americana

John Prine (born October 10, 1946 in Maywood, Illinois) is an american country/folk singer-songwriter who has achieved widespread critical (and some commercial) success since the early 1970s. The son of William Prine and Verna Hamm, his grandfather had played guitar with Merle Travis and he started playing guitar himself at 14 years old. He was a postman for 5 years and spent a couple of years in the army before starting his musical career in the Chicago area. He emerged in 1971 with a highly acclaimed debut album titled John Prine.

John Hiatt's sales have never quite matched his reputation. Hiatt's songs were covered successfully by everyone from Bonnie Raitt, Ronnie Milsap, and Dr. Feelgood to Iggy Pop, Three Dog Night, and the Neville Brothers, yet it took him 13 years to reach the charts himself. Of course, it nearly took him that long to find his own style. Hiatt began his solo career in 1974, and over the next decade he ran through a number of different styles from rock & roll to new wave pop before he finally settled on a rootsy fusion of rock & roll, country, blues, and folk with his 1987 album Bring the Family.

The Avett Brothers are a non-traditional bluegrass band that originated in Concord, North Carolina. The two brothers, Seth and Scott, formed the group after the breakup of the former rock band, Nemo, adding a third member, Bob Crawford. More recently, they have been joined by cellist Joe Kwon. The Avett Brothers combine old-time country, bluegrass, punk, pop melodies, folk, rock and roll, honky tonk and ragtime to produce a sound described by the Washington Post as "post civil-war modern rock", or by other reviewers as "grungegrass".

Diana's music is informed by the themes that have run through her life…love, loss, and redemption…bringing to mind both Emily Dickinson & Loretta Lynn in the same breath. From the mournful lament of a dance hall girl, to the stomping melodic rant of a young woman's burial instructions, each of Diana's original songs from her latest CD, My Remembrance of You, draws life from the rich cross currents of old timey, country blues and mountain music.