MUSICAL PERFORMERS 2008 – BIOS
Pam Blanchard and the Sunny Side Up Band
Sister Fleeta Mitchell and trio
Tabby Crabb
Splinter Belly
Cary Fridley and Down South
Mary Lomax and Bonnie Loggins
Doug and Telisha Williams
A hope for agoldensummer
Phil Tanner and the Skillet Lickers
The Corduroy Road
Lizzy Long and Llegacy
Tony Bryant
Packway Handle Band
Pam Blanchard and the Sunny Side Up Band
Athens, GA
http://www.sunnysideupband.com/
Pam Blanchard is the songwriter, lead
singer, and rhythm guitar player for the
band. She has won two honorable
mentions in the international John Lennon
Songwriting contest, and has been
awarded two Puffin Foundation grants for
her work with and for children. The songs
she writes are from a young child's
perspective, and along with that comes the
desire to move and interact. As you can
tell by those who have written in support
of the band, she is also an educator who has an amazing ability to engage a large group of
children while maintaining order.
The band is comprised of 5 other talented musicians: Danny Conkle, Joe Ellison, Kemp
Jones, Melinda Kershner and Michael Wegner, who turn each song into a musical
playground. They have produced 2 albums of music, and bring with them the ability to
play in any style: jazz, bluegrass, rock, funk, reggae, blues . . . They also bring the sounds
of over 13 instruments to young ears: drums, conga, percussion, keyboard, bass, acoustic
and electric guitars, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, saxophone, flute and clarinet. To top it
off, they add 3-part harmony. Last year, they produced an original play which featured
their music, 70 local school children, and was performed for 3 sold-out school shows at
the Oconee County Civic Center.
Mother Fleeta Mitchell, Rev. Willie Mae Eberhart, , Eddie
Ruth Pringle
Athens GA
Rev. Willie Mae Eberhart and Mother
Fleeta Mitchell of Athens have performed
several times at the North Georgia Folk
Festival, as well as at the Human Rights
Festival. Most of their singing is in
churches and at-home worship sessions.
Mother Mitchell has been playing piano
and singing for over 90 years, and can be
considered a living treasure of old-time
gospel and spiritual music. She sang and
recorded with her late husband, Rev.
Nathaniel Mitchell for decades: she met
him at the GA School for the Blind in
Macon; another musical schoolmate and long-time fried was Blind Willie McTell. Rev.
Eberhart sings in a fine Sanctified style and provides rhythm on tambourine and rubboard. Recently a church member, Eddie Ruth Pringle has returned from years living in
New York, and her high treble voice fills out the trio's sound nicely.
Tabby Crabb
Nashville, Tennessee / Leslie, Georgia
http://www.tabbycrabb.com/
Tabby Crabb was raised
in south Georgia and
started playing five-string
banjo when he was 12. It
was a home-made banjo
that his dad made. His
first nice banjo was from
Roger Sprung, a 1927
Gibson ball bearing. He
currently plays a hearts
and flowers five string
made by Rual Yarbrough,
former Bluegrass Boy and
banjo maker from Muscle
Shoals, Alabama. In 1980
Tabby was an
instrumentalist playing
acoustic guitar, dobro,
piano, and five-string with Mickey Gilley and The Urban Cowboy Band. The band got a
Grammy that year for their version of Orange Blossum Special from the movie, Urban
Cowboy. Tabby later moved to Nashville, Tennessee where in addition to working in the
studio with the Amazing Rhythm Aces, David Allan Coe, Keith Urban, Hank Cochran
and a number of others, in 2002 Tabby co-founded Nashville Folk Festival with Gypsy
Carns and the late Uncle Jim Calvin. Their public radio program "Nashville Folk Festival
On The Air", played in 31 states. In 2006, Tabby decided to leave Nashville and return to
south Georgia to be near his elderly mother just in case she needed him. Tabby had a half
dozen singles on the country charts in the mid 80s and a top 5 video on CMT in 1986. In
2004 he replaced Billy Joe Shaver in the film, yet to be released, "Blackbirds and
Blazers" starring David Allan Coe. He has appeared on stage with Willie Nelson, Bill
Monroe, Jerry Jeff Walker and many others. In 1972, Tabby's band Swamp Grass toured
south Vietnam as the last USO show to play the southeast Asia war zone. The past
decade Tabby has spent a lot of time producing short films and music video. In 2007 a
video he produced, "Wailing Wall," placed second at the Macon GA Film Festival.
Splinter Belly
Athens, Georgia
http://www.myspace.com/splinterbelly
This Athens band calls its sound
electric blue(s)grass. Dark and
driving roots music, heavy with
improvisation. A genre-bending
brand of Americana that incorporates
blues, bluegrass and folk tradition to
create its large catalog of original
music: tall fables of struggle and
redemption from Appalachia to the
Dust Bowl.
Cary Fridley and Down South
Asheville, NC
http://www.caryfridley.net/
The original and old songs I sing with Down South are all rooted in the country music
tradition, but they are also evolved from the purely traditional country songs I sang with
the Freight Hoppers in the 1990's. Down South connects with the sounds of earlier bands
like Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, and Patsy Cline, while
simultaneously reflecting modern times (now) through
country dancing and traditional vocals, which is what
those artists were doing in their careers in their day. These
country greats embodied their traditional heritage and
brought it to the mainstream in a fresh, new way. I've been
told my singing with Down South carries with it a sense
of the South and of the mountains, and the band brings the
dancing and fun music which has always been a tradition
in the culture. Most inspiring to me in the past few years
is Louisiana traditional country music, especially their use
of modern electric instruments, still keeping the traditional
elements and the soul of the music intact. Country music is powerful and real, and it is
very much alive and well in today's modern times. I feel very lucky to be able to
participate and have such great musicians around me to share it with. I will be returning
to the North Georgia Folk Festival after a decade of being away, representing country
music in the honky tonk way, a slightly different style from when I played there with the
old-timey Freight Hoppers in the late 1990's.
Mary Lomax and Bonnie Loggins
Alto, GA
Sisters Mary Lomax and Bonnie Loggins have sung all their lives, but their appearance at
last year's North Georgia Folk Festival was their first ever performance before a large
audience. Octogenarian Mary Lomax of Habersham County is arguably the finest
traditional Appalachian
ballad singer to emerge in
the 21st century. Her
repertoire-- learned mostly
from her father, Lemuel
Payne, at a time when
singing old songs at the
fireside after a day's work
was the main
entertainment--includes
many ballads from the
British tradition (including
10 Child ballads!),
American lyric, humorous,
and narrative ballads of
frontier days; she sings
several previously unrecorded songs. In the summer 2008 Old Time Herald, Bob
Buckingham wrote in his review of Art Rosenbaum's compilation Art of Field Recording:
"There is powerful ballad singing from Mary Lomax, a sweet looking woman in her
photographs, who can conjure the past and bring it to hair-raising reality in the present.
Her reading of "Lord Daniel" will have you looking over your shoulder, it is so
wonderfully eerie." Mary's sister, Bonnie Loggins, also sings several of the family songs;
as well she is a talented song and poem maker, as well as a self-taught visual artists.
Doug and Telisha Williams
Martinsville, Virginia
http://www.dandtw.com/
Doug and Telisha Williams have had an
incredible year. Not only have they seen
continued success for their debut album,
Rope Around My Heart, but they've shared
stages with some real legends. Lucinda
Williams, Darrell Scott, and Charlie Louvin
have all had D & T kick off their shows.
Honest grit mingled with a humble respect
comes through in songs of redemption,
struggle and sacrifice on their new record
Rope Around my Heart. Doug and Telisha gathered a stellar group of musicians to lend
their talents, including Darrell Scott, Dennis Crouch, Kenny Malone, Eamon McLoughlin
and Becki Williams. The project was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Miles
Wilkinson.
―I’m excited about this record, it’s very honest, almost raw,‖ says Doug, ―Some of these
songs come from pretty shadowy places.‖ Of course, it isn’t all dark and depressing,
―There are a couple of happy songs! Even a love song, and it’s honest, too!‖ notes
Telisha.
Telisha’s crystal-clear voice floats like a butterfly on a mountain breeze or thunders like a
freight train coming down the track. Doug’s guitar playing provides a perfect foundation
for either. There is a strong sense of urgency and purpose. It was a partnership that was
meant to be in more ways than one. Married and living in southwest Virginia, they tour
constantly around the South and up into the North, crossing ever-widening boundaries
with every step.
With their open, inviting personalities and intriguing stage presence, the duo is quickly
growing their fan base. First timers at their live shows feel like old friends and part of the
family after just a song or two. A single set of their music can bring audience members to
their feet in applause, to their knees in prayer, and back to the bar to buy another beer.
A hope for agoldensummer
Athens, Georgia
http://www.hopeforagoldensummer.com/
Hope For Agoldensummer is an indie-folk-family band, living and working in the fine
towns of Athens and
Atlanta, GA. A
junkyard-orchestra.
An anarchist-soulchoir. The defining
sound of the band lies
in the frighteningly
beautiful sibling
harmonies of sisters,
Claire and Page
Campbell; plus the
deepest twang &
washy reverb of Deb
Davis’ ancient guitar.
For nearly six years,
this trio of lasses has
journeyed the USA creating rusty melodies with all manner of instrumentation:
accordion, cookie-tin banjo, jangly percussion, glockenspiel, singing saw, piano and a
few old coke bottles.
Phil Tanner and the Skillet Lickers
Dacula, Georgia
Phil Tanner, grandson of original Skillet Lickers founder James "Gid" Tanner, will lead
today's Skillet Lickers, which was one of the first bands to be recorded in the old-time
tradition. Phil Tanner and the Skillet Lickers, a North Georgia string band, features a
mixture of old and new traditions as the "music changed and progressed," he said. The
original Skillet Lickers date back to the 1920s and were the pioneers of country music
with "Down Yonder" as the most popular tune, Rosenbaum said. "(Songs) still deal with
the same themes as the past - love, violence, dramatic events," Rosenbaum said. "Songs
about tornados, cyclones and train wrecks were made up and passed down." The band
will perform modern tunes along with older songs that often accompany square dancing,
he said. The more modern folk music, such as bluegrass, has been one of the biggest
influences on the group's sound over the generations, said Russell Tanner, a fourth
generation Tanner family member in the band. Tanner, a fiddler from Dacula, said CDs
and records have made it easier to get a hold of different styles and musicians. "(Phil
Tanner and the Skillet Lickers) is just fun, back porch type of music," he said. "And this
festival has always been one of our favorites."
The Corduroy Road
Athens, Georgia
http://www.myspace.com/thecorduroyroad
Since its inception by Drew Carman and Dylan Solise
in early 2006, The Corduroy Road has molded roots
Americana, folk rock, and old-time country with the
live energy of a rabid dog for the rawest of live
performances. The two, born and raised in the Central
Kentucky Bluegrass Region, now reside in the musical
gem of the southeast: Athens, GA.
They look to those who would teach them: the other
itinerant musicians they meet on the road, or the
masters who need but only one name – like Hank,
Cash, or Waylon – to be recognized. They look to
musical heroes, tucked away in back hollers in
forgotten hills.
They look to those like you: The Constant Listener.
You are what moves them.
The Corduroy Road is humble yet confident, and they seek only but one goal: to make
music that touches The Constant Listener, the way so much music has touched them.
The Corduroy Road has shared the stage with these great bands (among others): The
Avett Brothers, Paleface, The Packway Handle Band, Ian Thomas, The Delta Drift, ,
Rock Plaza Central, O Death, Matt Woods Plan A, Hopeforagoldensummer, Jackass
Flats, Drakkar Sauna and the list goes on...
Lizzy Long and Llegacy
Lincolnton, Georgia Nashville, Tennessee
http://www.lizzylong.com/
Having roots in the heart of the south, Elizabeth Long, or Lizzy as her friends and fans
know her was born on January 19, 1984 and raised on a farm in Lincolnton, Georgia.
Her father owned a logging company while her mother worked as a paramedic.
Lizzy attended Lincoln County
High and was active in a myriad
of endeavors including photo
editing for the yearbook, tennis,
and ―all kinds of stuff‖ as she
puts it. Her favorite academic
subject was history, and her
favorite activities are playing
chess, riding horses, and, of
course…….computer games.
She began her music
accomplishment at an early age
and her interests are very
eclectic ranging from Dolly
Parton, Loretta Lynn to the Earl Scruggs Revue to Fleetwood Mac. While starting out on
the piano, Lizzy soon took up the fiddle, guitar, autoharp, bass banjo, and mandolin, and
has become an accomplished musician, alternating between these instruments as part of
her entertainment repertoire.
Continuing her quest for success, Lizzy’s post-secondary education is from Glenville
State College with an Associate Degree in Business Law (2004) accompanied by musical
orchestration and arranging from Belmont University (2005). Lizzy finds that singing
helps to express her thoughts and emotions—whether happy, sad, disappointed or
angry—and, in her own words, ―I don’t have to answer why, why not or even when….I
can let it just flow‖, and her extraordinary voice shimmers with strains of America’s
musical roots.
Her favorite song? “The Swimming Song” from the Earl Scruggs Revue.
Lizzy’s mentors are nothing less than superstars in the music industry, Earl Scruggs,
Little Roy Lewis, Mac Wiseman…..to name a few. And, perhaps it was destiny. One of
her first memories includes a trip home from school—her aunt and grandma brought her
a lime sherbet ice cream and picked her up….but forgot to close the door so good. Out
falls Lizzy, not the worse for wear, but where? In the front of the Lewis Family home.
This is Elizabeth Long, Lizzy—destined for an indelible imprint in American music.
Tony Bryant
Decatur, GA
Tony Bryant, a masterful singer of "Atlanta-style" old-time
acoustic blues, comes from a long line of blues singers in the
rural area east of the city. His grandfather, Curley Weaver,
recorded many 78 rpm sides in the 20s and 30s, and was
associated with other noted bluesmen like Barbecue Bob,
Charlie Lincoln, and Blind Willie McTell. Tony's mother,
Cora Mae "Sweet Petunia" Bryant, performed blues learned
from her father and his friends for many years, made an
appearance several years ago at the North Georgia Folk
Festival, and still lives in Oxford, Georgia. Tony’s picture,
drawn in charcoal by Art Rosenbaum, is the illustration for
this year’s Folk Festival posters and advertisements.
Packway Handle Band
Athens, Georgia
http://www.packwayhandle.com
It all started in Athens, Georgia
in 2001 during a most peculiar
spell when 5 or 6 bluegrass
bands circulated the town. The
famous Athens, which had once
spawned the B-52s, REM,
Widespread Panic, and countless
other indie, pop and punk acts,
was now the home to a
competing minority of bluegrass
players. The Packway Handle
Band emerged from this small
scene, finding national acclaim
first as finalists at the Telluride bluegrass competition in 2002 and 2003, then taking 2nd
place in 2004. The band’s 2003 debut album, ―Chaff Harvest‖ was produced using prize
awards from a local Battle of the Bands. PHB was on a roll and has continued to win over
fans, rack up awards, and perform alongside the likes of Ralph Stanley, Yonder Mountain
String Band, The Avett Brothers, and Uncle Earl.
In early 2006 the band went on the road full time, wowing audiences across the country
with close 4-part harmonies and their dance around two tightly-spaced condenser mics.
The Packway Handle Band has emerged at the national forefront of bands that use this
―gather around the mic‖ style. PHB’s second full length record ―(Sinner) You Better Get
Ready‖ was recorded this way. Theirs is not a mission to preserve historical styles—it’s
just how they do what they do the best. And what they do best is rooted in thought
provoking songwriting, clever choice and arrangement of bluegrass traditionals, and
totally unexpected (even totally inappropriate) covers, all delivered with a crackling
energy. If you get an idea of what Packway Handle is early in a show, you’ll probably
change your mind several times before they’re done. But it’s obvious their enthusiasm
and sense of humor are honest, and that what they do appeals to broad audiences, even
those who don’t normally listen to bluegrass. Yes, they play bluegrass instruments, and
hey, they even play them mostly in the bluegrass way; but you won’t find a whole lot of
lyrics about rambling or trains or wagon wheels, and you’re not going to say you’ve
heard this band before, unless you actually have.