Henhouse Prowlers

Robert Cray Band

Open ears and an open mind are the essence of singer, guitarist and songwriter Robert Cray’s approach to writing, recording and playing music. He has created a sound that rises from American roots and arrives today both fresh and familiar. In just over 40 years Cray and his band have recorded 20 studio releases, 15 of which have been on the Billboard charts, and played bars, concert halls, festivals and arenas around the world. There are five Grammys with Cray’s name on them, and he has a suitcase full of W.C. Handy blues awards. Four years ago Cray was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. On August 28 the Mascot Label Group celebrated the vibrancy of the Cray Band’s rocking rootsy blues, soul-filled ballads and timeless R&B with the release of 4 Nights of 40 Years Live. Through clips of concerts from the 80s and four recent shows, the evolution from the Cray Band unfolds. Comments by Cray and band members add depth. And interviews with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmie Vaughan and Buddy Guy put the band in perspective. The 3- piece set will be available in a variety of formats – 2 LPs + Mp3, 2 CDs + DVD, Blu-Ray + 2 CDs and digitally. The multimedia 4 Nights of 40 Years Live is a testament to the band’s longevity and vitality. The 80s concert footage is exuberant and shows the charisma of Young Bob (a reference in song that Cray makes to himself in homage to Muddy Waters calling himself Young Muddy) as a guitarist, vocalist and band leader. The live performances at recent concerts capture seasoned musicians bringing a vivid, illustrative past into the moment. Cray’s Stratocaster solos sing, cry and take on the funk. His voice has grown richer and wiser yet remains sweet. it is extraordinary for musicians to thrive over four decades, and the Robert Cray Band is just that, an extraordinary story of success. On the DVD Texas blues and R&B artist Jimmie Vaughan sums up Robert Cray’s singularity and success simply when he says, “He’s got one foot in the future and one foot in the old stuff.”

Solas

Since its birth in 1996, Solas has been loudly proclaimed as the most popular, influential, and exciting Celtic band to ever emerge from the United States. Even before the release of its first Shanachie CD, the Boston Herald trumpeted the quartet as "the first truly great Irish band to arise from America," and the Irish Echo ranked Solas among the "most exciting bands anywhere in the world." Since then, the praise has only grown louder. The Philadelphia Inquirer said they make "mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best." The New York Times praised their "unbridled vitality", the Washington Post dubbed them one of the "world's finest Celtic-folk ensembles" and the Austin American-Statesman called them "the standard by which contemporary Celtic groups are judged."Solas is virtually unique in the new territory it has opened up for Celtic music. It has performed at all the major Celtic and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton, the legendary National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee's Irish fest; but also at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer series at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It has performed at Symphony Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. In New York City, where the band was based in its early years, it has played at the legendary Bottom Line folk club, but also at vaunted classical venues Town Hall and Symphony Space. The Solas sound today is anchored by founders Seamus Egan, who plays flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran, and fiddler Winifred Horan. They are two of the most respected - and imitated - musicians anywhere in acoustic music. Mick McAuley from Kilkenny plays accordion and concertina; Eamon McElholm from Tyrone plays guitar and keyboards. Solas has emerged as the most exciting band in traditional Irish music. The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine says, "Seamus Egan and Solas make mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best," while the Los Angeles Times says, "Solas offers a compellingly original, strikingly contemporary view of traditional Celtic sounds." Although Solas can play undiluted traditional Irish music as well as anyone alive or departed, they are always varying the mix of fire tested tradition and contemporary sensibility with an ease and naturalness that is as astonishing as their overwhelming musicianship. As a result, they transcend musical genres into the realm of pure musical expression that only a relative handful of musicians attain. The internationally acclaimed supergroup has not only captured the hearts and ears of Irish music fans, but fans all around the globe with their blend of Celtic traditional, folk and country melodies, bluesy sometimes jazz-inspired improvisations and global rhythms. Solas has built a fanbase that includes the likes of Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris and the much sought-after rap producer Timbaland who surprisingly sampled the band on his radio hit "All Yall." Their latest release is a live CD and DVD called "Reunion" (Compass Records) which celebrates the bands tenth anniversary. Ten years and still going strong!!!

Louisiana Calling

The Ocean Blue - Frigid Winter Days

The Ocean Blue arrived as the 1980s drew to close, and their debut record on the famed Sire Records label in 1989 seemed to summarize the best of the musical decade. The band of four teenagers from Hershey, Pennsylvania quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay, with hits like Between Something and Nothing and Drifting, Falling. They followed their debut release with the subtle and atmospheric Cerulean, which included perhaps their most beloved song, Ballerina Out of Control, and followed that with their highest charting pop album Beneath the Rhythm and Sound and the single Sublime, featuring a video of the band in the sublime landscape of Iceland. The band's fourth record for Mercury/PolyGram, See The Ocean Blue, was a departure to a more guitar rock sound of the 60s and 70s, but with the band's 80s dna peeking through. After a busy decade of recording and touring, the band left the majors in the late 90s. Several independent releases and related touring followed in the 2000s, including 2000's Davy Jones Locker and 2004's Waterworks EP, and some international touring. In 2013, after much anticipation, the band released their first full length record in over 10 years, Ultramarine, on Korda Records, a Minneapolis-based label cooperative label the band helped launch that same year. The record was a welcome return for fans of the band and a younger generation of fans, and garnered widespread praise as one of their very best albums.  In 2014, the band released and toured for an LP version of Waterworks, and in 2015, the band worked with Sire Records and Shelflife to reissue their first 3 Sire albums on vinyl. The band marked the occasion by performing the first 2 albums in their entirety at limited concerts throughout the U.S. In 2016, the band did a South American Tour, and is set to release a new full length record in 2019.

Marc Roberge

Marc Roberge is a songwriter and co-founder of the legendary American rock band O.A.R. Throughout nearly three decades of touring and releasing music, Roberge has enjoyed scaled down, personal acoustic performances in which he can stretch out and tell the stories that give life to the songs.

Altan

The Celtic Tenors

The Celtic Tenors have established themselves as the most successful classical crossover artists ever to emerge from Ireland. In 2000, following an impromptu audition at EMI in London, the Celtic Tenors were signed on the spot to an international record deal, a highly unusual event that was the talk of the music industry.The Celtic Tenors' fifth album is due for release pre Christmas. Recorded in the Hollywood Hills, this new album is a collection of songs from North America, by songwriters including Stephen Foster and Bob Dylan. Essentially a roots album with rich harmony driven songs, Celtic Tenors, Daryl, James and Matthew were privileged to work with the Grammy-winning team of Steve Lindsey, Dillon O'Brien and Dave Way.The Celtic Tenors continue to "re-invent the whole tenor idiom" (Phil Coulter - composer of "Remember Me"), by pioneering a new style of 'cool' never before seen on the classical stage and by breaking the traditional stuffy tenor mould.While each of The Celtic Tenors have been influenced by the musical traditions from their own individual parts of Ireland, Daryl, James and Matthew show great flexibility in melding their voices to suit the appropriate classical, folk, Irish and pop genres. The "Echo Award" in Germany for "Classical without Boundaries" was presented to The Celtic Tenors in recognition of this fact.With a total album sales worldwide, including compilations, of over one million, and a full international touring schedule, the Celtic Tenors have topped the charts in the USA, Canada, Germany, the UK and Ireland.The Celtic Tenors' live show is an experience overflowing with vitality and variety from start to finish. The unique voices, charm and wit of Daryl, James and Matthew, combined with talented young Musical Director Colm Henry, combine an emotive journey with a thoroughly uplifting experience. Equally at home performing to large festival crowds or intimate concert halls and theatres, and whether backed by a live band, symphony orchestra, solo piano, or even acapella, their voices and personalities always shine through alongside their undeniable celtic charm.Catch the Celtic Tenors in concert, enjoy their eclectic mix of classical, folk, Irish and pop.

Cherish the Ladies

“It is simply impossible to imagine an audience that wouldn’t enjoy what they do,” says The Boston Globe of Cherish The Ladies, Grammy Award nominated Irish-American supergroup that formed in 1985 to celebrate the rise of extraordinary women in what had been a male-dominated Celtic music scene.    Cherish The Ladies has shared timeless Irish traditions and good cheer with audiences worldwide for decades. They’ve brought their signature blend of virtuosic instrumental talents, beautiful vocals, and stunning step dancing to the White House, the Olympics, and to PBS with their television special, An Irish Homecoming, which received an Emmy Award. The Washington Post praises the “astonishing array of virtuosity” that Cherish The Ladies bring to the stage on a regular basis.    Their latest album, Heart of the Home, embraces the gift of music passed down from generations. “It was the greatest gift they could give us,” says bandleader Joanie Madden. “We’re carrying on the music of our fathers.” As their reputation and admiration from both fans and critics alike continues to grow, Cherish The Ladies blazes forward into another decade of music making. 

ZZ Ward

One of the most profound lessons ZZ Ward learned from growing up listening to the blues greats was to  be authentic to your story. When the LA-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist began to write new music, she found her self in the midst of one of the biggest life changes a person will ever experience: motherhood.   The resulting music Is her truest and most blues-infused to date. Freed from the pop pressures of her previous major label, ZZ is able to fully embrace the blues, her most formative influence. Her single, “Mother,” out July 19th, is a wailing Chicago blues-styled song. The Mother EP, out October 4th, features a mix of ZZ's favorite Sun Records songs, and muddied-up versions of her well-known tracks to commemorate her blues liberation. The single and the EP were produced by multi-platinum producer Ryan Spraker (Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Weezer, In This Moment).   ZZ’s first single, “Put The Gun Down,” from her 2012 debut,Til the Casket Drops, broke into the AAA Radio Charts Top 10, and stayed there for 10 weeks. It was followed by the single, “365 Days,” which hit #2 on the charts. Til the Casket Drops also snuck into the Billboard Top 40 Alternative Chart. ZZ’s sophomore album, The Storm, released in 2017, peaked at Number1on the Billboard Blues Charts, highlighted by singles featuring GRAMMY-Award winners Fantastic Negrito, “Cannonball,” and Gary Clark Jr., “Ride,” which was also the end title song for Pixar’s feature film Cars 3.