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| Billy
Block's Western Beat is EVERY Tuesday Night
at The Legendary EXIT/IN,
located at 2208 Elliston Place 615-321-4400 |
Jo-El
Sonnier
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Jo-El Sonnier
The music of Jo-El Sonnier is a way of life.
Steeped in passion, relentless dedication…he has been the
undisputed "King of Cajun" for the past 20 years and occupies
a significant place in the rich artistic land-scape of this
country. His fans are un-deniably dedi-cated, while the music
industry elite Dylan, Costello and Cash, to name a few,
admire his work. He is a "musician's musician" with a wonderful
gift to sing and entertain you in a way often imitated but
never duplicated. Jo-El was born in Rayne, Louisiana to poor,
French speaking sharecroppers. He began to play the accordion
at age three. As he grew up, so did his love for the instrument
and his ability to play it. Singing only in French, his Cajun
heritage was very strong and clear. He was signed to Mercury
Records for a time and has toured the world with his unique
style of Cajun Music. |
Robert
Lee Castleman
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Robert Lee Castleman
A rose wrapped around a barbwire fence
where the plush petal meets the rusted spike. That's Robert
Lee Castleman. His music is a lush type a folk, subtle and
warm. His songs and his voice, though, are rugged, weary
and true. For too long he has been an industry secret, his
songs having been recorded by Chet Atkins and Alison Krauss.
Now this singer, guitarist, and truck-driver is step-ping
out with his own album: a gem of sublime, intricate compositions
songs that are at once soothing and unpredictable. "When
I listen to this album, the songs are so terrific that I
feel like I'm listening to a greatest hits record from somebody,
like I bought a greatest hits record from one of the pillars
of country music, but it's a brand new album coming out
in 2000. It just blows me away." -Alison Krauss
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Nickel
Creek
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Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek combines originality and soul
with jaw-dropping musicianship. Their repertoire of mostly
original material presses the boundaries of tradition, criss-crossing
string band genres and blending tones and textures in thoughtful,
creative arrange-ments. They formed in 1990 out of friend-ship
and a mutual interest in music. The band is Chris Thile, IBMA
nominee for Mandolin Performer of the Year for 4 years running,
Sara Watkins who became the Arizona State Fiddle Champion
when she was only 15 and Sean Watkins who placed in the finals
of the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship in 93' at
age 16. In 1999 Nickel Creek was nom-inated as IBMA Emerging
Artist of the year and in March of 2000, their Sugar Hill
album Nickel Creek was released to rave reviews. Byron House
joins them tonight on Bass. |
New
Jack Hippies
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New Jack Hippies
Songwriters Guy Schwartz & Roger Tausz have
been writ-ing together for 28 years, but have spent most of
their onstage time as sidemen for the likes of Stevie Nicks,
Sam Lightnin' Hopkins, Freddy Fender, and many others. Lately,
they have been writing for, and producing CDs for many of
the individual musicians in their huge collective band, Guy
Schwartz & The New Jack Hippies. They per-form with any 6
- 25 (of the 40 or so) members who show up on any given night.
It's a three-ring rock circus, featuring several different
configurations of this large band. Bouncing back and forth
from original rock band, to R & B revue, to a jam band which
sometimes evokes a weekly Texas icehouse blues jam and some-times
more closely resembles the extended free-form jams of Moses
Guest or The Grateful Dead. |
Rick
Shea
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Rick Shea
Roots honky-tonker songwriter Rick Shea continues
his steady climb to the top of the alternative country scene
with his latest release Shaky Groundon Wagon Wheel Records.
With a sound right out of San Bernardino's truckstops the
album combines tracks recorded back in 1990 in addition to
new tracks. As a talented sideman he's a regular with Dave
Alvin both on the road and in the studio. He's also worked
for years with Patty Booker, Katy Moffatt and Chris Gaffney.
Rick was born in Annapolis and moved to San Bernardino, California
at age 12 with his family. In 1994 the California Country
Music Association named Rick male vocalist of the year, and
Music Connection magazine has called him "one of LA's most
talented songwriters, an original with a wild western bent". |
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Schedule
- September 26, 2000