BRIAN MARTIN - while keeping one foot planted firmly in the roots of American music, singer/songwriter Brian Martin is forging a distinct path into its future as well. Blending styles of old-time country blues, barrel-house boogie, and indie folk, he delivers down-home witty tales with a soulful gritty voice, resulting in music that is both unique and inviting for generations young and old.
Hailing from southern Arkansas, Brian began the journey of a fulltime musician in 2004. He has since gained an ever growing fan base as well as several distinctions throughout the region. In 2004 he was a finalist in the Emerging Artist Competition for the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival. In 2006 & 2007 he was invited to perform in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, one of only a handful of Arkansans' selected to perform with blues musicians from around the world. Also in 2006, he received a LAMA (Lower Arkansas Music Award) for Most Unique Performer of the year. More recently, Brian took 2nd place in the 2008 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.
In addition to his individual performances, Brian has supported a diverse range of national touring acts such as alt. country rockers Lucero, blues legend Bobby Rush, and jam band originator Col. Bruce Hampton. In late spring of 2010 he formed a band entitled Sad Daddy with upright bassist Melissa Carper and banjo player Joe Sundell. Together, they recorded a self-title album and toured extensively throughout the summer and early fall. The trio have taken the winter off to work on their individual solo projects and will resume touring in 2011.
"Brian Martin crafts amazingly warm songs with a distinctly soulful approach paired with lyrics that will bring both a smile to your face and leave you intrigued." - Arkansas Times
"Brian Martin quickly takes you back to the days when the genres legends were hopping trains, hitchin' rides, and playing for drinks in back road shanty clubs." - Americana Tonight!
GRACE ASKEW - a sixth-generation Memphian, Askew has substantially established herself throughout the Southeast, United States, and has organized and promoted her own small tours since her teens. She now continues to serve as her own agent on a grander scale, booking her shows and traveling vigorously throughout the U.S., spanning tours as far West as Santa Fe, New Mexico, as far North as Chicago, IL and as far East as Asheville, NC.
Back home in Memphis, Grace plays a slew of steady gigs with her abundantly talented accompanying 5-piece group, The Black Market Goods, made up of all prominent musical figures in the local scene. National singer-songwriter festivals have also kept her prominently placed in a tight circle of renowned regional writers who have served not only as mentors, but also as staunch patrons of her talent; including Keith Sykes (co-writer of the popular "Volcano" with Jimmy Buffet and "I'm Not Strange, I'm Just Like You" recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker), Grammy Award winning writer Richard Leigh, and Austin, Texas' Larry Joe Taylor, host of the largest privately owned music festival in the South. She has opened for/toured with such prolific singer/songwriters as Sid Selvidge, Rivers Rutherford, Jesse Winchester, Hayes Carll, and James McMurtry.
Grace has released two EP's (Wasted Lipstick, Hawthorne) under renowned produced Pete Matthews, both of which were recorded at Memphis' famed Ardent Studios. Her third and newest release 'Until They Lay Me Down to Rest'' is the first full-length album to be solely produced and written by Askew. The bulk of the album was recorded by Memphis musical veteran Richard Ford, who is also featured on several tracks playing such various instruments as banjo, lap & pedal steel guitars, and a mandolin offshoot- the 'jangletron'. Whether stirred by the moaning of a distant freight train, the barking dog across the street, or the whoosh of a car passing by on a rainy Memphis night, the intimacy and rawness of the recordings takes you right into the room with Grace and gives you a pure, powerful reach into the heart & mind behind each and every composition. A select few tracks were also recorded in nearby Oxford, Mississippi at acclaimed Tweed Studios includes her entire ensemble of accompanists, in addition to the sound engineering of studio proprietor Andrew Ratcliffe.
(read less)
"If Tom Waits had a singer/writer daughter in Memphis, it would be Askew with her gallery of lost souls on the graveyard shift. Gutsy, bluesy, and a bit boozy, she quietly sings with jagged languor and a skewed spirituality. Discreet percussion, guitar and, on occasion, wistful lap steel notes sagely frame her rough-hewn sophistication."
-Sing Out! Magazine(Bruce Sylvester)
NICK BRUMLEY - Texas Music Award nominee Nick Brumley is a singer/songwriter from Farmersville, TX whose thoughtful lyrics and soulful tunes defy corporate ties and boundaries, leaving listeners thinking of Jack Daniels and extended vacations. Unfamiliar with conformity, Nick Brumley consistently provides an escape from predictable lyrics and shallow melodies.
|
