Nigel Morton

The Independent writes that "With the exception of The Who, BELLOWHEAD is surely the best live act in the country." "Visually stunning, musically amazing....and daft!", says Songlines. Check out their summer tour at www.bellowhead.co.uk BRIAN KENNEDY (author of two novels) has toured with such greats as Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. He has 10 solo albums to his credit. Hear him at www.myspace.com/wanderingkind or www.briankennedy.co.uk. GRETCHEN PETERS is one of the most amazing voices in country music today! Her silky, emotive style is a joy to experience. The Wine, Women and Song UK Tour with Matraca Berg and Suzy Bogguss just ended and was a huge success..... www.myspace.com/winewomen. The beautiful and talented DAR WILLIAMS is on tour in the States right now. Hear her live or on myspace to experience those insightful, melodic story-songs peeled down to their essence. Her amazing new CD is called "Promised Land". ..www.darwilliams.com.. IAN SIEGAL is one of the most exciting blues guitarists around. You can hear the influence of the greats in every lick. Hear him on his myspace page or catch him live! JOANNE LOUISE PARKER has a voice that can silence a rowdy room with it's angelic tones. She sings a cappella just as comfortably as with full accompaniment. Her Acoustic, Rhythm and Pews concerts (with Paul Dunton) explore music in venues of architectural and acoustic interest, such as ancient churches. Hear her here on myspace. Canada's KATE and ANNA McGARRIGLE have had amazing careers. They picked up guitars when still children and the rest is history. Their songwriting is legend, as illustrated by their lyrics being sung by EmmyLou Harris, Maria Muldaur and Linda Ronstadt. Hear them on their myspace page or go to www.mcgarrigles.com. KATHRYN WILLIAMS has released her sixth album, "Leave to Remain" and once more she comes through with deft songwriting which has been well described as softly expressed passions. Her songs are intimate snapshots, memories and feelings sung with a beautiful conviction. PETER CONWAY has been getting rave reviews such as the Observer's writing, "(Peter)inhabits a world somewhere between Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits and the freedom encapsulated in an artist like Bob Dylan." He can be heard on the recent Roy Orbison covers CD singing "There Won't Be Many Coming Home". ALTAN is one of the most important groups playing Irish music on the world stage. The Boston Globe writes that they are the "Hottest group in the Celtic realm!" They boast gold and platinum status in Ireland and are even big in Japan! With an unusual musical palate that includes swing, raggae, R&B, jazz, blues and African beats, CARMEL garners high praise from critics for their live performances. Their music is richly layered and defies categorization. Hear them here on myspace at www.myspace.com/carmelband. DANNY THOMPSON is known in the music world as one of the finest bass players to ever walk on a stage. In the 1960s, he bought a second hand double bass that he christened Victoria. This has remained his instrument of choice. His sound is distinctive, with extensive use of the bow. Hear him on myspace at www.myspace.com/therealdannythomas. DAVE THOMAS AND TWO PALE BOYS is like nothing you've ever heard before, with strange new musical shapes, rolling stories and sonic panoramas out of spontaneous deconstruction. David Thomas is also the founder of the legendary PERE UBU, an avant-rock group that has influenced modern music for years. HARRY MOYAGA is a South African visual and musical artist whow recorded his first album in 2004. The name of the CD is "Inspiration" and is based on the rhythm and dance of the Basarwa Bushman people from his native country. In 2006 he created the album "Seipati". Read about this outstanding musician at www.neoglobal.net/harry/index/html. THE LEE BOYS are a sacred steel percussion band composed of three brothers and their three nephews. Raised in the church, these brilliant performers started performing as children in their father's Miami, Florida church. Their music is described as having a hard-driving, blues beat with a side of R&B, jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop. Audiences instantly know that this is not "sit and listen" music. It's created for hand-clapping, shouting and dancing! Hear them on myspace at www.myspace.com/leeboys. The amazing MARY BLACK has a career spanning 25 years. Starting out in Dublin folk clubs, she went on to the success of seven platinum albums. She has performed with artists like Joan Baez, EmmyLou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Van Morrison and has escalated Irish music to the forefront of global music. See more at www.mary-black.net. MAX GILKES's first influences were Motown flavoured and went on from there to work with artists and producers from John Leckie to Lily Allen. He has also been a teacher, mastering engineer, arranger, musical director, producer and session musician. As a writer/performer, he creates a blues-infused rock sound reminescent of Stevie Winwood, early Bowie or even Marvin Gaye. Hear him at www.myspace.com/maxgilkes. It is impossible to pigeon-hole STAN RIDGWAY. From his early days at L.A.'s Wall of Voodoo to today, he believes that "it (music) has the ability to make pictures in the mind. My records are designed to be seen as well as heard." A mad scientist of sound and vision, Ridgway possesses a musical style that defies a simple explanation. From his eleven albums to his movie soundtracks, he has to be heard to be believed. Check him out at www.myspace.com/officialstanridgway. The UKRAINIANS grew out of the 80s Indie band The Wedding Present. After playing a Ukrainian session for the BBC's John Peel Show, their unique sound was captured in an album that sold 70,000 copies world-wide! A second session soon followed. As the Ukrainians, their self-written first album was a ground breaking amalgam of traditional Ukrainian folk and Western rock. See them live June 27 at the PULSE Festival of music from Eastern Europe! WILLIAM TOPLEY was born and bred in the UK and fed on a steady diet of blues and rock and roll. Muscle Shoals producer Barry Beckett praises Topley's voice as the "best he'd ever worked with" (and he produced Aretha Franklin). Topley has appeared onstage with Mark Knopfler and written lyrics for Steve Winwood. His new album All In The Downs exhibits a sound that only a road-hardened band can deliver. See William Topley summer 2009 touring in the States!