Fitflop art harmonies inspired by their shared Mennonite

Jes Hudak at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs

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Born in Kinsley, Kansas, Freedy Johnston appeared on the scene seemingly out of nowhere in 1992 with his breakthrough album 'Can You Fly'. Several successful records later, the former resident of Madison, New York City, Nashville and Wichita has taken up residency in Austin, Texas to write and record for his next project and make music with his friends. Jan 17, 2014 Burlap and Bean, Newtown Square, PA

Upcoming Events for Beaucoup Blue

Jan 17, 2014 Bradfordville Blues Club, Tallahassee, FL

Upcoming Events for The Steel Wheels

The Steel Wheels have captured audiences across the country with their heady brew of original soulful mountain music and their deep commitment to roots and community. Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, this dynamic four piece string band marries old time musical traditions with their own innovative sound and lifestyle, generating a truly magnetic revival.

The Steel Wheels is an amalgamation of hard work and easy rapport. The band is renowned for their raw energy and chemistry on stage, where they often cluster tightly around a single microphone to adorn Trent Wagler's unmistakable tenor with bell clear four p Fitflop art harmonies inspired by their shared Mennonite heritage. Add to this Eric Brubaker's lively and evocative fiddle, Brian Dickel's grounded yet buoyant upright bass, and Jay Lapp's signature mandolin style, and it's no surprise that The Steel Wheels have enthralled the contemporary Americana scene.

Their breakout album, Red Wing, garnered critical praise and enjoyed tremendous success on the radio. It spent 13 weeks on the Americana Music Association's Top 40 Chart, where it reached the number 15 slot, and cracked the Euro Americana Chart top 10. Red Wing ranked 70th out of the top 100 Americana albums of 2010 and second out of all independent releases (Americana Music Association). The Steel Wheels were nominated for five Independent Music Awards in 2010, with "Nothing You Can't Lose" taking top honors as Best Country Song. The Steel Wheels continue to take the Americana scene by storm with their latest album, Lay Down, Lay Low, which lingered for 10 weeks on the AMA's Top 40 Chart. NPR named "Rain in the Valley" their Song of the Day, marveling that the "heavy hymn [] is sparse and dense all at once." Already celebrated as the darlings of Merlefest 2012, the band looks forward to further accolades during a phenomenal festival line up.

As the band thrives, so do their partnerships with local businesses, artisans, and charitable organizations. The values portrayed in their music devotion to roots, community, and family are a way of life for The Steel Wheels, and this is reflected in everything from production process and booking agency to merchandise and touring. For the past three years, they have performed an annual SpokeSongs bicycle music tour, during which band members tow their instruments, equipment, and merchandise from one gig to another via bicycle and blog about their adventures. Last year's tour spanned 11 days, 550 miles, and 10 shows. This year's tour included multiple charity rides, such as Lose The Training Wheels, Charity Ride for Kids, and Wheels Up for Cory.

The band's merchandise represents a host of grassroots connections to people and businesses. Lucas Roasting Company, located just outside of Harrisonburg, created "Halfway to Heaven" dark roast coffee in honor of their friends The Steel Wheels. Blue Mountain Brewery, located on Afton Mountain in Virginia, hosted the band when they were just getting started and now sells a "Steel Wheels ESB." The Livery's master brewer rode with the band on their second bike tour and, soon after, created their "Steel Wheels Stout." The band's T shirts are made in downtown Harrisonburg, and a potter who is a childhood friend of Jay's makes their mugs. Each business is local for the band, and each product is intimately woven into their narrative. The Steel Wheels are proof that music remains a viable and sustaining force for connection in our world. Jan 15, 2014 Humphreys Backstage Lounge, San Diego, CAJan 15, 2014 Humphreys Backstage Lounge, San Diego, CAJan 15, 2014 Humphreys Backstage Lounge, San Diego, CAJan 15, 2014 Gypsy Sally's, Washington, DCJan 16, 2014 Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem, PA

Upcoming Events for Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was born in Minnesota and played his first music on piano, taking a few lessons from the lady who lived next door and then learning by ear.

He picked up guitar in high school in the early 60s. "I started on a $29 guitar and immediately started putting a band together, writing songs and learning all the contemporary folk songs of the time", he recalls. "I just loved it, loved everything about it, loved being in front of people playing music."

He studied art in college but continued to play music. "I started getting electric about the time Dylan did, doing electric folk music. I joined bands by saying 'Can I be in your band?', and they'd ask, 'What do you play?', and I'd say 'What do you need?' I'm still that way. I still love to play different instruments. It helps me understand production techniques and performance capabilities". Instead of graduating from college, he decided to give music a shot. He sold the car that his father was lending him, bought a van for his band, and headed for the music scene in Boston.

Jonathan with a furry friendThe band soon found work, playing "6 40" jobs six 40 minute sets per night all over New England. They played cover tunes as well as their own country blues originals under various names, including the Headstone Circus, St. James Doorknob, and the Finite Minds, and they made an album for Metromedia Records as Sugar Creek.

After several years, Jonathan began to tire of the 6 40s and grew fonder of the sound of an acoustic guitar. "I just one night said, 'Hey fellas, this isn't sounding as good as it could, and I'd like us to sound more intimate'. I liked the sound of bronze strings on rosewood better than steel strings on magnets, and so I walked out of that club in Vermont, rented myself a van and PA system, and started traveling around the colleges in New England by myself, without gigs, just setting up in the lobbies of dormitories on a Saturday. Pretty soon I started getting a following. People would say, 'Has that guy been to your dorm yet? That guy just sets up, plugs in and plays all night'".

Soon Jonathan was booked to open for acts such as the Allman Brothers Band and B. B. King, and he signed with Capricorn Records. "We took about a year recording the first album different times, different studios, different sounds, different techniques", he says. "Recording was so new in '69 and '70. There was a song on the album called 'Please Find Me', and for some reason the engineer rolled over it. It got erased. We spent hours looking for it. We fired the engineer and put 'Sunshine' in its place".

Cowboy Jonathan EdwardsLike most of the songs on Jonathan Edwards, "Sunshine" was written shortly after Jonathan left the band. "I felt really fresh, really liberated", he recalls. "I just went out in the woods every day with m fitflop sale y bottle of wine and guitar, sat by a lake near Boston and wrote down all those tunes, day after day".

"Sunshine" was an energetic, happy sounding statement of protest and independence. "It was just at the time of the Vietnam War and Nixon", Jonathan recalls. "It was looking bad out there. That song meant a lot to a lot of people during that time especially me". It started on a Boston radio station, and before long it hit the top five on the national charts. It earned him a gold record in 1971.

After the first album, Jonathan moved out of the city to a farm in western Massachusetts, which provided the rural, country inspiration for his second album, Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy on the Atlantic record label. This was an album of mostly self penned acoustic, country flavored songs about love and life and was closely followed by Have a Good Time For Me, also on Atlantic.

More mike timeBut after more than three years of working five and six one nighters a week, Jonathan was ready for a change. In 1973 he and his friends got together to record a wonderfully energetic live album for his fans called Lucky Day, which was a song he wrote in the truck on his way up to live in Nova Scotia. This "fresh air break" lasted only a couple of months, when his old friend, Emmylou Harris, from the Washington, D. C. area, invited him to Los Angeles to sing backup on her Elite Hotel album. That led to a deal with Warner Brothers and two albums produced by Harris' husband/producer Brian Ahern Rockin' Chair and Sailboat.