2006 was an incredible year for Jace Everett. Being named an AOL Breaker Artist, performing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, touring the UK with Dierks Bentley, achieving a #1 smash record (as a songwriter) with the Josh Turner recording of “Your Man”, and finally releasing his debut album on SonyBMG!

But the music business is a volatile thing. After the merger of SonyBMG was finally complete in Nashville, Jace found himself, along with over 40 employees and a dozen other artists, without a label to support his music. “Of course, it was frustrating, but the truth is it’s afforded me a great opportunity. I can go back to making music on my own terms again,” says Everett. When asked what that means, he elaborates, “Well, I have always liked music that was raw and untamed. You know, stuff that speaks on a real gut level. With no one to please but my fans and myself I get a chance to bring it all back home.”

Apparently so. Gone the slick country/pop production of his debut, Everett had a brand new record as raw as they come. Everett says, “Well, the concept was to really step away from the Nashville sound. I really like my debut album. There are some great songs and performances on there. Still, I needed to go somewhere completely different. I needed to strip it all down and see what I really had.” Why go acoustic though? “Well, for one, my guitarist and I have been doing the acoustic duo a lot on the road lately; particularly in Europe.” Everett adds, “In fact, this record is really a nod to our great experiences in the UK in the past year or two. We’ve had so much fun just playing acoustically that we wanted to capture a piece of that on tape”.

Mission accomplished. The ten songs here, all penned by Everett except one, is a collection that represents his live show far more accurately than ever before. From the familiar rockabilly of “Bad Things” to the radio hit “Your Man” to the more intimate “Greatest Story”, this is a true reflection of Jace Everett the writer and performer. “The key was to get the heck out of the way. We recorded all ten songs in one day. No overdubs, no edits, no digital tricks.” Everett says defiantly, “Hell, we didn’t even use reverb or echo. Just some room microphones.” Produced by Chris Raspante, there is a simplicity and directness to the approach that is truly satisfying. “Chris really knows his stuff when it comes to microphone placement and recording techniques.” There is one extra player on the record though, Jace confesses, “We did add a little extra low end! Chris and I called up our good friend Phillip Pence. He brought an upright bass over. I’m a pretty good bass player, but that guy really knows what to play… or what NOT to play!” Jace laughs, “It really added so much to the project.”

What’s next on the horizon? “I think the future is wide open right now. I’m going to be spending a lot more time in Europe, especially the UK. I’m writing a new full band record. Hopefully, that will be ready to roll in the spring. But right now this is exactly where I want to be.” Sounds like he’s got it figured out. Everett smiles at the thought, but then slowly shakes his head, “Dear Lord, I hope not! What would I write about?”

COLD HARD FACTS and GOOD OLD PROPAGANDA ABOUT JACE EVERETT:

Place of Birth:

I was born in Evansville, Indiana. At the age of six my family moved to Texas (Dallas/Ft.Worth). I went with them, as I was a well-behaved boy.

Influences:

I was influenced by a lot of different styles; 70’s country, 80’s pop, reggae, blues, soul, funk, and everything else in between. As a professional bassist I’ve played everything under the sun. Occasionally I even played some things well. I’m a big fan of anything with real emotion. Country song craft, rock and roll energy, and soul, soul, soul…that’s what I want!

The Road to Fame and Fortune:

Is really long and extremely irritating… I have had a lot of tough jobs; ditch digger, truck driver, fry cook, bus boy, waiter, truck washer, office gopher boy, whatever it took. I don’t mind not being rich or famous, but I really don’t want to wash trucks again! Actually, I would like to be rich. I think I would be good at it.

Where I Am:

I live in Nashville at this time. I have lived in Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Switzerland, and Monaco. I will do my best to continue living wherever I go.

Desert Island Discs:

“Dreamin My Dreams”-Waylon

“Legend”-Bob Marley

“Red Headed Stranger”- Willie

“Closing Time”-Tom Waits

“The Essential Guy Clark”-Guy Clark

“Living With the Law”- Chris Whitley

“The Essential Johnny Cash”- J.R. Cash

“Achtung Baby”-U2

“Romantic Favorites For Strings”-Leonard Bernstein

“Veedon Fleece”- Van Morrison

What the Heck Kind of Music Is This?:

It’s mine and I’d like to share it with anyone who’ll listen.

One of the great and frequently overlooked innovators of the late 20th century music, John Foxx could almost be the popular conception of a cult artist – an academic, influenced by film, painting and photography as much as music; leaving his band before they broke big; challenging the very notion of the pop song and achieving a degree of commercial success in the process. Being a cult artist does not bother Foxx: “It means I can pursue what I want to do without having to be bent too much out of shape by other forces.” Foxx’s work remains highly influential.

Dennis Leigh was born in that well-known neo-futuristic metropolis, Chorley in Lancashire. He devoured art and literature from an early age and originally studied to be a painter. Leigh moved to London and, influenced heavily by the Velvet Underground and the New York Doll’s, founded the short lived Tiger Lily with Chris St. John (“An imaginary version of what might have happened in London if the Dolls had been living there”) in 1974. Within a year Leigh renamed himself Foxx and with St. John (now Chris Cross) formed Ultravox!

The group made three groundbreaking albums between 1977 and 1979, working with producers the calibre of Conny Plank, Steve Lillywhite and Brian Eno: Ultravox!, Ha!Ha!Ha! and Systems Of Romance. Foxx remains bemused at how influential these became: “It’s always a surprise when people tell me how those albums affected them. Catch me at the right moment and I’ll even admit I find it moving.” However, Ultravox! Was dropped by Island. Foxx left the group, feeling constrained by the band format. His going solo was seen as the death knell of the outfit; akin to Barrett leaving Floyd or Gabriel leaving Genesis (Ultravox! did, like both the groups mentioned went on to have a hit or two…)

His debut solo album, Metamatic reflected the European nature of his work; stark soundscapes and disturbed song structures abounded. “At the time it felt dangerous, as if I’d thrown the baby out with the bathwater. I stripped things down to the point where I might have gone too far. In retrospect I did exactly the right thing.” Foxx had a cast-iron credibility, and his singles from this era, Underpass, No-One Driving and Burning Car found him flirting with the Top 40.

Foxx’s second album, The Garden, released in summer 1981 made a convincing case for pastoral techno, and the lead single, Europe After The Rain mapped out this area perfectly. The album was very much a reaction to the stark futurism that Foxx espoused, “London in the 70s and early 80s was very bleak. I was writing music that reflected the way I was living. Suddenly, I went off to Italy, which was very different to the Germanic axis that I had been travelling along before then. I met a new sort of sensual living. It really had an effect on me.” Although running with some ubiquitous studio hands of this period (Fashion Zeus B. Held and I-level bassist Jo Dworniak to name but two), the music’s timelessness enables it to survive the dating of other records from this era

By the time of 1983’s reflective The Golden Section, Foxx was entirely on the margins of the be-mulleted decade he had so helped influence. The album was a mature work loaded with achingly beautiful melodies, befitting a man who had now been making a living from music for the best part of ten years. His final Virgin album, the introspective In Mysterious Ways, in 1985 managed to take the key even lower. And then…silence. “I suddenly became uninterested in the whole thing and walked away from it. I had other things I wanted to do.”

Foxx concentrated on art and photography (his graphic artwork have appeared on many works of modern fiction), occasionally lecturing on the subject.“ I realised I like to operate on three fronts; articulating verbally, visually and musically. I think music is probably the most fluent one and it’s the most satisfying. But the other two have their place and I cannot do without them.”

The albums Shifting City and Cathedral Oceans appeared as if from nowhere in 1995. Free from major labels (Foxx has established his Metamatic label), Shifting City found Foxx on incredible from, working with fellow musician Louis Gordon who had long been a fan of Foxx’s career. The album was all Beatles harmonies over skewed riffs and an understanding of techno and beats’n’breaks. Foxx could not be more pleased with his collaborator. “Louis is wonderful to work with, very enthusiastic. Because my stuff was part of his background, he instinctively knew where to take it.”

Cathedral Oceans could be loosely described as an ambient release, exploring Foxx’s relationship with church music through a series of echoing sound pieces, similar in part to the second side of “Heroes”. It’s very much a part of an ongoing project: “ It has been developing since 1983 and there’s a lot of it. I chose the bits that worked well together and made an album out of that.” The album was toured in churches and botanical gardens throughout Europe. Foxx also took to the stage on a small-scale ‘pop’ tour with Gordon to support a subsequent-sales-only live album, the 500 limited edition issue Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour.

Although Foxx’s role in music has always been that of a deliberate outsider, he enjoys the significant place it occupies in his life, and is never anything less than full of optimism for his future: “It’s good to be driving on the road instead of the pavement, which I have done occasionally. I know where I’m going now-and it’s a good feeling.”

Scottish born singer-songwriter/guitarist John Martyn began his innovative and expansive career at the age of 17 with a style influenced by American blues artists such as Robert Johnson and Skip James, the traditional music of his homeland, and the eclectic folk of Davey Graham. With the aid of his mentor, traditional singer Hamish Imlach, Martyn began to make a name for himself and eventually moved to London, where he became a fixture at Cousins, the center for the local folk scene that spawned the likes of Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell and Al Stewart. Soon after, he caught the attention of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who made him the first solo white act to join the roster of his reggae-based label. The subsequent album, London Conversation (Feb. 1968), only hinted at what was to come in Martyn’s career. Although it contained touches of blues along with Martyn’s rhythmic playing and distinctive voice, it was for the most part a fairly straightforward British folk record. With his follow-up later that same year, the Al Stewart-produced The Tumbler, Martyn began to slowly test other waters, employing backup musicians such as jazz reedman Harold McNair, to flesh out his sound. His voice also started to take on a jazzier quality as he began to experiment musically.

While on the road, Martyn continued to experiment with his sound, adding various effects to his electrified acoustic. One such effect, the Echoplex, allowed him to play off of tape loops of his own guitar, enveloping himself in his own playing while continuing to play leads over the swelling sound. This would become an integral part of his recordings and stage performances in the coming years. He also met Beverley Kutner, a singer from Coventry who later became his wife and musical partner. The duo released two records in 1970, Stormbringer and The Road to Ruin, the former recorded in Woodstock, N.Y. with American musicians including members of the Band. For one track on their second album, John and Bev hired Pentangle double bassist Danny Thompson, who remained a constant in John’s career through a better part of the ’70s, on stage and in the studio. John planned his third solo album when Beverley retired to take care of the couple’s children, although there was supposedly pressure from Island for him to record on his own.

The next couple of years saw Martyn continuing to expand on his unique blend of folk music, drawing on folk, blues, rock and jazz as well as music from the Middle East, South America and Jamaica. His voice continued to transform with each album while his playing became more aggressive, yet without losing its gentler side. Bless the Weather (1971) and Solid Air (1973) which helped form the foundation of Martyn’s fan base, featured some of his most mature and enduring songs — “Solid Air,” written for close friend Nick Drake, “May You Never” (recorded by Eric Clapton), and “Head and Heart” (recorded by America). By the time of 1973’s Inside Out, Martyn’s use of the Echoplex had taken on a life of its own, while his vocals became more of an instrument: deeper and bluesier, with words slithering into one another, barely decipherable.

During this period, Martyn’s well-publicized bouts with alcoholism came to the forefront and began to affect his career somewhat. He became an erratic and at times self-destructive performer. He might perform an evening of electronic guitar experiments for a crowd of folkies or a set of traditional, acoustic ballads when playing to a rock audience. His shows would also range from the odd night of falling over drunk to sheer brilliance, as captured on the independently released Live at Leeds (1975).

Following Sunday’s Child (1974), the live record and a 1977 best-of collection, Martyn, for the most part, abandoned his acoustic guitar on record for a sort of rock, world and jazz fusion. Although his style was moving away from its folk roots, his songs retained the passion and structure of his best early work. Grace and Danger (1980), his first release since 1977’s One World, painfully and honestly depicted the crumbling of John and Beverley’s marriage in some of his most powerful material in years. It also seemed to gather interest in Martyn’s sagging career. With this new momentum and the help of friend Phil Collins, Martyn signed to WEA, where he recorded two records, Glorious Fool (1981) and Well Kept Secret (1982). Glorious Fool, a superb effort, produced by Collins and featuring Eric Clapton on guitar and Collins on drums, piano and vocals, looked to be his best shot at mainstream success, but failed to extend his cult status. Martyn released his second independent live record, the magnificent Philentropy, before returning to Island Records for two studio releases, a live album and a 12″ single which featured a version of Bob Dylan’s “Tight Connection to My Heart.” He was dropped by the label in 1988.

Martyn, continuing to battle his alcoholism, resumed his career in 1990 with The Apprentice and 1992’s Cooltide. He also released an album of his classic songs re-recorded with an all-star cast featuring Phil Collins, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Levon Helm of the Band, as well as various compilations and live recordings. After a four year layoff, Martyn issued And, an album with strong jazz, trip-hop and funk overtones, followed in 1998 by The Church with One Bell, a collection of diverse covers. In 1999 he also released a live double album which documented a classic concert at London’s Shaw Theatre in 1990 entitled Dirty Down & Live.

Whether with his characteristic backslap acoustic guitar playing, his effects driven experimental journeys or catalog of excellent songs, John Martyn remains an important and influential figure in both British folk and rock.

It’s been half a century since Jerry Lee Lewis first rocketed to the top of America’s pop, country and R&B charts with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire” and while those iconoclastic performances still define the essence of rock ‘n’ roll for millions, Jerry Lee himself continues to thrill audiences around the world with the scorching blend of blues, country, gospel and music that he calls his own.

With Last Man Standing, the Killer’s first new studio album in more than a decade, rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest showman finds himself in the company of 22 rock, blues and country music superstars, contemporaries and disciples alike, duetting on a dream set list of classic songs, many of which might not even exist had Jerry Lee Lewis not kicked open the floodgates back in the 1950s.

With a lifetime of triumph and tragedy to draw from, Jerry Lee Lewis sings and plays with the seasoned wisdom of a man who’s seen it all and the savvy confidence of a performer who knows that music–and the emotional truths it carries–is the thing that matters most.

Joining Jerry Lee on Last Man Standing are Jimmy Page (”Rock and Roll”), B.B. King (”Before The Night Is Over”), Bruce Springsteen (”Pink Cadillac”), Mick Jagger (vocals) and Ronnie Wood (pedal steel guitar) (”Evening Gown”), Neil Young (”You Don’t Have To Go”), Toby Keith (”Old Glory”), John Fogerty (”Travelin’ Band”), Keith Richards (”That Kind of Fool”), Robbie Robertson (”Twilight”), Merle Haggard (”Just A Bummin’ Around”), Kid Rock (”Honky Tonk Woman”), Rod Stewart (”What’s Made Milwaukee Famous”), Willie Nelson (”Couple More Years”), George Jones (”Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age”), Eric Clapton (”Trouble In Mind”), Little Richard (”I Saw Her Standing There”), Delaney Bramlett (”Lost Highway”), Buddy Guy (”Hadacohl Boogie”), Don Henley (”What Makes the Irish Heart Beat”), and Kris Kristofferson (”The Pilgrim”).

Jerry Lee Lewis, who cut his first record in 1954, is the “last man standing” from Sun Record’s legendary collection of talent that included Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins, who along with Chuck Berry and Little Richard could be called the Founding Fathers of Rock ‘n Roll.

Born September 29, 1935 into a poor family in Ferriday, Louisiana, Jerry Lee Lewis was developing his own ferocious approach to the piano by the age of 10, synthesizing the boogie-woogie sounds he heard on the radio with the Southern-fried R&B emanating from Haney’s Big House, a local juke joint owned by his uncle.

Jerry Lee later enrolled him in Southwestern Bible College in Waxahatchie, Texas, but he didn’t last long. The siren call of music pulled him onto a trajectory that would change the world. Bringing together elements of R&B, boogie woogie, gospel, and country into a sound uniquely his own, Jerry Lee Lewis became an integral part of the emerging rock ‘n’ roll that was usurping and supplanting the big band sounds of popular music.

By 1956, Jerry Lee had found his way into Sam Phillips’ fabled Sun Studios, where he cut his first charting single, a revved-up rendition of Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms,” and worked as an in-house session musician. One day, while playing piano for some Carl Perkins sessions, Jerry Lee became part of an impromptu jam session that included Perkins, Johnny Cash, and a young Elvis Presley. The engineer rolled the tape and that session became the lone recording of the fabled “Million Dollar Quartet.”

With the release of Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire” in 1957, the flamboyant young performer crossed over onto the pop, R&B, and country charts and landed on-screen performance roles in the films “High School Confidential” and “Jamboree.” When Elvis saw Jerry Lee Lewis perform, he said that, if he could play piano like that, he’d stop singing.

Since the beginning, Jerry Lee Lewis’s irrepressible confidence and insatiable energy have inspired countless fans and foes. His storied career has been colored by exploit and scandal: He was the original bad boy, the first legend of rock ‘n roll who paved the way for all those to follow – from the Rolling Stones to Green Day.

Described by Johnny Cash as an American Original and by Roy Orbison as the best raw performer in the history of rock ‘n’ roll music, Jerry Lee Lewis is a musician of exceptional talent and versatility. Along with his rock ‘n roll hits, he has had many country chart toppers, including “Another Time, Another Place” in 1968. He became one of the very first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. That same year, Jerry Lee went back to Sun Studios in Memphis to record the album “Class of ‘55″ with Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. “Interviews from the Class of ‘55 Recording Sessions” earned the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Jerry Lee Lewis has never stopped touring. 50 years after his first hit and in his 70th year, he remains an explosive performer, delivering fury, finesse and fun to audiences around the world.

In February 2005, Jerry Lee Lewis was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS).

Last Man Standing is pure Jerry Lee Lewis, an important and monumental collection of pure rock ‘n’ roll from the last original rock ‘n’ roller.

Veruca Salt Biog

Veruca Salt reshaped the jagged, abrasive punk-pop of the Pixies and Breeders into a more accessible, riff-driven power pop formula that also borrowed from pop/hard rockers like Cheap Trick. It was a successful formula, both musically and commercially, yet it didn’t ensure them indie rock credibility; in fact, they became one of the most harshly criticized bands of the post-Nirvana alternative rock era.

Led by guitarist/vocalists Louise Post and Nina Gordon, and also featuring bassist Steve Lack and drummer Jim Shapiro (Gordon’s brother), Veruca Salt released their debut single, “Seether”/”All Hail Me,” in 1994 on a Chicago-based independent label, Minty Fresh. Produced by Brad Wood (Liz Phair), the record became a word-of-mouth sensation, working its way to alternative and college radio stations. While supporting Hole on their fall tour, Veruca Salt released their debut album, American Thighs, on Minty Fresh, yet they soon cut a deal with Geffen, which re-released the album. “Seether” became an MTV hit as well, and soon the single was an across-the-board success. However, the group received scathing criticism from magazines and fanzines, claiming the band was nothing but rip-off artists, using Minty Fresh as a way to gain credibility. Nevertheless, the group’s popularity didn’t suffer, and American Thighs went gold, even though their next two singles — “Number One Blind” and “All Hail Me” — didn’t attract half the attention of “Seether.”

After releasing the stopgap, Steve Albini-produced EP Blow It Out Your Ass It’s Veruca Salt in 1996, the band returned in early 1997 with Eight Arms To Hold You, which found the band moving toward hard rock and heavy metal; although critical reaction was even more mixed, the album still reached gold sales status. Shortly after the album was completed, Shapiro left the band and was replaced by former Letters To Cleo drummer Stacy Jones. Meanwhile, in the wake of rumors that Gordon and Post had been considering solo projects, it was confirmed in early 1998 that Gordon had also decided to leave the band and pursue a separate solo career. Undeterred, Post regrouped Veruca Salt as her own project, with a new lineup of guitarist Stephen Fitzpatrick, bassist Suzanne Sokol, and drummer Jimmy Madla; in the wake of the corporate merger that swallowed Geffen Records, Post also elected to jump ship, signing a new deal with Beyond. After taking time to craft new material, Post entered the studio with her new band and recorded Resolver, which was released in the spring of 2000. It was enough of a success that the band, with its ever-changing lineup (this time it was Post, Fitzpatrick, drummer Kelli Scott, and bassist Nicole Fiorentino), recorded a five-song EP, 2005’s Lords Of Sounds And Lesser Things. Another album, IV, was issued the following year.

Best known as the frontman in The Bluetones, Mark Morriss released his debut solo album Memory Muscle on June 2, 2008. Getting his hands dirty with his own set of songs has been an inspiring experience for Morriss who started trying them out acoustically at open-mic nights in London way back in 2004: ‘I’d just turn up with my guitar, play five or six songs, along with everyone else. I didn’t want any special favours, and just enjoyed the experience of stripping things right back down.

He started recording the material with producer Gordon Mills, enlisting Grammy award winning composer David Arnold along the way. ”We first met on the set of Little Britain, ironically. We were both making a cameo in the same scene, and it was here that I learnt that he really liked the Bluetones’ music. In fact, it was when he was composing the soundtrack to Independence Day that he first heard Expecting To Fly. I was naturally, incredibly flattered, and never dreamed that I’d ever have the chance to work with him.”

Arnold arranged the strings for ‘How Maggie Got Her Bounce Back’, ‘I’m Sick’ and ‘Lay Low’ – and he plays piano on ‘Unwanted Friend’. The album also features two covers: a light, mellotron-enhanced twist on Teenage Fanclub’s raucous ‘Alcoholiday’ and the album’s closer is a take on Lee Hazelwood’s ‘My Autumns Done Come’. ‘If I view myself as anything it’s as an underdog’, says Morriss, ‘and I relate to the fact that Lee Hazelwood is a songwriter who has been really underrated – most people don’t know him beyond ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking.’

Another major inspiration on the album’s pithy, world-weary observations about life, ageing and betrayal is the writer Kurt Vonnegut, especially the track ‘So It Goes.’ ‘That’s a phrase he used a lot in his books, especially Slaughterhouse Five,’ explains Morriss. ‘He’s something of a misanthrope, I guess but with a pitch black wit and despite everything, a real humanist at heart.’

The lightness in Memory Muscle is often in the music itself – dark lyrics with warm, sunny arrangements: ‘I wanted to make a Californian kind of album,’ he reveals. ‘I wanted to re-create the sounds of my favourite records when I was a callow youth. It wasn’t stuff from my own generation really, it was music from the West Coast of America in the late 1960s and early ’70s – things like Forever Changes, Rumours and Harvest.’

On the first single, ‘I’m Sick’, there’s even a Latin feel, as a sweet counterpoint to the song’s ’sense of disappointment. It’s a collage of images, from childhood in the ’70s to being drunk and confused in casualty. ‘Bienvenido’ is also about those dark nights of the soul,’ he adds. ‘That misplaced sense of wisdom at three in the morning when you’re in a noisy nightclub and you’ve got your ‘new’ best friends around you and you’re making a mess of yourself again.’

Memory Muscle is also balanced with humour. Now in his mid-30s, Morriss clearly revels in the lines from Hazelwood’s ‘My Autumn’s Done Come’ – ‘Let those ‘I don’t care days begin’/I’m tired of holding my stomach in.’ ‘I think a lot of comedians want to be rock ‘n’ rollers and a lot of songwriters want to do stand up,’ says the singer who himself has appeared in episodes of Little Britain and Spaced.’ ‘Performing these songs as a solo artist over the last few years, I’ve more often than not found myself feeling stuck somewhere between those two worlds.”

Since those early acoustic days however, Mark has now formed his own backing band The Mummys and with the release of Memory Muscle will be hitting the road to share these newly embellished songs with whoever enjoys a persuasive melody and a nifty way with a word.