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WoodSongs 872: Ben Sollee and Luke Bulla Mar 30, 2017

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BEN SOLLEE featuring Jordan Ellis finds this innovative Kentucky cellist and genre-bending songwriter teaming up with his longtime collaborator, drummer Jordon Ellis. The two dive deep into heavy cello and drum grooves, adventurous instrumentals, and achingly beautiful songs on Ben�s first full-length studio album in four years �Infowars.� Sollee and Ellis were on a quest to capture the energy and dynamics that inhabits their live performances. It is a record that both broadens and extends the songwriter�s already eclectic sound by incorporating electronics, field recordings, and samples to a create a cinematic quality that defies genre. LUKE BULLA has been singing and playing music most of his life. He won the National Fiddle Contest six times as a kid and won the Grand Champion division at age sixteen, making him the youngest to have earned the title at the time. As a full-time Nashville resident since 1999, Luke has enjoyed playing fiddle with Ricky Skaggs and his band, Kentucky Thunder, as well as other wonderful musicians including Earl Scruggs, Lee Ann Womack, Brandi Carlile, Kevin Costner, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush. Luke has completed his seventh season touring with Lyle Lovett in the world famous Large Band. As a solo artist, Luke's debut on the Pure Music Nashville label, 'Who Loves You Better�, was released early this year. WoodSongs Kid: Chapel Tinius of Bowling Green Kentucky is 16 and was crowned “Miss Kentucky Outstanding Teen� in 2016. She�s an incredible fiddle player and will be performing with the reigning Miss Kentucky winner Laura Jones who is also an extraordinary fiddler.

WoodSongs 871: Celebration of Mountain Dulcimer featuring Sarah Morgan and Bing Futch Mar 30, 2017

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The traditional mountain dulcimer, performed by two incredible artists and played like you have never heard it before! BING FUTCH plays the dulcimer like Jimi Hendrix. Using Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Native American flute, ukulele, drums and electronic effects, he deftly navigates the varied waters of traditional and modern Americana with passion, wit and a genuinely huge heart for sharing music with a crowd. Bing was awarded “Best Guitarist�� in the 2016 International Blues Challenge despite competing solely on the mountain dulcimer. SARAH MORGAN is the 2012 Mountain Dulcimer National Champion. She has also won other titles, including Mid-Eastern Region Mountain Dulcimer Champion, Kentucky State Mountain Dulcimer Champion, and Southern Region Mountain Dulcimer Champion. Backing traditional Appalachian melodies and haunting old time tunes with fresh harmonies and a progressive drive, she lends a new feel to seemingly "old" tunes, while accompanying pure and heartfelt vocals with the unpretentious sound of the Appalachian dulcimer. WoodSongs Kid: David Robb is a talented 12-year-old mountain dulcimer musician from Evansville, Indiana.

WoodSongs 870: Joshua Messick and Holly Bowling Mar 30, 2017

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JOSHUA MESSICK is a North Carolina-based National Hammered Dulcimer Champion. Creativity flows with dynamic passion as he weaves progressive, cinematic stylings & modern techniques into traditional melodies, original compositions, & powerful improvisations and breathes new life into an ancient, enchanting instrument. A beautiful and captivating listening experience, Joshua�s musical artistry is influenced by Celtic, World, Renaissance, Folk, and Classical music. His new album �Woodland Dance� is an instrumental outlook of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He will be joined be world class percussionist River Guerguerian. HOLLY BOWLING is a classically trained pianist who began playing piano at the age of five. There�s one major distinction, however, that separates her from other similarly studied musicians. That is Holly�s devotion to the legendary rock band Phish. Last year, Bowling released �Distillation Of A Dream: The Music Of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano� to wide acclaim. So it only seems fitting that she turns her attention to the music of The Grateful Dead for her second album �Better Left Unsung�. "Franklin�s Tower," "The Other One" and "China Doll," are among the songs Bowling recorded for the album, in addition to an entire solo piano arrangement of the "Terrapin Station" suite.

WoodSongs 869: Exile and Martin Family Circus Mar 30, 2017

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EXILE formed in 1963 looking to play small clubs in Richmond, Kentucky, but managed to top both the pop and country charts during their over 50 year-long career. Their most successful hit, “Kiss You All Over,� spent four weeks at the top of Billboard�s pop chart in 1978. In the early 1980�s EXILE start to focus on country music. During their run on the country charts EXILE has successfully had ten No. 1 singles including “I Don�t Want To Be A Memory� and “Give Me One More Chance.� They have toured with acts including Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Gatlin Brothers and The Judds. The 5 original EXILE members reformed in 2008 and continue to tour today. Current members of the band include J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman. THE MARTIN FAMILY CIRCUS is vocal-driven melodic band of 2 parents and 4 kids ranging in age from 9-18 with a rich soaring blend of family harmonies which Rolling Stone magazine calls “exuberant.� Dad, Grammy-winning artist Paul Martin and lead singer/guitarist of country-pop group Exile, and Mom Jaime, daughter of Duane Allen of Country Music Hall of Fame members The Oak Ridge Boys, began singing together with their four children in 2010. Quickly realizing that the kids all showed an uncanny knack for hearing harmonies and pitch, as well as for playing instruments, they began performing shows together. They were soon dubbed the Martin Family Circus by Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill. The band's newest CD project is 'Past, Present, Future'.

WoodSongs 868: Eric Johnson and The Gonzalo Bergara Quartet Mar 30, 2017

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ERIC JOHNSON has long been hailed as one of the world�s preeminent electric guitarists with a Grammy Award and five nominations, platinum album, Top 10 hits like “Cliffs Of Dover,� and praise from critics and the esteem of his peers. Johnson now celebrates his acoustic side with his 12th album EJ. His first completely unplugged album is also his most immediate and intimate. Eric will be performing on WoodSongs solo on acoustic guitar and piano. THE GONZALO BERGARA QUARTET plays a modern variant of 1930�s Django Reinhardt-inspired gypsy jazz. Composer and lead guitarist Gonzalo Bergara mixes a cascade of arpeggios with the sounds of Paris and his native Argentina. WoodSongs Kid: Emma Mosley is a 16-year-old guitar wiz from Austin, Texas.

WoodSongs 867: The Harp Twins and Dawg Yawp Mar 30, 2017

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THE HARP TWINS have achieved extraordinary success by taking Electric Harps and acoustic Concert Grand Harps to unprecedented levels and smashing boundaries between different genres of music. The duo has amassed over 800,000 fans across their social media sites and over 40 million views on their YouTube music videos, making Camille and Kennerly the most followed and recognizable harp duo in the world. Mixing their virtuoso harp skills with their stunningly complex arrangements of rock, metal, and soundtrack hits, the Harp Twins deliver exciting and interactive performances audiences cannot forget! DAWG YAWP are a duo from Cincinnati that mixes the sitar, one of the oldest instruments on earth, with guitars, obscure analog synthesizers, Electronica and sweet vocals. Tyler Randall and Rob Keenan forged a teenage friendship avoiding schoolwork by learning to play a myriad of musical of instruments and writing songs in their parent�s basements.They excelled at it and both attended the Berklee School of Music, dropped out searching for adventure � and Tyler hit the woodshed with his Sitar. The Cincinnati duo�s self-titled debut LP is out this fall via Old Flame Records. It�s a one of kind psychedelic folk and bluegrass experience. WoodSongs Kid: Benjamin Barker is a 15-year-old hammered dulcimer player from Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

WoodSongs 866: Kelsey Waldon and K Phillips Mar 30, 2017

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KELSEY WALDON hails from Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky. Her 2014 debut �The Goldmine� announced the Kentucky singer-songwriter as a disciple of Tammy and Loretta, with yearning vocals and hints of barroom twang. The Washington Post calls her "country's coolest young voice�. She has been featured in Rolling Stone's Ten Artists to Watch, Relix, Billboard and iTunes 25 Artists To Make You Like Country Music list. Don Henley recently cited her as one of the new young artists that keeps him encouraged about the future of music. She just released the follow up to her critically acclaimed debut album �I�ve Got a Way� which is already receiving high praise from critics and fans. K PHILLIPS was born in West Texas. He started playing guitar and writing songs at age 5 and began playing organ and piano in bar bands at age 14. When K was 18 both his close friend and girlfriend died in separate drowning accidents. Reeling from these losses, he made the decision to pursue his own music. On his forth-coming sophomore LP �Dirty Wonder�, K has truly found his voice � a combination of Tom Waits' lyrical wit and Keith Richards� slinky country-rock hooks joined with K�s unique, compelling vocal delivery. He and his band recently finished a ten-week tour supporting Counting Crows and Rob Thomas. WoodSongs Kid: Maisy Reliford hails from Borden, Indiana. This 13-year-old plays fiddles and sings and has released a couple of singles with a record label in Nashville.

WoodSongs 865: Ted Yoder and Frank Vignola & Vinny Raviolio Mar 30, 2017

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TED YODER has revolutionized the hammered dulcimer through his pop symphonic approach on the instrument as a solo performer. He�s the National Hammered Dulcimer Champion whose highly engaged fanbase has nicknamed his innovative approach to playing popular songs “Yoderizing.� The Goshen, Indiana-based instrumentalist-composer-singer fifth self titled album was released early this year and was produced in Nashville with the fiery fiddling of Ricky Skaggs' violinist, Andy Leftwich. He recently had a video of the Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World� go viral with 50+ million views. FRANK VIGNOLA AND VINNY RAVIOLIO are two of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. Frank's stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, Mark O'Connor, Boston Pops, New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his "Five Most Admired Guitarists List" for the Wall Street Journal. Vinny Raniolo, at the age of 28, has already proved himself to be among the elite having performed and recorded with Bucky Pizzareli, Tommy Emmanuel and David Grisman just to name a few. Since Frank and Vinny teamed up in 2008 they have performed over 1000 shows at some of the most prestigious concert halls and festivals in the world.

WoodSongs 864: Bobby Rush and Dallahan Mar 30, 2017

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BOBBY RUSH is known as �The King of the Chitlin Circuit� and considered one of the greatest bluesman currently performing. Rush estimates that he has cut over 345 songs since he first began making music including first gold record in 1971 with a hit entitled “Chicken Heads.� He has been honored with three Grammy nominations, as well as ten Blues Music Awards and 41 nominations. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006. �Porcupine Meat� is Rush�s debut release for Rounder Records, and cements Bobby Rush�s legacy as blues� most vital artist of his generation. DALLAHAN is one of the fastest rising forces on the international folk circuit; heavily rooted in traditional Irish music, but with hugely diverse backgrounds and influences. They call on their mixed Irish, Scottish and Hungarian heritage to create a unique and seamless musical montage, drawing in influences from jazz, funk, pop and classical music. This Scottish band of award winning musicians latest release is �Matter Of Time�. WoodSongs Kid: Lissy Taylor was born in Staffordshire, England and now enjoys living in Lexington, Kentucky. This sixteen year-old has her own distinctive vocal sound and signature acoustic style.

WoodSongs 863: Kaia Kater and Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches Mar 30, 2017

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KAIA KATER is the new soul of traditional music. Born of African-Caribbean descent in Qu�bec, Kaia Kater grew up between two worlds: one her family�s deep ties to Canadian folk music in her Toronto home; the other the years she spent learning and studying Appalachian music in West Virginia. The songs on her new album �Nine Pin� are fueled by her rich low tenor vocals, jazz-influenced instrumentation, and beautifully understated banjo, and they�ve got as much in common with Kendrick Lamar right now as they do with Pete Seeger. No wonder Rolling Stone named her a new country artist you need to know. BANJO NICKARU & WESTERN SCOOCHES are NYC based band that bring everyone together for a high-spirited 1920's New Orleans style jamboree with their fearless melting pot of rhythmic banjo, slide guitar fused with Gullah-Geechee tambourines, beautiful female country lead singing and harmonized calypso vocalizations. Their brand new album is �Very Next Thing�. WoodSongs Kids: Giri and Uma Peters are award winning multi-instrumentalists siblings from Nashville, Tennessee.

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