2015 Artist Profiles

Barb’s Corn Dodgers

Barb's Diggle Pickers

Barb’s Corn Dodgers are Katy Harris and Lisa McAvoy. They’ve been
playing music and singing together since 2011. With a shared love of old country
songs, cajun tunes and old-time duets they’ll bring you sweet and gritty
harmonies from the past.

https://barbscorndodgers.bandcamp.com/

Aka Belle

11112858_10153211670531303_2158922526115512719_n

a.k.a. Belle are an unhinged Americana rock band.  Don’t let them fool you.

The seedlings of a.k.a Belle began in a land far, far away called Los Angeles, CA, where Sam and Catherine Crooks Merrick, Boise, ID natives, found themselves sharing a flat in pursuit of musical greatness. They didn’t know it then, but their paths would cross many times over subsequent decades and eventually their lives would converge in a very personal and musically magical way. In 2008, after Catherine returned home to Boise, ID from living and performing under the moniker of Belle of Les Bois in Manchester, England, she reunited with her former roomie (and soon to be husband) and a.k.a. Belle was born.

Catherine grew up in Boise, ID amongst some major musical talents. She played alongside Doug Martsch (Built to Spill) in Suiciety and in the B-sides with Curtis Stigers. Merrick’s overflowing with instrumental chops and is most often seen wailing on guitar or banjo, but it’s her voice that audiences find most captivating:

“… when you are blessed with a vocalist like Catherine Merrick, you’re light years ahead of the game. The Singer and multi-instrumentalist for a.k.a. Belle has an alluring, lovely voice – the kind that stands out in any genre.” - Michael Deeds, The Idaho Statesman

Between LA and 2008, Sam was met with major musical success. He toured the US and Europe with The Leaving Trains (SST Records) and signed a multimillion dollar contract in blood with LA band The Nymphs (Geffen Records). He’s also played bad-ass guitar and lent vocals to a variety of of musical projects based in the US. a.k.a. Belle’s eclectic sound is elevated by the creative musical minds of Louis McFarland (percussion) and Chris Galli (stand up bass), who hear and interpret Merrick’s songs intuitively.

a.k.a. Belle is a rock band that’s not afraid to play with different genres to get the desired effect in creating well-crafted, thoughtfully constructed songs. Collectively, these four musicians, playfully coined “The Magic Four” have collaborated with and supported some big names in music including: John Doe & Exene Cervenka from LA band X; Iggy Pop; Elizabeth Cook; Holly Golightly, Lydia Loveless; Curtis Stigers; Bill Kirchen; Doug Martsch from Built to Spill, Pinto Bennett, William Coffey… and many more.

P.S. a.k.a.Belle also swing, waltz, feedback, pluck, stomp and bow.

https://www.facebook.com/akaBelleBoise

http://www.akabelle.fourfour.com

New Transit

july 2 2014 photo

“New Transit’s debut doesn’t fuss with strict limitations. It’s filled with warm, elegant country influences — particularly the timeless allure of floating lap and pedal steel — but with enough gritty edge to widen the audience. About the time you start reminiscing about those old Uncle Tupelo records you need to drag out of storage, New Transit unleashes a moment of upbeat, Neil-Young-meets-Driver-By-Truckers guitar crunch during “All I Have is Words.” Is this group making you feel like headbanging for a few seconds? It is. These 10 songs make you feel a lot of things — mostly pleasure and surprise. New Transit’s first album is the mid-year frontrunner for best local disc of 2011.”

— Michael Deeds, idaho statesman -“Words and Deeds”

http://www.reverbnation.com/newtransit

https://www.facebook.com/NewTransitMusic

J.P. Whipple and Tycoon Machete

J. P. Whipple is a barefoot vagabond whose errant rambles have taken him through the Great American West picking up songs along the side of the highways, in the mountain forests, the rivers, canyons and down broken alleyways. He has recorded over a dozen albums since 2002 and has formed the band Tycoon Machete with some of the key musicians who backed him in the studio. The band takes his music to new frontiers of roots and psychedelia, sometimes referred to as “Hillbilly Grunge”.
 
“Often referred to as the ‘barefoot troubadour’ this complete one off, hugely original singer songwriter travels America’s highways and byways playing in small venues for anyone with sufficient taste to realize they are listening to a musical genius.” - American Roots UK
Belinda Bowler
IMG_3016

Belinda Bowler has been singing since she was old enough to string words into a sentence. The big news after her first day of kindergarten was a song about a bird. She learned the wonder of telling a story with song from her dad who was a professional singer before he and his English bride started their family. When she was 8 she got her first guitar and has been playing ever since.
Her first gigs were at festivals and in bars, as an opening act for some of her heroes and as a solo performer on a couple of tours in Great Britain after the release of her first album.
For the last 15 years she has been a teacher, using song to teach curriculum and keep peace. With the release of her third CD this November, she will be around town and back on the road, making her audiences laugh, cry, and sing along.

https://youtu.be/F_hzitOCQVk

Dry Buck

FB_IMG_1436800100191_kindlephoto-24784168

Dry Buck is an energetic bluegrass band with a focus on three part and brother harmonies. Their sound draws from traditional, not so traditional.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dry-Buck/1403529253254704

Gregory Rawlins

greg_greatcircle_14

As folk as any alternative musician and as alternative as any folk artist, singer/songwriter Gregory Rawlins is tougher to pin down than a feral cat.  His inventive compositions, austere command of language, and homegrown honesty translates to what one coined as, “Alternatively Bestial Truck-Stop Folk.”

Rawlins’ playing style courts quick, jangly, Guthrie- like strumming and delicate alternating thumb finger picking that recalls a Country/Blues tinge of greats Townes Van Zandt or R.L. Burnside. His voice resides predominantly in the region of tenor, but takes disarming baritone forays, spoken word side-streets and the coarse grit of his musical portfolio’s earliest stages… Rock ‘n’ Roll. Beneath it all is a genuine wordsmith, whose original songs immediately rise above the mediocrity of contemporary, self-proclaimed folk singers by going a step further than gushing out a feeling or two. Imagery and a keen sense of poetic cadence are the driving forces of this man’s work, and when compounded with stories as lush and heavily veiled as the ferns and fog of his hometown of Port Orchard, Washington– Gregory Rawlins is quick to both garner the intrigue of progressive music fans and traditionalists with any given tune. 

http://www.lagrandemusic.com/music-artists/gregory-rawlins/

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s