Jim Lauderdale has been there and done that. He’s won two Grammy awards, written songs recorded by such artists as the Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, and George Strait, and released two dozen albums since 1991, including a pair in the past year featuring songs co-written with Robert Hunter of Grateful Dead fame, Black Roses and Blue Moon Junction. The Country Standard Time website calls Blue Moon Junction “scary good” and praises Black Roses for its exploration of “the dark side of country.”
Born in North Carolina, raised in South Carolina, with stints in New York City and Los Angeles before settling in Nashville, Jim has worked extensively with Ralph Stanley, Elvis Costello, Lucinda, Williams, Buddy Miller, George Strait, and Robert Hunter. Since winning the Americana Music Association’s first awards for Artist of the Year and Song of the Year in 2002, he has hosted their awards show every year since. He also hosts Music City Roots each week from the Loveless Barn in Nashville, and co-hosts, with Buddy Miller, The Buddy and Jim Show. His music has been featured recently on ABC’s Nashville and in the movie Pure Country, and he’s the subject of the documentary The King Of Broken Hearts. What really matters, though, is the music, and Jim’s is eloquent, heartfelt, and enduring.
The Easy Leaves are a duo from Sonoma County who play American roots rock with a country lilt. Kevin Carducci “kicked the banjo habit” and now plays upright bass. Sage Fifield plays guitar. They started performing together in 2008 and have just released their second album, American Times. Influenced by artists from Smokey Robinson to Bob Wills, their sound is a distillation of many forms of American music. When asked the main themes of their music, Sage said, “Celebration, the search to create meaning in the world, love, heartache, solitude and togetherness, gasoline, gold, and fire.”
Jim Lauderdale has been there and done that. He’s won two Grammy awards, written songs recorded by such artists as the Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, and George Strait, and released two dozen albums since 1991, including a pair in the past year featuring songs co-written with Robert Hunter of Grateful Dead fame, Black Roses and Blue Moon Junction. The Country Standard Time website calls Blue Moon Junction “scary good” and praises Black Roses for its exploration of “the dark side of country.”
