Marc Broussard

Marc Broussard is an artist with a unique gift of channeling the spirits of classic R&B, rock, and soul into contemporary terms. The son of Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard of "The Boogie Kings," he nurtured his musical gifts at an early age in the vibrant Lafayette, Louisiana, music scene. After releasing a highly successful independent EP at age 20, Broussard made his major-label debut with Carencro. The album featured the breakout hit "Home" and catapulted him into the national spotlight. That album and the others that followed revealed Broussard as a southern soul singer with both a rarefied talent and an innate stylistic and emotional authenticity that have made him one of the most indelible artists of his generation. NPR cited, "His music radiates soulful Louisiana blues, but his songs blend those influences with raucous rock 'n' roll to create unique and infectious music." Washington Times noted, "Few modern voices are as powerful as Marc Broussard's soulful, Bayou-bred baritone."        Broussard released multiple albums with major labels over the last ten years before returning to his independent roots with several acclaimed original recordings and charitable cover albums via his S.O.S. Foundation (Save our Soul).          Marc Broussard's philanthropic efforts extend well over a decade, beginning with his self-released album Bootleg to Benefit the Victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and his efforts to organize the Momentary Setback Fund to provide financial assistance to those displaced by both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. In 2015, to further his commitment to tying music to a mission, he established the S.O.S. Foundation as a conduit to raise money for worthy causes, including the United Way, Habitat for Humanity, the City of Refuge in Atlanta, and Our Lady of the Lake Children's hospital in Baton Rouge, LA. https://www.marcbroussard.com/charity-1        S.O.S. 4: Blues for Your Soul is a follow-up to 2019's A Lullaby Collection SOS III, a series of standards geared towards a younger audience with the accompanying book, I Love You For You, marking Broussard's debut as an author.         TV performances include The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS Saturday Morning, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival/AXS-TV, and many more. In 2019, his performance on the PBS TV Series The Kate received an Emmy nomination. Broussard's songs have been placed in numerous films and TV shows, including American Idol, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, and So You Think You Can Dance, to name a few. Additionally, he has been a featured performer on numerous recordings, including the GRAMMY-nominated "I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country." 

Luna

Luna, the New York-based quartet, were last seen on stage in February 2005. In 2015 they will play their first shows in ten years. Luna recorded 8 studio albums between 1992 and 2005. The current touring lineup is the exact ’99-’05 group that recorded Luna Live!, Romantica, Close Cover Before Striking, and Rendezvous: Dean Wareham and Sean Eden on guitar, Lee Wall on drums, and Britta Phillips on bass. At their best, it’s hard to believe there is any other kind of music besides this simple, graceful, chiming chug — the Guardian One of indie rocks’ most beloved live acts — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone Dean Wareham has an unlikely quiver of a voice that, for whatever ungodly reason, sounds as if he’s survived something his music alludes to but never gives away — Jerry Stahl A handful of records and songs that will accompany me forever – Ignacio Julia Luna timeline 1992. Dean Wareham, after leaving Galaxie 500, recruits Justin Harwood (ex-Chills) on bass and Stanley Demeski (ex-Feelies) on drums to record Lunapark for Elektra Records. After completing the album, the band adds Sean Eden on guitar. Eden first appears on the Indian Summer EP (aka the Slide EP). 1993. The band records their second album, Bewitched, featuring Sterling Morrison of the Velvet Underground on guitar on two tracks. 1995 Luna’s classic third album, Penthouse (1995) is recorded in New York City, featuring guests Tom Verlaine (Television) and Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab). The band signs to Beggar’s Banquet in Europe. 1997 Lee Wall replaces the travel-weary Stanley Demeski on drums, and the band records Pup Tent, their fourth album for Elektra. 1998 Luna recorded their fifth album The Days of Our Nights, produced by Paul Kimble (Grant Lee Buffalo). 1999 Justin Harwood moves back to his home country (New Zealand), and is replaced on bass by Britta Phillips. 2000 finding themselves between contracts, the band quickly records a live album — Luna Live! for the Arena Rock label. 2002 the band sign to Jetset Records, record Romantica, co-produced by Gene Holder (DB’s) and Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev). Romantica was followed by the mini-LP Close Cover Before Striking. 2004 Luna record their final album, Rendezvous, in Brooklyn, NY. Produced by Bryce Goggin with minimal overdubs, it captures the band more-or-less live. 2005 February 28 the band play their last shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. 

Christone Kingfish Ingram

An Evening with Tommy Emmanuel, CGP

Tommy Emmanuel

Hailed as “one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world” by NPR’s World Cafe, Tommy Emmanuel got his start at the age of six, when he first began touring his native Australia with his family’s band. As a teenager, he earned a reputation as a highly sought after sideman and session player, and by his early twenties, Emmanuel was playing on chart-topping hits and performing with acts like Air Supply and Men at Work. Inspired in part by his hero, Chet Atkins (who would later become a friend, mentor, and collaborator), Emmanuel stepped out on his own as a solo artist in 1979, releasing the first in a string of acclaimed instrumental albums that would make him an unlikely celebrity in his home country and beyond. In the decades that followed, he would go on to headline everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall; tour with luminaries like Eric Clapton and John Denver; win a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement; perform for a televised audience of more than two billion at the Sydney Olympics; and collaborate with a who’s who of fellow guitar greats, including Les Paul, Mark Knopfler, Joe Walsh, Richard Thompson, Jason Isbell, and Billy Strings. Recorded in just four days, Emmanuel’s latest album, Living In The Light, stands as the most daring—and most rewarding—collection in the globetrotting fingerpicker’s remarkable catalog, fusing his pop, jazz, classical, and roots influences into a virtuosic masterwork as exhilarating as it is intimate.

Hayes Carll

What It Is The chorus to the title track on the new Hayes Carll album, What It Is, is a manifesto. What it was is gone forever / What it could be God only knows.What it is is right here in front of me / and I’m not letting go. He’s embracing the moment. Leaving the past where it belongs, accepting there’s no way to know what’s ahead, and challenging himself to be present in both love and life. It’s heady stuff. It also rocks. With a career full of critical acclaim and popular success, Carll could’ve played it safe on this, his sixth record, but he didn’t. The result is a musically ambitious and lyrically deep statement of an artist in his creative prime. Hayes Carll’s list of accomplishments is long. His third album, 2008’s Trouble In Mind, earned him an Americana Music Association Award for Song of the Year (for “She Left Me for Jesus”). The follow-up, KMAG YOYO was the most played album on the Americana Chart in 2011 and spawned covers by artists as varied as Hard Working Americans and Lee Ann Womack, whose version of “Chances Are” garnered Carll a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. 2016’s Lovers and Leavers swept the Austin Music Awards, and was his fourth record in a row to reach #1 on the Americana Airplay chart. Kelly Willis and Kenny Chesney have chosen to record his songs and his television appearances include The Tonight Show, Austin City Limits, and Later w/Jools Holland. Carll is the rare artist who can rock a packed dancehall one night and hold a listening room at rapt attention the next. “Repeating myself creatively would ultimately leave me empty. Covering new ground, exploring, and taking chances gives me juice and keeps me interested.” He knew he wanted to find the next level. On What It Is, he clearly has. It wasn’t necessarily easy to get there. Carll’s last release, 2016’s Lovers and Leavers was an artistic and commercial risk — a bold move which eschewed the tempo and humor of much of his previous work. The record revealed a more serious singer-songwriter dealing with more serious subjects — divorce, new love in the middle of life, parenting, the worth of work. What It Is finds him now on the other side, revived and happy, but resolute — no longer under the impression that any of it comes for free. “I want to dig in so this life doesn’t just pass me by. The more engaged I am the more meaning it all has. I want that to be reflected in the work.” And meaning there is. Carll sings “but I try because I want to,” on the album’s opening track, “None’Ya.” He’s not looking back lamenting love lost, rather, finding joy and purpose in the one he’s got and hanging on to the woman who sometimes leaves him delightedly scratching his head. “If I May Be So Bold,” finds him standing on similar ground — lyrically taking on the challenge of participating fully in life rather than discontentedly letting life happen. Bold enough to not surrender bold enough to give a damnBold enough to keep on going or to stay right where I amThere’s a whole world out there waiting full of stories to be toldI’ll heed the call and tell’em all if I may be so bold There’s no wishy washy here and he’s not on the sidelines. In fact, he’s neck-deep in life. On the rambunctious, fiddle-punctuated, “Times Like These,” he laments political division in America while delivering a rapid-fire plea to “do my labor, love my girl, and help my neighbor, while keeping all my joie de vivre.” Carll’s signature cleverness and aptitude for so-personal-you-might-miss-it political commentary is as strong as ever. The stark, “Fragile Men,” co-written with singer-songwriter Lolo, uses humor and dripping sarcasm to examine his gender’s resistance to change in less than three minutes of string-laden, almost Jacques Brel invoking drama. It’s new musical territory for Carll, and the result is powerful. His voice is strong and resonant on these songs, and it’s thrilling to hear him use it with a new authority. He is alternately commanding and tender, yet always soulful. Carll returned to trusted producer Brad Jones (producer of 2008’s Trouble in Mind and 2011’s KMAG YOYO) and Alex the Great Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, to record What It Is, and recruited singer-songwriter, author, and fiancee Allison Moorer as co-producer. The production is adventurous while keeping the focus on the singer and his songs and providing a path for him to go where he wants to go. Where that is, is forward. That’s evident in the songwriting. Carll continues to hone his singular voice, but is also a flexible co-writer. Matraca Berg, Charlie Mars, Adam Landry, and Moorer have co-writing credits here, but it was Moorer’s inspiration that provided the largest impact. “On the songwriting front she’s just a pro. She helps me cut through the noise and she does it with wit and style.” Carll’s own wit and style has never been more evident. Whether it’s with the put-you-in-picture detail of, “Beautiful Thing,” the not quite sheepish enough, dude-esque defense of dishonesty in, “Things You Don’t Wanna Know,” or the strong as a tree trunk declaration of love on, “I Will Stay,” he displays an increasing command of his poetic lexicon. Writers most often wrestle with experience and expectations, either romanticizing the past or telling us how good it’s going to be when they get where they’re going. What It Is is a record that is rooted solidly in the present, revealing an artist in the emotional and intellectual here and now.

Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite

Michael Martin Murphey's Cowboy Christmas

Michael Martin Murphey, "singing cowboy poet", is not only the number one, best-selling singer/ songwriter of American Cowboy Music, he's one of the world's most respected singer/ songwriters in the Pop and Country-Western field. Though he's remained a lifetime resident and loyal son of Texas, he's a man on mystical, spiritual quest to try capture the soul of the deserts, plains and mountains in the soul of America- from the Carolinas to California, from the Great Plains to the Deep South to the Wild North Country. Murphey is the world's most prominent musical representative of the Western horseman (Richard Farnsworth, legendary Hollywood stunt man and Western actor once called him a "master horseman"), the horse rancher, cattle rancher, and cowboy. He's also a lover of the outdoors, with a strong commitment to issues regarding farmers and ranchers, open space, and management of natural resources. In 1972, A&M released the debut album by Murphey entitled Geronimo's Cadillac . The first album was produced by Bob Johnston( who discovered Murphey at his old coffee house stomping grounds, the Rubiayat, in Dallas, Texas) who also produced Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, and Leonard Cohen- which made the critical world pay attention to Murphey as a serious songwriter. Written as a protest song after Murphey saw a photograph taken of the Chief being paraded in a Cadillac convertible, the single not only made it to the Top 40, but was used at the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1974.- sealing his lifelong association with the Lakota Nation in South Dakota. "Geronimo's Cadillac" was later recorded by such artists as Hoyt Axton, Mary McCaslin, Cher, and Johnny Rivers . Murphey founded and trademarked a Western cultural festival in Colorado called Westfest in 1987, which has been called the best festival in America by many critics. He has expanded Westfest to other states, and like the Buffalo Bill and his Wild West shows of old, Murphey has become synonymous with American West showmanship, culture, lifestyle, and scholarship. In fact, Murphey was appointed an Adjunct Professor of Music and American Studies at Utah State University by a group of scholars who predicated in creating the Oxford History of the American West. Michael has been chosen as the recipient of the Buffalo Bill Award by the State of Nebraska, given at Nebraskaland Days in North Platte, where Buffalo Bill lived, and began his Wild West shows. Michael also broke ground with an innovative concert concept called "Cowboy Christmas™" in 1987, which has become a trademarked touring show and musical concept for him. The tour now spans 40 cities per holiday season, and has led to three Cowboy Christmas™ albums and a Cowboy Christmas™ DVD. Again, Murphey was reviving a tradition from Texas. The Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball in Anson, Texas, was a little-known event outside of West Texas, until Murphey discovered and recorded Larry Chittenden's 1880's classic song, " The Cowboys' Christmas Ball" in 1985. The event is now world-famous, due to Murphey's tireless praise for this tradition. Murphey now plays the original location of the ball in Anson every year. Michael has also received awards for his accomplishments in many fields. The award for which he is most honored is the Golden Smoky Award , given to him by the Department of Interior for his tireless work in conservation and wildlands fire awareness. Other awards in include: Gold Albums for COWBOY SONGS VOL. I, BLUE SKY NIGHT THUNDER, WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, Charlie Russell Award for Western Heritage, 5 "Wrangler" awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame, Academy of Country Music, Rock Music Awards, Academy of Western Music Award for Best Album and Song, Governor of New Mexico's Outstanding Achievement Award, Honorary Lifetime Membership in the American Quarter Horse Association, Honorary Paul I. Harris Award from Rotarians International, Outstanding Citizen Award by the Town of Taos, New Mexico, Outstanding Son of Texas Award by the Texas Legislature, BMI Awards for Radio Airplay, and special citation for Outstanding Contribution to the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for his work on public awareness of Wisconsin Trails.

William Beckmann

William Beckmann is drawn to things that have stories to tell: historic buildings, old guitars, the vintage typewriter on which he writes all of his lyrics. And if you call the Texas singer-songwriter an “old soul,” the 28-year-old will take it as a compliment. Beckmann — a thrilling vocalist who sings in both English and Spanish — has been recording and performing a type of vibrant, modern-day country music that also pays tribute to what came before. Hailing from the small border town of Del Rio, TX, William Beckmann was raised on classic country as well as the mariachi and Norteño sounds of northern Mexico. His 2022 album Faded Memories features the slow-burn single “Bourbon Whiskey,” the mesmerizing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” and the haunting “In The Dark.” The album garnered praise from critics including American Songwriter, Billboard, CMT and more. 2023’s album Here’s To You, Here’s To Me included the fan-favorite, “Tennessee Drinkin,’” and was Beckmann’s fifth consecutive song to hit Top 20 on the Texas Regional Radio Chart. He has spent the last year touring with artists including Parker McCollum, Hank Williams Jr., Charley Crockett, and the Randy Rogers Band in addition to selling out five of his own shows at the legendary Gruene Hall and headlining Billy Bob’s Texas. In the Spring of 2023, Beckmann made his Grand Ole Opry debut and one year later he signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville.

Patty Griffin

Patty Griffin is among the most consequential singer-songwriters of her generation, a quintessentially American artist whose wide-ranging canon incisively explores the intimate moments and universal emotions that bind us together. Over two decades, the 2x GRAMMY® Award winner – and 7x nominee – and Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement award winner, has crafted a remarkable body of work in progress that prompted the New York Times to hail her for “[writing] cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits of specific people…[her] songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.” 2019 saw the acclaimed release of the renowned artist’s GRAMMY® Award-winning 10th studio recording, PATTY GRIFFIN. One of the most deeply personal recordings of Griffin’s remarkable two-decade career and first-ever eponymous LP, PATTY GRIFFIN made a top 5 debut on Billboard’s “Independent Albums” chart amidst unprecedented worldwide acclaim, and later, a prestigious GRAMMY® Award for “Best Folk Album.” Griffin’s new album, CROWN OF ROSES, is a deeply personal and introspective work that explores themes of identity, nature, family, and womanhood. Emerging from a creative drought during the pandemic, Griffin found herself re-evaluating the stories she’d long told herself. The result is an eight-track collection that is both sparse and emotionally rich, blending folk, Americana, and blues. With CROWN OF ROSES, Griffin offers a record that’s both grounded and transcendent — one that invites listeners to release old narratives, embrace new truths, and stay truly alive while they’re here. Having crafted a rich catalog that chronicles love and death, heartache and joy, connection and detachment, Patty Griffin continues to push her art forward, as always imbuing every effort with compassion and craft, uncanny perception, and ever-increasing ingenuity.