Jay Farrar is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. A veteran of two critically-acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his established talents as a songwriter, he is a well-regarded guitarist, harmonicist, and a distinctive vocalist. His music is an informed expansion of traditional American roots music.
An acclaimed Anglo-American husband and wife team, it all kicked off 15 years ago when Stephanie and Steve first met in a North London pub. It was actually his first solo show. She thought he had issues with women. Still she agreed to come and sing some harmony with him at his little damp North London apartment. Next came tours, recording and a hip indie label deal, soon followed by a BBC TV show
The Be Good Tanyas are an acoustic trio with folk and americana influences, hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia. They play a combination of original and traditional material, and are notable for their lush vocal harmonies. The group features Frazey Ford (guitar, vocals), Samantha Parton (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals) and Trish Klein (electric guitar, banjo, harmony vocals). Jolie Holland is a former member and also a frequent guest.
1. Palace is one of the many names used at one point or another by Will Oldham. Palace came after he named himself Palace Brothers for the first LP, before Palace Music, and a few years before the world knew him as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. According to Oldham, records released under the "Palace" moniker were usually recorded in the winter time, and feature some of his darkest, most challenging songs. See http://users.bart.nl/%7Eljmeijer/oldham/ for bio, discog, and news.
Califone is a critically-acclaimed experimental folk band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, a long-standing manufacturer of audio equipment commonly found in schools, libraries and businesses. Califone is the musical project of former Red Red Meat frontman Tim Rutili. Its regular and rotating contributors include many former members of Red Red Meat and some members of other Chicago bands, such as Tortoise.
There are two bands with the name Galaxie 500:
1) an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split in 1991
2) a francophone indie garage rock formed in 2002 in Montreal, Canada, and now known as Galaxie 1) Galaxie 500 formed in Boston, MA in 1986 and comprised vocalist/guitarist Dean Wareham (a transplanted New Zealand native), bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski, longtime friends who first met in high school in New York City before all three attended Harvard University.