Steep Canyon Rangers have always been a much-loved bluegrass band, but this past year has taken it to new heights.

The band’s 2011 album with Steve Martin Rare Bird Alert went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart and won a GRAMMY Award nomination. The band’s 2010 album Deep in the Shade stayed in Billboard’s Top 10 Bluegrass chart for eighteen weeks. Headlining gigs at MerleFest, Bonaroo and other high profile events have followed.

Now the band is set to join with Martin again when it co-headlines DelFest, named for founder and bluegrass legend Del McCoury, the annual bluegrass extravaganza on Memorial Day Weekend in Cumberland, Maryland.

Although other events with Martin will follow, the band’s main focus this year is touring behind its just-released album Nobody Knows You.

Steep Canyon Rangers guitarist and lead vocalist Woody Platt took time out of his jam-packed schedule to talk to OurStage about the past year and just where Steep Canyon Rangers is headed in the near future.

OS: It had to be great working with Steve Martin and playing all the high profile events you’ve done in the past year or so. How did you work in a new record, too?

WP: We had great success with Steve and we wanted to follow that up with a solo record from us. The exposure we got through Steve was great but we also want to work on just our own music. When we’re traveling, we are usually out ten to twelve days in a row and sound check isn’t until about 4:30 so we had some time [to write, demo and otherwise develop the album]. We worked very hard on it last year. Charles [R. Humphrey III, the bassist) and Graham [Sharp, the banjo player] are very, very serious about songwriting and very good at it, so they worked on [the new songs] all the time.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Steep Canyon Rangers’ Woody Platt Talks Steve Martin, DelFest, and Just Where Bluegrass is Headed’

Up until Superbowl Sunday, Juliet Simms was known solely in the underground modern rock scene as the vocal powerhouse of  pop punk band Automatic Loveletter. On stage, she was a charismatic performer, earning her stripes on the Warped Tour circuit and on club tours with bands like Secondhand Serenade and Cute Is What We Aim For. But behind the scenes, Simms struggled to find a label to call home and was constantly battling those who believed a woman simply couldn’t hang in the male-centric world of rock music. Simms’ tight-knit fan community were by her side, but she couldn’t seem to break into the mainstream the way she wanted to.

OS: What was your audition process for The Voice? What made you decide to sing “Oh! Darling” for your audition?

JS: I’ve never really been one for covering songs. I’ve always just done originals. However I grew up singing The Beatles and just felt if I was going to do this show, I was going to do it my way and represent the music I so much believe in.

OS: Before you auditioned, did you have a first choice for which coach you’d want to work with? How did it feel when three out of four coaches turned their chairs around for you?

JS: I walked onto the blind audition stage just hoping one would turn around for me. When I saw that three had turned for me I was dumbfounded. Cee- Lo spoke from his heart and I could hear the loyalty in his words. I knew he was the right coach to go with!

OS:  What has life been like for you since the show ended? Do you have any immediate plans of things you’d like to start working on?

JS: Life has been drunk…[laughs] no, just kidding. Being out in the wilderness again is taking some getting used to. I’m pretty much just resting…I was and still am pretty sick so I’m trying to get better. My plans are to take immediate action in making an album.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Juliet Simms Takes Us Behind The Scenes of ‘The Voice’’

In the late ’70s, Squeeze was a quirky crew of new wave weirdos with a string of strange hits (“Take Me, I’m Yours,” “Cool For Cats,” “Slap and Tickle”) in England and low-key cult-hero status among the rock cognoscenti in America. In the early ’80s, the albums Argybargy, East Side Story and Sweets From a Stranger made them stars in the States. Led by the songwriting team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who began getting a rep as a modern-day Lennon and McCartney, Squeeze was among the small handful of acts (Blondie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Cars) that burst up from the new wave underbrush to mainstream success in the US. They did it on the strength of songs like “Another Nail In My Heart,” “If I Didn’t Love You,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Tempted” and “Black Coffee in Bed,” mating masterful pop hooks from tunesmith Tilbrook with weird, wordy, worldly-wise lyrics by Difford. In 2012, Squeeze is back on the boards, touring with contemporaries The English Beat and preparing for a new album; all the aforementioned songs and more can be heard on their new concert recording, Live at the Fillmore.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Glenn Tilbrook’s Squeeze Play’

The South Memphis String Band is one of those musical happy accidents that give roots music fans a taste of real old-time music.

It all started when long-time friends Luther Dickinson (lead guitarist of the Black Crowes and front man/lead guitarist of the North Mississippi Allstars), GRAMMY Award-winning blues/rock musician Alvin Youngblood Hart and critically-acclaimed musician Jimbo Mathus (of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) joined together musically. The trio had played together in various incarnations through the years but it wasn’t until they truly bonded over the music of their joint homeland, informally dubbed the Hill Country of Mississippi, that the South Memphis String Band was born.

“It was electric,” said Dickinson of the trio’s combined music for South Memphis String Band, which combines traditional string numbers with original songs primarily written by Mathus. “It just came together right away. That’s something that doesn’t happen very much.”

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Luther Dickinson Leads South Memphis String Band on a Musical Tour of the Old South’

It’s hard to tell now whether the term “krautrock”—originally concocted by the British music weeklies as a catch-all for the experimentally-minded bands coming out of Germany in the beards-and-bellbottoms era —was intended derisively or not, regardless of it’s political incorrectness. But after German band Faust used the appellation for a song title in 1973, it started to transcend its origins, and over the decades it has become a generic tag for the post-psychedelic sonic storms stirred up by the likes of Amon Duul II, Guru Guru, Faust, Ash Ra Tempel and Can, as well as their more electronically minded cousins, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, et al—music that has been incalculably influential to every generation of rockers to come along since. But while classic albums by the aforementioned artists have been comfortably ensconced in the krautrock canon for some forty years now, the books may have to be reopened in order to accomodate the arrival of The Lost Tapes, three CDs’ worth of recently unearthed, previously unheard, archival Can material that seems sure to blow more than a few fans’ minds.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Can Rewrites Krautrock History’

GRAMMY Award winner Marty Stuart has been way off the radar as of late. We haven’t seen him at award shows. He isn’t on late night TV. And we don’t see him playing the big country musical festivals. Just last week, Stuart released his new, ten-song album Nashville, Volume 1: Tear The Woodpile Down that is some of the most traditional country music released by a major artist arguably in years. The music is a pure joy with plenty of steel guitar, fiddles and harmonies. But just why has this member of Nashville royalty, who has played with everyone from Lester Flatt to Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, purposely taken himself out of the eye of the mainstream public? Stuart took some time out of his busy schedule to tell us just that.

OS: Your last album, Ghost Train, was so well received. What was the plan with this album Tearing Down the Woodpile.

MS: Just carry on because Ghost Train was part of a lineage. This whole traditional country music trajectory that I seem to be on right now, it’s where my heart led me. It was a long time coming. When I started [my current band] the Superlatives about eleven years ago now I knew it was the band of lifetime. We found ourselves in the role of cultural missionaries.

Other than the Grand Ol’ Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, we were kind of not part of the system of trying to chase hits or awards or [appear on] red carpets.

In the beginning we were simply looking for a place to play. My only request of our booking agent was to book us as far back in the woods of America as you can. I don’t want to mess with charts. I don’t want to see demographics. I don’t want to see numbers. I just want to play music. We will play ourselves right back to the light or as Merle Haggard said we have found ourselves right square in the middle of the forgotten land.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Marty Stuart Talks New Album, “Forgotten” People, and Johnny Cash’

With summer right around the corner, we can’t help but be totally stoked for Warped Tour. In case you haven’t heard, we’ll be sponsoring our own stage for twenty-two dates and bringing twenty-three artists out to perform on it. Twenty-two acts will snag a performance at their local tour stop, and Dallas native Larry g(EE) will be rocking the stage at each and every date. In addition, there are a handful of other OurStage artists already booked to play various dates of the tour. We decided to catch up with them to get the scoop on their summer plans.

Bassist Wes Hoffman is one of eight members in The Constellations, an OurStage band with a plan for world domination. This eclectic Atlanta group mixes elements of R&B, indie rock, blues and electronica, creating music that pleases people of all ages and backgrounds. We caught up with Wes to talk about the Atlanta music scene, who comes to their shows and what it’s like to work with the one and only Cee-Lo Green.

OS: You guys have eight members in the band. How did all of you meet?

WH: We met in Atlanta, through various other projects…work…the Atlanta music scene is pretty small, everyone kind of bumps shoulders with everybody. Myself and Elijah [Jones, vocalist] were involved in other projects before The Constellations, so we met each other doing that. My project came to a sliding halt and I started getting involved with other stuff, like booking shows. Before I was a member of the band, I actually booked them a couple times. I was trying to get them on this one show and the guy that was playing bass at the time couldn’t do it because he was out of town with his other band. I offered to fill in and that was almost three years ago.

OS: Since your music spans a few genres, do you see a significant mix of people in the crowd at your shows?

WH: Parents come to the show with their kids and they’re both fans, believe it or not! [laughs] Some of the hip-hop/soul kids that are there for the rhythms, and then there’s hipsters, standing there with their arms crossed, and then there’s people dancing, having a good time. It’s totally across the board, as far as age goes, too…young kids to grown adults, which is cool.

Continue reading ‘OS @ Warped Series: The Constellations’

Darryl Worley fans are in for a red-hot summer.

Worley’s first album in two years, One Time Around, is slated for June release, the same month he’ll host the three-day BamaJam music extravaganza, and that’s just for starters.

The man behind more than twenty charted hit singles including “A Good Day to Run,” “I Miss My Friend,” “Have you Forgotten” and more took some time from his busy schedule to talk to OurStage about his latest single, his new album and more.

OS: We’ve missed you! Where have you been?

DW: I took a little time off. I have still been touring but I put the whole routine of grinding out one album after another on hold for a while. I have a little four-year-old daughter and I needed to eliminate something from my busy schedule to be a better dad. We toured pretty heavily last year and had a good year, but we’ve been off the radio for almost two years now. I got back in the mood to work on music. I made my own record on my own dime. I had no problem putting a deal together…with complete funding from outside sources.

We have a real determined team of people together that are excited to make this thing work and we’re having a blast working it. Watching it start to grow is a hoot. It’s your baby and people out there are very receptive.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Darryl Worley Gears up for ‘One Time Around’’

Ready for The Further Adventures of the Saw Doctors?

The latest album by the Irish-based roots rockers with the folky edge just became available in the US and it boosts some of the grittiest music the band has made in its twenty-five-year history.

As the band made its way around the US during a major tour before returning to the UK to play dates—including Fairport Convention’s major Cropredy Festival in August—guitarist Leo Moran took time out to talk about the band, its fans and just what keeps it going.

OS: You have an amazingly loyal fan base that basically follows you all over the various countries in which you tour.

LM: Yes, we have a small name but very loyal fans. We are very fortunate for that.

OS: You are headlining Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Festival in August, though, so you’re clearly very popular with folk fans. What do you plan for that gig?

LM:  [The members of Fairport Convention and their fans] are very lovely people. We are just going to go and play for as long as they want us too. We really don’t do anything different except be ourselves. Hopefully we will get to [hang out] with Fairport. They are just lovely people and we always enjoy it, though we’ve only met them about once or twice. We haven’t played the festival since the ‘90s.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: The Saw Doctors Show off Fresh [Sonic!] Cuts’

First things first—while the official spelling of the band’s name is fun., with a lowercase “f” and a period at the end, the New York trio can not be held entirely accountable for the highly stylized nature of their moniker. According to multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost, it was a decision born of pragmatism, not petulance. “We thought of the name ‘Ice Cream,’ but we all hated it,” he says of the name’s origin. “However, we liked what it made us think of, which was ‘fun.’ The period was added after another band called ‘fun’ asked us to distinguish ourselves from them in some way.”

But their name isn’t the only thing that might lead to misconceptions about fun.—there’s also their label, Fueled By Ramen, which is best known for bringing the world an avalanche of emo, with a roster encompassing Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Yellowcard, et al. But aside from a predilection for wearing their hearts on their sleeves, fun. possesses few of the musical traits one commonly associates with the emosphere. In fact, the group seems to stand apart from most of the pack when it comes to the current crop of high-profile indie-pop acts in general. Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Is fun. Having Fun Yet?’