The Dixie B-Liners  -   Friday, September 24, 2010

Audio Samples

Yellow-Haired Girl

She's My Angel

Why Do I Make You Cry

Artist Info

The Dixie Bee-Liners are known throughout the United States and beyond for their shatteringly beautiful original material and scorching onstage chemistry! Combining blues and folk-rock influences with bluegrass and old-time mountain music, this award-winning ensemble creates a sound which is "steeped in tradition, but with tones and rhythms that are very 21st century".  Expect a healthy dose of the band's original repertoire – bluegrass barn-burners, ballads, and instrumentals – as well as Appalachian standards that have become true American classics.

"Bluegrass mingles with blues, swing, and honky-tonk, .... Breezy but substantial, The Dixie Bee-Liners should appeal to fans of modern bluegrass and far beyond."  Bluegrass Unlimited

"You might not be familiar with this band yet, but if you like bluegrass in the style of Alison Krauss and Union Station you will need to check this one out. Lead singer Brandi Hart has all the range and soul of Krauss, with perhaps even more versatility. ….The Dixie Bee-Liners draw their sound from traditional bluegrass, but add a twist all their own…”  John Walker, Americana Roots

Robin and Linda Williams  -   Saturday, October 23, 2010

Audio Samples

50,000 Names

So Long See You Tomorrow

Buena Vista

Artist Info

Robin and Linda Williams are like your next-door neighbors - assuming your neighbors are the salt-of-the-earth and top-flight performers to boot. One minute you picture borrowing a cup of sugar from these two; the next, you're completely stunned by their jaw-dropping talent. Bottom line: You feel right at home at a Robin and Linda concert, and their music stays with you like an old friend.

Favorites of fans and promoters alike, they have crisscrossed the continent (and beyond) for more than three decades, performing the tunes they love & a hearty blend of bluegrass, folk, old-time and acoustic country. From The Grand Ole Opry to Austin City Limits, Music City Tonight to Mountain Stage, clubs, festivals and countless other venues, Robin and Linda never cease to wow audiences wherever they go.

Their chops don't stop at singing. They are first-class instrumentalists and superb songwriters, able to, as The Washington Post put it, "sum up a life in a few details with moving completeness." It's why their compositions have been recorded by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom T. Hall, Kathy Mattea, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, George Hamilton IV and The Seldom Scene. Irish singer Mary Black included their haunting "Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger" on her CD Full Tide.  

The couple met in 1971. Linda - originally from Alabama - was teaching school in South Carolina. Robin, who grew up in North Carolina, had been making the rounds on the national coffeehouse circuit. It wasn't long before they hit it off romantically. And the uncanny blend of their voices was icing on the cake. These days, they make their home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

R&L (as their pals are apt to call them) are in constant demand, along with Their Fine Group, which formed after they teamed up with former Red Clay Rambler Jim Watson (bass, vocals and mandolin). The fourth chair of the Fine Group is a rotating chair filled by Jimmy Gaudreau (veteran of The Country Gentlemen, J. D. Crowe, The Tony Rice Unit, Chesapeake and Aldridge, and Bennett & Gaudreau) on mandolin and mandola, Tony Williamson (mandolin), Chris Brashear (fiddle), and Tom Corbett (mandolin). Whatever the configuration, the band keeps the joint jumpin'. Robin and Linda Williams: dynamic, hilarious and better than ever.

Maura O'Connell  -   Saturday, November 13, 2010

Audio Samples

Summerfly

Down By the Salley Gardens

Blessing

Artist Info

Captivating stylist, introspective chanteuse, musical explorer, songwriter's singer...Labels have never fully defined the voice and talent of Maura O'Connell. Self-described as "just a singer," Maura’s multi decade singing career has brought her international acclaim, and two Grammy nominations - including a 2010 nomination for her album Naked.
Maura O’Connell began her professional musical journey as vocalist for the traditionally based Celtic group DeDanann. While in Dublin and on later trips to Nashville O’Connell met Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tim O'Brien, Jerry Douglas, and other top-flight acoustic players whose music resonated with her and influenced her then ground breaking musical penchant for blending Celtic traditions with a wide variety of other genres.

She has a self imposed mandate to always bring something new and exciting to everything she sings and her musical peers have led the cheering section for this simple yet eloquent philosophy. O'Connell has lent her incredible voice to the projects of such artists as Van Morrison, James Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, The Chieftains and Roseanne Cash. "Just a singer" ....indeed!