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Roots on The River 2008 Artist Bios Like contemporaries Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks, the Bottle Rockets are one of pioneering bands that led the Alt Country movement in the 90's. Hailing from Festus, MO they have been touring internationally for 15 years spreading their gritty brand of rock and roll. The most recent of their nine albums, Zoysia was released on Bloodshot Records in 2006. That year also saw the release of the scorching double CD Live in Heilbronn/Germany. Led by Brian Henneman these guys roar through a performance playing original blue collar songs like Indianapolis, $1000 Car, Welfare Music and Waitin' on a Train. Sprinkle in a cover or two from Neil Young (Crazy Horse era, of course) or Doug Sahm and you've got the perfect Bottle Rockets show. Roots on the River was lucky to latch onto their very limited 15th anniversary tour. A great addition to the festival.
Clayton Sabine is a singer and songwriter of uncommon talent. With vocals that have been described as “powerful and intimate”, and lyrics rich with wit and pathos, he has developed a devoted following. Sabine has been performing for the past decade, as a solo act, as a member of the vocal harmony trio Relative Strangers, and most recently as the front man of his original folk-rock group. "The Clayton Sabine Band", is the self titled debut album that the group released in March of this year to an enthusiastic
Signature Sounds' recording artist Eilen Jewell returns to Roots on the River this year. Her set last year was one of the highlights of Saturday afternoon's show as she premiered songs from her new album Letters From Saints and Sinners. A quote from her web site gives the best description of her music: ". . . provocative, melodic originals and timeless country and blues classics. Set to a swaying, irrepressible groove, the subdued emotion in her soft soprano feels like music straining beneath the skin. And her band evokes classic country, folk and swing without feeling nostalgic. Nothing about roots is retro in Eilen Jewell's universe." Originally from Boise, Idaho, Eilen began singing professionally as a 19 year old college student in Santa Fe. After stops in Los Angeles and Western Massachusetts' Berkshire Mountains Eilen has established a home base in Boston. Eilen's backing band consists of the finest musicians from the Boston music scene. Jerry Miller (electric and steel Guitar), Jason Beek (drums) and Johnny Sciascia are the perfect compliment to Eilen's songs and voice.
Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels For the ninth straight year people from around the world will congregate in the Village of Bellows Falls for a weekend of music, fun and friends. What draws us here? The answer is Fred Eaglesmith. All of us remember the first time we saw Fred perform. For me it was as an opening act for Robert Earl Keen. Fred, Willie and Ralph played one of the best sets I'd ever heard then slipped out the door and got into an old decrepit bus and headed down the road. I was hooked. Fifty or sixty shows later and I'm still coming out whenever he's in the area. Since last year Fred has earned his first gold record for Toby Keith's recording of White Rose on the best selling album Big Dog Daddy. Fred is a Juno award winner (Canadian equivalent of the Gammy) for Drive-In Movie. But it's not the awards that keep us coming back, it's the songs and the way Fred and the band deliver them. A quote from the Berwick Register says it best: "Fred is what Bruce Springsteen aspires to be, the voice of the small-town common man." Roots on the River is the best place to experience Fred and his music. Over three days Fred and the Flying Squirrels (Kori Heppner, Luke Stackhouse and Matt Simpson) will play three completely different sets from his vast songbook. Fred's new release, Tinderbox, is hot off the presses. He describes it as alternative gospel (gospel for non believers). His web site says: "It's full of backsliders and people living on the margins. It rocks and rolls with distortion and preachers and end times. It happens on dirt roads and in little clearings with snakes and field workers and people driving away." I can't wait to hear it!
George is George Nostrand, a Bellows Falls native and now a Rutland, Vermont based musician, employment councilor, public speaker and (in his spare time) music journalist for the Rutland Herald. The Back Pocket consists of a rotating list of talented musicians allowing for an ever changing sound. Besides the Back Pocket, George also performs in the Vermont band Sandhill. The band's web site says to expect music from ". . .an extensive and eclectic song list that includes originals, new takes on old favorites, as well as great songs by lesser-know artists." Michael Witthaus of the Eagle Times writes : "Listening to Rutland singer/guitarist George "G.V." Nostrand's music . . . I'm reminded of bluegrass skiffle bands like Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks or Asleep at the Wheel."
These guys are long time veterans of the Western Massachusetts music scene. The band members are Ray Mason, Jim Armenti and Tom Shea. If you are prone to hanging around in New England bar rooms you have partied and danced to their music. If you've been to the Iron Horse or Pearl Street to see a touring band the Lonesome Brothers were that opening act that made you put down your beer and cease your conversation so you could hear the music. Their myspace page describes their music as follows: "Original., creative, pumping, swaying, digging, rocking, blues busting, curve making, straight shooting, no bullshit songs and solos. Get on the dance floor now before the song ends, this ain't no jam band." They are sure to get Friday night off to a great start.
Lori McKenna burst on to the national music scene in 2005 when Faith Hill recorded three of her songs (including the title track) on the number one album Fireflies. Hill was quoted about Lori's songs: "I don't ever remember being impacted by a songwriter the way I was with her. Her writing is masterful, with a pureness that is completely unaffected. The songs are a great combination of depth and realness. . . there's just this indescribable collision of innocence and honesty in her writing." This success eventually led to the signing of a major label recording contract with Warner Brothers and the release of her latest album, Unglamorous, in 2007. Around New England we've known about Lori for years. A mother of five from Stoughton, MA Lori got her start playing open mic's around the Boston area. Her success led to a successful career playing club dates around the northeast. Unglamorous is actually her fifth release, three of which are on Signature Sounds. Lori has been compared to people like Patty Griffin, Kasey Chambers and Nancy Griffith. About her music McKenna says: "My priority is, I want to write great songs, timeless songs, songs that affect people. But if I have the blessing to be able to share the way I interpret my songs with people, then I want to do that too." I'd say she's been successful on both counts.
Originally from Reading, MA, Mark was discovered by Signature Sounds in 1997 at a hotel jam session during the Northeastern Regional Folk Alliance Conference. He later won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk contest. Since that time he has built a solid career with both his solo work and as a sought after side man for the likes of Lori McKenna, Kris Delmhorst and Catie Curtis. Through the years Mark has recorded five albums for Signature Sounds. He has had much success on the Americana and folk charts - his 2004 release Hillbilly Pilgrim spent 11 weeks on the Americana charts and Hope and Other Casualties was named 2006 Album of the Year by WUMP Boston Folk Radio. His most recent release, Innocent When You Dream, is an album of acoustic covers from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Wilco and Shawn Colvin. Northeast Performer says about Mark: "Erelli's gentle vocal inflections and starkly beautiful finger picking especially capture the mood . . . with hushed tones and excellent musicality, Erelli's solo performances will surely appeal to any fan of stripped-down, genuinely heart-felt folk music." Mark will have a new album out later this year and it is expected to be available at the Festival.
Mary Gauthier is a favorite at Roots On The River. She'll be playing the all-acoustic Sunday Meetinghouse show for the fourth time. On her first trip here she was a little known songwriter trying to build a career. That day she floored us all with her stunning songs from the self-released album, Drag Queens and Limousines. These were songs about life's underbelly with Mary humanizing the characters and bringing them to life. Very powerful stuff. Since that day Mary's career has blossomed. She signed with major label Lost Highway and has released three critically acclaimed albums, Filth and Fire (2002), Mercy Now (2005), and Between Daylight and Dark (2007). Mary's songwriting has evolved through the years and the songs have become more personal. She says: "I've matured- and my writing has matured. And I am learning how to allow myself to be vulnerable, to step out on a ledge and hang there, as an artist, and as a woman; to allow my writing to expose parts of me that I have always feared showing - my softer side, my fragility, my needs." Sunday's show at the Meetinghouse will be one of those rare opportunities to see a truly intimate performance from one of our country's best songwriters.
After too long an absence Robbie Fulks will be back ripping the stage apart at Roots on the River in 2008. Robbie's music is tough to pigeonhole. There's some stuff that really rocks, there's some country, there are songs the make you laugh, songs that make you think, songs that shock you and songs that make you wonder if he's putting you on (he doesn't really listen to Michael Jackson, does he?). One thing's a given - you'll be entertained. Fulks has stage presence and just burns the strings off his guitar. Robbie has called Chicago home for the last 25 years. Once there he immersed himself in the Old Town folk scene and picked up some guitar chops playing in the bluegrass band Special Consensus. In 1996 he recorded his first album, County Love Songs, on famed alt country label Bloodshot Records. A not so successful stint with a major country music publisher inspired the anti Nashville anthem F**K This Town from his second Bloodshot release, South Mouth. This was followed by a brief flirtation with major label Geffen on 1998's Let's Kill Saturday Night. Robbie's latest release is the live two disc REVENGE! on Yep Roc. The album covers songs from throughout his career with a couple of new tunes included both with a band and solo acoustic. It's an excellent primer to Robbie's music.
If you look in the dictionary under "touring musician" I'm pretty sure you'll find a picture of Roger Marin. He played his first professional gig at age 13 with his father and uncle. He moved on to being an integral part of Fred Eaglesmith's Flying Squirrels (or was it Smokin' Losers?), playing lead guitar and pedal steel for several years. Roger's been fronting his own band for the last three years, touring widely across North America - from Northern Canada to Vermont to Texas and back again. Roger's music is country with a rock edge to it. His original songs are sprinkled with co-writes with people like Eaglesmith, the late Willie P. Bennett and Adam Carroll. His latest CD, "High Roads" demonstrates his growth as both a song writer and performer. It's great having Roger back at the festival again this year. Besides seeing him on the main stage with his own band it's a good bet that he'll be involved in the parking lot jams and might even add a little pedal steel to one of Fred's sets.
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles Sarah and band first made an appearance at Roots on the River several years ago on a New Faces night. At the time they were an unknown bar band from Boston. Sarah quickly won the audience over with her stage presence and blend of rock, country and R+B. Since that time she had released two critically acclaimed albums, gotten major recognition in the music press including No Depression and Third Coast Music and toured nationally and internationally (she'll be arriving at ROTR fresh from a tour of Germany). Sarah's most recent album is Diamonds in the Dark released on Sugar Hill in 2007. From her website bio David Sprague says about the disc: "With an infectious hook secreted in every song, the disc has the rare ability to ensnare those drawn to both unvarnished floors and lace curtains, sweetly-spun pedal steel lines and bare-knuckled drums." The Broken Singles are Sarah on vocals and rocking rhythm guitar, Mike Castellana on lead and steel guitar, Binky on bass and Robert Larry Dulaney on drums. Welcome back.
Once again the Starline Rhythm Boys will be back under the big tent bringing a little bit of Tennessee to Roots on the River. Yeah, I know these guys are from Vermont but their music makes you think you are cruising down the streets of Memphis in your 1957 Chevy. No less than legendary Sun rockabilly singer Billy Lee Riley says: "Their music is the closest to the original stuff like Hank Williams Sr., or Lefty Frizzell and Hank Locklin . . . it's honest hillbilly music. It is the best of its kind I have heard recently. I rate them right up there with BR549 and the Derailers." The Boys are Danny Coane (vocals and rhythm guitar), Al Lemery (lead guitar and vocals) and Billy Bratcher (upright bass and backing vocals). Although the band's sound is vintage 50's honky tonk and rockabilly most of their songs are originals penned by Bratcher. They've been together rocking beer joints in the northeast since 1998. The band's latest album, Red's Place was released in 2007 on Cow Island records and includes instant Starline classics like Drunk Tank, Sin & Salvation and That's Where I Went Wrong. Rumor has it that a new live album is in the works. Get up and dance - the Starline Rhythm Boys are in the tent.
By the time Steve Forbert's second album, Jackrabbit Slim was released in 1979 the mainstream music press labeled him as the "Next Dylan". The truth was we didn't need the next Dylan in 1979 but we did need Steve Forbert. When his songs came on the radio they were a breath of fresh air compared to the sameness of the stale music that was clogging station playlists. Born in Meridian, Mississippi and currently residing in Nashville, Steve is known for his thoughtful songwriting. Steve says: "From the beginning of my career thirty years ago I've always been about the songs. I like the challenge of writing good songs that reflect new things that are going on around me. But the songs can't exist only on paper. Once I'm happy with what I've written, I work hard to make sure I've got a strong recording of it." Steve's latest recording is 2007's Strange Names and New Sensations on 429 Records, featuring 11 new songs along with a new recording of his top ten 1980 hit Romeo's Tune.
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