Patterson Hood - The co-founder and frontman of Georgia’s Drive
By Truckers, Patterson Hood is the son of famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
bassist David Hood. Hood formed the Drive By Truckers in 1996 with Mike Cooley,
a bandmate from their previous group Adam’s House Cat. The Truckers double-CD,
“Southern Rock Opera,” was the first to garner the group its first national
attention. Throughout his tenure with the Truckers, Hood was also penning a
starker set of songs that was released in 2004 as “Killers and Stars” - on
which his father played. That release and “Murdering Oscar (and other love
songs)” which was released in 2009, showed a darker, more acoustic side to
Hood’s writing.
Van Dyke Parks - For music fans who pay attention to album
credits, the name Van Dyke Parks is nothing short of legendary. As a session
musician, composer, arranger, lyricist, and singer, he's contributed
significantly to several decades' worth of inimitable masterpieces credited to
other artists, as well as releasing notable projects of his own. Working with a
wide array of musicians, from The Byrds and Sonny and Cher to Ry Cooder and Vic
Chesnutt, Parks is perhaps best known for collaborating with Brian Wilson on
the storied classic “SmiLE.” In 2011, Parks released his first new music in
more than 15 years, a series of singles that features the artwork of artists
including Art Spiegelman and WV’s Billy Edd Wheeler. Parks has also released a
compilation of some of his greatest arrangements including songs featuring Arlo
Guthrie, Ry Cooder, Little Feat, Sal Valentino, Mojo Men, Bonnie Raitt, Dino
Martin and Lowell George.
Randall Bramblett - Dubbed the “the William Faulkner of Southern
music,” “Randall Bramblett came to prominence in the ‘70s as a member of the
fusion band Sea Level. Since then, his credits include work with Steve Winwood,
Gregg Allman, Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson. Called “one of Georgia’s musical treasures” by
Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools, Bramblett is a
multi-instrumentalist who excels on keyboards, saxophone and guitar, and a
respected songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Widespread
Panic, Jorma Kaukonen, Bonnie Bramlett and Delbert McClinton.
Teitur - Hailing from Denmark's Faroe Islands, a small, remote group
of islands between Iceland and Scotland, Teitur Lassen issued
his debut, “Poetry & Aeroplanes,” on Universal Records in 2003. Supporting
the disc, he was featured on MTV’s “You Heard It First,” VH1 and CNN, and his
songs were included on the soundtracks of the films “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”
and “Aquamarine.” He also toured with Rufus Wainwright, Aimee Mann and John
Mayer. In 2006, his CD “Stay Under The Stars” included the radio hit “Louis,
Louis” and was certified Gold in Denmark while 2007's “Kata
Hornid” was sung entirely in his native language. His latest is titled “Let the
Dog Drive Home.”
Caroline Aiken - Born and raised on the Georgia Sea island, St. Simons,
Caroline Aiken’s first musical influence was Emma Lee Ramsey of the Georgia Sea
Island Singers. She moved to NY in the late-‘60s and joined the rock band
Father Time. From there, music took her to California during the early ‘70s,
to South America, Seattle, east to Greenwich Village and, in the early ‘80s,
back to Atlanta. It was then that she
heard the Indigo Girls - still teenagers - singing a CSNY song in an alley
behind the club Good Old Days. Aiken invited them onstage and sang on their
first recording. She toured with the group in 1992, 1994, and 1997. Making her
home in Atlanta since 1986, Aiken
opened shows for Bonnie Raitt in 1985, and Raitt performed on Aiken’s 1988
debut “Line of Vision.” She has headlined the famed Kerrville Folk Festival
numerous times since 1995 and, in 2010, released “Welcome Home.”
-30-
For more information, including hi-res photos, please
contact Adam Harris,304.556.4900.
This episode is scheduled for NPR Distribution in May, 2012.