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Roots on The River 2009 Artist Bios Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels Welcome to the 10th annual Roots on the River Fest, aka FredX. What started out in June of 2000 as a small two day Fred Eaglesmith weekend has developed into a four day festival that includes many of the best roots musicians in North America. As always the festival revolves around three performances by the fabulous Fred Eaglesmith and his band, the Flying Squirrels. Born to a farming family in rural Southern Ontario Fred Eaglesmith has been on the road making music for 30 years. Over that time he has recorded 16 albums, written hundreds of songs and played thousands of shows. He has won a Juno award (Canada’s version of a Grammy) and has been nominated for several others. His most recent album Tinderbox is currently nominated for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. Fred’s songs have been recorded by diverse group of other artists including Kasey Chambers, Mary Gauthier, Toby Keith, Todd Snider and Dar Williams and have been used in film projects by Martin Scorsese and James Caan. What makes Fred and his music so special? It’s a combination of things. Part of it is the songs – short, gritty novels about real people and their trials and tribulations through life. Part of it is his performing style – in your face, full of monologues that make you laugh and think at the same time. A large part of it is his personality and philosophy. He doesn’t want to be a star and doesn’t take himself too seriously. In a recent interview Fred was quoted “I do my work like a plumber. A plumber goes home at night and says, ‘I did good work’. That’s what I’m interested in, doing good work. . . . It’s not as important as a doctor that operates on children, it’s just music.” Fred’s band, the Flying Squirrels is always a highlight of ROTR. The band has been together in the current format for a little more than two years and has really hit its stride. The Squirrels are Luke Stackhouse on bass and vocals, Kori Heppner on drums and Matt Simpson on guitar, keyboards and banjo. Fred is playing a lot more lead guitar now and this band is smokin’. If you are a Fredhead this is the weekend you’ve been waiting for all year. If this is your first trip to Roots on the River fasten your seat belt and come along for the ride.
Roots on the River welcomes back The Bottle Rockets for the second consecutive year. In 2008 we were lucky enough to book the Bottle Rockets for one of the 15 shows they did on their 15th anniversary tour. The band’s Friday night set was one of the highlights of the festival as they tore through favorites from their deep catalog of roots rock. Formed in Festus, MO in 1992 The Bottle Rockets are sometimes called the godfathers of the alt-country/roots rock revival. The members of the band are Brian Henneman (guitar, vocals and main songwriter), Mark Ortmann (drums), John Horton (guitar) and Keith Voegele (bass). Thy have released 9 albums, including a two album stint on major label Atlantic Records. 2006 saw the release of their two most recent discs, Zoysia on Bloodshot Records and Live From Heilbronn Germany on Blue Rose. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Stephen King listed Zoysia as one of his favorite discs of 2006. The band has been praised by fellow artists such as Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle and top American songwriter John Hiatt covered their song “Welfare Music” on a recent CD compilation to benefit the Imus Ranch. This is workingman’s rock at its best – guitar driven with no nonsense songs. In the PBS documentary The Mississippi River of Song: The Grassroots of American Music Henneman called the band “reporters from the heartland.” The band’s bio says this about their music: “The Bottle Rockets channel some serious cascading Crazy Horse squall, they nail the scruffy romantic, dirty fingernail rock of the Midwest and soak up the soulful vibes that ooze from the cement blocks in Memphis studios. Lyrically, the band’s underdog outlook finds the optimism and the resignation behind worlds faraway, or just behind the screen door. Add it up and what you get is something that’s all its own, something that is pure Bottle Rockets.”
Junior Brown is truly a unique performer. Always dressed in a suit and cowboy hat, he has a voice that sounds like Ernest Tubb, incomparable guitar licks and plays an instrument that looks like something out of the Jetsons. His music is country with some rock, blues, Tex-Mex and Surf thrown in. The constant is Junior’s incendiary guitar playing, shifting effortlessly (as Neil Young would say) from Hank to Hendrix. Born in Indiana to a musical family and making stops in Oklahoma and Arizona along the way Junior eventually made his way to his current home in Austin, TX in the late 1980’s. Once there he landed a weekly gig at Austin’s famed Continental Club and began piling up best instrumentalist awards in the Austin Chronicle annual music poll. This led to the independent release of his first solo album, 12 Shades of Brown, in 1993. The disc was picked up nationally by Curb records and he has since released a number of albums on Curb and Telarc, the most recent being 2005’s Live at the Continental Club: The Austin Experience. Along the way he has played on the Grand Ole Opry, won Guitar Player magazine’s listing as best lap steel player in 1994, won the CMA’s 2006 Music Video of the year award, acted in the Dukes of Hazard remake and toured as Bob Dylan’s opening act The instrument that Junior plays is a combination 6 string electric guitar and a lap steel. Junior says: “I was playing both the steel and guitar, switching back and forth a lot while I sang, and it was kind of awkward. But then I had this dream where they just kind of melted together. When I woke up, I thought ‘You know, that thing would work!’ They made double-neck guitars and double-neck steels, so why not one of each?” Thus with the help of guitar maker Michael Stevens, the guit-steel was born. Once you hear Junior play it you won’t forget it. When Ray booked Junior he told me, “Junior and guit-steel will be on fire. Hope they don't burn the tent down”. Bring your fire extinguishers.
It’s great to have Hayes Carll back at Roots on the River after a several year absence. On his first trip here in 2003 he had just released his debut album, Flowers and Liquor, on Compadre Records and most of us were unfamiliar with him. Hayes played a short set that year at the Thursday new faces show and had us all listening carefully to his well crafted songs and laughing at his self depreciating humor. He went over so big that first night that the next afternoon about 100 of us squeezed into tiny PK’s to hear an afternoon set. Charlie Hunter even invited him onto the big stage on Saturday to do a song. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he got the best reception of any first time performer in the nine year history of the festival. Hayes is from The Woodlands, TX, just outside of Houston. After a stint at Hendrix College in Arkansas he turned to music to make his living. To hear Hayes tell it “I sort of sabotaged my career options to the point where, by the time I was out of school, I was pretty much unemployable and had no choice but to be a musician.” He moved to Crystal Beach, TX, where he began honing his craft in the bars along the Gulf Coast eventually working his way into gigs at the more serious listening clubs like the Old Quarter in Galveston. Since Hayes’ first trip to ROTR we have watched his successful rise to become one of the top artists in the Americana genre. His second album, 2005’s Little Rock, became the first self released album to reach #1 on the Americana charts and he was signed by Lost Highway Records (home to Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams). His Lost Highway debut, Trouble in Mind, made Carll the Americana Music Association’s most played artist of 2008 and spawned the AMA’s song of the year “She Left Me for Jesus”. Oh, and along the way he has gotten the chance to co-write with a couple of his musical heroes Guy Clark and Ray Wylie Hubbard. The best description of Hayes’ music that I have read was in the Nashville Scene. “The title of the opening song “Drunken Poet’s Dream” tips off the perspective of this 32-year-old singer-songwriter from Texas. With the wry, wise voice of an educated rounder, he tackles liquor, wild women, lost weekends and the perils of strutting and stumbling through life. Carll sings colorfully and believably about experiences most modern country singers ignore – or hide.” Welcome back Hayes.
Jeffrey Foucault grew up in a small Southeastern Wisconsin town. At 17 he learned to play his father’s beat up mail order guitar by dropping the needle repeatedly on John Prine’s first record and trying to copy what he heard. He continued to gather a number of influences (among them Townes Van Zandt, Greg Brown and the poetry of Kenneth Rexroth) and eventually began writing his own songs at age 19. This brings us back to Prine. Foucault’s newest release earlier this year is: “Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes: Jeffrey Foucault Sings the Songs of John Prine.” Jeffery says: “When I was seventeen my Dad brought home John Prine’s first album and it became my private religion for awhile. I learned to play guitar by learning his songs, and my Dad and I still play them around the table after supper when I’m home. They’ve kept me company for years in hotel rooms and foreign countries, on stage and away from it. . . This is a record I always wanted to make.” No Depression Magazine describes Foucault as “. . .the bard of small-town anywhere . . . his poetry rich with details . . . his worn-in voice like an old down jacket . . . frayed . . . gritted . . .plaintive poetry in the troubadour tradition . . . delivery so raw and real it fairly throbs.” Sounds perfect for the Meeting House show, doesn’t it?
Jenee Halstead arrives with an alto voice that sways gently back and forth between the realms of frailty and strength - part Emmylou Harris, part June Carter, part Patty Griffin. Halstead grew up in the Inland Empire mining country of the West, a singing tomboy with a restless heart. Escaping a collapsed love affair, she left the high desert quiet for the fertile folk environs of Cambridge, Massachusetts quickly taking root at Harvard Square’s Legendary Club Passim. Backed by her nuanced, small-bodied guitar, Halstead draws from the haunting melodies of the Depression Era, patiently distilling folk, bluegrass, and americana to create music that Matt Smith, Club Passim’s longtime manager, describes as “fresh and new, yet familiar and timeless". With The River Grace, Jenee Halstead puts forth a collection of songs effortlessly suited to her voice, mixing dobro, mandolin, and upright bass with vintage Casio keyboards and subtle electronic beats. From the joyous declarations of “Before I Go” to the tragic balladry of “Darkest Day,” The River Grace’s sound is rooted in the past yet beckons the progression of Americana. Recorded in a small cottage studio, and produced by Evan Brubaker, Halstead is joined by keyboard wizard Steve Moore (Bright Eyes, Laura Veirs, Mount Analog), dobroist Mike Grigoni (Anais Mitchell), mandolinist Zak Borden (Willy Mason), and bassist Matthew Weiner (Asylum Street Spankers). The River Grace also features background vocals by a host of her most esteemed peers including Rose Polenzani, Holly O’Reilly, and Monique Lanier. Caroline Herring is a native of Mississippi with a life long interest in folklore and traditional music. While in the band the Sincere Ramblers she co-founded a weekly radio show called Thatcher Mountain Radio that is still heard on Mississippi Public Radio. During the course of her tenure on this show she met many of the top names in roots music - people like Gillian Welch, Blue Mountain, the Bottle Rockets and Peter Rowan. In 1999 Herring was accepted into a doctoral program in American studies at the University of Texas in Austin. It was there she ran into Peter Rowan again and was encouraged to start gigging around town. This led to the recording of her first album, Twilight, in 2001 on Blue Corn Records. The album became a local hit with heavy rotation on KGSR and led to Herring winning best new artist by both the American Statesman and at the Austin Music Awards. A second Blue Corn release, Wellspring, came out in 2003. By that time Caroline had moved to Atlanta and was in the midst of raising a family. For a while her music career was put on hold but eventually with the support of her family, reestablished herself. Herring says: “I just got to the point where I knew I had to write songs again. Music is my life-blood, even as the career of the singer-songwriter is most unusual, especially in the South where the jobs of women are often mother first, wife second. There’s a line in one of my songs about a woman who lives in a back room and begins to disappear. I didn’t want that to be me.” Carolines’s most recent album, Lantana, came out in 2008 on Signature Sounds. It was produced by Rich Brotherton (best known as the guitarist for Robert Earl Keen) and is made up of mostly Herring originals. The Austin Chronicle says about the new disc: “Crafted with timeless elegance and graceful confidence, Caroline Herring’s Lantana is the best Southern Gothic since Lucinda Williams’ Sweet Old World.” It’s a lock that the performance of her song Paper Gown will be the most chilling murder ballad we hear under the tent on Saturday.
The roar you hear coming out of the Opera House on Thursday night will be Louisiana based Sonny Landreth and his slide guitar. Sometimes called the King of Slydeco, Sonny’s music is a combination of blues and rock with a healthy dose of zydeco and Cajun mixed in. Born in Canton Mississippi, Landreth moved to Lafayette as a kid. He counts as influences the diverse group of Scotty Moore (Elvis’ guitarist), Chet Atkins, Robert Johnson and the Ventures. A couple of lines from his song “South of I-10 “ gives you a feel for how he got started:
Sonny’s guitar playing is jaw dropping. His technique integrates rhythm and lead to give the effect of multiple instruments. Todd Mouton in Downbeat said “Through fingerpicking and a combination of palm and thumbpick techniques, Landreth alternately coaxes ghostly overtones and roaring, full-throated harmonies from his instrument.” Longtime bass player Dave Ranson notes that after shows he frequently has audience members come up to him and say “I play a little slide guitar, but after hearing him, I’m going home and break all my slides.” Eric Clapton calls him “. . .the most underestimated musician on the planet and also probably one of the most advanced.” But it’s not only about the guitar slinging, Sonny works hard on his songwriting and admits that William Faulkner’s writing influences his lyric writing. Landreth’s first professional gig was with Clifton Chenier in the Red Beans and Rice Review. Over the course of his career he has also done a couple of turns with John Hiatt and the Goners and has worked with artists such as Dr John, John Mayall, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint. His ninth solo album, 2008’s From the Reach, has him trading licks with Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Robbin Ford, Eric Johnson and Vince Gill. This will be a smoking start to the festival.
This is the 3rd appearance at Roots on the River for local guitarist/singer-songwriter Josh Maiocco and a very special one as playing in the Bellows Falls Opera House is something he’s always wanted to do. This honor will be elevated when Josh shares the same stage with Chris Smither and Sonny Landreth this year. Josh began studying piano at age six but within a few years piano lessons turned into guitar lessons and he’s been practicing and playing since. Josh’s guitar playing is widely recognized as some of the best in the area. His style is definitely blues-based but it also covers lots of space melodically and expressively. It comes as no surprise that his biggest influences are Hendrix, Clapton, SRV and Jerry Garcia. As a singer-songwriter Josh’s first love is playing and singing the blues but his original music covers a broad range of styles often telling a story, maybe about growing up or talking about relationships. His intricate acoustic guitar work complements the melody and lyrics to create a solid, rounded sound. He chooses cover songs very carefully and definitely puts his own mark on them. Josh has honed these skills by playing regularly in Southern VT and NH for over 5 years. One of the hardest working musicians in the area, Josh also plays out regularly in 2 bands, ’84 Sheepdog and Ninja Monkey and lives very happily with his 2 kids in beautiful Saxtons River, VT.
Roger Marin is a true veteran of Roots on the River. He has performed every year either as a member of Fred Eaglesmith’s Flying Squirrels, a solo artist or more recently with his own band. When Roger took the stage that first year at Nick’s Tavern he was the new kid in Fred’s band. A lot of us wondered how his electric guitar and pedal steel would fit in with Fred’s long time acoustic sound. As soon as the band roared into the first song, “Freight Train”, he had won us over. After six years on the road with Fred, Roger ventured off on his own. His philosophy is simple: “You only find satisfaction in music by doing it your own way. Right or wrong, you should do it the way you feel it. Don’t rush, just work hard and do it right.” Roger has recorded two well received albums. His debut, Roger Marin Jr, consisted of all original songs about characters he knows and life on the road, including a great co write with Willie P Bennett, “It Breaks My Heart”. Roger’s 2006 follow up, “High Roads”, showed Roger’s continued growth as a songwriter and also included a couple of well chosen covers from guys named Eaglesmith and Adam Carroll. Rumor has it that a highly anticipated new disc is in the works for 2009. Marin has also gotten the festival bug and is currently hosting Cicada Fest in St Catharine’s, Ontario. Joining Roger this year on Friday night and Saturday afternoon is his road tested band with Phil Bosley on bass/vocals and Matt Keighan on drums/vocal. Get ready for two great sets of energetic country rock.
Bellows Falls based band Ninja Monkey will be rocking the Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoon. In the short time they have been together Ninja Monkey has gained a reputation for being a super fun dance band that can play everything from raunchy cover songs to fine tuned originals. They are at their best with a crowd that likes to party, likes to dance and likes to have a good time. Sounds like the ROTR crowd to me. The band actually formed by accident. A couple of years ago a high school friend of Ezra Veitch’s (vocals/guitar) called him up in desperate need of a band for a party that was taking place in three days. Using his deep connections in the local music community Veitch was able to call on three talented musicians he had worked with over the years -Matt Parker (drums), Michael Lenox (bass) and Josh Maiocco (lead guitar). Despite never having played as a group before and without rehearsal the four were able to quickly find their groove. To their surprise the demand for Ninja Monkey began to grow and a band was born. Veitch has been a part of the festival since the beginning, doing everything from serving drinks and running the open mic to filling in on drums with Fred Eaglesmith. This is Maiocco’s third year performing at the festival - including opening things at the Opera House on Thursday night this year. Veterans of the southern Vermont music scene, Parker and Lenox will be making their first ROTR performance.
Red Molly is fast becoming one of Bellows Falls’ favorite bands. They are back at Roots on the River this year by popular demand after a sold out and overflowing show at Boccelli’s at the end of last year. With their three part harmonies and warm and engaging stage presence they add a breath of fresh air to a great Saturday lineup. Red Molly is Laurie MacAllister (vocals, guitar, banjo), Abbie Gardner (vocals, dobro, guitar) and Carolann Solebello (vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin). They were solo artists at Falcon Ridge in 2004 when they got together around a campfire and harmonized for the first time - Red Molly was born. Since that time they have been touring regularly around the northeast while slowly building a national base. The band’s self titled EP was released in 2005, followed by the live Never Been to Vegas in 2006. These initial recordings featured the Molly’s harmonies and musicianship mostly interpreting covers of traditional songs and songs by their favorite artists such as Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and Hank Williams. In 2008 they have stepped it up a notch with the release of their first full length studio release, Love and Other Tragedies. The new album features original songs written by Laurie, Abbie and Carolann as well as covers from Welch, Susan Werner and Amy Speace. Red Molly is the only band that can play a traditional murder ballad without sending you into a state of depression. Welcome back to ROTR.
“First you hear the tapping of Chris Smither’s foot. And, because the soundman is particularly in the groove tonight, you feel it, too. Smither starts a guitar lick and feet are tapping all over the room. The audience is particularly in the Groove tonight. They laugh, listen and respond.” (from David Kleiner of Dirty Linen magazine). Such is the perfect description of a Chris Smither show. Raised in New Orleans, Chris Smither has been a mainstay of the festival, coffee house and club circuits in North America and Europe since the ‘60’s. Known as both a folk and blues artist he loves performing live. He told Dirty Linen magazine: “I’m all about live performance. I make the records, I write the songs, so I can get up in front of people. That groove, that motion oriented swing feel, locks people in. It makes the music instantly accessible, makes them pay attention to the lyrics. The lyrics are ultimately what I’m trying to sell.” At a young age Smither became aware of blues and folk music through his parents record collection. Early on he played piano and ukulele but eventually gravitated to the guitar. After dabbling in what he calls “folkie-dokie stuff”, a real turning point came for him during a college semester in Mexico when a roommate loaned him a Lightnin’ Hopkins record. Chris says: “I was 17, going to school in Mexico City, and I had a roommate from Texas and I had a guitar. He gave me this album and said, ‘You should listen to this guy.’ For about the first three days I listened to it, I really thought it was more than one guy playing. I’d never heard anything like that. The thing that was most exciting about it was that I could tell that it was one-man rock ‘n’ roll. It was everything I wanted to do, because I love rock ‘n’ roll, but I didn’t really want to be in a band.”
Spike Dogtooth has been playing its own unique genre of “diverse acoustic music” throughout the southern Vermont area for over 14 years. Strongly influenced by both traditional and current bluegrass styles, Spike Dogtooth also crosses over into cool country waters, Tex-western swing and Irish fiddle tunes. The band’s original songs take you from “down-home” country porch ballads that echo the sounds of another century, all the way up to jazzy-swing numbers that stay with you long after the song has ended. Favorites at festivals, local pubs and farmers’ markets, Spike Dogtooth will charm you with sweet vocal harmonies, powerful songs and great acoustic chops! Christina Mancini (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Lars Holden (fiddle, banjo) have been friends and jam-partners since meeting some 30 years ago on the Cape of Good Cod. They both relocated to southern Vermont and met Chris Ferrara (bass), instantly creating Spike Dogtooth. The band continued in this format for many years playing festivals, pubs, cow parades and farmers’ markets. During this time Christina Mancini’s song writing abilities were noticed by WRSI, (Northampton, MA radio station) when she became a semi-finalist in the first year of its annual songwriting competition. Spike Dogtooth always draws a cult-like following at the many festivals the band members attend, (Winterhawk, Greyfox and Rhythm and Roots) as these musicians are well known for their legendary midnight campsite jams. It was at one of these “wee hour” sessions that the winds of good fortune blew Albany area native, Peggy Lecuyer into their camp some six years ago. “Well, she jumped around with her mandolin… and sang so well… we just had to keep her!” Peggy gives the band that extra “spark” that makes the entire group “stand-up and get noticed”. Her sweet vocal harmonies and her melodic originals fit well into the Spike Dogtooth Mission Statement: To play great “diverse acoustic music” and to love every moment of it!
They call their music “honky tonk for the modern-day cowboy and girl”. Fueled by the harmonies of Zara Bode and Emily Miller, The Sweetback Sisters will transform you back to the days of 1950’s country radio. Their sets include traditional country and honky tonk songs from the likes of Hazel Dickens, Buck Owens, Roger Miller, Bob Wills and Jimmy Martin with a few originals mixed in. Couple that with the great musicianship of Ross Bellenoit on guitar (a true master of the Telecaster), Jesse Milnes on guitar and fiddle, Stefan Amidon on drums and a revolving group of upright bass players (the night I saw them the slot was filled by Corey Dimarto of Crooked Still) and this band really grabs your attention. Zara and Emily originally began singing together in the Montpelier, VT based choir, Northern Harmony and discovered a mutual love of American country music. Eventually they ended up in Brooklyn, NY and evolved into the Sweetback Sisters. They have been performing up and down the east coast since 2006. In 2007 a 6 song EP, BANG!, was issued and the band appeared on Prairie Home Companion as part of the show’s People in Their Twenties talent contest. The band has just entered a partnership with independent record label, Signature Sounds and will be releasing their first full length album, Chicken Ain’t Chicken, in June. Put on your western shirt, sit back and let the Sweetback Sisters bring you back to a time when life was simpler and country was king.
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