Category Archives: Press Release

OST: Smokey and the Bandit I & II

Soundtracks to legendary Burt Reynolds films finally on CD

Smokey and the Bandit was originally developed by stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham as a cheap B-movie with singer-actor Jerry Reed as the star. But with the signing of box office dynamo Burt Reynolds, Reed was demoted to second banana, Universal quintupled the budget, and the film went on to gross more than $300 million worldwide. The soundtrack was scored by Nashville legend Bill Justis, and includes three vocal titles by Jerry Reed. The latter’s “East Bound and Down” became a signature song, and is included here in a second variation titled “West Bound and Down.” Reed also detailed the Bandit’s earlier adventures in “The Legend” and sings Dick Feller’s ballad, “The Bandit.” Justis mixes original country instrumentals with covers of chestnuts, including Ervin T. Rouse’s “Orange Blossom Special” and Jerry Wallace’s 1972 hit, “If You Leave Me Tonight I’ll Cry, with uncredited fiddle and steel players who are excellent throughout the album.

The 1980 sequel, Smokey and the Bandit II, didn’t have the box office power of the original, but its soundtrack spun off a number of hits, including Jerry Reed’s “Texas Bound and Flyin’,” the Statler Brothers’ “Charlotte’s Web” and Tanya Tucker’s “Pecos Promenade.” The Snuff Garrett-supervised soundtrack album also includes performances by Don Williams, Mel Tillis, Brenda Lee, Roy Rogers with the Sons of the Pioneers and Burt Reynolds, the latter of whom scraped onto the country chart with “Let’s Do Something Cheap and Superficial.” The album’s two instrumentals, performed by the Bandit Band, included a mashup of “Dueling Banjos” and “Wildwood Flower” titled “Deliverance of the Wildwood Flower,” and an original co-written by Garrett and Nashville legend Jerry Kennedy titled “Pickin’ Lone Star Style.” Both of these soundtracks are good spins, though the sequel’s collection of vocal material will likely be more memorable for country music fans. [©2017 Hyperbolium]

Richard Buckner Wants to Play Your Living Room

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From RichardBuckner.com:

So, beginning in late January 2014, I’ll be traveling throughout Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona with my acoustic guitar, hollering & strumming into thin air to audiences weary of the intimate setting of the rock bar-ambienced dins of out-of-time cocktail-shaker-maracas, bachelorette parties and bar-side conversations about “who’s-that-guy-onstage-again?” and “Ten-bucks-to-get-in-and-it’s-just-a-bunch-of-dudes-shushing-me-when-I-try-and-tell-you-about-my-new-hilarious-fantasy-football-team-name!”. In between the shows, I’ll also be working on my latest collection of run-on sentences (containing parenthesis so I can cram in more unnecessarily-tangented details) featuring nouns disguised as adjectives. I like using determiners as well, but my therapist thinks that it adds to my issues (with over-explaining).

For more information on hosting a Richard Buckner show, visit Undertow.

13th Annual San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival

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PRESS RELEASE

San Francisco, CA-January 19, 2012-The eclectic blend of events booked for the 13th annual San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival (SFBOT) will raise up a bluegrass ruckus, create some old-time fun and guarantee some ass kickin’ music through performances, dances and workshops. The 10-day festival runs from Feb. 10-19 and comprises more than 30 shows at numerous small clubs around the Bay Area featuring some of the most talented musicians on the Americana and Roots music scene today.

Highlights of this year’s festival includes Bay Area favorites such as The Brothers Comatose, The Crooked Jades, Earl White String Band and the Kathy Kallick Quartet. Also featured are out-of-town bands; Foghorn Stringband, Cahalen Morrison & Eli West, and making their SFBOT debut, The Deadly Gentlemen (epic folk and grasscore out of Boston!). The Deadly Gentlemen consists of band members: Greg Liszt on banjo (from Crooked Still), Mike Barnett (from David Grisman Quintet/toured w/Jesse McReynolds) on fiddle, Dominick Leslie on mandolin, Stash Wyslouch on guitar and Sam Grisman on upright bass (son of mandolinist David Grisman).

For the first time the festival will feature a band contest which will bring out some of the up-and-coming new Northern California Bluegrass and Old-Time bands. There is a lot of excitement about this contest and it is expected to be a regular addition to the festival.

In addition to shows, the festival aims to provide rich experiences for Bay Area residents through workshops, jam sessions, kids shows, Bluegrass and Old-Time in the Schools and the Saturday night old-time square dance (always a sell-out with over 220 attendees)! Each year the Festival showcases the best in rising acts from the West Coast and beyond, with a special spotlight on the immense amount of local talent located right here in the Bay Area.

Thanks to a generous investment from the Chris and Warren Hellman Foundation, the festival committee continues its commitment to the Bluegrass and Old-time in the Schools program. The program aims to expose elementary and high school students to the worlds of bluegrass and old-time music and continue the legacy of this important music. Schools interested in bringing performers to their Bay Area location should contact the Volunteer Coordinator.

Unlike any other festival in the country, the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival is a grass-roots, non-profit, volunteer-run festival dedicated to keeping the tradition of bluegrass and old-time music alive. For more information on the festival, visit http://www.sfbluegrass.org.

Confirmed 2012 Acts
Foghorn Stringband, Jeff Kazor & Lisa Berman, Anne and Pete Sibley, Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, The Brothers Comatose, Emily Bonn and The Vivants, Water Tower Bucket Boys, BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand, The Bee Eaters, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West, Stairwell Sisters, Water Tower Bucket Boys, Erik Clampitt, The New Five Cents, Squirrelly Stringband, Evie Ladin, The Juncos, Houston Jones, Susie Glaze and the Hilonesome Band, Family Lines, Kathy Kallick Band Quartet, Taco Jam, Anne & Pete Sibley, The Trespassers, Windy Hill, Snap Jackson & the Knock On Wood Players, Kleptograss, Knuckle Knockers, The Alhambra Valley Band , Redwing, The ONs, Misisipi Mike & the Midnight Gamblers, Mad Cow String Band, Misisipi Rider, Sweetback Sisters, James Nash and the Nomads, SUPERMULE, Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys, Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally, Misner & Smith, Jeanie and Chuck Poling, The Earl Brothers, Henhouse Prowlers, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West, Gayle Schmitt and the Toodala Ramblers, Rita Hosking and Cousin Jack, Evie Ladin, The Blushin’ Roulettes, Earl White Stringband, Black Crown Stringband, Jordan Ruyle, Pine Box Boys, The Jugtown Pirates, Hang Jones, Dark Hollow, The Crooked Jades, The Deadly Gentlemen

2012 Schedule
(*) Indicates Marin County Show

Friday, February 10
SF Live Arts at Cyprian’s SFBOT Kickoff — Foghorn Stringband, Jeff Kazor & Lisa Berman, Anne and Pete Sibley 7:30 pm at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, 2097 Turk Street, San Francisco — $16 adv/$18 doors
Big Ass Hillbilly Show — Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, The Brothers Comatose, Emily Bonn and The Vivants 8:00 pm at Slim’s, 333 11th Street, San Francisco — $15
*Down From the Mountain to Marin — Water Tower Bucket Boys, BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand 8:00 pm at Studio 55 Marin, 1455-A East Francisco Blvd, San Rafael — $12*
The Bee Eaters, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West 8:00 pm at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley– $20.50 adv / $22.50 doors

Saturday, February 11
Stairwell Sisters 8:00 pm at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley — $20.50 adv / $22.50 doors
Portland Invasion — Water Tower Bucket Boys, Erik Clampitt, The New Five Cents 9:00 pm at Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco — $13 adv / $15 doors

Sunday, February 12
Family Square Dance with Squirrelly Stringband & Evie Ladin — Squirrelly Stringband, Evie Ladin 12:00 pm at North Oakland Community Charter School, 1000 42nd St., Oakland — $5 kid / $10 adult / $25 family
The Juncos 4:30 pm at Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco — $10 suggested donation
*Folk Grass Fusion Marin — Houston Jones, Susie Glaze and the Hilonesome Band, Family Lines 8:00 pm at Studio 55 Marin, 1455-A East Francisco Blvd, San Rafael — $12*

Monday, February 13
Kathy Kallick Band Quartet, Susie Glaze and the Hilonesome Band 8:00 pm at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley — $20.50 adv / $22.50 doors
Taco Jam 8:00 pm at Baja Taqueria, 4070 Piedmont Ave, Oakland — Free

Tuesday, February 14
*Valentine’s Day Show in Marin — Foghorn Stringband, Anne & Pete Sibley 8:00 pm at Studio 55 Marin, 1455-A East Francisco Blvd, San Rafael — $12*

Wednesday, February 15
Hump Day Bluegrass — The Trespassers, Windy Hill, Snap Jackson & the Knock On Wood Players, BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand 8:00 pm at Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco — $13 adv / $15 doors
Kleptograss 8:00 pm at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley — $20.50 adv / $22.50 doors
Knuckle Knockers 8:00 pm at Iron Springs Pub and Brewery, 765 Center Blvd, Fairfax — Free

Thursday, February 16
The Alhambra Valley Band , Redwing, The ONs 7:00 pm at Armando’s, 707 Marina Vista, Martinez — $15
Honky-Tonk Showdown: The Country-Bluegrass Show — Misisipi Mike & the Midnight Gamblers, Mad Cow String Band, Misisipi Rider, Sweetback Sisters 8:00 pm at Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco — $13 adv / $15 doors
Blue Ribbon Showcase — James Nash and the Nomads, SUPERMULE 9:00 pm at Brick and Mortar Music Hall, 1710 Mission Street San Francisco — $7 adv / $10 doors

Friday, February 17
Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys 12:00 am at The Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley — $10-$15 sliding scale
Duo Night — Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally, Misner & Smith, Jeanie and Chuck Poling 7:30 pm at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, 2097 Turk Street, San Francisco — $16 adv/$18 doors
Bluegrass Bonanza! — The Earl Brothers, Henhouse Prowlers, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West 8:00 pm at Plough & Stars, 116 Clement Street, San Francisco — $10-$15 sliding scale

Saturday, February 18
Kid’s Show — Gayle Schmitt and the Toodala Ramblers 2:00 pm at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, 2097 Turk Street, San Francisco — $9/adults; $6/kids under 12
Americana Angels — Rita Hosking and Cousin Jack, Evie Ladin, The Blushin’ Roulettes 7:30 pm at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, 2097 Turk Street, San Francisco — $16 adv/$18 doors
Old-Time Square Dance — Earl White Stringband, Black Crown Stringband, Jordan Ruyle 8:00 pm at Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco
Alt-Bluegrass Show — Pine Box Boys, The Jugtown Pirates, Hang Jones 9:00 pm at Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco — $13 adv / $15 doors

Sunday, February 19
Dark Hollow 4:30 pm at Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco — $10 suggested donation
Festival Closing Night — The Crooked Jades, The Deadly Gentlemen 8:00 pm at Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco — $15

Festival Home Page

4th Annual Beatles Complete On Ukulele Concert

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PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, NY: The 4th Annual Beatles Complete On Ukulele Marathon Concert returns to Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday January 14, 2012 from 3-11 PM. Every Original Beatle Song (185) will be performed by some of New York’s top players sprinkled with a star or two. Previous shows have featured Nellie McKay, Ben Kweller, The Pierces, The Naked Brothers Band, Ryan Miller of Guster and many, many more.

The event is produced by Performance Philanthropist and Ukulele Master Roger Greenawalt, who has raised literally hundreds of dollars for the likes of Yoko Ono, EMI Records, and most famously, beloved billionaire Warren Buffett. Buffett used his 2009 donation to buy 17 ukuleles for at risk inner city youth through his daughter Susie’s pet charity, Girls Inc. of Omaha.

This year’s beneficiary is the world’s leading investment bank, Goldman Sachs. Why give money to Goldman Sachs, when they already have so much? Greenawalt explains: “Unfortunately it appears that by entirely legal means, Goldman Sachs has been able to acquire The Government of The United States of America. It’s up to We The People to get creative. I have an idea that’s so crazy it might just work. It’s called Buy America Back from Wall Street!”

Based on past shows, Greenawalt feels confident that the concert will be able to comfortably raise somewhere in the neighborhood of “the high three figures.” Greenawalt hopes this will serve as an initial good faith gesture and down payment until The American People are able to come up with the other $14 trillion or so to Buy America Back from Wall Street. After the show, Greenawalt will personally deliver the cash to Goldman Sachs in a brown paper bag/photo opportunity just like he did with Warren Buffett.

Opening the festivities again this year will be the Mass Uke Mob, all audience members who show up between 2:00 and 2:30 with a ukulele will be admitted free. There will be a rehearsal and then the entire volunteer uke group will take to the stage to play together two easy three-chord Beatle songs, “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road,” and “All Together Now.”

This is a kid friendly event. Headliners TBA.

For more info see Greenawalt’s site, where he is rerecording uke versions of the entire Beatles catalog: beatlescompleteonukulele.com

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY
www.brooklynbowl.com

Where in the world is Richard Buckner’s next record?

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It’s been five years since Richard Buckner release his last album, Meadow. Five years filled with crushed opportunities, murderous accusations, larceny and equipment failure. Finally, on August 2nd, Our Blood, hits the shelves in both digital and analog form. Here’s the press release:

Since 2006’s Meadow, fans of Richard Buckner have been clamoring for new material and wondering what was keeping their hero from releasing the new songs he would perform on the road. Well, it’s a long story!

First, there was the score to a film that never happened. Then there was a brief brush with the law over a headless corpse in a burned-out car that had all eyes in Buckner’s small hometown in upstate New York turned toward him and his long-suffering truck. Shortly after a move to a safer, less popular corpse dumping ground, the death of his tape machine led to yet another reboot. After Richard called in pedal steel and percussion players and put new mixes on his laptop, his new “safer” place was burglarized. Goodbye, laptop.

Buckner says: “Eventually, the recording machine was resuscitated and some of the material was recovered. Cracks were patched. Parts were redundantly re-invented. Commas were moved. Insinuations were re-insinuated until the last percussive breaths of those final OCD utterances were expelled like the final heaves of bile, wept-out long after the climactic drama had faded to a somber, blurry moment of truth and voilà!, the record was done, or, let us be clear, abandoned like the charred shell of a car with a nice stereo.”

And so finally, we present Our Blood, to be released on CD and LP on August 2, 2011. This is the first Richard Buckner album to be released on vinyl!

Check out this track from the upcoming album.

MP3 | Traitor
Richard Buckner’s Home Page

Teenage Fanclub meets Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

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PRESS RELEASE

Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and Euros Childs (Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) are pleased to announce details of their debut album together as Jonny. Inter-twining the musical DNA of two of Britain’s most gifted songwriters, Jonny’s debut album proclaims the advent of an irresistibly infectious new strain of psychedelic pop. The self-titled, co-written album will be released via digital download on February 1st and in stores on April 12.

Blake’s Teenage Fanclub and Childs’ Gorky’s toured together in 1997, and when Blake contributed guitar and vocal harmonies to Gorky’s bitter-sweet How I Long To Feel That Summer In My Heart in 2001, Euros remembers “it just felt like he was part of the band… from that point on it always felt like we might do something together in the future, it just took a few years to actually get it organized”. Euros eventually made it up to Norman’s house in Glasgow in 2006 to record “what we thought was an EP”, and the duo played a handful of rapturously received live shows, before finally getting down to putting a whole album together early in 2010.

The album artwork (image above) is also revealed to be the inspiration behind their unusual name. Blake came across the image on a friend’s website “and thought it would make a great record sleeve… and name for a band.” “Sleeve first, band-name after”, confirms Childs, “that’s always the best way.”

To kick things off, Jonny are giving away a free, four-track download EP of non-album songs.

MP3 | Gloria
MP3 | Beach Party
MP3 | Continental
MP3 | Michaelangelo

Charlie Louvin Benefit

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PRESS RELEASE

BELL BUCKLE, TENN. — Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Louvin of the legendary Louvin Brothers is fighting pancreatic cancer.

In an effort to help defray Louvin’s astronomical medical costs, the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall in historic Bell Buckle, Tenn., is hosting a benefit concert and auction Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010 from noon to 9 p.m.   The event will be hosted by Louvin and Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike.

“Charlie Louvin is a significant treasure to American music and a dear friend,” said Smith.  “His music has brightened the lives of so many of us.  It’s an honor to be able to give something back.”

Confirmed performers include: Ed Bruce, writer of the hit song “Mama’s, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” and the actor who played the sheriff on the popular TV program Maverick; and Indiana bluegrass music legends the Wildwood Valley Boys.  The complete schedule will be announced soon at BellBuckleBanquetHall.com.

The auction will be from 2 to 5 p.m. and will be conducted by Jerry Shelton, Johnny Foster and Tom Waynick from Shelton Auction & Realty of Shelbyville, Tenn.  Louvin has donated a guitar and autographed posters to the auction.

Thanks to the following businesses for donating items to the auction:  From Shelbyville:  Kincaid’s; Celebration Travel; Christopher Equipment; Discount Arts and Frames; Shelbyville Record Shop; Barr’s; Hoover Paint; Smith Country Ham; New Covenant Bookstore; Badcock’s; Victory Nissan; Heritage Jewelers; J. Jordan Boutique; Haynes Lumber; and First Community Bank.  From Wartrace, Tenn.:  Gallagher Guitars.  From Manchester, Tenn.:  Hoover’s Jewelers; Smoots Flowers & Gifts; Home Depot; Russell Stover Candies and Foothills Crafts.  From Bell Buckle, Tenn.:  Vera’s Pearls; The Cat’s Meow; and Phillips General Store.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Dan Hays and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) of Nashville, Tenn., for donating two VIP packages to next year’s IBMA awards show at the Ryman Auditorium and two VIP passes to the IBMA FanFest, which is held annually at the Nashville Convention Center.

More items are being added to the auction daily.  To donate, call Martha Akers of the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall at (931) 389-0223.

Tickets are $10 and available at the world-famous Bell Buckle Cafe in Bell Buckle, Tenn., or by calling the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall at (931) 389-0223.

Food will be available for sale from the the world-famous Bell Buckle Cafe in downtown Bell Buckle, Tenn., with all proceeds going to the Louvin family.

Seven-time IBMA “Female Vocalist of the Year” Rhonda Vincent is hosting a silent auction on her website, with all proceeds going to the Louvin family.  Items include a Martin guitar signed by Vincent as well as autographed posters and Martha White memorabilia as well as an autographed copy of Vincent’s brand new album Taken.

The Louvin Brothers (Charlie and Ira) had a string of country hits throughout the 1950s and early ’60s including “When I Stop Dreamin’, “I Don’t Believe You Met My Baby,” and “My Baby’s Gone.”  Their music heavily influenced such groups as the Everly Brothers, the Byrds and even the Beatles.

After Ira’s tragic death in an auto accident, Charlie Louvin continued on in his solo career until the present day, regularly hosting the Grand Ole Opry and the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree on WSM 650 AM as well as touring throughout the country and around the world.

The Louvin Brothers are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

On Tour: Scott Miller

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In support of his new release For Crying Out Loud, former V-Roy Scott Miller hits the rails for an East Coast tour.

MP3 | Heart in Harm’s Way

May 9 NEW ORLEANS, LA Amtrak Station, 5:30 p.m. (full band)
May 13 GREENVILLE, SC Handlebar (solo)
May 15 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA Gravity Lounge (solo)
May 16 WASHINGTON, DC/ALEXANDRIA, VA Iota (solo)
May 17 EASTON, MD Night Cat (solo)
May 19 PHILADELPHIA, PA World Café (solo)
May 20 NEW YORK, NY The Living Room

Press Release