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The Stanly County Boys

The Stanly County Boys are Jack Burgess, age 55, John B. Bloom, 50, Ken Inoue, 48, Annie Griffey, 52, and Kazumi Inoue, 48.

This family string band plays old time, round peak style, Appalachian string band music. This multi-talented family string band, The Stanly County Boys, represents a new generation of musicians to play a genre of North Carolina’s Appalachian mountain music in the “round peak” style, forged by the distinct fiddling and banjo playing of the legendary Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham.

Jack Burgess, an Alabama fiddle champ, realized a lifelong dream three years ago by moving to the North Carolina area to play the music he loves. Ken Inoue, plays the fretless banjo. He is the past Mount Airy banjo competition champion. What greater tribute than to win where Tommy Jarrell called home!

John Bloom plays all stringed instruments, and has accompanied many champions on stage. Kazumi Inoue plays guitar and accordion and sings. Annie Griffey, plays bass and guitar and sings. The band's first recording, Patchwork Kimono, released June 03 and has received great reviews at the festivals and airplay on WNCW, WPAQ, WCQS, WGCC.

Big Octave

Big Octave is a versatile acoustic jazz trio based in the Charlotte, NC area. The group features saxophonist/flautist John Alexander, bassist Ron Brendle and percussionist Chris Garges. The group, which has been performing together since 2001, puts a unique stamp on traditional jazz, modern compositions, latin and pop/rock tunes, and their own original music as well.

NC native John Alexander was a long-time resident of Miami, Florida, where he performed frequently with jazz legend Ira Sullivan. Bassist Ron Brendle is a five-time recipient of Creative Loafing magazine's "Jazz Artist Of The Year" Award and has performed with jazz great such as Frank Kimbrough, Nneena Freelon, and Loonis McGlohon. In addition to playing drums, Chris Garges is a freelance recording engineer and has worked with artists such as Don Dixon, Mitch Easter, and General Johnson. Big Octave recently released their debut self-titled album on LoNote Records.

Jason Hausman

From the sprawling fields of Indiana to the rich red clay of North Carolina, Jason Hausman rises to the forefront with intricate lyric, haunting voice, and relevant art. Hausman is a master craftsman, taking great care to dig past the surfaces of everyday things to find the warm musical embers underneath. His guitar-driven songs are described as "beautiful," "deliciously gritty," and "haunting." Hausman's gift has come through incredible experience as a young musician, playing with the likes of Ben Folds Five, Herbie Mann, Athenaeum, and Blessid Union of Souls. Having formed and fronted numerous collectives of talent such as Blue Mongoose, The Hausman Syndicate (under Rockduster Records), Lovehaus, and Godmanradio, he has earned a place of respect in the grand span of musical performance. His latest release, hollow , is a powerful blend of innovative sounds and classic songwriting.

Jason Hausman currently lives, works, and writes in Charlotte, North Carolina. He spent several years as General Manager of an established recording studio and is also a skilled recording engineer/composer. Widely known in the local scene, he continues his unyielding foray into the world of music. He recently expanded his publishing/record label OrpheusArts with another local musician and engineer to include a Film Scoring/Commercial Music division. Within one month, OrpheusArts landed contracts to compose music for both national and regional advertising and television clients.

Never satisfied, Hausman's thirst for his art only grows. Another new CD ( Grey Sky Sparrow ) is coming together under the production of OrpheusArts and will showcase the beauty of his unpretentious songwriting, sharpened to its finest point. With a brilliant array of seasoned musicians (Don Dixon, Jamie Hoover, Rick Spreitzer and more...) to add color to the canvas, Hausman's upcoming work is sure to be his finest offering yet, penning songs that are full to the brim with his sonic agility.

LFE

LFE is a high energy rock band, drawing from influences as diverse as The Police and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. LFE, which stands for the Leidenfrost Effect, occurs when a surface temperature far exceeds the boiling point of a liquid, such as water, then the liquid will jump off the surface before it has a chance to evaporate. Why they thought that was cool is a bit of a mystery. The band formed in 2004 and has been touring the South East since the fall.

David Nason (vocals, guitar) - has enjoyed a 12-year career in music and is currently endorsed by Hamer Guitars. Growing up in Boston's post punk scene, he relocated to Charlotte where he gained prominence with local favorite Random Joe.

"Cadillac" Vince Foley (guitar) - hails from the New York metro area, where he has spent the better part of twenty years working as a studio and touring pro. He has released three independent studio albums since 2000. With a deep background in hard rock and blues, Cadillac currently resides in Charlotte, where he manages NQTBBC Studios.

Jim Guyett (bass) - began playing bass in 1990 in Malone, New York. Within a year, he was in his first rock band playing glam and punk cover tunes. Jim attended SUNY Plattsburgh in New York majoring in Theater Tech and in Jazz Theory. For the last 10 years Jim played in Black Eye Blue, Saving Nothing and other bands touring the East Coast. In early 2004 Jim relocated to Winston-Salem, where he joined LFE.

Mark Daley (drums) - cut his teeth on the thousands of cover bands that have littered the bars of North Carolina over the last decade, but is finally breaking into real music with his leadership of the beat behind LFE. Mark is endorsed by SMD drums.

Barn Hill Station

Barn Hill Station is a unique blend of Alternative Country, Americana, Contemporary Folk & Swampy Blues. They’ve performed at several venues in Charlotte including the Evening Muse and Neighborhood Theatre. The couple’s musical roots are in funk and rock. “I grew up listening to Led Zeppelin,” Doug said, citing Pat Travers, Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughn as other influences. Kimberly’s influences include Julie and Buddy Miller, Leslie (Sam) Phillips and Emmylou Harris because of their creativity.

“When we moved to Concord, a lot of people around us were into country and maybe some of that has rubbed off on us,” Kimberly explained. The couple transitioned into alternative country and bluegrass then. Woven into the couple’s blend of music is “swampy, Cajun blues,” Doug said. Kimberly used to perform church and gospel music as a professionally trained soprano. Doug played in several cover bands, the most recent was Mama Said with Kimberly. “We got burnt out doing covers,” she said. They played with cover band Mama Said for seven years. The couple said the turning point for them was during a show in Myrtle Beach. “We were just playing songs college kids could drink to,” Kimberly explained. “I said to Doug ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ We didn’t know what we were supposed to do. None of this was planned out.”

The Barnhills wrote a little and tinkered around with some songs, playing in a few churches along the way. “If you have music in your blood, you never quit playing,” Doug said. “Our faith and where that takes you through life comes out in our songwriting.” The couple said they pray for creativity, and often surprise themselves when writing songs together. “A lot of our music is passion driven,” Kimberly said. “Faith is a big influence in the way we see things.” One of the Barnhills goals is to not sound like anyone else, Kimberly said. “I don’t think
there’s a ton of local acts with female singers doing what we’re doing,” Doug said. “It’s hard to pigeonhole our music. We go from one end of the spectrum to the other. “We wanted to write music we would like to listen to.” The Barnhills said that being married and performing together makes it sometimes difficult to separate the work from their personal life. “It’s very interesting,” Doug aid. “We’re our own worse critics. ... It works really well.” But being married and performing together does have advantages, too. The practice room is in the loft of their home. “It makes it a whole lot easier,” Doug said. Being able to read each other’s thoughts well makes performing on stage easier as well, Kimberly said. The couple met through a mutual friend about 15 years ago. “I was playing a gig and I saw a beautiful girl outside the bar,” Doug recalled. They began chatting and Doug asked her to audition to sing with their band. “I thought she was great. A little bit proper,” he said of Kimberly’s audition and professional training. “I told her, ‘You need to grit it up a little bit.’” “They untaught me,” Kimberly said of her experience singing with Doug’s band. “Now my voice is totally different from what is used to be.” The Barnhills said they plan to launch a full-length album by the end of the year. For more information about the band, log onto www.barnhillstation.com.