Please welcome Chattanooga’s own NO BIG DEAL to the EPB Stage this Sunday, to round out a 100% Local Music afternoon at the Chattanooga Market.

From the hidden studios of Chattanooga’s KZ-106 comes The Fabulous Stratoblasters to our very own EPB Stage.  The Stratoblasters have performed across the metroplex raising money for various fundraisers, entertaining crowds and generally having a darn good time for years.

Anne McCue’s career has covered punk, Lilith Fair, Australian awards and Vietnam. She has released her fourth solo album, Koala Motel to critical acclaim and has recently co-produced two albums by other artists – Stephen Rowe and Leila Florentino. She has appeared as guest guitarist/vocalist on albums by Michelle Shocked and Gina Villalobos. Her two most recent albums, including Roll‚ (Messenger Records) was recorded at Dusty Wakeman’s Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California. McCue and Wakeman co-produced the album. Going in with the philosophy of some of Anne’s favourite three piece bands she played the guitars, Dusty played bass with Dave Raven on the drums. The three jammed on the material, some of which McCue was still writing at the time. Guests on the album are Carl Byron (keyboards and accordion), Eric Gardner (drums on “Machine Gun” and “Tiny Little Song”and Mike Stinson (drums on “I Want You Back”). The album has received critical acclaim from such publications as Billboard, Entertainment Weekly and XM Satellite Radio (Top 5 Album of the Year) and was picked by Bob Harris of the BBC as his favourite album of 2004.
After Anne graduated from Sydney’s University of Technology with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies she moved to Melbourne with little more than a $60 guitar she “borrowed” from her brother, a large blue suitcase, and a plan to write a novel. Finding the writer’s life a little isolating, she answered an ad in the paper which read “Wanted: Wild Women For Rock’n'Roll Band” and joined a pop rock band as lead guitarist, touring the country and topping the independent charts for weeks at a time. On the side, she studied music theory and began honing her own song writing style. After four years and an ARIA nomination (the Australian Grammys) for the band, Anne pursued her solo career which took her, rather surprisingly to Vietnam.

Offered the chance to play music in Ho Chi Minh City Anne found it, “an unbelievable experience and it really changed my life. It also gave me the chance to hone my lead guitar playing.” Anne rode a 1965 Vesper and toted her guitar around on the bike ‘just like the locals’. After playing in all kinds of bands almost every night it was time to return to Melbourne where she frequented the blues jams.

She continued recording her original songs but took the opportunity to become a member of a group which was soon signed to the biggest record label in the world giving Anne the opportunity to tour the U.S. and Canada as part of the “Lilith Fair.” This experience brought her on stage with many of the greats such as The Pretenders, Emmylou Harris and Sarah McLachlan and took her to Los Angeles. The band proved to be creatively frustrating for Anne, so she left the group to pursue her interrupted solo career. Eventually she completed her debut album “Amazing Ordinary Things”. Anne co-produced all the tracks except “Angel Inside” which was produced by Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell). The CD is named after a painting by Jules C. McCue, Anne’s sister, whose artwork is found throughout the packaging and Anne has co-written several songs with her brother Mark. He’s the one she “borrowed” the guitar from.

McCue also released a live recording from her tour in 2002 with Lucinda Williams entitled “Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman”‚ and is currently editing the DVD which chronicles her time on that tour.