Jeff's new album "Waking Days" is now available!
Media: Please Let us Know if you Would Like a Copy or Download Link
for Review
The Bluegrass Situation premieres "Carved in Stone"
Elmore Magazine premieres "City Girls"CD: : http://bit.ly/WakingDaysCD
Spotify: http://bit.ly/WakingDaysSpotify
iTunes: http://bit.ly/WakingDaysiTunes
JEFF CROSBY AND THE REFUGEES TO RELEASE WAKING DAYS Songs About Love, Heartbreak, Being On The Road And The Realities Of The New American Dream (November 6th, 2015)
BOISE, ID 2015 –For a young man, Jeff Crosby has lived the life of someone older. Playing 250+ shows a year from the ages of 19-25 , he has traveled throughout Central and South American, the Dominican Republic and many European countries in between shows. Crosby has played with Reckless Kelly, Shinyribs, Mickey and the Motorcars and Lukas Nelson. Now he divides his time between touring with Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons and his band, The Refugees and making LA, Nashville and Boise all home bases.
With2 EPs and 2 Full-Length releases behind him, Crosby now adds another notch to his musical belt with Waking Days. The 10 song LP was recorded in Los Angeles at Bedrock Studios and in Nashville and was produced by John Gilbertson and engineered in Nashville by Rob Matson. Featuring his band The Refugees--brother Andy Crosby (bass), Will Prescott (drums) and Dave Manion (pedal steel/guitar), Crosby also adds some stellar guest musicians. His guest crew consisted of Brian Whelan on pedal steel (Dwight Yoakam), Marshall Vore on drums (Ryan Adams/Olin & The Moon), Fran Breem on Drums (The Waterboys/Lucinda Williams), Ben Waligoske on guitar (Springdale Quartet) and Adrian Engfer on standup bass (Grant Farm).
Waking Days blends the sounds of Americana; folk, and 70’s inspired psychedelic rock. “I’m in a much different head space musically since the last record,” said Crosby, “This record has more soundscapes and has stretched out the atmospheric tones that are floating around the songs.”
With a voice that Brian Carroll of No Depression calls, “incredible, unique and such a pleasure to listen to”, Crosby has created a personal record that also highlights relatable lyrics. “I think it’s an exciting time to be involved in the music scene of the U.S.”, Said Crosby, ‘I personally see people seeking out real roots music –music where they can be a part of the story. I think people are empowered by the music they find that is original and special.”
“City Girl” kicks off the set and was inspired by a conversation with a young woman at a bar in L.A. “I was imagining the same scenario played out nightly for her,” said Crosby.
“She says you country boys must be so leathered by your instincts” with the second chorus responding, “I say you city girls must be so leathered by your dreamin”.
“Carved in Sandstone” was written while Crosby was in the Dominican Republic and recorded in Nashville. It references a giant cross that looks out over the city of Boise, ID and where people have littered the sandstone with carved out names. “Carved our names in sandstone under the cross—Tennessee got the best of me”.
“Homeless and the Dreamers” was the first song Crosby wrote after moving to LA. “We don’t have a lot of homeless people in Idaho, so I was really affected by it in the first months. I couldn’t stop imagining what their day consisted of.” “Red White and Blue” is a very personal song that Crosby said, “Was pulled straight out of my journal.” Featuring Brian Whelan on pedal steel, Crosby claims, “I was so lucky to get Brian Whelan just after he was leaving Dwight Yoakam’s band and heading out on his own. He just nailed it and tapped right into the vibe and feeling of the song.”
“Canyons” was written for an old friend of Crosby’s that has passed. “Some of my first gigs were at a little pizza place called Crusty in McCall, ID. The owner, Vern Loveall gave me my first paying gig,” recalls Crosby. “$80. I sat in my car and counted it over and over again.” “Emily” speaks to a lost love, “Sometimes when you’re driving/and the moon shows through the pine trees/Maybe you think of me, Emily”.
“I Should be Happy” contemplates life choices, while “Only One I Need” speaks to the one person that believes in you and keeps you going—“This city life and trying to ride on hope gets old/when it feels like everybody’s doing the same thing”.
“What’s Normal Now?” is a rocking homage to the 90’s. “John Gilbertson and I share a mutual love for 90’s rock,” said Crosby, “Plus I just wanted to cut something loud.” Ending with the title song, “Waking Days” the song is about defining your own American dream—“Too scared to open my eyes under the water/as the red white and blue bleeds into the black and white”.
“I believe Jeff Crosby is the authentic item,” said Jerry Joseph, “If I had half I brain, I would quit playing music and manage him...there’s a whole lot of the Laurel Canyon vibe in his writing, but at the end of the day, he’s from Idaho.”
On his music and songwriting, Crosby said, “I think it’s the conversations I have, places I go, people I meet. Hotels, hostels, dive bars, discotecas, cantinas, rock clubs and festivals—these all feed my perspective of Americana and the new American dream. The experiences I have are what make my songs unique. I think I have an interesting story to tell.”
PRAISE:
Tawny Ellis Ghosts of the Low Country: The Muscle Shoals Sessions now available!
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1020771172?ls=1&app=itunes
Media: Please Let us Know if you Would Like a Copy or Download Link
for Review
Recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ellis Conjures up Ghosts to Create a Southern Gothic blend of Folk, Rock and Alt-Country
While, on tour in the South with her longtime collaborator and husband, Gio Loria and inspired by the documentary, Muscle Shoals, the two dropped by the renowned Fame Studios. As fortune would have it, they met with Producer and Founder, Rick Hall, who invited them to record after they had finished with their tour. “We had only ten days left of the tour”, explains Ellis, “and in those ten days Ghosts of The Low Country was written.”
Playing a few dates with the Athens, GA band, Five Eight, guitar player Sean Dunn and drummer Patrick Ferguson joined in on the fun. “We all made our way back down to Alabama and practiced and arranged the songs we had in mind,” said Ellis. Adding bassist Peter Hamilton Ellis concedes, “It came together very quickly the night before we recorded and then we hit it in the morning! It was challenging and intense, but ‘Ghosts of the Low Country’ is one of my favorite songs I have written to date.” While playing a date at the County Fair, Ellis and Loria met Muscle Shoals native, Jason Isbell backstage. Isbell had recorded several times at Fame studios and Ellis and Isbell shared the same engineer when mastering their records, Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Mastering. “Everything about this record was kismet, “ said Ellis. The sounds on Ghosts of the Low Country are as soulful as the region and bring to life the aspects of music and song indicative not only of Tawny Ellis and Gio Loria, but of the very landscape of Muscle Shoals.
From throaty to wistful, Ellis is in control of her voice and able to pull on her Southern roots at will. Guitar Magazine described her voice as “…the sort of voice one could make a meal of, in the vein of Neko Case or Ray LaMontagne—not to mention country singers from years, if not ages, past.” The record contains 2 original songs and 2 covers. The title track renders the story of Teh-La-Nay, a Native American of the Yuchi tribe forced from her home to a reservation in Oklahoma and her near decade travel back to her Tennessee River, the “Singing River” located in Muscle Shoals neighboring town of Florence. “Desperate Tonight” is a Five Eight original that brings the band’s own sound together with Ellis and Loria. Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight” is an homage to the artist she is often compared to. “Evolve or Die” is an older track that was chosen by Ellis a song that deserved the particulars, rarities and royalties of a Fame studio recording.
Besides the songwriting and vocals, Ellis contributes lap steel guitar to the record. She picked it up 4 years ago after watching longtime neighbor and friend Daniel Lanois play. “Watching him has taught me a lot,” she said, “He is he best so I spy on his moves. I have a long way to go but I am dedicated to this blend of the lap steel and my voice together.” She talks about meeting him in 2008, “We talked about the CD I had just released and his belief that songwriters should write classic songs and not to worry about genre, to be a timeless artist. Since then he has subtly guided me with his philosophies and inspired me with his work ethic. His heartbeat is music and everyday his life is a testament to his commitment.” The multi-talented Gio Loria is also a musical inspiration to her. “He believes in me so much and he encourages me to write more and play more. We’ve been playing together since the day we met.”
Ellis’ talent doesn’t end with music. She’s an accomplished sculptor with an ancestral connection to one of the world’s most famous sculptors/painters, Edgar Degas. Working in bronze, wire and cement, she’s had gallery showings in Los Angeles, New Orleans and France and her work can be found all over the world. Lanois happens to also be a fan of her artwork and has recently commissioned a hand sculpted fret board.
“I was sculpting at a very young age,” she explains, “I feel like it is my natural state to be creating things otherwise I am no good.” She claims that being a sculptor has helped her to see music in textures. “I create to live and performing is my most natural state. I need that communication with people, it’s a language that makes me feel alive and excited to be here. It’s so mystical—the language of music and art. I can’t get over how it takes down boundaries we have as people trying to communicate with one another. It gives great understanding where there would be none. Music is the great healer.”
'Tawny Ellis is an accomplished singer/songwriter with a voice of an angel and lyrics of a broken-hearted savoir. This may be 2015, but Ellis’ voice and music takes you as far back as the Carter Family but bleeds with the modern touches of Alison Krauss."--Innocent Words Magazine
“The powerhouse smoky rasp of Tawny Ellis is one you won’t soon forget…Ghosts is a little gem that should not fly under the radar.”—Maeri Ferguson, No Depression
"Four songs recorded during sessions in 2014 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama by noted artist and Southern musician Tawny Ellis reveals a powerful and distinctive voice who at times brings to mind roots-folk songwriters like Neko Case and Emmylou Harris.”—Red Dirt Report
Christ Laterzo's West Coast Sound
TED RUSSELL KAMP THE LOW AND LONESOME SOUND
"The multi-instrumental Kamp usually fills his records with all sorts of tastefully arranged accompaniment, but The Low and Lonesome Sound implies he might be at his best solo."--BLURT"The talented writer and producer delivers his latest collection of songs, the eight track The Low and Lonesome Sound and features him playing just his bass and singing. It’s a raw, lean collection of strong songs like “Rainy Day Valentine,” “A Whole Lot of You And Me” and Townes Van Zant’s “Tecumseh Valley.” A well-regarded bassist in shooter Jennings bands, Kamp delivers a stunning version of “Another Love Song,” a song which he co-wrote with Dylan Altman and Eric Paslay. There’s a groove and funk in the song that proves that bass (where the title comes from) can be a lead instrument if one wanted it to be."--Roughstock
NEWLY RELEASED:
Nocona-Long Gone Song
"“Though the content may not be the gospel, the conviction in the hollering verges on something straight out of a chapel.” --Jake Tully, MOXIPOP"
“Long Gone Song by Nocona is full of rave-up garage rock for high lonesome desperadoes. It’s guaranteed to start a stampede in a world full of dull lonely cattle drives. Yes, it’s rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. But it’s also energizing, motivating, and trippy. Their high-energy act has landed them gigs at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, SXSW, and Stagecoach because they know how to stir up a crowd.” – Calvin Powers, Americana Music Show
Love Love -Eponymous
"This eponymous album ranks among the most auspicious debuts I’ve heard so far this year." —Jeff Berger, No Depression/The Morton Report"LOVE LOVE is a terrific introduction to the vast talents of Chris Toppin. She has that instantly trustworthy voice that seems to deliver nothing but truisms that speak directly to the soul. Along with equally talented singer and songwriter Jefferson Davis Riordan, she swaps the vocals and points of view. It is a dream tag-team duo. —Greg Victor, Parchbench
The Surreal McCoys The Howl & The Growl
"(The Howl & The Growl) propels forward using barrooms as a stage for the world at large as it works out daily dramas while using quick wits and dark asides to chronicle their adventures. --Alternate Root Magazine, Top Picks
"I like the new album from The Surreal McCoys entitled The Howl & The Growl. It reminds me of what the Beat Farmers were doing back in the day."--Bill Frater, Freight Train Boogie
Patricia Bahia Save Your Heart
“When you start your career singing in an inter-faith Gospel choir where you cross paths with the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Joan Baez, and Bonnie Raitt, you may learn a thing or two. Patricia Bahia sounds like she learned a lot."--Music Morsels
“Bahia is a gifted songwriter with impeccable timing and amazing vocals. Her music is an inspiration for others to follow their dreams, and will stay with the listener long after the last notes have faded.”--LA Music Critic
AND BIG WELCOMES TO:
Speedbuggy USA South of Bakersfield
Mick Rhodes and The Hard 8 Paradise City:
