Ashland Coffee and Tea

Jim Lauderdale

ACT — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 04:53:53 +0000

Jim Lauderdale is a multi-talented performer and songwriter, with successes in both country and bluegrass music. His roots stem from the Carolinas, yet his career has taken him all over theUnited Statesand abroad, making him an international recording artist with an ever-growing fan base. Jim won “Artist of the Year” and “Song of the Year” at the first “Honors and Awards Show” held by the Americana Music Association in 2002. Subsequently, he has hosted this same show for the last seven years. He is among Nashville’s “A” list of songwriters, with songs recorded by artists such as: Patty Loveless, George Jones, The Dixie Chicks, Solomon Burke, Mark Chesnutt, Dave Edmunds, John Mayall, Kathy Mattea, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan, Blake Shelton. Vince Gill, andGeorgeStrait. He also contributed several songs to the successful soundtrack of theGeorgeStraitfilm, “Pure Country.” Not content to just write hits for the stars, he’s toured with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent and Elvis Costello, among others.

Jim’s musical influences include the legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley and George Jones. These influences and his unique sense of melody and lyric help forge a sound that is truly his own. He is a 2 time Grammy winner, winning his first in 2002 with Dr. Ralph Stanley for “Lost in the Lonesome Pines” (Dualtone). His next one came for his second “solo” bluegrass album, “The Bluegrass Diaries” (Yep Roc 2007) at the 50th Grammy Awards! His first CD with Dr. Stanley, “I Feel Like Singing Today” ( Dualtone/Rebel 1999) received a Grammy nomination as did his first solo bluegrass CD titled “Bluegrass”(Yep Roc) from 2006. His current release, “PatchworkRiver” (his second collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter) is currently on theAmericanaradio charts.

visit his website: http://www.jimlauderdale.com/

Bill Evans

ACT — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:55:31 +0000

Bill Evans is an internationally known five-string banjo life force. As a performer, teacher, writer, scholar and composer, he brings a deep knowledge, intense virtuosity and contagious passion to all things banjo, with thousands of music fans and banjo students from all over the world in a career that spans over thirty-five years.

Tracing the banjo from its West African roots to the New World, Evans performs musical examples from the 1700’s to the present day on a variety of vintage instruments, ranging from an African ekonting to a mid-19th century minstrel banjo, a modern bluegrass banjo and even an electric banjo. From an 18th century African dance tune to the music of the Civil War, and from early 20th century ragtime to folk and bluegrass banjo styles to Bill’s own incredible original music, Bill’s performances illuminate as well as entertain, exposing audiences to over 200 years of American music.

You can learn more about Bill by visiting www.billevansbanjo.com.

The Rock and Roll Jubilee – Special “Best Dressed” Contest!!

ACT — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 04:55:17 +0000

One of our most requested customer favorites! A tribute to the Founding Fathers of Rock and Roll from station WJKS – Craig Evans, George Garrett, B. J. Kocen, Brian Sulser, Brad Tucker, and Jim Wark present an evening of The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley. Step back in time for this truly special event – and an exciting special event for this show only!!! Come dressed in your best ’50′s attire to be eligible for an authentic TeenTown “Best Dressed” Contest complete with exciting prizes …

visit their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/RockandRollJubilee

Jesse Winchester

ACT — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 04:55:08 +0000

You could stock a crowd-pleasing jukebox with the songs Jesse Winchester has written and recorded in the last four decades – and with the better-known versions of his songs that have become hits and album staples for artists ranging from Joan Baez to Elvis Costello to Jimmy Buffett. Winchester’s skill in capturing vivid small town vignettes, heartfelt love and love-lost situations, and goodtime celebrations has yielded a litany of I-know-that-songs: “Yankee Lady,” “Biloxi,” “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” “Talk Memphis,” “Rhumba Girl,” “Payday,” “I’m Gonna Miss You, Girl,” “Let’s Make a Baby King” and many more. His 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composters, Artists and Publishers (ASCAP) is one gauge of the music world’s esteem; Bob Dylan naming Jesse as one of the best songwriters of his generation is another.

visit his website: http://www.jessewinchester.com/index.html

John Gorka

ACT — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:52:14 +0000

John Gorka was born in Newark, NJ on a Sunday in July, 1958 under Eisenhower skies. He grew up in Colonia, NJ and at age ten got his first guitar as a Christmas present. Before John’s fingers were strong enough to press the strings down his older brother claimed the guitar for himself. and carved his name in it. The younger Gorka never recovered from this blow. A few years later he took up the banjo to retaliate. The family was never the same. In high school Gorka started writing songs and singing with a church folk group. When he moved away from home to go to Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, he started performing in the school coffeehouse programs and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, a non-traditional bluegrass, country, blues and folk band. Future songwriter and recording artist Richard Shindell was asked to join the band as the lead guitar player when the others learned he could play Black Magic Rag. Fellow Spasm member Doug Anderson took Gorka to a coffeehouse that had just opened on the south side of Bethlehem, PA called Godfrey Daniels. It was there Gorka discovered the kind of performer he wanted to become. He went to shows when he could afford them and regularly performed at the open stage nights. He later hosted the open mikes and volunteered as MC, sound man, usher and counter worker. By the early 80′s he was the virtual house opening act at Godfrey Daniels and many of the people he met and opened for there went on to open doors for him in other parts of the country, among them, Nanci Griffith, Bill Morrissey, Claudia Schmidt and Jack Hardy. Griffith encouraged him to enter Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Competition, which he won in 1984. Hardy invited him to record for the Fast Folk Musical Magazine and introduced him to the revitalized Greenwich Village folk scene.

In addition to his 11 critically acclaimed albums, John released a collector’s edition box featuring a hi-definition DVD and companion CD called The Gypsy Life. Windham Hill also released a collection of John’s greatest hits from the label called Pure John Gorka. In 2010, he also released an album with his friends and Red House label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. Getting high praise from critics and fans alike, it landed on the Billboard Folk Charts and was one of the most played albums on folk radio.

Many well known artists have recorded and/or performed John Gorka songs, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O’Connell. John has graced the stage of Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, etown and has appeared on CNN. His new song “Where No Monuments Stand” is featured in the upcoming documentary Every War Has Two Losers, about activist and Oregon Poet Laureate William Stafford (1914-1993).

visit his website: http://johngorka.com/

Red June – CD Release Concert!

ACT — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:55:46 +0000

Red June is an acoustic trio based in Asheville, NC creating and performing beautifully distilled Americana music. They are making waves with their dynamic, yet refined sound that features striking 3-part harmonies, tasteful instrumental work and honest, soulful songwriting that seamlessly blends old-time, bluegrass, roots rock and traditional country music. Poised to release their second full-length album, Beauty Will Come, on June 5th, 2012, listeners can expect an album to fall in love with. “The record is a brilliant integration of old-time, bluegrass, and beyond, and feels like a holding of hands… the blend is beautiful,” says singer/songwriter Kari Sickenberger of Polecat Creek.

Red June is made up of Will Straughan on resonator guitar, vocals and guitar, John Cloyd Miller on mandolin, vocals and guitar, and Natalya Weinstein on fiddle and vocals. The three have been longtime friends and first jammed together at a pickin’ party in Asheville in 2005. In late 2008 they formed Red June and went on to release their debut album Remember Me Well in 2010. Remember Me Well was voted the #1 regional release of 2010 by the listeners of the southeast’s premier independent radio station WNCW. “For those who seek well-crafted songwriting and impeccable musicianship, you just can’t go wrong with the acoustic instrumentation and powerful harmonies of Red June’s Remember Me Well. It’s an exciting debut from a collective of outstanding performers,” writes Chris Mateer in No Depression.

Red June is well underway to becoming a longtime southern favorite, akin to the Appalachian heirloom apple variety from which they gleaned their name. Ripening early with a full balance of flavors, Red June is already touring across the country and has performed at the renowned Music City Roots live radio show in Nashville as well as the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and the 25th anniversary MerleFest. As acclaimed songwriter & musician Joe Newberry says, “Red June is one of our truly great bands. They never fail to talk the talk and walk the walk.” Red June is sure to capture eyes and ears with their new release, Beauty Will Come.

For more information, visit www.redjunemusic.com.

Ray Wylie Hubbard

ACT — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 04:54:36 +0000

Ray Wylie Hubbard writes the kind of songs that make you want to ride along no matter where he’s going, because you know it’s gonna get strange somewhere along the way. The references to Muddy Waters being as deep as William Blake (“I really do believe it,’’ Ray says) and lipstick pickups, resonator slides, the dreams of drunken poets, deceased call girls, opium, wasp’s nests, clouds growing a tail, his ability to segue seamlessly from primal exclamations of carnal lust into songs about salvation without pausing for irony; and a craftsmanship that manages to rhyme mescaline and gasoline and Volkswagen with dragon while painting vivid portraits of characters both real and unreal, all evoke a sense of place that is larger than life but in no way made up. Anyone who’s followed Ray Wylie Hubbard over the long and winding path he has traveled already knows he possesses the kind of exceptional gift for observation that any songwriter yearns for. His sense of wonder is tempered by an accumulated wisdom and knowledge that comes with experience that has elevated him into the Wylie Lama of Texas Music, freely imparting songwriting verities to all kinds of aspiring musicians, which allows him to lay all his cards on the table and let the listener decide what it all means.

visit his website:http://raywylie.com/

Paul Curreri

ACT — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 04:56:07 +0000

Musician, producer, guitar master, and husband to Devon Sproule, Paul Curreri returns to the United States (after living in Germany) and the Listening Room stage! “Such a fluent fingerpicker that he’s free of all convention or blues device, grooving and improvising all over the place. …And truth be told, there’s hardly a stanza not worth quoting.” – Puremusic.com His release, California, has been generating rave reviews: Uncut magazine gave it four stars; and MOJO described the album as “13 intimate, luminously produced tracks, and his multi-instrumental skills consistently impress…at their best, give (Dylan, Joe Henry, and Springsteen) a run for their money.” His latest, The Big Shitty, is also gathering good words from the critics and fans alike.
Now living in Austin, Texas, it has been a long wait for all his fans in Virginia, but thankfully Paul’s now back to touring the US and to amazing his fans old and new.

Visit his website: http://www.paulcurreri.com/

Bill Kirchen

ACT — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 04:55:32 +0000

Bill Kirchen and his Tele – A Rockin’ Solo Show!!

Get ready to be blown away by Bill’s reknown licks! Bill Kirchen has become widely known for the trademark big-rig guitar riffs that powered the Commander Cody hit “Hot Rod Lincoln” into the Top 10 in 1972. Since 1993, he has recorded seven critically acclaimed albums of his own that have made him one of the musical elder statesmen of today’s Americana music, which in truth was pioneered by acts like Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen back in the ‘70s.

Visit his website:http://billkirchen.com

Jackie Frost, Gregg Kimball and Sheryl Warner – “We Shall Not be Moved” :: Songs from America’s Labor Movement

ACT — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:55:49 +0000

From textile mills, to coal fields, to the great factories of our cities, workers have rallied to songs of labor. The songs tell of heavy work, unjust conditions, and union struggles. American workers have given us a rich heritage of native folk songs that reflect the lives of the people—men and women, black and white, native and foreign born—who built our country. Historian and musician Gregg Kimball, along with Sheryl Warner and Jackie Frost, will sing and discuss the songs that grew out of the American Labor Movement and played a major part in shaping America’s folk heritage.