Austin singer/songwriter/guitarist Greg Whitfield has a long history as guitarist for Kevin Fowler (Beer, Bait and Ammo, High on the Hog, Live at Billy Bob's, Loose, Loud and Crazy), Walt Wilkins (Vigil), Bonnie Bishop (Long Way Home, Soft to the Touch, Live at Magnolia Avenue), George Ensle (Live at Studio 1A, Build a Bridge), Pauline Reese (Pauline Reese, Trail to Monterrey, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), Wake Eastman (Against the Grain) Devon Heath (Give It To Me Straight), Autumn (Sugarcane), Byrd and Street (Love Broke the Fall), and Fred Fuller (To Sing Once Again).
In addition to being a fixture in the Austin recording scene, Greg Whitfield's songwriting continues to garner accolades - his song "You Don't Laugh Anymore" won the prize for best inpirational song and his song "I'm Yours" took top honors in 2009's Austin Songwriters Group Song Competition. His debut cd GW combines rich vocals, layered guitars and a skilled rhythm section including Mike Rieman (bass), Ken Johnson (drums), Artie Passes (steel guitar), and Jack Gaskin (fiddle). His Live Set cd, recorded at KUT-FM's studios features many of the same players and a wealth of newer material, and his "Alphasongs" cd for children has sold thousands of copies and is used by primary teachers in classrooms throughout the country. No stranger to the live stage, Whitfield has performed at Live Aid, Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic, Austin City Limits Festival, and has shared the stage as guitarist for Walt Wilkins, Tina Wilkins, Kevin Fowler, Ryan James, Bonnie Bishop, George Ensle, Pauline Reese, Rusty Weir, and Ray Price.
"...a good example of the best of original music spawned, nurtured and produced in Austin."-Austin Woman Autumn
Texas-folk sound infused with gospel-esque balladry. Honest, soulful, and goes straight to the heart of song. In a genre of music where female artists usually don't get their fair share of the credit, Autumn's talent doesn't ask for your attention � it demands it.
Autumn's sophomore album, "velvet sky" is a love letter to the moments in life that enliven our spirits, stir our dreams, and touch our souls. Marking a significant artistic stride, Autumn's eloquent performance and seasoned songwriting resonates wildly throughout, shining deep into the heart of life. Influenced by a mosaic of sounds, "velvet sky" is a medley of gospel-inpired balladry and Folk/Americana, masterfully fused together with Autumn's unique style and sensibility.
San Antonio-born Walt Wilkins has been called a genius, more than once, and a writer the caliber of John Steinbeck and his voice as comfortable as a pair of old blue jeans, and he is, and has, all of that. His crafting of story-songs, hard-edged vocals to sing them and a plaintive guitar have made him a fixture of the Texas music scene (and Nashville before that). He’s put his magical touch on recordings by new and veteran artists, too many to count.
With The Mystiqueros, Wilkins has created something of a “Texas Hill Country super-group” that features five great singers and four great songwriters from the heart of the Lone Star State, all of whom have made their own records and are flush with recording credits.
Onstage and in the studio, Wilkins is joined by Bill Small (bass, percussion, acoustic guitar), John M. Greenberg (electric guitars), Ramon Rodriguez (drums, percussion) and Marcus Eldridge (electric guitars). Live performances around Texas are being likened to both outlaw country and classic rock bands, and they’re captured on DIAMONDS IN THE SUN on Tex-centric label Palo Duro Records.
Wilkins says this is the most fun he’s ever had playing music in a band in 30 years. He describes the music of The Mystiqueros (nicknamed mq5) as highly reminiscent of ’70s country rock from Texas and the West Coast and blues and soul that members grew up listening to and features high-quality songwriting and musicianship, rhythm, and vocal arrangements.
"Intimate, mesmerizing and magical."
-Lisa Hogan, House Concert Host BOULDER, CO Misner & Smith
"*Misner & Smith* make a strong case for folk Americana without baggage and for music with intricate simplicity and lyrical dignity. This duo is a Bay Area treasure that needs to be shared."
-Jose Segue, Hicks with Sticks
At moments raw and powerful, and at others delicate and soothing, two-part harmonies anchor Misner & Smith’s unique and compelling Americana music with an exceptional vocal blend. A connection to roots music is clearly embedded in their award-winning songwriting, and it is evident that the tradition of duets is truly alive and well in these two performers.
Sam Misner and Megan Smith began their musical collaboration after working together as actors on a production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song and immediately recognized a mutual love of Americana and Folk music. Since then the two have built a steady and loyal following in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Misner & Smith will lift you up with music that rarwriter.com called “truly inspired vocalizing”. Drawing from the traditions of Americana, Folk, and Bluegrass music, Misner & Smith use powerful storytelling and weave it together with their own brand of American Music full of longing and hope.
sharing the stage! Vanessa Peters & Sarah MacDougall
VANESSA PETERS Voted as one of the top 10 folk artists in Austin a few years ago, Vanessa then packed her things, took her show on the road, and hasn’t looked back since. In the last three years, she has released three albums and played over 250 shows in 10 countries.
“Peters' grasp of her craft matches her confidence." - Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle
"With an emotive voice somewhere between Suzanne Vega and Laura Cantrell, Vanessa sings some of the most memorable personal lyrics I've heard from any singer-songwriter--male or female. -Hal Bogerd, Hickorywind.com
SARAH MACDOUGALL Up and coming alt.country/ indie folksinger Sarah MacDougall has made quite a splash in the last few years. She has often been called a favorite at festivals and venues, and she has been getting rave reviews all around for her latest c.d., Across the Atlantic, including 4-star reviews in Q magazine, The Irish Times, to name only a few.
“Across the Atlantic proves that when you have talent like MacDougall’s you don’t need the backing of major labels and top name producers to make a great album. It’s only january, but this is already a contender for album of the year. **** ”- Country Music People magazine (UK)
“A hugely impressive debut record”- No Depression
"A mind-altering experience!" -- The Washington Post Asylum Street Spankers
The magnificently indefinable Asylum Street Spankers began in 1994 during a booze and hallucinogen-fueled party at the Dabbs Hotel in Llano, Texas. There Christina Marrs met Wammo. During a night spent singing and playing along the banks of the Llano River they discovered a shared love for early 20th century music. Upon returning to Austin they gathered a few like-minded pals and began playing free shows at clubs and busking around town.
Within a year they conquered Austin, playing three SRO weekly residencies, including the city’s first Gospel Brunch. In 1997 the band began venturing out into the wider world. Since then, Christina and Wammo have pushed their ever-evolving troupe from country blues revivalism toward original compositions, new works for the stage and sociopolitical commentary. Regular touring throughout Europe, Japan and the states has established the Asylum Street Spankers as an underground institution, widely considered one of the best live acts working today.
"A whimsical collision between ragtime, two-step parlor dances, jazz, vaudeville, off color blues, hip-hop swagger, country and western -- that's the kaleidoscopic musical universe of the Asylum Street Spankers, one of the single best live acts you will ever see." -- Strong Week Portland
"Mischievously unorthodox in every way!" -- The New York Times
On selected Sundays of each month, Lane Gosnay, founder of The Bugle Boy, hosts an afternoon PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE as a forum for aspiring performing songwriters.
Consisting of both state and national acts, performers have ten minutes each to make The Bugle Boy stage their own. Each act performs two original songs, and a panel of 3 judges chooses three finalists. These three are invited back to the stage at the end of the afternoon to perform one more song, and the judges select one winner. Performers are judged in six different areas: songwriting, vocal performance, playing ability, stage presence, entertainment skills and audience response.
Sarah Pierce has been compared to both Jackson Browne and Lucinda Williams. She has 7 critically acclaimed albums and hundreds of thousands of miles of touring under her belt.
Sarah has spent her time developing her own, unique musical style. Although that style owes some to rock and roll, the daughter of a cowboy discovered that her musical soul ultimately was the music with which she had been raised. Appropriately, the new music of Sarah Pierce was presented for the first time on March 28, 2008 at the oldest dance hall in Texas - Gruene Hall. Opening for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sarah and her band played to the sold out crowd receiving ovations after every song. It is fairly safe to say that Sarah Pierce is back...and better than ever!
Her lyrics daze with elegant poetry that carries the listener over wide musical vistas on each soul-bearing turn of her incomparable voice. Sarah Pierce seems a likely candidate for contemporary music fame."
The Los Angeles Times
"Eric Hanke's Autumn Blues (Ten Foot Texan) is an impressive debut that mixes country and folk in a way that confirms his status as a Native Texan. With a batch of songs almost too evocative to have come from a young songwriter's pen and dynamic production from Merel Bregante, Hanke crafts a sound that falls somewhere between Slaid Cleaves and Bruce Robison and one that's well worth checking out."
- Jim Caligiuri - Austin Chronicle
Pilots and musicians are of the same breed. They all have their heads in the clouds," Darcie muses. Born in Toronto to a journalist/pilot mother and a bush helicopter pilot father, she started her childhood in Northern Canada, constantly moving around the North American continent, from one culture to another. At 16, Darcie struck out on her own, continuing to "pay her dues", making her living on the streets of Toronto playing guitar. Finally finding home in Austin, TX, Darcie is well known for her fiery fiddling and singing her songs, and with artists including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Eliza Gilkyson, Toni Price, Slaid Cleaves, Tish Hinojosa, The Meat Purveyors, and more. Currently she's a member of the band The Austin Lounge Lizards.
MATT HARLAN: After gigging in rock bands around San Antonio and Austin, Matt Harlan dropped the pick and the power chords to develop his own unique fingerstyle guitar technique. Born and raised in Texas, Harlan soaked up the richness of the state and its song-smiths while bouncing between big cities and small towns. On his debut release, "Tips & Compliments," Harlan exposes this range of influences, interpreting a generation steeped in plastic yet filtered through the Hill Country limestone. Often non-linear, but always melodic, Harlan's works confront social norms, celebrate lives overlooked, or just wax poetic about coffee and bus-stops. Matt's songwriting has been getting some recognition lately with awards from the Billboard World Songwriting Contest, American Songwriter Magazine, the Wildflower Arts & Music Festival, Snowbird Mountain Music Festival and as a Regional New Folk winner at Kerrville.
JOHN FULLBRIGHT: Although just 21 years old, Okemah, Oklahoma native John Fullbright sings like he has been around for years. Firmly rooted in many American musical styles including folk, country, blues, bluegrass and jazz, John is just now beginning his musicial journey that is sure to delight listeners from coast to coast. Already he has the ringing endorsements of many great musicians including Jimmy Webb, Kevin Welch, Ray Bonneville, Greg Trooper, Dan Narvarro, Steve Poltz, Darden Smith, Will Sexton and Jimmy LaFave. Equally skilled on guitar, harmonica, piano and accordion, John understands best that “it’s called playing music for a reason.” That is why you can find him at the music festival campgrounds late at night pickin’ out songs from such mentors as Townes Van Zandt, Hoyt Axton and Leonard Cohen, along with his own unique songs that belie his young age.
"Brad Thompson is liquid music, heart and soul; a must see!
- Paula McElheney / 462 Concerts, Inc. BRAD THOMPSON
Brad Thompson and his guitar have a special bond. Bringing intensity to his 20 year catalogue of songs that run the gamut from storytelling to rock, folk to country. The humor, awe and honesty present in his songs, as well as his live performance, will leave you willing to go wherever Brad leads in that moment.
Singing with a spirited style and deep conviction, Thompson has a quiet intensity bringing forth a modern flavor to a rich Texas blend of country blues.
There’s a time when distinctions between categories fade and what matters is whether music stirs the deepest part of our being. Erika Luckett and Lisa Ferraro's music reaches deep into the heart and caresses, inspires and wakes us up to what is most extraordinary within. Each artist possesses remarkable skills, and together a synergy emerges that goes beyond the sum of two voices and one guitar.
Though their music defies traditional classification (jazz, funk, blues, folk, sacred, world, pop, Latin,) it moves beyond these
familiar boxes and offers a fresh, intoxicating expression. Call it “Sonic Nourishment” or “New Music for a New Millenium.” It’s simply extraordinary music for these extraordinary times.
Together, they have forged a sound that is touching listeners around the planet. Global visionary and author, Paul Hawken, describes their music as “a direct transmission into song.” On the island of Kauai, KKCR DJ KamranTabatabai calls them “Goddesses on the run.” Though you can hear their music recorded, there is nothing better than a live experience.
Don't miss it!
Featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" Caroline Herring
Caroline Herring is a Mississippi-born artist whose music has been hailed for combining traditional folk and bluegrass sounds with striking, original observations of modern life and love. Thoroughly steeped in southern culture, Herring began her music career in Austin, where she released her first album, “Twilight,” and won Best New Artist in both the Austin American Statesman and Austin Chronicle in 2002. Since that time, Herring has built an international following and released three more albums, including the masterpiece “Golden Apples of the Sun.” Herring’s album “Lantana” (2008) received widespread acclaim as an alt-country masterpiece. The Austin Chronicle proclaimed it to be “the best modern Southern Gothic album since Lucinda Williams’ Sweet Old World,” and NPR named it one of the “ten best folk albums of 2008.”
“It's not easy being a great folksinger -- Kate Wolf, Linda Thompson, and Iris DeMent are some of the names on the short list, but ‘Golden Apples of the Sun’ makes a strong case for the addition of Caroline Herring.” -- Jim Allen, All Music Guide
"Herring's vocals are clear and lovely, evoking the classic voices of Baez, Collins, and Mitchell, yet grounded in the country dirt of Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Eliza Gilkyson." -Dirty Linen Magazine
Nothing you read and nothing you hear from her albums
prepares you for how good a performer she is. Cheryl Wheeler "ADVANCED TICKET PURCHASE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"
If your idea of a folk singer/songwriter concert is a bunch of people clapping politely after songs, and then sitting quietly while the performer says things like "This next song is about ...", well, you've never seen a Cheryl Wheeler concert before.
Cheryl's concerts are more like what you would find at a comedy club than expect to find at a folk music concert. She will tell a story that has you rolling in the aisles, and then sing a song that leaves you wiping tears from your eyes. She will talk about some serious current event, and then sing a song that will have you howling with laughter. Her entire concert is a emotional roller coaster.
You may not be familiar with Cheryl, but you have probably heard her music. She is very respected as a songwriter by her peers, which can be seen by how many of them record her songs. Chery's songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Dan Seals, Peter Paul and Mary, Kenny Loggins, Garth Brooks, Suzy Boggus, Melanie, Bette Midler, Maura O'Connell, Sylvia, Kathy Mattea, and Holly Near. If they think she is great, then you owe it to yourself to learn more if you aren't familiar with her.
Cheryl Wheeler has to be seen to be appreciated.
"...songs go beyond the heartfelt, almost spiritual." Jam Magazine Fran Snyder
Fran Snyder is a solid entertainer who can command a crowd with just a microphone and his acoustic guitar. Armed with great original songs, surprising cover tunes, and more than a handful of humor, Fran knows how to connect with even the most informal audience.
He's played colleges, clubs, and mainstages all over the US, touring extensively as a solo act, as well as part of the "acoustic hip-hop duo" Six Strings and Vinyl. On the mainstage, he has opened for many of his heroes, including Shawn Mullins, Shawn Colvin, Don Henley, Peter Stuart, Dan Fogelberg, Cowboy Junkies, and Boz Scaggs.
Fran is also the founder of concertsinyourhome.com, a website dedicated to promoting house concerts all over the world (but mostly in US and Canada).
On selected Sundays of each month, Lane Gosnay, founder of The Bugle Boy, hosts an afternoon PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE as a forum for aspiring performing songwriters.
Consisting of both state and national acts, performers have ten minutes each to make The Bugle Boy stage their own. Each act performs two original songs, and a panel of 3 judges chooses three finalists. These three are invited back to the stage at the end of the afternoon to perform one more song, and the judges select one winner. Performers are judged in six different areas: songwriting, vocal performance, playing ability, stage presence, entertainment skills and audience response.
"A voice and songs this strong are bound to perservere."--Dallas Morning News
Beth Wood is a modern-day troubadour with a stunning voice, poetic lyrics, and strong guitar stylings. Soulful, organic, free-range, barefoot, high-energy communication of joy. Winner of 2005 Kerrville New Folk Contest.
"Beth will be celebrating the September release of her new CD, "The Weather Inside", produced by Billy Crockett at the renowned Blue Rock Studio in Wimberley, TX. Joining Beth will be her friend Nathan Brown, singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Oklahoma.
With her renowned, brilliant use of voice as instrument, the Queen of Cool--jazz singer Kellye Gray--has entertained dignitaries, heads-of-state, and shared stages with an impressive constellation of international jazz, blues and R&B stars during a recording career spanning twenty years.
The San Francisco Examiner called her 'a musically most imaginative tour de force.' Described as 'stunning scat singing, instrumental simulations and dark-toned balladry' by the Los Angeles Times, Gray creatively uses her voice as part of the ensemble. JazzTimes magazine calls her 'an impressive, indeed frighteningly vast talent.'
Before her self-discovery as a jazz artist she was doing stand-up and troupe comedy with Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks. A showman at heart, Gray mines the depths and heights of music and entertainment. 'Simply the most exciting singer to debut' says USA Today.
SYNOPSIS
When I Rise is about a gifted black music student at the University of Texas is thrust into a civil rights storm that changes her life forever. Barbara Smith Conrad is cast in an opera to co-star with a white male classmate, fueling a racist backlash from members of the Texas legislature. When Barbara is expelled from the cast, the incident escalates to national news, prompting unexpected support from a pop superstar.
This small-town girl, whose voice and spirit stem from her roots in East Texas, emerges as an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano and headlines on stages around the world.
When I Rise is an inspirational journey toward finding forgiveness within oneself.
Dr. Don Carleton, Executive Producer of When I Rise, and Executive Director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, will introduce the film and will be available for a Q. and A. following the screening.
