LEAD BELLY FEST ADDS SPECIAL GUEST KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD TO THE FEB. 4 CARNEGIE HALL SHOW

OTHER NEW ADDITIONS TO THE LINEUP INCLUDE: HITMAKER, EDGAR WINTER; AMERICAN SONGSTER, DOM FLEMONS; NYC PIANIST, JOHN DAVIS; NYC’S VERY OWN MARKY RAMONE, & NEW YORK STATE-RENOWNED BLUESMAN, GUY DAVIS.

Lead Belly Fest – the Carnegie Hall all-star celebration of the music and influence of Huddle "Lead Belly” Ledbetter on February 4, headlined by five-time GRAMMY Award winner BUDDY GUY along with the legendary Animals’ frontman ERIC “House of the Rising Sun" BURDON – today announced additions to the lineup. These include special guest multi-million seller, and GRAMMY-nominated blues rock guitarist, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD; American songster, DOM FLEMONS; “Free Ride” singer EDGAR WINTER; New York state bluesman and Pete Seeger cohort GUY DAVIS; also now on the bill are renowned pianist JOHN DAVIS; and NYC’s very own MARKY RAMONE. 

A Spotify playlist of the artists performing at Lead Belly Fest is here.

Photos of artists performing at Lead Belly Fest are here.

+ Born in Shreveport, the same town where Lead Belly was born, Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s provenance virtually destined him to become a great bluesman. Twenty years into his recording career he continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n' roll. Shepherd has built an enviable resume as an accomplished recording artist, a riveting live performer and one of the most talented and distinctive guitarists of his generation. He has been dubbed “the guitarists’ guitarist”. Shepherd has sold millions of albums worldwide, received five GRAMMY® nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, as well as a pair of Orville H. Gibson awards, the Blues Foundation's Keeping The Blues Alive award and two Blues Music awards. He's had seven #1 blues albums and a string of #1 mainstream rock singles. As part of his GRAMMY Award-nominated CD/DVD ‘10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads’, he jammed with fellow blues musicians at Lead Belly’s grave.

+ Dom Flemons is the "American Songster," pulling from traditions of old-time folk music to create new sounds. Having performed music professionally since 2005, he has played live for over one million people just within the past three years. As part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which he co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, he has played at a variety of festivals spanning from the Newport Folk Festival to Bonnaroo, in addition to renowned venues such as the Grand Ole Opry and such radio shows at NPR Fresh Air. Flemons was both host and performer at the recent Lead Belly 125 tribute concert at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

+ From Edgar Winter’s critically acclaimed 1970 debut release, Entrance, he has demonstrated his unique style and ability to cross the genre lines and do the unexpected. His early recording of "Tobacco Road" is a powerful, emotionally devastating masterpiece that propelled him into the national spotlight. With over 20 albums and numerous collaborative efforts to his credit, Edgar Winter has appeared in the film "Netherworld", and the TV shows The Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

+  Guy Davis is an artist who has excelled in many disciplines; he is a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. He has received accolades and praise for his performance off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in “Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil,” winning the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award”.  Likewise, he received rave reviews for his appearance on Broadway in “Finian's Rainbow”, playing the part originally played by the legendary Sonny Terry.  He has been nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards and has performed on such shows as Prairie Home Companion, Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Most recently, he is nominated for two 2016 Blues Music Awards. A friend of Pete Seeger’s, the two used to perform “Midnight Special” in concert frequently. 

+ With his latest Newport Classic recording, Halley’s Comet: Around the Piano with Mark Twain & John Davis, pianist John Davis pays musical tribute to our country’s most celebrated and influential author whose career, like Davis’s, lies at the intersection of white and black culture and high and low culture in American society. The Twain-related works included on the CD, “played powerfully and with a rich palette” according to The New York Times, further Davis’ effort to define, excavate, and disseminate a previously-unacknowledged American roots music initiated by two earlier hit recordings on Newport Classic.

+ Marky Ramone is a New York original, best known for the 15 years he spent drumming for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and MTV’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners The Ramones. He has also been a member of Richard Hell & the Voidoids, ayne County and The Backstreet Boys, and presently fronts Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg.

Leland Sundries - Studebaker embeddable track

MUSIC MAKER RELIEF FOUNDATION REVUE JOINS GLOBALFEST AT WEBSTER HALL JANUARY 17

REVUE INCLUDES JAMES BROWN/PERCY SLEDGE GUITAR VIRTUOSO ROBERT LEE COLEMAN; NEWEST BIG LEGAL MESS RECORDS SIGNEE ROBERT FINLEY; AND DEEP BLUES ARTIST ALABAMA SLIM

The Music Maker Relief Foundation – the non-profit organization which assists southern, traditional musicians who live in poverty, many of them elderly – is bringing a revue to Globalfest January 17 at Webster Hall. Last year, Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times that the festival was “full of fusions both geographical and temporal: local and far-flung, old and new.” He continued, “What fortified nearly every performance was the sense that the music still comes from some place like home.” MMRF was the subject last year of 20th anniversary profiles on NPR Weekend Edition and PBS News Hour. Music Maker Relief Foundation mission video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BznOarcpGaM

The Music Maker Relief Foundation Revue will consist of:

+ Robert Lee Coleman of Macon, Georgia played guitar for Percy Sledge from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, James Brown hired him for his new band, “the JBs.” Robert’s guitar is featured on Brown’s album “Hot Pants”, including the songs “Revolution of the Mind,” recorded live at the Apollo Theater & “Make It Funky” from the “Soul Classics” LP. He was most recently the subject of features in Gibson.com and Premier Guitar Magazine. Paul Reed Smith personally gave him a custom guitar. Hear music from his Music Maker Relief Foundation album ‘One More Mile’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpI2B8nrrqk

+ Robert Finley is the most recent addition to Big Legal Mess Records (Fat Possum) and his live performance energy can put anyone into a trance. Hailing from Bernice, LA, Finley enlisted in the US Army and served as an Army Band Director when he was younger. After his service, he worked as a carpenter and until recently his work provided enough income for him to get by. Unfortunately, his deteriorating eyesight has led to the loss of his carpentry career. Finley's music is as strong as ever though, and when Music Maker head saw him performing on the street at the King Biscuit Festival in Helena, AR, he signed him on the spot. He is making his NYC debut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOGMbOre8YE

+ Alabama Slim says, “I grew up listening to the old blues since I was a child. I spent summers with my grandparents who had a farm. Them old folks would get to moanin’ while they worked, and I just started moanin’ with them. That’s where I learned to sing.”  Slim grew up playing in juke joints in Alabama and moved to New Orleans in the ‘60s. Since joining MM, his music has been felt at performances in the States and abroad. Music Maker assisted him in relocating back to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He has released two albums on Music Maker and performed at Lincoln Center. Hear music: http://www.musicmaker.org/artists/alabama-slim/

The bandleader includes “Lil’ Joe” Burton, a trombone player who spent sixteen years with BB King before becoming Junior Wells’ bandleader. Albert White performed with Piano Red in his band Dr. Feelgood & the Interns for over thirty years and has played with Ray Charles, Joe Tex, and many others.

WHO: Robert Lee Coleman, Robert Finley, Alabama Slim
WHAT: Music Maker Revue at Globalfest
WHEN: 7-8pm, January 17, 2016
WHERE: Webster Hall, NYC
TICKETS: $45, http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=6308625&pl=webhall

For more info on Globalfest, please go to: http://globalfest.org/

Anais Mitchell bio

Widely known as “the Queen of Modern Folk Music”, Anaïs Mitchell is first and
foremost a storyteller. A Vermont-based singer-songwriter, Mitchell’s musical style,
sound, and performance have led her to be compared to Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen,
and Gillian Welch. Mitchell was first signed by Ani Difranco to Righteous Babe
Records, where she recorded for several years before starting her own Wilderland
label in 2012. Among Mitchell’s recorded works are five full-length albums, including 2010′s sensationally reviewed “Hadestown” and 2012′s “Young Man in America,” which was described by critics as "genre-defining" and her "second consecutive masterpiece,”
and for which she received a BBC Radio Two Folk Award nomination for “Best Original Song.”

In addition to headlining worldwide, Mitchell has supported tours for Ani Difranco, The Low Anthem, Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter and the Punch Brothers, as well as two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall with the band Bon Iver. Her 2013 release,
Child Ballads, won a 2014 BBC Radio Two Folk Award for Best Traditional Song, as well as finding itself on many ‘best of’ lists in international publications. In fall 2014, Mitchell releases ‘xoa’; a fifteen track solo collection including re-recorded songs spanning her ten year career, as well as a few completely new and previously unrecorded songs.
If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s work–from her earliest acoustic records, to
the Hadestown opera, to this new chapter – it’s that she’s as interested in the world
around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same
emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. “That’s why,” as one
journalist put it, “even in her most intimate moments, she never sounds like a
confessional songwriter.”

PATTY GRIFFIN, SARA WATKINS, AND ANAIS MITCHELL WANT YOU TO "USE YOUR VOICE"

SINGER/SONGWRITERS UNITE WITH LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
FOR MAJOR U.S. TOUR AND VOTER ENGAGEMENT DRIVE

38-CITY TREK SEES ACCLAIMED TRIO PERFORMING TOGETHER ON STAGE

"THE USE YOUR VOICE TOUR 2016" BEGINS FEBRUARY 12 IN ST. PETERSBURG, FL

(NEW YORK, NY) GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Patty Griffin is teaming with fellow artists Sara Watkins and Anaïs Mitchell for a major U.S. tour and voter engagement drive in conjunction with the League of Women Voters. The "Use Your Voice Tour 2016," produced by Columbia Artists Management LLC, gets underway February 12 at St. Petersburg, FL's Mahaffey Theatre and then visits 37 more U.S. cities through early April (see itinerary below).

"The League is excited to be teaming up with Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins, and Anaïs Mitchell to make sure all voices are heard on Election Day 2016," said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters. "We're ready to help fans get the election information they need, whether it's how to update their voter registration, find easy-to-understand local candidate and voting information, or learn about getting involved in the League's work."

The "Use Your Voice Tour 2016" follows the recent arrival of Griffin's extraordinary new album, SERVANT OF LOVE. Produced by longtime collaborator Craig Ross, the album - which includes the powerful first track release, "Rider of Days" - marks Griffin's ninth studio recording and first to be released via her new self-owned PGM imprint in conjunction with Thirty Tigers.  SERVANT OF LOVE has quickly drawn worldwide critical approval, with American Songwriter applauding her "unorthodox but effective foray into more oblique musical and philosophical waters...a bold, unexpected shift in vision."

Sara Watkins is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California and founding member of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek along with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. Over the summer, Sara and Sean toured and released their family-band-of-sorts project, Watkins Family Hour, that included stops at Conan, NPR's Tiny Desk Concert and Newport Folk Festival. The project featured an all-star band of Fiona Apple, Benmont Tench, Sebastian Steinberg and Don Heffington. Next year, Watkins will release her first solo offering in nearly four years.

Anaïs Mitchell is a Vermont and Brooklyn-based songwriter who comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Her recent albums have found themselves on year end 'Best-Of' lists including NPR, Wall Street Journal and the Guardian. She's currently developing her folk-opera album Hadestown into a full stage production, which will premiere off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in spring 2016.


ABOUT THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS:
A respected leader in the voter engagement field for 95 years, the League of Women Voters is active in all 50 states and nearly 800 communities. League volunteers conduct nonpartisan voter registration, education and mobilization year-round, every year with the goal of empowering millions of voters to participate and ensure they have fair and equal access to the vote. Visit the League's award-winning voting website, www.VOTE411.org , to find out about upcoming elections in your community.


###

PATTY GRIFFIN, SARA WATKINS, AND ANAÏS MITCHELL
THE USE YOUR VOICE TOUR 2016
Presented in Partnership with The League of Women Voters

FEBRUARY
12 - Mahaffey Theatre - St. Petersburg, FL
13 - Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center - Jacksonville, FL
16 - Hodgson Hall - Athens, GA
17 - Opelika Center for Performing Arts - Opelika, AL
18 - Egyptian Ballroom - Atlanta, GA
19 - Clemens Fine Arts Center - Paducah, KY
20 - Otis A. Singletary Center for the Arts - Lexington, KY
23 - Peace Center Concert Hall - Greenville, SC
25 - Ferguson Center for the Arts Concert Hall - Newport News, VA
26 - Page Auditorium - Durham, NC
27 - Camp Concert Hall - Richmond, VA
28 - Shaftman Performance Hall - Roanoke, VA

MARCH
1 - Music Center at Strathmore - North Bethesda, MD
2 - Grand Opera House - Wilmington, DE
3 - Weis Center of the Performing Arts - Lewisburg, PA
4 - Mayo Performing Arts Center Theatre - Morristown, NJ
5 - Jorgensen Auditorium - Storrs, CT
6 - Kelley Theatre - Fairfield, CT
8 - Fuller Hall - St. Johnsbury, VT
9 - Hart Theatre - Albany, NY
10 - Sanders Theatre - Boston, MA
11 - Music Hall Portsmouth - Portsmouth, NH
12 - Music Hall Tarrytown - Tarrytown, NY
13 - Wilkins Theatre - Union, NJ
15 - Strand Theatre - York, PA
16 - Eisenhower Auditorium  - University Park, PA
18 - Dave Finkelman Auditorium - Middletown, OH
19 - Macomb Center for the Performing Arts - Clinton Township, MI
20 - Palladium Center for Performing Arts - Carmel, IN
22 - Bass Concert Hall - Austin, TX
23 - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts - San Antonio, TX
24 - Dosey Doe Coffee House - Houston, TX
25 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX
26 - Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre - Hutchinson, KS
28 - The O'Shaughnessy Auditorium - St. Paul, MN
30 - Jackson Hall - Davis, CA
31 - Uptown Theatre  - Napa, CA

APRIL
1 - California Center for the Arts Concert Hall  - Escondido, CA
2 - Great Hall - Northridge, CA

Piney Gir: From Pentecostal upbringing to questioning God

It undoubtedly influenced Kansas-via-London UK artist Piney Gir’s fascinating music that she was raised in a strict Pentecostal household and not allowed to listen to pop music until the age of 14.

But where did the Pentecostal upbringing leave her in terms of her current beliefs. She addresses it in the new song “Oh God You Devil,” which asks God some questions directly. In contrast to the upbeat, kinetic nature of most of ‘Mr. Hyde’s Wild Ride,’ “Oh God You Devil” kicks off with hums in some kind of Dorian mode, typically used in India for mediation. Lyrics like, "Why can't I see you? ... I don't believe you... When you hide can you still see me?" She answers her own questions in the final verse, singing, "Isn't life as luck would have it?" Piney says, “Sealing the deal that perhaps this girl doesn't have much belief in God, at least not the God that is pitched to us in Western culture with the big white beard, sitting on a cloud punishing everyone.”

Early praise has already come from Pop Matters, Paste, and Glide for ‘Mr. Hyde’s Wild Ride,’ coming out February 19 on Greyday Records. It’s a new artistic high water mark, as she’s left behind her influences and found her own style and voice. Piney is planning select US tour dates.

Piney Gir "Mouse of a Ghost" video