Sara Evans

Strength, versatility and a spunky sense of adventure are qualities more often associated with literary heroines than successful country singers, but then there's nothing typical about Sara Evans. Whether dominating country radio airwaves with one of her many hit singles or attracting a new legion of fans with her spirited turn on "Dancing with the Stars," Evans' drive, talent and determination have placed her in an elite class of artists who transcend musical genres to become a household name. Her musical accomplishments are celebrated with the release of "Sara Evans-Greatest Hits." The 14-song collection features 10 of Evans' signature songs as well as four inspired new songs, worthy of taking their place alongside such modern classics as "No Place That Far," "A Real Fine Place to Start," and "Born to Fly." Indeed, Evans was on her way to becoming one of the most successful female artists of her generation--a compelling, heart-in-the-throat heir to Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. She's won numerous accolades, among them the Academy of Country Music's Female Vocalist of the Year and the Country Music Association's Video of the Year for "Born to Fly". She was named 2006 Female Vocalist of the Year in the R&R Reader's Poll and has been celebrated as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People." Evans has earned numerous #1 hits, two of which she co-wrote, including "Born to Fly," "No Place That Far," "Suds In The Bucket" and "A Real Fine Place to Start," which spent two weeks at the top of the country charts. Of the five albums Evans has released, her sophomore set, "No Place That Far," has been certified gold; 2001's "Born to Fly" is double-platinum and 2003's "Restless" and 2005's "Real Fine Place" are both platinum. Releasing a Greatest Hits package generally signals the close of one chapter in an artist's career and the beginning of a new one. It is often a time for introspection and taking a hard look at the factors that contributed to those hits. Evans humbly credits her success to "luck, the kindness of country radio, and a good record label." Obviously, there's been so much more involved. Sara Evans is a vibrant, talented woman with a distinctive voice and an innate ability to relate to her audience. She's a songwriter, a mother of three, and a master at multi-tasking, but above all, she's real. It's that honesty and integrity that resonate throughout her music. "I'm just really grateful for what I have. I want my life to mean something and I want to make music that matters."

Jefferson Starship

When founding member Paul Kantner formed Jefferson Starship in the ’70s, he envisioned the band as a cast of musical adventurers, contributing to his epic concept albums and eventual deep catalog of rock classics. When the current lineup of the band came together alongside Kantner as a unit in 2012, with many members joining years before, he couldn’t have imagined that the band would become the road-conquering heroes they’ve been in the last few years. Jefferson Starship’s five members describe themselves as both a “family” and a “gang,” and that comes across in talking to them, and in their robust live performances, which have taken them to all 50 U.S. states., five continents, and too many countries to list here (a recent tour of New Zealand was mentioned among the band’s favorites), drawing from a massive setlist of hit after hit. In addition to original member David Freiberg, the band includes drummer Donny Baldwin (whose Jefferson Starship roots go back to 1982), keyboardist Chris Smith (who joined in 1998), guitarist Jude Gold (who joined in 2012), and singer and guitarist Cathy Richardson who joined in 2008, after Kantner saw her tour with Big Brother and the Holding Company. As Jefferson Starship approaches their 50th anniversary, the group’s members look to the future with the word Kantner, who unfortunately died in 2016, used to say to them all the time: “Onward.” “To me that exploration — that Paul Kantner thing of just getting on a rocket ship and firing it as hard as it will go, and taking off and exploring the cosmos and the music, and everything in between — is really the spirit of Jefferson Starship, and that’s very much alive in the band today,” Gold says. “And that comes straight from Paul. And always has.”

Zucchero

Adelmo Fornaciari, better known to the world as Zucchero a nickname given to him by one of his school teachers has achieved world wide acclaim since winning the Italian Castrocaro Festival in 1981. Zucchero has performed in front of millions of people in many countries on different continents. However the emotion in Zucchero’s words and the feeling in his music is something that we all share, it is international. There are no boundaries. His 1987 album ‘Blue’s’ with Corrado Rustici, David Sancious plus Clarence Clemons and the Memphis Horns sold in excess of 1.3 million copies and was the biggest commercial breakthrough ever achieved by a rock music album in Italy. Since then Zucchero has gone on to sell over 50 million albums worldwide. His duet’s are legendary from Eric Clapton’s unmistakable guitar on ‘Wonderful World’’ to the international hit ‘Senza Una Donna’ (Without a Woman) with Paul Young. From the Italian version of ‘Mad about You ’, (Muoio per te) on Sting’s ‘The Soul Cages’ album to ‘Miserere’ with the Maestro, Luciano Pavarotti. Zucchero is as generous with his time as with his talent. With Luciano Pavarotti he devised the Pavarotti & Friends charity gala which is now an annual event and he continues to support Nelson Mandela’s 46664 campaign with concerts throughout the world.

Bill Murray and his Blood Brothers

William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He first gained exposure on Saturday Night Live, a series of performances that earned him his first Emmy Award, and later starred in comedy films including Meatballs (1979), Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Tootsie(1982), Ghostbusters (1984), Scrooged (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), What About Bob? (1991), and Groundhog Day (1993). He also co-directed Quick Change (1990). Murray garnered additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in Lost in Translation (2003), which earned him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Ghostbusters, Rushmore(1998), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), St. Vincent (2014), and the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), for which he later won his second Primetime EmmyAward. Murray received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2016. His comedy is known for its deadpan delivery. —Bill Murray Wikipedia 

MaMuse

Five For Fighting with String Quartet - Rising Appalachia

Five for Fighting’s sixth album, Bookmarks, marks both a return to an earlier time as well as a new musical palette for singer/songwriter John Ondrasik. “Bookmarks is certainly a more modern record from a production and melodic standpoint than my last few albums, though, as usual, it contains my lyrical slant. It was wonderful to re-partner with my producer buddy Gregg Wattenberg as we started this Five for Fighting thing together 13 years ago.” That “thing” happened to be the platinum album America Town featuring the iconic song “Superman,” an album Ondrasik and Wattenberg made on a shoestring budget in 1999.  Bookmarks reflects the best of their prior collaboration, along with all that’s transpired in the intervening years.  And once again, Ondrasik’s music contains timely cultural introspection as well as an honest look into that which is us. The inspirational, “What If,” a clarion call to rise above what divides us and asks a simple “What if you were me and what if I were you? Ondrasik remarks, “Americans are immersed in a shallow culture of instantaneous perception and rabid stereotype. What if we could truly understand each other’s experience and point-of-view? Walk in those proverbial shoes?  It might not change our ideologies and beliefs, but perhaps we would have a bit more empathy and understanding for one and other…or not…What If?” Bookmarks opens with “Stand Up,” an anthem for those of us who – all of us, ultimately – who have to bounce back after adversity.  Not only to bounce back, but to do so in an intentional, positive way. Ondrasik leads “If you write a tragedy where you can’t be saved…Stand Up, cause you’re falling down.”  From the classic “I Don’t Want Your Love” to the haunting “Symphony Lane,” to a taunting “She’s My Girl,” Ondrasik bounces from the serious to the satirical with one of the most unique and recognizable voices of the past decade. On that Ondrasik comments, “As a singer Bookmarks is the most vocally diverse record since The Battle for Everything. It was a blast to let loose on tunes like ‘Road To You’ and ‘Heaven Knows.’ It was time to put some of the rock back into the rock band.” Add the clarity and cultural currency of “Down” and the traditional Five for Fighting sound on “Your Man” and “You’ll Never Change,” Bookmarks will likely please fans old and new. To close out the set, Ondrasik concludes with the poignant “The Day I Died,” a pure live piano/vocal recording sung through the eyes of a man on his deathbed celebrating “I was alive, the day I died.”  A final reminder that with all the commercial success and production bells and whistles, Ondrasik is a simple man at a piano, an Americana singer/songwriter, providing a few bookmarks along the way. Ondrasik began his journey at three-years old.  “Johnny,” as he was called back then, could barely span four white keys with his small hands. His mom was a piano teacher and after giving him the basics she allowed him to walk away from formal lessons at thirteen, a freeing moment.   From that point on, he was playing because he wanted to play; Writing music because he wanted to write. He exploded onto the music scene with the release of Superman in 2000 on America Town.  Having written those thousands of songs just for fun during first his youth and then his time at UCLA (an Applied Science and Mathematics major), the public adoration of “Superman” stunned his mother – a way to actually make money writing and playing music!  Ondrasik’s father, a rocket scientist, was less surprised.  As a businessman himself, he appreciated the long hours of dedication Ondrasik had put into honing his craft (45,000 hours, according to math major Ondrasik’s calculations!). Inspiration plus an intense work ethic, Ondrasik had become an overnight sensation in only twenty years. Superman continued to embed itself in the nation’s consciousness with the events of 9/11, as Ondrasik joined other superstar musicians for the fundraiser, “The Concert for New York,” a 2001 event dedicated to first responders affected by the events of September 11th. Fast-forward three years with Ondrasik still searching for that second #1 Billboard hit.  Recording in his studio, an 8’ x 4’ closet, and working on his third album, The Battle for Everything.  His wife, Carla, had been a music publisher before leaving the business to devote her time to their two children, Johnny and Olivia, but he didn’t ordinarily bounce his songs off of her. This time he did, and he held his breath as she listened and wept. “I immediately knew that I was either onto something, or my career was over.” Turns out he was onto something, another #1 Billboard hit, the now-standard 100 Years. Since, Ondrasik has ranged well beyond work in the studio to the world beyond. Ondrasik has compiled five albums to give away to United States troops, with over a million distributed containing hit songs and bits from superstar musicians and comedians, in addition to Five for Fighting music.  “The coolest part of the CD for the Troops project was that everyone from Melissa Etheridge to Brooks and Dunn got on board.   It’s been an effort where writers from the across the political spectrum have contributed songs to thank our troops.”  Ondrasik is an avid hockey fan – the source of the term for his “band” title, referencing five penalty minutes given to a player guilty of fighting.  Further evidence of Ondrasik’s marvelous collision between sports and music is all around:  writing for Sports Illustrated and his beloved Los Angeles Kings website, performing at NFL, NHL, NASCAR events, and appearing on ESPN’s flagship show, SportsCenter. He doesn’t only watch sports, though.  As he contemplated Bookmarks he ran a marathon, reconnecting with his musical roots of the 70s as he logged hundreds of training miles. Another major philanthropic contribution came in the spring of 2007 when Ondrasik broke new ground by creating a video charity website – the first of its kind.  Fans could participate in creating videos based around the question from his hit, “World,” namely, “What kind of world do you want?” and watch videos to contribute funds to their favorite causes.  Through the site, over a quarter of a million dollars was raised for Augie’s Quest, Autism Speaks, Fisher House Foundation, Save the Children, and Operation Homefront. Raising money and awareness for those organizations plus many others, Ondrasik finds it easy to get involved in worthwhile causes, often quoting his close friend Augie Nieto, who has ALS:  “It’s about significance, not success.”   In that vein, he’s also lectured at a TEDx event, spoken at colleges and in other motivational settings and still spends time at the family business, Precision Wire Products, where he worked in college as he began his music career and now working with his father in the business founded by his grandfather, toiling together alongside fellow metalworkers.  All of them, making a difference.  Significance. “At the end of the day, it really is about doing your part, each one of us.  In whatever area we can.  What kind of world do you want?” So that’s the gist of Ondrasik and his Five for Fighting thing.  By now, I’m sure you got the drift. Career Highlights  Over 2.5 million records sold Six major album releases including platinum albums, America Town (2000) and The Battle For Everything (2004), as well as Message for Albert (his first album, 1997), Two Lights (2006), Slice (2009), and Bookmarks (2013) Grammy-nominated single “Superman” Platinum, #1 Adult Top 40, #2 Hot AC, Top 10 at Top 40  “100 Years” single 2x Platinum, spent 12 weeks at #1 at Hot AC  “Chances” featured in Oscar winning film The Blind Side, Certified Gold, Top 15 at Hot AC & “The Riddle” #4 at Hot AC Two Lights debuted at #8 on Billboard Top 200 Top 10 Hot AC, Top 5 AC radio airplay artist of the 2000’s Scored or licensed dozens of songs for film/television