Ellen Smith is a 20 year old singer-song writer from Leeds (UK).
Influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Beatles from a young age, her story-like folk/ acoustic songs are clearly inspired by these artists.
With the addition of Chris Quick, Jeff Schneider, Andy Calder and James Warrender, in early 2008, Ellen formed the band ‘Ellen & the Escapades’.
Hailing from a horse farm along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, William Elliott Whitmore has developed an intense love and spiritual understanding of the land, which he flawlessly conveys through his second Southern Records release, Ashes to Dust. With a voice that sounds decades older than he is and full of emotional depth, William again delivers his unique signature style. While comparisons to the gravely voice of Tom Waits and the lyrical story telling of Johnny Cash fly throughout reviews of William's music...
The Black Sea was formed from the ashes of Frodus in 2002 when Frodus's Shelby Cinca and Jason Hamacher decided to continue playing together. At the time they recruited Fugazi bassist Joe Lally to play bass. At the time they weren't sure on if the musical endeavor would go beyond just playing music. In February 2002, Hamacher left for a 3 month excursion to Eastern Europe and Turkey after recording drum tracks for the pair.
Originally the drummer for the punk band The Mekons, formed at Leeds University in 1977, Langford later took up the guitar as other band members left. Since the mid-1980s he has been one of the leaders in incorporating folk and country music into punk rock. Over the years, he has released a number of solo recordings as well as recordings with other bands outside of The Mekons, most notably the Waco Brothers, which he co-founded after moving to Chicago in the early '90s. He is strongly involved with the Chicago-based independent record label Bloodshot.
Some call it country, some call it roots-and-blues, and others call it rough-around- the-edges folk. Lynne Hanson calls her music "porch music with a little Texas red dirt."
It’s a sound that’s been receiving applause from enamoured critics and devoted fans in Canada, the US, Europe and Australia, garnering Hanson the 2010 Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award, a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, and a place as a finalist in the prestigious 2009 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition.
Grant-Lee Phillips is best known as the voice and vision of the critically acclaimed group Grant Lee Buffalo, which existed from 1992 to 1999. Grant is also seen regularly in the television series Gilmore Girls as Star Hollow's local busker. He does not sing his own songs on the show - mostly covers of other musicians; usually in the background as the main characters are passing. Phillips spent his formative years in Stockton, CA, where he founded a band called Bloody Holly, but prior to his 20th birthday Phillips headed to Los Angeles to study film...
Andy Bean and Fuller Condon are The Two Man Gentlemen Band, delivering Uptempo, Old-Time, Two-Man, Good-time music at a reasonable volume, for all ages.
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.
No Use for a Name (often abbreviated NUFAN) is a punk rock band from San Jose, California. They were formed in 1987 by Tony Sly and Rory Koff. The band is highly praised in the skate punk and hardcore scenes, though their sound has evolved considerably through the years, taking on a much lighter and poppier brand of melodic punk. NUFAN's debut album, Incognito, was released in 1990 through New Red Archives.
Johnny Dowd (born March 29, 1948 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark and gloomy) elements in the lyrics as well as in the music. There is also a strong undercurrent of black humor and the absurd in his work.