On Friday June 8th Nikki Lane, Lillie Mae and Jack Grelle will be performing at the third night of Twangfest happening at Off Broadway. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the music goes from 8:00 pm until 11:45 pm. It is an all-ages concert and is presented by Urban Chesnut Brewing. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Follow on for the latest on all of them, as well.
- Nikki Lane: (Greenville, SC Native In TN)
Genre: Country, Americana
https://www.facebook.com/nikkilanemusic
- Lilie Mae: (Nashville, TN)
Genre: Country, Americana
https://www.lilliemaemusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/lilliemaemusic
- Jack Grelle: (St. Louis, MO)
Genre: Country, Honky Tonk, Folk
https://www.facebook.com/JackGrelle
About Nikki Lane:
Nikki Lane’s stunning third albumHighway Queen, out February 17th, 2017,sees the young Nashville singer emerge as one of country and rock’s most gifted songwriters. Co-produced by Lane and fellow singer-songwriter, Jonathan Tyler, this emotional tour-de-force was recorded at Matt Pence’s Echo Lab studio in Denton, Texas as well as at Club Roar with Collin Dupuis in Nashville, Tennessee. Blending potent lyrics, unbridled blues guitars and vintage Sixties country-pop swagger, Lane’s new music will resonate as easily with Lana Del Rey and Jenny Lewis fans as those of Neil Young and Tom Petty.
Highway Queen is a journey through heartbreak that takes exquisite turns. The record begins with a whiskey-soaked homage to Lane’s hometown (“700,000 Rednecks”) and ends on the profoundly raw “Forever Lasts Forever,” where Lane mourns a failed marriage – the “lighter shade of skin” left behind from her wedding ring. On “Forever” and the confessional “Muddy Waters,” Lane’s lyrics align her with perceptive songwriters like Nick Lowe and Cass McCombs. Elsewhere, “Companion” is pure Everly Brothers’ dreaminess (“I would spend a lifetime/ Playing catch you if I can”). She goes on a Vegas bender on the rollicking “Jackpot,” fights last-call blues (“Foolish Heart”) and tosses off brazen one-liners at a backroom piano (“Big Mouth”).
“Love is the most unavoidable thing in the world,” Lane says. “The person you pick could be half set-up to destroy your life with their own habits – I’ve certainly experienced that before and taken way too long to get out of that mistake.”
In 2014, Lane’s second album All or Nothin’ (New West) solidified her sandpaper voice beneath a ten-gallon hat as the new sound and look of outlaw country music. Produced by Dan Auerbach, the record’s bluesy Western guitars paired with Lane’s Dusty Springfield-esque voice earned glowing reviews from NPR, the Guardian and Rolling Stone. In three years since herWalk of Shame debut, Lane said she was living most of the year on the road.
Growing up, Lane used to watch her father pave asphalt during blistering South Carolina summers. She’d sit on the roller (“what helps smooth out the asphalt”) next to a guy named Rooster and divvy out Hardee’s lunch orders for the workers. “My father thought he was a country singer,” Lane laughs. “He partied hard at night, but by 6:30 AM he was out on the roads in 100-degree weather.” That’s the southern work ethic, she says. “We didn’t have a lot of money, but I was privileged with the knowledge of how to work hard, how to learn and to succeed when things aren’t set up for me.” Creativity was an unthinkable luxury, she adds. “When people told me I should try to get a record deal for songs I was writing, I was like, ‘that’s cute – I’ve got to be at work at 10 A.M.’”
“Becoming a songwriter is one of the most selfish things I’ve ever done,” Lane says plainly. She describes writing her first song at age 25 like it was a necessary act of self-preservation after a devastating breakup. Many of her early songs, she said on Shame and Nothin’,were about the fleetingness of relationships she believed were permanent, she says. Lane’s main line of work in those days was a fashion entrepreneur (she’s currently the owner of Nashville’s vintage clothing boutique High Class Hillbilly). It brought her to cities around the country, New York to Los Angeles to Nashville. And like a true wanderer, Lane’s sound crisscrosses musical genres with ease, while the lonesome romantic in her remains. Even a soft song like, “Send The Sun,” with its lilting downward strum, is flush with bittersweet emotion. “Darling, we’re staring at the same moon,” Lane sings lovingly. “I used to say that to my ex,” she says with cheerful stoicism, “to try to brighten the long nights, stay positive.”
Highway Queen is poised to be Lane’s mainstream breakthrough. “Am I excited to spend years of my life in a van, away from family and friends? No, but I’m excited to share my songs, so they’ll reach people and help them get through whatever they’re going through. To me, that’s worth it.”
“Lay You Down” is one of those unexpected moments for Lane. “That song was inspired by something Levon Helm’s wife posted on Facebook when he was sick with cancer,” Lane says. “I was just so moved by her telling the world how much love he felt from people writing to them, and moved that because of the Internet, I was able to see that love – even from a distance.” The song became surreal for Lane and her band when her longtime guitarist, Alex Munoz, was diagnosed with cancer while they were playing it. “It deepened my perspective and the importance of keeping everyone safe,” says Lane.
On the record cover, Lane looks out on wide, unowned Texan plains, leaning on the fearsome horns of a massive steer. Wearing a vintage Victorian dress, the stark photo invokes a time before highways existed. The symbolism isn’t lost on Lane. Highway Queen was a pioneering moment for her as an artist.
“I was always a smart girl, always had to yell to be heard,” she says, “But this was the first time in my career where I decided how things were going to go; I was willing to take the heat.” Lane included the bonus track “Champion” as a small testament to that empowerment. “It makes a point,” Lane says with a smile, “That I appreciate what you’re saying, but get the fuck out of my way.”
LILLIE MAE COMES TO ST. LOUIS' TWANGFEST
"Mae's warm, self-assured vocal twang is rivaled by her vivid storytelling." - People Magazine
"An album that uses the richness of the American musical catalog
to pave new ground." - Rolling Stone
"[Forever And Then Some is] filled with songs that showcase her songwriting talent,
blending pop heartbreak with country joy -- kind of like if Robyn
spent some quality time with Willie Nelson." - Elle
Lillie Mae is completing a run of headline tour dates from this May and June. The run included appearances at Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, GA, Boston Calling Festival in Boston, MA and Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, OH. Before the headline dates began, Lillie Mae hit the road with Tyler Childers for the third annual Stagecoach Spotlight Tour, held in conjunction with the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, CA. .
Last year's Forever And Then Some received a great deal of advance praise leading up to its release. Rolling Stone praised "Over The Hill And Through The Woods" for "melding unique old-time vocal breaks, a rich sonic chug that evokes some Seventies rock psychedelia and evocative storytelling;" Stereogum lauded "Honky Tonks And Taverns" as "an expertly polished, delightfully upbeat track;" and Elle noted that the album is "filled with songs that showcase her songwriting talent, blending pop heartbreak with country joy -- kind of like if Robyn spent some quality time with Willie Nelson." Lillie Mae also recently performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert -- watch the performance HERE.
Lillie Mae was also included in NPR's esteemed "Austin 100" in advance of SXSW 2017, and was named one of "10 Country Artists You Need To Know" by Rolling Stone. Entertainment Weekly included Lillie Mae in their "Breaking Big" column, praising "Over The Hill and Through The Woods" as "a stomping lament for a restless heart." People Magazine did the same in their "People's Pick" column, noting that "Mae's warm, self-assured vocal twang is rivaled by her vivid storytelling."
About Jack Grelle:
“A progressive honky-tonk hero arriving at just the right time in Trump’s America”- Rolling Stone
“Got Dressed Up to be Let Down,” the new album out October 2016 from St. Louis-based country songwriter Jack Grelle (Grell-EE), paints the picture of true Americana with depth and variety. Largely sculpted by 70s honky-tonk, the album weaves through diverse influences such as cajun, tejano, rock & roll and folk to create a passionately comprehensive interpretation of a classic sound. The songs are carefully crafted with contributions from an assortment of musicians including the South City Three (Pokey LaFarge) and John Horton (The Bottle Rockets). The arrangements include pedal steel, piano, fiddle and harmonica.
Jack’s willingness to travel around genre-lines is a testament to the urgency and restlessness of his artistry. This rambling spirit has brought him to over 13 countries and 3 continents with a tour schedule that averages 150 shows a year. He has shared the stage with Joe Ely, Billy Joe Shaver, Chris Stapleton, and Pokey Lafarge. LaFarge, who has personally invited Grelle to open shows on numerous occasions, referred to Jack as a “Midwestern poet” and “a timeless Renaissance man.” Jack has also enjoyed the opportunity to sit in with Dale Watson and his Lonestars.
As Grelle’s new album switches from waltzes to two-steps and rockers, the insight and intelligence in his lyrics remain consistent. Jack’s songs range in topic from celebrating the life of his recently-deceased grandmother to romance in South America, and he shows an integrity and courage that mirror his punk rock upbringing by tackling such topics as freedom in femininity and the tragedy of police killings that plague the African-American community.
Jack is a strong, idealistic artist who does not accept limitations. These qualities recently led him to step outside of his normal role as he assembled a backing band to tour the Midwest with Lavender Country, the music of Patrick Haggerty, a life-long gay rights activist who made the world’s first gay country album. Grelle’s drive continually leads him to new challenges, and he consistently exceeds expectations. With a strong new album and another long stretch of tour dates lining up, Grelle is poised for new horizons and great success in 2016 and beyond.
