St. Paul & the
Broken Bones - Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, St. Paul & the Broken
Bones is a six-piece rock ‘n’ soul band whose gritty live shows quickly earned
them a large, devout following. Formed in 2011 and led by old school
gospel-soul singer Paul Janeway, the group recalls the dynamic delivery of
classic soul acts. Janeway, a.k.a. “St. Paul” cut his teeth on the gospel music
he heard in church - as secular music was off-limits in his home. Following up
its self-released 2012 EP, the band’s first full-length release, “Half the
City,” is proving the group to be a contender.
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 was named Louis Armstrong’s musical director in 1935. 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 issued “Inside This Heart of Mine” which collected 13 of her
favorite songs ranging from Fats Waller and Wynonie Harris to Willie Dixon. Her
2012 release, “Strictly Romancin’,” was awarded a Prix du Jazz Vocal (“Vocal
Album of The Year”) by the French Jazz Academy, Grand Prix du Hot Club de
France, and a Bistro Award for “Outstanding Recording.” That same year, Russell
won a Grammy as a featured artist on the soundtrack album for the HBO-TV
series, “Boardwalk Empire.” Her current CD, “Bring It Back,” was released in
early 2014 and five-star review in Downbeat Magazine.
Junior Brown -
Playing his custom-made, double-necked guitar, guitar savant Junior Brown has
nailed down the title of country music’s wildest and most incendiary guitarist.
Back in the 1980s, the Indiana native became an instructor at the Hank Thompson
School of Country Music. At the same time, a dream prompted him to set about
creating an instrument that fused a six-string guitar with its steel
counterpart. The result was the "guit-steel," a double-necked guitar
that allows Brown to switch between the two instrument at will. After settling
in Austin, with his wife and rhythm guitarist/singer, Tanya Rae, he began a
weekly residency at the Continental Club. Before long, Brown signed to Curb
Records and went on to win Country Music Association Award (CMA), three
Grammys, a Bluegrass Music Association Award (IBMA) with legend, Ralph Stanley,
duets and appearances with artists ranging from Hank Thompson and George Jones
to The Beach Boys and Stone Temple Pilots. A natural for film, he has appeared
in movies including “Me Myself and Irene,” “Trespass,” “Still Breathing, “The
Dukes of Hazard,” “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” (l and II); TV shows including “X
Files,” as well as multiple appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman,”
“The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien,” “Saturday Night Live,” and a cameo on
“SpongeBob Squarepants.” He was also tapped for national ad campaigns for The
Gap, Lee Jeans and Lipton Tea. To date, Brown has released 10 albums.
Amy LaVere - Born
to musician parents in a small town near the Texas and Louisiana border, Amy
LaVere’s family moved 13 times before she finished high school in Detroit. One
of her first gigs was playing drums for the punk group Last Minute while in her
mid-teens. After a stops in Louisiana and Nashville, LaVere settled in Memphis
where she started performing solo. Her 2006 debut was titled “This World Is Not
My Home.” In 2008, she released “Anchors & Anvils” which was produced by
veteran Memphis musician/producer Jim Dickinson. LaVere also played pioneering
rockabilly femme Wanda Jackson in “Walk the Line” and appeared in Craig Brewer's film “Black Snake
Moan.“ Her latest, “Runaway’s Diary,” is inspired in part by a very short but
real runaway experience LaVere embarked upon as a teenager.
Marti Jones - Marti
Jones’s career began with the Ohio-based band Color Me Gone and has continued
with a string of solo releases (including a pair on A&M Records) produced
by her husband, Don Dixon. She toured with singer/songwriter Amy Rigby in 2005
(as “The Cynical Girls”) and is also an accomplished painter. In 2003, Dixon
took a detour into film and starred in Todd Graff's 2003 film Camp. Her latest
solo release, "You're Not The Bossa Me," is a quirky exploration of
her longstanding love for Bossa Nova music.