Kylie Harris began singing and playing guitar at 13 years of age. After releasing two albums and receiving widespread acclaim in her native New Zealand, the accomplished singer, writer and instrumentalist decided to bring her talent to Nashville. First-time listeners and longtime fans alike are drawn in by her honest and soulful delivery, which has drawn comparisons to Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Linda Ronstadt, Roseanne Cash and the great Patsy Cline.

At 17, Kylie became the youngest-ever winner of the overall Gold Guitar Award. This high-profile win eventually lead to a recording contract with BMG. Her debut album, “Let It Be Love”, was a critical and commercial success, earning her “Country Album of the Year” and the “Rising Star” award at New Zealand’s Music & Entertainment Awards. Her second album, “Fancy”, also took top album honors at those same awards two years later. This success and recognition lead her to tour throughout New Zealand and Australia as the opening act for Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs, The Irish Rovers and Charley Pride, whom she also supported here in the states.

In 2001, her musical abilities and personable manner caught the attention of the television network, Great American Country (GAC). They invited her to host her own daily show called “The Edge of Country,” a program that caters to all fans of Americana/Roots music; it also reaches over 42 million homes in North America to this day.

2004 & 2005 found Kylie once again taking home top honors for Country Album of the Year and Song of the Year back in New Zealand. All this coming on the heels of her joining Patty Loveless’ touring band, where she provided acoustic guitar, mandolin and background vocals.

Kylie has traveled many miles in pursuit of advancing and growing as an artist and musician. Her new album, “Love, Lessons and Lies”, reflects on that journey. With contributions from; G.E. Smith,(Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, George Harrison), Patty Loveless; Doug Lancio, (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt); Niko Bolas, (Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon); Richard Dodd; (Tom Petty, Dixie Chicks) and some of New York’s and Nashville’s top musicians, this album has all the ingredients to make it a timeless classic.

John David Kent is glad to be home.

Signed to Mercury Records at age sixteen, JDK first hit the road as the drummer for Radish, touring all over the globe, sharing the stage with acts like Metallica and Snoop Doggy Dogg.  A few years later, he went grinding through the country with Pony League, his first gig as Frontman/Guitarist.  Follow that with recording and/or touring for the likes of Ben Kweller and the Lemonheads, JDK has been riding that lonesome highway for the better part of 15 years.

But people get a little older and their tastes might change a little. John David decided it was time to hop off the tour bus and start a family.  Of course, being a family man doesn’t mean you stop being a musician.  JDK built a recording studio and helped build a record label.  He started managing acts and producing and engineering albums.  He scored a film and kept on doing tours and one-offs at major festivals… and he kept on looking inside.

Soon enough, he realized that he still had a lot of good songs bouncing around in his brain.  But the tunes up there weren’t the grunge and radio-rock songs he’d spent his career performing.  No, they were a lot closer to the country music he grew up hearing on his parents’ stereo.  Sometimes, when you look inside, you realize you aren’t who you thought you were.

So he put together the best damn band he could, rounding up Mike Graska and Jamey Gleaves from the band Salute, Alex Mixson from Melba Toast, and Jason Andrew, the youngest in a long line of championship-caliber fiddlers.  Together, the Dumb Angels helped John David build those songs living in his brain into barn-burning beauties, not aiming to fit into any niche, just doing what came natural.  And the songs took them somewhere west of Hank Williams and east of The Rolling Stones; north of Kris Kristofferson, but south of Wilco.  Somewhere in that wild, unruly country where people invent nonsense genre names like Alt-Country, Texas Country, or Southern Rock.

John David Kent just calls it the most honest music he’s ever made.  He just says it feels like home… and he sure is glad to be there.

www.johndavidkent.com

Brian Ashley Jones is a soulful singer, accomplished lead guitarist, and versatile songwriter. Described as “Bluesy Grass”, Jones’ music is heavily influenced by the guitar driven blues, bluegrass, country, and rock that he absorbed in his hometown, Spartanburg, South Carolina. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Jones maintains an active touring schedule and performs about 150 live shows per year at festivals, concert series, radio shows, and songwriter venues as well as being a recommended guitar clinician as part of Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Pros On The Road program.

Jones showcases his writing and playing chops with 11 well crafted original songs in his current release Courier. The swampy instrumental “Pull ‘em Up” has been featured in the widely acclaimed PBS television series Road Trip Nation, and “Take” earned Brian a finalist position in the 2008 Emerging Songwriter’s Contest at the Flat Rock Music Festival.

Along with his own busy touring schedule, Jones has accompanied a diverse batch of artists on stage and in the studio including Eric Heatherly, Thom Shepherd, Caroline Aiken, Sara Hickman, Jeff Black, John Pennell and Grammy Award winning songwriter Jon Vezner. The Brian Ashley Jones Trio has opened several shows for Delbert McClinton.

This group continues to captivate audiences all over the East Tennessee mountain communities and beyond. Jeremy (age 18) and Jonathan (age 14) Barker are known in this area as accomplished musicians, performing bluegrass standards as well as their own original material. Jeremy plays flattop guitar, while brother Jonathan plays (three-finger style) banjo, and they are both gifted vocalists. Parents Angie and Scott play upright bass and mandolin, respectively, and provide support on the vocals. Recently, The Barkers have added a new fiddle player, Westley Harris, to add a little bluegrass fiddle to their traditional family harmony. Westley (age 17) has been playing bluegrass for over six years, and also plays the banjo and mandolin.

The Barker Brothers have performed at festivals all around the southeast with performers such as J.D. Crowe and the New South, IIIrd Tyme Out, and Honi Deaton and Dream. They have opened for several major entertainers, including Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys on his “O Brother Where Art Thou” tour. Television and radio credits include performances on stations in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia, and a PBS documentary on bluegrass for the state of Florida which aired in 2005. These boys come from a musical heritage that spans five generations, and you can hear it in the bluegrass and gospel tunes especially.

Centralia Massacre is a folk group from Knoxville, TN. Members include Laura Bost on ukulele and guitar, James Maples on banjo and guitar, Johnny Walker on upright bass, Steve Corrigan on drums, and Leslie Terry on violin.

James and Laura formed Centralia Massacre in Knoxville in July 2007. They initially met in February of that year following a freak list of band cancellations at the Pilot Light, which left them sharing the stage. After a spur of the moment duet performance at a show a few weeks later, they decided to try writing a few songs together: Capitalist, Family Tree, and Couch soon followed. Their first true show was at the Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City on Oct 22. Around then, they met Johnny at the Corner Lounge.

Met Johnny Walker at a bar? Well, that’s not entirely true. Laura actually met Johnny a few years before while both were music students at The University of Tennessee. Turns out that Johnny’s upright bass style really amplified Laura’s jazzy sound in rehearsals. After forcing James to learn seventh chords on the banjo, the duet turned three piece decided to share their unique part folk, part jazz, part blues sound with Knoxville. And they recorded a cd which ended up being, “a local sleeper hit” per Knoxville’s Metro Pulse. Right at Home was released Feb 2, 2008.

After a successful tour through Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, the band returned to Knoxville and set up a monthly gig at Preservation Pub and started playing festivals, private events, and a slew of shows around the region. In September 2008 they added Steve Corrigan on drums and Leslie Terry on violin for select live shows. In November, they played Good Folk Fest, where they opened for Daniel Johnston. There’s a seven state tour coming up this summer. There’s also a new cd in the works for Spring 2009.

Tia McGraff was born Tia Lynne Hofgraff in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.  She grew up in a small town on Lake Erie called Port Dover and remembers her first trip to the “city”! She was only 7 years old and her parents were taking her to see the musical Camelot in Hamilton, Ont. Although the “big city lights” were impressive, Tia’s eyes and ears were opened when she heard the orchestra play the first bar of the overture. She turned to her mother and said, “I want to be on stage”!

Since that life calling experience, Tia’s musical career has led her on a journey that includes 4 albums ( Small Town Life, Jewels Café, Outside Of The Circle, Day In My Shoes ); videos on CMT Canada; exposure on CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric; and radio play on Americana, Triple A, and Country radio stations around the world; and has had songs placed in film and TV.

Tia’s international tours have included notable performances such as BBC Radio 2 Whispering Bob Harris Show, UK; WSGE, NC AAA Radio; Strawberry Festival – Yosemite, CA; Riverhawk Festival – Orlando, Fla; Frank Brown Intl Songwriters Festival – Gulf Shores,AL; Main Stage at Llangollen Festival, Wales; and Seswyn Fawr, Wales, and indoor concert venues like the famous Bluebird Café, Nashville – Clairmont Opera House, NH – The Robin 2,UK to name a few.

Tia’s fan base has grown to include “music lovers” from all around the world and is perhaps her biggest passion. She loves meeting people and sharing the gift of music.

Tia relocated to Nashville, TN to further her songwriting craft in 1999 and it was there that she met her husband and fellow songwriter & touring partner, guitarist Tommy Parham. After honing their songwriting skills, they have since moved back to Port Dover and after each tour, enjoy coming home to the waters of Lake Erie and working out of their studio! Here they have the opportunity to “give back” to the community through teaching and mentoring young talent.

She has written with other such notable writers as Randy Bachman (BTO), Andrew Gold (Linda Ronstadt), Henry Priestman (The Christians), and Rick Giles (Reba) just to mention a few.

Tia loves writing and recording and looks upon each new song and album as a story waiting to be shared. But it’s still the excitement of being in front of a live audience and communicating through music,that inspires her most.

Tia’s childhood dream of “being on stage” has definitely been fulfilled and in the words of a good friend who once told Tia, “Every day we get to wake up and make music is a great day to be alive!” She knows it to be true.

Ashleigh Flynn hails from Kentucky where she grew up foot stomping along the Ohio River as the steamboats and barges made their way to the muddy Mississippi. A songwriter of exceptional depth and poetry, Flynn is also an electrifying performer blessed with unbridled charisma and the voice of an angel.

Flynn has released 4 full-length records: American Dream (2008), Sneakin Out with Ashleigh Flynn – Live from Mississippi Studios (2006), Chokecherry (2002) and Ashleigh Flynn self-titled (1999). All three records have received national acclaim and strong independent sales. About Chokecherry The Village Voice said, “Darling of the NW Americana scene…Flynn adds a smoky soulful voice…marrying styles from bluegrass to pop and dobro to drums.”

Flynn has traveled near and far, touting her tunes amassing new fans in markets all over the US – including month long “up and comers” residencies at The Living Room and Pianos in Manhattan, and Toad in Cambridge, MA in 2007. She released her fourth studio effort in Fall 2007.

One day in September, 1999, on the front porch of a house on Dark Hollow Road in East Tennessee, with a bucket and two sticks from the front yard, Gene Beffre sat down and banged out a beat as Randall Kent Wilkerson played and sang his songs. Dark Hollow Band evolved from that simple moment. In 2000, John Gillespie came along and sweetened the sound with his flute and squeezebox. Later that same year the inimitable Rod Erwin brought his ingeniously subtle, yet powerful bass into the mix. Next came Dave Patterson who would expand and warp the sound with his screaming electric guitar. One by one, as if by design, each member would appear and bring their own unique fingerprint to the mix. At one point they had up to eleven band members! The end result would be an eclectic mix of everything from gospel to folk to blues to country to screamin’ rock n’ roll.

PART 2

For six years Randall and the band played every kind of venue they could book, including radio broadcasts, festivals, bars, private parties, weddings, numerous benefits, and even funerals. In 2006 Rod Erwin left the band and Gary Coleman, a multi-instrumentalist from Oak Ridge, TN, took over duties as bassist for more than a year. Dave Patterson left the band early in 2007 and Eddie King joined the band for a while, being instrumental in the formation of the 2009 CD, “Real Monsters Look Like Men.” While practicing at Eddie’s, Randall met Jamey Oran, a bassist who played for 12 years with Tommy Santelli, a local and regional performer of some note. Randall was looking for a different sound for the new CD when he met Tom Bates and Chris Voorhees while jamming with friends in Oak Ridge. After hearing Tom’s easy-going style on the dobro mixing with the smooooth guitar licks of Voorhees, Randall knew he had found what he needed for the new CD.

Their fans call it “Folk & Roll.” Whatever you call it — Dark Hollow Band is — soulful ballads, stirring melodies, and a truly unique sound that must be experienced to be appreciated!

From Nashville, TN, Dustin Overbeek is a singer/songwriter whose songs explore much further reaching boundaries. Growing up with influences ranging from James Taylor and Bob Dylan to Marvin Gaye and John Coltrane, the content in Dustin’s writing reflects introspection into the concerns of the human spirit. His first full length project, “Notions”, with John Kelly, contains many references to nature in the midst of joy and struggle. With a “roots” acoustic sound, Dustin’s intimate lyrics and raw style shine through. Dustin’s strong Christian belief comes through in his second full-length album, “Grounded”, produced by Gene Golden, quarter-century keyboard player for Kenny Rogers. Dustin’s third album entitled “One Step Closer” was released in the summer of 2005. This is Dustin’s first album with a full band all natural sound and certainly is his finest work to date. Dustin ventures back to the secular world and returns to his folk, storytelling roots. “One Step Closer” includes some of Nashville’s best studio players (Rob Hajacos on fiddle–Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn, Sugarland and many others; Casey Dreissen on fiddle–Steve Earle, Bela Fleck, John Mayer and Tim O’Brien; Steve Smith on drums–Goose Creek Symphony; John Kelly on Guitar–John Kelly Band and Leftfield Jackson). Dustin’s music continues to mature both musically and lyrically. Keep your eyes wide open for this new talent!

Dustin’s latest influences have been the works of David Gray, Ellis Paul, Martin Sexton, Jeff Black, and Ben Harper.

Perhaps it was the definitiveness of genre with which she started her musical endeavor which lead Christina Horn, a.k.a. Hudson K, to her current style of genre-dissolving anti-pop piano rock. Listening to her music, you can’t help but guess that the classical masters trained her technical eyes and ears. But when she first heard the early sounds of Tori Amos, it occurred to her that she had options beyond teaching piano lessons and accompanying the church choir. Certainly she has been compared to Amos by music journalists in her native Knoxville, and she won’t deny the strength of Amos’s influence on her ambition. Still, she has poured her own earthiness into her style and created a sound that is uniquely hers. This sound found a home first behind the vocals of fellow Knoxville native Matt Urmy in the short lived but loved local indie outfit Teleskope.

The dissolution of Teleskope in 2005 left Horn wondering if it were possible for her to front a band, rather than just support one. It didn’t hurt that her life, at the time of the Teleskope’s parting, was whirling in the heartache and despair of the increasingly common quarter life crisis: the kind of tragedies of which beautiful music is so often made. She wrote what she knew and brought it where she could, usually to the once smoky bars in downtown Knoxville, or any other corner where she could fit her keyboard. It was during this time that she ran into old friend Laura Bost in a dark garage at a party; the two had become acquainted years earlier, in music school, while both were learning to perfect and perform the classical music they were, years later, eagerly leaving behind. Unlike Horn, Bost was a vocalist by training, and was working as a sound engineer. Like Horn, Bost was feeling the compulsion to write and sing something different than what her classical training as a vocalist had been.

It was a surprisingly easy yet unlikely pairing, with Bost’s endearingly sweet southern pitch offsetting Horn’s airy and often haunting growls. Mutual friend Nate (Barrett), already a well-established local musician with regular spots with Artvandalay, Sarah Schwabe and her Yankee Jazz Band, and other Knoxville regulars, soon added percussion, and, during very special occasions, beautiful harmonies to the act. Their first album, Safety Line, was independently released in July 2007, launching a series of performances over the following summer in Knoxville and surrounding southern cities that couldn’t quite be called a tour.

The first live and print reviews were kind to the group’s first effort. But by the fall of 2007, the band had evolved into something distinctly more professional than the talented but naïve trio who had recorded that first album. Horn, Bost, and Barrett were all developing individually, but they were doing so in a way that only brought the band to a smarter and more expressive cohesion. If their sounds of late on the local scene are any indication of what’s to come, Knoxville had better stay tuned: Hudson K may just be pioneering of the emergence of a sound and a scene that this southern city will soon be proud to claim as it’s own original creation.