Nashville Scene

Marty Stuart is a five time GRAMMY-winner, platinum recording artist, Grand Ole Opry star, country music archivist, Southern culture historian, photographer, musician, songwriter, TV show host, charismatic force of nature, and country music fan.

Since starting out singing gospel as a child, Stuart, 54, has spent over four decades celebrating American roots music with a missionary's zeal. His teenage years on tour with bluegrass legend Lester Flatt in the '70s were followed by six years in Johnny Cash's band during the '80s and a chart-topping tenure as a solo artist in the '90s.

The turn of the century saw Stuart looking inward to make deeply felt records paying homage to his love of vintage gospel, his Native American passions, and as always, his core -- foot-stompin', tail-shakin', honky tonkin', rockin' hillbilly music. His latest musical oeuvre is ably supported by the coolest cats in Nashville - his backing band, The Fabulous Superlatives: guitarist Kenny Vaughan, drummer Harry Stinson, and bassist Paul Martin.

Stuart's zest for every conceivable flavor of country music is also seen regularly by TV viewers these days, on RFD-TV's "The Marty Stuart Show", a musical variety show and the number one program on the network.

So, what's next? As musicologist Peter North cites, "Marty Stuart seems wrapped in his destiny at this point in time. Not only as country music's most notable ambassador/caretaker, but as its main archetypical crusader. He has without question evolved into one of the most important roots musicians and visionaries in America."

Stay tuned.

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Ten year-old banjo picker Jonny Mizzone along with his brothers Robbie (13) on fiddle, and Tommy (15) on guitar, are The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Though their combined age is younger than music's Hip-Hop era, it's the 1950’s music of Flatt & Scruggs & The Stanley Brothers that inspires them. The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys are the result of brotherly-love, and a passion for inspiring others with their God-given musical gifts.

Best known for their YouTube bedroom practice videos, with over 11 million views, this young bluegrass trio has become an overnight sensation, the only such phenomenon in the history of bluegrass music, going back to 1939. Shortly after the videos started going “viral” in early 2011, the phone began to ring: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno were calling, and in summer of 2011 they appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show. In July, the boys were contacted by Fox News to appear on the Mike Huckabee show, and the overwhelming response led to an invitation to appear again the following week - the only musical guests to appear on back-to-back episodes in the history of the show.

The boys have been named official Martin Guitar Ambassadors, made their Grand Ole Opry debut, and performed with banjo legend J.D. Crowe at a bluegrass festival near their home in western rural New Jersey. Last September they released their first album, ’America’s Music’ which, in February 2012, debuted at #8 on Billboard's Bluegrass Album Chart, spending 11 weeks among the top selling bluegrass albums in the country.

Fresh off the sacred stage of the Ryman Auditorium where they kicked off a stirring tribute to the late Earl Scruggs with actor Steve Martin, the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys are pleased to announce the release of their new album, The Farthest Horizon. The album is shipping as a six-panel digipak and includes descriptions of the songs and fun behind-the-scenes album facts.

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It is a Nashville legend that Connie's first record, the aching and unforgettable "Once a Day," written by Bill Anderson and recorded on July 16, 1964 when she was just 23, became one of the most celebrated singles in country music history—the first debut single by a female country singer to go to Number One, a position it held for eight weeks. Forty-seven years later it is still the only first single ever to have done that. When Connie sang "Once A Day" in the all-star B-movie musical Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar the following year, she was introduced on-screen as "The Cinderella of Country Music." "Once A Day," and her stunning rendition of "How Great Thou Art" remain the two most requested songs by her fans to this day. Connie's memorable string of hits would include "You and Your Sweet Love" "If It Ain't Love" "Where Is My Castle?" "Run Away Little Tears" "Just One Time" and "I Never Once Stopped Loving You." The passion for singing and for the songs, and the singular vocal precision in delivering them that marked those standards-to-be are fully on display in this return to recording. "If you add up all the songs on this album," Ms. Smith says, "it would add up to my personality. It's me talking again, after so many years, with a message no different than I've always had. It's just that I love you, and I want that love to come back." It's bound to.

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Bill Anderson has been using that philosophy for almost fifty years to capture the attention of millions of country music fans around the world, en route to becoming a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and one of the most popular, most enduring entertainers of our time.

He’s known, in fact as “Whispering Bill,” a nickname hung on him years ago as a result of his breathy voice and his warm, soft approach to singing a country song. His credentials, however, shout his prominence: One of the most awarded songwriters in the history of country music, a million-selling recording artist many times over, television game show host, network soap opera star, spokesman for a nationwide restaurant chain, and a consummate onstage performer. His back-up group, The Po’ Folks Band, has long been considered one of the finest instrumental and vocal groups in the business.

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Lula Grace Johnson (born March 13, 1930), known professionally as Jan Howard, is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She attained moderate success as a country female vocalist during the 1960s and early 1970s. Her ex-husband was singer-songwriter Harlan Howard. Howard's biggest hit and signature song is the 1966 country hit, "Evil on Your Mind," which peacked at No. 5 on the Billboard country charts. The song is included in the book, Heartaches By the Number: The 500 Greatest Country Music Singles. In the late 1960s and early 70s, she dueted with Bill Anderson on a number of top 10 hits, including the No. 1 hit, "For Loving You."

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The legendary Jimmy C. Newman is an absolute pioneer in Cajun-Country music history! He charted 33 songs on the Billboard Country Chart from 1954-1970. A Grand Ole Opry member since 1956, Jimmy C. and wife Mae continue to make their home on their Singing Hills Ranch in Rutherford County, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville.

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Darryl Wade Worley was born October 31, 1964 in Memphis, Tennessee to Tommy and Bonnie Worley. His family moved to Pyburn, Tennessee when he was young and he was raised there. His father was a Methodist preacher and his mother sang in the church choir. Worley attended the University of North Alabama and earned a degree in biology and chemistry. He worked in the chemical industry prior to pursuing country music, and wrote for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. One of his first cuts as a songwriter was a track on Archer/Park's 1994 debut album.

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Riders In The Sky are truly exceptional.

By definition, empirical data, and critical acclaim, they stand "hats & shoulders" above the rest of the purveyors of C & W - "Comedy & Western!"

For more than thirty years Riders In The Sky have been keepers of the flame passed on by the Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, reviving and revitalizing the genre. And while remaining true to the integrity of Western music, they have themselves become modern-day icons by branding the genre with their own legendary wacky humor and way-out Western wit, and all along encouraging buckaroos and buckarettes to live life "The Cowboy Way!"

Riders In The Sky are exceptional not just in the sense that their music is of superlative standards (they are the ONLY exclusively Western artist to have won a Grammy, and Riders have won two), but by the fact that their accomplishments are an exception to the rule as well. That Riders In The Sky was even formed is a feat of improbable likelihood. What are the odds that a theoretical plasma physicist, a wildlife manager - galvanizer - Life Scout, an English major - shot putter - Bluegrass Boy, and a Polka Hall of Fame member would collectively become "America's Favorite Cowboys?" And even more unlikely is that 30-plus years later, the original members are still "bringing good beef to hungry people" while putting up Ripken-like numbers! The Rolling Stones only made it a few years before replacing Brian Jones; the Sons of the Pioneers constantly changed personnel; even the Ringo-era Beatles only lasted 8 years. (Perhaps Too Slim, as a sophomore writer for the University of Michigan Daily, had an ulterior motive in 1969 by propagating the rumor that Paul McCartney was dead! It's true... go ahead and Google "Paul is dead rumor"...) But the key to keeping the same founding members intact for three decades on the road is more easily explained: "Separate hotel rooms," cracks Ranger Doug!

Riders In The Sky's first official public performance was Nov. 11, 1977, at the erstwhile Nashville nightspot "Phranks & Steins." Taking the stage that night for a crowd of eight or nine (counting Herr Harry behind the bar) were Ranger Doug (Idol of American Youth) on arch-top guitar and baritone vocals, and Too Slim (A Man Aging Like Fine Cheese) on bunkhouse bass, face, and tenor vocals. A chain saw may have been in the mix somewhere that night, but was soon retired. Replacing the chain saw was Woody Paul (King of the Cowboy Fiddlers) on fiddle, tenor vocals and rope tricks, and the launch was successful! They subsequently added the "Stomach Steinway" stylings of Joey the Cowpolka King on accordion and baritone vocals, much to the delight of 'Polkaholics' everywhere.

As a classic cowboy quartet, the trail has led them to heights they could have never predicted. Riders have chalked up over 6100 concert appearances in all 50 states and 10 countries, appearing in venues everywhere from the Nashville National Guard Armory to Carnegie Hall, and from county fairs to the Hollywood Bowl. Their cowboy charisma and comedic flair made them naturals for TV, and landed them their own weekly show on TNN, as well as a Saturday morning series on CBS. They have been guests on countless TV specials, documentaries and variety shows, appearing with everyone from Barney to Penn & Teller. And their animated likenesses have shared the screen with Daffy Duck on the Cartoon Network, and the Disney Channel's Stanley. If you consider their compositional credits, one might call them "Writers In The Sky!" In addition to penning award winning songs for their own albums, they wrote the score for Pixar Animation's 2002 Academy Award-winning short "For the Birds." They composed the theme song for the internet cartoon show "Thomas Timberwolf" by renowned Bugs Bunny creator Chuck Jones. But the animated character that history will most certainly link to Riders In The Sky is the loveable cowboy Woody, as Riders performed "Woody's Round Up" in "Toy Story 2," with the album of the same name garnering Riders their first Grammy Award in 2001 for "Best Musical Album for Children." Two years later, Riders roped their second Grammy in the same category, for "Monsters Inc. - Scream Factory Favorites," the companion CD to Pixar's award winning movie.

Equally as exceptional, but of greater significance, is that in 1982, Riders In The Sky became the first, and to date only, exclusively Western music artist to join the Grand Ol' Opry, the longest running radio show in history, and thus began a love affair with radio as well. In 1988, they recorded comedy skits for the album "Riders Radio Theatre" and launched the long-running international weekly radio show of the same name on public radio. And keeping pace with the ever-changing technological landscape, in 2006 "Ranger Doug's Classic Cowboy Corral" debuted on XM Satellite Radio, still heard weekly on SiriusXM Channel 56.

Exceptional artists also appeal to a diverse and broad-based cross section of their adoring public. Riders In The Sky's music and comedy delights cowboys and cowgirls of all ages, and from all walks of life. Riders are equally at ease amusing a theatre full of children as they are enthralling a symphony audience accompanied by 50 or 60 classically trained instrumentalists, or even an NCO club full of servicemen during a USO Tour. Riders have performed at the White House for both Democratic and Republican administrations, and at Major League Baseball's winter meetings for both American and National Leagues (although with an admitted bias for the Detroit Tigers). With their ability to persuade cowpokes on both sides of the fence to set aside their differences for a brief escape from day-to-day tribulations, is it any wonder that Riders have a virtual home called "Harmony Ranch?"

Ultimately, exceptional careers do not go unnoticed, and throughout theirs, Riders In The Sky have been honored regularly. In addition to being inducted into the Grand Ol' Opry, Riders are in the Western Music Association's Hall of Fame, the Country Music Foundation's Walkway of Stars, and the Walk of Western Stars (in Newhall, CA near Melody Ranch Studios) along with Gene, Roy, John Wayne and other cowboy legends. No less important than their two Grammies, Riders have been the Western Music Associaton's "Entertainers Of the Year" seven times, and won "Traditional Group of the Year" and "Traditional Album of the Year" multiple times. The Academy of Western Artists has named them "Western Music Group of the Year" twice in 5 years, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum has bestowed Riders with their Wrangler Award statuette three times. It comes as no surprise then that Billboard magazine's Jim Bessman counts them as one of "the most historically significant acts in the history of American music."

Yes, it would be "The Easy Way" to call it a career after 30-plus years, but it wouldn't be..."The Cowboy Way!" And so, the never-ending trail drive continues. The ponies are rested and watered, and America's Favorite Cowboys are ready to saddle up and ride, bringing good beef to hungry people wherever they may be. Yes, Riders In The Sky are truly an exception to the rule.

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Man of many appetites, sometimes overindulges.

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The harmonies are pure silver, polished to a high sheen. And, as easily as silver conducts electricity, their music has electrified audiences around the world. Legendary country music group, Restless Heart, is celebrating over 25 years of perfecting the art of entertaining.

Larry Stewart - lead vocals, guitar
Dave Innis - keyboards, vocals
John Dittrich - drums, vocals
Greg Jennings - lead guitar, vocals
Paul Gregg - bass, vocals

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One of the most respected vocalists to emerge during the urban cowboy era, John Conlee was known for his superb taste in material and his distinctively melancholy voice. Conlee was born and raised on a tobacco farm in Versailles, KY, in 1946, and took up the guitar as a child, performing on local radio at age ten. He went on to sing with the town barbershop chorus, but didn't initially pursue music as a career, instead becoming a licensed mortician. He also worked as a disc jockey at numerous area radio stations, and made important industry connections via that area when he moved to Nashville in 1971. Five years later, Conlee's demo tape got him a contract with ABC. He released a few singles, but didn't find acceptance until 1978's "Rose Colored Glasses," a song he'd co-written with a newsman at his radio station, rocketed into the country Top Five. Conlee spent the next decade or so scoring hit after hit, nearly all of them helmed by producer Bud Logan. He had two number ones in 1979 alone -- "Lady Lay Down" and "Backside of Thirty" -- and four number two hits through 1981, which included "Before My Time," "Friday Night Blues," "She Can't Say That Anymore," and "Miss Emily's Picture." Conlee returned to the top of the charts three times over 1983-1984 with "Common Man," "I'm Only in It for the Love," and "In My Eyes," and had his last number one in 1986 with "Got My Heart Set on You." All told, Conlee made the Top Ten 19 times through 1987, when he moved from MCA to Columbia and reached the Top Five with "Domestic Life." Never much for touring, Conlee subsequently curtailed his recording activities as well, instead devoting his time to charity work (often on behalf of American farmers), raising his family, and running his own farm outside Nashville.

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The NEW Queen of Bluegrass. Rhonda Lea Vincent (b. July 13, 1962, Kirksville, Missouri) is a bluegrass singer, songwriter, mandolin player, guitarist, and fiddle player. Her musical career started as a child in her family's band, The Sally Mountain Show, and has spanned almost four decades. She achieved success in the bluegrass genre in the 1970s and '80s, earning the respect of her mostly male peers for her mastery of the progressive chord structures and multi-range, fast paced vocals intrinsic to bluegrass music.

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The Whites are an American country music vocal group consisting of Buck White and his daughters Sharon and Cheryl. In the 1980s they scored hits with songs including “Pins and Needles” and “When the New Wears Off of Our Love.” Sharon White has been married to Ricky Skaggs since 1982; the couple had their own hit song, “Love Can’t Ever Get Better Than This” (1987). As of 2006, they are regular performers on the Grand Ole Opry program in Nashville, Tennessee.

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