Artists
Linda McRae
A singer-songwriter musician of the old school with decades of experience you may think you know what Linda McRae is up to. That is until she throws you a curve with a new twist: David Bowie on Banjo?! Linda manages to bend the rules and the genres proving that stripping a song clean brings one back to their roots. With her new release GOING TO THE WELL, produced by Deni Gauthier, Canadian/Nashville based Linda McRae takes a deep draw, fresh and cool, on iconic influences, covering the likes of David Bowie, Willie P. Bennett, Richard Thompson, Don Williams and Bill Kirchen.
Linda’s love of Canadian, American and British music early on in her career resulted in multiple band configurations from roots-rock to punk to folk. These bands included the platinum selling group, Spirit of the West. Her deep contribution to the Canadian music scene resulted in her being honoured as a 2016 British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame “Pioneer” inductee.
When Linda steps onto a concert stage, into a recording studio, workshop or mentoring session, there is an effortless passion, a love of what she does and a connection with fans and friendships built and treasured. A multi-instrumentalist Linda works tirelessly as a touring singing songwriter, performing at premiere venues across Canada, the US and Europe while turning out new works.
Crucial to Linda’s art is her virtuosic vocal work. Echoes of such artists as The Beatles, Hank Williams Sr, Hazel and Alice, Jean Ritchie, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, are reflected in her work reviving the songs and the senses with a new urgency of spirit and authenticity.
McRae has offered six critically acclaimed solo recordings throughout her years as a solo performer and is featured on multiple artists’ albums. Numerous accolades and top radio charting have landed Linda a Canadian Folk Music nomination for Contemporary Album of The Year for “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts,” two Escape to Create Residencies in Florida, Winner of the Family Folk Chorale for “Be Your Own Light”. Linda is also highly sought after as a teacher, mentor, juror, panelist and workshop facilitator.
And if all that isn’t enough Linda has worked alongside husband/manager with at risk youth and adults in her Express Yourself Writing Workshops presented across the country at detox, and correctional facilities including New Folsom Prison in California.
Trespass Music: Diverse, meshing old style with modern, and ingeniously acoustic. Linda McRae shows her confidence with her unique approach and her brand of music, drawing from a deep and treasured resource of well-loved songs for “Going To The Well.”
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Mary Flower
Mary Flower’s immense finger picking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and meter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple honey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompaniment to each song’s story.
An internationally known and award-winning picker, singer/songwriter and teacher, the Midwest native relocated from Denver to the vibrant Portland, Oregon music scene in in 2004. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals, teaching seminars and concert stages domestically and abroad, that include Merlefest, Kerrville, King Biscuit, Prairie Home Companion and the Vancouver Folk Festival, among many.
A finalist in 2000 and 2002 at the National Finger Picking Guitar Championship, a nominee in 2008, 2012 and 2016 for a Blues Foundation Blues Music Award, and many times a Cascade Blues Assn. Muddy Award winner, Flower embodies a luscious and lusty mix of rootsy, acoustic-blues guitar and vocal styles that span a number of idioms – from Piedmont to the Mississippi Delta, with stops in ragtime, swing, folk and hot jazz.
Flower’s 11 recordings, including her four for Memphis’ famed Yellow Dog Records — Bywater Dance, Instrumental Breakdown, Bridges and Misery Loves Company — show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. For Flower, it’s never about re-creation. Her dedication to the art form is a vital contribution to America’s music.
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Jeff Rymes
Strange times and scrapped tour plans gave singer-songwriter Jeff Rymes and many other musicians reason to retreat over
the past few years. “Luckily,” says Rymes “I stumbled into a situation that ended up being very productive and satisfying for
me.” As a member of what AllMusic describes as “one of California's most influential bands” from “the roots music
explosion that took place in Southern California during the ‘80s” in The Lonesome Strangers, Rymes’ settled in Portland,
Oregon after an extended hiatus. There he met Adam Selzer, former proprietor of the recording studio Type Foundry (M.
Ward, Peter Buck, Decemberists) who happened to live next door. Now operating “a killer little studio in his backyard,” Rymes teamed up with Selzer during the newfound downtime to make his new album So Long, Prettyface. “Adam produced the songs with me, mixed them, mastered them, played bass on a few, played other stuff, and is a huge part of the sound quality and vibe of the album,” says Rymes. “It was done in short sessions spread out over at least a year.”
The cozier studio environment highlights Rymes’ comfort in sonically stretching across the realm of roots music - dabbling in
folk, rock and roll, and touches of the blues. All these sounds combine to form a captivating capsule of creativity from an
inspired musician making the most out of a trying time. "Working with Jeff is like stepping back in time - the inherent analog
vibe along with classic storytelling allows the listener to question where the songs are coming from," says Selzer. "They reside
in a familiar place while offering a unique sound that is undeniably Jeff Rymes." Album opener “A Cowboy’s Life” is sparse and spooky. Accentuated by haunting fiddle and percussive splashes, Rymes’ voice personifies the life of the drifting kind over trotting guitar. On the following track, the rocking “Oh Yeah, All Right” immediately adds a “fragment of energy” to shake things up and kick off the dust. Bluesy and mellow, “alittlebitofrain” was born as an instrumental but became more meditative with the addition of Rymes’ chant-like refrain and verses. A phone recording of a rainstorm brings the song to a calming conclusion. Dubbed as “the love song,” “’Til the End of Time” features a reverb-laden guitar riff, big chorus and dreamy doo-wop styling. “Giddyup Go” is a country shuffle that plays fairly straight until “Dr. John shows up with mushrooms.”
Observational folk-rocker “Everybody’s Doin’ Fine” is free flowing and fluid. “You can make up your own verses to this,”
suggests Rymes. The chord progression and words “come on baby, come on over” on “Arcadia” were gifted to Rymes by a friend. “It seemed like the essence of rock and roll to me,” says Rymes. “I had to try to take it to the house.” The album’s title track originated across multiple dreams, where Rymes channeled his dreaming self in the studio to capture the music he had been hearing. Ocean sounds, pedal steel and slowly strummed acoustic guitar provide a surreal soundscape on the intro. Organ swells and steady bass and drums take flight from there as this song sails through something cosmic.
Closing with the most “country” number, “The Travelers’ Song” is dobro heavy and serves as the perfect bookend to
opener “A Cowboy’s Life.”
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