East Tennessee's Own WDVX

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/30 - Blue Mother Tupelo
2023-06-30 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Blue Mother Tupelo is Ricky & Micol (pronounced “Michael” Anne) Davis. Energetic & soul-stirring, BMT has a natural way of sharing their music in a celebration of real-life that can be authentically raucous, worshipful, & tender.
Rising up from the bluffs of Memphis and the mountains of east Tennessee, through the Mississippi Delta, Nashville & now Como, MS, Blue Mother Tupelo oozes a deep kind of blue southern soul & roots rock sound that’s been described as truly Americana.
Life for (The) Blue Mother Tupelo began in Knoxville, Tennessee as a duo in 1995, melding into various experimental configurations, from first performances at open-mic nights to a blues-rock electric quartet then on to a kind of acoustic driven soulful country blues duo.
2020 found Blue Mother Tupelo celebrating 25 years of music together. 2021 found BMT continuing along pretty quietly in conjunction with pandemic hurdles. 2022 resounded with Love, Soul & a successful crowd-funding campaign in support of 2023’s new album to be released mid-year!
Blue Mother Tupelo was chosen as 2022’s Music Artist Of The Year by The Southland Music Line. Read the article HERE.
Ricky & Micol moved to Hendersonville, TN – on the edge of Nashville in 1998 as they lived, worked, & toured – writing songs and recording for 21 years until heading to the quieter cusp of the North Mississippi hill country near the Delta just south of Memphis. Como, Mississippi is now called home.
Peaks & valleys, sweet memories & some difficult lessons, life’s highs & lows … all are the realistic, rhythmical landscape for our song lyrics that find us landing on our feet, still soaring on the melodic wings of a spiritual kind of harmonic flow. You’ll likely always find a positive edge, though; through the boogie, on the fly, flowing through the sweat, tears & joy.
We are ramblers of the musical soul, sometimes in pure, cool agreement & sometimes in an energetic counterpoint. Seeking honest self-connection, we sing & we play knowing that the wavelengths can reach far beyond ourselves. Our music is meant for You & from our life Source.
It’s always a gift to share the stage with other musicians who become like family, sometimes having traveled many days in a row together on tour & others a night at a time. Currently it’s more often the 2 of us connected by a tie that binds our gypsy hearts.
Some folks have had us on their recordings, several of which might be some of your favorite performers & others whom are not familiar to the mainstream. Most of our songs are self-penned but we’ve written songs with beautifully gifted songwriters, shared stages with some of our heroes, had songs in movies & on soundtracks, our voices on commercials & TV, played in juke joints, stages big & small, honky tonks, at festivals, writers’ rounds, happy hours, & even busking on the streets.
We count each experience a blessing. It’s an honor to share your presence.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/29 - The Young Fables / Tim O’Brien
2023-06-29 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer songwriter and multi- instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and in school. After seeing Doc Watson on TV, he became a lifelong devotee of old time and bluegrass music. Tim started touring nationally in 1978 with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize. His songs “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” and “Untold Stories” were bluegrass hits for Hot Rize, and country hits for Kathy Mattea. Soon more artists like Nickel Creek, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks covered his songs. Over the years, Tim has collaborated with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old-time musician Dirk Powell, as well as with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Dan Auerbach and Sturgill Simpson.
Living in Nashville since 1996, O’Brien’s skills on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo make him an in-demand session player. He tours throughout the US and abroad, most often with his wife Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals. A voracious reader who loves to cook, he has two sons, Jackson (born 1982) and Joel (born 1990). The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him song of the year in 2006 and named him best male vocalist in 1993 and 2006. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
O’Brien’s latest release, 2021’s “He Walked On”, weaves historical and socially conscious themes through songs about ordinary and not so ordinary people just trying to “keep it between the ditches”. Other notable O’Brien recordings include the bluegrass Dylan covers of “Red on Blonde”, the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of “The Crossing”, and the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green”. His duet recording “Real Time” with Darrell Scott is a cult favorite, and he won a bluegrass Grammy as part of “The Earls of Leicester”. His 2017 release “Where the River Meets the Road” paid tribute to the music of his native West Virginia. A new release of original material “Cup of Sugar” drops June 16.

The Young Fables (TYF) create music with classic storytelling weaved into Americana roots music with pop sensibilities. East Tennessee (Maryville) natives, Laurel Wright and Wes Lunsford are influenced by timeless treasures like Patsy Cline, Bonnie Raitt, Glen Campbell and Chet Atkins. The duo’s unique sound has resonated with audiences around the globe as live performances have become stages from which The Young Fables discuss themes and topics typically saved for the therapy couch. Strong advocates for mental health awareness, The Young Fables are focused on helping to erase the stigmas surrounding the topic. Recognizing the duo’s advocacy, the pair were honored with The Troy Gentry Compassion Award in 2021 for compassion, commitment, kindness and love.
The couple has dropped 3 full length albums Two, Old Songs, and Pages (the latter two collaborations with GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Mitch Dane). Their sound – a whimsical, distinguishable classic country-meets-Americana pop blend – was praised by iconic artists and taste-makers alike, with nine-time GRAMMY® Award winning artist Sheryl Crow tweeting, “Laurel’s as good as any country singer out there!” Their releases opened the door for a Rolling Stone “10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week” nod, direct support for artists like Vince Gill, Amy Grant, and Rascal Flatts and an invitation from multi-platinum songstress Shania Twain to take part in the CBS showcase celebration Real Country. “Wes is a perfect partner for Laurel’s voice. I fell in love with these guys as a genuine, authentic talent and sound,” mused Twain, and Travis Tritt added, “Our industry needs (TYF) right now!”
2023 will see Wright and Lunsford releasing Short Stories, the band’s 4th studio effort, and their feature documentary ‘The Fable of a Song’, winner of the 2021 Nashville Film Festival Audience Choice Award. “Every album that we have released has become sort of journal entry for us and Short Stories is the next chapter.” Wright reveals. “We feel fortunate to have a space to share our music and are so grateful that our story seems to be helping others with their healing. That’s a reward unlike any other.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/28 - Kelly Zullo / Jessica Terrell / Sarah Peacock / Michelle Malone
2023-06-28 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Carolina Coast-based singer/songwriter, Kelly Zullo’s voice melds seamlessly with her “funk finger style guitar” folk. Her original music has been noted for its impressive guitar accompaniment, using “some speedy finger work and hard hitting right hand technique while she sings at the same time” (Guitar World Magazine).
A lover also of great songs, she re-brands iconic 80’s and 90’s songs with refreshing new arrangements of classics that clearly and concisely honor the lyrics while transforming them often into a previously unimagined entity.

Jessica Terrell blends Miranda Lambert’s fiery anthems, Dolly Parton’s strong storytelling, and Stevie Nick’s rock and roll into a unique country music cocktail.
The Phenix City, Alabama native now residing in Nashville is a fierce and coming independent artist. She performs regularly at famous venues such as Rippy’s Honky Tonk, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk and Steakhouse. Jessica takes the stage with absolute confidence and an authentic ability to laugh at herself.
When she is not on Broadway, Jessica can be found singing original music at more intimate venues. The sweet songstress writes progressive lyrics with a traditional country sound. Jessica’s single “Slow Down” shows she is more concerned with breaking boundaries than fitting in with lyrics like:
“Your picket fence is my guitar case, your settling down is my next town’s name.”
Jessica released her debut single in 2022. In just one year, her artistry has been taken across the globe with her original music played in 27 countries. In 2023 she is planning on releasing more self-penned songs and going on tour.

American history is blood-stained with the dehumanization of entire communities. Casting her own harrowing spell, singer-songwriter Sarah Peacock draws parallels between current events and the 1692 Salem Witch Trials with the title song to her new record, Burn the Witch (March 27, 2020). Finger-picking guitar work cleanses the throat as her voice swells to mimic the havoc strewn through time, as well as present-day strife along our southern border. Such raw intensity boils over onto the rest of the 11-track record, and while her style is not easily defined, her storytelling prowess is irrefutably potent and unnerving.

Michelle Malone’s musical roots run deep and wide like the mighty Mississippi river, twisting and turning through southern rock, folk and country territories. “Malone is a master at mixing blues and Americana music” (GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE). Her powerful live show will take you on a journey from dirty back roads of the deep slow south to frantic bright city lights, regardless of whether she’s performing solo or armed with her electric guitar and her mighty fine band. Michelle “has the soul of a blues man, the heart of a folk singer, and the guts of a rock and roll star wrapped up in one fiery bad ass” (NASHVILLE RAGE), and she’s “uniquely able to blow the roof off the place then turn right around and whisper a soft song that will break your damn heart” (PASTE). Her live shows are upbeat and authentic, engaging and satisfyingly soul stirring, flush with the raw energy and emotion that’s always been a part of her signature sound. Over the course of Malone’s 25+ year career, she has shared stages with artists from Gregg Allman to Sugarland’s Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, Albert King to Mississippi All-Stars Luther Dickenson, Indigo Girls to Brandi Carlile, released 17 records thus far, and continues to gain respect from her peers. Her beautiful new Americana album, 1977, was released April 22, 2022 to rave reviews: “a wealth of alluring and enticing entries that ensure immediate accessibility and could be considered Malone’s masterpiece. 4/5 stars” (AMERICAN SONGWRITER). “Malone’s songs unfold cinematically and captures moments of human vulnerability, and her warm, inviting vocals tell stories of the exquisite intimacy of our daily lives.” (NO DEPRESSION).

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/26 - Patterson Barrett / Matt Foster
2023-06-26 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Patterson Barrett moved to Austin shortly after appearing on Jerry Jeff Walker’s eponymous first release on MCA records, playing pedal steel, dobro, and guitar (including the song “L.A. Freeway”). Not long after arriving in Austin, he formed the band Partners In Crime, which included Buddy and Julie Miller, releasing one album on their own label, Criminal Records.
In the years since, Patterson produced some of Hal Ketchum’s earliest demos, served in Al Kooper’s back-up band, and performed before 10,000 festival-goers as Chuck Berry’s pianist. He accompanied Nancy Griffith on Austin City Limits, legendary Austin singer Lou Ann Barton in music clubs around the country, and Buddy Miller on his Your Love And Other Lies CD, and more recently, on the Buddy & Jim CD. He has a continuing collaboration with Stephanie Urbina Jones as her accompanist, musical director and producer, including work with her Honky Tonk Mariachi project, appearing on the Grand Ole Opry multiple times.

Matt Foster plays a mountain banjo, harmonica, and the sole of his boot. It’s live, simple, and earnest.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/24 - Julia Sanders / Billy Droze & Gary Nichols
2023-06-24 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
With the wry, evocative opening lines of “Woman in Between”—“Call me tender, call me weathered, call me green / Call me shifter, I’m a woman in between”—Asheville singer-songwriter and Americana artist Julia Sanders distills both the spirit and sound of her upcoming record Morning Star.
Produced by John James Tourville of New West Records band The Deslondes, Morning Star unfolds a meticulously arranged musical landscape, anchored by Sanders’ transfixing vocals and a compact but thoughtful narrative style that calls to mind forebears like Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris. Much of it autobiographical, Morning Star finds Sanders exploring the complexities of transitions: from woman to mother, partners to parents, and freewheelin’ musician to an adult with roots and responsibilities. The result is a poetic, often dark, yet silver-lined portrait of transformation and growth. “We’re used to thinking of adolescence as the only big transition, from child to adult, and it’s full of intense emotions, changes, angst and searching,” Sanders says. “But as a mother, I discovered you go through a second adolescence, and Morning Star reflects that.”
After the birth of her first child, a daughter, Sanders began seeking out songs about the complicated, often contradictory feelings she was experiencing, but save for Brandi Carlile’s “The Mother,” she kept coming up empty. “For a long time, when I sat down to write it felt like I had nothing to say anymore, but that was because writing songs about partnership, or being a mother and raising kids felt like something I wasn’t allowed to do,” Sanders says. “It’s not seen as ‘cool’ enough or ‘rock & roll’ enough.”
Pushing back against this mentality, Sanders began creating her own soundtrack to the experience of matrescence—that physical, emotional, hormonal and social transition into motherhood. With each track on Morning Star, she explores different facets of her life—her career, her partner, her children—and the range of emotions they carry with them, from pure joy and fulfillment to less acknowledged feelings that walk hand in hand with the bliss of having kids; feelings like struggle, loneliness and self-doubt. “Woman in Between”—a wide-open Americana ballad dusted with dreamy wurlitzer & synth flourishes, atmospheric electric guitar and some beautiful harmonies courtesy of singer-songwriter Erika Lewis—is a perfect example of this. The song serves as the thematic cornerstone of the new album, wrestling with the loss of autonomy and the fracturing of identity.
“All of a sudden, you have an enormous responsibility to this other being,” Sanders explains, “and you can’t fathom caring about anyone as much as you care about them. That said, your sense of identity is simultaneously being shredded, and you do have this grief over losing your former life, which can be sort of taboo to talk about. There’s this sense that parenthood has to be all sweet gentle magic, and it is, but the times when it isn’t— you feel like you need to push that away or you feel guilty about it. The question is, ‘How do you hold on to yourself and your creative spirit and still work within this new normal?'”
Sanders was born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey and attended art school in New York. But it wasn’t until later, in New Orleans—immersed in the Big Easy’s gritty alt-country and R&B scenes—that she found her sound and her voice. “I’ve been playing music since I was 9, but it was mostly other people’s music,” she says. “In New Orleans, that all changed. Sitting around a fire trading songs, seeing them evolve—it made me realize that writing songs for myself was possible. It no longer seemed like a foreign thing that only happens in recording studios far away.”
In New Orleans Sanders met future collaborator and producer Tourville, along with fellow Americana artist Esther Rose, an early supporter in whom she found a kindred spirit and plenty of encouragement. “Esther always showed genuine excitement in what I was doing,” Sanders says. “She pushed me to keep writing. To this day, she’s still the first person I’ll send a new song to.”
Her confidence bolstered, Sanders continued to grow as a songwriter, eventually leaving New Orleans behind for her current home of Asheville, N.C. A picturesque city of less than 100,000 nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, it’s a fitting home for a folk singer. Sanders’ 2018 debut album, On the Line—which drew inspiration from the classic country of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline—was recorded there in three days in a wooden chapel on the outskirts of town. A couple years later, amidst the claustrophobic pandemic winter of 2020, a follow-up began brewing. Spurred by the solitude, her Jersey roots, and Bruce Springsteen’s austere Americana classic Nebraska, she cut a lo-fi, home-recorded EP of Springsteen covers called Jersey Girl.
Now, with multi-instrumentalist Tourville at the helm for sophomore LP Morning Star, Sanders’ honest, unadorned self-reflection sounds as refreshing as an autumn breeze. Supported by Tourville’s empathetic arrangements—acoustic and pedal-steel guitars intertwining beneath her wistful vocals—she paints an alternately glowing and desolate portrait of new motherhood. “I knew that JJ could help me create the sound I wanted for this record,” Sanders says. “He has this unique way of listening. I really trust his ear.”
Working out of Tourville’s home studio in Asheville, they were able to take their time with Morning Star, slowly developing the songs over weeks and months, taking breaks to reflect and reevaluate; adding, subtracting and layering as they went. Tourville employs a vast collection of sounds on the record, from the traditional instrumentation of country and folk (acoustic guitars, pedal steel, banjo, mandolin) to more unexpected additions, including synthesizers, organs, Wurlitzer, vibraphone and strings, adding musical depth on par with Sanders’ contemplative, bittersweet lyrics.
In the end, Morning Star emerges as an act of self-reconciliation. By finding creative rebirth and rejuvenation in the experience of its making, Sanders seems to make peace with the conflicting fragments of her identity, finding a path forward for herself as both a mother and a musician. “This album is about learning to elevate everyday experiences into art,” she says. “That’s what captures my attention—art that takes everyday moments and transforms them into something poignant and beautiful, and helps me to see my world in a different way.”

Born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1986, the 10th of 12 children, Billy Ryan Droze grew up in Alabama knowing that music was his life as far back as he can remember. “It’s as if I was inserted with a computer chip that made my life revolve around music.” But the reason is just as likely the influence of his father, Bob Droze, a dedicated country, gospel, and bluegrass musician, even now that he is in his 80s. Billy was on stage with his dad by the time he was 4 years old, and spent his childhood singing with him everywhere from churches to bluegrass festivals to honky-tonks, developing a passion for traditional country, gospel, and roots music that has influenced him ever since.
He learned to play guitar when he was 12, and as a teenager would perform anywhere, anytime, for anyone who would listen, sometimes walking miles down country roads, carrying his guitar, just for the chance to play a few songs.
By the time he was 16, Billy’s dad had moved to Texas and he followed him there, spending a year or so playing with his band. Then after rambling around Texas for a while, Billy decided it was time to move to Nashville, where he has lived ever since. Continuing to play anywhere he could, and constantly honing his skills as a song smith and musician, Billy steadily expanded his ever-growing fan base. Singing lead for Grammy-winning Shenandoah (using the name Billy Ryan) for several tours, dramatically increased awareness of his musical talents in the Country, Americana, Bluegrass and Roots music industry.
Though signed by RCA/Sony BMG as an artist shortly after arriving in Nashville, that never developed into what he’d hoped for, Billy then focused on his songwriting while pursuing a solo career. He has also been a staff writer, with publishing deals that resulted in several significant cuts that include “You Never Know” – Darryl Worley, “Free Again” – Shenandoah, “That’s Why I Run” – Billy Yates (#1 in Europe), “Sunday Clothes” – Randy Kohrs,”Big Pain” -Marty Raybon, “Bottle Was a Bible” – Junior Sisk, “Her Memory Again” (#5 Bluegrass Today Chart) – Flatt Lonesome, “Like I Do” – Jamie O’neil, “I Know Better” (#1 Bluegrass Today Chart) – The Grascals, among others.
In response to a family tragedy and the need for a change of scenery, Billy decided to expand his horizons by booking a thirteen-city, nine-country tour of Eastern Europe to promote his third independent album, “Ready For The Ride.” Extremely well-received by fans and reviewers alike and earning him three #1 singles on the European Hot Disc charts, this tour also led him to Lithuania where he found his soul mate. And when he returned to the U.S. it was with his new wife, Marija (whose lovely voice blends perfectly with his). In addition, he has appeared in Country Weekly numerous times, as well as other magazines and Web sites in the U.S. and Europe and has had 4 major-network country music videos.
At only 35 years of age, Billy Droze has acquired the title of “hit songwriter” and has been touring and making music non-stop for more than a decade. This truly unique artist and highly prolific songwriter, with lyrics that dig deep into the heart of life, melodies and a guitar style that combine his traditional roots with a modern twist that’s all his own, and a voice so beautiful, earthy and sincere that every song gives you goose bumps, has already been solidly received by both fans, industry leaders and musical peers. Droze was considered for the prestigious 2018 Grammy Awards along with the IBMA and ICMA Awards. Together with bluegrass superstar Rhonda Vincent, he hosted the 2018 ICMA Awards at the historic Grand Ole Opry House. His name is becoming synonymous among Folk, Americana, Country, and Bluegrass listeners alike. Added to his many musical accomplishments, he is now President of RBR Entertainment. Billy is one of the fastest rising stars in roots music of his generation.

Gary Nichols will also perform with Billy Droze. He is a former Steeldriver and they are performing as a duo together.

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/23 - Nancy Brennan Strange Trio / Grayson Slade Band
2023-06-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
East Tennessee’s Own Nancy Brennan Strange Trio opens the show today!

National Touring Band, Grayson Slade Band joins us today for the Big Plate!

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/22 - Katie Powderly / Cimarron 615
2023-06-22 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Cimarron615 is a rock and roll case study in history repeating itself.
When Poco founder and sole perennial member Rusty Young died in early 2021, it effectively ended the band’s amazing 53 year run and left adrift its remaining members – 30 year veteran bassist Jack Sundrud, drummer Rick Lonow and rookie guitarist and vocalist Tom Hampton.
The surviving members found themselves facing the same dilemma that surfaced when Buffalo Springfield called it quits in 1968 – and they ended up taking the same path forward, although it didn’t become immediately apparent. In fact, they may have permanently drifted apart if not for one last loose end.
“Kirk Pasich, from Rusty’s record label – Blue Elan – had been working on a Rusty Young tribute album prior to his passing, and he’d asked us to contribute to the album after he passed,” said Hampton. “There was a videotaping of a live show in Joshua Tree that we bundled with the session date, and before we left to return to Nashville, he offered us a record deal.”
For the west coast jaunt, they’d welcomed former Poco multi-instrumentalist Michael Webb back into the fray, and called on guitarist and singer Bill Lloyd – a collaborator with Rusty in the Sky Kings and former partner in country duo Foster and Lloyd to fill out the lineup.
When they returned to Nashville, they found themselves with an album to write, rehearse and record.
Oh, and they needed a name. Enter Michael Webb, who came up with the notion of the name after weeks of throwing around ideas.
“615 is the Nashville area code, so it ties the Poco legacy to us, since we all live here…and Cimarron feels self-explanatory – we’re all connected to Rusty, then and still. The name just makes it official.”
The band is a muscular, versatile evolution of their West-Coast country-rock roots – but their debut album, Brand New Distance, owes as much to American Beauty, Damn The Torpedoes, and Music From Big Pink as it does to the Poco catalog.
Sundrud’s warm, familiar role as a vocalist and songwriter is a strong tether to the bands’ roots while contributing strong new material to the record, while both Rick Lonow and Bill Lloyd bring songwriting and instrumental chops to their freshman effort that make the band the quintuple-threat that they represent. Rick Lonow is a touring and session veteran who was responsible for co-writing Poco’s last hit, Call It Love – and brought the first single, High Lonesome Stranger, to the sessions. Bill Lloyd’s guitar work nakedly reflects his Kentucky roots alongside his long standing power-pop tendencies while Webb and Hampton offer a wide array of sonic contributions – with Webb reprising his role as Youngs’ multi-talented instrumental foil that captivated fans during his tenure with the band and Hampton easing into the role formerly occupied by their founder on lap and pedal steel, dobro, and “whatever Michael isn’t holding at any given moment,” says Hampton. The resulting record is a blissful document of five veterans of the Nashville music community becoming a band.

Katie Powderly is an award-winning songwriter, who has performed live on PBS & NPR, and has toured from New York to Colorado, Texas to Tennessee.
She has shared bills with Tony Rice, Del McCoury Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Steel Wheels, The Black Lillies, Lake Street Dive, Langhorne Slim, The David Mayfield Parade, and many others.
Her singing and harmonies have been likened to Gillian Welch (Isthmus, Madison, WI) and Gram Parsons (City Paper, Rochester, NY.)
She was also voted Best Country/Bluegrass Performer in her home city of Madison, Wisconsin in the Madison Area Music Awards.
According to Local Sounds Magazine in Madison, WI, “Katie Powderly released one of the best albums [of the year], but Local Sounds’ Rick Tvedt has also hailed it as one of the best recordings to ever come out of the Madison area.”
The album they’re referring to is Katie’s debut LP, Slips of the Tongue (Red-Winged Blackbird Records), which features a hell of a lineup of supporting musicians, including Josh Oliver (Watchhouse/Mandolin Orange), Bryn Davies (Tony Rice, Guy Clark, Jack White), Tom Pryor (The Black Lillies), and Jill Andrews (the everybodyfields), and was recorded at Butch Vig’s famed Smart Studios in Madison, WI, with significant help from Scott Minor (Sparklehorse.)
Katie now resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland after a years-long sojourn across the country.
When she’s not performing with her electrified Americana band, The Unconditional Lovers, whose first album will be out in 2023, you can find her playing her songs as a solo artist or duo, or acting as a bluegrass bass sideman for such acts as The David Mayfield Parade and Woody Pines.
She recently joined hard-driving PA bluegrass band, Dead Horse Revival, on the bluegrass bass, which features former members of Mountain Ride.

WDVX Summer Nights - 6/21 - Jim Lauderdale Band
2023-06-21 19:00 | Yee Haw Brewing Co, 745 N Broadway, Knoxville, TN, 37917, United States
At any given time, you’re likely to find Jim Lauderdale making music, whether he’s laying down a new track in the studio or working through a spontaneous melody at his home in Nashville. And if he’s not actively crafting new music, he’s certainly thinking about it. “It’s a constant challenge to try to keep making better and better records, write better and better songs. I still always feel like I’m a developing artist,” he says. This may be a surprising sentiment from a man who’s won two Grammys, released 34 full-length albums, and taken home the Americana Music Association’s coveted Wagonmaster Award. But forthcoming album Game Changer is convincing evidence that the North Carolina native is only continuing to hone his craft.
Operating under his own label, Sky Crunch Records, for the first time since 2016, Lauderdale recorded Game Changer at the renowned Blackbird Studios in Nashville, co-producing the release with Jay Weaver and pulling from songs he’d written over the last several years. “There’s a mixture on this record of uplifting songs and, at the same time, songs of heartbreak and despair—because that’s part of life as well,” he says. “In the country song world especially, that’s always been part of it. That’s real life.”
Lauderdale would know: He’s been a vital part of the country music ecosystem since 1991, when he released his debut album and began penning songs for an impressively long roster of country music greats. “When I was a teenager wanting to be a bluegrass banjo player, I never would have imagined that I would get to work with people like Ralph Stanley, Robert Hunter, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams and John Oates ,” he muses. “Getting to work with them inspires me greatly to this day, and I know it always will.” ,” he muses. “Getting to work with them inspires me greatly to this day, and I know it always will.”
From rollicking guitar riffs on “That Kind of Life (That Kind of Day)” to the slow, sweet harmonies of “I’ll Keep My Heart Open For You,” Game Changer shows off Lauderdale’s ingenuity as a singer, songwriter, and producer—while reestablishing him as one of Americana’s most steadfast champions. “Country music is constantly evolving, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for steel guitar and a Telecaster,” he says. “I have done my job on this record if people who love classic country feel like they can put it on, or have it in their collection, and it would fit right in.”
Respecting the past doesn’t mean he’s not breaking new ground. “We’re All We’ve Got,” a co-write with Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris, offers a timely message about healing torn relationships at home and across the world. And “Friends Again,” a grinning number about rekindling a friendship, is fresh and forward-looking. At every turn, Lauderdale’s collaborative spirit and genuine love for the creative process reveal themselves in thoughtful, well-crafted songs sure to stand the test of time. “When everything works right, it’s just magical to be able to hear them back,” he says. “You feel, at least for those three-and-a-half minutes, like life makes sense.”

More Summer Nights to come!
7/19 – Blue Moon Rising
8/23 – The Alex Leach Band with Special Guests

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/21 - Jennifer Alvarado / Greg Horne
2023-06-21 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
At just four years old, Alvarado started writing songs. Her passion for songwriting only comes second to her love for God. As a teenager, she began leading worship in her church and felt a call to ministry. Her first single “Relentlessly” was released in 2015 followed by her first Christian album “Hello Life” that consisted of 13 original songs.
She returned to her country roots with her single “I Break Things” that was released in early 2020. She released four additional singles during 2020. She has a passion for recovery ministry and wants to help give a voice to the voiceless through music.
Her first EP project titled ”Playing with Fire” was released in April 2021. She is currently working on a country pop album titled “Songbird” that will be released in Summer 2022. “Songbird” is a two part collection of songs that shows Jennifer’s growth as a writer and is sonically much different than her earlier projects. Her second single from the “Songbird” project, titled ‘’Rock This Way,” will be released in June 2022. Her music has a country sensibility with a pop current running through it. Her voice is smooth and passionate with a sweetness and power that merge seamlessly into satisfaction for the listener. Her sound is a mixture of country, pop and blues that reflect an eclectic blend of influences.
She has been recognized locally for her songwriting and was named ”One to Watch” by Nashville Songwriters Association in Spring 2021 and Spring 2022. Her songs “IDWYB” and “Filthy Water” were Top 10 Finalists for “Best Pop Song” and “Best Modern Country Song” for the Spring and Summer 2021 World Songwriting Awards. She was just recently named the “2021 Country Artist of the Year” by Indie Star Radio. Her song “Curious” was a Finalist for “Best Pop Song” for the Winter 2022 World Songwriting Awards and won “Best Pop Song” for the Indie Songwriting Awards in Winter 2022. Her song “Rock This Way” was just named “Best Pop Song” and “Best Overall Song” by the Indie Songwriting Awards in Spring 2022. She is currently nominated for five International Singer Songwriter Association Awards, including “Female Vocalist of the Year”, a Josie Award for Female Music Video of the Year for “Filthy Water”, and a Carolina Music Award for Country Female Vocalist of the Year.

Greg Horne has written songs and played guitar, fiddle and several other string instruments for over 25 years. His songs show a passion for roots sounds from old time to honky tonk and rock, and a desire to do more than clone the past. Maintaining dual careers as a performer and teacher, he has written over a dozen instructional books published internationally by Alfred Music. In recent years he released an electric band album, “Working on Engines,” taught songwriting workshops in Montana and toured with Nashville Americana band Wild Ponies.
Greg has lived most of his life in the Knoxville, Tennessee area, participating in its rich indie rock, Appalachian and Americana music scenes. When not performing solo or fronting the Greg Horne Band, he is a sought-after multi-instrumentalist on guitar, fiddle, pedal steel and mandolin. His long partnerships with artists like R.B. Morris, Jay Clark, the Bearded, Tim Lee, Daniel Kimbro and Wild Ponies have been enjoyed by audiences in Tennessee and around the nation.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/20 - Make Music Knoxville
2023-06-20 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Make Music Knoxville is a free, participatory celebration of Knoxville-based community music making that happens every June and December 21st. Featuring artists of diverse genres and backgrounds, our mission is to elevate collective music making and celebrate the culture, sights and sounds of our city!
Make Music Knoxville is a part of Make Music Day, an international day of music celebration born out of the French celebration Fête de la Musique which began in the 1980’s. Today, Make Music Day welcomes over 90 chapters, including Tennessee Chapters in both Nashville and Chattanooga, as part of a growing movement of celebrating arts and culture in cities across the globe.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/19 – Ghost Town Blues Band
2023-06-19 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
GTBB’s new album Shine debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. Recently headlining the blues stage at The Montreal Jazz Festival and appearing at The Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland, Beale Street’s latest success story, 5-time Blues Blast Music Award Nominee and International Blues Challenge Runner-up is Ghost Town Blues Band. Not your grandpa’s blues band, their live show has been captivating audiences in the U.S., Canada and Europe with their “second-line horn entrance,” cigar box guitars and electric push brooms to Allman Brothers style jams and even a hip-hop trombone player. The band’s stage show and energy is unparalleled and has been called the best new live blues show in the world.
Horns, harmonies and homegrown instruments combined with an energetic and roots rich festival set makes Ghost Town Blues Band one of the “must see live bands on the festival scene today.” Both Andrew McNeill behind the drums and Matt Karner on the bass guitar are a punishing rhythm section behind multi-instrumentalist/frontman Matt Isbell with raunchy cigar box guitar licks and raspy “Dr. John-like, whiskey and gravel-soaked vocals.” With the addition of Trombonist Suavo Jones, Cedric Taylor on B3 and Taylor Orr on lead guitar, the grooves go from fresh to funky as the band gains more notoriety in the blues festival and jam circuit. Ghost Town Blues Band has performed all across US and Canada at over 100+ festivals and will perform more than a half-dozen international tours in Canada and Europe in 2019.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/17 - Lori Lynn / Chloe Kimes
2023-06-17 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Nashville based singer-songwriter Chloe Kimes is actively defining the next generation of folk-singing troubadours with an old-soul sensibility for storytelling in a spirited alt-country outfit. Born and raised on the lakeshores of northern Michigan, Kimes is unbound by genre as she consistently navigates a delicate balance between poignance and charm with vocals wrung out and steadfast as any before her. Chloe Kimes’ upcoming debut album is ambitious and strikingly live, and as a self-titled ought be, Chloe Kimes is a sincere reflection of the artist. With music as homegrown as its penman, Kimes and her band are not to be missed.​
The midwest native was raised on bluegrass festivals and family harmony but relocated to Nashville, TN in 2016. With over a decade of performing in various bands already under her belt, the 24 year old has also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business from Middle Tennessee State University. Kimes pulls influence from the flourishing acoustic music community in her Nashville home, as well as from her backwoods, Michigan roots. An inspired storyteller, her organic sincerity is sure to capture her audience at first listen.

Lori Lynn is a blues rock get-er-done countrified kinda southern girl…and proud of it!

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/16 - Jon Byrd / DownRiver Collective
2023-06-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, JON BYRD lived his formative years in small town America, deep in the piney woods of south Alabama just one county over from the birthplace of legendary country artist Hank Williams. In the 90s Jon became pivotal in Atlanta’s storied Redneck Underground music scene. Always a featured sideman, Jon’s first solo recording didn’t come along until after migrating to Music City nearly 20 years ago. Jon’s fourth solo album DIRTY OL’ RIVER harkens back to the first Byrd’s Auto Parts record: up-tempo country songs, lots of pedal steel, and some really strong country covers. Jon’s originals “I Get Lost” and “If Texas Is So Great” will be heard for years to come.
When Jon was just eight years old, his dad was diagnosed with TB and began singing the immortal Jimmie Rogers’ song “TB Blues” all around the house. That same year Jon saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and his obsession with the musical tension between country and rock ‘n’ roll was born. Less than two years later he was conscripted into the drum corps of his tiny high school’s marching band and played Booker T. and the MG’s “Green Onions” while the majorettes held the cymbals and danced. There was no turning back.
After touring nationally with jangle-pop purists Tim Lee and the Windbreakers, and Birmingham’s Primitons in the 1980s, the 1990s saw Byrd attempting a Ph.D. in American Studies at Emory University in Atlanta… all while becoming a central figure in Atlanta’s storied Redneck Underground music scene as lead guitarist for the seminal and legendary country band Slim Chance and the Convicts (Letters to Mama, 1993, and Twang Peaks, 1996). He also formed the hard country band the Ratchet Set as a musical outlet for his love of old trucking songs and two chord honky-tonk gems.
In 1998, after 7 years of teaching and no diss, Byrd helped country traditionalist Greta Lee record her first full-length record This Ain’t Over Yet. In 2001, he co-produced and again handled lead guitar duties on Lee’s follow-up You Must Be Present to Win. That same year, Byrd relocated to Nashville, Tennessee where he quickly made a name for himself in Music City as a singularly authentic country singer and Telecaster slinger recording with such fine artists as the soulful Davis Raines, Texas country singer Buck Jones, folk-rock songwriter Stephen Simmons, and the rockabilly whirlwind Suzette Lawrence.
But the move to Nashville took an unexpected turn. As a sideman, Jon had been long been performing his own compositions, but now he was ready to showcase his singing and songwriting in earnest. In late 2004 he debuted his band Byrd’s Auto Parts, a rambling collective of in-demand players who set about fleshing out Jon’s original material. The recording BYRD’S AUTO PARTS followed in 2007. The music reflected Byrd’s eclectic tastes in country/roots music and his fun-loving performance style. And the critics loved it: “A terrifically accomplished, versatile country singer,” reported No Depression magazine.
Since then, Jon’s songs have appeared on three Red Beet Records compilations. A duet with Amelia White, “Morning Song,” was highlighted on that singer’s 2009 recording, Motorcycle Dream.” In the fall of 2010, Jon’s composition “Silent Night” was the first single from Master Sessions, an Eric Brace and Peter Cooper recording that also featured steel guitar legend Lloyd Green and Dobro hero Mike Auldridge.
After a standing-room-only show in October 2011 at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn, DOWN AT THE WELL OF WISHES was released to radio and he began his first European tour. Over the next two years Jon put together two more international tours. 2012 also saw Jon taking the lead vocal on “How to Talk to a Baby Goat” on the Grammy nominated I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs Of Fox Hollow, a tribute to Hall and that legendary Fox Hollow recording. This recording also included Buddy Miller, Patti Griffin, Jim Lauderdale, Lloyd Green, Duane Eddy, and Bobby Bare, and Tom T. himself!
Though 2014 was a year of full-time touring, Jon also managed to record a new record of 10 songs in the Outlaw tradition of celebrating the great writing of un-sung songwriting hero-pals. Each song on ROUTE 41 is penned by a dear friend.
ROUTE 41: “The recording of ROUTE 41 is in part a reflection of my journey up U.S. Route 41 from Atlanta to Nashville nearly 20 years ago. On that trip I took some inspiring songwriters with me, or at least their songs. And of course met so many more when I arrived. A few of these writers weren’t far behind me on their own journey up Route 41. Others traveled some other stretch that got them to Music City. Nashville has been the most generously inspiring place I’ve ever known. I love living in the same town as John Prine, Bobby Bare, and Tom T. Hall… and the songwriters, and dear friends on this record!” jb

DOWNRIVER COLLECTIVE is an amalgam of influences from across the roots music world. Blurring the lines between traditional folk and progressive acoustic music, DRC draws on diverse backgrounds to create a sound that is both fresh and familiar. Following the lead of Virginia native John Gray and Floridian fiddler Bailey Warren, the DownRiver Collective has evolved from a three-piece folk group to a full-bodied string band with the added help of fellow Belmont University alumni. Connected by a love for bluegrass, Gray and Warren were drawn naturally to vocalist Ali Vance, mandolinist Rico Wallenda, and guitarist Jonny Therrien, who were all members of the same college ensemble. In the harbor of the classroom, the DownRiver Collective began to take shape.
Now, after a pilot run as the original three-piece with their debut album Kettleridge, DRC has released three new songs and re-captured two from Kettleridge in a new light. The new music is a reflection of the band’s growth and signals a new sound from the young up-and-comers.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/15 - Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road
2023-06-15 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Rapidly rising on the bluegrass scene, Billboard-charting artists Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road perform internationally and stateside winning both industry awards and the hearts of fans who turn out to see them at some of the industry’s most iconic venues.
Growing up just down the road from Doc Watson, Liam Purcell leads Cane Mill Road as they rock the traditional bluegrass standards they were raised on, yet boldly write original music with roots in the fertile grounds of bluegrass, old-time, and Americana. Their powerful arrangements and dynamic stage presence have landed them main stage slots at legendary festivals across the country.
Named Momentum Band of the Year by IBMA in 2019, Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road have been recognized as one of the fastest growing bands in the industry. Their latest release “Roots” debuted at #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Charts, joining their three previous albums for a total of 12 weeks in the Top 10.
In 2022, bandleader Liam Purcell turned heads by sweeping the Rockygrass Instrumental Championships on Guitar, Mandolin, and Banjo, becoming the first person in history to do so.
You’ve seen Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road on national TV with PBS appearances on David Holt’s State of Music and Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Other performance highlights include Merlefest, Grey Fox, The Berklee Performance Center, and Wide Open Bluegrass.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/14 - Dana Cooper / Chris Duarte
2023-06-14 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Dana Cooper is a poetic songwriter, an insightful storyteller, and a rousing musician whose performances engage and inspire audiences around the world.

To classify Chris Duarte simply as a Blues Man is an understatement. In his own words, “rockin’ blues” or ”punk blues” describes him best. “Ferocious blues” also fits. Legend has it that Chris will play so hard that his fingers bleed in a set. The legend is true. Photos attest.
Chris Duarte is a road warrior playing more than 150 dates a year. As well, Chris has headlined major festivals and clubs throughout the US, Canada and Europe.
Chris is a savant, a sorcerer of tone, a master at channeling the spirits and sounds of great musicians of our past, while remaining completely recognizable in his own sound. He has shared his stage with many of the greatest musicians of our time as well as the multitude of “young lions” and local musicians he meets on the road. From his many years as a side man in Austin, he easily changes roles from front to side, graciously allowing all to share the conversation of the jam.
Chris Duarte’s music is ever changing. In many interviews, he has said “Music must evolve.” His own early offerings often become magical journeys into changing tempo and jazzy interludes before returning to their core. With such a vast catalog of recordings, there are no two shows alike. Every set list is different, and each song may be offered distinctly, based on the feel of a show and the audience. For those reasons, loyal fans often return to a Chris Duarte show again and again, and always walk away awed and satisfied to have witnessed such a legendary, but humble guitarist.
https://youtu.be/_tUtBkglt8E

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/13 - Brendan Abernathy / Karen Jonas
2023-06-13 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Unafraid to write about the parts of his story that scare him most, Brendan Abernathy is known for his contemplative lyrics, memorable melodies, and a captivating live performance you will feel in your soul. Creating a fresh but familiar sound combining notes of Maggie Rogers with James Taylor, John Mayer, and Ed Sheeran, Brendan’s intimate words and powerful vocals speak straight to the listener’s soul. Since August 2019, Brendan has lived out of his car, touring the US selling out concerts across the country in Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, DC, Gainesville, and Boulder. In 2022, Brendan opened for Johnnyswim on their Southeastern tour, and he has begun touring the festival circuit -playing the 30A Songwriters Festival, the Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival, Starry Night Festival, and the Southern Wilds Festival. He has generated over 1.5 million streams and played over 300 live shows, focusing on the individual and building a loyal following. “We all just want to be seen and loved, and I try to do that — see and love.” His first two projects deal with indecision, comparison, loneliness, and dreams, where Brendan brings hope to his darkest moments. His forthcoming LP – Single and in Love – is a heart-throbbing, authentic, yet soaring work telling stories of anxiety, singleness, and sacrificial love.

Americana/Alt-Country songwriter Karen Jonas knows how to tell a story. Her new album The Restless (3.3) is “a stunning collection of dreamy and dark alt-country confessionals; a deep exploration of love and vulnerability from one of Americana’s most hopeless romantics” (Holler.Country). With “vocals that twist and snap with tension and emotional depth” and a dynamic band, it’s no wonder Karen is turning heads all around the world (Country Music People, U.K.). Flanked by her longtime guitarist the inimitable Tim Bray, bassist Seth Morrissey and Seth Brown on drums, she dazzles with energy that showcases their nine-year touring chemistry and the true joy of their art. Karen has released five full-length records and is a three-time Wammie (Washington Area Music) Award winner for Best Country and Americana Artist, Mid Atlantic Song Contest winner, Ameripolitan Award nominee, and official SXSW and UK Americanafest Showcasing Artist. As Parklife Mag DC put it, “the voice of country music in the DMV is a big, bright voice that belongs to Virginia native Karen Jonas.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/12 - The Judy Chops
2023-06-12 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Judy Chops are Virginia’s Americana Jam Band Sweethearts, based in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley!

ORNL FCU/Summer Sessions - 6/10 - Po’ Ramblin’ Boys / Tim O’Brien
2023-06-10 18:00 | Bissell Park, 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, United States
At a time when most people feel constantly distracted by technology and barraged by the news, authenticity and straightforward honesty are paramount. There’s something about the music of The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys that cuts right through the noise of the world and speaks plainly to the soul. Formed in the Smoky Mountains, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are at once exactly what you would expect and not at all what you would expect from a tattooed East Tennessee Bluegrass outfit. No strangers to hard work, the boys are as much at home riding in their restored Eagle tour bus as they are crawling underneath to fix it when it needs maintenance. But they take pride in being ambassadors of their genre, and the group has brought their music from rural bluegrass festival stages to the rock clubs of Europe, and even the GRAMMY Red Carpet, with stunning results. “I think to a certain extent everyone is just craving music that they can feel, and any music that feels real will reach any audience” says CJ Lewandowski, the groups founder, “We want to put bluegrass right where it’s least expected”. Perhaps this mindset is why the group earned the title of Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2018 IBMA Awards.
In 2014, Lewandowski was working at Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery in Sevierville, TN when the band first formed. The distillery employed musicians to play for visitors seven days a week, and Lewandowski, who primarily plays Mandolin and sings, was occasionally hired to fill in when the entertainment didn’t show. Eventually, the distillery approached him about forming a band for a full time slot, so he reached out to long time music friends Jereme Brown, who plays banjo for the group, and Josh Rinkel, who plays guitar. “Jereme was doing a lot of welding work at that time, and Josh was running a sign company”, says Lewandowski, “I think we were all ready to do something new, something with our music but we didn’t know when or how”. Bassist Jasper Lorentzen happened to be working in the tasting room at the distillery, and he turned out to be the perfect addition to the band. The four friends played multiple times a week for a year and half, honing their band sound, meanwhile word was spreading about their music. “The first gig we played out of town was a festival in Alberta, Canada, and a week later we went on a two week tour of Europe, it was crazy”, says Lewandowski. In 2020, the finishing touch, the cherry on top if you will, was added to the quartet. Laura Orshaw, a seasoned fiddle player and singer joined the Boys after contributing her talents to the Sound Biscuit Productions’ full Gospel album, “God’s Love is So Divine” and “Toils, Tears, & Trouble.” On the addition C.J. exclaims “after 5 1/2 together as a four piece, we needed that perfect fit that would not only fit us on stage and recording, but a personality that would add to the band and be a part of the family we have created. Laura was that person and we can’t think of anyone else that fits our music and our family better than her. The show has benefitted so much from Laura and the chemistry we have between the now 5 of us.”
Material for the group’s freshman Rounder Records album “Toil, Tears & Teouble,” was a combination of original songs and old numbers that honor the group’s mentors and bluegrass heroes. “We love to dig up old songs that haven’t been heard in years and bring them back into the spotlight”, explains Lewandowski. In fact, two of those gems on the Rounder album, “Next Train South” and “Hickory, Walnut & Pine,” were nominated for IBMA Song of the Year along with “Next Train South” taking the trophy for SPBGMA same category in 2020. The momentum of “Toil, Tears & Trouble” has continued to grow with the band’s first GRAMMY Nomination for Best Bluegrass Album.
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys passion for bluegrass is as clear as it is contagious. With a heavy touring schedule across the United States and Europe and recent Grammy Nomination with Rounder Records, the Boys are well on their way to becoming the quintessential bluegrass band of their generation. Despite all of their recent success, they maintain a humble perspective. “Bluegrass has left such a mark on us that we feel like we owe something back to the music”, says Lewandowski. “We want to do something for the music to show our appreciation… There’s no telling what could have happened to us, what we would have become if we hadn’t found this music. It’s gotten us through a lot, the good and the bad. When I think about all of the damn medications that I didn’t have to take because I had music to turn to. We didn’t have to go to the doctor and pay for something to make us feel better, because we had this music, so we really want to honor it by bringing it out of the shadows and onto new stages and wider audiences. Because we know that if we can bring Bluegrass to new folks, those folks will come with us and support the bluegrass community.”

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer songwriter and multi- instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and in school. After seeing Doc Watson on TV, he became a lifelong devotee of old time and bluegrass music. Tim started touring nationally in 1978 with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize. His songs “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” and “Untold Stories” were bluegrass hits for Hot Rize, and country hits for Kathy Mattea. Soon more artists like Nickel Creek, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks covered his songs. Over the years, Tim has collaborated with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old-time musician Dirk Powell, as well as with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Dan Auerbach and Sturgill Simpson.
Living in Nashville since 1996, O’Brien’s skills on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo make him an in-demand session player. He tours throughout the US and abroad, most often with his wife Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals. A voracious reader who loves to cook, he has two sons, Jackson (born 1982) and Joel (born 1990). The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him song of the year in 2006 and named him best male vocalist in 1993 and 2006. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
O’Brien’s latest release, 2021’s “He Walked On”, weaves historical and socially conscious themes through songs about ordinary and not so ordinary people just trying to “keep it between the ditches”. Other notable O’Brien recordings include the bluegrass Dylan covers of “Red on Blonde”, the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of “The Crossing”, and the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green”. His duet recording “Real Time” with Darrell Scott is a cult favorite, and he won a bluegrass Grammy as part of “The Earls of Leicester”. His 2017 release “Where the River Meets the Road” paid tribute to the music of his native West Virginia. A new release of original material “Cup of Sugar” drops June 16.

TIM O’BRIEN talks about Cup Of Sugar:
“The songs started with ‘Bear.’ It was December of 2021, and the news was all about Russia and would Putin invade Ukraine. I had just read a book on the history of dancing bears. White Nationalism was a prominent topic, the flip side being Black Lives Matter. Trump had lost the election but was ramping up his spoiled brat act. I could imagine the gripes Putin, Trump and the White Nationalists had, even if I didn’t agree. I’d also reread some of a favorite book by Rafi Zabor: The Bear Goes Home. In the plot, this guy in NYC wins a dancing bear in a card game, and after he gets busted trying to busk with it, he leaves the bear in his flat during work. One day he comes home and the bear’s talking and playing clarinet. The bear becomes a jazz sensation but he’s also the ultimate outsider. So I was thinking about all that. I think the bear represents anyone or any social group that feels their world has changed too much while they weren’t looking. The bear comes out of his cave in spring and all the trees are cut down. He’s just pissed off. ‘I’m a bear’ he cries, ‘but damn it, I’m more than that.’ I can identify with the bear because I’m old. I don’t relate to a lot of new stuff and while I do fairly well in spite of all the changes, sometimes I’ll swear at them.
“The saddest song is one I wrote with Jan. We were driving along talking about some folks we know who are locked into a dysfunctional relationship, how we wished they could figure it out, change things. Jan said, ‘She can’t.’ I said, ‘He won’t.’ and then we both said, ‘They’ll never’ in unison.
More songs started coming in the spring of 2022. I got with Ronnie Bowman and these brothers from West Virginia, Chris and Donnie Davisson, to co-write. I try to bring something to a session so we can start right in, and I thought how about ‘thinkin’ like a fish.’ I played a funk lick on the banjo and we spit out some words to it. After we were done that day, I played it for Jan’s son Lane, who’s crazy about fishing, and he gave me an idea for the last verse. Another song that fell out one morning is ‘Let the Horses Run.’ I happened on the funny story of Lulu the Nashville border collie who inherited a fortune when her owner died with no heir. The dog’s master was a guy who helped put up a notorious statue of the first Grand Wizard of the KKK here in Nashville, and his death resulted in the statue finally coming down. Ronnie and I got together again and came up with ‘Diddleye Day,’ which rhymes dogs with hogs, and so I’m thinking maybe there’s a whole theme here.
“But I also had written ‘The Anchor’ which was just something I was just ready to write. It’s in line with the social justice songs on ‘He Walked On,” but again it’s from the point of view of someone old who realizes they’re a throwback, in this case ‘Walter Cronkite’ who’s commenting from the great beyond. I’m in my late 60’s and doing fine but I’m looking at things from that older perspective. One of my closest friends, J.D. Hutchison was in hospice care when Ronnie and I wrote ‘Goodbye Old Friend.” (J.D. passed away soon after.) With ‘Cup of Sugar,’ “The Pay’s a Lot Better Too’ and maybe even ‘Gila Headwaters,’ I’ve got that elder perspective again: life is short but it’s wonderful so don’t sweat the small stuff. The guy in ‘Stuck in the Middle’ is taken by surprise but he takes it lightly.
I let the songs dictate the arrangements. I asked myself is it all acoustic, is it an electric country record? Is it time to go electric?. But I ended up making another pretty eclectic set of acoustic tracks. Jan and I work on the form, tempo, and key for each of them at home, and she sings and plays her parts live when we get to the studio. That builds a strong frame before we get to the studio. With session guys like Mike Rojas, Russ Pahl, and Jaimee Dick, as well as with my bandmates Mike Bub and Shad Cobb, you just get them in the room and play the song. They find the way. Dennis Crouch came one day when Bub couldn’t make it, and Paul Burch joined in too on a couple. I had a lot of fun writing the songs and had just as much fun recording them. It was a blast having Del McCoury come in to play some real first-generation bluegrass. I think Cory Walker crushed the banjo part.”

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/10 - Ward Harrison
2023-06-10 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Ward Harrison is former Hackensaw Boy.

Kidstuff Live - 6/10 - Smiley & the Lovedawg
2023-06-10 10:00 - 11:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Chris Durman of Smiley & the Lovedawg is a East Tennessee singer/songwriter, journeyman musician, and librarian who has tried with varying degrees of success to play heavy metal, rock, bluegrass, folk-rock, old-time, R & B, doo-wop, soul, Americana, and that one, oh-so-ill-fated and ill-advised jazz gig. He’s been lucky to have played with, worked with, and/or hung out with some of the greatest musicians in East Tennessee and the world, many of whom have become his friends. It’s a shame more of their talent hasn’t rubbed off on Chris.
Chris has played in Lace, Oedipus Rex, Overkill, The New Left, Reenie’s Swinging Jugs, The Fun-Time Trolley Band, and the John Myers Band. Chris plays regularly with Exit 65 and Smiley and the Lovedawg. He’ll occasionally do a solo or duo gig with a friend, too, and he loves to jam with Folks, typically feeling most in his element when jamming with friends new and old around a campfire at a party.

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/9 - GangstaGrass
2023-06-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
“There are a lot more people out there with Jay-Z and Johnny Cash on their playlists than you think,” says Gangstagrass Mastermind Rench, who had previously made a name for himself as an in-demand Brooklyn country and hip-hop producer and singer/songwriter. He should know – he’s toured the country and abroad with a band of bluegrass pickers and hip-hop MCs to the delight of standing-room crowds everywhere.
Making beats for local NYC rappers and hosting country music nights in popular NYC venues, Rench had a musical itch that needed to be scratched – he was listening to the 1970s recordings of Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and couldn’t help imagining what classic bluegrass would sound like with rap vocals and beats. The result was a genre-demolishing blitz called Rench Presents: Gangstagrass. He put it up for free download and people took notice. Hundreds of thousands of downloads followed creating an intense underground buzz. When FX Network came to Rench looking for the Gangstagrass sound for the theme song to their new series Justified, he had bluegrass players lay down an original track with rapper T.O.N.E-z, the younger brother of early hip-hop legends Special K and T-LaRoc.
The result was “Long Hard Times to Come,” the song that opened every episode of six seasons of the hit series. “Long Hard Times to Come” was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2010, contending for best theme song after critical praise and massive fan response.
The same live-bluegrass-band approach was used to make Lightning On The Strings, Thunder On The Mic, a full-length album with T.O.N.E-z, the MC featured on the Justified theme song. Two years later the Gangstagrass sound expanded with the release of Rappalachia, a 15-song album featuring a variety of rappers, including Kool Keith, Dead Prez, Nitty Scott MC, T.O.N.E-z, BROOKLYN35, R-SON the Voice of Reason, and Dolio the Sleuth. Country singers Brandi Hart and Jen Larson contributed gritty harmonies to Rench’s choruses. Broken Hearts and Stolen Money -– featuring performances by legendary rap team Smif-N-Wessun, Juno award-winning rapper Liquid (of BranVan 3000), Brandi Hart of the Dixie Bee-Liners and Alexa Dirks of Chic Gamine, in addition to the now regular crew of MCs and pickers – was released in 2014 to critical acclaim, with the Boston Globe labeling raucous single Two Yards “Essential.” A fourth official album, titled American Music, was released in April 2015, debuting at #5 on the Billboard bluegrass charts. With American Music’s collection of standout original cuts and traditional folk anthems the band once again broke new ground, while also paying tribute to their cast of American songwriting heroes. The 2019 live album Pocket Full of Fire spent 20 weeks in the top 10 Billboard bluegrass charts, making it to the #2 spot.
Gangstagrass has toured internationally, blowing minds on main stages from SXSW to Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, with a live act taking full advantage of the improvisational aspects of both hip-hop and bluegrass. With MCs R-SON and Dolio the Sleuth trading verses, Dan Whitener on banjo, Brian Farrow on fiddle, Rench on guitar and beats, and frequent three-part harmonies, the Gangstagrass stage show has garnered a reputation among fans for its dynamism and spontaneity. Through touring across the United States and abroad, Gangstagrass uses live performances to organically develop new material to further explode the boundaries between genres generally thought to be incompatible.
Their 2020 offering, No Time for Enemies – which features “Nickel and Dime Blues,” the inspirational “Freedom,” the jump-starting “Aint No Crime,” and the hugely popular “Ride With You” – has more than a million streams/views so far. It quickly hit #1 on the Billboard bluegrass charts. No Time for Enemies takes you for a ride through the hoods and hollers while having a sweat of a good time.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/8 - Cassidy Dickens / Dear Darling
2023-06-08 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Cassidy Dickens is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter originally from the mountains of southern West Virginia. Surrounded by Appalachia’s colorful storytelling, front porch picking, and rich vocal harmonies from day one, Cassidy has always been enamored by the singular power of music to capture fleeting memories and raw emotion. This lifelong enchantment has inspired a musical catalog overflowing with love, heartbreak, home, and other universal-yet-intensely-personal themes.

More than a blissful salutation, Sacramento string trio Dear Darling have been dazzling local and national audiences with angelic three-part harmonies and their unique folk/jazz/neo-classical vibe. Modern-day messaging of empowerment and inner strength
have allowed Hannah Jane Kile, Natalie Hagwood and Casey Lipka to put their distinctively feminine spin on the Americana music form. Currently in the studio recording the follow-up to their debut release, Believe, Dear Darling will embark on West Coast and Midwest tours in summer 2023.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/7 - Cigar Box Serenaders
2023-06-07 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 - 6/6 - Kris Schultz / Jim Bowman
2023-06-06 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
After spending much of her life on the road in one form or another, it’s no surprise that Kris Schultz likes to take the scenic route. And that is exactly how she made her way to writing, playing and singing songs.
Growing up in Topeka, Kansas, she was obsessed at an early age with the songs on the jukebox at a bar she visited regularly with her parents. The blend of classic country and 70s and early 80s singer/songwriter tunes gave her a deep love for sad songs about heartbreak and loss.
At an early age, she showed promise in several sports, and by mid-childhood it was obvious Track & Field (specifically the “field”part) was her niche. Soon, she was criss-crossing the country in a tiny car with her mother and twin sister, competing in track meets, adopting accents and falling in love with the cities, towns, highways and roadside stops she would daydream about when back in Topeka.
Accepting a scholarship to throw Javelin at Kansas State University, she officially majored in Radio/Television Journalism. But she likes to think her daily visits to the local record store could be considered a double major in Music Appreciation. It was there she dove further into the music of singer-songwriters, new and old.
While competing in the Texas Relays during her college career, she had fallen in love with the city of Austin, TX. Soon, she had moved there with only a box of books & CDs, a small stereo, and a bag of clothes. She walked into the city-ran Austin Music Network TV channel, asked for an internship, and soon she was spending her days proof-checking videos of local music and taking in every note. But she still hadn’t thought of playing music herself.
The next few years were spent assisting musicians on the road and at home in Austin. She did whatever was needed – selling merch, driving, road managing, lugging gear. She traveled throughout Texas, the Midwest, the Northeast and Canada with the likes of Kacy Crowley, Future Clouds and Radar, Davíd Garza, and Guy Forsyth, and worked for Jon Dee Graham and others back home in Austin. Through it all, she absorbed the live performances of these talented artists, but it still never crossed her mind to give it a try herself.
After a years-long break from her non-musical role in the Austin music world to start a pet care business with her sister, in the spring of 2017 she acquired a guitar, and, on a whim, called on her longtime friend Kacy Crowley to help find out if she could sing. Armed with 3 chords she had learned 16 years before, but had never had the chance to practice, she played her first attempt at a song for Kacy. Surprised when told she was not tone deaf, as she had assumed, she quickly became hooked on writing songs. Within a month, she played her first open mic at the legendary Cactus Cafe. Within six months, she was playing her first hour-long set of original songs.
She has toured the Midwest twice with fellow songwriter Andrew Savage, and has toured solo in the Southwest.

A life long singer/ songwriter Jim Bowman has some impressive credentials. He wrote a chart record for Mel Tillis that became a music video for Mel. Jim also wrote a song for Roy Rogers that was used in the autobiography video of the King of the Cowboys. As a performer Jim has opened shows and shared stages with many giants of the entertainment industry including Kenny Rodgers, Reba McEntire, the Oak Ridge Boy the Gatlins, and Micky Gilley just to name a few.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/5 - Merrill Miller / Johnny Burgin
2023-06-05 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Johnny Burgin grew up in the South and went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer. When a fellow DJ at the college radio station took him out to a West Side ghetto club to hear the blues singer Tail Dragger, it was a conversion moment. The blues came to life for Johnny and he fell headfirst into the vibrant Chicago blues scene. Choosing the blues clubs over the library, Johnny eagerly absorbed the lessons from the blues masters who practiced their craft nightly. By persistence and practice, Johnny gained a spot in Tail Dragger’s band, and started gigging and recording with traditional blues veterans like Sam Lay, Billy Boy Arnold, and Pinetop Perkins. By the late 90s, Johnny was working regularly in Chicagoland blues clubs under his own name. Johnny started a Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park, featuring vocalist Jimmy Burns. The band featured other future blues notables who were also at beginning of their careers, such as Kenny Smith on drums and Martin Lang on harp, and they created quite a buzz. They packed the club every Monday with a younger, hip crowd, as well as blues veterans stopping by to sit in such as Dave Meyers, Jesse Fortune, Barkin’ Bill, etc. Their success led to a record deal with Delmark and the first of several European tours.
The shangri-la of being “King of Division Street” eventually ran its course. In the early aughts, Johnny dropped off the scene entirely to raise a daughter. When the music eventually called Johnny back, his comeback was noted by The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Blues Guide, and the Dutch blues magazine BLOCK. As noted blues producer Dick Shurman wrote, “Johnny’s skills, passion and committment were undiminished.” His move to the Bay Area in 2016 led to a creative burst and his most notable recordings. In a few short years, Johnny cranked out the Cali/Chicago blues mashups Greetings from Greaseland, Neoprene Fedora, the Howlin’ Wolf tribute Howlin’ at Greaseland (nominated for a BMA for Best Traditional Blues Recording) and Johnny Burgin Live, which featured Charlie Musselwhite and was nominated for a Blues Blast Best Live Recording Award for 2019. Throughout, Johnny managed to play 250 dates a year since 2014 in Europe, Japan and coast to coast in the States, right up until the pandemic. By 2022, he’d ramped back up to the same demanding schedule.
Johnny’s produced ten CDs as a leader to his credit and dozens more as a sideman, from veterans like Johnny Sansone, Paul DeLay, Bob Corritore to up and comers like Aki Kumar and Ben Levin. Johnny’s developed from a young guitar slinger and local blues hero to a matured bluesman, fully fledged singer and the confident and engaging bandleader. In recent years, he has been a resident instructor at the Pinetop Perkins Foundation and the Chicago Blues Network and has developed a loyal following on Youtube for his weekly looks at the blues guitar greats. Johnny’s recordings have evolved from being very Chicago-centric, to a fusion of West Coast and Chicago styles, and finally,to a more inclusive, international approach. His latest CD, No Border Blues Japan, is the first American compilation of the underground Japanese blues scene. The success of this collaboration led Johnny and his partner, producer Stephanie Tice, to create and host the podcast No Border Blues, which focuses on the international blues scene.

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 WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/3 - Macho Planet / Kit Lindsey
2023-06-03 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
Inspired by mountain music of all shapes and varieties, Kit Lindsey brings an eclectic sound to her velvety storytelling. She channels a bluesy spunk in her vocals that wins the heart of every listener and crafts stories that harken back to an era gone by – speaking youthfulness into traditions older than the hills. Distinctly gritty and undeniably robust, both her voice and her tales make you feel fuzzy, warm and right at home.​
Kit got her start in her white steeple, small town childhood church in the Blue Ridge foothills. Her parents frequently played and sang in the church and around their home, instilling in her a strong love of gospel, classic rock, and folk music. After the disbandment of her first group that centered around blues and alt-country, West of Caroline, Kit recorded and released two debut singles in 2022 produced by Zach McCord at McCord House Recording that reflected Kit’s goal of delivering her personal stories through the Americana and country music that played an immeasurable role in making her a musician. To date, Kit has performed all over the southeast, whether it be an acoustic solo set in a dive bar or alongside a full outfit of musicians on an ampitheatre stage. She aims to bring her music to a wider audience in 2023 through more frequent and farther-reaching live shows.

Macho Planet is a Nashville based Indie Alternative Project lead by songwriter Austin Mathis and accompanied by Alex Mathis and Bynum.
With literary and often unorthodox lyrics, Macho Planet has been described as “direct and compelling… point[ing] a finger floating lightly above the creeping anxiety of modernity.”

Taps & Tunes - 6/2 - Zack Miles
2023-06-02 18:00 - 19:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
An eastern Tennessee native, Zack Miles blends a unique, intricate finger-picking style with modern folk. Miles delivers these songs with a melodic, agile, and proficient guitar style. “It makes for intricate, ethereal compositions when he composes parts around his own lyrics, and his voice resonates with the deep ache of a man who seeks redemption and salvation on the summit of a distant peak.” -Steve Wildsmith, Maryville Daily Times. At a live show, you can expect an engaging, intimate experience that will take the listener to the places Miles has been and the people he’s met along the way.
Miles’ first full length album was released in the spring of 2015. Northern Camp is a more traditional folk album compared to later releases. The album maintains a calm, tranquil vocal style paired with aggressive, yet precise guitar compositions. Recorded alone with an acoustic guitar over the course of two days in a friend’s home that was currently under construction, the finished product represents the quiet, cold, surroundings that the songs were recorded in. Songs such as Raised by Wolves and Relocation represent the general theme of the album. It doesn’t matter how long you are away from the place you call home, your friends will always pick up where you left off, and the places you love aren’t the same without the people you love. The most recent release, Sights We Rarely See, introduces an ethereal, sweeping electric guitar, synths, and subtle electronic percussion. The album’s style can be compared to more modern indie folk, and is often contrasted by his signature, more traditional finger-picking acoustic guitar style. “I was trying to progress as a guitar player to start out with, and I didn’t want to make another ‘listen-to-how-fast-this-guy-can-fingerpick’ album,” says Miles. Sights We Rarely Seecatalogs his time spent on Catoosa, a Wildlife Management Area located in the Cumberland and Morgan counties of Tennessee. From long, humid summer days spent on a mountain bike, to summer and fall evenings spent putting hay up into the barns, to the winter nights spent huddled around a campfire, the album is a representation of a truly unique east Tennessee experience.

The WDVX Big Plate - 6/2 - Irene Kelley
2023-06-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Barley’s, 200 East Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915, United States
A professional singer-songwriter for more than 20 years, Irene Kelley‘s unique mix of Bluegrass, Country and Americana appeals to music lovers across all genres.
Irene Kelley is a graduate of the Leadership Bluegrass Class Of 2017. She has been seen and heard at the IBMA, SPBGMA, Grand Ole Opry, the CMA Music Festival, Folk Alliance International, the Americana Music Festival, COUNTRYfestival (Belgium), Disneyland Paris, the Equi Blues Music Fest (France), Avila Beach Music Fest (CA), BayFest (AL) and many other venues. Syndicated on-air appearances include Sirius/XM, Acoustic Café, NPR’s Live at Mountain Stage, CMT, and GAC as well as airplay on Country, Bluegrass, Folk and Americana radio stations worldwide. Her songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Loretta Lynn, Little Big Town, Rhonda Vincent, Claire Lynch, Darrell Scott, The Whites, the Osborne Brothers, and Bill Anderson.

The WDVX Blue Plate Special - 6/1 - Arlan Feiles / The Barn Swallows
2023-06-01 12:00 - 13:00 | WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902, United States
The Barn Swallows is a band based in Bisbee Az, formed in 2022. With an EP available at live shows and a brand new Live in studio album released May 13th 2023, recorded with Max Harms at The Garage. Though only together for a short time, they have a national tour Kicking off May 19th this summer they will be playing from Texas to Virginia, through the midwest and on the west coast. Some highlights include performing At the Camel in Richmond VA, The Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City SD, Matthews Opera House in Spearfish SD, at The Britt Festival in Jacksonville OR and The Cotati Accordion Fest in Cotati CA.
With a full schedule and new songs The BarnSwallows are on a roll. Their instrumentation is comprised of guitars, mandolin, clarinet, tenor banjo, violin, accordion and upright bass. Featuring original compositions and vocal harmonies, the sound ranges from American folk to traditional jazz. Committed to authentic expression and having a good time while lamenting the tragic world, The Barn Swallows deliver a healthy helping of heart-full honesty with a contagious melodic sensibility and soaring harmonies.
For booking inquiries email: thebarnswallowsband@gmail.com

Arlan Feiles is an Americana singer and songwriter.

WDVX Summer Nights - 5/31 - Dom Flemons & Matt Morelock
2023-05-31 19:00 | Yee Haw Brewing Co, 745 N Broadway, Knoxville, TN, 37917, United States
Support for WDVX comes from the new Yee Haw Brewing Company at 745 North Broadway in Knoxville. Yee Haw presents the WDVX Summer Nights, live free music series beginning on May 31st
with special guests Dom Flemons and Matt Morelock with your host Alex Leach. The shows begin at 7pm with the first hour broadcast on WDVX.
GRAMMY Award Winner, Two-Time EMMY Nominee, 2020 U.S. Artists Fellow. Dom Flemons is originally from Phoenix, Arizona and currently lives in the Chicago area with his family. He has branded the moniker The American Songster® since his repertoire of music covers over 100 years of early American popular music. Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, slam poet, music scholar, historian, and record collector. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones. Flemons was selected for the prestigious 2020 United States Artists Fellowship Award for the Traditional Arts category which was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
In 2020, Dom Flemons re-issued his album titled Prospect Hill: “The American Songster Omnibus on Omnivore Recordings. The two CD album features three parts: the original Prospect Hill album, the 2015 EP What Got Over, and The Drum Major Instinct which includes twelve previously unissued instrumental tracks. His original song “I Can’t Do It Anymore” was released on a limited edition wax cylinder recording. Recently, he released a cover of the Elmore James classic “Shake Your Money Maker”, recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, alongside Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and featured guest, legendary guitarist Steve Cropper. He played his six-string banjo (Big Head Joe), Quills, and Bones on Tyler Childers groundbreaking album Long Violent History and played jug alongside Brandford Marsalis on the soundtrack to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
Flemons currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, Music Maker Relief Foundation and is a Governor on the Board of Directors for the Washington, D.C Chapter of the Recording Academy.

Knoxville native, former WDVX DJ, and banjo-wielding musical chameleon, Matt Morelock always shows up with a few surprises up his sleeves…if he’s even wearing a shirt with sleeves…and it’s probably gonna be hot outside on May 31, so there’s no telling what the heck’ll happen. Matt and Dom have been pals and collaborators for almost 20 years! Brace yourselves for a fun fun show.

More Summer Nights to come!
6/21 – Jim Lauderdale Band
7/19 – Blue Moon Rising
8/23 – The Alex Leach Band with Special Guests
