Nashville, Tenn. — Joey+Rory, along with Grammy-award winning producer Carl Jackson, have put the finishing touches on their debut album, “The Life Of A Song,” to be released by Vanguard/Sugar Hill Records on October 28th. Having produced such greats as Alison Krauss and Merle Haggard, Jackson proved the perfect choice to help husband and wife team Rory Feek and Joey Martin create a traditional country album, seasoned with acoustic elements and equal doses of humor and sincerity.

“Working with Joey+Rory is a total joy for me,” states Jackson. “They are the real deal, not an act simply called ‘country’ whose music contradicts that label. What makes it even more special is that I believe the only thing they love more than a great country song is each other.”

Joey+Rory are nothing if not authentic; “The Life Of A Song” might be listened to as a soundtrack to their simple country lifestyle. The couple resides in an 1870’s farmhouse in tiny Hardison Mill, TN, where Joey helps run a nearby family restaurant called Marcy Jo’s Mealhouse. Perfectly in their element, Joey+Rory sing of scuffed cowboy boots (”Boots”), dusty rodeo arenas (”Rodeo”), and cherished vinyl records (”Sweet Emmylou”). They beg the listener to sing or dance along (the brash and buoyant “Cheater Cheater”) before hushing the room with the lovely austerity of “Heart of the Wood.” Even the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Free Bird” is putty reinvented in the hands of this pair, as adventurous as they are respectful of country music’s roots.

Together, the couple contributed their songwriting talents to seven of the album’s 12 tracks, including the lead single, “Cheater Cheater.” Already an established songwriter and founding partner of Nashville publishing company Giantslayer Music, Rory has three #1 hits to his credit (Blake Shelton’s “Some Beach”, Clay Walker’s “The Chain of Love” and Collin Raye’s “Someone You Used To Know”), and has had cuts by Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Terri Clark, Mark Wills, Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Lorrie Morgan, Buck Owens, John Michael Montgomery and Charlie Pride, among others.

Joey, who performs lead vocals for the duo, is also a veteran recording artist (previously signed to Sony Records, her debut album and single were never released). The pair only started performing as a duo for the audition of CMT’s hit series Can You Duet in early 2008. The pairing proved to be a hit with thousands of fans as well as Naomi Judd, one of the show’s judges and Joey+Rory’s most fervent supporter. CMT is now home to Joey+Rory’s debut video for “Cheater Cheater,” currently in medium rotation.

To hear audio samples of Joey+Rory visit them on MySpace.

Share This

Nashville, Tenn. — Levon Helm and Alison Krauss & Robert Plant were among the winners at tonight’s Americana Music Association’s 7th Annual Honors & Awards show at Nashville’s Historic Ryman Auditorium. Appearing at the festivities to pick up two awards for their critically-acclaimed “Raising Sand” Krauss and Plant won Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year.

• Album of the Year: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant — “Raising Sand”
• Artist of the Year: Levon Helm
• Duo/Group of the Year: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
• Instrumentalist of the Year: Buddy Miller
• New Emerging Artist of the Year: Mike Farris
• Song of the Year: “She Left Me for Jesus” by Hayes Carll and Brian Keane

Additional Lifetime Achievement Honors were given to:

• Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music - Joan Baez
• Lifetime Achievement — Songwriting - John Hiatt
• Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement — Executive - Terry Lickona
• Lifetime Achievement — Performance - Jason & The Scorchers
• Presidents Award - Jerry Garcia
• Lifetime Achievement — Instrumentalist - Larry Campbell
• Trailblazer — Nanci Griffith
• Lifetime Achievement — Producer / Engineer - Tony Brown

The spirited three hour program was hosted by two-time Americana Honors & Awards and Grammy recipient Jim Lauderdale. Award winner Buddy Miller also returned as the band leader. Other special guests included Ryan Bingham and Joe Ely, The Sam Bush Band, Kane, Welch and Kaplan, The SteelDrivers, Tift Merritt, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer, Justin Townes Earle, James McMurtry, Miller and Robert Plant, and Steve Earle and Alison Moorer.

Photos are available at http://www.americanamusic.org

The event was broadcast live on XM Satellite Radio and amazon.com. BBC 2 Radio will also broadcast the show at a later date.

The 7th Annual Honors & Awards show was produced by Claire Armbruster and Jed Hilly and is part of the four day and night annual Americana Festival and Conference. For a complete list of nominees, showcase performers and a conference schedule, go to: http://www.americanamusic.org

Share This

Nashville, Tenn. — The Americana Music Association is proud to announce plans to celebrate the legacy of the Grateful Dead at this week’s ninth annual conference and music festival in Nashville. At Thursday night’s Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium, Jerry Garcia will be named the recipient of the 2008 AMA President’s Award, a posthumous lifetime achievement recognition for innovation in American roots music. Following the awards, the AMA and Relix magazine co-host a huge tribute show with San Francisco’s The Waybacks and The American Beauty Project, featuring Ollabelle, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Campbell, Buddy Miller and several surprise guests.

AMA President Jessie Scott of Sirius XM Satellite Radio selected Garcia for this year’s award based on his many contributions to Americana music, as part of the Grateful Dead and as a collaborator in acoustic music. “Jerry Garcia championed the roots,” Scott says. “From the Americana infused Dead albums to his collaborations with David Grisman, his love for the archetypes of American music shines through.”

Relix magazine will sponsor the musical tribute to the Dead beginning at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Cannery Ballroom, immediately following the Americana Honors & Awards. The Waybacks will kick off the evening. This Bay Area quartet has enjoyed fruitful on-stage collaborations with Dead founder Bob Weir over the last couple of years, and they’ll bring that spirit to their acoustic/electric music rooted in country and blues.

Next up, the American Beauty Project is a collective of remarkable artists who have gathered on several occasions to cover the historic albums the Grateful Dead released in 1970: American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead. They’ve earned praise in the New York Times, Variety and Relix magazine as a true re-imagining of groundbreaking songs that were meant to be interpreted and shared. The musicians include the passionate folk group Ollabelle, legendary multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell, star Nashville songwriter Jim Lauderdale and delicious singers Catherine Russell and Teresa Williams. Awards show band leader and Americana superstar Buddy Miller will be there, plus special guests you won’t want to miss.

The Ninth Annual Americana Festival and Conference will offer seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center by day, while each evening brings more than 80 stacked Americana showcases. The Americana Music Association is a professional trade organization whose mission is to provide a forum for the advocacy of Americana music and to promote public awareness of the genre to support the creative and economic viability of professionals in this field.

Share This

The Americana Music Association announced today comprehensive and pragmatic greening initiatives to take place during next week’s festival, Sept. 17-20, in Nashville. Not only will there be recycling, but there will be a daily schedule of panels at the conference devoted to green ways of living, touring and promoting.

There will be workshops and panels including the legendary Sam Bush speaking on the Greening of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Kathy Mattea presenting highlights from “An Inconvenient Truth”, and The Duhks sharing their experiences on green touring, just to name a few. The panels, coordinated by Atlanta based Change of Atmosphere, will be presented daily at the festival.

Also offered at this year’s Americana Music Conference and Festival is recycling for festival goers. Nashville environmentalist Paula Larson coordinated recycling initiatives with the Ryman Auditorium, Mercy Lounge, Cannery Ballroom, and the Nashville Convention Center, in conjunction with the generous support of Metro Nashville Public Works providing recycling trailers and bins for use. For several of these venues, this will be their first time recycling.

Numerous organizations have lent their support to the Americana Green initiative including Planet Bluegrass, New Belgium Brewery, Kilowatt Ours, Local Table, E3 Innovate LLC, Change of Atmosphere, WRLT Lightning 100’s Team Green, Bridgestone Americas, Tree Sound Studios, NTS Promedia, MusicMatters, XM Radio, Dogwood Alliance, ASK Apparel, Bonnaroo, Open Dome Productions, Vanderbilt Biodiesel Collective, and Seven-Star.

Slated for September 17-20, 2008, the 9th Annual Americana Festival and Conference will offer seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center by day, while each evening brings stacked Americana showcases. Legend Levon Helm will officially jump start the festivities Wednesday, September 17 with his Ramble at the Ryman, and the capstone of the festival will take the form of the annual Americana Music Association Honors and Awards, scheduled for September 18 at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

Tickets are now available for the Levon Helm Ramble at the Ryman and the Americana Honors & Awards show at Ticketmaster and the Ryman box office for $65 or $45 and $45, respectively.

For the latest additions to showcase lineups, ticket purchasing and more information about the Americana Music Festival and Conference, please visit http://www.americanamusic.org/.

About the Americana Music Association
The Americana Music Association is a professional trade organization whose mission is to provide a forum for the advocacy of Americana music and to promote public awareness of the genre to support the creative and economic viability of professionals in this field. Dedicated to building and promoting the Americana genre and the individuals who participate in that industry, the Americana Music Association works closely with artists, labels, radio stations, retailers, print media, festivals, agents,

Share This

Bill Kirchen will appear at the Bedrock 66 Live Concert Series in Springfield, IL. Sept. 19.

Springfield, IL — The Titan of the Telecaster, Bill Kirchen will kick off the WUIS 91.9 FM Bedrock 66 Live fall concert series with a September 19 performance at the Hoogland Center for the Arts on the campus of the Univerity of Illinois at Springfield. Tickets are $16.50 and available by calling the Hoogland Center Box Office at 217-523-2787 or online at tickets.scfta.org/ Showtime for the Bill Kirchen concert is 8:00 p.m.

About Bill Kirchen

Bill Kirchen has become widely known for the trademark big-rig guitar riffs that powered the Commander Cody hit Hot Rod Lincoln into the Top 10 in 1972. Since 1993, he has recorded seven critically acclaimed albums of his own that have made him one of the musical elder statesmen of todays Americana music, which in truth was pioneered by acts like Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen back in the 70s.

For his new album, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods on Proper Records, Kirchen puts the accent on songwriting, a talent that is sometimes overshadowed by his dazzling instrumental virtuosity. I felt it was time to write some songs that cut closer to the bone, he says. And on such moving numbers as Rocks Into Sand and One More Day, he succeeds admirably. All told, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods is the culmination of one very rich American musical life.

On Hammer…, the man known as The King of Dieselbilly and A Titan of the Telecaster visits most every sonic landmark along the proverbial Route 66 of American music that hes traveled for decades now as a player, songwriter and singer, and serves up a blue-plate special of such tasty and nourishing stylistic flavors as rock n roll, honky-tonk, soul, rockabilly, Western swing, country, blues, boogie-woogie and more. The set captures the essence of Kirchen as a devastating culmination of the elegant and funky, as hes described by his longtime friend and compatriot Nick Lowe, one of the noted musicians who plays on Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods.

Kirchen has appeared on record and stage with a whos who of musical talents that includes Lowe, Doug Sahm, Ralph Stanley, Gene Vincent, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Hornsby, Hoyt Axton and fellow six-string heroes Link Wray and Danny Gatton. At the recent Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, Bill played guitar with Elvis Costello, who named his band for the event the Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods after Bills upcoming release, and featured Bill singing the title song. Kirchen was nominated for a 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his song Poultry in Motionand inducted the next year into the Washington (D.C.) Area Music Association Hall of Fame alongside John Phillip Sousa and Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. He has lectured at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the 1998 International Conference on Elvis Presley in Memphis, and is featured in the TNN special Yesterday and Today: Honky-Tonk & Western Swing.

The Dieselbilly king is especially known for exhilarating live performances at festivals and venues across North America and Europe. The tour de force of every Bill Kirchen show is his extended rendition of Hot Rod Lincoln on which like an impassioned preacher in a souped-up convertible, as Washington City Paper describes it, he cites the guitar styles of such six-string giants as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Scotty Moore, Carl Perkins and Jimi Hendrix, while also referencing riffs by everyone from Merle Haggard to the Rolling Stones to Flatt & Scruggs to the Sex Pistols.

Share This