If you haven’t been watching her already, Bronwyn Keith Hynes is definitely a player to keep your eyes on now.  IBMA’s Momentum Instrumentalist of the year 2018 is set to release her first solo album, Fiddler’s Pastime on September 4th.

Next Friday, August 21st, Lotus releases their new studio album, Free Swim, a ten-song hypnotic voyage featuring the best of the band’s strengths, which is to say a sublime mix of rock, funk, disco, and jazz, and - true to form - a healthy dose of catchy melodies and harmonies.

Based in Rome, GA at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, The Georgia Thunderbolts are a young, hard-hitting southern rock band who write classic and timeless songs steeped in southern swagger, blistering blues, and raw rock. With a wide swath of inspirations, ranging from southern gospel and Hank Williams to Neil Young, Merle Haggard, Little Feat, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band has cut their teeth performing with everyone from The Kentucky Headhunters to Blackberry Smoke.

Raised on a small alpaca farm in West Virginia, twenty-two-year-old Trae Sheehan began writing songs as soon as he started learning how to play. Having lived in both New York City and Nashville, along with touring the country in his converted minivan, there is no lack of inspiration for Trae. His 2019 release Arizona reached No. 7 on the Roots Radio Charts and received international airplay.

Today, award-winning singer-songwriter Treva Blomquist releases her new record Snakes & Saints. This record is a step into uncharted territory for Blomquist; experimenting with lo-fi drum loops and polyphonic synth soundscapes, Treva explores a musical world more akin to indie-pop while still nodding to her Americana roots. We caught up with Treva to discuss the creative process that went into making this record and what life looks like in quarantine for the Nashville-based artist.

National Parks is having fun with spaghetti western stylings as the world waits out Covid-19. They are coming at us from every (possible) angle with beautiful music videos and a podcast, even a small scale campfire tour featuring acoustic less than 50 people backyard shows to showcase their 4th full-length album Wildflower. Grateful Web recently had the chance to chat with Brady Parks. 

Jefferson Berry and the Urban Acoustic Coalition released their third full-length album, Double Deadbolt Logic this spring and it is a collection of danceable, blues-tinged, folk-rock inspired tunes that you can imagine hearing around the campfire. The musicianship of the players assembled – including Bud Burroughs, Dave Brown, Uncle Mike, David Rapoport and Marky B. Berkowitz – elevate and buoy Berry’s evocative and spiritual songwriting focused on city life, good love/bad love, and these strange times.

The road to Golden Shoals has been a long, fruitful journey for Amy Alvey and Mark Kilianski. The duo has toured on foot—gig to gig with backpacks and instrument cases—for weeks at a time; called Asheville, Boston, California, and New Jersey home; and lived in various moving vehicles on the road for the past seven years under different names and incarnations.

Prakash Slim Pokharel was born in a field during the rainy season in a small village, called Lamatar, in the Lalitpur district of Nepal. The village saw its first electric bulb in 1983 and its first motorized vehicle in 1995. He was raised by a loving, loyal family that had very limited means. His father passed away at the age of 29, leaving his mother with three children to raise, one elder brother, a sister, and Prakash.

Deren Ney was inspired to pick up his first ax at a young age thanks to the 1985 classic movie, Back To The Future starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Over the years Ney has taken his lead guitar skills throughout the country touring with Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers. Grateful Web’s Christopher Snyder was able to catch up with Deren.

GW: How are you doing overall? Times are strange.