The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, Joe Pug sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest. Pug packed up his belongings and drove the longest route possible to Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn't picked up since his teenage years.
Steve Wold, more commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American bluesman, although he rather would be called "a song and dance man." He plays guitars (mostly personalised), and sings. When asked about his nickname, Steve said: "because it's just true: I always get seasick." He is a 21st Century blues man, who reaches back to the old traditions but also has a punk sensibility, and a gravelly, soulful voice.
He trick-or-treated at Liberace’s house, planned a two-day stay in Amsterdam that ended a month later with him escaping the city under the cover of darkness, and was Bob Hope’s favorite altar boy. Alone, these anecdotes go well with a fistful of peanuts at a cocktail party. But on top of these add that this person also co-wrote the longest-running song on the Billboard Top 100, had a debut solo album that earned three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, and was awarded the title of “San Diego’s Most Influential Artist of the Decade” at the San Diego Music Awards.
Tim Barry is a solo folk singer who sings in melodic hardcore band Avail. He released an album titled "Rivanna Junction" on the label Suburban Home Records in the fourth quarter of 2006. In 2008, Tim recorded a album titled Manchester. Recently he has recorded 28th & Stonewall, again on Suburban Home Records.
Emily Barker is an award-winning singer-songwriter, best known as the writer and performer of the theme to the BBC's hugely successful crime drama Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. She has released music as a solo artist as well as with various bands including The Red Clay Halo, Vena Portae and Applewood Road (with whom she released a remarkable album of original songs recorded live around a single microphone, dubbed “flawless” by The Sunday Times) and has written for film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature Hector starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.
Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, producer, and musician, noted for his collaborations with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys on the legendary album "SMiLE." As a child Parks acted in the 1956 movie The Swan, which starred Grace Kelly. He also worked steadily on television as a child actor between 1953 and 1958, including a role as Ezio Pinza's son on the NBC television show Bonino, as well as a recurring role as Little Tommy Manacotti (the kid from upstairs) on Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners.
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn was born September 17, 1974, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has released a number of albums under the K Records label. She has collaborated with her close friend Phil Elvrum of The Microphones and has also worked extensively with The Black Cat Orchestra. Mirah is the youngest of three children and lived in Bala Cynwyd, a suburb of Philadelphia for most of her childhood. She then moved to Olympia, Washington and attended The Evergreen State College. She is modest and deliberate, prefers privacy to invasion and reconciliation to war.
Liz Stringer is a singer, songwriter and musician based in Melbourne, Australia. With a reputation for utterly captivating live shows and a string of albums already behind her, Liz Stringer has established herself as one of Australia’s most exciting and talented musicians. Described by the Australian Herald Sun Newspaper as “an old-fashioned, Springsteen-style storyteller with a soulful, mature voiceâ€, Stringer combines intimate, complex narratives with haunting vocals to create unique contemporary roots music.
Stringer most recent and her fourth studio album “Warm In The Darknessâ€, sees a departure from the intimacy of 2010’s solo record Tides of Time in favour of a bigger, more bombastic sound, with horns, organs and guitars accentuating the rock-solid foundation of long-time bandmates Tim Keegan (bass) and Adam May (drums) with the addition of Van Walker on guitar. The album was co-produced by Stringer and the Killjoys’ Craig Pilkington, who engineered and played guitar on Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s renowned debut and has produced/engineered many of Australia’s greats.
Described by the Music Australia Guide as “a true wordsmithâ€, Stringer’s indescribable voice and intimate stories capture the full spectrum of human emotions. To see her perform live is to see an audience utterly captivated, hanging on every word and every hook as Stringer guides them through journeys of heartbreak, sorrow, hope and love.
Bursting onto the scene in 2006 with her impressive debut Soon, Stringer’s smoky voice and deft guitar work attracted the attention of ARIA award winner Mia Dyson, with whom she toured in 2006 and 2009. Supports, tours and shows with the likes of Ash Grunwald, Jeff Lang, Weddings Parties Anything, Jen Cloher & The Endless Sea, Eric Bibb (US) and Joe Henry (US) soon followed. Stringer was also invited to be part of Deborah Conway’s 2008 “Broad†tour, with performances at the Sydney Opera House, QPAC in Brisbane and Melbourne’s Hamer Hall.
More recent festival highlights have included Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Mossvale Music Festival and the Australasian World Music Expo.
A passionate advocate of independent music, Liz released Warm In The Darkness and her earlier recordings as a firm independent.
Amazingly & without label backing, Liz has a ground swell of interest within the independent and greater music industry, and is widening this interest and acclaim with the releases of Pendulum, Tides of time and now Warm In The Darkness.
Liz has also recently just finished a 36 date tour all around Australia as 'Dyson Stringer Cloher' with Mia Dyson and Jen Cloher where all 3 artist onstage playing on each others songs backed up by the amazing Danny McKenna on drums and the awesome Tim Keegan on bass. More info on that here: http://dysonstringercloher.com/ & you can get the 3 track (1 song from each artist) Tour EP exclusively from Milk! Records here: http://store.milkrecords.com.au/album/dyson-stringer-cloher-2013-tour-ep
WEBSITE: http://lizstringer.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/lizstringermusic
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/#!/LizStringerAU
BANDCAMP: http://lizstringer.bandcamp.com/
For all booking enquiries and requests contact Cat Leahy at the Booking Stable:
Email: cat@thebookingstable.com
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Declan Patrick MacManus was born 25th August 1954, in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London. He is the son of trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus and record store manager Lillian Costello. His family had roots in Merseyside and he moved to Birkenhead at age 16, with his mother, when his parents separated. He is better known by the name Elvis Costello - a stage name suggested by Stiff Records manager Jake Riviera - but has used many other aliases including The Imposter and Napoleon Dynamite*.
Jason Isbell is an alt-country singer /songwriter /guitarist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Best known for his years with the Drive-By Truckers where he played with his then wife, bassist Shonna Tucker. Isbell - who joined the Truckers in 2001 - left the band in early 2007 around the same time as his divorce from Tucker was finalized. In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Isbell is regarded as an exceptional guitar player.