John Santa admits he can’t tell a short story. His 512-page tome—complete with two books, stunning photography, and a section of sheet music—is evidence enough of that.

Blue Ridge Outdoors is hosting a benefit concert featuring the Emmitt Nershi Band.

Any list of songwriters worth the paper it is written on should include Shawn Camp’s name at the top. Camp has made a career writing some of the best songs to come out of Nashville in decades.

Warren Haynes—Asheville native, guitar legend, member of the Allman Brothers Band and his own Gov't Mule—is the catalyst behind what has become the hottest ticket on the Asheville music scene: the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam.

Carrying the torch of afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, this 10-piece outfit from Asheville, N.C., scorches through polyrhythmic global beats and horn-driven, dance-inducing grooves. The large ensemble follows the direction of bandleader Kevin Meyame. Originally from Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa, Meyame has performed throughout West Africa and France with the drum and dance troupe Tanably. He moved to the Southern mountains in 2004 to perform as lead dancer with Ballet Warraba. But now with trilingual vocal stylings in French, English, and his native language of Baoule, he leads a group of seasoned players through an authentic yet progressive take on the nu-afrobeat movement. The band’s debut album, “Scare Tactics,” pulses through driving percussive odysseys, tribal funk, and big band synchronicity—a tightly focused snapshot of the group’s aerobic live shows. Catch them at The Orange Peel on December 1. -Jedd Ferris

Since the early 90s Todd Snider has been Nashville’s curbside prophet, a singer-songwriter who has reverence for Americana in its many forms but also holds on tight to his inner Dylan—mainly in how he will never take himself too seriously, even when he is grappling with his inner demons. 


The Red Stick Ramblers kick off their latest disc with some serious, lowdown, Louisiana Bayou boogie-woogie.

Want to record a hit record in Nashville? My advice is to get in touch with Grammy-winning Jim Lauderdale. The Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Vince Gill, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are but a few who have cut a gem mined from Lauderdale’s songbook.

Equal parts Doc Watson and Bob Marley, The Carter Family and Burning Spear, Ras Alan has been blending old time Appalachian music with reggae rhythms and Rastafari spirit for over 15 years.

Great voice. Great songs. Great looks. These are the key qualities of the modern country starlet, and Florida-born singer/songwriter Elizabeth Cook possesses all of them.

Up until earlier this year Jason Isbell was part of the songwriting trifecta that made up the Southern anti-hero rockers, the Drive-By Truckers.

Not newgrass. Not jamgrass. Just straight up, driving bluegrass. That defines the Steep Canyon Rangers, the North Carolina quintet who have spent the last eight years proving that it is still cool for young guys to pick it the way Bill Monroe used to pick it.

It wasn’t surprising to learn that CD sales were down 20 percent in the first quarter of 2007. They’ve been on a rapid decline since the dawn of Napster. Just ask Tower Records, which recently had to close its doors in stores across the country.

Downtown Senate has earned a reputation in North Carolina’s piedmont as a roots-flavored outfit with a pile of Americana influences and the chops to make them worth a listen through the bar smoke haze. Mixing in old-time banjo romps with hill country rock and blues, the five-piece High Point-based crew plays bouncy drinking anthems that will make you reminisce about fist-pumping long nights with the Blue Rags and Jupiter Coyote.

Vince Herman might call Colorado home, but his heart bleeds pure Appalachian blood. Born in West Virginia, Herman’s Appalachian roots fed the bluegrass spirit of Leftover Salmon as they redefined the genre of mountain music for neo-hippies at festivals all across the country.

Clips from the Green-Globe-winning rockers, Perpetual Groove

Standard Songs For Average People

Last Good Kiss

Countrypolitan Favorites

Citizen

Leah and Chloe Smith came of age in the cultural stew that is modern Atlanta, but their musical souls are of another, older time.

Adrienne Young could easily be a Nashville country starlet, but the earthy singer-songwriter is a crunchy activist at heart—an ardent supporter of sustainable agriculture. In her first CD, the Grammy-nominated Plow to the End of the Row, she bundled seed packets into the liner notes.

New Orleans’ Dirty Dozen Brass band is nationally known for blending traditions of second line jazz with influences of bebop, funk, and R&B. The eight-man big band has been spreading dance-happy Big Easy vibes for more than two decades. But distress and displacement in post-Katrina life has caused the band to bear an obviously angry political side. Their latest album is a cover of Marvin Gaye’s famous protest statement, “What’s Going On?”

JJ Grey is the voice all rural Southerners don’t know that they really need.

“Oh gosh. I don’t think I should answer that.” So said dobro player Andy Hall when asked which member of his band, The Infamous Stringdusters, has the strongest claim to infamy.

Back in the late '90s my friends and I used to joke that New Orleans was "the city that God forgot about," mainly because of the crazy stuff we would see in the French Quarter, and every bar would serve us booze as desperate underage college freshmen.

Self-titled

New Words (Novas Palavras)

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Once upon a generation, an instrumentalist will redefine his instrument through sheer ingenuity and virtuosity. Think of Jimi Hendrix’s electric guitar, Earl Scruggs’s three-finger banjo roll, or even Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano ministrations.

He’s all grown up and sprouting a new band of his own. Chris Thile first made his name as a pre-teen mandolin prodigy, eventually going on to form the popular bluegrass outfit Nickel Creek. But now with his old band’s break-up on the horizon in 2007, he’s moving on to front an act that features some of the best young string slingers in the genre. Thile’s How to Grow a band features banjo ace Noam Pikelny, wicked fiddler Gabe Witcher, guitarist Bryan Sutton and bassist Greg Garrison. The group is touring behind a Sugar Hill Records debut release, “How to Grow a Woman from the Ground.” BRO’s Chris Weller picked his brain in the midst of a road swing with his new outfit.

He’s a new generation guitar god and he’s out to prove that pure soul has a place in rock ‘n’ roll.

Benny “Burle” Galloway has been a constant on the Colorado bluegrass scene for years. He is a longtime friend and collaborator of the boys of Yonder Mountain String Band, who cut an album of Galloway’s tunes (2003’s “Old Hands”). The Wayword Sons, Galloway’s latest project, is fast making waves in jamgrass circles.

Since Bill Bryson unleashed his humorous everyman take on A.T. thru-hiking, A Walk in the Woods, a handful of more seasoned outdoor travelers have recounted the cultural phenomenon. Next in line is Andy Harrah with his Iron Toothpick: A Thru-Hiker Reveals Life, Legends and Oddities Along the Appalachian Trail.

Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band has been doing it right through the grassroots grind—big festival bills, theatre sell-outs, and their own indie label. Apparently, though, they don’t feel like resting on their laurels.

John Cowan’s status as a bluegrass legend was established long ago. Possessing perhaps the most distinctive voice in acoustic music...

Casey Driessen has established himself as one of the premier fiddlers on the acoustic music scene. The Minnesota native and current Nashville resident has scored tours and session gigs with acoustic heavyweights Bela Fleck, Steve Earle, Tim O’Brien, and Darrell Scott.

Atmosphere can certainly make or break your musical experience. Fortunately in the Blue Ridge to complement our burgeoning acoustic music scene we have some of the best intimate listening rooms in the country...

A September calendar of music events in the southeast.

Zen delivers folkie jam rock from the West Virginia Mountains. The groove-based sound holds a reverence to the best of various acoustic Americana traditions while fusing in elements of modern electric psychedelia.

In a countryside crowded by young bluegrass bands with impressive chops, Chatham County Line, a quartet from Raleigh, N.C., is poised to become the standard bearer.

The other day I was trolling the Web looking for new music, when I stumbled across one of Nashville’s latest offerings—a new country disc by John Corbett.

Jack Johnson-Mofro-Adrienne Young; how they're green

The title of Darrell Scott’s new album, “The Invisible Man,” is appropriately misleading. By eschewing the route of major label recordings, Scott has long flown below the radar of pop music culture.

Rocky had “Eye of the Tiger.” Chariots of Fire had that inspirational piano song. Face it—everything sounds better with a soundtrack. If you’re looking for new iPod tracks to get you pumped up for your next outdoor adventure, check out these suggestions from the BRO staff.

This five-piece from the western New Jersey woods puts a new spin on the Americana landscape, blending bluegrass and folk song tradition with Grateful Dead-style psychedelia.

The young string quintet from Charlottesville, Va., gets to record with mandolin master David Grisman and makes one the best newgrass albums of the past year...

Michael Houser’s lingering leads were the foundation of 20-year southern jam kings Widespread Panic. But things suddenly changed when the guitarist succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2002.

This Johnson City, Tenn.,-trio brings an interesting dynamic to the growing world modern Appalachian folk, relying on the effective back-and-forth leadership roles of Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews, who seamlessly swap vocals, guitar, and bass.

Quirky Virginia tunesmith Keller Williams never seems to satiate his musical quest, which is fortunate for his loyal following of fans that pack large theatres across the country to see what he’ll do next.

In an age when many independent bands are struggling to survive, the Home Grown Music Network is a refreshing outlet for music that might otherwise go unnoticed.

This Asheville, N.C., five-piece string outfit's original blend of self-dubbed “fiery mountain music” melds tight picking with sultry female vocals.

Rarely are dismal aspects of rural reality presented so well. Depressed economy, cancer clusters, and dealing drugs to make ends meet aren’t the sunniest subjects, but Georgia’s Drive-By Truckers tell it like it is.

At the end of April, 80,000 people will flock to the North Carolina High Country foothills town of North Wilkesboro for MerleFest. The annual festival commemorates the life of guitarist Merle Watson, the son of bluegrass legend Doc Watson who was killed in a tractor accident in 1985.

Members of Carolina favorites Snake Oil Medicine Show and Acoustic Syndicate have collaborated to form CX-1...

Central Virginia’s Jan Smith pens emotional songs of southern landscape and local folks, beautifully set behind rolling bluegrass and vintage country through a voice that reminds of Gillian Welch and Natalie Merchant.

OK, so maybe she is a Canuck, but on her new release “I’m a Mountain,” angelic-voiced folkie Sarah Hammer has embraced her inner-Appalachia.

Two North Carolina brothers, Scott (banjo) and Seth Avett (guitar), grew up steeped in old-time string band music, but they’ve also been unable to ignore the distorted power chord angst of their youth.

In case you haven’t noticed, radio is almost dead. Why? Major record labels with unlimited cash flow have been repeatedly nabbed bribing radio stations to play certain artists within the limited scope deemed worthy of the "mainstream."

Banjo master Bela Fleck and his band the Flecktones are coming back after a year-long vacation. It was a well-earned sabbatical for a group that spent the last 15 years touring relentlessly behind its innovative concoction of improvisational jazz/bluegrass fusion that’s been dubbed “blu-bop.”

Sure you’ve spent a little time on the Appalachian Trail, but thru-hiking is another ball of wax. Trekking 2,173 miles and spending six months away from home is an endeavor that will change you forever in ways that you can’t even imagine.