Johnnie Ninety-Nine

Bio:

"Johnnie kicks her Bluegrass up a notch by creating sonic textures and atmospheres, resulting in songs that are felt as much as heard. You’ll dig it if you dig: Michelle Shocked rewriting the American Country Songbook with Daniel Lanois producing the session." -Brian Baker, City Beat, Cincinnati OH

Imagine if Hank Williams and Patsy Cline ran off together into the back woods and mountains of Kentucky or Tennessee and had themselves an Appalachian love child. Listen to any of the nine tracks from True Grit, Cigarettes & Gasoline and that love child's name must be Johnnie Ninety-Nine. With a voice as smooth as 90 proof moonshine, gritty as rotgut whiskey, and sweet as mountain honey — Johnnie Ninety-Nine fronts a band which is as comfortable with old blues music, honky tonk, and new alternative country as it is with traditional bluegrass and folk music. 

Recorded live-off-the-floor at Nashville’s unique Welcome to 1979 Studios one fine day in September 2010, amidst a tour trundling along over several seasons through more than 19 provinces and states, True Grit, Cigarettes & Gasoline is a hard-edged string-band record reflecting the loves, losses and lessons of that ubiquitous siren, The Road.

Pulling the 9-boxcar chain—a heavy load of otherworld whispers ( The Highway Ghost ) ; diamonds from the Memory Mines ( Plains of Eve ) ; and the dynamite necessary to dig ‘em out ( Don’t Need Nobody ) — is a fired up steam engine with a belly full of coal: Jake Stead on upright bass, James Green on guitar and L’il Red on fiddle are The Good-Time Family Band. Rounded out by Johnnie Ninety-Nine’s banjo and “special guest American” Jeff ( Rollie ) Rolfzen on the harmonica, this trans-Canadian troupe of wandering minstrels are some of a curious new breed of travelling medicine show. They travel in packs with many a pocketful of assorted cures for the troubled mind, pistols loaded with laughter, and a few aces up each sleeve in event The Devil should show up lookin’ for some action. They roam almost ceaselessly, and they build a warm and welcoming fire wherever they may be.

(courtesy M. McCawley/Buckin’ Enterprises) ..
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Influences:

The legends, the underdogs, the old, the new, outlaws, greasers, cowboys, hobos, gypsies, workers, prisoners, soldiers, raconteurs, saboteurs, friends, lovers, dirt, rust, wood, steel, lead, blood, sweat, sighs, and all the other stories.

Sounds Like:

A whiskey drinkin', fight pickin', tear jerkin', come-hither lookin', grand ole time.

Record Label:

Booking inquiries can be directed to Buckin' Enterprises via email at info@j99.ca