Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Tommy Emmanuel! Feb 25, 2023

“Songs are our teachers. They show us the depth of the human race and its unrelenting desire to create.” – Tommy Emmanuel

 Anytime you talk to any of Tommy Emmanuel’s fans, whether musicians or civilians, invariably they will speak of not one but two qualities that define his greatness. The first, predictably, is his extraordinary guitar playing. Considered by those in the know to be among this planet’s greatest guitarists, his playing is simply miraculous, as it would take three musicians, or more, to do what Tommy does solo. Who else, for example, when playing “Day Tripper,” can lay down the rhythm part, dig into the riff and sing the melody all at once on just one acoustic guitar? 
            

Which brings us to the other aspect of his music always mentioned, and without which the first might not be as powerful or as infectiously appealing: the joy. Yes, joy. Because it’s one thing to play these multi-dimensional arrangements flawlessly on an acoustic guitar. But to do it with that smile of the ages, that evidence of authentic, unbridled delight, is an irresistible invitation to feel his music as deeply as he does. “The joy, he says, “is there always because I’m chasing it through music. Seeing the surprise in peoples’ eyes is worth living and working for… I can’t help but play to the people with all my heart, which is overflowing with joy of being in that moment that I’ve worked all my life for. And here it is!”
            

Although his expression is instrumental, he comes to the guitar much more like a vocalist, positively singing melodies through the strings. He inhabits the tunes he performs, delivering every nuance and turn of phrase. His own songs are also illuminated always with lyrical melodies that go right to the heart, such as his beautiful ode to his daughter, “Angelina,” or his great “story without words,” “Lewis & Clark.” That they resonate so deeply without words makes sense, as words only go so far. But music, coming from a genuine and joyful source, can go so much farther. Now with The Best of Tommysongs, he brings us a complete collection of his own songs, all rich with ripe melodicism and rendered with joy in real-time. 

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be in show business. Now, I just want to be in the happiness business. I make music, and you get happy. That’s a good job.”  –Tommy Emmanuel

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Jerry Douglas Band! Feb 25, 2023

Dobro master and 14-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas is a bandleader, producer, session musician, instructor, and a very funny guy! He’s produced over a hundred albums and he’s featured on over 1,600 studio albums. He’s a member of Alison Kraus & Union Station, co-bandleader for Transatlantic Sessions in the United Kingdom, founder for the Grammy winner bluegrass super-group The Earls of Leicester, and he leads The Jerry Douglas Band.

Since 2017, The Jerry Douglas Band has been forging new paths into the musical horizon with deep roots in bluegrass and folk that spreads out into the Americana and jazz landscapes. In 2021, The Jerry Douglas Band released an album, Leftover Feelings, with legendary singer songwriter John Hiatt. The album was nominated for a 2022 Grammy for “Best Americana Album,” and their previous record What If also received a Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.” They perform at some of the top US festivals such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Pilgrimage Music Festival, Big Ears Festival, DelFest, FreshGrass, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Merlefest, and many others. In addition to Douglas, The Jerry Douglas Band includes Daniel Kimbro on bass, Christian Sedelmyer on fiddle, and Mike Seal on guitar.

Daniel Kimbro — DanielKimbro.com

Raised on American Roots music in and around Appalachia, Daniel Kimbro is a multi Grammy-nominated bassist with numerous stage and studio appearances to his credit. Currently touring and recording with The Jerry Douglas Band, The Earls of Leicester, the Transatlantic Sessions and many others, Daniel utilizes his extensive experience within Jazz, Folk and Bluegrass genres to maintain a busy freelance career from his twin homes of Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Christian Sedelmyer — linktr.ee/ChristianSedelmyer

Christian Sedelmyer is a daring and diversified musician who brings a 21st-century vision to the five-string violin. Raised in Erie, PA and based in Nashville since 2008, he’s been a member of the Jerry Douglas Band since Summer of 2014. In addition, he’s forged two successful bands (The Farewell Drifters and 10 String Symphony) and become a valued side musician and collaborator in contemporary string band music. Sedelmyer contributed to the IBMA Award winning 2018 Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. He regularly collaborates and records with Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), and his debut solo instrumental album, Ravine Palace, featuring Douglas, Marlin, Eli West (guitar) and Clint Mullican (bass) was released in 2020.

Mike Seal — MikeSealMusic.com

Mike Seal is a twice grammy-nominated guitarist and composer based in Nashville, TN. Originally from Bridgewater, Virginia, Mike has been touring and recording with a wide variety of bands including: The Jerry Douglas Band, Sierra Hull, Bob Lanzetti, Viktor Kraus Band Jeff Sipe Trio, Sarah Siskind, Danny Barnes, The Jeff Coffin Mu-tet, Ike Stubblefield, Yonrico Scott, Keith L. Brown, The Black Lillies, and many others. Mike’s first solo EP, Dogwoods, released in 2018 and is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar! Feb 25, 2023

Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar are making some rare duo appearances in 2022 and 2023.  The Louisiana slide guitar wizard’s trademark bottle-neck chops and Cashdollar’s dobro and steel string talents culminate in world renowned showcases of guitar virtuosity. 

Revered for his unique slide guitar technique, Sonny Landreth has collaborated with many legendary performers including John Hiatt, Jimmy Buffett, Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton. Summer of 2013, Sonny was part of the Peter Frampton led Guitar Circus tour, often closing the night playing with Frampton on an extended “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Cindy Cashdollar’s expertise is in great demand on both steel guitar and dobro. She has worked with many leading artists in various genres including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart and Ryan Adams. With the iconic western swing group Asleep At The Wheel, she garnered 5 Grammy awards and was the first woman to be inducted into the Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in  2011. 

Performing a mix of original songs with contemporary and traditional blues and roots music, the show is electric, virtuosic, and tastefully delivered by these two great instrumental masters.

Margo Price at The Showbox! Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Margo Price has something to say but nothing to prove. In just three remarkable solo albums, the singer and songwriter has cemented herself as a force in American music and a generational talent. A deserving critical darling, she has never shied away from the sounds that move her, the pain that’s shaped her, or the topics that tick her off, like music industry double standards, the gender wage gap, or the plight of the American farmer. (In 2021, she even joined the board of Farm Aid.)

Now, on her fourth full-length Strays, a clear-eyed mission statement delivered in blistering rock and roll, she’s taking onsubstance abuse, self-image, abortion rights, and orgasms. Musically extravagant but lyrically laser focused, the 10-song record tears into a broken world desperate for remedy. And who better to tell it? Price has done plenty of her own rebuilding—or as she shout sings in explanation on “Been to the Mountain,” the set’s throat-ripping opener, “I have to the mountain and back alright”—and finds herself, atlong last, free. Feral. Stray.

Moving from the sparse folk of her 2016 debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, into the rollicking roots of its follow up, All American Made, the following year, and, in 2020, into classic rock with Rumors, Price has established herself as a sonic explorer of the finest ilk. Still, she says, “This could be too out-there for people. But I just have this morality where I feel like, it has to be this.

”And this does sound different. Louder, lusher. More layered. Price and her bandrecorded the set across a blissful week in Topanga Canyon, California, at producer Jonathan Wilson’s Fivestar Studio in the summer of 2021. (A smaller second batch would get tracked in Music City, months later.) Wilson, who has helmed sets from Angel Olsen, Father John Misty, and Dawes in recent years, created a space for Price and her band—a longtime troupe that’s been honing their kinetic, even raucous, live show since before Midwest Farmer’s Daughter—to traverse new sounds and influences confidently.

Album opener “Been To The Mountain” showcases her “hard-living swagger” (The New York Times), while the Mike Campbell-assisted “Light Me Up” lays down a searing, explicit epic. “Radio,” a buoyant guitar track featuring Sharon Van Etten, embraces sunny pop melodies. While the dobro-and pedal steel-laden “Hell in the Heartland,” which Price penned in the immediate, uneasy aftermath of quitting drinking, builds towards a cacophony of distorted vocals and synthesizers.

Rock and roll, psychedelic country, rhythm & blues, and even bright shiny pop, they’re all there on Strays, but as each refract through her artistry, that delicate vocal and unhurried delivery, they come out sounding singularly her. While the last few years have seen remarkable moments of acclaim—a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, Americana Music Honors, a Saturday Night Live performance, and just about every outlet and critics’ year-end Best Of list—Price is still hungry. “I still have a lot of drive inside of me,” she says. “I have a chip on my shoulder. It feels like I still haven’t been able to fully realize all my dreams yet, and that eats me up.” Just wait.

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Dan Tyminski, featuring Gaven Largent! Feb 24, 2023

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band! Feb 24, 2023

The Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band is a hot “super group” of musicians:

–Bryn Davies on upright bass & vocals (guy clark, tony rice, peter rowan, patty griffin)

–Shad Cobb on fiddle & vocals (mark oconnor, robbie fulks, tim o’brien)

–Matt Flinner on banjo & mandolin (leftover salmon, trey anastasio, matt flinner trio)

–Darrell Scott on guitar & vocals (Sam Bush, Robert Plant, Steve Earle & Bluegrass Dukes)

“Having traveled in the bluegrass festival circuit for over 25 years, I have seen the best of the best and these players are THAT…the brightest and most fearless I know”, says Darrell,” we listen as intently as we play and sing, and are ready to turn at every moment to follow where the music leads while doing our own songs as our basis.”

The Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band follows Darrell’s songs with Bluegrass instrumentation – the end result being as close to Newgrass and Improv as it is to Singer/Songwriter, with all members contributing their own tunes, as well. This is hot playing, soulful singing and nimble ensemble work at its’ Bluegrass, Newgrass, Americana, Singer/Songwritery, fiery best.

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – The Cactus Blossoms! Feb 24, 2023

The band is composed of brothers Jack Torrey (guitar, vocals) and Page Burkum (guitar, vocals) with a touring act including their cousin Phillip Hicks (bass), Jake Hanson (guitar) and Jeremy Hanson (drums).

The band’s musical styling of “the sounds and approaches of early country and rock n’ roll” was inspired by traditional American folk music and “hillbilly” music and is “reminiscent of 60s Nashville and Los Angeles as heard in artists like Roy Orbison, The Byrds, and Duane Eddy.”

Brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum began playing music today at ages 18 and 23, respectively but didn’t form the band The Cactus Blossoms until they were both in their 30s. The band began playing local shows in Minneapolis in 2010 and self produced and released a self-titled debut album in 2011.  Their popularity secured them a residency at St. Paul’s Turf Club where they self-produced their first live album titled Live at the Turf Club.

After several tours supporting other artists, JD McPherson proposed working together, where he would produce their first studio album. In 2015 the band signed with Red House Records and on January 22, 2016 released their first studio album titled You’re Dreaming. The album reached #23 on the Americana Billboard chart and was met with favorable reviews with American Songwriter describing it as “honest, unvarnished, completely engaging style that is clearly retro but in no way musty.”

The band was contacted by David Lynch‘s office to appear in the revival season of the televisions series Twin Peaks where the band performed “Mississippi”. The song is also featured on the soundtrack album, Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series.

In 2017 the band was invited by Dan Auerbach to his Nashville studio to write some songs together. Two of the songs, “Got a Lotta Love” and “Blue as the Ocean” appeared on their studio album Easy Way which released March 1, 2019. Departing Red House Records, the album was released on the band’s own Walkie Talkie Records label.

After taking a forced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing the protests in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd, the band began recording their third studio album in an at-home studio. The band’s third album, One Day, was released on February 11, 2022.

KBCS Turns 50!

With abounding gratitude for 50 years we say thank you. 

Thank you to the Bellevue College Students who gathered, organized and rallied for a 10 watt community radio station that went on the air today in 1973. 

Thank you to KING FM who donated the first equipment to make that happen. 

Thank you to Bellevue College who have held our license for 50 years, given us a place on campus, and quietly championed us when it was far from the easiest choice to make. 

Thank you to our community volunteers, past and present, who have wildly given us your time, talent, passion and joy. You are the many that make the one.

Thank you to the student news journalists and local independent journalists for continuing the craft of informing and honoring community

Thank you to the community members who share their voices and brave stories for all of us to learn from and connect with.

Thank you to the progressive media partners who bring us the critical news and discussion on topics from around the country and the world. 

And, we thank you, our beautiful listeners who, we humbly claim, have the best ears. You have powered this community radio station far beyond what should have been possible. We celebrate 50 with you, for you, and because of you.

Happy 50th KBCS, you sweet old radio station.

We sure do like the way you sound. 

International Guitar Night at Kent-Meridian Performing Arts Center – February 3, 2023

International Guitar Night is North America’s premier traveling guitar festival. Each tour, a new cast of guitar luminaries come together for a special evening highlighting the  virtuosity and diversity within the world of acoustic guitar. For International Guitar Night’s 23rd year, featured guitarists include Canadian jazz guitarist and vocalist, and recipient of the 2021 Juno (Canadian Grammy) for Jazz Album of the Year, Jocelyn Gould. She will be joined by Flamenco master Jesus Guerrero from Spain, contemporary classical guitarist Stephanie Jones, and Gypsy and Jazz guitarist Olli Soikkeli from Finland.

Jeffrey Martin w/ Taylor Kingman at Tractor Tavern – February 2, 2023

“Dogs in the Daylight is as close to a masterpiece as a folk album by an emerging singer-songwriter can get.” — No Depression

Portland, Oregon’s Jeffrey Martin is a minister’s son who can build a house with his bare hands and holds a master’s degree in English. He worked his way through school as a carpenter, then, following graduation, spent four years teaching high school.

It was during that time that his career as a songwriter came into bloom. Struggling to strike a balance between his increasingly rigorous Northwest/West Coast touring and his efforts to get teenagers to love words as much as he did, Martin found himself in the tricky position of having to choose between his two passions.

Much to the delight of his fans, music won the day.