Will Houk Archives - Sierra Nevada Ally: Recent Episodes
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Celtic folk-punk band Dropkick Murphys have always had a firm foundation with the working class. Their sound and lyrics resonate with the struggles of people just getting by in modern America. Many of their songs have an influence from what some might consider a strange source, folk-hero Woody Guthrie. In fact, two fan favorites that […]
The post Dropkick Murphys Bring Woody Guthrie Lyrics New Life on their new album appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
It was my first time seeing a show at the beautiful new Nashville Social Club in Carson City. It is a gorgeous space. An intimate venue with a tasteful stage and a great sound. The Nashville Social Club has a hipster, airy, spacious vibe built around diverse, wide-ranging music, sumptuous, down-home cooking, and a comfortable, […]
The post John Doe Brings His Eclectic Blend of Music To The Nashville Social Club appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
The Father’s Day Festival is a bluegrass festival hosted by the California Bluegrass Association. It takes place in Grass Valley CA, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. It’s a beautiful space for music, nestled amongst the pine trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I made my first trip this year and I was blown away by […]
The post Will Houk’s Father’s Day Treat appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
Originally from Chico, California, The Mother Hips now call Marin County home. They have been making music together for three decades. In the course of their career, they’ve released albums, worked with prolific producers like Rick Rubin and played shows around the world. This May The Mother Hips will be playing Northern Nevada at the […]
The post The Mother Hips have plenty of plans for this year appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, WinterWondergrass returned to Tahoe after a three-year hiatus. The festival was scheduled for March of 2020 but was an early victim to the COVID-19 shutdowns. Most of the acts scheduled for the 2020 show returned for this weekend of incredible music set in the Sierra Nevada mountains in […]
The post WinterWondergrass Festival’s triumphant return to the Sierra Nevada after two years of pandemic delays appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
The Dead Winter Carpenters are an Americana band from the north shore of Lake Tahoe, California. Over the past decade, the band has released four albums and toured in support of those recordings at venues like Winter Wondergrass, Del Fest, High Sierra Music Festival, and many others popular in the modern Bluegrass/Americana scene. Over the […]
The post Dead Winter Carpenters’ Jesse Dunn talks about new EP and the COVID-19 shutdown appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
The band Leftover Salmon has been a stalwart in the “jam band” scene since the early 1990s. Formed in Colorado, the group has released as many as 13 albums and toured extensively all over the world. There influences are myriad. Their playing ability and inventiveness in live performance have made them a celebrated music festival […]
The post Leftover Salmon coming to Lake Tahoe – a conversation with Drew Emmitt appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
David Bazan has been making heartfelt, honest, and genuine music for over twenty years now. I first began following him in the early 2000s when he was playing with the band Pedro the Lion. I was instantly drawn to the deliberate and intriguing guitar playing, his intense and thoughtful lyrics, and an overall vibe that […]
The post Politics, Faith, and Doubt focus in new film “Strange Negotiations.” appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
Dom Flemons is an American singer/songwriter who has been recording albums and touring for the last 15 years. He rose to prominence with the African-American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Since then he has continued to work on musical and historical projects. His most recent album is the Grammy Award nominated “Black Cowboys.” The […]
The post Black cowboys a focus at the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, an interview with Dom Flemons appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
On January 11, the band I See Hawks in LA will play a date in Silver City, Nevada. The funky Silver City School House is a well-suited venue to see and hear a group revered as one of the best psychedelic, alt country bands working today. The Hawks are well-seasoned in the studio and on […]
The post An interview with founding member of I See Hawks in LA, Paul Lacques appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
Over the past ten years, the Oakland-based California Honeydrops have recorded seven successful albums but the Honeydrops have a well-established reputation for dynamic and memorable live performances. The 11 piece ensemble is known for a rootsy, jazzy, funky, “New Orleans Vibe,” but there’s more to the story. Nevada Capital News musical arts reporter Will Houk […]
The post The California Honeydrops live at the Crystal Bay Club on New Year’s Eve – an interview with Johnny Bones appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
I first became aware of cowboy songster Andy Hedges at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada in 2019. I was impressed with his guitar playing, singing, and general knowledge of cowboy and western culture. He was born in Lubbock, Texas in 1980, the son of a schoolteacher and a former rodeo cowboy turned […]
The post A conversation with cowboy songster Andy Hedges appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
Brent Cobb is a Grammy-Nominated singer/songwriter who hails from Georgia. Last year he released the album Providence Canyon, which he recorded with his cousin Dave Cobb at the famed RCA Studio A in Nashville Tennessee. Brent Cobb’s music is a mix of styles ranging from Classic Country and Rock to the funk sounds of the […]
The post Brent Cobb chats with Will Houk ahead of his Lake Tahoe gig appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
“I’m just dented I guess. I always just assumed I might end up a bum,” so says the genuinely humble Reno native Willy Vlautin. Vlautin is now a well-received author of five novels. For more than 20 years, he fronted his alt-country band, Richmond Fontaine in Portland Oregon. Fans of Vlautin’s work include Donna Tartt, […]
The post Willy Vlautin talks his latest novel and music ahead of Nevada tour appeared first on Sierra Nevada Ally.
“Right Here, in the Heart of the Night.”
The storied Country Rock band Poco, along with Rock n’ Roll fellow travelers Firefall and Pure Prairie League, will be performing at the 11th annual Concert Under the Stars, a fundraiser on behalf of the Greenhouse Project in Carson City. The concert will be at the Eagle Valley Golf Course in Carson City, Wednesday, July 10th, 2019.
Rusty Young on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine in 1972 In 2014, after 45 years on the road performing an average of more than 100 dates per year and otherwise living in the studio recording and producing 22 albums, Poco’s founder, the multi-instrumentalist and pedal steel guitar virtuoso Rusty Young announced he was stepping away from hardcore touring. That decision didn’t last for long. At age 73, he is still at it, fronting one of our most influential rock bands of the past 50 years. And next week Rusty Young will lead Poco into Carson City bringing some Crazy Love to northern Nevada.
Poco formed in 1968 and has released 22 albums of rocking instrumentals and impeccable harmonies. Over the past 50 years, pop-rock luminaries such as Richie Furey, Jim Messina, Paul Cotton, Timothy B. Schmit, and Randy Meisner were Poco bandmates and songwriters. Poco has left an indelible mark on popular American music.
Will Houk, a music correspondent for Nevada Capital News and host of Roots, Rednecks and Radicals on KNVC 95.1 fm, Carson City Community Radio recently caught up with Rusty and filed this report.
https://nevadacapitalnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/poco_raw_interview.mp3 Will asked Rusty, “You guys have been a band for a good long time. Can you tell us about your current lineup and a little about your sound?”
“Yeah, the current lineup is on bass guitar, Jack Sundred, who’s been with us since 1985. And then on drums, we have Rick Lonow, who joined us about three years ago … he was in a band called The Flying Burrito Brothers before Poco. And he’s (Rick is) actually one of the writers on our last big hit, a song called Call it Love … So he’s kind of been part of the family ever since the ’80s. And our newest guy is Lex Browning. He’s from Tucson out in your neck of the woods. He plays guitar and mandolin and fiddle and then sings. It’s a little four-piece band, and we’re having a great time.”
“How much touring do you guys do on average,” Will asked.
“Well, it depends on the time of the year. Some parts of the year in the summertime, we do a lot of festivals and fairs. We will play a lot in July, August, September, and October. And then other parts of the year we do things on cruises, and we do casinos. So it’s always changing. It’s a lot of work, a lot of work.”
“You’re playing a fundraiser here in Carson City for the 11th annual Greenhouse Project concert series, Concert Under the Stars, on Wednesday, July 10. What can we expect from you guys live,?” Will asked.
“… we play everything from Picking up the Pieces, which was the title song to our very first album, to All Fired Up, which is the title tune to the most recent Poco CD. We cover all the songs. If you’re a fan of the big songs that people know, a lot of people come to hear The Heart of the Night and Crazy Love and Rose of Cimmaron and Call It Love. I believe it’s a 60-minute set. So we’ll hit everything we can in those 60 minutes.”
Rusty Young and the influential recording artists who have played with him in the seminal band Poco were instrumental in creating the groundbreaking musical genre called Country Rock.
“Well, Poco really started Country Rock back in the late 60s at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. We started playing the music they called Country Rock at the time. And that’s what we’ve been true to all these years. I play steel guitar, and I play oboe and mandolin and banjo. And Lex, our guitar player, plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, so we’ve got all these country instruments that we use as the color for our music. You know, they set the tone for the songs that we’re doing.”
Will then asked, “Do you have any projects coming up in the future, any new albums you guys are working on?”
“A three-record deal for Solo Records, I’m working on a book and trying to get that out, get it finished and get it published. And then we’ll be doing probably another record for the record label that I’m on, I have just released a solo record on that label called Waiting for the Sun that I’m really really proud of. I’ve been mostly promoting that these days. So I’ll probably go back to the studio may be the end of this year and work on some more new music.”
“Are you going to do any touring and support your new album?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, it’s mostly in line with Poco shows. You know, I just add the songs from the solo record to the Poco hits.”
Concert Details. Poco, Firefall, Pure Prairie League
11th Annual Concert Under the Stars
Fundraiser for the Greenhouse Project
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Doors open at 5:30 pm
Eagle Valley Golf Course
3999 Centennial Park Dr. Carson City NV
Ticket information
Rusty wrapped up Will’s interview with: “You know Crazy Love now has over three and a half million downloads on Spotify… and with our friends, Pure Prairie League, and Firefall, and it’ll be a great day of music … lots of hits … Fireball had a ton of hits … It’ll just be a fun, fun evening.”
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