GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER SUSAN MCKEOWN MARKS HALF HER LIFE IN THE STATES WITH 'BELONG,' OUT NOV. 13 MINING AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC IN TELLING HER STORY

ERIN MCKEOWN, WOOD'S JAMES MADDOCK, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST DIRK POWELL, AND SINGER-SONGWRITER DECLAN O'ROURKE JOIN MCKEOWN ON NEW ALBUM

Susan McKeown – the creatively restless GRAMMY Award-winning and BBC Award-nominated vocalist – is readying 'Belong' for November 13 release. The Irish-born singer has finally come home, marking half of her life in the States with an exploration of American roots-derived music that delves deeply into matters of the heart.

Opening with 'On the Bridge to Williamsburg,' a duet with Irish singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke, 'Belong' is Susan at her most personal, charting intimate details of relationships, plotting their trajectories, examining the shards and remnants as though on an archaeological excavation. James Maddock (from Wood) and banjo and accordion player Dirk Powell (Irma Thomas, The Raconteurs, Joan Baez) join Susan for 'Everything We Had Was Good,' a break-up song about ending well. 'The Cure for Me' was in part inspired by lines from 'Night Ferry,' Seamus Heaney's elegy for poet Robert Lowell. Erin McKeown guests on 'Fallen Angel.'

In a distinguished career, McKeown has performed with Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Linda Thompson, Billy Bragg, Arlo Guthrie and The Klezmatics. McKeown has recorded mariachi music, klezmer music, African music, Celtic music, and contemporary songwriting. She won a GRAMMY for 'Wonder Wheel,' in collaboration with the Klezmatics on lyrics by Woody Guthrie. In 2010, she made 'Singing in the Dark,' a fascinating exploration of creativity and madness.

She has performed throughout Europe and North America including Glastonbury, The Edinburgh Festival, Carnegie Hall and Disney Hall. In a concert review, Rolling Stone said, "McKeown grabbed both song and audience by the throat, dragged them through heaven and hell and back again, and left the stage to the loudest applause heard all evening."

DC Venue The Hamilton to host Blues legends at re-vamped Capitol Blues Night

DC Venue The Hamilton to host Blues legends at re-vamped Capitol Blues Night

Washington, D.C. music venue and restaurant The Hamilton will present the Music Maker Blues Revue on Wednesday, October 24th at 7:30 p.m. The Blues Revue, comprised of artists from the Music Maker Relief Foundation, will feature performances by Ironing Board Sam, Captain Luke, Cool John Ferguson, Big Ron Hunter, Ardie Dean, and Sol Roots. The Hamilton has hosted the Blues Revue previously on New Years Eve 2011.

“This classic drink-house lineup will be seen in one of DC’s finest venues. Ironing Board Sam filled the Blues Tent to capacity at Jazzfest all by himself. Add Cool John Ferguson and Captain Luke and others, and this show will be just that much more explosive,” said Tim Duffy, Music Maker Founder.

The October 24th show marks the second time Ironing Board Sam will perform at The Hamilton with the Music Maker Blues Revue. This year has been a big one for Sam – he’s released two albums (Going Up and Ninth Wonder of the World of Music), filled the Blues Tent to capacity at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and was named Comeback Artist of the Year by Living Blues Magazine. In addition, Sam is playing the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival in mid-October, with two upcoming features in Offbeat Magazine and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The show at the Hamilton will give DC area music fans a chance to see the artist at the center of all this buzz – and they will not be disappointed.

The Music Maker Blues Revue highlights electric blues, boogie-woogie, R&B and soul music with the performances by Music Maker Relief Foundation partner artists. Music Maker works with these artists to elevate their careers and present them to the world, while preserving Southern musical traditions for future generations.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and lasts until 10 p.m. with doors opening for the event at 6:30 p.m. Tickets will be $25 per person. A cash bar and entrées from The Hamilton’s menu will be available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased from The Hamilton’s website, http://www.thehamiltondc.com/live.

•    Cool John Ferguson, of Beaufort, S.C., began playing the guitar at 3 years old and has been called by blues legend Taj Mahal “…among the five greatest guitarists in the world.”
•    Luther Mayer, known as “Captain Luke,” has a deep resounding baritone voice that has entertained thousands throughout his long career; the African-American working class of the N.C. Piedmont heavily influences his music.
•    Ironing Board Sam, a singer, songwriter and piano player, was a house musician on the first televised African-American music revue called “Night Train” and then became one of the best-loved entertainers on the Crescent City’s music scene, before relocating to N.C. and working with Music Maker.
•    Big Ron Hunter plays both electric and acoustic guitars in dramatically different styles, varying between R&B, Rock and B.B. King Blues on electric, and his own sound on acoustic.
•    Sol Roots ,while earning a degree in the Recording Industry, performed throughout the South, fronting his own blues and rock bands. He has also performed with Blues Legends from Guitar Gabriel to Taj Mahal.
•    Ardie Dean has drummed for Ernie K-Doe, Bo Diddley, Jerry McCain, Greg Allman, Taj Mahal, and Henry Grey since he began playing the blues in 1969.

Listen:

Ironing Board Sam – Bye Bye Blackbird

Cool John Ferguson – Here Comes Floyd

Captain Luke – Put On Your Red Dress

Watch:

Cool John Ferguson & Captain Luke – Rainy Night in Georgia

Ironing Board Sam – “Rock Me Baby,” Live at Grace Hall – May 25, 2012

Susan McKeown publicity photos

Credit: Chris Carlone

'Belong' cover art

NYC-BORN, SAN FRANCISCO-BASED VETERAN SONGWRITER SEAN HAYES TO PLAY LE POISSON ROUGE OCT 30

HAYES TAPING WFUV SESSION WHILE IN TOWN

THE ITUNES STORE DESIGNATES 'BEFORE WE TURN TO DUST,'  OUT THIS MONTH, AS "NEW & NOTABLE"

Sean Hayes – whose new album 'Before We Turn To Dust' has topped the singer songwriter charts on iTunes over the past two weeks since its release – will perform at Le Poisson Rouge in New York, NY October 30, 2012. He will also tape a session for WFUV while he's in NYC.

Known for a stunning vibrato in his voice, and his soulful lyrics, Hayes puts on a show that has fans tapping their feet and shaking their hips.

Meanwhile, he recently completed an interview with Associated Press Broadcasting and Relix Magazine has debuted the second mp3 from 'Before We Turn To Dust,' "Bam Bam."

The NYC show comes as part of an extensive fall tour of the U.S.

WHO: San Francisco folk/soul singer Sean Hayes
WHAT: An evening with Sean Hayes
WHEN: 10pm, Tuesday, October 30, 2012
WHERE: 158 Bleecker Street, NYC, 212.505.FISH
TICKETS: $20, via Le Poisson Rouge box office

Sweet Soubrette "What's My Desire?" video

'LOWE COUNTRY: THE SONGS OF NICK LOWE' HAILED AMONG "ROOTS-AND-BOOTS" (WALL STREET JOURNAL) SET

LOWE HAILS CAITLIN ROSE & BEGINS NATIONAL TOUR

Upon the September 18 release of 'Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe' (Fiesta Red Records) press and radio are hailing the album for its "beautiful reinterpretations of Lowe songs" (Oxford American). The album features Lowe tunes recorded by 13 up-and-coming country-ish artists, including Hayes Carll, Amanda Shires, Robert Ellis and Caitlin Rose, whom Lowe himself referred to as a "great" artist in this week's Nashville Scene.

The release, a portion of whose proceeds benefits victims of the Nashville floods and Central Texas wildfires, comes just as Lowe, the master songwriter/singer, embarks on a North American tour: http://nicklowe.com/tourdates.php

Under the headline "What's So Funny 'Bout Country," Marc Myers wrote a feature for the Wall Street Journal. Caitlin Rose tells Myers, "Nick's songs are serious and self-effacing but they don't take themselves too seriously—which makes them endearing."

Esquire.com included Robert Ellis' "All Men Are Liars" in its "10 Songs a Man Should Be Listening to This Week."

'Lowe Country' has also been added by Acoustic Café.

Others are praising the collection as well:

"A handsome, enjoyable listen."
- All Music Guide

"There is plenty to enjoy."
- Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter

"An honorable effort that will serve as an introduction to a great figure."
- Edd Hurt, Nashville Scene

"From witty lyrics to catchy melodies and superior songwriting, maybe Lowe’s music was made to get the country treatment."
- WERS-FM (Boston, MA)

In addition, Robert Ellis, Colin Gilmore, Amanda Shires, and Caitlin Rose performed live on SIRIUS XM from Nashville, TN last week. Check out photos from the session and backstage.

The Unsinkable Boxer - "When I Write The Book" video - from 'Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe' (Fiesta Red Records)

LONDON-DWELLING INDIE POP EXPAT PINEY GIR PLOTS RETURN TO US FOR NATIONAL TOUR BEHIND "DIVINE… EXUBERANT" (Q) ALBUM 'GERONIMO!'

CMJ SHOWCASE OCT 20 & NPR WEEKEND EDITION PROFILE AIRING OCT. 27

Piney Gir – the US-born indie pop artist who has found success in London – will return to the States in October for a national tour when her new album 'Geronimo!' is released in the US on Highline Records.

NPR's Weekend Edition is planning a profile on Piney Gir, currently set to air October 27. Growing up in Kansas in a strict Pentacostal household, she was not allowed access to pop culture until adolescence, though she was singing harmonies in the church from a young age.

She will also join the Highline Records / Indie Dark Room CMJ party at Pete's Candy Store October 20, on the bill with Sweet Lights (Kurt Vile), Correatown, Backlights and Leland Sundries.

Music video for "Oh Lies"

Baeble Music recently praised 'Geronimo's' "sun-faded retro pop [and] all out go go boots affair," continuing, "After all, if Piney Gir's buzzing electric guitars and relentlessly charming vocals were enough to brighten up the UK, we gotta think they'll be enough to make us Americans cheery."

PINEY GIR TOUR DATES

October 17 - PA's – Boston, MA (with Minor 3 and One Happy Island)

October 20 - Pete's Candy Store - Brooklyn, NY (Highline Records / Indie Dark Room CMJ party with Sweet Lights)

October 21 - Velvet Lounge, - Washington DC

October 25 - The Burlington – Chicago, IL

October 26 - 400 Club – Minneapolis, MN

November 2 - The Make Out Room - San Francisco, CA (with Red Pony Clock)

UNCUT gave the album four stars while The Sun called 'Geronimo!' "undeniably charming." Q Magazine called it "exuberant, bursts with joy, divine." Piney has opened for the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wanda Jackson, Erasure, and Martha Wainwright.

DESCENDED FROM FOUR GENERATIONS OF ALBERTAN RANCHERS AND HAILED BY NPR, CORB LUND TO PERFORM AT THE MINT OCT. 11

Corb Lund – the songwriter descended from four generations of Albertan ranchers who used to play metal and punk music – will play Los Angeles' The Mint October 11. Goth girls to survivalists, bovines to bibles, antique pistols to vintage motorcycles: Lund’s songcraft covers it all.

Amid raves from NPR, NY Times, UNCUT and others, Corb scored a personal best with a #13 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a #60 debut on the Billboard Indie Chart for his "breakthrough" (Washington Post) album 'Cabin Fever.' The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Top 200 albums chart. NPR said, "Impressive... great songs... Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches... Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll."

Most recently, CMT.comhttp://www.cmt.com/videos/corb-lund/835168/september.jhtml just posted his new music video.

WHO: New West artist Corb Lund
WHAT: LA performance
WHEN: 9pm, October 11, 2012
WHERE: The Mint, 6010 West Pico Blvd, LA, 323.954.9400
TICKETS: $8 in advance; $10 at the door via The Mint box office

SEAN HAYES LANDS AT LARGO OCT. 10

THE ITUNES STORE DESIGNATES 'BEFORE WE TURN TO DUST,'  OUT THIS WEEK, AS "NEW & NOTABLE"

Sean Hayes – the San Francisco-based folk/singer whose new album 'Before We Turn To Dust' has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle for its "oddball grooves" – will perform at Largo in Los Angeles, CA October 10, 2012. Meanwhile, the iTunes Store has featured Hayes as New & Notable for the new album, out this week. Known for a stunning vibrato in his voice, Hayes puts on a show that has fans tapping their feet and shaking their hips.

Relix Magazine has debuted the second mp3 from 'Before We Turn To Dust,' "Bam Bam."

WHO: San Francisco folk/soul singer Sean Hayes
WHAT: An evening with Sean Hayes
WHEN: 6:30pm doors, 7:30pm show, Wednesday, October 10, 2012
WHERE: 366 La Cienaga Boulevard, Los Angeles, (310) 855-0350
TICKETS: $25, via Largo Box Office or LaughStub.com

ROBERT ELLIS, CAITLIN ROSE, AMANDA SHIRES, COLIN GILMORE, AND MORE TO PERFORM 'LOWE COUNTRY: THE SONGS OF NICK LOWE' LIVE ON SIRIUS XM FROM NASHVILLE DURING AMA WEEK

SiriusXM and Fiesta Red Records will present "OutLowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe," an event based on the September 18 release of 'Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe' which will be broadcast live on SIRIUS XM's Outlaw Country channel. SIRIUS XM's Mojo Nixon will emcee the event. Proceeds from on the album benefit victims of the Nashville flooding and Austin-area wildfires.

SIRIUSXM Outlaw Country is channel 60.

WHO: Robert Ellis, Caitlin Rose, Amanda Shires, Colin Gilmore, and SIRIUSXM emcee Mojo Nixon

WHAT: A live concert and broadcast in the round on SIRIUSXM Outlaw Country

WHEN: 3:30pm doors, 4pm live broadcast, Friday, September 14, 2012

WHERE: SiriusXM Music City Theatre, Bridgestone Arena Tower, 501 Broadway

Nashville, TN

ATTENDING: Open to badgeholders and SIRIUSXM subscribers. Press and blogger RSVP: Nick.losseaton AT gmail.com.

Americana Music Festival & Conference Artist Schedule

* Corb Lund AMA showcase – Wednesday, September 12, 10pm – Mercy Lounge - 1 Cannery Row

Amid raves from NPR, NY Times, UNCUT and others, Corb Lund scored a personal best with a #13 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a #60 debut on the Billboard Indie Chart for his "breakthrough" (Washington Post) album 'Cabin Fever.' The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Top 200 albums chart. NPR said, "Impressive… great songs… Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches… Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll."

* Scott Bomar of the Bo-Keys on panel – Thursday, September 13, 2:30pm – The Music of Memphis - Sheraton Hotel, Davidson Room, 623 Union St.

Bo-Keys leader and producer Scott Bomar (Jay Reatard, Hustle & Flow, Cyndi Lauper) will also join "The Music of Memphis," a panel moderated by Memphis native and producer Rick Clark, alongside Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All-Stars; Jody Stephens of Memphis-based Ardent Music and musician for Big Star and Golden Smog; Robert Gordon, author of "It Came From Memphis," "Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters," and "Jerry Lee Lewis: Last Rocker Standing"; and John Hampton of Ardent Music and a GRAMMY-winning producer.

* Amy Black on panel - Thursday, September 13, 4:00 – 5:00 pm - Channeling Your Inner CEO: Business Best Practices Panel - Sheraton Hotel, Suite 7, 623 Union St.

Amy Black will speak on a panel, alongside moderator Ralph Jaccodine, Boston Management Group; Susan Cattaneo, Berklee College of Music; Thad Beatty, writer, instrumentalist, producer; and Dino Cattaneo, Jersey Girl Music. A latecomer to the craft of songwriting, Black spent more than a decade in the business world as a professional marketer before discovering her writing talents. The panelists will discuss setting and tracking goals; creating a strategy; smart marketing; and building a team on a shoestring budget or with no budget at all.

* The Bo-Keys AMA showcase – Thursday, September 13, 11pm – The Rutledge - 410 4th Avenue South

Memphis soul men The Bo-Keys will perform at a showcase of The Music of Memphis

on Thursday, September 13 at 11pm at the Rutledge, on a bill with Luther

Dickinson and Jim Lauderdale; “The Songs of Big Star” featuring Chris Stamey

(db’s), Mike Mills (REM), and the surviving member of Big Star’s original

lineup, Jody Stephens; and up-and-comers Star & Micey. Of The Bo-Keys, The Wall Street Journal said, “Funky[,] authentic groove… If the Bo-Keys sound like Memphis in the 1960s and early '70s, it's probably because most of the band's musicians were recording back then for the city's top labels.”

* Amy Black AMA showcase - Friday, September 14, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm - Sheraton Hotel, Listening Lounge, 623 Union St.

Amy Black – the minister's daughter with storytelling and Southern tradition in her blood – will perform in the round with Susan Cattaneo, Rose Cousins and Rod Picott. No Depression has written, "Amy Black has a smooth, seductive sound that commands attention… [She] sings in a folk-styled country voice that suggests bits of Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Judy Collins, edged by the blues of Bonnie Raitt and a hint of Jennifer Nettle’s sass." WUMB-FM Boston wrote that “her latest album, One Time, reveals her as one of the best storytelling songwriters working today.”

* Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe - Friday, September 14, 2012, 4-5pm - OutLowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe performance and broadcast - SiriusXM Music City Theatre, Bridgestone Arena Tower, 501 Broadway

This live radio broadcast will celebrate Nick Lowe and the new tribute album Lowe Country with performances from Robert Ellis, Caitlin Rose, Amanda Shires, Colin Gilmore, and surprise guests.

GROWING UP IN HOUSEHOLD WITHOUT POP CULTURE, PINEY GIR STARTED MUSICAL LIFE IN PENTACOSTAL CHURCH

PENTACOSTAL HARMONIES INFORM HER CURRENT INDIE POP WORK ON 'GERONIMO!' OUT OCT. 16 IN THE US ON HIGHLINE RECORDS

For Piney Gir, there were no cartoons or pop music growing up. Instead, she was a deacon's daughter and grew up in a strict Pentacostal household in Kansas. "My parents were was pretty strict. Pop culture was naughty so I started glamorizing it even more because it was forbidden fruit," she recalls. She attended church three to four times a week and went to a special Christian school where there was chapel, music and prayer every day. "We sang happy clappy Christian stuff. There was an awful lot of harmony singing. As a result, I can sing harmony as easily as I can sing melody. It was extremely tuneful music, happy, and with strong melodies."

There was speaking in tongues, dancing and fainting. Church was never really boring and the early choir days may have given Piney her first taste of drama in performance.

Meanwhile, her parents split up slowly, culminating when her father moved to Seattle to start up a prison ministry. All this moving around started when she was nine and she discovered rock and roll when she was free from the church at 14. Suddenly, she found herself in public school. "As soon as mom and dad split, I just soaked up pop culture," diving into the top 40 artists like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson "because they were safe and hell-free" but soon she discovered Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Guns 'n' Roses, and Depeche Mode, embracing the darker side of rock and roll, it spoke to her soul.

Her parents' split had another effect. "I saw a lot of countryside between Kansas and Seattle. We did a lot of driving, it probably prepared me for touring!" she recalls. The trips also began her exposure to other kinds of secular music, the kind you find on cross-country AM radio, including favorites like Loretta Lynn, The Shangri-Las, and Paul Simon.

'Geronimo!' is slated for a US release October 16 on Highline Records. UNCUT gave the album four stars while The Sun called it "undeniably charming." Q Magazine called it "exuberant, bursts with joy, divine."

"NEWCOMER OF NOTE" (BOSTON HERALD) AMY BLACK TO SHOWCASE AT AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE FRIDAY, SEPT. 14 AT SHERATON LISTENING LOUNGE

Amy Black – the minister's daughter with storytelling and Southern tradition in her blood – will perform at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, TN on Friday, September 14. The acclaimed singer-songwriter's finely wrought and gorgeously-sung songs have earned her a following in her native New England and have begun to cement her as part of the next generation of Americana artists. She will also appear on a panel "Channeling Your Inner CEO: Business Best Practices" on Thursday, September 13.

Click here for high res photos.

No Depression has written, "Amy Black has a smooth, seductive sound that commands attention… [She] sings in a folk-styled country voice that suggests bits of Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Judy Collins, edged by the blues of Bonnie Raitt and a hint of Jennifer Nettle’s sass." Her hometown Boston Herald said, "Her album, 'One Time' [is a] a stunning debut... the beautifully imagined sound and soul of her originals make her a newcomer of note." And WUMB-FM Boston wrote that “her latest album, One Time, reveals her as one of the best storytelling songwriters working today.”

Amy's live show varies from full band to duo as seen in this clip.

AMA SHOWCASE DETAILS

WHO: Amy Black, in the round with Susan Cattaneo, Rose Cousins and Rod Picott

WHAT: Americana Music Festival & Conference Official Showcase

WHEN: Friday, September 14, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

WHERE: Sheraton Hotel, Listening Lounge, 623 Union St., Nashville, TN

TICKETS: Open to AMA badgeholders and press; Press RSVP to Nick Loss-Eaton at nicklosseaton AT gmail.com.

PANEL DETAILS

WHO: Amy Black, alongside moderator Ralph Jaccodine, Boston Management Group; Susan Cattaneo, Berklee College of Music; Thad Beatty, writer, instrumentalist, producer; and Dino Cattaneo, Jersey Girl Music

WHAT: Channeling Your Inner CEO: Business Best Practices panel

WHERE: Sheraton Hotel, Suite 7, 623 Union St., Nashville, TN

WHEN: Thursday, September 13, 4:00 – 5:00 pm,

TICKETS: Open to AMA badgeholders and press; Press RSVP to Nick Loss-Eaton at nicklosseaton AT gmail.com.

A latecomer to the craft of songwriting, Black spent more than a decade in the business world as a professional marketer before discovering her writing talents. The panelists will discuss setting and tracking goals; creating a strategy; smart marketing; and building a team on a shoestring budget or with no budget at all.

She reflects, "I was always a singer. I grew up singing in church and joined a few bands in college, but I didn't know that I had it in me to write. I was sitting at my kitchen table one night and thought, 'You know, you should do something with your voice.' Fast forward five years and I'm a touring artist, singing my own music. I tell my audiences it's not too late to go after your dreams!" Black sold her comfortable suburban house and moved into an 800-square-foot rental in Somerville, MA, where she began to dedicate her time to writing, recording, and touring.

Filmed along Boston harbor, the video for "Whiskey & Wine" perfectly captures the song's contemplative nature as the character reconciles how two people so different could still love one another.

Click here for national tour dates.