Caramel Jack is a pop, folk and experimental group based in Brighton, England and built around the songwriting and production team of Richard Scott and Joe Doveton. Most often associated with the alt.country / americana scene their music is really a smorgasboard of styles ranging from Country-Folk to Chamber-Pop to Vaudeville incorporating hip-hop beats, cinematic instrumentals and sound effects along the way.
Alejandro Escovedo's family tree includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete's daughter, Sheila E (also Prince's former drummer and later a pop star). He began his music career with the Nuns, a mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. He co-founded the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File in 1979, which moved to Austin, Texas, in 1981 after a stint in New York City. The band released Sundown on Slash Records in 1982, but shortly after, Escovedo left to form the True Believers with brother Javier.
The Lost Dogs have been called a country music supergroup, but they consider themselves to be a roots and alternative music group. They began in 1991 as a one-time collaboration between four very different vocalists and songwriters from four different bands at the behest of their label at that time. Terry Scott Taylor (Daniel Amos, The Swirling Eddies), Gene Eugene (Adam Again), Derri Daugherty (The Choir), and Michael Roe (The 77s) have over the last two decades released nine eclectic albums of traditional American music (country, folk, blues, rock) with a decidedly modern feel.
Cordelia's Dad is a band from Northampton, Massachusetts that combines folk and punk rock influences and was instrumental in the creation of the genre later to be dubbed "No Depression". The band formed in 1987 and was active until 1998, when the members relocated to different parts of the country. After releasing an album of older material in 2002 the band has reunited in 2007 for their twentieth anniversary.
Originally the brainchild of crooning minstrel Gregory Griffin; a Californian recently transplanted to a giant warehouse in the Manor House area of London, Lofty Heights have since evolved into a band of mid-20’s misfits peddling Colin Meloy influenced indie- pop that spin yarns from lonesome ancient mariners to the perils of sharing the washing-up!
Debut single Eye Contact is a beautifully orchestrated chamber pop ditty that sees Greg interlace Beach Boy inspired harmonies over heartfelt lyrics and rich instrumentation including cello, slide guitar and piano accompaniment.
There are two groups known as The Dream Syndicate: 1. The Dream Syndicate was a guitar-driven band from L.A. from 1981 to 1989, originally associated with the paisley underground music movement. While attending the University of California, Davis, Wynn and Smith played together (with future True West members Russ Tolman and Gavin Blair) in The Suspects. Moving back home to Los Angeles, Wynn recorded a single under the name 15 Minutes (as in “of fame”) as his intended farewell to music. He did not follow that course.
Formed in 1975, although not actually born until 1976, Steve McCormick is the result of a night of passion (or, quite possibly, a perfunctory fumble) between his parents. Just over thirty years on this planet, and over half of them with a guitar in his hand (although not constantly - going to the toilet, bathing, driving, etc. would be difficult). Steve McCormick is a singer/songwriter based near Carlisle, Cumbria, England who wears his musical influences on his sleeve and doesn't try to fit into an idealised image of what any genre should sound like.
The Hackensaw Boys first began playing their joyful blend of old-time and bluegrass-tinged string-band music on the streets of Charlottesville in the autumn of 1999. Far from limiting themselves to the old-time canon, however, the Hackensaws have been first and foremost a band of songwriters. Their music, while drawing upon the spirit of the mountains, is sophisticated and informed by the best elements of punk rock and classic country music. As one reviewer put it:
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Deadstring Brothers are forging their own imprint far removed from anything remotely close to what we've been conditioned to expect from the Motor City. While their hometown counterparts follow Iggy Pop's footsteps so closely they're practically ripping the skin off his heels, Deadstring Brothers style embraces a sound from somewhere far beyond the Wayne County line.
Mark Olson is one of the founding members of acclaimed alternative country bands The Jayhawks and The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers and a respected singer/songwriter in his own right. Olson formed The Jayhawks in 1985 with singer/guitarist Gary Louris and was originally the principal singer/songwriter in the group. Along with Marc Perlman (bass) and Thad Spencer (drums), they released their eponymous debut album in 1986 through independent label Bunkhouse Records.