Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones - A  founding member of L.A.'s Blasters and an itinerant guitarist for X, Dave Alvin was instrumental in spearheading the roots rock revival in the mid-‘80s. After the breakup of the Blasters in the late ‘80s, Alvin set his sights on a career as a singer/songwriter and formed the all-star group the Pleasure Barons (with Rosie Flores, Mojo Nixon and Country Dick Montana). His release, “Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land,” won him a Grammy for “Best Contemporary Folk Album” in 2000. Alvin continues to be involved with the “Roots on the Rails” musical train excursion which travels through the lands of the Hopi and Navajo. He followed up 2009's “Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women” with “Eleven Eleven,” his first solo studio album of original material in some seven years. The disc features his brother Phil and is a return to the guitar-driven rock of his work with the Blasters. The CD’s first single, "Harlan County Line," was featured (along with Alvin playing himself) in an episode of FX’s original series “Justified.” Alvin was recently featured in the “The Los Angeles Times” magazine in an article titled “Troubadour of Troubled Times” in which he was described as one of the California’s most revered songwriters.

Will Hoge - After “All Night Long,” a live recording at Nashville’s Exit/In club, sold more than 4,000 copies in the late ‘90s, Will Hoge took his band on the road and ended up attracting the attention of Atlantic Records. After leaving Atlantic, Hoge - who has drawn comparisons to American rock icons like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty - built a substantial fan base by playing more than 200 shows a year. Following up 2009's “The Wreckage” - which dealt with a serious automobile accident that sidelined him for months - Hoge has released “Number Seven,” a collection of 11 Southern rock ‘n’ soul tunes. 

Catie Curtis - Over a career that has spanned two decades, Boston-based singer/songwriter Catie Curtis has won both critical and popular acclaim, being dubbed quickly a "folk-rock goddess" by “The New Yorker.” In the early ‘90s, she quickly made a name for herself as one of the city’s most talented artists and, after non-stop touring and dates on the Lilith Fair tours came to national attention. Following a tour with Dar Williams, Curtis released “My Shirt Looks Good on You” in 2001, teaming up with Boston luminaries like ex-Morphine drummer Billy Conway and singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier. Her 2006 release, “Long Night Moon,” featured “People Look Around” which took on the suffering and political maneuvering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. That song earned Curtis (and co-writer Mark Erelli) the Grand Prize in the “International Songwriting Competition” out of 15,000 entries from 82 countries. Her new release, “Stretch Limousine on Fire,” features a cameo by Mary Chapin Carpenter and 10 original songs that explore "the difficult edges of passing events" in life. Curtis’ songs have been featured on episodes of “Grey's Anatomy,” Chicago Hope” and “Dawson's Creek.”

Catherine Russell - With a voice that can handle jazz balladry, bordello blues, country, pop, and soul, Catherine Russell has performed and/or toured with a stunning array of stars, from Madonna and David Bowie to Issac Hayes and Dolly Parton. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a pioneering pianist, composer, and bandleader who, in 1935, was named Louis Armstrong’s musical director. As a bassist and vocalist, her mother Carline Ray has performed with Mary Lou Williams and Wynton Marsalis. Singing with Jimmy Vivino's Little Big Band in the late-‘80s, Catherine met Donald Fagen and soon joined his N.Y. Rock N Soul Revue which also included Boz Skaggs, Michael McDonald, Phoebe Snow and Chuck Jackson. Her resume includes joining Paul Simon for a month-long run at NY’s Paramount Theater and touring the world with David Bowie’s “A Reality Tour" in 2004. In 2010, Russell released “Inside This Heart of Mine” which collected 13 of Rusell’s favorite songs ranging from Fats Waller and Wynonie Harris to Willie Dixon and a tune recorded by her father, band leader Luis Russell some 80 years ago. Russell has also performed or recorded with Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, Al Green and the J. Geils Band. Russell is currently on the faculty as Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Eliza Gilkyson - Eliza Gilkyson is a politically minded, poetically gifted singer-songwriter, who has become one of the most respected musicians in roots, folk and Americana circles. The Grammy-nominated artist has appeared on NPR, Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, XM, Air America Radio and has toured with Richard Thompson, Patty Griffin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. In February of 2003, she was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, alongside Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Billy Joe Shaver, Butch Hancock, Joe Ely and others. In 2006, she was recognized with 3 Austin Music Awards and 4 Folk Alliance Music Awards, including “Song of the Year.” Eliza’s tune “Requiem,” written for those who lost lives in the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia was recorded by the nationally recognized choral group Conspirare, was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, and nominated for a Grammy. Her most recent release is Roses at the End of Time
 

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This episode is scheduled for NPR distribution in March 2012.

For more information, including hi-res photos, please contact Adam Harris, 304.556.4900.