On Sale Now via JamUSA.com

Averaging over 200 gigs per year for the past few years, Ryan Montbleau Band has generated the kind of buzz that only surrounds a talented artist on the verge.

Emerging onto the national music scene from his home base of Boston, Ryan Montbleau has been described as something of a Martin Sexton by way of Van Morrison and Stevie Wonder. Yet Ryan Montbleau Band’s music is dif?cult to pigeon-hole or neatly categorize. It is original yet familiar—a fresh sound full of ?rmly-rooted ingredients, including Americana, folk, blues, ragtime and ’70’s R&B and soul. Whereas the band’s intriguing instrumentation and arrangements (not to mention top notch chops) help to create this unique sound, all is ?rmly anchored by Montbleau’s water-tight lyrics and unmistakable voice.

On Sale Now via JamUSA.com

Averaging over 200 gigs per year for the past few years, Ryan Montbleau Band has generated the kind of buzz that only surrounds a talented artist on the verge.

Emerging onto the national music scene from his home base of Boston, Ryan Montbleau has been described as something of a Martin Sexton by way of Van Morrison and Stevie Wonder. Yet Ryan Montbleau Band’s music is dif?cult to pigeon-hole or neatly categorize. It is original yet familiar—a fresh sound full of ?rmly-rooted ingredients, including Americana, folk, blues, ragtime and ’70’s R&B and soul. Whereas the band’s intriguing instrumentation and arrangements (not to mention top notch chops) help to create this unique sound, all is ?rmly anchored by Montbleau’s water-tight lyrics and unmistakable voice.

Gustafer Yellowgold concerts are a unique blend of live music and moving image. The minimally animated illustrations are accompanied by illustrator/songwriter Morgan Taylor’s catchy and original story-songs for a truly different multimedia experience that is entrancing children, teens and adults alike.

Gustafer is a friendly creature who came to Earth from the sun and has an unusual magnetism for making friends with some of Earth's odder creatures. His best friend is Forrest Applecrumbie the flightless Pterodactyl. Gustafer and Forrest built a small cottage-style home on the edge of an uncharted wooded area in Minnesota. He has a pet Eel named Slim (short for Slimothy) and a pet Dragon named Asparagus who lives in his fireplace and loves corn on the cob. Gustafer's pals, the Mustard Slugs practice their math under the shrubbery.

Since his creation in 2005, Gustafer Yellowgold has become an international phenomenon, acclaimed by the New York Times, which said, “The show is a cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss.” Entertainment Weekly praised “…The most infectious original songs. It’s like tapping into some pleasure center in the brain- both adult and kid…absurdly appealing. Grade: A.” New York Magazine named Morgan Taylor “Best Kids’ Performer” in its 2008 Best of New York Awards.

Breathe Owl Breathe sing of folklore and homespun miracles, oral histories left to thaw in the earth's crust until pre-history's giant ice cubes rolled their wet bulk down the North Pole and into Canada, finally settling into extinction in what we now call the Great Lakes. It's from the shores of these bodies that Breathe Owl Breathe come (Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be precise). These are songs about being left behind, songs about being dead, songs without geography, songs worth repeating... The music is very economical — guitar, cello, drums, piano, other organic sounds — and the vocals float between folk and country, a very earnest mood... The marriage of their music and lyrics is the sort of chance meeting that becomes a 60th anniversary in a blink. Middaugh, Moreno-Beals and drummer Trevor Hobbs are easy and fluid with one another, enabling their songs to (deceptively) feel more like happy accidents than serious, premeditated songwriting. That's where their charm lies. Whether or not you're listening hardly matters: this music has always existed, and always will.

[Witmer] sounds ready: cannily fleshing out his sound with help from friends, but never losing sight of the style he's honed for years" - Pitchfork

Patience is a virtue, they say, Denison Witmer knows this well from personal experience. Until recently, only a small audience has had the good fortune to hear Witmer live or on record. All of that is changing, however, due to the company he keeps and his steadfast dedication to making worthwhile music.

Witmer‚ emergent circle of talented peers includes: The Innocence Mission, Sufjan Stevens, My Morning Jacket, Damien Jurado, and Rosie Thomas. Denison has toured with all of these artists, some of whom appear as guest musicians on his new record, Are You A Dreamer?

Even though he is only in his 20's, the story to date of one Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, has the peculiar twists and turns of a person who has lived through at least several lifetimes, and has seen rather more darkness than most. "I spent my whole life hiding from the things that happened to me, to my family and friends", Hadreas explains now. "The entirety of all these experiences: abuse, addiction, suicide...all that cool stuff. I couldn't bear to look at it".

Now, as Perfume Genius, Hadreas is not only turning an unforgiving mirror on those demons that have beset him, but somehow managing to make breathtaking, utterly heartbreaking music out of them. How this actually came to pass however, is far from conventional. For a number of years Hadreas himself admits that he was headed down the path of self oblivion; as he recalls, "I was running around doing drugs and being fucking insane and getting into some dangerous business". At his lowest ebb, and with the instability of his lifestyle threatening to overwhelm him entirely, Hadreas decided to make a clean break and moved back into his mother's house in Washington. It is here, in this suburban setting, that a self-imposed spell of complete isolation seemed to tap into a wellspring of dormant creativity. "I have always played the piano but was really embarrassed of my voice, so I never sang. But a few years ago, after spending a long time alone, I suddenly had something to say and my voice didn't matter". The watershed moment came one day when he sat down and wrote "Learning", which was to be his first song. Hadreas remembers it with vivid and piercing clarity. "I wrote it and spent at least a month after that constantly writing for long stretches of time. I do not know how it happened, but I intuitively could see and feel my experiences for the first time in this really overwhelming and honest state or whatever. I felt like my heart actually broke but in this sort of hopeful, genuine way. Like I could finally rebuild it".

"What's most remarkable about Bare's songs is how effortlessly catchy they are...The only real curiosity about Bare's career to date is that he hasn't yet become a big name in modern rock--the kind of artist whose every album is awaited with the eager anticipation that greets the latest from Spoon or the Shins." —Nashville Scene

With a big-as-the-room persona, an ability to rock the doors off the most jaded of clubs, the heart to hold a room completely still with just his guitar, and a genius for arrangement, Bobby Bare, Jr. and his band of merry makers are one of the most unique bands around. They are adept at abandoning common sense in favor of laying themselves at the feet of a rambunctious, freewheeling, and unfettered and unhinged muse.

In the late 90’s, he fronted the boss hog rock band, Bare Jr. With their two records, Boo-tay and Brainwasher, they memorably rocked out on a Nirvana-on-Skynryd-not-Sabbath groove, more indebted to the homebrew than "The Other H." These days he keeps himself even busier by appearing on albums by indie rock heroes like the Silver Jews and Frank Black and My Morning Jacket.

Few that we have found can combine humor, pain, and anger in such an effortlessly well-crafted manner. If encountered in public, beware: Bobby is a big, gregarious, good-natured fellow who will giddily talk music (from the Smiths to Roger Miller to Metallica to Dolly Parton—sometimes in one breath) until the bartender is tossing you both out.

Look, we LOVE Bobby's records and we want people to hear them. Maybe our descriptions are making you scratch your head or are scaring you off. Forgive us, his music is ahead of its time and we are not sure what to say about it. All the years we all wasted getting English degrees are powerless in coming up with suitable words to describe his projects. When someone around the office is absent-mindedly whistling a tune, chances are real good that it's, "I'll Be Around" or "Valentine" or "Borrow My Cape." Bobby's music is ample proof that commercial radio wouldn't know a genre-bending smash hit if it ran up and bit it in the ass, and, if radio programmers weren't all neutered corporate lapdogs, his songs would be in the broad canon of rock. Sample some tracks on the site, and see if you agree.

"Bare works the audience like a carnival barker who also happens to write tender, honest songs that move the room to awed silence. Do not miss the opportunity to catch the healing power of this band live, who will put a smile on your face and drink one with you after the show." —Upstate Link

Hideout. For a thief or a deposed dictator, it’s a place to lay low till the heat is off. For the rest of us, it’s whatever we might use to retreat when the “real” world is too much to deal with—relationships, drugs, music, or some other form of distraction.

And for Film School, it’s also about finding new inspiration after some tumultuous times that could have come straight from a movie: following years of hard work, the band was signed to Beggars Banquet, and their 2006 self-titled debut for the label earned accolades across the country and across the pond. The band scored coveted opening slots for The National and the Rogers Sisters all over Europe before headlining their own tour of the States. But in the middle of that tour, frontman Greg Bertens got jumped outside a club in Columbus, Ohio; then in Philadelphia, somebody stole the tour van, plowing straight through the security gate of the motel parking lot, with all the band’s equipment inside. Once back home, the stress of a demanding show schedule, the ups and downs of a trying year, and emerging creative differences among bandmates ended with the decision to move forward with a change in personnel, and Film School looking to a fresh beginning with a new album.

“It takes a lot of time to know your mind.” Its a simple statement, yet earnest and profound in its offering. Sometimes it’s the spaces in between, the subtleties and ambiguities that provide us with the most meaning.? All Birds Say (ATO Records) is an intimate collection of musings on life from My Morning Jacket guitarist, Carl Broemel.?? Broemel reflects on things as they are with Zen-like contentment, making no judgment on how they should be…he gives pause for introspection but stops short of preaching. The songs are firmly planted between past and present. It’s in these little fractured moments that the listener bears witness to thoughtful contemplation that give rise to epiphanies on larger themes.

Broemel could’ve taken the easy road and penned a lyrical triptych to the remarkable journey he’s experienced over the past several years, but instead All Birds Say is an incredibly honest and sincere insight into the artist’s inner-most thoughts as he attempts to reconcile his role in life.? “Where do you start? Or where do you stop? And how do you reconcile the things you do versus the things you don’t? It’s something I’m constantly thinking about. I think there’s a lot of trying to be aware of what you’re doing now versus dwelling on things or worrying about what’s gonna happen later. A lot of the songs are really just me talking to myself, trying to make sense of things in my head.”

Acclaimed acoustic duo Rue Royale are on the road....again. Brookln and Ruth Dekker have barely stopped for breath since launching their labor of love four years ago.

The Anglo-American pair started performing together in 2006 before taking the full-time touring band plunge in 2008, relocating from Brookln's Chicago hometown to England shortly afterwards.

Now based in the East Midlands, they have played over 400 shows straddling both sides of the pond - taking in festivals, house concerts, club gigs and industry showcases across Europe and the US.

Named after a road running through the Chicago suburbs, Rue Royale's sense of journey is written all over their beguiling music, influenced by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, John Martyn, and the northern UK soul of Doves and Elbow.

$10 Bud Light Pitchers + $4 Bloodys & Mimosas

$5 Gameday Food Menu:

Buffalo Wings

Artichoke or Buffalo Cheese Dip with Flatbread

Quesadillas with Salsa & Sour Cream

Chili Cheese Fries

Chicken Fingers with Your Choice of Honey Mustard, BBQ, Buffalo, or Ranch Dipping Sauces

Burgers

Breakfast Burritos:

The Ultimate: Scrambled Eggs, Sausage Patty, Tater Tots & Cheddar Cheese

Redeye: Scrambled Eggs, Spinach, Chihuahua Cheese & Salsa

Pesto Omelet, Bacon, Pepperjack Cheese & Tots

Faun Fables is Dawn McCarthy's vivid imagination come to life in song and theater, made to explore human pathos amid an animate earth with musical & physical storytelling forms. It has been attracting a devoted and eclectic following since 1997 with numerous performances throughout North America, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland and four record releases distributed worldwide on Drag City Records: EARLY SONG, MOTHER TWILIGHT, FAMILY ALBUM and THE TRANSIT RIDER.

Dawn McCarthy is a writer, singer and theater artist whose work is a sea of gorgeous elemental nitty gritty; haunting melodies, breath, stomping, and natural theatricality led by the voice, rooted in the physical body. It is a crossroads where ancient ballad, art song, physical theater and rock music meet. Her lyrics speak to people of all ages about things like rugged housekeeping, street kids, growing old, sleepwalking and exiled travelers returning home.

I don’t know much about music, so I guess that makes me an expert. My name is Roman Moore. I was born just after the great war, and spent my baby years being what you might call a criminal. While keeping ahead of judgement I ran smack into a dark haired Irish girl who drew my crookedness from me like so much poison. Falling in love like falling in a well, we moved to, and settled in Palenville, NY, which is in the Catskill mountain range. We had one boy also named Roman. Both my wife and child died one summer in separate incidents having much to do with sadness. I mourn for them every day from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at which time I promptly get on with my business. My business being thus: Digging a right big hole in the ground.

The appeal of a modern, on the rise indie band like Jukebox the Ghost is simple: They write catchy songs. On top of that, they’re dynamic, skilled musicians. The band’s records are carefully structured, yet wildly diverse affairs. And the live show? Energetic, crowd-pleasing, cathartic.

The Philly trio’s new album, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) and set for release this fall on Yep Roc, highlights all of these elements over 11 tracks, each one leaving its own unique sonic footprint. But constructing and arranging the songs to their full potential took years of preparation, both on the road and in all of the basements, houses, hotel rooms and studios where the songs were born.

“There was never a lull in songwriting, even when we were touring.” explains guitarist/co-vocalist Tommy Siegel. “We went into the studio with 25 nearly-finished and arranged songs, and we put a lot of time into crafting each one. It was a conscious effort on all of our parts to mature as a band.”

"As a collection, it's a statement of intent," Bell X1 frontman/songwriter Paul Noonan says of his band's new Yep Roc release Blue Lights on the Runway. "For me it's hard to separate the songs from how they were made and the wild and frothy sea of change that the band were trying to hold steady through. I think we pushed ourselves creatively and tried to go places we hadn't been"

Blue Lights on Runway, Bell X1's fourth studio effort, marks a quantum creative leap for the Dublin combo, which has already earned an enviable reputation for its artfully constructed song and playfully introspective lyrics. On the new album, the band - singer Paul Noonan, guitarist Dave Geraghty and bassist Dominic Phillips-delivers a compelling set of melodically infectious, emotionally resonant new tunes whose colorful lyrics are informed by an assortment of offbeat observations and unconventional personal experiences. Such memorable numbers as "Light Catches Your Face," "How Your Heart Is Wired," "The Great Defector," "Blow Ins," "One String Harp" and the self-referentially witty "A Better Band" boast indelible melodic hooks and inventive arrangements, while deftly blending organic and electronic textures.

In 1969, Tony Joe White brought his brand of Swampy Blues into a Top 10 hit with his song “Polk Salad Annie.” This was followed very shortly in 1970, by Brook Benton’s soulful rendition of White’s timeless “Rainy Night In Georgia.”

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s White toured in support of artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor. In the 1990s Tina Turner recorded four of his songs for her multi-platinum selling album Foreign Affairs, including the world-wide hit “Steamy Windows”. With the advent of that project, White formed an alliance with Turner’s manager, Roger Davies and his career began to soar.

In Europe, White gained legendary status following a successful debut at the historic Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. His European following has spawned a career that has spanned the decades.

In 1991 he issued the Closer To The Truth album and spent the next two years touring Europe in support of Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker, among others. He cut two more albums, 1993’s Path Of A Decent Groove and 1995’s Lake Placid Blues, the latter garnering the first of two nominations for “Best R & B Album” from the Nashville Music Awards.

"In a scene flooded with multi-instrumental groups that are the musical equivalent to the Oriental Buffet next to the Toys R Us on Western Ave., King Sparrow tastes like the steak dinner fit for a king. The bass potato is crispy, filling and delicious, the the vocal/lead guitar is meaty and a little raw, and the rhythm section refreshes like a 16oz tall boy. Bon appetit, Chicago." -Brendan Hendrick

Native New Yorker, London resident, former Kindergarten Gym Teacher and one-time Parisian Street Sweeper, Julian Velard is a true original. The kind of character in a Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarintino film you’d like to grab a drink with. A real-life, musical version of Philip Marlowe (more Elliot Gould than Bogart) fusing the effortless cool of Robert Downey Jr. with the self-depreciating humor of Woody Allen, serving up slices of old-school Pop perfection with a raised eyebrow.

Born in the heart of Martin Scorsese’s Big Apple to a Queen-sized legs model/4-time Jeopardy champion mother and a French ex-patriot/ATM designer Father, Velard attended Laguardia High School for the Performing Arts, immortalized in the movie Fame. His first job was delivering videos to the likes of Cyndi Lauper and The Coen Brothers. It was during those after-school afternoons Velard devoured the albums that would form his musical landscape for years to come – Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces, Billy Joel’s The Stranger, and Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection.

"On The Fear, Nathan Xander takes a bold and reaching step to transform himself from a solo folk singer into a main stage commodity. The rich textures of his voice power through the chords, be it acoustic or electric, and conjure memories of smoke and sawdust. At its core, The Fear is roots rock and a big chunk of Americana. This album is honest and filled with heart, fear, and ultimately faith." - Deli Magazine

Nathan was born Union City, Pennsylvania and currently lives in Chicago. After playing in a variety of bands, Nathan eventually fell for the many charms of American folk and classic country music. An active writer, Nathan pushes himself to the point of obsession but that obsession pays off, in a solid, daily output of new material.

Nathan, who also plays the harmonica and piano, picked up playing the guitar at 19, and started writing his own songs at 21. With Xander as the writer/vocal/guitar, the full band is comprised of Jay Bennett (Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash) - guitar, Keith Rowland (above/below sea level) - bass/vocals and Ryan Juravic (Danny Black & Healthy White Baby) - drums. With the new arrangements increasingly informed by each member, the result is a substantial and dynamic realization of Xander's original compositions.

$10 Bud Light Pitchers + $4 Bloodys & Mimosas

$5 Gameday Food Menu:

Buffalo Wings

Artichoke or Buffalo Cheese Dip with Flatbread

Quesadillas with Salsa & Sour Cream

Chili Cheese Fries

Chicken Fingers with Your Choice of Honey Mustard, BBQ, Buffalo, or Ranch Dipping Sauces

Burgers

Breakfast Burritos:

The Ultimate: Scrambled Eggs, Sausage Patty, Tater Tots & Cheddar Cheese

Redeye: Scrambled Eggs, Spinach, Chihuahua Cheese & Salsa

Pesto Omelet, Bacon, Pepperjack Cheese & Tots

Presenting: the queens of sultry sound, sisters of mercy, saints of scarred souls, society’s hangover and Calamity Jane’s bachelorette party. The eminent, prominent and decadent ladies of our time: Katzenjammer!

Drink, dear rebels and drink again. Katzenjammers’s musical underground cultus is conjured up through instruments like the accordian, mandolin, guitar, piano, balaika bass, xylophone, trumpet, kazoo, melodica, drums and banjo just to name a few- all played with fire in the belly, fever in the fingers, heart and throat. And then there are voices. The voices, my dear friends, are the brushstrokes on the night sky where you dance your wildest dance in your fanciest clothes. Katzenjammer drives clichés so hard into your guts that they shrivel, twist, and lay a foundation for new generations with a taste for the old. Our blissful mistresses are self-taught on most of the formentioned instruments. The animal tamed by its trainer will eventually know every nook and cranny of its cage, and eventually become calm. Katzenjammer recently arrived at their cage and are rattling about in a fruitful, creative ruckus. The animal tamer takes two steps back. These powerful maidens have been playing songs composed by fellow companion Mats Rybø in addition to their own, and a few co-written compositions.

Ólöf Arnalds is an Icelandic folk singer whose solo debut, Við og við was produced by Sigur rós' Kjartan Sveinsson and named Record of the Year in Iceland. eMusic recently named Við og Við as one of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade while MOJO proclaimed Ólöf as "Reykjavik's answer to Kate Bush".

Ólöf's voice has been singled out for high praise as "otherworldly" by The New York Times, "stunning" by SPIN, "remarkable" by the NME, "ethereal" by Vanity Fair and "impossibly lovely" by Paste

"[Kim Richey] would rule the charts in a land where Marshall Crenshaw was king, Aimee Mann queen, and the The Beatles never put out another record after Revolver." Steve Horowitz, popmatters.com

"Richey entices you with sad and unembellished music that reveals an original spirit - and then she ensnares you for keeps by making you consider all the noiseless sensations that no songs can ever contain." Timothy White, Billboard Magazine

As Duke Ellington said, "There are only two kinds of music: good and bad." At a time when music is all about labels, it's refreshing to find an artist who doesn't easily fit into a box, who is broader than just one category, who is simply "good". Kim Richey is just such an artist.

Two-time Grammy-nominated Kim is a storyteller; a weaver of emotions and a tugger of heartstrings. Tender, poetic and aching with life's truths, Kim's songs transport you to her world, where words paint pictures and melodies touch the soul. And then there's her voice. Pure, arresting and honest, her voice makes you take notice; Kim has the kind of voice where if emotions were ribbons, they'd be streaming in rainbow colours from your iPod. Her voice gives you goose bumps.

Avi Buffalo was once just the kid named Avi (short for Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg). He's now singing and playing guitar, but was then a vaguely aspirational skateboarder living in Long Beach, who figured between hip trauma and a never-quite-conquered fear of dropping into a half-pipe that he might need to come up with something else to do with the rest of his life. (Maybe journalist If there were gonna be any left) His parents never got around to getting him the Game Boy he wanted, so he turned to a handily local guitar. Years of 12-hour days attacking that (plus lessons-to-mentoring with seriously iconoclastic local blues guys) revealed a pretty preternatural talent for making a very special kind of bent but lovely pop song. 'You know why it's good Because it sounds OLD, but it's NEW!' said Blues Mentor, sparing the world more labored analysis. And that is the connect-the-dots story of how Avi Buffalo became a band-boy meets guitar. It's a good old story.

Then boy meets rest of his band at Millikan High in Long Beach-Sheridan Riley on drums, Rebecca Coleman on keys and piano and Arin Fazio (the old man at almost 21, whose dad was a session musician during L.A.'s glossier days) on bass. By the time you read this bio, they will pretty much all be out of high school. And that means we can push past the age thing into the music thing-yes, they're young, and yes, says Avi, they can effectively metabolize even the most ill-advised tourslops, and yes, many an article is gonna haul out a word like 'wunderkind.' But what can you do They're gonna graduate into a beautiful little album, and not everybody gets to do that. But even this young, it's been a long time coming.

Sugar Hill Records is proud to announce the release of Feast of the Hunters’ Moon, the debut album from Portland, Oregon-based Black Prairie. Featuring three-fifths of The Decemberists and two of the city’s finest folk stylists, the heavily acoustic debut was produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie) and embodies the rich sonic landscape of the Portland music scene while integrating the diverse backgrounds of its members. As described by dobroist Chris Funk, the band’s sound “bridges the music of Clarence White and Ennio Morricone” in a way that defies genre characterization.

Click here to download a FREE MP3 of "Red Rocking Chair" Sold Out Sold Out

“The way that I make is my own, but I know what I’m in for,” sings Tim Warren, front man and co-founder of The Alternate Routes.

Whatever fate has in store for this promising young band, it’s sure to make for a good story… and an even better song. The Alternate Routes have never been afraid to roll the dice during their brief and turbulent journey, always relying upon their heartfelt brand of music to pull them through the ups and downs that come with the territory.

A classic example of a whole being greater than the sum of its parts, The Alternate Routes are now poised to spread the word and take on whatever new challenges come their way. “We always feel like we’re at the beginning of something,” says a determined Donnelly. “Even five years into this band, I still feel like we’re at the beginning and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.”

Stream "Stray Age" by Daniel Martin Moore in full at this link

You’ve never heard of Daniel Martin Moore, from Cold Spring, Kentucky. That’s okay. Before we got his unsolicited demo in January 2007, neither had we. Luckily, he’d heard of us, and contacted us the way people in Cold Spring still do—he sent us a package, just to see what would happen. In all honesty, his odds were quite slim, but occasionally we’ll take down that “no solicitation” sign on our door. Eventually, we opened his package and gave his four songs a listen and decided to contact him—we happened upon Daniel while he was working at a friend’s bed and breakfast in Costa Rica. He’d been a bit of a drifter up until this point, studied photography in college, joined the Peace Corps in 2006, traveling to Cameroon for his service. What was supposed to be a two year commitment was cut short due to illness. So he came back to the states, lived in Minnesota for a while with his brother (who plays piano on several tracks), and began to focus on music.

"[Ric] Hordinski shows himself to be the rarest kind of virtuoso - one w ho knows when not to play...and what not to play. "Music is not just about notes," he says. "It's about the space between the notes." And what makes Hordinski's music so compelling is that it transcends both notes and spaces, communicating to the listener something that transcends the literal." —Reid Davis, Pastemusic.com

Hi, I’m Tyrone Wells. I’ve sat down with a number of different writers for “bios” to be written. Somewhere along the line I got to thinking… “If this is supposed to be all about me, why don’t I just write it? I’m pretty familiar with the subject at hand.”

In 2nd grade, music began to move me. I had it bad for Amy who sat three desks in front of me in Miss Rush’s class. I got up the guts to ask her to go steady with me via note and she checked the “yes” box. Also, she gave me her class picture and drew hearts and wrote my name on the back of it. Basically everything was right in the world. After school at night (when I was supposed to be sleeping), I used to tune in to the love songs show on the radio. You know the one where people call in and talk on the radio and dedicate songs? And then there’s always that DJ with a cheesy, whispery voice that summarizes what the caller already said. Anyways, I would listen to those songs and just hold that picture of Amy in my hands. My heart would soar.

When Amanda Shaw takes the stage, the petite fiddler commands the attention of the audience with a poignant and rhythmic sound that only a Louisiana prodigy could deliver. At the transitional age of 19, Amanda Shaw is a powerful performer, composer, and arranger who has been touring nationally and internationally since she was eight years old. She has recorded three critically-acclaimed albums, won a Big Easy Award for Best Female Entertainer and has even had two feature roles in Disney movies. The New Orleans native is a pioneer of the new breed of young, roots-based musicians who have embraced both the traditional sounds of Louisiana and the pop sounds of the mainstream.

Like many prolific artists, Amanda was engaged in music from a very early age becoming a classically trained violinist who--at the age of eight--became the youngest soloist with the Baton Rouge Symphony. As her talent matured, so did her taste in music. Her parents nurtured her musical foundation by immersing their daughter in every diverse style that the universally recognized epicenter of music, New Orleans, has to offer. “I love how I can go anywhere in New Orleans and here an electric Jazz rift coming from one corner, and then a traditional Creole tune on the other,” exclaims Shaw. The Delta Blues, Zydeco, Jazz, and Brass are just a sampling of Amanda’s musical influences.

half folky / half punky
half french / half polish
half actress / half music-nerd
half singing / half talking
half dreaming / half dancing
half joking / half deep
half tearful / half crazy
half wise / half child
half orchestral / half lo-fi
half depressed / half joyful
half funny / half touching
half cat / half tiger
half sing along / half sing alone
totally wild
totally vegan
always unpredictable

"If someone were to say to me, 'Tell me about yourself,' I would just hand them a copy of Hello and say, "Here, this is everything you need to know,'" says singer/songwriter and guitarist Tristan Prettyman. Indeed, Hello, Prettyman's second album, is an appealing portrait of this freewheeling San Diego, CA, native as she narrates stories about her life, loves, and heartbreaks in her seductive, smoky alto. "I really wanted the album to be a reflection of me," Prettyman says.

With laid-back melodies springing from finger-picked acoustic guitar, plaintive pedal-steel guitar, Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, and strings, Hello explores Prettyman's love of country-blues and folk from the '60s and '70s, artists like The Band, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. "There's something really pure and uncontrived about what they do," she says. "I really connect with that simplicity, and I think it made me write more bluesy songs." Recorded over six weeks in London with British producers and songwriters Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, Ron Sexsmith) and Sacha Skarbek (James Blunt, KT Tunstall), Hello delivers on the promise Prettyman raised with her Virgin Records debut twentythree - a critically well-received collection of "bright, breezy ditties about romantic bliss" as People magazine put it in its review. Following twentythree's August 2005 release, Prettyman toured for two and a half years, with such artists as Ray LaMontagne, G. Love and Special Sauce, Chris Issac and Jason Mraz.

“This two-member band from Minneapolis makes twangy, toe-tapping folk music with smart, funny lyrics that are equal parts hillbilly, seven-year-old boy and your favorite teacher.” – CoolMomPicks.com

As childhood best friends and band mates growing up in Denver, Colorado, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing dreamed of being professional singer-songwriters. Then, one day (poof!) they were all grown up and playing their music on the scene. After years of touring the Midwest with their bluegrass band, Joe and Justin decided to keep their folk roots, but return to where it all began: childhood imagination. That’s when they moved to Minneapolis to start their “kindie” band called The Okee Dokee Brothers.

Inspired by their own backyard adventures, The Okee Dokee Brothers currently perform original music that reminds audiences of their own make-believes and treehouse-pretendings. Their show can transport you to the wilds of Africa, to the tip-top of a gigantic rollercoaster, or down the Mississippi on a homemade raft. The Okee Dokee Brothers believe that music should be an energetic, interactive, and fun experience where kids can enjoy dancing, singing and playing instruments with their families.

As an independently managed band, the young duo has gained a loyal grassroots following that is drawn to their witty lyrics, off-the-wall humor, strong musicianship, and unique folk style. By appealing to the musical needs of the entire family and recognizing that kids deserve quality music, The Okee Dokee Brothers are working full-time to regain the integrity of the children’s music genre.