East Tennessee's Own WDVX

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/9 - Fiddling Leona & The Johns
2023-09-09 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Fiddling Leona is a International TV personality (NETFLIX), performer, vocalist, classical violinist, food truck owner, and fiddler from Tokyo, Japan. Currently living in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee. She is a performer as well as a fiddle and violin instructor. Leona’s musical journey began at the age of four when she began violin lessons in Tokyo. During her childhood music was always part of her household, Leona’s father who has been a professional stage and studio guitarist in Japanese since the 1970’s. As a teenager Leona began to take notice that her father was listening to and she fell in love with American roots music. Leona knew at that point that she must somehow figure out a way to get to the United States and learn all about the fiddle.
In 2004 Leona performed country music for the first time with Rattlesnake Annie, a Nashville based international country music performer. Leona also attended fiddle camps in California and Nashville. From those experiences she made the decision to come to the United States and seek out her dream of becoming an internationally known entertainer and fiddler.
In 2006, Leona enrolled in college in the United States along with a degree in education Leona was the first international student to receive credentials in Bluegrass and Country Music in 2009. During college Leona was part of a touring student ensemble, which performed throughout the Southern Appalachian region. Leona also graduated from HCTC’s Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music with a certificate in Digital Audio Recording in 2016.
Leona has performed all across the United States and Japan as a featured artist. During 2009 and 2010 Leona was invited to perform as a part of the American Bluegrass Master’s Tour. The artists featured in this tour were Grand Ole Opry star Bobby Osborne, the Lonesome River Band, J.D. Crowe, and many others. During this time Leona was featured in rare bluegrass tours of both Alaska and Hawaii. In 2006 Leona performed as a guest at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, where she represented her country of Japan along with famed Japanese shamisen player, actor, and storyteller Takeharu Kunimoto. In 2014 she was the headlining entertainer at the United States Marine Corps Futenma Flightline Festival in Okinawa, Japan and performed for enthusiastic service members, their families, and local Okinawan residents. Leona has also been a featured entertainer at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.
Leona has released three featured solo albums. Her first debut album was entitled “A New Peace Within” and her second all original album is entitled “Love & Peace, Leona”, and finally her latest album is entitled “On My Own”. all of her albums were released both in the United States and Japan where they received national airplay on the radio and Leona released these albums with tours of her native Japan.
Fiddling Leona has now found a new home in the entertainment industry at NETFLIX. Leona is a featured cast member on the new International Netflix original series “Swap Shop”. The show features Leona as she searches for antique Americana items in the mountains of East Tennessee that she can flip for profit the next time she goes back to Tokyo. The show also features the people, landscape, and culture of her current home in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. The show is available world-wide only on Netflix. Season one drops on Nov 9th, 2021.
When asked what she envisions for the future Leona said, “ I want to take my experiences of performing and living in the U.S. and share them with the people of Japan and Asia. Because I know from experience that all across Japan there are people who love country music, and I want to help increase the awareness of this unique American art form. If the younger generation in Japan or Asia can see someone like me performing American country music, I believe it would expand the interest in country, bluegrass, and American roots music more beyond its current status.”

Kidstuff Live - 9/9 - Sarah Pirkle
2023-09-09 10:00 - 11:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
East Tennessee native Sarah Pirkle is a multi-instrumentalist, music instructor, and songwriter. In 2021 she was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame, songwriting category. She is a 2021 recipient of the South Arts Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship She is the program director and fiddle instructor for 2 affiliates of Junior Appalachian Musicians in the Knoxville region. She has one album of recorded music on her own “Walking Tall Thru High Weeds”, a trio project with the Naughty Knots “12 Songs in the Pan”, and 4 albums of almost exclusively original music recorded with her husband Jeff Barbra, “Dog Year, Barb Hollow Sessions, Family Singing, Sweet Creation”.

The WDVX Big Plate - 9/8 - The Joe Stamm Band
2023-09-08 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Light and dark. Good and evil. Predator and prey. If you’re searching for a well-balanced meal in a world filled with junk-food music experiences, pick up Joe Stamm Band’s newest concoction: Wild Man.
Ever since their inception in 2013, JSB has offered distinct storytelling mixed with their signature Black Dirt Country Rock sound. A sound that Stamm defines as “a nod to our Midwestern roots, as well as the Red Dirt music scene, which has had a big influence on our music.”
From playing in middle-of-nowhere dives to being named Peacemaker Fest’s 2023 “Emerging Artist of the Year,” Stamm has earned the grit and stage presence to support artists like Chris Knight, Shane Smith and the Saints, Tyler Childers, Whiskey Myers, Charles Wesley Godwin and more. It’s the same rough-edged outlaw spirit from his early days that fans will hear in Fort Smith, an EP produced in partnership with Peacemaker Fest that sounds best when driving with the windows down. And it’s the same spirit Joe brings to any stage and every audience today.
“There’s a sinewy, rootsy texture to his inflections, always evocative and drenched in a rock ‘n roll spirit.” — B-Sides & Badlands
The band’s third full-length studio album – recorded and produced at Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville – puts thought-provoking stories to a country-rock score. Fans will recognize the classic-rock-inspired riffs from Dave Glover’s lead guitar throughout Wild Man. They’ll also pick up on Bruce Moser’s fortifying bass lines and Tim Kramp’s dynamic drum performances. The words – specifically, how they sound in Stamm’s larger-than-life voice – are what really stand out on this record.
The album kicks off with the title song, inspired by a man referenced in the New Testament whose demons Jesus casts out and into the pigs feeding nearby. The song’s Zeppelin-esque words, “Where two men meet with the chaos in their eyes…Where the owl flies hunting for the snake, the wild man gives me back my name,” make the listener wonder: Which of the two men is the wild one?
As the record twists and turns, listeners will experience the gambit of human emotions. Nostalgia. Curiosity. Hurt. Hope. Acceptance. The things we choose to remember and the things we have yet to reckon with. It’s the nuance within our feelings, memories and dreams that Stamm’s lyrics grab ahold of. A songwriter of his caliber knows mucking around in this nuance isn’t an easy job – but it’s certainly rewarding.
While Wild Man masterfully bends the boundaries of rock, country and Americana, there’s a throughline from start to finish. The seemingly little, everyday choices we make – that Stamm’s characters make – create a patchwork of a life. Of light and dark. Good and evil. Predator and prey.
NEW Releases: Fort Smith (EP, July 2023), Wild Man (full-length studio album, August 2023)
Find Joe Stamm Band on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you listen to music.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/7 - Fred Lee Cole
2023-09-07 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Named for his Grandad, Cole first started chasing songs at the age of sixteen. Enticed by the elusive and mysterious place from which creativity originates, Cole has been writing ever since. He was born and raised in East Tennessee but has called many places home, from as far away as Los Angeles or as close as middle Tennessee. These places have cultivated years of stories of travel, friendship, love and heartbreak but its the nostalgia and tranquility of East Tennessee where Cole’s creativity thrives the most. Drawing influence not only from the traditional music of the region, he has been inspired by anyone from Patty Griffin and Jason Isbell to Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen. The writing process is quiet and personal. They are reflections and mediations straight from the conscience. The songs never meet paper. “Pen and paper always killed the process and the song for me, it always felt contrived or superficial to force it out on paper. That method, for me, appealed to the ego of something else and not the true expression of the stories that seemingly fall from the sky.” The result being a raw and honest perspective performed with the soul and urgency of the emotions that inspired them. Debut Album coming soon.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/6 - Galvezton
2023-09-06 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Multicultural poet and musician Robert Kuhn was born in Houston, Texas and moved back in 2010 after bouncing around the world for twelve years. Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua all played home for him as different doors, jobs, occupations and art forms opened and led him on from an Academic All-American Line Backer to a vagabond fisherman farmer writing the critically acclaimed songs he has carried throughout the Americas. Broken hearts, broken backs, failed marriages, violence, riches, drugs, labor, poverty, music, poetry, dirt and salt; so it goes and continues.
Back in Houston, Robert joined forces with like-minded musicians (including extraterrestrial ancient bluesman Little Joe Washington), surf rock n’ rollers and reggae ragamuffins to form a band and recorded the album “Everybody Knows”. It was Little Joe’s last studio work and recognized by the press as one of Houston’s Top Releases of 2014. Kuhn’s latest album, PERSEVERE, a transcendent collection of psychedelic folk rock n’roll was produced at home in Galveston, Texas after his last tour was cut short by a nearly fatal van wreck in Colorado. It is scheduled for release in 2021.
This world is changing so fast. Robert hopes it will again take him back on the road to share this rich new music with the friends and family he’s made along the way.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/5 - Saturday Night In The Grove Band
2023-09-05 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Saturday Night In The Grove Band joins us this day for some real, live music.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/4 – Labor Day - No Show
2023-09-04 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
There will be no WDVX Blue Plate Special today.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 9/2 - Sarah Kate Morgan / The Weekend Lovers
2023-09-02 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Born of Appalachian soil in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, Sarah Kate Morgan sings, plays, and writes like she’s been in these hills since the dawn of time. She’s had plenty of varied influences, beginning with hearing a classical music CD belonging to her family and going on to discover old time music through a dulcimer built by her grandfather. She began playing dulcimer at age 7.
This proved to be a pivotal moment. At 18 years old, Sarah Kate placed 1st at the 2012 National Mountain Dulcimer Championships in Winfield, Kansas. She’s gone on to build a unique personal style which honors mountain dulcimer giants such as Jean Ritchie while working across genres to build something new. Her dexterous approach to the instrument is one that only masterful artists can bring to the table; much like Bruce Molsky and the fiddle, having been a dedicated student of the dulcimer’s complexities Morgan is able to distill them into a beautifully polished package.
Well-known and widely respected as one of the leading experts of the mountain dulcimer, Sarah Kate is also a first-rate singer and songwriter. Her earthy and poetic lyrics embrace the highs and lows of southern Appalachian life while her voice does the same – moving between alto and soprano parts with ease. Her crystal-clear but rootsy vocal style combines the best of country, old time, bluegrass, and gospel influences who, like Morgan, foreground their cultural roots. All of this goes hand in hand to create a musical experience akin to a sonic baptism.
None of this is lost on the giants of roots music. Sarah Kate has performed and/or recorded with artists like Tyler Childers, Alice Gerrard, and Erynn Marshall & Carl Jones. In addition to her musical prowess, Sarah Kate is an accomplished scholar who graduated from Morehead State University with degrees in Traditional Music, Appalachian Studies, and Arts Administration.
Currently based in Hindman, Kentucky, she practices, cultivates, teaches, and preserves Appalachian folk traditions in her role as the Hindman Settlement School’s Traditional Arts Education Director. Whether calling square dances, playing the mountain dulcimer, or making music and creating art with Appalachian youth, Sarah Kate Morgan’s work centers on a lived belief that art and tradition are living, breathing tools that foster hope, build community, and create change.

The Weekend Lovers loves making music, each other, the weekend, and you 😉

Taps & Tunes on the Corner - 9/1 - Dave Eggar
2023-09-01 18:00 - 19:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Long before Dave Eggar was renowned as a world class cellist, writing, performing and recording for years with Amy Lee and Evanescence, enrapturing us with his solo intro to Coldplay’s #1 smash “Viva La Vida,” touring with American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and music directing symphony orchestras on tour with Foreigner, he quietly launched a solo career as a composer/pianist, releasing the solo piano albums Serenity (1998) and Angelic Embrace (2002). Sidelined from his whirlwind road and studio career during the pandemic lockdown, Eggar made major changes in his life – including moving to Bristol, TN – a small town in Appalachia – after years of living in NYC.
The downtime also allowed him time for quiet reflection and a full circle return to the simplicity and purity of his roots – a creatively empowering experience that led to the creation of his new perfectly titled solo piano collection, Awakening. It is Eggar’s fifth release on Domo Records, a discography that includes those first two albums as well as Left of Blue (2005) and Kingston Morning (2010).
Awakening was produced by Chuck Palmer, a prolific drummer/percussionist songwriter, engineer and arranger who served as orchestral conductor and percussionist on the Foreigner tours. Featuring Eggar working his transcendent magic on a Steinway B, it was recorded and engineered by Davis Hart at Pulp Arts in Gainesville, FL. With the exception of “Coming Home” and the album’s dramatic closer “New Dawn” – the two tracks featuring wordless, choir-like vocalizations by Avalona and Priya Darshini, respectively, the original pieces were composed by Eggar and Palmer. “Coming Home” was penned by Eggar and Dina Finai (a.k.a. Avalona), while “New Dawn” is by Eggar, Palmer and Darshini. “New Dawn” also features percussion by Will Calhoun of the iconic band Living Colour.
The only other instrumentation is Phil Faconti’s guitar and Eggar’s cello, which adds a haunting harmonic shade to the lyrical “My Simple Gift,” which is the pianist’s interpretation of a piece from legendary composer Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” a work that premiered in 1944 and achieved enduring popularity as an orchestral suite.
Eggar’s inclusion of “My Simple Gift” is a way of paying tribute to Copland, who in his later years lived in Eggar’s hometown of Croton-on-Hudson NY and was Eggar’s piano teacher when he was six. It is also a way of acknowledging the pianist’s mellower but still quite vibrant life now in Appalachia, considered by some to be the birthplace of country music. Over the years, Eggar has played bluegrass at various festivals in the region. In his liners for Awakening, Eggar writes, “This record is dedicated to the city of Bristol VA/TN where I found a safe haven during the pandemic of 2020, and is a tribute to strength, perseverance and truth.” One of the most beautiful and meditative pieces on the album, “Bristol Morning,” makes reference to this feeling of rebirth in a place where he truly felt he was, indeed, coming home.
In a time when streaming sometimes relegates album art and packaging to an afterthought, it is important to note that the gorgeous, impressionistic and sunsplashed album artwork was created by Robert Redford’s wife Sibylle Szaggars Redford, a German born multimedia environmental artist whose artwork – largely inspired by nature, ancient cultures and the Moroccan and New Mexican high desert – has been exhibited throughout Europe, Monaco, Peru, Singapore, Japan, Suriname and the U.S.
Beyond an opportunity to revisit a more introverted, inward looking mode of expression, the 14 tracks of Awakening take the Julliard trained musician back his childhood, being a classical piano prodigy not only meant playing Schumann’s Carnivale, Chopin’s Nocturnes and pieces by Gabriel Faure and Debussy, but a comforting way to improvise and tell stories to express himself. Eggar’s fascinating history as a prodigy, which includes performing on Broadway and with the Metropolitan Opera at age seven and debuting at Carnegie Hall at 15 – usually takes precedence in his official biographies. Yet it’s the way music helped him cope with the more challenging elements of that childhood that tell the real story of his unfolding genius.
“Over the years, being a cellist won out in terms of being my extroverted ‘social’ instrument, and it was fun to play it in chamber music and orchestral settings,” says Eggar, who in addition to being in great demand with jazz and pop music royalty (Michael Brecker, David Foster, Taylor Swift, Tony Bennett, Andrea Bocelli and Esperanza Spalding, among scored of others) has collaborated with the New York City Ballet, the Jose Limon Company, Attack Theatre, Pendulum Aerial Arts, Shen Wei Dance, San Francisco Ballet and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has also appeared as a featured soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic, The Sydney Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
“Throughout my life, however, the piano has remained a kind of personal and poetic space for me,” he adds. “I had created a beautiful base for myself with those first two albums and then of course, as appreciative as I am for the opportunity to work with so many great artists and orchestras, my career also became very complicated. Even before the pandemic, I had been thinking about making a record like Awakening to share this part of myself, but from the perspective of having done so many other things and collaborated with hundreds of great musicians. Because of my schedule, I couldn’t find the way in – but the lockdown afforded me that time.”
One of the reasons Eggar titled the album Awakening is that as he and Palmer immersed themselves in the compositional process, the project became a real reckoning for the pianist. It wasn’t just a nice side project to fill the time, but an essential creative rebirth after spending years on the road and in the studio on behalf of others. In every moment of stillness, his question to himself was always, “What do I want to say poetically?”
Beyond representing his personal spiritual flow creating the project, the title also has a universal application to the journeys everyone went through in a year fraught with fear and anxiety and where the issues of justice and equity in our culture were spotlighted like few other times in American history. Eggar says the cautious climax with Priya’s vocals on “New Dawn” is meant to be a musical question about how we may redefine our collective narrative moving forward – like, “What does that awakening mean and how do we do it better? As we re-emerge, what do we re-emerge as? Where do we find the courage to face what’s next?”
“Once I decided to start writing and recording Awakenings, I had some anxiety about how to approach it because Serenity and Angelic Embrace were so wonderfully organic,” he says. “There’s something scary about trying to recreate the feeling of something that happened so magically early in your life. But working with Chuck, we were able to go on a deeper meditational journey that felt very natural, connecting to the simplicity of those younger days while also being reflective of this unique moment in time. My hope is that people will likewise connect with this expression of musical poetry, and I am excited about the opportunity to touch them collectively and individually with these pieces.”

The WDVX Big Plate - 9/1 - Milk Man & The Big Band
2023-09-01 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
Let’s welcome Knoxville’s latest 17-piece rock band Milk Man & the Big Band!

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/31 - Angela Easterling / Haley Richardson
2023-08-31 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Angela Easterling brandishes her songwriting chops with rootsy, refreshing, homespun tunes. Her backing band, The Beguilers (bass, drums and lead guitar), master many complex styles, with instrumentation that fleshes out the stories in Angela’s songs, and adds some rocking fun. Their act is not quite country, not quite folk, but all together unique and engaging.
Angela lives with her musical partner, Brandon Turner, and their three young sons on the Greer, SC farm that has been in her family since 1791. She released her 6th album, “Witness” in October, 2022. It went on to be chosen by American Songwriter Magazine in their Top 24 Albums of the Year, was named “Album of The Year” in The Greenville Journal, and was chosen #6 in the Favorite Albums of the Year Reader’s Poll on Americana Highways. It has earned rave reviews in No Depression, Americana UK, Glide Magazine and more. Her 5th album, “Common Law Wife”, went all the way to number 1 on the Roots Music Report Americana Country Airplay Chart, and remained in the top 5 on that chart for nearly 2 months, closing the year out as #12 on the top 100 albums. Her 2nd album, “BlackTop Road”, produced by Will Kimbrough, remained on the Americana top 40 airplay chart for 7 weeks, and was chosen as a top pick in both Oxford American and Country Weekly. She was selected for an official Americana Convention Showcase, official showcases at both NERFA and SERFA (Folk Alliance) and is a four-time Kerrville New Folk Finalist, a Telluride Troubadour and a two-time Wildflower Performing Songwriter Top 10 Finalist. The Boston Herald named her song “The Picture” “Best Political Country Song” in their Year’s best music picks. WNCW chose Angela’s live performance of the title song on “Common Law Wife” for Volume 20 of their popular “Crowd Around the Mic” series. Angela’s music was featured in commercials (Southwestern Bell) and several of her songs were used in the series “Horsepower” on Animal Planet. She has appeared on the WSM-hosted stage at the CMA Music Festival/Fan Fair, on the nationally broadcast public radio program “Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know”, the popular ETV show “Making It Grow”, Sirius XM Outlaw Country’s “Buddy and Jim Show” with Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, “The Martha Bassett Show”, and was also interviewed by noted NPR journalist Bob Edwards. She was invited to perform at the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Root’s Music, as well as the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. In 2019, Angela had the distinct honor of performing her song, “Isaac Woodard’s Eyes” at the unveiling ceremony of an historical marker in honor of the late civil rights hero, Sgt. Isaac Woodard.
Angela has toured the U.S., both solo and duo with Brandon, as well as with her crowd-pleasing band The Beguilers. She has played numerous concert series and music festivals, including Six String Concerts (Columbus, OH), Shakori Hills, Fall for Greenville, NC Apple Festival, Strawberry Festival, Albino Skunkfest and more. She has opened for or appeared with The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Jim Lauderdale, Scott Miller, The Steel Wheels, Sarah Jarosz, Elizabeth Cook, Lucinda Williams, Charlie Louvin, Robbie Fulks, Tracy Grammer, Mary Gauthier, Ray Price (at the Birchmere), Suzy Bogguss, Ellis Paul, Tom Brosseau, Eilen Jewell, Radney Foster, Will Kimbrough, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Lori McKenna.

Haley Richardson is a virtuosic musician, whose talents extend to the fields of both classical and Irish traditional music. With her highly ornamented Sligo style perfected under the tutelage of fiddler Brian Conway, Haley has garnered a number of prestigious awards and honors, including multiple championships at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All Ireland) in Ireland, numerous MidAtlantic Championships, and the coveted Junior (2015) and Senior (2018) Fiddler Of Dooney awards. ​
A year after asking to learn the violin at age two, Haley began Suzuki violin lessons. Before her 5th birthday, she fell in love with Irish music inspired by a live performance of fiddler Kevin Burke. She began learning fiddle tunes from Kevin’s How to Play Celtic Fiddle DVD and by playing along to his CD while riding in the car. Haley won her first MidAtlantic under twelve Irish fiddle competition at just six years old and by April 2017, Haley is a 9X MidAtlantic Regional fiddle champion. She is a multiple time All Ireland champion in both solo fiddle and fiddle slow airs and an All Ireland place winner in trio competition.
Whether performing in a solo capacity or in an ensemble, Haley brings a rare dynamism and energy to her music, which is informed by her thorough knowledge of the form, her mastery of her instrument, and the absolutely trailblazing and show-stopping technique and emotion evident in every note she plays. She has performed with many of the most well-known names in Irish music including The Chieftains, Altan, Dervish, Mick Moloney, Pride of New York, Liz Carroll with Cherish the Ladies, John Whelan, Paddy Keenan, The Máirtín de Cógáin Project. Haley has been a member of Green Fields of American and The John Whelan Band. She was the band fiddler for the Studio2Stage Irish dance production, That’s Dancing, from 2014-2017.
John Whelan mentored, recorded, and produced Haley’s (accompanied by brother, Dylan) debut CD, Heart on a String, in March 2015. In March 2017, Haley released a CD she produced entitled Music for Mercy, a compilation CD featuring donated tracks from many of the best Irish musicians under 21 years old from around the world. All proceeds from that CD benefit the Mercy Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. ​In May 2019, Haley teamed up with musical genious and multi-instrumentalist, Quinn Bachand, to release their debut duo recording, When the Wind Blows High and Clear.
During the pandemic, Haley created a music collaboration series entitled #COVIDuets (check them out on her Facebook page) and recorded an EP with talented electronic music producer, Zac Klingenberg, entitled Enigma (click the link to listen on Spotify).
Haley is currently the fiddler for the 25th Anniversary tour of the Grammy Award winning production, “Riverdance”, appeared in the movie/DVD recording of the 25th Anniversary show recorded at the 3Arena in Dublin, and was invited by Riverdance composer, Bill Whelan, to record on the Riverdance 25th Anniversary Album released December 2019.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/30 - Stevie Tombstone Trio / Charlotte Morris
2023-08-30 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
After a chance meeting with Roy Acuff, Stevie (then a young man) was certain he would always be a musician. Georgia born relation of the legendary fiddler, Clayton McMichen, Stevie immersed himself in the world of rock and the underground music scene of the 80s in Atlanta, but never lost the twang of his childhood. Almost three decades later he has become an accomplished performer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as an integral the Atlanta and Austin Music Scenes at various points in time. He now hangs his hat in Western North Carolina.
In addition to his published works with his 1980s swampabilly band, The Tombstones, Stevie has released five solo albums and half a dozen music videos. The Tombstones song, Nobody, became a college radio anthem. The roots punk song about the Carolina Lights and was later recorded by rock icon Stiv Bator.
Tombstone’s debut full length release, 730 AM, featured performances by members of Wilco, Jason and the Scorchers, The Bad Livers, and The Georgia Satellites, and offered tracks that peaked on the Satellite Radio charts. After several comps and EPs, his 2011 release, Greenwood, reintroduced Stevie to Americana and folk listeners with the autobiographical tale of his journey to Greenwood to mark the grave of then unhonored Robert Johnson.
Over the years, Tombstone’s bandmates and co-conspirators have been a veritable who’s who of underground and nationally recognized players. Priding himself in his ability to cross genres, he has also had the honor of sharing the bill with the likes of Leon Russell, The Stray Cats, Greg Allman, Willie Nelson, Drive By Truckers, Marshall Tucker Band, Johnny Bush, and The Ramones and the list goes on.
In addition to producing and writing for other artists, Stevie still maintains a hardcore troubadour outlook, enjoying a grassroots following that’s kept him on the trail for the last three decades.

Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Charlotte Morris discovered her passion for music at a young age. “I’ve been playing instruments since I could walk and singing since I could talk,” the singer/songwriter explains. As a child, her parents would take her to classical concerts and musical theatre productions, igniting a fire inside of young Charlotte’s soul. “Every family car ride was filled with folk classics, musical theatre or classical music – Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Simon & Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul & Mary were all the soundtracks of my childhood.”
After starting violin lessons at the age of four, Charlotte taught herself how to play the guitar, piano (and melodica), ukulele, banjo, acoustic bass guitar and mandolin, and began taking her songwriting seriously by the age of twelve. “Music grew from something I loved to something I needed. That sounds wildly dramatic, I know, but before then I had never felt able to fully express myself.”
Describing her unique style as genuine, raw and emotional music with a purpose, Charlotte takes inspiration from female story-telling artists like Brandi Carlile, Sara Bareilles, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, and The Chicks; as well as style inspiration from bands like Delta Rae and Fleetwood Mac. “These artists have really shown me that I don’t need to fit into a box. Everything I write is about my life. My lyrics are extremely personal and paint a very detailed picture about things I, and those I love, have experienced.”
In January of 2018, Charlotte joined Lonesome Traveler – a concert tour where the cast performed the history of folk music, starting with Woody Guthrie and ending with songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. While on the road, folk legends including Tom Chapin, George Grove (Kingston Trio), Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey (both of Peter, Paul and Mary) performed with the cast at various venues.
Charlotte released her debut EP “To New York, with Love” in June 2018, which received positive recognition from newspapers, music blogs and playlists worldwide. She paired the release with a kick-off performance at New York’s famed 54 Below, and began playing her original music at venues across the city. After her debut success, Charlotte released a number of singles, as well as a five-song EP (produced by Nashville-based Mitch Dane) entitled “Sputnik.” In the spring of 2019, Charlotte embarked on her first fully-acoustic tour, performing in over fifteen different cities across the United States, including Nashville, Austin and Baltimore.
Charlotte released her first full-length album, “Songs For My Next Ex,” in December of 2020. The eight-part “story album” takes the listener through the highs and lows of a tumultuous, yet transformative, relationship. The album received rave reviews from both national and international press. It was after this release that Charlotte decided to move out of New York City and become an official Music City resident.
Since moving to Nashville in 2021, Charlotte has established herself in the industry as an artist on the rise. In Spring 2021, she was selected as one of only 16 songwriters to participate in The Johnny Mercer Foundation’s Songwriters Project. During the project, she was mentored by world class writers including Lindy Robbins (Skyscraper, Day Drunk, Back to You) and Tony & Grammy Awards nominee Andrew Lippa (Wild Party, The Addams Family). Alongside Charlotte Avenue Entertainment, Charlotte released “Good Kind of Hurt”, a deeply personal song about addiction and PTSD, in June 2022, with the hope of spurring more conversation around the difficulties and misunderstandings of mental illness. She followed up that success with her nostalgia-filled, folk-driven, single “Tennessee”; and most recently, Charlotte released “Your Number One”, a driving song of empowerment that’s sure to take over summer playlists everywhere. With a full album on the horizon for Fall 2023, Charlotte’s career in this industry is just beginning.
Charlotte majored in Theatre, with minors in Musical Theatre, Business and Marketing at Northwestern University. After graduating, she performed in theatrical productions and tours around New York City and across the nation, before moving to Nashville, TN. Theatrical highlights include (The Making of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes [Off-Broadway], Lonesome Traveler [National Tour], and Once [multiple productions]. When the singer/songwriter is not writing or releasing music, she works in the fintech industry, travels across the country in her converted van, and is an avid crossword puzzler.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/29 - Larry & Joe
2023-08-29 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Larry & Joe were destined to make music together.
Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry worked construction to make ends meet. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants. Then Larry met Joe.
Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/28 - David Easterling / Shelley King & Carolyn Wonderland
2023-08-28 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
David Easterling is an Americana singer/songwriter/storyteller living in Oak Ridge, TN. His folky Appalachian tales are often comedic, sometimes little bit scary, but always connect with the head and the heart! Spooky Songs Live is his newest CD and he has recorded 5 more CD’s of original music. David’s music can be found on the usual media outlets including ReverbNation, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and has been played on radio stations from WDVX in Knoxville, TN to K2K radio in London, England. He has performed at festivals and many venues as diverse as Madlife in Georgia, Moonlight on the Mountain in Alabama, Stones Throw in Wisconsin, Capones in Indiana, Iron Horse in North Carolina, and Sugarlands and The Listening Room in TN. And Nashville gigs including 12 Keys Saloon, Sam Ash Music, The Commodore and Millennium Maxwell House!

Superlative, powerhouse, smart and savvy are only a few of the adjectives used to describe Shelley King, who is debuting her 9th album, Kick Up Your Heels, in the late summer of 2019.
The blues, roots-rock, gospel singer stands out in the crowd as an award-winning songwriter, steeped in Americana music. Born in Arkansas, and raised back and forth between Arkansas and Texas, Shelley has surrounded herself with A-list mentors from Marcia Ball to John Magnie and Delbert McClinton.
Kick Up Your Heels is her best effort yet, with guest artists Delbert McClinton, The Subdudes, Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland, Tony Redman, Byron Isaacs (Lumineers) and Cindy Cashdollar. Her band includes Sarah Brown on bass, Marvin Dykhuis on guitars, vocals and mandolin, and Chip Dolan on keys and accordion, and longtime drummer, Perry Drake.
Shelley says, “It feels like a party album. In a time when we have so many challenges as a people and as a country, we need this music. We can let it all go. We all have a weight to carry, but we need to have some fun. I feel that in some of these songs, there are trials and tribulations, but with good music and good friends, it always feels like we are going to come out on top.”
Kick Up Your Heels runs the gamut of emotions, beginning with an introspective memory of one of her musical heroes, Levon Helm. The album’s opening track, “Levon’s New Drumset” had its beginning as she was sitting on a porch in Woodstock, New York, collecting words and images for this song but not completing it. Over several more trips to Woodstock she reworked the lyrics, each time adding a little more to the story. Inspiration struck again when she was playing a Midnight Ramble with the Woodstock Lone Stars: a super-group including Carolyn Wonderland, Marcia Ball, Cindy Cashdollar, Amy Helm, and a Woodstock based rhythm section. “It completely fell together – magically.” she recalls. “I wrote another verse right there, and it came together seamlessly, without a wrong word.”
“Storming in the South” takes the listeners through the hurricanes that rip through the South and the high winds in a relationship between two people who have chosen to take it on, go through it together, and come out on the other side. It is a song of resilience, and of sticking together, and making it through the storm.
The album brings on the party full-force with “Hurricane Party.” Shelley said she was walking on a trail near her Texas hill country home, when her friend and mentor, Marcia Ball called to say her Florida tour was canceled because of a hurricane, “so, let’s play dominoes.” Shelley said, “It’s a hurricane party!” and immediately started working on this song. She sang lines into her phone, texting song verses back and forth, co-writing with Marcia, it all came together before she got off the trail – in time for a game of dominoes! Delbert McClinton and Marcia bring guest vocals to this highlight of the album. It’s definitely a party.
Levon Helm and Henry Glover wrote a song called “Blues So Bad,” that Shelley discovered on a 1977 Helm album. That song stuck with her. “Anytime I heard it, I sang along. It makes me feel cool. In the studio, Delbert (McClinton) played harmonica and sang backup on it.” Yeah, that’ll make anyone feel cool.
“One Shot At A Time” is a song Shelley wrote years ago about a bar in San Angelo, Texas.
“People were having a good time and were so drunk.” she recalls. “They were sending shots to the band and eventually shots were lined up all the way across the stage. Everyone in the band gets to have some fun with this one: from Marvin Dykhuis’ and Tony Redmans’ duelling lead guitars to Sarah Brown’s low-end bass solo.
The title song, “Kick Up Your Heels,” is a co-write with another of Shelley’s heroes, John Magnie of the Subdudes. “John came up with the melody and turned it over to me to write the lyrics,” she says. “We were thinking about writing a song for Marcia (Ball), right after she recorded Tattoo Lady and the Alligator Man, feeling that Louisiana rhythm and how she kicks her heels when she plays piano. When I recorded it with my band, it was good, but it was missing something, so we got the Subdudes to add a little crazy.” Steve Amedée lays down a fun second line snare rhythm and the dudes add their rich harmonies and fun extras. Marcia Ball plays piano and John Magnie backs her on accordion, a first time musical collaboration for them.
One of Shelley’s inspirations has always been Aretha Franklin, and “Soulville” showcases that influence. “I first discovered Aretha Franklin’s version of this song and then later Dinah Washington’s version. Dinah was one of the songwriters, along with Henry Glover. I started doing a little research, and found that Henry was tight with Levon (Helm), and is even in one of the early photos of Levon building his barn in Woodstock.” Henry soon became another of Shelley’s songwriter favorites, (see “Blues So Bad,” a Helm/Glover co-write) and completes yet another circle of influence in her musical odyssey. Ask Shelley to tell you about rehearsing in Levon’s barn on the anniversary of his death with her good friends, a good bottle of whiskey, and a ghost for good measure.

“Heart of a Girl” showcases Shelley’s songwriter and vocal talent, and a backstory of romantic magic. “I still believe magic can happen. The idea came to me as I watched my mom fall in love again. Here was a no-nonsense businesswoman who reunited with my real father at one of my shows. They had not seen one another for more than 30 years,” Shelley says. “And suddenly, she had that soft heart of a girl, that innocence that believes in hopefulness. To see her like that was beautiful.”
Keeping the party going strong, Shelley brings “Crush” to the mix. “It’s a fun, groupie song. I won’t call any names out on this one. Someone close to me had a groupie crush on a bad boy musician, and I wrote that song for her just for fun.” With lines like “If you got somebody, I’ll make you forget her,” and “Would you rock my world like you rock that mic?,” it’s definitely a celebration song that makes everyone want to grab a mic and sing along.”
A pivotal moment in her career was in 2008, when Shelley was named Texas State Musician by the Texas Legislature, and found her voice resonating with fans across the state – and the nation.
“‘How Eagles Fly’ is about hope and positivity: an anthem for America. There’s a whole lot of division out there,” Shelley continues, “but ultimately, we are all in this together. We have a lot more in common than that which separates us. Music brings us together, and everyone can agree with lyrics that speak to the common American dream.”
Kick Up Your Heels is a high-water mark for Shelley King. Through multiple incarnations of bands with friends and collaborators, and performing at hundreds of house concerts, honkytonks, theatres, festivals and solo shows, she has explored different avenues and attitudes, but she has hit her stride with this new project. She proves with this album, created with her musical friends and family, that music is much more than a career for her. “It’s all about connections,” she says. And Kick Up Your Heels brings Shelley King’s band family together for a reunion that is one hell of a party.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/26 - Luke Powers / Kaleb Garrett
2023-08-26 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Based in Brown County, Indiana. Luke Powers is bringing his skill as a master craftsman into the music he plays. Through the trials and tribulations of working with his hands daily, Powers has perfected his skill of being a witty storyteller and talented guitar player. After moving back to the midwest from the Rocky Mountains, starting a family, and a business- Powers is fully ready to step into the light.
His second full length album TIME TO SHINE, slated to be released March 2023 on sonaBLAST! Records, pays homage to some of Powers’ biggest influences. From the pursuit of love and happiness, to heartbreak and teenage nostalgia, Powers brings a tongue in cheek quirkiness and authenticity to the album. The first track and title cut ‘Time to Shine’, is a nod to Willie Nelson with a bright introspective vocal and raw acoustic guitar leading the band into an upbeat ‘Red Headed Stranger’-esqe honky tonk outro.
Luke Powers is taking aim at using his own brand of folk wisdom to tell the tales of the human condition. Through his experienced craftsmanship, and wordsmithing coupled with skillful guitar playing makes TIME TO SHINE an instant classic that is sure to stand the test of time.

Small towns all over Georgia have a reputation for breaking out country music’s biggest stars and chart-topping writers. The scenic mountain highways of Hiawassee are no exception, serving as the hometown of aspiring artist, Kaleb Garrett. With a contemplative soul and goofy, but dry sense of humor, Kaleb has always seen music as a constant companion that continuously evolves through the many eras of life.
“Creativity and expression through music always came most natural to me, sometimes even more than speaking. I feel like I can tell someone about myself and how I’m feeling so much more easily through musical inflections,” says Kaleb.
With a church upbringing on gospel, a mom into 80s rock, and a dad into country, it was only fitting that music would be a part of Kaleb’s life. And once he discovered his bluegrass lovin’ grandfather’s guitar at age 14, he began teaching himself how to play to the point of obsession. Small, local gigs in high school turned into a classical guitar music degree from a four-year college nearby, and lots of day and night jobs in between. Garrett’s talent and hunger eventually led to opening spots for renowned acts like Diamond Rio, Three Dog Night, and Travis Tritt. He also stood on the stages of Eddies’ Attic in Decatur, Georgia and The Schermerhorn in Nashville, Tennessee.
Although Nashville was not originally in his plans, demo and studio work in Georgia paved the way for time in “Music City” and in typical Nashville fashion, he had a run in with an acclaimed music row producer by the name of Larry Rogers. Larry’s interest was immediate, and the result is a four song EP, reflecting the eclectic fusion of folk, blues, and country that shaped Kaleb as a child. Most of the songs were written by Kaleb in college when love and heartbreak took him on quite a roller coaster of emotions. While some of the songs are boot stomping crowd favorites, others are contemplative and mellow, much like Kaleb himself. The writing styles of Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers, and The Eagles have particularly helped Kaleb sharpen his own skills, by using a minimalistic writing style to capture profound ideas.
“These songwriters can do so much with very little,” notes Kaleb. “My writing process is a lot of introspection, especially when I’m driving and have a lot of free time to think. Little snippets of ideas will come to me and then later I sit down and try to make sense of what that original feeling was.”
His latest single, “Only One,” can be found on all digital service platforms. Proudly endorsed by the Duncan Africa Guitar Co, the 28-year-old looks forward to getting back on the road and delving even further into his musical journey. “When I discovered music as a kid, it was cathartic. I’ve always been a perfectionist. I was good at it and it’s always been a way for me to enjoy life. I set my goal early on that I wanted to be a great songwriter and now I have experienced some incredibly humbling moments and feel way out of my league sometimes. But I love networking and learning all I can. I want to travel, tour the world, and share music with people because that’s what it’s all about.”
That’s what it’s all about indeed. With a backpack full of Southern charm and a solid work ethic, Kaleb Garrett watches the sunrise at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And the horizon is getting brighter by the minute.

The WDVX Big Plate - 8/25 - MamaFuma
2023-08-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
MamaFuma (formerly known as Guerra Grooves) is the collaborative groove child between bassist Ariel DLP and vocalist Nikki Guerra. An homage to their musical influences, MAMA FUMA delivers high energy original grooves and feel-good mashups with twice the funk and all the soul.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/24 - Chris McGinnis & Mamaw’s Angels / Mandi Strachota
2023-08-24 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Chris McGinnis writes songs that exist somewhere in between a hiccup and a heartache. His last EP, 2019’s Songs For You, touches on the absurdity of your hometown morphing beyond recognition. It tells a story of two Baby Boomers drifting together from across the US into the Golden Gate City, then drifting apart, and then together again. It is about connection and disconnection alike. With his debut full-length album, Mamaw’s Angel, Chris veers deeper into these familiar themes.
“I think this album is largely about manic loneliness. These songs are ultimately about people who are afraid of losing their relationships. They refuse to accept that they may have already lost these relationships, and they refuse to accept that they are to blame.”
The manic aspect of the “manic loneliness” manifests itself in the album’s refusal to rest in one genre. “What If We Went to the Moon?” is what Chris describes as “a cosmic country song with a countrypolitan foundation.” Heartland rocker “Home Away From Home” has all the stomp and 12-string firepower to park a Wilbury. Other tracks like “Mailman’s Son” and “Old Chestnut” teeter between lo-fi indie folk and roots freak out. Tying all of these styles together are the lyrics and the characters at the center of them.
Overbearing grandparents and stubborn grandchildren, washed-up fraternity brothers yearning for the New Year’s Eve parties of yesteryear, a missing Winnebago, a tree that just won’t quit, and other wild personalities run throughout the ten tracks found on Mamaw’s Angel. More than just a few are inspired by people and stories Chris had met and heard back towards his home in Western NC’s Linville Gorge Wilderness area. Mamaw’s Angel is a collection of sensationally-delivered tales about characters struggling on the sidelines of their own realities.
“The characters in these songs are all incredibly flawed. I wanted to write songs that expressed truly ugly emotions. Loneliness, anger, denial, regret. The characters are all being eaten away by these feelings, and it motivates their words and actions. But I also think that that is how some of the absurdity is palatable.”
Mamaw’s Angel was recorded at Clubmen Studio in Blairesville, GA, and produced by Atlanta-based artist Jacob Davis Martin. Among the musicians heard throughout the album are Asheville, NC’s Carly Taich, members of Asheville’s Jack Marion & the Pearl Snap Prophets, Atlanta-based strings trio Me Me Me, and Will Easter of Boone, NC.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in the wilds of Wisconsin, Mandi Strachota is the product of southern roots and Midwest know-how, a potent mix of practicality and soulful dreaming. She’s been singing all her life, belting out Willie Nelson, Whitney Houston and Sheena Easton tunes in the family living room, strong-arming her pre-school pals into elaborate musical productions of “Annie” at the local YMCA lobby, and joining in family sing-a-longs on the long rides to visit her granny in Tennessee.
Music, dance and performance have always been woven intimately into the fabric of her childhood, from her first piano class at the age of 4, to intensive violin lessons and gospel choir sessions while a mathematics major at Notre Dame. Soon after college graduation, the music still calling her, Mandi decided it was time to head south with the intent of finding a job and starting her creative life.
“My perception was that Atlanta was the R&B hub of the US,” she remembers, “so I went there. Unfortunately, my timing was terrible. A friend and I moved to Atlanta October 1st after 9-11. That meant jobs were extremely scarce.”
She eventually found lucrative work in restaurant management. “But after a few years I realized I was never going to be able to realistically pursue a career in music while working 70 plus hours a week. So I left for another position where I could restrict my hours to keep my nights open for music. That is the moment I really committed, when I decided to take less pay! I started attending jams and would sing three to four songs, usually with the house band, every night I could get out .”
Mandi became a fixture on the Atlanta scene, playing at local spots like the Northside Tavern, as well as booking a slew of wedding dates. She met singer/songwriter Larry Griffith after seeing his set at a club called Crystal’s on Marietta Square. “I ended up coming back every week until Larry offered to throw me some tips if I would be a permanent fixture. I played with Larry for six years after that.”
The two made an album together, Fly, and Mandi got into the groove of playing, not only with Larry, but also going out on solo gigs, jamming at local watering holes for tips and picking up the guitar along the way. Finally, the time came to break away and explore her own voice… and her own creativity.
Mandi started in on a new album, a work that would ultimately take her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery – a lifetime of music culminating into an array of tracks that were distinctly her own. “The main difference coming into this album is that it is all me,” she explains, “I wrote all the songs and truly put my own heart and experiences into the whole thing.”
A recurring theme in this new work? The break from a dependent relationship and a move into a true independence. “Before, I was playing other people’s songs, showing up when and where other people told me to show up,” Mandi remembers, “leaving me confused and discouraged, not only not knowing how to attain my goals, but not really understanding what my goals even were, as everything I said and did was dependent on what someone else was doing.”
A break-up, medical issues, the loss of both her grandfather and grandmother in close succession, a dark clash of bad luck and bad timing – all resulted in a period of depression, sadness, anger, but also – in a glimmer of redemption. “It enabled me to see things more clearly,” Mandi says of that time in her life, “and to want to stick up for the real me and to share that person with the world. From the moment I knew this album would exist, I knew it would be titled ‘Unleashed.’”
Recorded at The Greenhouse in Atlanta, Unleashed is Mandi Strachota finding herself – rediscovering that childhood love of music, while finding both her voice and her joy again. “This was the first time I felt I could do what I wanted to do creatively,” she says of the album, “The majority of the songs are about that transformation. You can hear the desire to get out in ‘Ready To Run,’ the state of realization of how I led myself into this corner of dependence and lack of confidence in ‘These Days,’ the ultimate rock bottom of it all when I quit believing in love in ‘Just Rain,’ and the triumphant resurrection in ‘Growing Pains,’ ‘My Time To Shine,’ and ‘These Shoes.’”
Embracing R&B, gospel and soul, with a touch of grit and country sway, Unleashed is timeless in its sound, but thoroughly modern in its message. “It is only after exploring and succeeding at risk-taking, that the confidence turns into freedom and limitlessness,” says Mandi, speaking about both herself and her music, “In other words – being set free, is only the beginning.”

WDVX Summer Nights - 8/23 - The Alex Leach Band w/ Special Guests
2023-08-23 19:00 | Yee Haw Brewing Co, 745 N Broadway, Knoxville, TN, 37917, United States
Hailing from the mountains of East Tennessee, Alex Leach is no stranger to the world of music. Just 33 years old, he has already been in the business for more than two decades, earning two “DJ of the Year” awards from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America by the time he was 15, and appearing on CMT’s “Big Ticket,” the BBC, and Peter Jennings’ “ABC World News Tonight.”
Yet even as he was building his reputation as one of the premiere radio voices in bluegrass, Alex was honing his skills as a guitarist and banjo player. He began his professional career as a musician at the age of 19, and was recruited a few years later by Ralph Stanley II, the son of iconic bluegrass pioneer, Dr. Ralph Stanley. Alex had the honor to perform alongside he and the Clinch Mountain Boys on the Grand Ole Opry in 2014. In the years that followed, he toured widely with Ralph Stanley II, earning critical accolades for his playing, his compelling lead and harmony vocals, and for his additions to the bluegrass canon with songs like “Mountain Heartache.”
In 2019, Alex started his own group, formed and based in East Tennessee. The band is a multi-talented bunch who bring exceptional musicianship and high energy to any stage they play.
Leach’s debut album, produced by Jim Lauderdale, along with his sophomore album produced by Jon Weisberger (both released on Mountain Home Music), takes the acoustic music of the traditional bluegrass and Americana world that Alex grew up with and moves it into the future, featuring his signature ‘new traditional’ sound.
As Bluegrass Today reported, “It’s little wonder why Alex Leach has emerged to the forefront of today’s young up-and-coming bluegrass vanguard. His new album, All the Way, demonstrates that after only two albums, Leach and his band already possess the skill and savvy needed to, in fact, go all the way. Comprised primarily of Leach originals, with an occasional cover included for good measure (a rapid-fire take on Joe South’s Walk A Mile in My Shoes, and a soothing revisit to Paul Simon’s Slip Slidin’ Away, both providing a fine fit), the set list is flush with all the exuberance one might hope to find in a young outfit with such obvious ability and affinity for the form.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/23 - Great Aunt
2023-08-23 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Raw and austere, simple and bold; full of stomping feet and clapping hands, chants and harmonies, whispered words and soulful lament – that’s the music of Great Aunt. Listen, and you’ll hear tales of joy and grief, whiskey and wine, gratitude and purpose-seeking.
Formed in 2016, the duo is a collaboration between songwriter/instrumentalists Megan Bird (mandolin, resonator, acoustic guitar, vocals) and Chelsea Allen (double bass, vocals, percussion), and draws inspiration from the traditions of old time, bluegrass, and gospel music, with loving homage to their diverse backgrounds in punk, jazz, roots, soul, and folk music. The instrumentation and arrangements are bare and bold: using only various combinations of mandolin, guitar, or resonator with double bass and percussion, and the sonorous voices of Bird and Allen in harmony.
The duo has delighted audiences at some of Australia’s finest music and arts festivals, including Woodford Folk Festival, Blue Mountains Music Festival, Yackandandah Folk Festival, Deni Ute Muster, The GAS, Wintermoon, Healesville Music Festival, Fleurieu Folk Festival, and Newport Folk Festival, amongst others. They have shared stages with notable acts including Vika & Linda Bull (AUS), The Weeping Willows (AUS), Sue Ray (AUS), Smith and Jones (AUS), Mary Flower (USA), Paisley Fields (USA), Wiley Gaby (USA), The Belle Miners (CAN), and more.
Great Aunt have recently returned from their first tour of the US, and are currently busy in their studio, producing and recording their debut full-length album, ‘It’s All Downhill From Here’ – due for release in 2023.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/22 - Jim Myers / Wilder Things Than Us
2023-08-22 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Uncle JimmyPie comes to us from right here in Knoxville Tennessee. Come join the fun!

Wilder Things Than Us – This project formed in 2012 (roughly) in Naples, FL under the moniker My Girl My Whiskey & Me. As a founding member, George chose the name (MGMW&M) based on a song by the Rayado Ruffians. This song represents the life changing moment when George first encountered the mandolin, as well as bluegrass music.
Fast forward about 2 years, when the band has undergone some changes in their lineup and emerged with only 2 members- George and his new wife, Kelly.
With a fresh start in Upstate South Carolina, we began to hone in on our own sound, our own writing style. We wanted to marry the earthiness of Appalachian music with… everything else, lol. We’ve used terms like “Progressive Bluegrass” and “Folk Rock” often, but we’re not committed to a genre. A fan once affectionately dubbed our sound “Zappalachain”, which we very much appreciate. Between our original and cover material you’ll hear jazz, blues, punk- no genre is safe.
In the summer of 2017 we released our debut album, In The Ground, with Other Southern, just before embarking on a year-long tour of the United States. Which states? All of ‘em. Go big, or go home, amIright?

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/21 - Lena Anderson / Rose Hawley
2023-08-21 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Originally from Minnesota, Lena (Arlene) Anderson‘s work and spirit of adventure led her to live in Norway, China and Ecuador as well as several U.S. states. Wherever she travels, she finds music to be a strong common bond across borders. Moving to Knoxville in 2018, Lena focuses on songwriting and performance. She has collaborated on 3 CDs, been featured on 2 compilations, and also produced one solo CD.
Lena plays in a duo with local favorite, Lon Spurgeon. Their music features Originals, Americana, Folk, Rock and Country. Look for them as “Lon & Lena”!

Rose Hawley is a Grandmother, Mom, Musician, BookSeller (KnoxvilleRose Etsy/Ebay), Divination & Tarot Svcs.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/19 - The Holland Brothers / Jay Brown One Man Band
2023-08-19 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Holland Brothers are from the Piedmont region of NC. They play a style of music rooted in old school country and country blues, with close harmonies and blues harmonica. Drawing inspiration from Charlie Poole to Charlie Patton, from Muddy Waters to the Memphis Jug Band, from the country gospel sounds of Flatt and Scruggs and the Louvin Brothers, from the high lonesome sound of Bill Monroe, or from the pairing of Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston, the Holland Brothers, together (as also in the 90’s rock band Jennyanykind) and individually have appeared in publications and events such as No Depression, North Carolina’s Our State magazine, the North Carolina State Fair, Billboard Magazine, as well as the NY Times, continue to garner praise and gain new fans daily.

Jay Brown is a lifelong songster hailing from Birmingham, AL. Jay has spent most of the past 20 years in the Appalachian Mountains playing with Lazybirds and earning a music therapy degree, while also recording and touring to support his solo career. Music is a way of life for Jay, and it truly shows. Jay demonstrates his dexterity on the guitar, harmonica, piano, and banjo. In addition to his gift with instruments, he sings beautifully. He has yet to make a musical sound that lacks in purity and integrity.

The WDVX Big Plate - 8/18 - Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method
2023-08-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
A century ago, blues was born in the fields of the South, played on porches and in little backwoods bars by kerosene lamp. The times have changed, and it’s a rare blues musician who grew up picking cotton and going home to learn to play by the light of a hurricane lantern.
Polly O’Keary certainly didn’t. Well, that is, she didn’t pick cotton. She picked apples. But she learned to read music by kerosene lamp in a log cabin in a remote part of Washington State. She started playing in ex-pat bars in Mexico at 16, and Eastern Washington watering holes for rural farm workers at the age of 17. She dropped out of school with an 8th grade education, married a prison-bound man at the age of 18 and by the time she was 21 had logged more stage hours than most musicians twice her age. She’d drunk as much as a fair number of them as well.
At 28, upon seeing Jeff Healey at a friend’s bar in Canada, she became obsessed with blues, studying and practicing the genre until carpel tunnel syndrome temporarily rendered her hands nearly immobile, and she quickly came to the attention of the Pacific Northwest blues scene with her powerful and emotional voice and her frenetic stage presence.
Today, she’s a PhD student, a world-traveled bassist, one of Washington State’s most highly-awarded female blues singers and songwriters (six-time Washington Blues Society Best Female Vocalist, six-time Best Blues Songwriter, etc.), doesn’t drink at all, and no longer visits lovers in prisons. But her music reflects the life of a modern blues woman; she’s seen the river rise and take everything more than once, and lived to laugh, sing, and write music about it.
Polly O’Keary is today’s blues woman, rooted in tradition, but informed by the 21st Century. Pulling in influences from zydeco, country, funk, jazz, rockabilly, surf and rock and roll, she and her trio, Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method, bring a searing and joyful performance of today’s blues to audiences across the U.S. and Canada.
Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method is the trio she built with her husband and drummer Tommy Cook, also a highly sought touring drummer and three-time winner of the Washington Blues Society Blues Drummer award, with whom she shared rhythm section duties for international touring act Too Slim and the Taildraggers for four years.
​Rounding out the trio is David Miller, who grew up listening to blues in Texas. At 17, then living in California, Miller met a piano player who was then working for Tommy Castro. The older musician recruited Miller to come play at several bars, and assured the young man that he could get him in, underage though he was. Miller became a regular in clubs in the Bay Area, sitting in with local and touring acts night after night. At 25, then living in San Luis Obispo, he assembled The Dave Miller Band, and for the next 18 years, he and the group went on to become one of Southern California’s most popular blues bands, leading one reviewer to describe his “jaw-dropping guitar licks” and praise his “extraordinary mixture of inspiring virtuosity both vocally and instrumentally.”
Together, the band has done 10 national tours, released four critically acclaimed albums; been nominated for three Independent Blues Music awards including Band of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year; won Blues Band of the Year from the LA Music Critic; been a top five finalist in the International Blues Challenge Best Self-Produced CD contest; has had a #1 single on contemporary blues radio and a #4 album; charted on Living Blues, and received a total of 26 awards from the Washington Blues Society and the Inland Empire Blues Society, including Best Songwriter, Best Blues Guitar, Best Blues Drummer, Best Blues Vocalist, and Best Blues Bass, among others.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/17 - Will Kruger / Crimson Calamity + Paul Bellantoni
2023-08-17 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Song-sirens Lauren Harding and Mallory Trunnell were veterans of intricate song-crafting and the bright lights of the stage on their own, but together, they discovered a shared talent for firecracker lyrics and glistening harmonies that became irresistible. The ladies penned a tune while participating in a songwriting challenge that sparked the notion to forge a Badass, Harmony-Laced, Folk/Rock driven, Americana Lady Duo. Thus: Crimson Calamity was born.
With inspiration from artists like Brandi Carlile, The Civil Wars and Fleetwood Mac, Crimson Calamity infuse their influences into all of the music they are devoted to creating. Their sound embodies both sultry rock and traditional country aspects.
The fiery twosome released their EP ‘WildCard’ on 2/11/22. This feel good, nostalgic EP showcases the evolution of the pair’s artistry that is seasoned and re-energized, while still offering their signature sound.

Kruger shares a style that recalls many of his earliest folk music influences, among them, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver and James Taylor in particular.
He’s toured nationally, sharing his “Folk Legend’s Tribute Show” at house concerts, libraries, conservation events, coffee houses, corporate functions and larger auditoriums in addition to appearances at a number of Nashville venues.
Four of his songs were featured in the films, “God Where Are You” and “Grace Of The Father.” In addition, he played the part of Noel Paul Stookey in the nationally touring Las Vegas tribute group, “Peter Paul & Mary Alive,” for several years.
Kruger, who performs regularly in East Tennessee at The Smoky Mountain Brewery, The Listening Room Cafe, Calhoun’s, and The Abbey, said he’s been playing music over 50 years. “Music can convey emotion on so many levels,” he said. “Music does that for me. The songs that I write touch on love, relationships, and faith. If I can communicate those things with my audience and touch their hearts, then all the work that I do is well worth it. I have a saying: ‘Have I ever told you how much I love music?”‘

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/16 - A Tale of Two
2023-08-16 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Combining the best of Americana and blues melodies with timeless Southern storytelling, award winning vocalist Stephanie Adlington and guitarist Aaron Lessard draw influence from the likes of Tom Waits and Ray LaMontagne, along with bedrock artists such as Patsy Cline and Hank Williams Sr. Not unlike the artists who inspired them, the duo’s songs frequently dabble in stories of revenge, drinking and feature sinners of all stripes and persuasions. Oozing an infectious stage presence and chemistry that carries over from the music to the back and forth banter between songs, “A Tale Of Two” offers a different kind of Americana – storytelling by a swampy pair of retro raconteurs spinning blues arias with soul, intrigue and power.
On their debut EP which was recorded completely live, Adlington and Lessard channel southern lullabies, front porch blues, and even hints of nostalgic love songs. The resulting body of work is a refreshing take on timeless themes of loyalty, heartbreak, and the struggle of the human condition.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/15 - Guy Marshall
2023-08-15 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Guy Marshall brings Appalachian cowboy music of Knoxville, TN!

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/14 - The Shootouts
2023-08-14 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Shootouts didn’t expect to be back in the studio so soon after the release of their Top 10 Americana album Bullseye. But when one of country music’s most legendary artists agrees to produce your next record, you don’t say no.
That’s what happened when a mutual friend introduced the band to Ray Benson – longtime frontman and 10-time Grammy-winning founder of Asleep at the Wheel. Just months after the April 2021 release of Bullseye, the Shootouts found themselves hard at work with Benson and co-producer Sam Seifert on the album that would become Stampede.
While it may have come together quickly, the sessions resulted in the group’s strongest album yet.
Stampede is steeped in all things country music – an energetic fusion of Americana, honky tonk and Western swing that Shootouts fans often refer to as “country music for people who don’t like country.”
The Shootouts’ sound is reflective of their Northeast Ohio “Rustbelt” roots. Akron, Ohio – the city that produced the Pretenders, the Black Keys, and Devo – isn’t a place normally associated with country music, but these influences are as integral to their sound as those of the country music greats. The bulk of Stampede was recorded at Son of Moondog Studios over a five-day period that brought Benson, Seifert and Asleep at the Wheel to Northeast Ohio to work with the Shootouts on the band’s home turf.
Stampede also finds the Shootouts working with a notable array of Americana heavy-hitters. There’s the high-speed opening kiss-off “Better Things to Do,” which features Marty Stuart’s unmistakable bluegrass-tinged mandolin. Benson and members of Asleep at the Wheel get in on the fun with the western swing-rooted “One Step Forward.” Raul Malo of The Mavericks lends soaring harmony vocals to “I’ll Never Need Anyone More,” a song written by Cleveland music legend Michael Stanley, who passed away in 2021. Country hit songwriter Jim Lauderdale joins the Shootouts on the Bakersfield-esque “Tomorrow’s Knockin’” while famed guitarist, singer-songwriter, and producer Buddy Miller sings with the band on the California-country-rock number “Anywhere But Here.”
Other standout tracks include the infectious Dave Edmunds-inspired “Run for Cover,” and the barn-burning instrumental title track, which showcases the band’s gifted lead guitarist Brian Poston and Asleep at the Wheel’s Dennis Ludiker.​
Stampede was released Feb. 24, 2023 on Soundly Music — the same day The Shootouts made their Grand Ole Opry debut as part of their twenty city “Stampede” album release tour, which also included an official showcase at SXSW. The album reached #4 On The Americana Album Chart (4/4/23), #1 On The Alt-Country Specialty Chart (2/22/23 & 3/29/23) and was named one of the “Most Anticipated Albums Of 2023” By Saving Country Music, Wide Open Country, And Glide Magazine.
Since the release of their 2019 debut album Quick Draw, the Shootouts have been busy. Even a pandemic hasn’t slowed them down – Stampede will be their third album in five years. They’ve also toured heavily, performing their notoriously energetic live shows with not only Asleep at the Wheel, but a wide range of artists including Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Chris Isaak, Charley Crockett, Dale Watson, Lake Street Dive, and more.
The band’s 2021 album Bullseye, produced by Grammy-nominee and BR549 founder Chuck Mead, has been praised by a range of outlets including Rolling Stone Country, American Songwriter, Wide Open Country, Saving Country Music, The Boot, and The Bluegrass Situation. Bullseye spent over 18 weeks on the Americana Music Association Top 30 album chart – including three weeks in the Top 10 (No. 6).
The album also reached No. 1 on The Alt-Country Specialty Chart, No. 1 on The Roots Music Report Country Albums, No. 1 On The Roots Music Report Americana Albums, No. 42 On The Americana Music Association Most Played Albums of 2021, and was named by the Country Mile UK as one of its Top Five Albums Of 2021. The album was also featured on Spotify’s Pulse of Americana playlist and in rotation on Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country channel.
More recently, the band has been nominated for “Best Honky Tonk Group” at the 2023 Ameripolitan Music Awards – a nomination the band was also honored with in 2020.
The Shootouts are lead singer and guitarist Ryan Humbert, vocalist Emily Bates, lead guitarist Brian Poston, bassist Kevin McManus, and drummer Mark Butto. For Stampede, the band also worked closely with their longtime mentor and collaborator Al Moss.

ORNL FCU/Summer Sessions - 8/12 - Ferd Band / Tillers / Hogslop String Band / Sierra Hull
2023-08-12 18:00 | Bissell Park, 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, United States
FERD (the band) is nearly 15 years in the making. As the former fiddler and front man for the Hackensaw Boys, Ferd Moyse first met East Tennessee banjoist and singer Matt Morelock in 2007 and double-bassist Chris Stevens shortly thereafter. Ferd, Stevens, and Morelock decided to take the trio on the road in 2021 with a singular focus on Ferd’s body of timeless original songs. FERD has quickly gained the attention of fans, musicians, venues, and discerning listeners worldwide with headlining spots at the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival, Old Tone Festival, Blackpot Festival, and venues, theatres, clubs, and campfires. FERD is set to release their first album, Feelin’ Like the Wind, in 2022. The album is a musical journey into the toils of joy we find while stumbling our way to forgiveness.

The Tillers have been thumping their own distinctive sound of string band style folk music for a decade, riding it all over the country and across the sea. Four studio albums and one live record have won them praise as modern folk storytellers of the national soundscape.

Staying true to tradition while maintaining a bold irreverence is something that rarely goes hand-in-hand, but Hogslop String Band manages to walk that line. With their roots in old-time string band music, and their energy based in wild rock- and-roll; you could almost call them punk purists.
It’s an unlikely combination, but given the talents of singer and fiddler Kevin Martin; guitarist, harmonica player and singer Gabriel Kelley; mandolin player and singer Will Harrison; banjo player and singer Daniel Binkley, and bassist and all-round entertainer Pickle, they pull it off with natural ease. The name alone hints at their wacky ways, but catching them live will give you a true sense of these bizarre, seemingly contradictory descriptions.
They thrive on crossing genres, casting off the confines of straight old-time and bluegrass, delving into a deep repertoire of rock, folk, psychedelic, and original numbers that can only be described as,”The Hogslop Sound.” It’s clear that these guys are going places, and they’ve quickly become one of the most unique and exhilarating outfits in live music today.

In her first 25 years alone, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sierra Hull hit more milestones than many musicians accomplish in a lifetime. After making her Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 10, the Tennessee-bred virtuoso mandolinist played Carnegie Hall at age 12, then landed a deal with Rounder Records just a year later. Now 28-years-old, Hull is set to deliver her fourth full- length for Rounder: an elegantly inventive and endlessly captivating album called 25 Trips.
Revealing her profound warmth as a storyteller, 25 Trips finds Hull shedding light on the beauty and chaos and sometimes sorrow of growing up and getting older. To that end, the album’s title nods to a particularly momentous year of her life, including her marriage to fellow bluegrass musician Justin Moses and the release of her widely acclaimed album Weighted Mind—a Béla Fleck- produced effort nominated for Best Folk Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
“There’s a lot of push-and-pull on this record, where in some moments I feel like everything’s happening so fast and I wish I could slow it all down so I can really enjoy it,” Hull points out. “But then there are also times where I’m looking forward to the day when the craziness has died down a bit, and life’s a little calmer.”
Made with producer/engineer Shani Gandhi (Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Sarah Jarosz, Alison Krauss), 25 Trips continues the musical journey begun on Weighted Mind, a body of work that built off Hull’s bluegrass roots and ventured into entirely new terrain. But while its predecessor assumed a sparse and stripped-back palette, 25 Trips embodies a far more intricately arranged sound—an effect achieved with the help of peers like guitarist Mike Seal, bassist Ethan Jodziewicz, violinist Alex Hargreaves, and fiddler Christian Sedelmyer, as well as several musicians that Hull has long admired (including bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarist Bryan Sutton, and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Duncan). Along with integrating electric instrumentation and percussion into her material for the first time, Hull dreamed up the album’s eclectic textures by embracing a free-flowing process that often gave way to lightning-in-a-bottle improvisation.
“There were some songs that we created from the ground up, where I’d go in and play by myself, and from there we’d bring in other musicians to add more and more layers,” Hull says. “It was really wonderful to work that way, where we started from a place of mystery and then just let the song show us what it wanted or needed to become.”
Immediately proving the power of that approach, 25 Trips lures the listener into its unpredictable sonic world on the beguiling opening track “Beautifully Out of Place.” With its shifting tempos and gently tempestuous mood, the song was sparked from words of encouragement spoken by Hull’s husband at a time of self-doubt and confusion. “I remember Justin saying to me, ‘I believe in you, so you’re just going to have to learn to believe in yourself,’” she recalls. “That inspired the first line for me, and the song just wrote itself from there.”
Although much of the album bears a rich complexity, 25 Trips also includes moments of stark simplicity that perfectly showcase Hull’s stunning vocal range. On “Everybody’s Talking,” for instance, her luminous vocals quietly capture the frustration of finding clarity in the midst of constant chatter from the outside world. And on “Ceiling to the Floor”—co-written with Kai Welch, a songwriter/musician known for his work with Glen Campbell and Abigail Washburn—Hull spins a tender metaphor from her longtime fear of heights. “I was telling Kai about how when I was little my dad used to try to get me over that fear by holding me up to the ceiling and saying, ‘Just touch it—I’m not gonna let you fall,’” she explains. Featuring a performance from legendary steel-guitar player Paul Franklin, “Ceiling to the Floor” drifts from memory to real-time reflection, slowly unfolding as a nuanced meditation on courage and love.
One of the most unexpected turns on 25 Trips, “Escape” emerges as a delicate collage of hypnotic percussion, otherworldly electric-mandolin tones, and poetic yet plainspoken lyrics (e.g., “I want to escape to a world that’s not closing in”). “I didn’t even have that song on my list for the album, but I played Shani a voice memo and right away she said, ‘I wanna record that,’” remembers Hull, who penned “Escape” with singer/songwriter Angel Snow. “I was a little hesitant since it’s so unlike anything else I’ve done, but in the end it was really exciting to play electric and come up with something in a completely different vein.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 8/12 - The Kucera Brothers
2023-08-12 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Kucera Brothers, founded by Sam Kucera, Colin Kucera, and Alex McArthur.

Kidstuff Live - 8/12 - Anna Uptain
2023-08-12 10:00 - 11:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Anna Uptain is a multi-instrumentalist and local musician/music instructor.You might see Anna playing around town or at Dollywood, or teaching adult beginners in guitar, banjo, mandolin or ukulele at Pellissippi State, but you can definitely catch her weekly at her job playing music for story time at the Blount County Public Library in the children’s department.
