Second Annual WMNF Americana Festival

Saturday Jul 07 12:00AM -- Skipper's Smokehouse

The second annual Americana Music Festival has a line up that includes 12 of the best FL-based Americana artists, including: Memphis Train Union, Jukebox Graduate, Experimental Pilot, Have Gun Will Travel, Holidaysburg, Truckstop Coffee, the Human Condition, Rebekah Pulley and the Reluctant Prophets, Steve Connelly and the Lesser Gods, Hangtown, the Diviners, and the Urbane Cowboys.

EVENT SCHEDULE and BAND DESCRIPTIONS

3:00-3:30 pm - MEMPHIS TRAIN UNION
This ambitious new project, led by former Leonard Croon Band singer/guitar player and local favorite, Dave Korman, combines southern electric blues with classic country twang. Their debut full length CD is slated for release later this year.

3:45-4:15 pm - JUKEBOX GRADUATE
Jukebox Graduate came about six years ago in a make shift studio out in the sticks. The project’s soul creator, Aaron Barnard, is quirky and precise and continues to stay true to the art of analog recording. He describes himself as “a young songwriter with an old soul.”

4:30-5:00 pm - EXPERIMENTAL PILOT - The acoustic duo featuring brothers Robert and Stephen Vessenmeyer (both formerly of local rock favorites, Men From Earth) mixes their own brand of rootsy, rugged harmonies with classic rock inspired songwriting to create their own brand of down home REDNECK SOUL. Experimental Pilot combines the brotherly harmonies of the Everly Brothers with acoustic guitars, hooks that stick in your head, intense lyrics, and songs written with a sense of joy albeit from a tortured place.

5:15-5:45 pm - HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL - Having spent the better part of the last decade recording and touring as singer/guitarist for Florida indie-rock trio The Chase Theory, Matt Burke began writing songs for his first ever solo effort. Working under the assumed moniker Have Gun, Will Travel, Burke combines elements of folk, rock, bluegrass, and traditional country music with an indie sensibility. HGWT has begun building a grassroots network of friends and fans, young and old, with their energetic live performances. The recording of HGWT’s first full-length (full-band) album is tentatively slated for later this year.

6:00-6:30 pm - HOLIDAYSBURG
The members of Orlando’s Holidaysburg have stumbled around the block in a number of bands since their teens. With Holidaysburg, the four have met somewhere in the middle of punk rock’s fuzzladen urgency and the lazy Sunday jangle of classic country music. In the summer of 2005 the band released its debut record, A Better November, a ten-song chronicle of good times and hindsight, low flying planes and powerlines, friends in cold places, and Jesus.

6:45-7:15 pm - TRUCKSTOP COFFEE
With a passel of rootsy songs about whiskey, women, heartache and interstate highways Lake Worth’s Truckstop Coffee cranks out a reviving take on the road-worn genre of Americana/whatever-ucall- it rock ‘n roll. Named after the powerful stuff that helps keep you between the lines on those long lonely drives, this hard-working young four-piece blends overdriven tube amps, telecaster twang, and rough-hewn vocals for a vintage sound that’ll break yer heart and sew it up again with steel strings. In addition to playing heaps of shows, Truckstop Coffee also found time to record and release a five song EP in 2004, and they just celebrated the indie release of their first full-length recording titled One Damn Thing To Redeem in December 2006 (now available on itunes).

7:45-8:15 pm - THE HUMAN CONDITION
This unique band is the vehicle for hard working local singer/songwriter Dean Johanesen. Their sound contains influences of rock, folk, country, and various other progressive genres. Their music has been described as both rhythmic and acoustic, combining intense yet sometimes gentle dynamics. Their 2007 release, the Five EP, has already gained local critical acclaim, and their dynamic live show is not to be missed.

8:30-9:00 pm - REBEKAH PULLEY AND THE RELUCTANT PROPHETS
Rebekah Pulley began playing at the age of fifteen encouraged by her father, a country-western musician who played for country great Charlie Ryan. Over the years she has developed her sound and is recognized as a notable singer/songwriter. Her mix of haunting vocals, earthy rhythms and sweet tones have earned a place in the hearts and CD players of an eclectic base of music fans throughout the southeast. Rebekah has recorded four full length CD’s each containing its own blend of tough but tender songs reflecting heartache, love, self discovery and worldly chaos. In Tampa Bay’s weekly arts and entertainment publication Creative Loafing, she was voted 2002’s Best Acoustic Act and 2005’s Best Singer-Songwriter. The St. Petersburg Times chose Here In The Real World as 2003’s Best Local Release. Her latest CD, Songs of Southern Zen, was the 4th most played recording at 88.5 WMNF for 2006.

9:15-9:45 pm - STEVE CONNOLLY AND THE LESSER GODS
Former member of the critically acclaimed Headlights, the multi-talented local whiz kid guitarist/songwriter/producer, known for working with Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, as well as local favorites, Ronny Elliott, Hangtown, and Rebekah Pulley, unleashes his latest project, the Lesser Gods. Prepare to be amazed.

10:00-10:30 pm - HANGTOWN
Since 1998, Ted Lukas has led Tampa Bay’s breakthrough Americana band Hangtown, releasing two full length CDs: Here For Now (1999) on the Tampa based Blue Heart label, and Eleven Reasons (2001) on Mississippi based Black Dog Records, a label founded by members of the legendary alt country band, Blue Mountain. In 2002 singer/songwriter Ted Lukas released a solo CD, Distracted—a varied collection of pop inspired alt country— to much critical acclaim. In 2006 Hangtown released a fine EP of twangy indie rock songs, titled Gone Today, Here Tomorrow (mixed by legendary Americana producer, Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and his partner Tim Hatfield). Over the past nine years, Ted Lukas and Hangtown have appeared at some of the most reputable, well known original music venues and showcase events in the U.S.

10:45-11:15 pm - THE DIVINERS
Formed from the ashes of Will Quinlan’s seminal Tampa bands, Pagan Saints and Murder Creek, The Diviners carry forward an earnest punk/folk/rock aesthetic while incorporating traditional country and bluegrass elements, resulting in a profoundly original take on contemporary Americana. The Austin Chronicle says: “The Diviners throw out righteous blasts of ragged American punk/folk/soul anthems of love, politics and drunkenness.”

11:30 pm -12:00 am - THE URBANE COWBOYS
This Tampa, FL Americana/roots rock/alt.country quartet churns out what has been described as “ass kickin’, beer drinkin’, boot stompin’ rock n’ roll.” Since 1999 The Urbane Cowboys have gigged quite consistently around the Central Florida area with both local and national acts. In his feature article on the Cowboys in Tampa’s local rag Weekly Planet, music columnist Scott Harrell had this to say: “The presence of two primary songwriters lend The Urbane Cowboys a surprisingly broad signature. Some songs rock with roadhouse abandon, some would slide nicely into contemporary pop-country airplay, and still others play into that surf-a-billy backbeat. By refusing to narrowly define what they do, the Cowboys have created a fun, eclectic, and widely appealing style.

* Tickets will be available on-line until 4pm on FRIDAY, 7/6/07 * Please order by phone or e-mail, prior to this time or purchase at the door. Enjoy!