Slim Pickins is an acoustic bluegrass/old time/blues band that has begun to make a name for itself in the Chattanooga community. We have been playing at JJ’s Bohemia, Market St. and Tremont Taverns, at Rock City for Kim Jackson, and many other various venues in the Chattanooga area for 2 years and have also played bluegrass [...]]]>

Slim Pickins is an acoustic bluegrass/old time/blues band that has begun to make a name for itself in the Chattanooga community. We have been playing at JJ’s Bohemia, Market St. and Tremont Taverns, at Rock City for Kim Jackson, and many other various venues in the Chattanooga area for 2 years and have also played bluegrass and old time festivals in Middle Tennessee. Our members consist of:

Brad Clark (guitar/vocals)

Justin Hupp (guitar/vocals)

Randy Steele (banjo/vocals)

Dave Ayers (bass guitar/vocals)

Deron Stevens (mandolin/vocals)

and reknowned fiddler John Boulware, repeat winner of the Uncle Dave Macon Days Fiddler’s Festival Contest (along with many others!).

We play original material along with many acoustic and contemporary songs and various bluegrass classics and feature John and twin Doc and Merle Watson style guitars on great fiddle tunes.

Steel String Session plays a tapestry of modern acoustic Americana music with an emphasis on bluegrass-jazz.  The *S-3* sound is rich with swing and passion – and sometimes blues, mystery and heartache. Each member of Steel String Session is a talented vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. With their harmonic blending and sensational songwriting, the group [...]]]>

Steel String Session plays a tapestry of modern acoustic Americana music with an emphasis on bluegrass-jazz.  The *S-3* sound is rich with swing and passion – and sometimes blues, mystery and heartache. Each member of Steel String Session is a talented vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. With their harmonic blending and sensational songwriting, the group is a power hitter in a live audience settings whether intimate or grand.

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, [...]]]>

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.

The Barefoot Movement is an acoustic trio with members hailing from Granville County , North Carolina and Oneida, TN. The group fuses the styles of bluegrass, old-time, Americana, and rock, creating an eclectic, original sound, featuring interweaving harmonies, progressive instrumentation, and accomplished songwriting. When singer-songwriter and fiddler Noah Wall left North Carolina to [...]]]>

The Barefoot Movement is an acoustic trio with members hailing from Granville County , North Carolina and Oneida, TN. The group fuses the styles of bluegrass, old-time, Americana, and rock, creating an eclectic, original sound, featuring interweaving harmonies, progressive instrumentation, and accomplished songwriting.
When singer-songwriter and fiddler Noah Wall left North Carolina to attend school at East Tennessee State, she hoped to meet and learn from a wide variety of musicians while a student of the Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music Program offered there. She organized a band, and along with fellow founding barefooter, mandolin player Tommy Norris, the group began applying for every venue that was receptive to the roots music movement. They spent the summer of 2009 taking their music to the Appalachian Mountains and beyond, playing over 40 shows, some as close by as Johnson City’s Acoustic Coffeehouse, and some as far away as New York City’s Googie’s Lounge.

In the fall of 2009, Quentin Acres was added to the lineup. He and Noah befriended one another when they both were chosen for the Old-Time Pride Band at ETSU. “Quentin is so energetic and he has such a powerful voice,” says Noah. “I felt immediately connected to him.” The Pride Band Director, Roy Andrade, formerly of The Reeltime Travelers, had a similar impression, saying “Those two were born to sing together.” Quentin also fills the role of rhythm guitarist. Wall’s own vocals, once described as “goose-bump inducing,” channel the blues, jazz, and folk styles of her favorite singers. Her ear-catching original songs are supported by Norris’s genre-hopping mandolin style. With the instrumental pieces provided by Norris and Acres, the material is truly gaining recognition with audiences near and far.
The name “The Barefoot Movement” has many different meanings for the group. “The initial reason the name dawned on me is because I always feel more relaxed when I’m shoeless, and I noticed that before our shows would end, my shoes would be off”, says Noah. “So I think the name is just our way of encouraging people to sit back and relax once in a while-especially when listening to us play.”

The Barefoot Movement is taking folk music somewhere new without forgetting the old. They bring listeners something they can relate to-something they can truly understand. Everyone who hears them agrees, and if you give them a listen, you will too, The Barefoot Movement is contagious.

The Blue Circle Records recording artist The Bluegrass Soul Pickers are a five piece bluegrass band from Hazel Green, AL. The band’s journey together began in September of 2003 when three friends followed the their hearts to sing, write, and record the bluegrass style of music they grew up listening to; and today, [...]]]>

The Blue Circle Records recording artist The Bluegrass Soul Pickers are a five piece bluegrass band from Hazel Green, AL. The band’s journey together began in September of 2003 when three friends followed the their hearts to sing, write, and record the bluegrass style of music they grew up listening to; and today, continue to hone tight vocal harmonies and instrumentals that define the unique sound and musical style of The Bluegrass Soul Pickers.
Members of the band include Shane Norman (vocals and mandolin), Lorne Wilde (upright bass), Buddy Mason (vocals and guitar), Brett Anderton (vocals and dobro), and Weston Stewart (vocals and banjo).
The band boasts of one the most versatile sounds in the business, ranging from hard-driving instrumentation and strong vocal harmonies to a smooth, soulful finesse.
According to Blue Circle Records CEOs and songwriters Dixie & Tom T. Hall, “The Bluegrass Soul Pickers are an angel band to work with. They have the knack and hard working ability to get things right and they show promise of becoming a great presence in Bluegrass.”
Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine says “their sound is tight & clear.”

The Groundhawgs was originally conceived as a songwriting project that would resurrect the sound of old-time Appalachian string bands, yet evolved into a full-fledged six-piece string band through the fusion of bluegrass, old-time, jazz and swing, poetry and blues, and a little bit of Southern rock. Based out of Calhoun, Georgia, the [...]]]>

The Groundhawgs was originally conceived as a songwriting project that would resurrect the sound of old-time Appalachian string bands, yet evolved into a full-fledged six-piece string band through the fusion of bluegrass, old-time, jazz and swing, poetry and blues, and a little bit of Southern rock. Based out of Calhoun, Georgia, the Jones brothers, Clayton (lead vocals and banjo) and Clark (vocals and guitar), founded the band in 2001 after the ghost of Gram Parsons visited their dream(s) and told them to do so. Mick Kinney (fiddle), brother of Drivin’ and Cryin’ s Kevin Kinney, and music-maker Thomas Jody Howard (doghouse bass) joined the lineup in 2006. However, shortly after the band debuted at the Howard Finster Music and Folk Art Festival, the band began performing at venues such as The Earl and Eddies Attic in Atlanta, as well as festivals such as Blueridge Harvest Festival, Americana Folk Festival near Nashville, and down home. On stage, the band is intense and fier like Elvis or Johnny Cash. In the studio, they are eclectic and innovative like Parsons or Monroe. Put simply, the Groundhawgs is a skilled group of songwriters and craftsmen who take their music seriously all the while enjoying the hell out of it. In fall of 2004, the Groundhawgs released their first album, an independent and self-titled effort co-produced by Mike Compton of the Nashville Bluegrass Band.

Lou Wamp, Resophonic Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin

After knowing just a few things about Lou Wamp, there might be an irresistible tendency to begin tossing out labels: “Driven”, “Renaissance Man”, “Multi-talented”, “Perplexing”, or, perhaps if he himself were doing the labeling, just “Perplexed”. Easy enough to understand, given he’s at once a 25-year [...]]]>

Lou Wamp, Resophonic Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin

After knowing just a few things about Lou Wamp, there might be an irresistible tendency to begin tossing out labels: “Driven”, “Renaissance Man”, “Multi-talented”, “Perplexing”, or, perhaps if he himself were doing the labeling, just “Perplexed”. Easy enough to understand, given he’s at once a 25-year veteran of the music business, a registered architect with a successful practice (see www.louiswamp.com), impressively talented artist and painter, amateur archaeologist, and father and stepfather to six kids.

Besides being a sought after sideman and studio musician, he certainly has the skill to be a solo artist in his own right. Born in Ft. Benning, GA in 1956, Lou had plenty of music (Elvis to Travis; Bach to Beatles) around home while growing up. After piano lessons and playing guitar in his high school jazz band, a broken wrist encouraged him to take up resonator guitar. Gene Wooten became a close friend and mentor. Lou played on “Sidemen” nights at the Station Inn in Nashville and was in a band called Hiwassee Ridge that performed at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville. Other bands he’s worked with include James Monroe and the Midnight Ramblers, The Dismembered Tennesseans, Cowjazz, Blue Moon Rising, and others.

In 2004, he formed the Wizards of String (now Swing Shift) and released his debut resophonic guitar project, “ResOlution” produced by Butch Baldassari featuring 9 original instrumental tunes (and 2 great covers) with guest artists Jim Hurst, Byron House, Andy Leftwich, Justin Moses, Tom Roady and Jessica Lovell and Lynn Wamp. It was a labor of love and all involved believed strongly in the talents of a fine reso player who, with this project, would prove he could stand with the giants of the industry. Lou continues to play, write, record and collaborate with the above and a number of other great musicians.

BUCKTOWN KICKBACK formed in the fall of 2002 to showcase songs written by Adam Brooks Dudding. With extensive tours and two highly acclaimed self-produced albums, the band has blazed an impressive trail through the richly diverse Americana landscape with these Alt.Country/Bluegrass/Folk-Rock originals. Headlining concerts throughout the Midwest and Southeast as well as opening [...]]]>

BUCKTOWN KICKBACK formed in the fall of 2002 to showcase songs written by Adam Brooks Dudding. With extensive tours and two highly acclaimed self-produced albums, the band has blazed an impressive trail through the richly diverse Americana landscape with these Alt.Country/Bluegrass/Folk-Rock originals. Headlining concerts throughout the Midwest and Southeast as well as opening up for the likes of Alabama, Junior Brown, Railroad Earth, Todd Snider and Stacey Earle, Adam and his band (a revolving cast of amazingly talented musicians and artists) electrify listeners with their live performances and studio recordings.

“Americana + Jamgrass + Classic Country = Bucktown Kickback
…Fans of artists such as The Gourds, Yonder Mountain String Band, the Grateful Dead and Whiskeytown will find plenty to cheer about in the songs and eclectic-but-focused style of Bucktown Kickback…The recipe for Bucktown Kickback sports heavy doses of bluegrass drive and fleet-fingered chops, plenty of tear jerking honky-tonk, a sprinkle of rock swagger and singer-songwriter flair, and Dudding’s love of narrative songwriting and easygoing melodies…Blurring the lines between Americana, jamgrass, honky-tonk and roots rock…”
David Brewer, HIGH COUNTRY PRESS, Boone, NC

“With a name like Bucktown Kickback, you may as well not even show up to the venue if you can’t throw down with some good old-fashioned, fiery, oh-mama-that’s-what-I-like roots tunes. Luckily for you, these dudes can do that and more, touching perfectly on everything from country slide blues to creepy, creek-bed-at-night Americana. I dare you to miss this.”
By Josh Ruffin, METRO SPIRIT, Augusta, GA (picks for the week)

“Bucktown Kickback Mine Alt-Country GOLD
Dudding — singer, songwriter and creative force behind Bucktown Kickback — produced much of the band’s 2007 disc “Lost In Your Hometown” to sound like prime Appalachia. The record effectively balances roots grit and country rock coherence. “Seven Number Blues” is an enlightened redneck tune that sounds like a “Basement Tapes” leftover. “That’s Life” is a slow burn of honky-tonk molasses. A Neil Young-type rocker, “A Shooting Star,” closes the record. But the heart of “Lost…” is Dudding’s songs and lived-in vocals. While the embellishments are tasteful, the material could stand up fine presented by Dudding and his acoustic.”
Matt Wake, BOOTLEG

“LOST IN YOUR OWN HOMETOWN (September 18, 2007 Lower 40 Records) pushes up the tempo a bit more than their laid-back debut release; with a little more percussion, a little more soloing and a lot more of Dudding’s songwriting…the images are still there, sometimes haunting, sometimes playful and sometimes self-effacing, working to paint a portrait on a lyrical canvas that is only enhanced with a delicate guitar strum or a cooking banjo lick.”
Cole Christensen, SENTINEL TRIBUNE, Bowling Green, OH

“BUCKTOWN KICKBACK slide easily from Bluegrass to Country to a rootsy Americana at the drop of a wide-brimmed hat…The country palette of the Grateful Dead, The Roots Pop spark of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.”
Staff Writer, CITYBEAT, Cincinnati, OH