As the holiday season approaches, I am reminded how thankful I am to work with so many wonderful people (not only are they wonderful artists but they are also wonderful human beings)! A huge THANK YOU goes out to them for all their hard work throughout the year and for letting me be a part of their life. As you can see below, they have all been working ‘round the clock!
PS - In celebration of the holidays, I’m also going to include a recipe below for a rockin' Tennessee Whiskey Pecan Pie. Oh yea. Cheers to you and yours!
Emily and Andrew of Mandolin Orange released their fifth studio album, Blindfaller, on September 30 which also kicked off the start of their seven week album release tour! They had a full band with them for this run and nearly half the shows were sold-out in advance!
In addition to the tour success, Blindfaller has received outstanding press coverage and radio rotation (the album had chart placement on four different Billboard charts, including a #3 spot on Billboard’s Bluegrass Album chart)! Emily and Andrew have also been interviewed by some amazing media outlets over the past several months including in-studios at Paste, Sirius XM’s The Village and The Bridge, Relix, Huffington Post’s A-Sides, and Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current. Press coverage alongside the album includes NPR’s Heavy Rotation, Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy, Mother Church Pew, AllMusic, The Bluegrass Situation, and PopMatters, among others!
The press does not stop there for FHE artists! Since her May release of Bright Lights and the Fame, Michaela Anne has been nonstop! This summer she had the privilege of being interviewed by Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters for his Walking the Floor podcast. The session was released in October and was featured by Rolling Stone! Michaela also had the opportunity to contribute her thoughts to Smartists: Women’s Representation in Americana Music, a story that was featured on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls site.
In addition, she recorded a session with Acoustic Guitar, completed her third session with Daytrotter, and guest blogged for American Songwriter. AND, on Thanksgiving, she was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered during a ‘chain of gratitude’ that also featured Laura Mvula, Esperanza Spalding, and Corey King!
In between all of this, Michaela continued to tour with a consistently full calendar. Her summer release tour continued into August, September, October and November, most recently completing a round of dates in TX.
Following the success of their album Real Midnight, the Birds of Chicago just wrapped up their first proper cross-country Canadian tour! The tour spanned the provinces with multiple sold-out shows along the way.
JT and Alli have also spent time in the studio over the last few months recording with North Mississippi Allstars bandleader Luther Dickinson alongside Amy Helms, Amy Lavere, and a number of other musicians, for the Songbird Project. Further details on the project and release will be coming in early 2017.
Minneapolis’ Farewell Milwaukee released their fourth full-length album, FM, on September 9th! The album received coverage from Glide, Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current, Hype Magazine, and The Alternate Root.
To celebrate the release of FM, the band embarked on a unique “Pop Up Tour” throughout the Midwest! They traveled on Ocooch Mountain Music's bus named ‘La Catrina’ for four days and played 10 unique shows, including roof-top dates. To conclude the run, Farewell Milwaukee had a final, sold-out, release show at the Turf Club in St. Paul, MN!
After a busy summer of cross-country touring (performing unique and intimate shows in collaboration with Cause A Scene), Joshua James has been focusing on his new album, My Spirit Sister. We are gearing up for the album release next April! My Spirit Sister will be Joshua’s fifth studio album and if you’ve watched ABC’s Notorious, then you possibly caught a teaser last week of “Golden Bird,” a song off the new album!
Details about the release are forthcoming, but starting next week, Joshua will be running a special Christmas pre-order for fans on his website.
Exciting stuff all around for FHE artists! Continue to check back as the updates roll in, and enjoy your holidays!
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And, as promised, here is a link to the BEST pecan pie you will ever make! Family started making this pie several years ago when they found the recipe in a copy of Southern Living and it has since become a staple each year. Enjoy!