“ENTIRELY INTRIGUING” (AV CLUB) UK INDIE SINGER MARY EPWORTH EARNING RAVES AFTER PACKED NATIONAL TOUR FOR ‘DREAM LIFE’ (HIGHLINE RECORDS)

After raves from UK outlets like Q, MOJO, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Diva, Mary Epworth’s indie-psych-folk-pop masterpiece ‘Dream Life’ has crossed the pond to the US. Epworth most recently performed on a 36-date nationwide tour with Welcome To Night Vale which saw many nights sold out. ‘Dream Life,’ previously released in the UK, was out last week on Highline Records in the US. She performs Friday in LA at Hotel Café before returning to her native UK. Here’s what we’re reading:

"Her blend of baroque pop and West Coast folky psychedelia is appealing." - Brooklyn Vegan

"A blend of Chelsea Wolfe and Mirah, Epworth puts out evocative and dreamy tunes inspired by nature and imbued with fuzzy guitar and plaintive synths. It's a little bit folk, a little bit rock, and a little bit psych, all forming together into a mix of sounds that's entirely intriguing... Fans of acts like Cat Power and Lana Del Rey should find something to enjoy for sure” – AV Club

“Soaring, expansive folk music connected by an underlying thread of keys and synths.” - Village Voice

“On her debut LP, ‘Dream Life,’ Epworth pairs the Dusty Springfield template of vintage American soul-pop made cloudly and wounded like a misty, British Sunday afternoon with some hefty riffs, traces of unexpected kraut-drone, some ’80s Kate Bush sweep and wheat field country melodies… really cool, fairly dark sonic choices.” – CMJ

“Atmospheric pysch-pop… [Epworth’s voice is] a potent blend of sweetness and power.” – Wall Street Journal

"Effervescent" - Chicagoist

“This folk sound is but one of many detours taken by ‘Dream Life,’ which also incorporates psychedelic and kosmische influences.” – Pop Matters

“Brace yourself before you listen.” – Surviving The Golden Age blog

Unsung heroes of roots music to perform at 2015 Newport Folk Festival Sunday, July 26

Music Maker Relief Foundation is pleased to announce a performance by pioneers of Southern Roots music at Newport Folk Festival on Sunday, July 26th. The show, called “Music Maker Relief Foundation Hosted by Dom Flemons,” will bring together musicians across folk genres for “three hours of the most authentic, rooted and dynamic Southern artists you’ve never heard,” says Tim Duffy, Music Maker’s founder and Executive Director.

Multi-instrumentalist, GRAMMY Award-winner and Carolina Chocolate Drops’ founding member Dom Flemons will host the performance featuring Daptone Records gospel trio The Como Mamas, keyboard player Ironing Board Sam, Piedmont blues guitarist Boo Hanks, rhythm and blues guitarist Albert White, trombone master Lil’ Joe, bassist Nashid Abdul, drummer Ardie Dean and Music Maker Founder Tim Duffy.

Watch: Newport Lineup Teaser Video from Music Maker here:


This will be the first performance at Newport Folk Festival for all the artists save Flemons, who has taken the stage at the festival twice before.

Dom Flemons is best known for founding the Grammy award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops and more recently for reviving the songster tradition.

Watch: Dom Performs “But They Got It Fixed On Right” on Folk Alley.

The Como Mamas, all granddaughters of Miles Pratcher, who was recorded by Alan Lomax in the 1950’s, share raw Mississippi gospel, with soaring harmonies unencumbered by instrumentation. The trio has releases on the Daptone label and has been spotlighted by Wax Poetics.

Watch: The Como Mamas “On the Battlefield”

Ironing Board Sam, 76, has been playing for over 55 years, and his powerful, soulful voice and remarkable piano prowess remain undiminished. Sam is the new celebrity spokesperson for Faultless Spray Starch and will be releasing a record on Big Legal Mess in September.  He was profiled on PBS Newshour last year and performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival earlier this year.

Watch: Ironing Board Sam on “The Night Train” in 1965.

Boo Hanks, is the greatest Piedmont Blues rediscovery in many years, whose style is reminiscent of the legendary Blind Boy Fuller. At 85 years old he has performed at prestigious venues all over the US and abroad, including the Lincoln Center. His most recent album, Buffalo Junction, was a collaborative project with Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founder Dom Flemons and was reviewed positively in the Washington Post.

Watch: Boo Hanks & Dom Flemons.

Albert White began playing guitar in the late 1950s with his legendary uncle, Piano Red, and his group “Dr. Feelgood & the Interns.” Since, Albert has performed with Joe Tex, The Tams, Ray Charles, Elvin Bishop, and others.

Trombone player Lil’ Joe’s career began in 1964 with the late, great, Junior Wells.  He has appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, Midnight Special, Soul Train and toured with B.B. King for ten years. Joe is known for his heart-wrenching solos and tasteful high-energy performances.

Tim Duffy, co-founder of Music Maker Relief Foundation, has spent his life recording and documenting and performing alongside the greatest unheralded roots musicians of our time. An accomplished guitar player in his own right, Duffy has backed up many Music Maker artists on stage during the last two decades.

Nashid Abdul, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, played with Muddy Water's son Big Bill Morganfield. On his incredible jazz album and through performances around the globe, Nashid showcases his musical versatility and smooth six-string bass skills.

Ardie Dean has been keeping blues time since 1969. He started out with Homesick James and then paid his dues on the Chitlin’ Circuit leading the band for R&B singer Chuck Strong. Dean has been performing and managing with Tim Duffy and Music Maker since the organizations’ founding twenty years ago.

Tim Duffy said of the invitation to perform at Newport, “I grew up listening to Pete Seeger, and we are so deeply honored to have Music Maker pay tribute to him on the ‘For Pete’s Sake’ stage. The authentic Southern artists presented in our show are those whose musical traditions are at the very heart of American culture. Music Maker works with these artists to help them share their music with the world, and what better stage to make their voices heard than the finest folk festival in the world.”

JIM DICKINSON ON TED DROZDOWSKI’S SCISSORMEN: “ACID BLUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY”

BEALE STREET CARAVAN TAPING PERFORMANCE IN EARLY JUNE AS EARLY RAVES COME FROM DIFFUSER, WAX POETICS, ETC.

Before he passed away, Jim Dickinson heard Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen, whose new album ‘Love & Life’ comes out July 31. Dickinson had this to say about Ted’s music:

“Ever wonder what would have happened if Bukka White had discovered the Fuzz Tone? Or if Skip James had played piano with Antenna Jimmy and Drumbo from the Magic Band? Scissormen is acid blues for the 21st century... Robert Palmer would indeed be proud.”

Early buzz on ‘Love & Life’ has been excellent. In a premiere of “Beggin’ Jesus,” Diffuser.FM praised Drozdowski’s “Staggering guitar skills [on] music that will stand the test of time."

Wax Poetics said, “Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen weaves together Hill Country blues, Memphis soul, and psychedelic/garage rock.”

Beale Street Caravan is taping the band’s performance on June 2 at Rum Boogie in Memphis, TN for broadcast on its nationally syndicated radio program.

Elmore called the album an “exciting journey of experimental, genre-hopping, electric and eclectic music making.”

Music Maker Relief Foundation at Newport Folk Fest 2015

EILEN JEWELL’S OPEN-EARED AMERICANA VISION OF ‘SUNDOWN OVER GHOST TOWN’ ALBUM STREAMING AT ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, OUT NEXT WEEK ON SIGNATURE SOUNDS

JEWELL ADDED TO AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL AT NASHVILLE’S CITY WINERY SEPTEMBER 17

Entertainment Weekly is streaming Eilen Jewell’s new album ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town,’ out next week on Signature Sounds. EW writes, “Packed with vivid lyrics, steel guitars, and hot licks, Jewell’s Americana-driven brand of country music sounds tailor-made for sweltering, stagnant summer nights."

Jewell’s acoustic guitar sports signatures by her living heroes Wanda Jackson, Emmylou Harris, Mavis Staples, Loretta Lynn, and Lucinda Williams. Immediately after one notices that these are all strong women, one can see the variety of music in Eilen’s personal canon. That broad-eared Americana approach has bled into Jewell’s own music. In concert, Jewell will cover material as varied as Lynn songs, “Drop Down Mama” by blues great Sleepy John Estes, rock n' roll classic “Shakin’ All Over,” Stonewall Jackson's country classic “Why I’m Walkin’,” Eric Andersen’s “Dusty Boxcar Wall.” As a bandleader and writer, her musical experiences have culminated in new album ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town,’ out May 26 on Signature Sounds. Jewell has been added to the Americana Music Festival with a show at Nashville’s City Winery on September 17 in addition to many other tour dates listed below.

“Hallelujah Band” is based on two true stories from Eilen’s life growing up: “The first is about an experience I had as a teenager with my best friend. Her boyfriend somehow knew of an unmarked, underground cave in the middle of the desert. We climbed down there with flashlights in our teeth and hiked around for hours. There was water down below and freight trains up above. It was a religious experience for me that has stuck with me to this day. Something poignant like that happens and you realize what a big life it is, what a glorious world. I may not be worthy but I’m going to join in anyway. And the second story in that song is about how, when I was a little girl I had a secret land that I would go visit. It was just a little indentation in the ground, and I’d sit on the pine needles with my doll. But it carried a lot of importance for me and still does.” Meanwhile, the refrain pays tribute to her love of gospel music, which she also performs in side project the Sacred Shakers.

Eilen Jewell Tour Dates

May 23 - Grass Valley, CA - Strawberry Music Festival
May 27 – Eureka, CA - Palm Lounge at the Eureka Inn
May 28 – Winters, CA - The Palms
May 29 - Berkeley, CA - Freight and Salvage
May 30 - Santa Cruz, CA - Kuumbwa Jazz Center
June 10 – Portland, OR – Alberta Rose Theatre
June 11 – Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
June 12 – Palmer, AK – Palmer Musk Ox Farm
June 13 – Soldotna, AK – Kenai River Festival
July 3 - Berwyn, IL - Fitzgerald’s American Music Festival
July 8- Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
July 9 - New Haven, CT - Cafe 9
July 10 – Greenfield, MA – Green River Festival
July 11 - Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
July 12 - Woodbridge, NJ - Woodbridge Country Sundays
July 14 – New York, NY – City Winery
July 16 – Washington, D.C. – The Hamilton
July 17 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
July 18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
July 19 – Wakeman, OH – Music at Riverdog
August 7 – Challis, ID – Braun Brothers Family Reunion
August 9 – Bozeman, MT – Sweet Pea Festival
August 22 - Liberty, UT - Ogden Valley Roots & Blues Festival
September 3 – Collinsville, CT – Bridge Street
September 4 – Charlestown, RI – Rhythm & Roots Festival
September 9 – Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
Stepember 16 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
September 17 – Nashville, TN – City Winery (Americana Music Festival)
September 19 – Tampa, FL – Skipper’s Smokehouse
September 20 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic

Captain Luke, 1927-2015

Blues man and Music Maker Relief Foundation artist Captain Luke passed away on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at the age of 87. He will be greatly missed by all, but we are grateful that his music will live on, and with it his indomitable spirit.

Luther Mayer, known as “Captain Luke,” was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1927. He grew up on his grandparents’ farm in nearby Clinton, where he followed the furrows barefoot behind the plow as his Uncle Jesse worked and sang to his mule. Luke’s ambition at the time was to learn to drive a mule. It was one he never achieved, but he soaked in the music of the countryside as Jesse played his harmonica on the evening porch. At 14, Luke moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his mother and sister, where the exigencies of the situation carried him increasingly out of school and into the work force. At 17 he went to work for a junkman who demanded a day’s work from his young employee. His boss was a large man and Luke soon learned to lift his own end of a scrap motor and heave it onto a flatbed truck without pause or complaint. Early on he had developed a talent for imitation, and Luke began to sing the songs he heard on the radio, everything from the big band singers to hillbilly ballads. (“Back then I had eleventeen voices,” Luke said frequently.)

Luke was blessed with a deep natural baritone. He was accustomed to carrying the low parts in church, and his abilities soon caught the attention of Otis King, who taught him how to hold the low notes and make them rise and fall. Soon Luke was singing bass professionally in King’s Gospel Quintet. He also began to entertain at informal gatherings, an avocation that would endear him to friends and strangers alike throughout his life. Accompanied by whatever instrumentation was available, Luke would travel in a wide circle from Winston performing in drinkhouses, the social hubs of the African-American community in the North Carolina Piedmont. His repertoire changed with the popular music of the changing times and grew to include comedy routines, notably renditions of Amos ’n’ Andy skits with inflection-perfect renditions of every character. He worked continuously, raising four girls and two boys in Winston-Salem. In 1969 he moved to New York City and worked for four years in the garment industry until called back to Winston for a family emergency. He has remained there since.

A chance encounter in the early 1970’s led to a long association with Guitar Gabriel. Gabe was a master of the country blues, another musical form that suited Luke’s voice perfectly, and the two became fixtures in the Winston-Salem drinkhouse scene, providing a nucleus of entertainment in their community, alongside such local luminaries as Macavine Hayes, Whistlin’ Britches, Willa Mae Buckner and Mr. Q. Sometime early in this period an admiral’s hat caught Luke’s eye in Miller’s Variety Store and he became in an instant “Captain Luke.” Although completely unfamiliar with boats, Luke was a leader of men by anyone’s standards: the handle fit and it stuck.

Answers to questions came easily to Luke. His uncommon combination of youthful demeanor and ancient wisdom were perhaps born of his direct approach to everyday life. Luke took care of business for a long time. His was the yogi of a man who had worked hard, played hard, and slept well, and his terse evaluations of the situation left little room for doubt or argument.

Luke’s music and art were rooted firmly in the African-American working class of the Carolina Piedmont and the mystique of his message referred continually to the blues experience. However, as a pure entertainer in the milieu of the drinkhouses, Luke’s style and song selection periodically changed to suit the needs and desires of his audience. Luke explored the broad ranges of music, from its roots in the deep country with blues and country, all the way to modern pop/showbiz manifestations. From the primitive nursery rhyme “Old Black Buck,” to more familiar sounds of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Guitar Gabriel, through the rhythm ’n blues of Joe Simon, to the sentimental songs of Billy Eckstein and Brook Benton, Luke’s rich dry baritone provided a panoramic tour of his musical influences. It arrived at an unusual convergence that might be called Outsider Lounge Music. The sound was basic and sophisticated in the same moment, speaking to us with the savage perspicacity of Satchmo in his prime and swinging with the easy grace of a young Dean Martin.

Luke’s art exhibited the same eclecticism as his song bag. Decades ago a glistening beer can by the roadside spoke to him of beauty and function, and from that time he fashioned homemade ashtrays, lamps, airplanes, and cars from society’s debris. Ubiquitous in the knick-knack shelves and card tables of his Winston-Salem neighborhood, they have become sought-after pieces in the folk-art collector’s market.

In 1991 Captain Luke and Guitar Gabriel began working with Tim and Denise Duffy, and in 1994 they helped found the Music Maker Relief Foundation. In the two decades since, Captain Luke performed at Lincoln Center and prestigious festivals through out the United States, Europe and South America. His last recording ‘Live at the Hamilton’ was issued early this year, a truly classic record along with his long time partner Cool John Ferguson. In 2003, Music Maker Relief Foundation released his album ‘Outsider Lounge Music.’ He is also featured on the compilations ‘A Living Past’ (1995) and ‘We Are the Music Makers’ (2014).

Captain Luke was a leader in his community of East Winston-Salem, he had an open door policy for anyone to come in from the cold to sleep, and he would share what food he had on the stove. Captain Luke was a dedicated father, and is survived by his six children.

Craig Breslow: Strike 3 Foundation's Sip Happens Event Recap Video

Eilen Jewell clips

Travel + Leisure track premiere (May 15, 2015)

CMT Edge track premiere (March 24, 2015)

Boston Globe feature (July 2, 2015)

NPR Morning Edition profile (May 27, 2015)

Folk Alley video premiere (July 15, 2015)

R.L. BURNSIDE NUDGED PSYCHEDELIC ROCKER TO START PLAYING HILL COUNTRY BLUES

TED DROZDOWSKI’S SCISSORMEN RETURN THE FAVOR WITH DREAM SONG “R.L. BURNSIDE (SLEIGHT RETURN)” ON ‘LOVE & LIFE’ (JULY 31)

When he befriended Mississippi hill country blues legends R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Jessie Mae Hemphill, Ted Drozdowski had been the primary force in risk-taking alternative rock, a textural music ensemble, and psychedelic bands. All of these sounds come together in the tribute song “R.L. Burnside (Sleight Return),” which you can hear here.

In the full-length Robert Mugge (Deep Blues) 2010 documentary “Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues,” Drozdowski recalls, “R.L. Burnside, who I was very close to, R.L. didn’t actually know that I played guitar until I knew him for seven years. Because I felt like it wasn’t actually my place to impose my scene on him, you know? Then when he found out, he was the guy that really kicked my butt and made me start to play with him live. Even at that I had to be strenuously encouraged.

On night in Cambridge, MA in 1999, R.L. grabbed Ted by the shoulders and told him that he’d be calling him the third song from the end, telling the younger man, “I’m calling you up and I don’t hear any bullshit about it. R.L. stood up, gave me his amp to plug into, and grabbed his Jack 'n' coke and sang the song while he shook his ass dancing back and forth across the stage in front of a screaming sold-out house. It was kind of crazy. We played two more songs that are now blurs — although I think one of them was ‘Snake Drive.’ I held on for my life!”

Ted continues, “I went up and did it and I felt that that kind of flipped a switch for me and whenever we saw each other, he’d make me play with him again. Ultimately, R.L., Junior, and Jessie had a profound way not only on my playing but on my thinking as a person which fed back into my playing and those guys just changed my life and changed my playing and opened the door to the blues for me.” The ex-rocker’s narrative songwriting and tireless sonic explorations ultimately benefitted him in his open-minded approach to psychedelic blues.

 “R.L. Burnside (Sleight Return)” in particular has a driving, funky backbeat with a delay-tinged guitar over a tight funk riff. Though framed as a dream, Ted tells a true story of drinking whiskey with the legend. “R.L. and his band visited our home in Boston one night, and after dinner he wanted to watch a movie. He looked through hundreds of VHS tapes and selected ‘Check and Double Check’ with Amos and Andy — and he roared through it right from the first joke. When it was over, he told us about how he and his friends would save their money and ride their bikes from Holly Springs, MS all the way to Memphis when each new Amos and Andy movie hit the theaters, and then ride back at night. He said that when they saw headlights, they'd throw the bikes into the bushes and hide out for fear that it was night riders.” The guitar solo goes full-on hallucinatory while Ted utters R.L.’s refrain “well, well, well.” Like the album on which it resides “R.L. Burnside (Sleight Return)” is a culmination of sorts, bringing together his experimentalism with his hill country blues apprenticeship.

The song highlights a particular irony. Ted says, “So for me one of the interesting subtexts of the song is that Amos and Andy and night riders are both signposts of racism, and the complication is how much R.L. loved Amos and Andy. America is a strange prism sometimes.”

The Stone Foxes bio

The Stone Foxes are a rock n roll band with one objective: “We’re 6 dudes who believe rock n roll can move mountains, and we’re gonna play it until we move one.” They hail from San Francisco and with the release of their fourth album, Twelve Spells, they have solidified a place in the city's rich rock n roll history. They’ve played in front of thousands at festivals like Outside Lands and VooDoo Fest, they’ve headlined the legendary Fillmore Theater in their hometown and have supported acts like The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant and ZZ Top. This is San Francisco’s rock band; bearing the torch of their predecessors and ready to shake the earth.

The Stone Foxes bring the audience in. Engaging and invoking them with their commanding stage presence, even jumping down into the crowd if the mood strikes. Their fans know they are in for something action packed and they light a fire in the band, just as the band spreads fire back into them. Guitarists digging in, jumping on and off of monitors, lead vocals changing between two and four unique voices all with impassioned nuance, and keyboard and organ sounds that fill the space with smoke and burning embers. There are edgy drum tones, wailing harmonica draws and violin cries that can silence even the most raucous of rooms. But this is not a sit-down-and-watch kind of event. The Stone Foxes are an experience to dive into, to get wild with, to sweat with. Like Elvis once said about rock n roll, “If you feel it, you can’t help but move to it.” The Stone Foxes' live show is built to make you move. When a band brandishes this kind of dynamic and all-in passion on stage, it is impossible not to feel it.

On the brink of the release of their fourth album, Twelve Spells, which hits in September, 2015, the band is wrapping up a year-long endeavor of dropping each song off the record on the first Friday of each month. Foxes First Fridays are the band's way of experimenting with a fresh method of releasing songs directly to their fans when they're fresh out of the studio, instead of shelving them until the album is released. Teaming up with local SF artist Giuliana Pinto, they have created unique cover artwork for each single reflecting the song's story and character. When released, Twelve Spells will act as a yearbook and on top of the twelve studio tracks, will include photos, live recordings and video from the road.

"Twelve" Spells concerns itself with inequality of various types, being oneself and the search to find those connections and learning to see past the artifice of society. The Stone Foxes’ work is all the more impressive considering that these deep themes run through a record that barely stops to take a breath. Kicked off in a storm of feedback and then nailed down with a double-timed drum beat and fuzz bass, “She Said Riot” was inspired by stories told to the band by friends involved in the Occupy movement and also by the way that drastic gentrification in San Francisco was impacting artists and musicians. The band says, “The main character in this song is looking at these changes but has a fire lit in him to ‘steal the streets back.’ A large source of his empowerment is drawn from his memory of the people and events of the occupy movement. Those were inspirational and passionate nights. Meeting new people, uniting for a cause. The character in this song is spurred on from remembering a powerful and impassioned girl who said ‘feel the way my heart beats, come on right now, riot, riot.’”

“I Want To Be You” explores a character driven to violent extremes by the envy of a lifetime looking at magazine covers and billboards over a wicked groove. The band says, “I'm not gonna lie, I felt weird and creepy writing this one.”

But the Stone Foxes look to go deeper than your typical garage band, observing life in San Francisco – and across America – in 2015. “Greasin Up The Door Man” personifies income inequality, telling the stories of three people who aren't given a hand up, and one man who's got everything he needs to get past the doorman. The band reflects, “It's easy to look around San Francisco and see a very clear line between the haves, and the have nots. Some of us have a lot of money. Some of us don't have any.  Some of us have connections because we were raised in certain circles with opportunities and options; some of us aren't given a second chance let alone a first.”

Like any good rock and roll record, ’12 Spells’ also hits the mark on those visceral moments that make life worth living. “This Town” concerns a magical night in small town, USA, blowing smoke rings, thinking of the girl who was your first love, wanting to see her and then bam, there is at the party. The narrator in “N.Y.T.” is turned on by the same things that turn him off, specifically a persona put on by a sexy recent arrival to New York.

Not all of the sentiments are universal. Singer/Drummer Shannon Koehler has had ten heart surgeries/procedures, two pacemakers, and two valve replacements. He jokes, “I take more pills that my Grandma Ruthie,” then growing serious. "I feel like my body is its own silent killer. I just tried to put that emotion on paper for ‘Cold Like a Killer.’” With a keyboard hook that will stick in your spine, “Cold Like a Killer” manages to be both sinister and defiant in the face of all of our inevitable fates. “Locomotion” is a garage burner torched with harmonica that tells the story of the Koehler's great grandpa escaping Russia during the Bolshevik revolution nearly being caught by police and jumping a train.

The Stone Foxes were originally founded by brothers Shannon and Spence Koehler. Most recently, the Stone Foxes joined forces with Vince Dewald and Ben Andrews of fellow San Francisco band, Buxter Hoot'n. The band, which writes and records music as a collaborative unit, consists of Shannon Koehler on vocals, harmonica, and drums; Vince Dewald on vocals, bass and guitar; Ben Andrews on guitar, fiddle and vocals; Brian Bakalian on drums, bass and vocals; and Elliott Peltzman on keyboards and vocals.

RED SOX PITCHER CRAIG BRESLOW’S SPECIAL EVENT SIP HAPPENS RAISES $250,000 FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH

BRESLOW’S STRIKE 3 FOUNDATION SURPASSES $3 MILLION RAISED

SHANE VICTORINO, KOJI UEHARA, MIKE NAPOLI, MANY OTHER TEAMMATES AND VIPS JOIN BRESLOW AT SIP HAPPENS

Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow’s Strike 3 Foundation raised $250,000 on Thursday to fight pediatric cancer. Strike 3 Foundation has now raised over $3 million to date.

Other Red Sox players in attendance included Xander Bogaerts, Brock Holt, Justin Masterson, Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Brandon Workman, Ryan Hanigan, Clay Buchholz, Tommy Layne, Wade Miley, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Rick Porcello, Robbie Ross, Jr. New York Yankee Andrew Miller and author Ben Mezrich joined the event as well. Emcees Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa of NESN and KISS 108 officiated.

Craig Breslow said, “We could not be more excited with the turnout and success of our third Sip Happens event.  We were able to raise over $250,000 while maintaining our minimal expenses only because of the generosity of the Boston community and its businesses.  A special thank you is warranted to all of the vendors, guests, volunteers of our organization, and my Red Sox teammates who gave up a rare off day to be with us tonight.  At the end of the day, most importantly, we were able to raise a quarter of a million dollars for childhood cancer research and treatment.”

Food and beverage stations at Sip Happens included Bergamot, Sam Adams, Citizens Public House, Tito's Vodka, Hungry Mother, Kowloon, Napa Valley Vinter Joseph Carr & Winery, The Fireplace, Hopsters Brew & Board, No. 8 Kitchen, Squeeze Café, Beam Global, Posto Mobile, Voss, 90+ Cellars / Latitude, Sam Adams, Mike's Pastry, Murphy Distributors, Foley Family Wines, MS Walker, Georgetown Cupcakes, Martignetti, Anna's Taqueria, Tito's Vodka, Hopsters Brew & Board, New England Charcuterie/Moody's, Kesner, Sovereign Brands, Dylan's Ghost, and Baker'’s Best.

About Strike 3 Foundation

The Strike 3 Foundation is a charitable agency recognized by the IRS under 501 (c)(3) that heightens awareness, mobilizes support, and raises funding for pediatric cancer research. Founded in 2008 by current Major League Pitcher and Yale graduate Craig Breslow, Strike 3 has donated over $500,000 to Yale University Children's Hospital as a founding sponsor of Connecticut's only Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Program. Additionally, the organization has supported deserving research and treatment centers across the country including the Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and the Conquer Cancer Foundation. Strike 3 also funds a Boston based research project annually. Offices are located in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, and California, and is headquartered in Connecticut.

Mary Epworth "Long Gone" video

Kevin Gordon 5 Spot residency in May

AFTER MOVE HOME TO IDAHO, EILEN JEWELL FINDS WRITING SANCTUARY IN HISTORIC HOT SPRINGS CABIN, METAPHOR FROM HER FATHER’S “HALF-BROKE HORSE”

NPR MORNING EDITION TAPES PROFILE ON SONGWRITER

‘SUNDOWN OVER GHOST TOWN’ OUT MAY 26 ON SIGNATURE SOUNDS AS NORTHEAST TOUR DATES CONFIRMED FOR JULY

“You have to get water from the well and bring it over to your cabin but it’s the best tasting water ever,” says Jason Beek, drummer and background vocalist in Eilen Jewell’s band about Burgdorf Hot Springs, where she wrote much of ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town.' Burgdorf is on the Register of Historic Places and consists of primitive cabins surrounding a natural, mineral hot springs north of Boise, outside of McCall, ID. The stunning ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town’ is deeply rooted in Idaho, where Eilen grew up.

NPR Morning Edition has taped an interview with Eilen that will air around 'Sundown Over Ghost Town's' May 26 release on Signature Sounds.

Even the drive to Burgdorf provides inspiration. She says, “I’m obsessed with rusty things and old things. An old truck has given me a lot of inspiration. Lucky horseshoe in a pile of junk – once had meaning and promise on the wayside and forgotten.”

Eilen exclaims, “I love any writing with a sense of place. I try to do that with my material. One can use imagery as vehicle for talking about anything.” For example, “Half-Broke Horse” is a song based both in the reality of semi-domesticated animals in Idaho and a metaphor for outcasts everywhere.

She explains, “This song is based on Pyro, my dad’s mustang. He was born wild somewhere in southern Idaho, caught in a mustang roundup, and sold. He’s not really wild anymore, but he’s not really tame either. Other horses think he’s strange and most people have no use for him because he can’t be ridden and won’t be put to work. So he’s stuck in his own weird in-between world.” Eilen’s lyrics run deep:

Stolen from the desert in the lost part of the state
Just a half-broke horse, he waits by the gate
No bridled horse can stand him or any of his kind
Their hidden laws condemn him
They’re so rigid and refined
He watches on the edge, dirty coat and shaggy mane
Too wild for this world, too tame for mustangs

“I’ve known a lot of people around here who are very similar to Pyro in that respect. I think, to some extent, I’m one of them,” she reflects.

Eilen Jewell Tour Dates:

05/23/15 - Grass Valley, CA - Strawberry Music Festival
05/27/15 – Eureka, CA - Palm Lounge at the Eureka Inn
05/28/15 – Winters, CA - The Palms
05/29/15 - Berkeley, CA - Freight and Salvage
05/30/15 - Santa Cruz, CA - Kuumbwa Jazz Center
06/10/15 – Portland, OR – Alberta Rose Theatre
06/11/15 – Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
06/12/15 – Palmer, AK – Palmer Musk Ox Farm
06/13/15 – Soldotna, AK – Kenai River Festival
07/03/15 - Berwyn, IL - Fitzgerald’s American Music Festival
07/08/15 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
07/09/15 - New Haven, CT - Cafe 9
07/10/15 – Greenfield, MA – Green River Festival
07/11/15 - Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
07/12/15 - Woodbridge, NJ - Woodbridge Country Sundays
07/14/15 – New York, NY – City Winery
07/17/15 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
07/18/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
07/19/15 – Wakeman, OH – Music at Riverdog
08/07/15 – Challis, ID – Braun Brothers Family Reunion
08/22/15 - Liberty, UT - Ogden Valley Roots & Blues Festival
09/03/15 – Collinsville, CT – Bridge Street
09/04/15 – Charlestown, RI – Rhythm & Roots Festival

Mary Epworth clips

Surviving the Golden Age premiere (April 6, 2015)

Pop Matters premiere (April 3, 2015)

Village Voice feature (May 25, 2015)

Brooklyn Vegan live pick (May 25, 2015)