets, and he has performed at festivals including The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and The People’s Choice Festival. Mo was a member of the “world famous” Phyrst Phamly for many years. Mo’s discography includes three full length albums, five singles and his EP, Troublebound.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/14 - Mark Dvorak / Parker Collins
2024-05-14 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Parker Collins is a multi talented musician. He has performed at Dollywood, Country Tonite, Barter Theatre, and The Grand Ole Opry!
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZRpaGGCZhRs?si=22zQa1_QZaSH7R6V
Mark Dvorak is the third son of four, born to a working class family on Chicago’s southwest side. After reading Anthony Scaduto’s biography of Bob Dylan in high school, his interest in American folk music was born. Soon the recordings of Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Pete Seeger found their way into his collection. He purchased his first acoustic guitar while working in a xylophone factory in LaGrange, Illinois, and enrolled in classes at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music after a summer of traveling the country by motorcycle.
In 1981 he performed at the Fox Valley Folk Festival in Geneva, Illinois for the first time, and later that year opened a performance venue, “The Old Quarter Coffee House,” named after the legendary Houston club where Townes Van Zandt recorded a live album in the early seventies. Three years later, new owners took control of “The Old Quarter,” and it grew into a full-time club, booking national acts and hosting classes and workshops. After a successful run of six years, “The Old Quarter” was reorganized again, this time as the non-profit Plank Road Folk Music Society, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2016. Dvorak spent six years on the board, wrote and edited the newsletter, served two terms as Plank Road president, and still remains close to the organization.
In 1982 Dvorak borrowed a five string banjo and began teaching himself how to play. It was through the mentorship of old-time string musician Don Buedel, from Cantrall, Illinois, that Dvorak was first able to master the claw hammer stroke.
In 1986 Dvorak joined the faculty of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. He soon became embedded in the Chicago acoustic scene, collaborating with many dozens of artists and students, befriending Old Town founders Win Stracke, Frank Hamilton, Eddie Holstein and many others. Dvorak continues to be an integral member of the Old Town School faculty, where he is artist-in-residence.
In the summer of 1990, Dvorak set out on his own towards Louisiana, in search of the grave Huddie Ledbetter, known the world over as the great Lead Belly. The trip was chronicled in the 1993 documentary, “Lead Belly’s Legacy,” produced for WDCB public radio in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The show aired in one hundred sixty cities and earned Dvorak a Peter Lisagor Award for journalism.
In 1995, Dvorak released his first CD specifically for young listeners on the Depot label. “Old Songs & New People” was a notable success, winning the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal Award and leading to hundreds of nationwide performances for arts-in-education and community audiences.
By 1998, Dvorak had performed at venues throughout the Midwest, had toured the east coast and released his classic “The Streets of Old Chicago,” which documented some of his experiences performing in Chicago and teaching at the Old Town School. 1998 also marked the beginning of a long collaboration between Dvorak, song writer Michael Smith and singer Barbara Barrow as they embarked on a six month rehearsal schedule for the touring performance, “WeaverMania! LIVE.” WeaverMania! celebrated the sounds and songs of the legendary folk group, The Weavers, and gave more than two hundred concert performances between 1999 and 2007. The group continues to make occasional concert appearances and festival performances. WeaverMania! released their only CD, “WeaverMania! LIVE,” in 2000.
In 2005, Dvorak went back into the studio to record “Every Step of the Way,” a personal breakthrough project which featured ten original songs. Released by Waterbug, “Every Step of the Way” was well-received and established Dvorak as a song writer.
2008’s “What a Wonderful World,” also released by Waterbug, was a fifty-seven minute compilation of material from Dvorak’s earlier CDs. The project was aimed for family audiences and also included a newly recorded, four song collaboration with Chicago’s Sons of the Never Wrong. Also in 2008, Dvorak received the Woodstock Folk Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as a performer, song writer, teacher and folk historian.
In the spring of 2010, Dvorak began planning his next recording with producer John Abbey of King Size Sound Lab. The next year, Waterbug released “Time Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Me,” to glowing reviews; to date Dvorak’s most successful recording project. “Time” received steady airplay and rose to number fourteen on the Folk DJ chart, and made it to number twenty-three on the Cashbox National Folk Chart. The disc featured twelve Dvorak originals and a Chicago all-star cast of singers and instrumentalists.
In 2012 WFMT’s Rich Warren, host of “The Midnight Special,” named Dvorak “Chicago’s official troubadour,” a sobriquet previously given to Old Town School of Folk Music founder Win Stracke, and later to seminal folk singer and Dvorak mentor Fred Holstein.
The Midwest region of Folk Alliance International (FARM) named Dvorak the 2013 Lantern Bearer Award recipient, an award presented to an individual who has contributed to folk performance arts and the folk music and dance community for twenty-five years or more.
In December of 2013, Dvorak published his first collection of essays and poems, “Bowling for Christmas and Other Tales from the Road.” The book sold out of its initial printing in nine days and received glowing reviews.
Dvorak continues to perform more than two hundred dates each year and looks back on a thirty year career woven from the disparate threads of touring musician, educator and community builder.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/15 - The Merlin's Nest
2024-05-15 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
1000% homegrown and original. Currently this channel represents merely a fraction of what The Merlin’s Nest is capable of. All photos are original artwork by the founding member and the recordings were painstakingly carved out in his bedroom. As this band grows the quality will continue to improve. Catching our live shows is the only way to truly experience the Nest currently, but over time as the production value continues to improve the Merlin’s Nest will prove to be a powerful narrator of epic collisions of song and story in video and audio format.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/16 - BB Palmer / Crawdaddy Jones
2024-05-16 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Hailing from the heart of railroad country in Opelika, Alabama, cosmic country outfit B.B. Palmer have made a name for themselves over the past several years, honing a sound steeped in the traditions of American country music.
The band’s latest offering, Krishna Country, sees the group approaching their craft with a much more expansive worldview — folding traditional Indian sounds into their work and creating a further-mesmerizing brand of ethereal roots music. On paper, it might seem an unexpected or jolting shift in direction, but for B.B. Palmer it’s simply the next step forward in their collective journey.
Make no mistake, this is still country music at its core, but the addition of sitar and horns awash in reverb elevates the overall product to something more, standing on its own as a truly unique output. Imagine if Ravi Shankar recorded with the Byrds backed by Stax’s Memphis Horns, and you’d be pretty close to imagining this Alabama outfit’s forthcoming output.
“I found a copy of the Bhagavad Gita,” Palmer recalls. He pored over the text and found that it resonated with him on a deeply personal level. The book inspired Palmer to dive even deeper into Indian culture. He began listening to and studying raga: a classical style of Indian music. He applied these eastern influences in his own songcraft. Krishna Country Gold showcases his discoveries from this newfound styling, blending his honky tonk roots with a yet-untapped well of musical modes & instrumentation from India.
From the moment the Bhagavad Gita landed in Palmer’s possession, to the first drafts of these news songs, all the way through studio time and mastering, Krishna Country Gold seemed inevitable despite all the perceived challenges that stood in the way. It’s an undeniably singular output from these Yellowhammer State mainstays, and a worthy entry in the canon of cosmic “American” music — SWEETHEART PR

Crawdaddy Jones is an original blues rockin’ duo from Knoxville Tennessee made up of Michael Crawdaddy Crawley and Stevie Jones.

The WDVX Big Plate - 5/17 - Big Dog
2024-05-17 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Big Dog is a funk band who holds improvisation at the fore front of their exciting live performances.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/18 - Gerald Dowd / Grassroots Gringos
2024-05-18 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Gerald Dowd has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), playing on over 100 albums, and averaging 150 live dates a year around the world. In recent years, he’s been releasing solo albums of original material, starting with his 2012 release, Kingsize EP. In 2014, he was the recipient of an IAP arts grant from Chicago’s Dept. Of Cultural Affairs/Special Events (DCASE), which led to his first full-length solo album, Home Now, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Liam Davis, and featuring, among others, Chicago legends Robbie Fulks and Casey McDonough. His most recent album, Father’s Day, was engineered/co-produced by Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden, Funeral Bonsai Wedding), and features Robbie Gjersoe (Flatlanders, Jimmie Dale Gilmore), Nora O’Connor (The Decemberists, Neko Case, Iron And Wine) and pedal steel legend Lloyd Maines.
To celebrate the release of his first full-length album, he held a benefit concert (DAY OF THE DOWD) at which he played for 13 hours straight with 16 different bands, raising over $10,000 for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. On November 9th, 2019, he staged another installment (DAY OF THE DOWD 2) as a benefit for the UI Health Pilsen Food Pantry, at which he played with 12 bands over the course of 12 straight hours, raising over $20,000, more than doubling the fundraising total from 2014. Both fundraisers were held at FitzGerald’s Nightclub, the venerable music hall in Berwyn IL. October of 2020 saw yet another installment (DAY OF THE DOWD III: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DOWD) where he live-streamed solo for 6+ hours from his house during the COVID pandemic lockdown, raising over $10,000 for the Southern Poverty Law Center. For his new album, he played a normal-length one-set show and had to keep the money because he was broke from making the damn thing.
Born and raised in the Boston area, Mr. Dowd began his musical life at the age of 10. Playing drums throughout high school in rock bands, orchestras and theater companies, he attended the famed Tanglewood Institute in the summers of 1985 and 1986. In 1986, he was accepted into both the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music as a classical percussionist. He kept his talents near Wollaston Beach, studying jazz and classical percussion with Bob Moses, Fred Buda, Vic Firth and Arthur Press, while also playing in combos led by Mr. Moses, Dave Holland, George Russell, George Garzone and Hankus Netsky. Mr. Dowd continued to play in local rock bands, jazz combos, orchestras and musical theaters until 1991, when he moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University, securing the drum chair in the top big band upon his arrival. Over his 30+ years in Chicago, he has gone on to play with some of the top rock, jazz and country musicians in the area and nationwide.
​Since 2000, Mr. Dowd has recorded and toured extensively with two-time Grammy nominee Robbie Fulks, both nationally and overseas. Since 2006, Mr. Dowd has also been a member of Justin Roberts & The Not-Ready-For-Naptime Players, a group founded by Mr. Roberts, one of the creators of the ‘kindie rock’ genre. They play shows all across North America, Canada and Asia, and five of the band’s most recent albums — Space Cadet (2022), Wild Life (2020), Lemonade (2016), Recess (2013) and Jungle Gym (2010) — were nominated for a Grammy Award.
As a solo artist, he has played shows with Jeff Tweedy, Ian Hunter, Delbert McClinton, Kasey Chambers, Heartsfield, Jason Narducy, Rhett Miller, Nellie McKay, Sam Baker and Mr. Fulks. He has also performed and/or recorded with Eddie Vedder, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos), Barbara Carr, A Prairie Home Companion, Mavis Staples, Chris Mills, Bernie Williams, Frisbie, Nora O’Connor, Kelly Hogan, Edith Frost, Lush Budgett, Dave Ramont, Split Single, Dick Smith, Dave Sills, Lloyds Green & Maines, Dennis Crouch, Clyde Stubblefield, Peter Himmelman, Samba Bamba!, Alphonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan, 500Clown Theater Company, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, EXO, Steve Albini, George Jones, Buck Owens, Tina Fey, Syd Straw, Marshall Crenshaw, Rhymefest, Rich Little, Otis Clay, Catie Curtis, Pinetop Seven, Richie Cole, and Arturo Sandoval, among many others.
In addition to hundreds of rock clubs in the United States and abroad, Mr. Dowd has played some of the most prestigious music venues in the world, including multiple appearances at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville; Borderline in London; Rose Bowl and Getty Center in Los Angeles; Paradiso in Amsterdam; CBGB’s, New Victory Theater, Bottom Line, Fillmore East, and Symphony Space in New York City; Kennedy Center in D.C.; Symphony Hall and The Rathskellar in Boston, and Ravinia, Lollapalooza, Millennium Park, Steppenwolf Theater and Second City in Chicago. TV appearances include Late Night With Seth Myers, Today Show, The Jenny Jones Show, Sound Opinions, and numerous appearances on local Chicago television.

The Grassroots Gringos bring original Appalachian Skank Grass Band from Knoxville,TN.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/20 - Merrill Miller / The Lonesome Roses
2024-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
A fan of all things music raised in the Mississippi Delta, Merrill Miller has been enchanting Midwestern audiences with his unique blend of classic country, punk, and blues for years. Merrill’s introspective songs about love, loss, addiction, and life on the open road provide listeners with refreshing vulnerability delivered through upbeat riffs, Merrill’s smoky voice, and his matter-of-fact humor. Fans say Merrill Miller is like discovering “a thirst you didn’t know you had until it’s been quenched.”

The Lonesome Roses will also join us this day.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/21 - Stephanie Lambring / Michael Jones
2024-05-21 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
“I’m not afraid of the uncomfortable,” says Stephanie Lambring. “Oddly enough, I think you can actually find a lot of comfort in exploring it, in facing it head on and seeing it for what it really is.”
It’s that paradox that lies at the heart of Lambring’s stunning new record, Hypocrite. Recorded in Nashville with producer Teddy Morgan (Carl Broemel, Elise Davis), the collection is a remarkable work of self-reflection from an artist determined to know her truest self (and to help us find our own true selves in the process). The arrangements are lush and hypnotic here, with Lambring’s breathy vocals floating atop a sea of dreamy synthesizers and shimmering guitars, and the writing is as raw and vulnerable as it gets, confronting everything from religion and trauma to body image and motherhood with unflinching honesty. The result is a record that lands somewhere between Phoebe Bridgers and Alanis Morrissette as it looks for the best by reckoning with the worst, an album full of love and grace and compassion that aims to remind us that imperfection and humanity go hand in hand.
“They say the things you dislike about yourself are the things you call out the most in other people,” Lambring explains, “and with this album, I wanted to see what would happen if I called myself out instead. I think there’d be a lot more harmony in the world if we could just own up to our own shortcomings and forgive ourselves in the process.”
Such deep and thoughtful reflection has been a hallmark of Lambring’s work from the very beginning. Born and raised in Indiana, she got her start in Nashville working as a songwriter on Music Row, but after five years of composing for other artists, she asked to be let go from her publishing deal and walked away from the music business entirely. Feeling adrift creatively, she picked up work waiting tables at a restaurant and quit writing for an entire year until a regular customer—legendary songwriter Tom Douglas—encouraged her to return to her craft, this time for herself.
“It felt like my creativity had been rehabbed during that time away from the music industry,” Lambring recalls. “Writing for myself allowed me to say what I wanted to say, to sing about what felt important to me, and that changed everything.”

Michael Jones will also join us.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/22 - Jodi and Evie
2024-05-22 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
East Tennessee’s Own Evie Andrus & Jodi Harbin join us this day.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/23 – Grace Humphries / Hollow Turtle
2024-05-23 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
From Buddy Holly to Beyonce, Texas has always boasted more than its share of musical talent, but it’s incredibly rare to run across a bona fide prodigy. But that, indubitably, is just what songwriter Grace Humphries is. The Hill Country-based 16-year- old is already effortlessly writing shockingly well-crafted songs that artists twice her age would envy.
It started early, with baby Grace humming in her crib as an infant and piano lessons followed at age 5, though the young musician is mostly self-taught. Her mother, a Texas native, and Liverpool, UK expat father, were astounded with their daughters early-emerging talents and encouraged her creativity at every turn. Grace and her older brother Liam bonded through music in Ramona, California, where they were raised until Liam’s devastating brain cancer diagnosis. When Grace was 8 and Liam was just 10, the family lost Liam and relocated to the Texas Hill Country. In the years that followed, Grace began channeling her feelings into music and soon knew exactly what she wanted to do in life.
Today Grace is constantly creating music, in and out of the studio. She hears the melodies in her head at school and at home, where she gets her ideas down via her small home studio.
Driven by the natural determination and focus of a true born artist as well as from the sense of loss she has experienced in her few short years, Grace creates music to express the joy, fragility and beauty of life as well and uses that music to connect to others. And even at the age of 16 she knows exactly what she wants. “I just want to be happy doing what I love: storytelling and performing,” she explains. “Writing music that is meaningful and connects with people in a very real way.”

Hollow Turtle is a folk/bluegrass band out of Warren, RI made up of James and Joseph Cappelletti.

The WDVX Big Plate - 5/24 - Jay Clark
2024-05-24 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
Although Jay Clark went to college for 11.5 years and has a PhD in wildlife ecology, he somehow ended up striking a balance between careers in music & science. Jay grew up in Winchester, Tennessee, near where the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau crosses from Tennessee into Alabama. His dad was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister for 42 years. His mom an English teacher. Church played a huge roll in Jay’s upbringing. It was in the church where Jay learned to sing & in the mountains where he felt closest to God. Jay wrote his first song in 1990. He didn’t know how to play guitar, so he taught himself to play in order to put music to his first song. That song was the first of many.
Jay has been a staple in the East Tennessee music scene for more than 20 years. During his college years, Jay not only trapped & conducted research on black bears in the Smokies, but also played in a couple of different bluegrass bands, most notably a brother-style duo with Keith Garrett (currently of The Boxcars) and later in a bluegrass band, The Stringbeans, with Robinella and Cruz Contreras (currently of The Black Lillies). Since releasing his first record in 2004 (Pen to Paper), Jay has supplemented his career as a scientist with performing his songs across the Southeast & southern Appalachia. Presently, Jay plays a number of his shows with his band, Jay Clark & the Tennessee Tree Beavers, which features Greg Horne on lead guitar & Daniel Kimbro on upright bass. Jay recently released his fifth recording, Of Mountains & Heartbreak (2016). He still uses the other side of his brain as an adjunct professor in the Biology Department at Maryville College. Jay resides in the foothills of the Smokies on 31.5 acres in Rockford, TN, with his wife, Stacy, and their pack of rescue hounds.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/25 - Rebecca Lee Daniels / Brett Carlisle
2024-05-25 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
From the heart of the blue ridge mountains in Johnson City, Tennessee, Rebecca Lee Daniels combines influences of modern bluegrass and classic country with her Appalachian roots to create a nostalgic and captivating Americana sound.
Rebecca just finished out an incredible 2023 – with highlights including two songs from her debut EP In Full Bloom receiving airplay on legendary 650 WSM radio, making her national television debut on Coffee, Country, & Cody, making her AMERICANAFEST debut in a showcase alongside incredible artists including Katie Pruitt, Moon Taxi, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Grace Bowers, an artist residency with Opry Entertainment Group every Saturday at the Nashville International Airport, and as mentioned, releasing her debut EP in September which has just crossed into 20,000 total streams!

Brett Carlisle brings Soulful Outlaw Style. Country and Southern Rock.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/27 - Stella Prince
2024-05-27 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Described by Nashville Scene as the artist “carrying the banner for a new generation of folk musicians”, Stella’s goal is to bring folk music to a new generation, describing her sound as “Gen Z Folk”. She recently made history as the youngest performer at this year’s Tin Pan South. This past year has been a breakthrough for Stella. In the past six months, Stella was invited to perform a showcase at Showing Roots, Ireland’s Folk Conference, finished a sold-out tour of the UK, where she was the youngest performer in history to headline multiple venues, sold out Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Cafe, was invited to perform in the prestigious Song Suffragettes showcase at The Listening Room in Nashville, was featured on WSM Radio’s “Coffee, Country, and Cody” with Kelly Sutton and Bill Cody, FOX’s “Rock and Review”, and NBC’s “Today in Nashville” to promote her new EP. Stella’s EP was recently named one of the “Best Albums of 2024” by No Depression. The lead single off the EP, “Two Faced”, which shot to #2 on the NACC Folk Charts, is the only standalone single to reach this milestone. Stella’s EP became the #2 Most Downloaded record across ALL GENRES, the only folk album, solo female performer, and one of the only independent releases to do so, charting in the Top 20 on the Alt Country Charts. It was also played on BBC and NPR’s “All Songs Considered”. Stella started Nashville’s only all-female Folk showcase sponsored by Change the Conversation, taking place once a month at The Underdog in East Nashville, and brought it to New York City, Boston, Maine, Connecticut, Berkeley CA, and London, England. The showcase was also a part of AmericanaFest. Stella was first runner up for the 2024 John Cirillo Songwriting Award, and winner of the 2023 Folk Alliance First Timers Scholarship. Her EP charted well on the Americana Albums Chart, Alternative Country Charts, and the Folk Alliance International Charts, and has been played on over 100 radio stations internationally. Her music videos have received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and have received support from outlets such as CMT, Ditty TV, Heartland, and The Country Network. She has co-written with pros such as Steve Dean (Dolly Parton, Reba, George Strait), Lynn Chater (Tanya Tucker, Ann Murray, Jo Dee Messina), & Brent Baxter (Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum). She currently resides in Nashville, TN.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/28 - Tyler Tisdale / Sahara Moon
2024-05-28 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Tyler Tisdale’s roots may be deep in the heart of the South, but the geographical area in which the wildly-talented singer/songwriter calls home hardly defines him as a performer.
After spending the last several years fronting Midnight Revel, a five-piece power jam band whose 2018 genre-bending album was named “Album of the Year’ by Signature Magazine, Tyler has returned to his roots with an acoustic guitar in hand and a new solo effort that is catching waves throughout the region.
Although Tyler’s powerful, but precise voice long ago earned him the reputation of having one of the biggest voices in the South, his new songs are creating a buzz all over again. With the help of Steve Azar, Tyler released “She’s The One” (9/9/21), “The Things They Want Me To Do” (10/21/21) , “Burden Or A Heavy Load” (12/ 2/21), “High” (1/28/22) and the album title track, “If It’s All The Same To You” (4/29/22).
The full album was released on May 13, 2022 with live shows that weekend at 320 Fifth Street in his home state of Mississippi and 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville.

Sahara Moon is a singer-songwriter and artist who comes from the coastal region of New Jersey and is currently based in Nashville. Her soulful vocals blend “the classic seventies vibe” with a modern feel. With an eclectic sound, Moon’s style of music is an Uptown Americana with an influence of jazz, folk, and blues; similar to Norah Jones. She has shared the stage with Gabe Dixon, Blackberry Smoke, The Marshall Tucker Band, Robert Cray, Stephen Kellogg, Billy Currington amongst others and has performed for notable festivals such as Let’s Go! Music Festival, Mayday Music Festival, and Americanafest.
Moon released three single releases in 2023. Her recent collaboration of Coldplay’s “Clocks” with Alex Baker has reached over three million streams. She released her debut “Worthy” EP in 2020 which features “Everything Will Be Alright” and “Beauty In A Rose.” Her debut single, “New York” was released in 2018.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/29 - Brittany Bishop
2024-05-29 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Brittany Bishop grew up a barefoot kid on The Poor Fork ranch deep in the heart of Texas. The soundtrack to her childhood consisted of country greats such as Hank Williams Sr. and George Strait playing by her crib each night. She picked up the guitar at age 14, inspired by the love of country crooners her mother had instilled in her. By age 16 she was already touring with a western swing band, and from the first bar stage she set foot on she knew she would pursue that feeling forever. She finished high school while traveling to shows from El Paso to Quitaque, and everywhere in between. During this time she performed on bills with artists including Cody Jinks, The Charlie Daniels Band, Jamey Johnson, and Leon Russell. She is a regular act at The Underdog in Nashville, along with other accolades like performing at the Women in Music City Awards in a tribute to Lauren Alaina.
She left home in 2015, determined to make a life for herself and her songs in Nashville. She became a regular act at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Broadway and cut her teeth performing 5 nights a week. The concrete jungle of downtown Nashville made her yearn for the dry Texas wind, and she began writing songs to transport her there.
Collaborating with Grammy- nominated producer Bobby Holland, Brittany is set to release her debut record Shadow of the Valley in the coming months. The album chronicles the highs and lows of her time living honky tonk to honky tonk. Described as an “old soul” Bishop takes you through her experiences in love, loss, struggle, and triumph. “I want my songs to feel like someone finally sees you and is with you through your struggle. My favorite artists have given me that friendship through songs, which is what I want to be for others,” Bishop says. Join her as she invites you into her world, from a crowded dive bar stage in Nashville, to the breathtaking quiet of the West Texas plains.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 5/30 - Farewell Friend / Colebrook Road
2024-05-30 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Hailing from the cornfields of Indiana and now residing in Greensboro, North Carolina, front man and singer/songwriter Tom Troyer’s eclectic style traverses folk, rock and blues. Farewell Friend‘s music resonates with authenticity, vulnerability, and an unwavering commitment to the power of poetic storytelling. Their sound is a delicate avalanche of sonic texture – a presentation of recognizable and distorted folk and Americana forms. Tom’s exceptional talent shines through in all three albums, which he produced, wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered. The live band lineup may vary, but Evan Campfield on upright bass has been a consistent presence since 2016, while Zac Covington, Caleb Baer, Alan Barnosky often contribute their skills for live performances and as session musicians on recordings.​
Troyer’s musical prowess extends beyond his role as a frontman and songwriter. He cut his teeth musically by performing with The Collection, contributing with multiple instruments and vocals in the recording of their album “Ars Moriendi.” In 2018, Troyer began honing his music engineering skills and started Black Rabbit Audio, a music production studio in Greensboro, NC, and has produced over 18 albums (and counting). This experience has honed his technical skills and deepened his understanding of the intricacies of sound, allowing him to bring out the best in both his own music and that of other artists. Additionally, Troyer has dedicated his talents to We Carry Kevan, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about disabilities and promotes creative solution to redefine accessiblity. Through their travels, Tom Troyer has personally carried Kevan Chandler, the organization’s advocate, to iconic destinations such as Paris, Skellig Michael, and the Great Wall of China, showcasing their commitment to breaking barriers and fostering inclusivity.​
With his multifaceted background, Tom Troyer has developed a unique perspective on music and storytelling. His introspective lyrics and soul-stirring melodies create a powerful connection with audiences, delving into themes of identity, resilience, and the human condition. Farewell Friend’s discography showcases Troyer’s musical journey, from his debut album “Lineage” – a conceptual exploration of generational stories – to the autobiographical introspection of “[Samson]” and the conflicts of gentrification in the EP “Glenwood and Gomorrah.”​
Farewell Friend, blends rock and folk in their upcoming album, “The Silent Years,” set for Spring 2024. Troyer shares an intimate journey, exploring grief, depression, and anxiety. Their music, which lives at the crossroads where The National and Wilco meet The War On Drugs and Sufjan Stevens, carves out its own territory through Troyer’s original melodies and introspective lyrics, to say nothing of the multitudinous conversation one hears in the jazz-gestures of the rhythm section.
The Silent Years, the band’s fourth album, ups the ante on that early work and offers a sublime exploration of sickness, grief, and the relationship between a dying mother and her son. This finely wrought and heartbreaking concept album immerses the listener in a play divided into acts, as well as the story of a body and a culture breaking down.
The culmination of a decade’s work, The Silent Years showcases the range of Troyer’s talents as a vocalist and musician. Troyer’s sensibility, according to critic M.C. Armstrong, is “uncanny, generous, and subversive,” and these qualities can be discerned throughout the thirteen songs of The Silent Years, but there’s something more here. Troyer and Farewell Friend have come through the grief and on the other side have delivered a cathartic and transcendent work of art that defies genre.

Keeping a band together and continuing to grow is a difficult task, but Colebrook Road has done just that, staying true to their bluegrass vision for a decade and a half. After creating four studio albums, touring coast to coast, and surviving the crushing blow of the pandemic, the band seeks to find new audiences and make new music all the while remembering where they came from.
With two albums in the top ten on the Billboard Music Chart in 2019 and 2021, a nomination for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Momentum Band Award in 2020, and a radio chart topping single in 2019, the band has worked hard to gain national notoriety.
Based out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and comprised of lead singer, guitar picker and songwriter Jesse Eisenbise, upright bassist and tenor vocalist Jeff Campbell, mandolin player Wade Yankey, fiddle player, songwriter and baritone vocalist Joe McAnulty, and banjoist and bass vocalist Mark Rast, they continue to hone their skills through a strong connection of friendship and a love of all things music.
Colebrook Road has developed a sound of their own centered in original songwriting, new interpretations, intricate arrangement, and unbridled improvisation, with a nod to the innovators who came before. It is obvious to any audience that the band shares a joy in making music together, and has worked hard on improving over time.

The WDVX Big Plate - 5/31 - Steep Canyon Rangers
2024-05-31 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
Heralds of the Carolina sound for more than two decades, Steep Canyon Rangers find themselves in a unique seat at the table for their new release, Morning Shift, released September 8, 2023. On this record, the GRAMMY-winners tell stories that both honor their roots, and expand upon the living art of bluegrass music, all while solidifying their reputation as some of the most influential songwriters in Americana today.
The Steep Canyon Rangers recently recorded their 14th studio album in Bat Cave, NC, at the Hickory Nut Gap Inn, a historical refuge settled near a long-forgotten crossroads of Southern Appalachia. Much like the story of bluegrass music, the conversations surrounding this area are shared, fluid, and greatly affected by a simple matter of perspective. This was the perfect space to feel confident in expanding upon that Carolina sound, the perfect runway to let their well-oiled machine do what it does best- craft stories from the ground up, as a unit.
Graham Sharp writes of similar fluidity on the album’s opening track, “Hominy Valley,” a moving story about the layers of human history in his West Asheville neighborhood.
“It’s not just a shared history, but a living history. Nothing is stamped and finished.” said Sharp, also likening this to the Rangers’ musical journey over the years. “We’re a product of who the band was in the past as well as who we want to be in the present and future. This recording session felt really good, because there was no pressure to be anything but ourselves in that moment. It was important that we came in without any preordained expectations about what kind of record this would be, and Darrell Scott was the perfect producer to provide guidance from an open perspective. ”
With a sure hand at the wheel was the distinguished Darrell Scott, whom the Rangers put full faith in to navigate the waters of producing their most important record to date. “It was like going to recording camp,” said Scott, “We ate together, we stayed at the Inn together the whole time, and we recorded. Going about it that way made for a very organic record. We had a great engineer with Dave Sinko, who could in essence create a studio space in a rustic, historic home.”
Hailing from both the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of North Carolina, the Rangers have long held traditional bluegrass paramount, while possessing an exceptional ability to bring it down the mountain, and to incorporate accessible influence from all walks of the region. With the band’s last few albums, they have gained recognition from well beyond the world of bluegrass, earning a reputation as some of the most influential songwriters in Americana today.
Newcomer to this ship, Aaron Burdett, brings a soul-stirring element to the Rangers’ mastery of mountain music. Burdett is an award-winning singer-songwriter, and a student of folk tradition. He provides a fresh, emotional context to the songbook, which “can reach out and touch your heart or slap you in the face,” to use the praise of drummer and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Ashworth.
“I’ve always loved traditional Old Time and Bluegrass, and the concept of neo-traditional re-visitations and interpretations of those styles.” says Burdett about the track “Above My Burdens.”
“Once I started singing with the Rangers,” continues Burdett, “I saw an opportunity to try to write some songs for the band that brought in the traditional sounds and structures that I grew up hearing here in western North Carolina.”
A thoughtful approach to collaboration, ironclad creative trust, and a collective drive towards authentic storytelling, makes for not only a quintessential Rangers record, but a modern North Carolina classic.
Steep Canyon Rangers is made up of Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar, and vocals.
Over the band’s esteemed career, the three-time Grammy nominees have released 14 studio albums, three collaborative albums with actor and banjoist Steve Martin, been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, and appeared on some of music’s biggest stages. In 2013, Nobody Knows You won the GRAMMY Award for Best Bluegrass Album, while 2012’s Rare Bird and 2020’s North Carolina Songbook garnered nominations in the same category.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/1 - The Shade Trees / Meredith Rounsley
2024-06-01 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Shade Trees are a bluegrass/country/folk duet group based out of Chattanooga, TN. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Seth Hicks and Jessica Whaley. Both members were born and raised in Georgia. We started our collaboration in 2018 when we both started jamming some tunes in the lobby area of a local Georgia music store at the time. Since then we have curated a setlist consisting of a variety of styles and genres. Performing anything from bluegrass standards like Are you missing me by Jim and Jesse, to old rock hits like Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) by The Hollies, we have worked to create a large, full band sound with only two musicians on the stage.

Nashville based artist Meredith Rounsley makes indie pop music balanced on the knife edge of introspection and growth. Taking inspiration from powerhouses like Feist, KT Tunstall, and Maggie Rogers, Meredith twists up her singer-songwriter roots with driving, playful instrumentation. Meredith grew up in rural Maryland on a mixture of soul, gospel, and top 40 radio. After a move to Nashville to expand her sound, she released the four track project, Ember, in 2021. Ember was met with warm local reception with the single “Let Somebody Love You” premiering on Lightning 100’s the615 .
Since then, Meredith has been building a name for herself in the New Nashville music scene, bringing her commanding stage presence and engaging live performance to staple venues like The Basement and The East Room.
Meredith is ready to push her own musical boundaries again with her new project, Soft Animals, Strong Chemicals. “My favorite artists take me with them right up to the cliff edge of their doubt and hope and curiosity,” Meredith explains. “I decided with this project to be brave enough to join them.” Soft Animals, Strong Chemicals is out now.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/3 - Josh Merritt / Kirby Lyle
2024-06-03 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Taken from his forthcoming semi-autobiographical country concept / breakup record, 206, Josh Merritt‘s new single “Give It to Me” is an upbeat country rocker about seeing the first flashes of red flags in a new relationship that is fast turning into trouble. In the song, you can hear Merritt plead in vain with his significant other to lose the passive aggressive tendencies and just be honest, straightforward and unguarded.
“I wrote ‘Give It to Me’ in the middle of a previous relationship,” he says. “It deals with that toxic relationship, the healing on the other side of it, and the growth in between. Really, I made a record about a page out of my diary. It’s not meant to be vindictive toward the other person; I’m just telling a story about how I felt in those moments, and hoping somebody can relate—I think that’s really the big job of being a songwriter.”
“Give It to Me”—and the rest of 206—was co-produced, engineered and mixed by Zach Kasik, whose credits include Old Crow Medicine Show and Jamey Johnson’s platinum-selling That Lonesome Song. “Zach really brings a lot of passion to his work,” Merritt says. “When he’is feeling the songs and is really into a project, you could be in the studio for 18 hours, battery on zero—suddenly something cool happens and he’s jumping up and down in his seat right along with you. Working in Nashville, where there’s tons of music being recorded every day, and everybody’s seen and done it all, it’s a rare thing to find a producer who cares as much as Zach.”
The new single features Merritt on acoustic guitar and vocals, Nashville session wizard Jack Ruch on lead guitar, Chris Hatfield of Music City Dueling Pianos on organ, and Merrit’s trusted rhythm section of Sterling Miller Chris Lee on bass and drums, respectively, both of whom hail from Merritt’s hometown of Owensboro, Kentucky.
The music video for “Give It To Me” has its roots in a trip Merritt took to the infamous Stanley Hotel in Estes, Colorado, a landmark made famous in Kubrick’s classic film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. “I visited the Stanley a few months ago, and watched The Shining for the first time,” Merritt says. “I was just blown away by it and became obsessed. I started thinking about ‘Give It to Me’ and how it would be cool to twist the plot of the movie, where this guy is slowly going mad from isolation. I had the idea to role switch and have the female be the lead, and to have the couple’s relationship driving things. Once we started filming the video, it of course took on a life of its own, and went in a direction that more closely relates to the story of the song, but the influence of The Shining still comes through.”
The three-digit title of Merritt’s new album has a special, almost mystical meaning for him, a symbolism that delves deep into numerology. “As long as she could remember, 206 was a number my ex would see everywhere,” Merritt explains. “From the beginning, on some of our first dates, she’d point it out on the receipt or wherever else it would pop up. As our relationship went on, it just became a normal thing. The number 206 seemed to follow her everywhere.”
Years later, after the relationship had ended, Merritt was on tour and met a woman who did palm readings. She asked if there were any numbers that followed him or seemed significant in his life. When he mentioned 206, it caught his new psychic friend’s attention. “She told me that 206 means you’re in a moment of time where you need to realize there’s room for learning and growth,” Merritt says. “Looking back, it’s interesting because that whole relationship on my end and my partner’s end was about growth—I learned a lot from it as I’m sure she did too. And all of the songs I’d been working on leading up to the new album, they all stemmed from that relationship. The best way I could think to sum up the whole story of that chapter in my life and this set of songs was the number 206.”
A native of Owensboro, Kentucky, Josh Merritt is an artist steeped in Heartland culture. In 2020, he released his debut studio album, Reynolds Station, a stirring collection of autobiographical songs that recount his tumultuous childhood in the clutches of rural America’s amphetamine epidemic. The album garnered praise from outlets such as American Songwriter, Country Rebel, The Bluegrass Situation, Americana UK & more, as Merritt opened shows for everyone from Hank Williams Jr and Charlie Daniels to Corey Smith and Colt Ford.
In between releasing Reynolds Station and recording 206, Merritt has used the time to hone his craft in front of live audiences. “We’ve been keeping the wheels hot, that’s for sure,” Merritt says. “It’s been three years of running up and down the road. We’ve been all over the Southeast and Midwest, I’ve played Chicago a whole lot, and I also did an acoustic tour all through Texas. I play about four shows a week every week. It’s been pretty much nonstop.”
Reflecting on the period in his life that inspired 206, while looking ahead to the future, Merritt is seeing life in a positive light. “Everything I wrote about in this new record is behind me, it’s in the past,” he says. “I’m a different person now, and I’m sure my ex is a different person now, too. All of this happened three or four years ago. I’m engaged to someone else now and living a very happy life. It’s been the best year of my life, so far as family and love and all that goes. From where I’m at, 206 feels less like digging up bones and more like the story of an important step along the path to the person and place I am now.”

Kirby Lyle is a Nashville based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. He infuses musical passions with a blend of acoustic folk, alternative, and Americana. His work is rich in harmony, original melodies, and lyrics that are both poetic and relevant.
His solo debut EP, Down in Nashville- Songs from the Rounds, is a heartfelt acoustic album that traverses themes of love, joy, hope, addiction and mental health. This collection showcases Lyle’s mastery over solo guitar, banjo, and ukulele complimented by the lush vocal harmonies familiar to anyone who has seen him perform at Nashville’s esteemed songwriters’ rounds .
Having embraced sobriety since 2021, Lyle credits music with not only saving his life, but for perpetual inspiration and healing along his journey. His art evokes the genres of 60s folk, 70s rock, 80s metal, 90s pop, and he is also a classically trained cellist, operatic tenor and show choir enthusiast.
Lyle’s career has spanned over thirty years. His music has been heard on the radio and MTV. He’s performed around the country and in hallowed spaces like Carnegie Hall in NYC and in Europe- the Cathedral of Notre Dame. He was a mainstay in the Chicago folk scene for over a decade, and even gained some notoriety in midwestern talent searches in the 90s…

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/4 - Cigar Box Serenaders
2024-06-04 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Cigar Box Serenaders are an upcycled musical instrument band from New Orleans, LA. Their instruments can’t be found in a music store: you’ll see and hear cigar box guitars, tin can banjos, dresser drawer basses, found sound trash kits, electrical pipe vibraphones, and more! The band plays an eclectic mix of funk, swing, and blues, performing songs by The Meters, Thelonious Monk, as well as original compositions. The band currently has two albums out: “Cigar Box Serenaders” and “Sounds Like Garbage Live!”. The band is a featured artist at the annual Samantha Fish Cigar Box Guitar Fest in New Orleans.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/5 - Hanne Kah / SONIA disappear fear
2024-06-05 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
KAH, this name stands for innovation, creativity, and artistic freedom. Born into a cosmopolitan family, Hanne Kah has always been surrounded by a multitude of cultural influences that have shaped her perspective on the world. Her musical journey began in her early years, supported by dear ones in her environment who always provided her with a strong foundation upon which the charismatic singer could unconditionally build.
From a young age, KAH’s extraordinary talent and passion for music became evident. She was, and continues to be, dedicated to pushing her artistic boundaries to explore new paths. As the frontwoman of the fromer band Hanne KAH, she gained recognition and success early on.
For KAH, there are no boundaries in music. Her open view of the world is reflected in her music, which is shaped by a variety of cultural influences. Her cosmopolitan background has taught her that the world’s diversity is a source of inspiration and creative energy. With every note and every lyric, KAH strives to celebrate this diversity.
Through her courage, determination, and artistic integrity, KAH has quickly carved out a solid place in the music world. She is more than just an artist—she is a visionary who understands how to create connections between people through her music and make the world a bit more beautiful. And as her journey continues, KAH remains true to her strong foundation that has accompanied and strengthened her since childhood. Or, in other words:
“TELL ME WHO I AM—always stay true to yourself and live what you feel.”

From a Palestinian Village in Israel to the synagogue in Freudental, Germany to the Sydney Opera House, Americana singer-songwriter SONiA disappear fear has brought her music to audiences across the globe. Having recently completed her 14th tour across Germany, she returns to America with new fans including those from Ukraine, seeking safety in Germany – and is set to begin work on her 23rd album, the aptly-titled 23, and an accompanying autobiography detailing the incredible true story of her remarkable journey as an openly-lesbian artist over the past 35 years – one whose music played a small part in America’s transformation from a society of homosexual repression to one in which gay marriage is legal nations wide. SONiA’s songs, as her name might suggest, disappear fear – light up the hearts of humanity.
“Her songs are a vivid celebration of the human spirit in all its infinite manifestations”, writes Don Kening- Chicago Daily Herald, “her music has a singular sound that makes labeling and categorizing a waste of time.”
SONiA disappear fear is a world class composer and artist. SONiA’s talent of writing in a variety of genres and languages has garnered her a vast following worldwide. SONiA’s double CD LiVE at MAXiMAL was in the first round running Grammy for Folk Album of the Year. Looking at her touring schedule past and future one can trace decades of dedication to various humanitarian and animal rights’ causes. Her 2019 CD By My Silence is in response to the rise of hate and anti-Semitism around the world, while her 2020 compilation Love Out Loud encourages people to embrace their identity while highlighting the ongoing push for LGBT equality. Next up is ALBUM 23 to be released the 23rd of September 2023.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/6 - Carrie Morrison / Jay Gavin
2024-06-06 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Carrie Morrison‘s music will break your heart – in the best way. Melodic and memorable, her songs make connections. The singer/songwriter/pianist, a native of Louisville, Ky., has been playing piano since age seven. She moved to higher ground in 2004, and has been a popular act in the Western N.C. area for more than 15 years. Music has always been part of her life, from a youthful obsession with musicals, to improvisational and classical piano study. Morrison is known for melodically strong songs with personal lyrics, ranging from the deeply emotional to the slightly silly. Her EP “Carolina Blonde” was released in 2013 and produced by the late Terry Wetton. Her album “Miles and Miles” was produced by Chris Rosser, of award-winning ensemble Free Planet Radio, released in 2017. Her EP “The Neverwhere Sisters,” produced by Andrew Thelston and Daniel Nisbet, featuring cellist JamieLeighBennett, was released in 2021. Morrison is currently working on two new recording projects, to be released in 2024. She has had airplay on WTZQ and WNCW, and enjoys collaborations with several local artists onstage and in the studio. She performs solo, in duos with Thelston and Bennett (occasionally with them in a trio), and also is a vocalist and keyboardist in The Andrew Thelston Band. Morrison is a teacher of Exceptional Children and English at a local high school. She is married to Mike, the love of her life, her champion, and best roadie.

Jay Gavin grew up in a tiny close-knit Canadian fishing village on Prince Edward Island where the potato fields are lined by red dirt roads, there isn’t a stop light for 100 miles and the kitchen parties go on for days. He quit school in grade nine more interested in fishing and getting into trouble. His hands worn with the cracks and calluses of hard work tell the story of his years supplementing his musical dreams with sweat labor on fishing boats, tobacco fields, logging camps, construction sites and film sets. Jay was greatly inspired by his uncle, a much heralded and beloved fiddle player in the community. “He’s a great musician and he could play anything,” There was, and still is, a ton of great musicians in Tignish. It certainly had its effect on me!” After years touring North America and recording as a bassist with punk & metal bands like Spawner Record’s Huskavarna, and Texas thrash legends Speedealer, Jay came full circle and returned to his roots in country, folk & bluegrass.
Jay writes and sings songs for fans of real county music and is making a name for his catchy hooks, foot-stomping, autobiographical, everyman songs and good timin’ live shows. The Nashville Songwriters Ass. Intl. named Jay Gavin a writer that’s “One to Watch” in June 2023. At home in Canada, Jay loves hosting regular song circles bringing together the local and touring songwriting community.
Jay’s first full-length Americana album was 2019’s Boat On A Whale co-produced, and engineered by Canadian platinum-certified Jeff Zipp. 2021’s cover of the Conway and Loretta classic “You’re the Reason our Kids are Ugly” a duet with his cousin Shyanne Mae Gaudet was a sleeper hit reaching over 232K spins on YouTube Music. 2022’s Therapy EP, again with the help of Jeff Zipp was a super charged live off-the-floor banger packed with motorcycle themed bluegrassy country-folk. Auto biographical “Got Myself a Harley”, is the standout track and has 38K views for its video. 2023 saw the release of two singles -a cosmic chicken pickin and fuzzed out pedal steel drenched extended version of “Lost in Austin” and “Rhythms & Rhymes” Jay’s ode to John Prine’s “Paradise” packed with heartfelt nostalgia and exuberant adulation.
On the recommendation of Billy Don Burns, Jay drove down to Nashville to meet Grammy-nominated producer Denny Knight (Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty) of the Nashville Music Group to begin his forthcoming album, Road Ready. With Denny producing, Bobby Bradley (JJ Cale, Ween’s country album) engineering and a band of Nashville A-listers like Jeff Williams (June Carter Cash’s Living Circle Band) on guitar, Steve Hinson (George Jones, Randy Travis) on pedal steel and dobro and Deannie Richardson (Vince Gill, Sister Sadie) on fiddle this is sure to be Jay Gavin’s breakout album. From the easy, affable strains of “Maybe It Was Me” and the quietly contemplative “Seen Better Days,” to the folksy amble and south-of-the border sounds of “Mexican Food, Cold Beer & Tattoos” Road Ready already topping the Alt-Country Specialty Radio charts at #1 on 04/03/24 will find listeners doing their fair share of singing along.
A road warrior who toured 5 provinces and 10 states in 2023, sleeping most nights in his van, Jay can’t wait to get back at it in support of the new record. It’s no secret that he likes to have a good time and puts on a hell of a live show offering true country & folk entertainment to hard-working and sometimes remote communities. Whether backed by a full band or stripped down with just his guitar, his live show feels more like a party. You’ll laugh and sing and dance and go home feeling that you’ve made a new friend.

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/7 - Gunning & Cormier
2024-06-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
rTwo of Canada’s greatest roots singer-songwriters have finally done what everybody’s wanted — heck, what they’ve wanted — for years. Dave Gunning and J.P. Cormier are releasing their first album together, called Two. Great friends, frequent collaborators, co-writers and touring partners, the pair has been talking about this album since pretty much the day they met. Now it’s here, and it’s everything fans hoped and dreamed it would be.
The album is called Two because that’s what it is, just the two of them.
“We wanted to keep it simple and honest so we essentially made a 4-track recording, just two guitars and two vocals. Limiting ourselves this way actually helped inspire the arrangements and the performances. It forced us to dig a little deeper.”, says Gunning.
“A lot of artists like us feel compelled to put these massive productions together, and we said we’re not going to do that,” adds Cormier. “We’re going to make this record be that large with only two instruments and two voices. And we did that.”
Two is made up of everything the duo excels at. There are new collaborations between the two writers (Brothers, Home To Mary), new arrangements of antique folk numbers (Johnny Armstrong, Katie o’ the Gowrie), and some tasty, surprising covers (Never Picked Cotton, Stompin’ Tom’s Songbird Valley).
Every song had to meet their very high, combined standards. “We didn’t take it lightly,” confirms Gunning. “We really put our heart into it.”
Gunning & Cormier go back 23 years when Dave had a fiddle player drop out of a show at the last minute. “He hired me for a gig when I was just back from Nashville, nobody knew me here,” says Cormier.
“We were totally blown away by J.P.’s playing,” recalls Gunning. “I remember him saying if you ever do a CD, I want to play on it.” That happened, and much more. They played together and wrote together whenever they could, coming up with songs that graced both their projects, over the years showered with awards and nominations on the East Coast and nationally.
“Dave is such a part of my life,” says Cormier. “Dave is like my family, he’s like a blood relative to me, and he’s always been that way. ” Gunning feels the same way. “Absolutely, we just became fast friends, and we’ve been working together ever since.”
Since they’ve been two of the busiest solo musicians in the country these past two decades, it’s been impossible to schedule time to make a full album and properly tour it. But that all changed three years ago when Cormier moved just down the road from Gunning in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County, and the pair were able to meet often at Gunning’s home studio.
First, they picked some great songs. Then they figured out their guitar parts, and when ready recorded the guitars ‘live-off-the-floor’ simultaneously. Then they recorded their vocals together. This recording technique gave them what they’d hoped for, something unlike their solo albums: The power of Two.
“It actually creates a sympathetic overtone like a third instrument sometimes,” marvels Cormier. “You go, wait a minute, why does it sound like there’s another guitar? You sometimes can’t tell us apart, or sometimes even our vocals you can’t tell apart, which is really weird because our voices are nothing alike, but when we sing together, we have a sibling harmony, we blend like brothers.”
Gunning & Cormier have been playing some select gigs over the past few months, in anticipation of the album’s release. “It seems to be a different kind of response from the audience that I’m not too sure that either of us have experienced be-fore,” says Gunning. “We love singing together, we love playing guitar together, it just works.”
Two is as real as it gets. Two songwriters, interpreters, guitar players, and singers at their peak. It’s the power of the song, the highest quality from the past to the now. It’s two friends, brothers, uncompromising performers, making the album of their lives. There couldn’t be a better time to discover Gunning & Cormier, and the power of Two.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/8 - Grant Langston
2024-06-08 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
For Grant Langston it all started in the tiny town of Hartselle, AL — north Alabama bedroom town focused on family, God and football. Langston grew up with a firm set of lessons in “real” country music. “My dad loved classic country, and I’m not talking about 1960’s and 1970’s, I’m talking the Carter Family, Sons of Pioneers, and guys like Merle Travis. I think when country music got to be about cheating and drinking, my dad was like, “Enough of that!” But it was all around, and learning to play music was also in the water at the Langston house.
“My mom played the piano and sang in the church choir and I really didn’t have any choice in the matter. Church choir at 6. Trombone in the band at 9. Guitar at 10. Piano at 12. It sounds forced, and it was strongly suggested, but I loved it too. REALLY loved it.”
Fast forward 10 years after, a degree from Auburn University and Langston set his sights on making music full-time. He moved to Los Angeles just to time for hair metal. After a stint playing in a variety of sunset strip rock bands and as a sideman for artist showcases, he had moment of crisis. “I was primarily a guitarist for most of the 1990’s – playing in bands and writing rock music for various singers. Once on a drive across country I picked up Nebraska in Pittsburgh and as I drove to New York City I just listened over and over. This is what I want to do. That experience made it clear to me that what I was running from was my past, the country music and the songs that I grew up with.”
He jumped in with both feet. The Los Angeles roots scene was largely hidden from mainstream view, but it was there. Lucinda Williams was breaking out. Randy Weeks, I See Hawks in LA, The Sweethearts of the Rodeo weekly show, and a collection of encouraging fellow players made it a great place to grow and learn. “I just started hanging out and making friends, and playing where ever I could. There were so many shows that a pretty good musician could use to get the reps to get better.”
From there things got very interesting. Four tours of Europe, six records, solo and band tours around the US, videos and music in TV and Film. Today Langston finds himself a veteran of the scene he’s helped nurture for twenty years. “I still believe that for an artist the community is the most important piece of the puzzle. It can be tempting to skulk off to a farm in the country, but it’s the ways you are nurtured and pushed by other artists, that’s where the magic is for me.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/10 - Bubbles Brown / George Ducas
2024-06-10 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
BUBBLES BROWN IS A ONE MAN BLUES BAND, SINGER SONGWRITER, MULTI INSTRUMENTALIST ORIGINALLY FROM FLORIDA NOW BASED AND PERFORMING FULL TIME IN NEW ORLEANS, LA.
IN 2007, HE WOULD SELL EVERYTHING HE OWNED FOR A PLANE TICKET TO CHICAGO, IL TO PURSUE MUSIC. FOR 15 YEARS, HE CUT HIS TEETH ON BLUES AND FOLK IN THE SUBWAYS AS WELL AS ON THE STREETS OF CHICAGO BUSKING. AFTER SEVERAL YEARS, HE MET WASHBOARD BEN AFTER OPENING UP FOR HIS COUNTRY BAND AT A SATURDAY NIGHT HOUSE SHOW. THEY BECAME GOOD FRIENDS. SOON AFTER THE DUO BEGAN PERFORMING AND RECORDING TOGETHER FOR A DECADE. THEY INDEPENDENTLY RELEASED TWO RECORDS WHICH PROPELLED THEM TO RECIEVE LOCAL AND NATIONAL RECOGNITION. THEY OPENED FOR SOME BIG NAMES LIKE THE DOORS WITH ROBBY KRIEGER (AT CITY WINERY CHICAGO), LILLY MAE (AT OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC/SCHUBAS CHICAGO), THE WEEKS, AND SOUTHERN AVENUE (AT LINCOLN HALL CHICAGO). THE DUO WAS ALSO SELECTED TO BE MUSICIAN IN RESIDENCE FOR 2 WEEKS IN SPRING GREEN, WI. THIS WOULD BE A BOOKEND FOR THE DUO WHERE AFTER THE TWO WENT SEPARATE WAYS.
IN 2021, BUBBLES LEFT CHICAGO TO HIT THE ROAD SOLO WHERE HE SHOWCASED HIS UNIQUE ONE MAN BLUES BAND ENCOMPASSING ALL OF THE MUSICAL NUANCE HE HAD LEARNED OVER THE YEARS. HE TRAVELLED FROM DULUTH TO MIAMI SHOWCASING HIS INCREDIBLE SKILLS EVENTUALLY SETTLING IN NEW ORLEANS WHERE HE IS NOW A RESIDENT MUSICIAN STREET PERFORMING IN THE FRENCH QUARTER AND CONTINUES TO TOUR THE COUNTRY. HE CAN BE FOUND PLAYING WEEKLY AT THE APPLE BARREL BAR ON THE WORLD FAMOUS MUSIC ROW, FRENCHMEN STREET.
FROM MISSISSIPPI HILL COUNTRY TRANCE, BOTTLENECK SLIDE GUITAR, HOT JAZZ, R&B, GOSPEL,SOUL, COUNTRY TO APPALACHIAN CLAWHAMMER BANJO. HE TOOK MUSICAL INFLUENCES FROM ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE, DIGESTED THEM,AND PRODUCED A SOUND TOTALLY UNIQUE, INSPIRINGLY FRESH, AND THOROUGHLY COMPELLINNG. WELL TRAVELED, WELL RESPECTED, AND WELL LOVED, BUBBLES BROWN’S LEAN, ARCHAIC SETUP EVOKE THE HOME-SPUN, KITCHEN-SINK AESTHETIC WHILE BLENDING INTO IT AN AGGRESSIVE AND MODERN ELECTRICITY TO CREATE A SOUND AT-ONCE BOTH NOSTALGIC AND DISTINCTLY PROGRESSIVE. THE BUBBLES BROWN SOUND DEFIES EXPECTATIONS, AND HIS RICH AND REVERENT BRAND OF MUSIC GREATLY EXCEEDS THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.

It isn’t often when a country singer has the rock-solid guts of Dust Bowl reveries, the jacked-up locomotion of the early Bakersfield country sound and the more modern-minted energy of Los Angeles’ honky-tonk hijinks all rolled into one righteous attack. But that’s George Ducas‘ soul to share. On his new album, LONG WAY FROM HOME, there is a distinct feeling of a new history being born. Maybe that’s because Ducas is able to seamlessly connect all those elements with such a natural flair that it can be a bit overwhelming when the sound is flying at full-tilt.
On his previous albums it was obvious that something serious has always been happening with the man’s music. It could be felt in the rhythms the songs featured, in the lyrics of someone who takes songwriting seriously, and maybe most of all in the voice of an all-time great country music singer. Ducas has had multipleBillboard chart hits of his own, including the breakout Top 10 “Lipstick Promises,” and has even written hit records for all-timers like George Jones, Garth Brooks, The (“Dixie”) Chicks, and Trisha Yearwood and been nominated for a Grammy Award, but he’s never made an album like LONG WAY FROM HOME.
Now, teaming with Platinum producer/guitar player Pete Anderson, it is as if everything has coalesced into an undeniable force which happens once or twice a decade in country music. George Ducas is now that person moving the sound forward while always respecting what has come before him. His life and his vision have come together to create anew achievement bound to cross new borders, and so out of Los Angeles, California, the journey begins with LONG WAY FROM HOME.
The Texan, born in Galveston, lived in Texas City until the age of five with his parents, then moved to Southern California with his mother and his sister. Even at a young age, the boy felt the pull of music. His first original song, “Women and Whiskey,” was written when the pre-teen was 11 or 12, and was inspired by what George Ducas thought might be on a Willie Nelson album. “I was not real sure what I knew about either of those subjects at the time, but I totally understood where it would fit in what I was listening to.”​
Most artists, no matter how young, start with their earliest influences to flip on the light and show them the door to what might be their future. Early events are everything when a singer-songwriter begins, and in George Ducas’ case, he had the prime originators of some of the best country music of all time. It wasn’t long before the young man was standing on stages with some of those influences. “Willie Nelson’s songs taught me song structure, and one of his live shows was my first concert. One year early on, I got to go see Willie’s New Year’s Eve show in Houston. It was inspirational to this Galveston-born, California-infused, cowboy boot-wearing kid. I walked out of the building that night imagining what it would feel like to be playing on that stage. Years later, I actually did, there at the Summit in Houston, in my second show as a signed artist on Capitol Records, opening for Alan Jackson.” That’s the kind of thing that not only thrills a young musician but also shows them how the world of music works, and gives them something to strive for. That has been one of the most important things a young Ducas learned.
“I moved to Nashville when I realized there are no ‘do overs’ in this life,” Ducas says. “Somehow I found myself in Atlanta working a 9-5 job, and I’d hustle off to a club to play an acoustic show a couple of nights a week, writing songs on the weekend. I realized I was just surviving all day on the job so that I could live with some passion on those nights and weekends performing.”
That’s when things started to change, and the young musician made a living playing in the bars and occasional private parties. “Fairly quickly, I had a Top 10 hit that I co-wrote with Radney Foster, and that gained me some attention and fast-tracked things to a publishing deal,” he says. Country music legend Jimmy Bowen showed up at the pool hall where Ducas played and offered him a recording contract. It wasn’t long before he had a few of his own Billboard hits on the radio, first with “Teardrops” and then the breakout Top 10 hit “Lipstick Promises,” and one of his tunes found its way onto The (then “Dixie”) Chicks’ 15-million-selling WIDE OPEN SPACES album. George Ducas had found a recording career the old-fashioned way: working his way up.​
Once the wheels really started turning for this country singer-songwriter, like in many cases, it seemed like all things were possible. Which to an extent is true, but also like so many stories there are thousands of hours of hard work and endless events that keep a new artist hoping for their next break. George Ducas worked for and managed to find some of those breaks when his songs would be recorded by George Jones, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and a number of others.
Even with that, maybe the most important break of all is now, teaming with producer Pete Anderson, who decided to record Ducas’ new album LONG WAY FROM HOME. Known for his work with Americana greats Lucinda Williams and Jim Lauderdale as well as his multi-platinum productions of Dwight Yoakam’s albums, Anderson is someone who is as much a star-spotter as any recent producer in country music. When he saw and heard George Ducas, he knew he was looking at the future. And he made sure he would be producing the new songs. “This album plants a flag for California country and the Bakersfield and Texas honky-tonks,” Anderson says. “Every track is a monument—and this album is monumental.” That is the highest praise possible from someone who absolutely knows whereof he speaks.​
For George Ducas, this is the music he was born to make. And he knows it. “My opportunity to work with Pete Anderson on this album is definitely a major highlight. Beyond the work, we also have a bond that goes beyond the making of a record together. I’ve looked up to Pete’s abilities as both a producer and a guitar player since I was probably 19 or 20 years old, and not just in country music. The blues infusion he imparts on country records and on his own guitar playing is tangible, palpable. It’s what separates him from the rest. Working on this album, it reminded me that the goal is always trying to get it right. It’s what makes me feel alive. I’m just going to keep growing and learning, which hopefully is what we are all doing. I’m still that lost kid from Texas and California. I’m trying my best to appreciate the journey.”
In looking at how to capture in words what his own music is striving for, George Ducas says it best himself: “I wanted the songs I wrote for this album to be what would happen if ’67 Merle Haggard met up maybe with the ’74 Eagles in L.A., and they hit it off and decide to play a show at Gilley’s in Pasadena (Texas) in 1981.” That’s saying a lot, which is exactly what this man has been able to do on his new unforgettable album LONG WAY FROM HOME.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/11 - C4 / Sun Child
2024-06-11 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Sun Child joins us this day.

C4 joins us this day as well.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/12 - Andrew David Weber / Amelia White
2024-06-12 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Andrew David Weber is a multi-instrumentalist who splits his time primarily between St. Louis, Missouri and Southeastern Wisconsin. Though most of his recorded works showcase him on all instruments and lead vocals, he is also a known collaborator and session recording artist.
Outside of the studio, Weber takes on various roles in a number of national and international acts, even having shared stages with well known and respected artists such as Dropkick Murphys, The Mahones, Dave Grohl and Joan Jett. He switches between drums, keys and guitar with celtic rockers Whiskey of the Damned, and can also can be found playing blistering punk rock sets on lead guitar and vocals with the Milwaukee based American Progress.
It doesn’t stop there. While maintaining life as a family man, Weber also somehow finds time to take the stage with an 80’s hit tribute group known as Mixtape on vocals, and functions as a touring drummer for the larger than life Sam Ness.
Recently, Andrew has also been writing and producing songs with Liam Kyle Cahill, a well known Nevada based singer and songwriter who has launched a new project with Weber called “Part Time Problems” in which the two trade off vocal duties as Weber swims between guitar, keys, mandolin and banjo.
As of 2023, Andrew David Weber is proud to officially endorse Breedlove Guitars and is hard at work on what will be his 5th studio release!

Amelia White:
And there you have the greatest couplet in history that encapsulates a musicians’ road life. The hazards, fatigue, poverty, all that’s endured just so you can get up in front of people and play your songs. The icy-wing tale “Get to the Show” is a nicely loose rocking paean to the job as a troubadour. “No matter where you are, there’s always somewhere else to go.”, she sings, and she nails it.
Her extraordinary new release “Love I Swore” coming out on 31 Tigers FEB of 2024 is both bracing and sweet. The songs crafted meticulously by producer (and performer in her own right) Kim Richey, who brings out musicality and copious golden backing vocals. The record is like a quilt in which every square sewn on is a variation from the one next to it. There is some rock and roll, some catchy pop, good country and also a brooding intensity when such is called for.
On “Love I Swore”, whether Amelia White lyrically deals with loneliness, bears deep down about relationships, learns how love is hard work, gives the middle finger to the soul-sucking marriage-killing road life, there is a tongue wedged ever so slightly into her cheek and the record is leavened with lots of simple happiness itself and pure love with no agenda. The partnership with Kim has turned out a record so tuneful, so damn catchy, it’s a war story where joy wins out. With Kim Richey’s forte in vocal harmonies and her extensive knowledge of the structures of what makes a great song, Amelia was fertile ground and Kim worked a mean plow. Without a compromise of Amelia’s honest integrity, “Love I Swore” is, dare say it, accessible. Non-Americana civilians might even warm to this one. Dare to dream.
“It’s funny,” Amelia says, “but for me, I’ve been in a long relationship, and I wrote this record in a period where I thought I was going to lose that relationship. So, there’s that theme, keeping love going when you’re having to re-meet each other every time I return home. I have this great idea, halfway houses where partners can come over and visit us traveling musicians in there and as we get reacquainted with real life.”
Kim says, “Roger Nichols engineered it, and is a major part of the whole record. We made the record in Roger’s studio, which is about as big as somebody’s living room, with one isolation booth. We were jam packed in there. There’s one booth, so we had the drums in there, and all the rest of us were sitting in the control room with roger. it was cozy.” She laughs.
“We went through a whole bunch and decided which songs for the record,” Kim says, “and I think that’s Amelia’s strongest thing is the songwriting. It wasn’t done quickly. A lot of hours were put into the record, especially with Roger and I. And Amelia was really amenable to reworking the songs if we needed to.” They also had some great musicians to goose along such proceedings: Doug Lancio on guitar, Mark Pisapia on drums, Billy Harvey on bass and Amelia cutting loose with her own acoustic and electric guitars.
Choice tunes abound, but to single some out we can go with “Beautiful Dream” which sounds like one and coins the musician’s motto, “It’s hard to wake up to the setting sun.” The captivating jangle of a mandolin and guitar with gorgeous voices of “Don’t You Ever Forget”, the murky minor-key title track that would fit comfortably alongside Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” until it explodes into rocking deliciousness halfway through. “Time”co-written with Mando Saenz is arpeggiated deliciousness about a “bird on a wing with x-ray eyes.”
No teenage starlet, Amelia shouldered her guitar in Boston for years, then Seattle, and now in East Nashville, where she’s been in the trenches for a good many years. Google “paid her dues” and there she is, with her reddish-brown shoulder length locks, eyeglasses and a smile. Then the unthinkable happened – her 2019 record “Rhythm of the Rain” actually stuck to the wall, doing well in the charts and spring-boarding Amelia from playing Tuesday nights for tips to actually headlining venues and god forbid getting somewhere! It couldn’t happen to a better artist, and one listen to “Love I Swore” will be a very convincing listen to one of America’s great “new” singer-songwriters. She just wants to get up and sing and she couldn’t care less about any ice on the wing.”
Tommy Womack

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/13 - Mountain Sam Weelock / Liz Bowman
2024-06-13 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Mountain Sam Wheelock is an authentic part of the heritage of the music and subculture of the southern Appalachians. His knowledge of the region’s music runs deep. Sam’s understanding of his people makes him a treasure. The sound of his Tennessee voice resonates sorrow and joy in every note, in every story and connects all of us.
“A STORY AND A SONG” is a one man production about growing up in the mountains of eastern Tennessee… the grandson of a convicted moonshiner. The extended Carter Family often played in an Aunt’s front yard. The mission, however, is to be respectful of that form while being active in the evolution of roots music. “A STORY AND A SONG” is modern electric folk music layered with a personal memoir. It’s a heartfelt journey into the heritage of a regional people.

Liz Bowman also joins us this day.
