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Artist & Agency News
7/23/10
Lots of exciting stuff going on around here! The Rockin' Acoustic Circus was just added to the legendary Philadelphi Folk Festivall, August 22, 2010. They join an already-stellar lineup that includes among others, Taj Mahal, Richard Thompson, The Subdudes, Susan Werner and Chris Smither. The group just returned from making a big splash IBMA's Event of the Year recipient Greyfox Bluegass Festival in New York. Last month they were featured on Music City Roots in Nashville. Broadcast on WSM radio and streamed live on the internet, they were part of a wonderful evening that celebrated IBMA's 25th Anniversary.
The Boxcars continue to turn heads and create a buzz. They appeared on Music City Roots on WSM radio just this week, and will be making a major label announcement in the next week, so stay tuned!
12/9/09
We are excited to announce representation of the newly formed bluegrass supergroup, The Boxcars. Adam Steffey, Ron Stewart, John R. Bowman, Keith Garrett and Harold Nixon make up what will surely soon be one of the top headliners in bluegrass and beyond. With collective stints with Alison Krauss & Union Station (Adam Steffey, John Bowman), J.D. Crowe & The New South (Ron Stewart, John Bowman, Harold Nixon), Blue Moon Rising (Keith Garrett and Harold Nixon), The Isaacs (John Bowman) and most recently The Dan Tyminski Band (Steffey and Stewart), this quintet starts out with an impressive rap sheet. Steffey's newly realease project on Sugar Hill, One More For The Road is a receiving a great deal of airplay and attention and features guest appearances by Krauss, Ronnie Bowman and Tyminski. Expect The Boxcars to cover this material and branch out into their own unique style of contemporary bluegrass laced with Steffey's signature rhythm that can be traced back to the early days of Union Station. Award winning instrumentalist Ron Stewart will deliver rock solid banjo work, but will also lay down the banjo for the fiddle on some tunes. It's always a rarity to have multiple strong vocalists in the same group, and The Boxcars will benefit from strong vocal performances from Keith Garrett, John Bowman and Steffey's signature baritone.
Look for a new release first quarter of 2010. A label announcement should be coming by the end of December. Even before the band was officially announced we started receiving offers for festival dates for this exciting new group, so the future looks bright for them!!
11/1/09
We are thrilled to welcome Tulsa-area based Rockin' Acoustic Circus to the Class Act roster. A youthful fresh approach defines this exciting new group, whose maturity stretches far beyond their years. Original sounds, wonderful harmonies, a dynamic show and good folks. Seriously, what more could you ask for?! Watch for a new release and new video coming out in early 2010. This will be an act to watch in the coming year.
6/8/09
Audie Blaylock and Redline and The Crowe Brothers join the bluegrass ranks at Class Act Entertainment. Responsible Agent Chris Joslin will be looking after dates for each of the new signees. Both artists have new releases on Rural Rhythm Records as well as coveted spots as official IBMA Showcase Artists.
11/18/2008
We are proud to announce the addition of the great Lynn Anderson to the Class Act roster!
Perhaps best known for her Grammy Award winning performance on her number one hit "Rose Garden", she also enjoyed seven additional number one hits including "Cry", "Rocky Top", "How Can I Unlove You", "You're My Man," "Keep Me in Mind", and "Top of the World". She has earned 17 Gold Albums and won virtually every award available to a female recording artist: CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year (2x), American Music Award for Favorite Female Vocalist, Record World Artist of the Decade (1970 - 1980), Billboard Magazine Artist of the Decade (1970 - 1980), as well a Grammy Award for "Rose Garden". Recently she received a Grammy in 2004 for her "The Bluegrass Sessions" CD. Her 2007 Release "Cowgirl" received swept the Western genre awards: Western Music Association Best Female Vocalist, Best Western Swing CD, AWA Best Western CD, and AWA Best Western Song. She also received the Western Heritage Award form the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2007.
Lots of great things happening in Lynn Anderson's career, and we are thrilled to have her onboard. We have already secured a spot for her at the wonderful Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California next May. Stay tuned for more!
Nashville, TN – (Nov. 3, 2008) - Ralph Stanley II has signed with Mike Drudge of Class Act Entertainment in Nashville for exclusive concert booking. The Grammy-winning singer is currently touring on behalf of his new country/bluegrass album, This One Is Two, on Lonesome Day Records.
In aligning with Class Act Entertainment, Stanley joins a roster that includes Michael Martin Murphey, J. D. Crowe & The New South, Chip Taylor, the Whites, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Longview, the Original Wild West Revue and Red Wine.
Praise for Stanley’s new CD, This One Is Two (Lonesome Day Records), has been lavish. “One of the best traditional country albums you’ll hear this year,” promises The (Raleigh N. C.) News-Observer; “For those who cherish what country music should be, this is the CD for you,” enthuses CashboxMagazine.com; “The most important factors here,” explains Country Weekly, “are Ralph’s biting baritone and the top-shelf songs.” Adds Country Standard Times, “He delivers with the conviction of an artist who has lived his songs.”
To lead his tight new touring band, Stanley tapped multiple award-winning dobro player, Todd Livingston. Following his win of the 2001 Rockygrass Dobro Championship, Lawrence co-founded the band Hit & Run Bluegrass, which went on to capture the 2003 Telluride Band Contest and the 2005 International Band Championship sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA). Lawrence has toured in bands backing Jim Lauderdale, Cowboy Troy and Randy Kohrs.
Known among his friends as “Two” (thus the album title), Stanley has spent 14 of his 30 years as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for his father’s fabled bluegrass band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. But like the great vocalist Keith Whitley, who preceded him in that position, Stanley has always had a passion for hardcore country songs.
8/18/08
Darcie Deaville joins the Austin Lounge Lizasrds on Fiddle....
"Pilots and musicians are of the same breed. They all have their heads in the clouds", Darcie muses. Born in Toronto to a journalist/pilot mother and a bush helicopter pilot father, she started her childhood in Northern Canada, constantly moving around the North American continent, from one culture to another. At 16, Darcie struck out on her own, continuing to "pay her dues", making her living on the streets of Toronto playing guitar. Finally finding home in Austin, TX, Darcie is well known for her fiery fiddling and singing her songs, and working with other artists including Austinites Ray Wylie Hubbard, Eliza Gilkyson, Toni Price, Slaid Cleaves, Tish Hinojosa, The Meat Purveyors, and now, the Austin Lounge Lizards.
Darcie’s versatility is her strength. In the past few years she has developed her own personal way of coaching music for adults and kids of all ages. Her involvement in theatre has kept her busy in Canada, Austria, Italy, Prague, Scotland, and NYC. In 2007 she released her 5th CD, "Livin' on the Lucky Side.” Her alter ego/evil twin fiddle sister, Marcie Mercy, assists. Darcie and Marcie also team up to perform, write stories, and produce the odd CD or two for other artists. They look forward to their new life as a lizard.
2/12/08
The Whites received a Grammy Award Sunday at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, televised live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ricky Skaggs & The Whites were awarded the Grammy trophy for Best Southern,Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for "Salt of the Earth."
12/17/07
Congrats to J.D. Crowe & The New South for their recent Grammy nomination for "Lefty's Old Guitar" in the Best Bluegrass Album category to be presented in February by NARAS. The project, released on Rounder, was also voted Album of the Year by the IBMA in October. Also nominated for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel album is Salt of the Earth by The Whites and Ricky Skaggs on Skaggs Family Records. Best of luck to al the nominees!
10/16/08
Our very best wishes and congratulations to out to our very own Dale Ann Bradley who walked away with the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the annual IBMA Awards presented at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on October 4th. Way to go, Dale Ann! Congrats also go to J.D. Crowe who, in a first time ever tie with the Infamous Stringdusters, received honors for Album of the Year ("Lefty's Old Guitar).
8/16/07
Class Act Entertainment artists were well represented at the International Bluegrass Music Association's Awards Nominee press conference today. Our tip of the hat and congrats to the following Class Acts on awards nominations, to be presented October 4 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville:
Dale Ann Bradley: Female Vocalist of the Year
J.D. Crowe & The New South: Song of the Year for "Lefty's Old Guitar"
J.D. Crowe & The New South: Album of the Year for "Lefty's Old Guitar"
J.D. Crowe: Banjo Player of the Year
Mike Bub (Dale Ann Bradley): Bass Player of the Year
Marshall Wilborn (Lynn Morris Band): Bass Player of the Year
Ron Stewart (J.D. Crowe & The New South): Fiddle Player of the Year
Bryan Sutton: Guitar Player of the Year
Also, eventhough we don't represent them, we extend our best wishes and congrats to Kenny & Amanda Smith for their nomination for Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, for "Tell Someone" , their latest release on Rebel Records. It's a find project, very inspiring and well, we're just big fans.
Congrats to all the nominees!
5/1/07
OK, this is huge. We've added two precious jewels to the Class Act family. Buck & Patsy are now holding court at our house, soon to rule the Class Act offices too, we're sure.
Susan proudly shows off the new babies.
This was from the stressful ride home.
Welcome Buck & Patsy!
10/16/06
Congrats to Bryan Sutton on bringing home the award once again for IBMA Guitar Player of the Year. Watch for great performance dates from Bryan This year with Russ Barenberg as well as other cool configurations. Also congrats to the Steep Canyon Rangers who worked very hard in 2006 leading up to their nod for Emerging Artist of the Year. 2007 promises to be a banner year for the band.
8/18/06
The nominees for the 2006 Annual International Bluegrass Music Association's Awards were announced on Aug. 15, and we're proud to say that a number of class acts are in the running for awards to be presented at the Grand Ole Opry House in September:
Male Vocalist of the Year: Ronnie Bowman
Instrumental Album of the Year: Not Too Far From The Tree - Bryan Sutton & Guests
Recorded Event of the Year: Not Too Far From The Tree - Bryan Sutton & Guests
Emerging Artist of the Year: Steep Canyon Rangers
Banjo Player of the Year: J.D. Crowe
Guitar Player of the Year: Bryan Sutton
Bass Player of the Year: Marshall Wilborn
Fiddle Player of the Year: Ron Stewart
3/17/06
Lots of exciting stuff happening in the land of Class Acts. We continue to enjoy our new alliance with the great Don Light on Music Row. This partnership brings us into the management field for several artists while we continue to represent artists for booking.
The Steep Canyon Rangers will be appearing on the Delta Queen Steamboat this summer, and are looking forward to a busy summer of touring many high profile festivals and events.
Anyone a fan of the hit NBC show The Office? If you looked hard in a recent episode, you may have noticed a copy of the Austin Lounge Lizards CD "Employee of the Month" strategically placed in the shot behind actor Steve Carrell. Those Lizards - they sneak up in all sorts of places.
12/9/2006
Be sure to check out yet another great new song / animation from The Austin Lounge Lizards. This one takes a shot at the credit card industry. This might even make Dave Ramsey proud. Check it out at www.creditcardreform.com
11/20/2005
After twelve years of working at offices just north of Nashville, Class Act recently moved offices to Music Row. The new offices, located at 1013 17th Avenue South, were formerly occupied by the great Chet Atkins. The move also represents an exciting alliance with Don Light Talent. Class Act continues to represent artists for booking, while Mike Drudge and Don Light are working together to offer management services to a core group of artists. Don Light is well known among the music industry as discovering and managing the careers of Jimmy Buffet and Keith Whitley. Prior to that, Don managed the first Nashville office of Billboard and also started the first gospel booking agency in Nashville, representing the Oak Ridge Boys, The Lewis Family, and the Happy Goodman Family among others. All contact information for CAE remains the same, except the fax number, which is now 615-292-2396!
11/7/2005
Larry Sparks had a wonderful year at the IBMA Awards in Nashville presented October 27 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Celebrating forty years of performing has proven to be a delight for longtime favorite Larry Sparks as he received his second award in a row for Male Vocalist of the Year. Sparks also took home Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year honors for 40, the album celebrating the span of his legendary career. The album brought Sparks together with a cadre of performers including Ronnie Bowman, Larry Cordle, Kevin Denney, Vince Gill, Andy Griggs, Tom T. Hall, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Jim Hurst, The Isaacs, Carl Jackson, Chris Jones, Alison Krauss, The Marshall Family, Russell Moore, Don Rigsby, Ricky Skaggs, Kenny Smith, Tim Stafford, Ralph Stanley, Dan Tyminski, Rhonda Vincent, Sharon White-Skaggs, Cheryl White & Paul Williams and was produced by Don Rigsby for Rebel Records.
6/21/05
Billy Joe Shaver appeared on the Wednesday evening addition of 60 Minutes recently. Dan Rather interviewed him at several locations in Texas. The piece generated a lot of interest in Billy Joe, who is busy on tour supporting a new Tribute release as well as his biography. If you looked real fast during the 60 Minutes piece you could see a glimpse of agency founder Mike Drudge and his boss, Susan Huston Drudge.
J.D. Crowe & The New South are putting the finishing touches on a new release to come out on Rounder later this summer. It's shaping up to be a fabulous project, and will include his touring band of the last several years - Rickey Wasson, Dwight McCall, Ron Stewart and Harold Nixon. And oh, J.D. plays a little banjo too!
5/2/05
Those Austin Lounge Lizards strike another chord! The Consumer's Union recently commissioned them to write a song for their Prescription for Change national campaign. It's a catchy little ditty entitled "The Drugs I Need", and it has been paired with some hilarious animation by Austin's Animation Farm. View the video and download the song for free at www.prescriptionforchange.org. The video is also being featured on JibJab.com. For more on the campaign, the song, the video, and the NY Times review, go to our News section of the Austin Lounge Lizards website, that's ....you guessed it.... www.austinloungelizards.com
We're also happy to announce our association with Michael Martin Murphey. We will be representing Murphey on all dates East of the Missisippi as well as select engagements in other markets. Stay tuned for more details to come!
11/3/04
We're thrilled to be working with Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez! We've been fans of Chips songwriting for many years ("Wild Thing, "Angel of the Morning") but when we heard the music he was creating with touring partner Carrie Rodriguez we were hugely impressed. Watch for a new release on Lonestar Records in late April, and a tour to support the release to follow. Welcome aboard Chip & Carrie!
7/28/04
We had the pleasure of accompanying Billy Joe and band to the CineVegas Film festival in mid June. Documentary producers Luciana Pedraza and Robert Duvall were on hand as well as many other film industry folks for the showing of Portrait of Billy Joe. The highly acclaimed film is getting rave reviews from both avid fans as well as those who may have just a casual interest in the storied career of a man who has made so many contributions to American country music. Billy Joe performed at a reception at the festival which was also attended by Dennis Hopper, Paul Gleason and numerous other luminaries.
3/25/04
MUSIC OF SOUNDTRACKS "O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?" AND "COLD MOUNTAIN" TO COME ALIVE IN THE GREAT HIGH MOUNTAIN TOUR
The Great High Mountain Tour featuring songs and performances by artists from the "O'Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Cold Mountain" soundtracks will kick off on May 5 in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Thompson-Bolin Arena. The show, presented by Grammy winning producer T Bone Burnett , will feature several artist from the highly successful 2002 Down From The Mountain Tour including Alison Krauss + Union Station with Jerry Douglas , Ralph Stanley , the Cox Family , the Nashville Bluegrass Band , The Whites , and Norman and Nancy Blake . They will be joined by Dirk Powell , Riley Baugus , Tim Eriksen , and Reeltime Travelers from the Oscar nominated "Cold Mountain" soundtrack as well as Ollabelle (a sextet who draws their inspiration from nineteenth and early-to-mid-twentieth century rural American music) and Sierra and Cody Hull.
"Down From The Mountain was an extraordinary night of music," said Burnett, "and we are going deeper into this exploration of traditional American music with the artists and songs from Cold Mountain. There is great freedom in this music and in these shows that allows for every evening to be unique."
Burnett and acclaimed musician/filmmaker Bob Neuwirth will serve as the show's musical directors. The
revue will again be a theatrical presentation with musicians coming
on and off the stage to collaborate in different groupls creating
many exciting possibilities. The evening will feature songs such
as "Man of Constant Sorrow" performed by Dan Tyminski (aka The Soggy Bottom Boys), "Keep on the Sunny Side" by The Whites,
and "You Are My Sunshine" by Norman and Nancy Blake from "O Brother,
Where Art Thou?" and "I Wish My Baby Was Born" by Eriksen,
Baugus and Tim O'Brien, "Like A Songbird That Has Fallen" by the
Reeltime Travelers, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love" and "The
Scarlet Tide", by Krauss, both of which were nominated for an Academy
Award. The finale will feature "I'm Going Home" and "Idumea", Sacred
Harp songs from "Cold Mountain."
The first leg of the tour:
May 5 Knoxville, TN Thompson-Boling Arena
May 6 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
May 7 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena
May 8 Chicago, IL Civic Opera House
May 9 Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre
May 11 Minneapolis, MN Northrop Auditorium
May 12 St. Louis, MO The Fox Theatre
May 13 Detroit, MI The Fox Theatre
May 14 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena