Ani DiFranco - With a business plan that was a gutsy as her songs, Ani DiFranco emerged as one of the most influential musical forces of the ‘90s. The outspoken Buffalo, NY, native built a massive grassroots following with constant touring and topical songs. Attracting major label interest in the mid-‘90s thanks to regularly sold-out shows, DiFranco stood by her independent ethos and continued issuing her recordings on her Righteous Babe label. Formed in 1990, it has since expanded to include a dozen other artists and a live music venue. The prolific songwriter has released 21 CDs as well as eight discs in her “Official Bootleg Series.” In 2007 she published “DiFranco: Verses,” a collection of her poems and paintings. Her new album, “Red Letter Year,” was two years in the making and has been called “an impeccably crafted, multi-layered sonic achievement.”
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue - At 23, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has already achieved more acclaim than most players twice his age. Growing up in New Orleans' Treme neighborhood, Trombone Shorty was a bandleader by the age of six. Shorty is a graduate of the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, whose fellow alumni include Harry Connick, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, the later who said Shorty “possesses the rarest combination of talent, technical capability and down home soul.” In 2009, New Orleans music magazine “Offbeat” named Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue “Best R&B/Funk Band” for the second year in a row, and he has twice been named “Performer of The Year.” In 2006, Trombone Shorty appeared on the NBC series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” His seven-piece group Orleans Avenue plays a style dubbed “SupaFunkRock.”
Chuck Prophet - Prophet first made his mark as the young guitarist in L.A.'s Green on Red, a forerunner of the Paisley Underground movement. After GoR disbanded in 1992, Prophet released a string of solo CDs filled with catchy pop songs that earned him a strong following overseas. Throughout his solo career, he has worked with legends and inspirations from Warren Zevon and Lucinda Williams to Bob Neuwirth, Billy Swan and beat poet Hubert Huncke. Prophet has produced popular efforts by Kelly Willis and Alejandro Escovedo. To record “Let Freedom Ring,” the follow-up to his acclaimed “Soap and Water” release, Prophet traveled to Mexico City where he encountered a swine flu pandemic, an earthquake, electric brownouts, and crashing hard drives.
Erin McKeown - Raised in Fredricksburg, VA, singer/songwriter Erin McKewon began pursuing music while attending Brown University, issuing two albums before earning a degree in ethnomusicology. In 1999, Ani DiFranco took notice of McKeown’s “Distillation” CD and invited her to join her tour. To raise funds for the making of her new “Hundreds of Lions,” McKeown produced a four-part series of internet house concerts. Fans purchased “tickets” to virtually attend shows streamed live from in and around McKeown’s remote riverside cottage. “Hundreds of Lions” is her first collection of original songs since 2005’s “We Will Become Like Birds” and was released on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label.
Andy McKee - With his YouTube videos received more than 20 million views, Andy McKee has taken his place as one of the world’s finest acoustic guitar soloists. At one point, McKee held YouTube’s top 3 positions for “Top-Rated Videos of All Time.” As a result, McKee has performed sold out shows all over the world. In his teens, McKee began studying the music of Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Billy McLaughlin and Preston Reed, and later added influences from groups like Earth Wind and Fire, The Yellowjackets, Bjork, and Pantera. A native of Topeka, KS, McKee’s playing includes altered tunings, harp guitars, partial capos, percussive hits, and two-handed tapping. His sixth CD, “Joyland,” will be released on Razor & Tie records February 23, 2010.
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This program will be distributed nationally by NPR APRIL 30, 2010
For more information and approved hi-res photos, contact Adam Harris at 304 556 4900