Performers
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter Fan Club
Carlene Carter on MySpace Music
Carlene Carter is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband Carl Smith. This singer-songwriter has had 12 records since 1978; most on major labels, over 20 singles as well as 3 #3 Billboard Hot Country Songs.
In 1979 Carlene married British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe and spent much of the next decade in the UK. In 1983, her duet with Robert Ellis Orrall, “I Couldn’t Say No,” reached 32 on the national Top 40. It charted much higher regionally in places like Atlanta, Seattle, and Boston. In 1987, she joined together with The Carter Sisters (her mother June Carter Cash and aunts Helen and Anita Carter) to revive The Carter Family brand. That same year they performed with Johnny Cash on Austin City Limits.
Her career really took off with 1990’s I Fell In Love, produced by Howie Epstein, bassist for the Heartbreakers. This record kickstarted the neotraditionalist movement in Nashville. The title track was nominated for a 1991 Grammy as Best Female Country Vocal Performance. “Come on Back” was another extremely popular single in Canada and the US from this record. The 1993 follow-up Little Love Letters also charted high and had one of the top rated music videos for the year, “Every Little Thing.”
Long known as Country’s wild child and the Cash and Carter Family blacksheep, Carlene now seeks to be known more for her songwriting and performing than any other “antics”. Her latest record, Stronger (2008), has earned universal critical acclaim. On August 8, 2009, she performed an acoustic set in Huntington, NY, the first time she had played by herself in over 30 years.
Praise for Carlene’s Latest Album Stonger
“It is astounding.”
—Elvis Costello
“A staggering achievement by one of the great voices and fearless hearts of country rock.”
—Bernie Taupin
“It’s great to hear her again.”
—USA Today
Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle on Bloodshot Records
Justin Townes Earle on MySpace Music
Scion of the great American singer-songwriter tradition, Justin Townes Earle is the son of the “hardcore troubadour,” Steve Earle, stepson of Alison Moorer, and was named after the late cult musician, Townes Van Zandt. In his teens, Justin began touring with his father’s band playing guitar and keyboards. Like his father and his namesake before him, Justin has fought his own battles with addiction; in fact he was fired from Steve’s band for his issues. Clean for five years now, the 25 year old decided to focus on the songwriting craft. In 2008 he was nominated for an Americana Music Award as Emerging Artist of the Year. Signed to Chicago’s “insurgent country” label, Bloodshot Records, Justin has recently produced his third album, Midnight at the Movies (2009), which has zoomed to #15 on the US Heat chart.
Earle’s background mines the fine soil of Americana but with a decidedly post-modern indie take. His influences range from not only his father’s hero and his namesake Van Zandt to bluesman Jimmy Reed to grunge icon Kurt Cobain. Of course, he’s also influenced by more traditional singer-songwriters like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. Closer to his own age, Earle notes affinity to the work of former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell. In fact his latest record also has a track about John Henry’s demise, “They Killed John Henry.” He plays guitar with his own inimitable style based on classic clawhammer banjo pickin’, but working two fingers and a thumb. We’re proud to feature this fast rising talent whom you can say you saw before he totally blew up and before you needed backstage passes!
“I have a feeling that in a few years we’ll need backstage passes at the Ryman auditorium to get anywhere near him. He’s just THAT good.”
—Chattanooga Free Press
“Style Star”
—GQ
“Justin Townes Earle is living proof that despite the freak show that is modern day Nashville, there are still artists out there who revere the deep roots of the American musical tradition while still pushing the boundaries to create something new and wonderful.”
—PopMatters.com
Jimmy Tittle
Official Jimmy Tittle Website
Jimmy Tittle on MySpace Music
A part of the music industry for much of his life, at age 18 Tittle was a member of Merle Haggard’s touring band, The Strangers. He toured and performed with Merle for five years, playing bass guitar, which earned him six Super Picker awards, along with The Academy of Country Music’s Touring Band of the Year award four consecutive years.. Then he was selected to play bass in The Great Eighty Eights/The Johnny Cash Show Band, his future father-in-law’s backing band. He toured with this band between 1982-6 and then again from 1987-9. He produced his first solo album Fade to Black for the Dixie Frog label in 1989.
Bug Music in Nashville signed Jimmy in 1989 to an exclusive songwriter’s agreement and soon had his songs recorded by artists such as Jann Browne, Johnny Cash, Evangeline, Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash. “On the Surface” was co-written by Jimmy and Rosanne which she recorded on her critically acclaimed album, “Interiors”. Jimmy has also co-written songs with Marty Stuart, John Hiatt, John Stewart, LeRoy Preston, Dave Alvin, Cindy Bullens and Rodney Crowell.
Dixiefrog Records in Paris, France contacted Jimmy and he signed a recording contract which introduced him to the European market with his albums “Jimmy Tittle” (1990) and “Fade to Black” (1991). Sony Music France released his third CD titled “Real Life” as well as a compilation of all previous works titled “Room Full of Money, Heart Full of Pain”. Tittle’s current album All the Pretty Rubble is available on iTunes.
John Francis
John Francis was raised in a Pennsylvania farming town. From a young age he showed musical gifts for gospel and folk both at church and at home around the family piano. Loving both his father’s Elvis 45s and his mother’s Neil Young, Bib Dylan, and Johnny Cash records, this son of ministers and musicians began his career in that little country church performing with his parents. By 12 he was writing and recording his own material. In October 2005, he recorded and independently released the critically acclaimed “Strong Wine & Spirits” which led to features on ABC News and an appearance on “World Café Live.” In 2006, he was honored by ASCAP as the Sammy Cahn Lyricist of the Year. (previous winners have included John Mayer, Josh Ritter and Lori Mckenna).
In 2007, John Francis chose to record his second album with 5-time Grammy winning producer John Carter Cash at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN, the same locale where John and June recorded many of their masterpieces. John Carter Cash has also produced for the likes of Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Emmy Lou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Roseanne Cash. He was also associate producer to Rick Rubin on his father’s American Recordings series.
The album Cash produced, The Better Angels, spans the landscape of the human heart and the hear of America. Borrowing his title from Lincoln’s inaugural address, John Francis plumbs American soil to tell tales of lovers and the lovesick, rebels and wanderers, saints and drunkards, and the beautiful and the broken.
Intense Folk/Country
—Philadelphia Inquirer
Madman genius songwriter
—ASCAP NY
A rock and roll Molotov cocktail of vices and verse
—PLAY
John Fischer
JOHN FISCHER, as Senior Writer with PurposeDrivenLife.com, has specialized in a daily devotional that now reaches an audience of over 400,000 people five times a week. John’s career spans over thirty-five years of distinctive ministry, first as a singer/songwriter, recording artist and pioneer of Jesus Music, then as a best-selling author, and currently as a popular speaker at conferences, retreats, churches and colleges/universities nationally.
Mayhem String Band
The Official Site of Mayhem String Band
Mayhem String Band on MySpace Music
Mayhem String Band on Facebook
Michael Patrick
The Official Site of Michael Patrick
Michael Patrick on MySpace Music
Michael Patrick on Facebook
Steady On
Steady On, under the direction of Teresa Ingram of Louisville, MS, consists of 28 members ranging from pre-school to 19 years of age. Representing several surrounding counties including Attala, Choctaw, Neshoba, Noxubee and Winston, we love to perform at the different schools, churches, art festivals and civic organizations.
Our theme is taken from Psalm 57:7 with our purpose being to honor God with our talent.
Jubilee
Playing together as Jubilee since 2004, band members met at a mutual friendʼs musical potluck suppers. The three MSU professors and registered dietitian continued meeting at gatherings, enjoyed playing similar types of music and formed the band around their shared hobby of music. Members are Richard Brown (bass & harmonica), Torsten Clay (fiddle & banjo), Becky Kelly (mountain dulcimer), and Wayne Kelly (guitar). Jubilee plays traditional acoustic music consisting of mostly Old-Time mountain music, Celtic music and an occasional Cajun tune. The band has played locally for festivals, parties, weddings, Noxubee Refuge, and the Community Market, for contradances in Tuscaloosa, and for Celtic holiday celebrations in the Golden Triangle and Tuscaloosa.
Southern Sounds
4-H Southern Sounds, a group of talented teenagers from across the state of Mississippi, love music, dancing and drama. They perform an eclectic blend of music including country, gospel, rock, and Broadway.
They were thrilled to perform for the United States Congressional Gold Award Gala which took place this past June in the atrium of the beautiful Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. They often perform on the MSU campus and at other events and festivals across the state. You can see them at the upcoming investiture for President Keenum on October 16, the Johnny Cash Festival on that Friday night, and the Mississippi State Fair in Jackson on October 17. They are under the direction of Dr. Linda Mitchell, Associate Professor, Mississippi State Extension Service.
