“Maybe America’s Newest Musical Treasure”–No Depression

“It’s joy filtered through the lens of Americana, and that simplicity in approach should be celebrated.”–Popmatters

Emotional, gut-wrenching, but still incredibly hopeful, National Park Radio’s music reverberates important themes about life, love, and difficult choices, all while echoing the enduring beauty of the band’s deep-seated roots in the Ozark Mountains. Formed in Northwest Arkansas in 2012, National Park Radio, headed by singer/songwriter Stefan Szabo, has infused the surrounding region (and many others as well) with their unique brand of indie-folk music. Emerging from the shadows cast by giants Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, and The Avett Brothers, NPR offers the indie folk world something a little different: An outstanding blend of incisive songwriting and organic Americana charm, alongside a heritage in genuine mountain music.

Szabo (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) self-produced the band’s EP back in 2013, and National Park Radio has never looked back. Initially, the music spread like mountain wildfire throughout the region, earning the band a substantial and incredibly loyal following in their home region. After facing some of the challenges in the music industry while creating their first full-length album The Great Divide (2016), Szabo’s wife Kerrie joined the band with the release of their quick follow-up album “Old Forests” (2017), bringing beautiful harmonies and a unique chemistry that created a sense of family at the core of the band. They have spent the last few years touring and gaining fans throughout the country, building a passionate fan base that is inspired by their songs. Their most recent release The Road Ahead (2020) is now available and demonstrates the next step in the evolution of where National Park Radio’s music is headed.

Hailed as “the hottest band in the Wasatch” by the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association, Pixie and The Partygrass Boys is composed of lifelong professional musicians drawn together by a common love of bluegrass and skiing in the Wasatch. Featuring soulful, often harmonic vocals and solid strings and rhythm, this tight-knit crew was born out of the belly of a warm cabin after a long day on the slopes- drinking whiskey and singing into the night. With a high energy sound and a love for silly outfits, they travel the land spreading the gospel of whiskey, chickens, and fun for everyone.

For Thee Sacred Souls, the first time is often the charm. The band’s first club dates led to a record deal with the revered Daptone label; their first singles racked up more than ten million streams in a year and garnered attention from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and KCRW; and their first fans included the likes of Gary Clark Jr., The Black Pumas, Princess Nokia, and Timbaland. Now, the breakout San Diego trio is ready to deliver yet another landmark first with the release of their highly anticipated, self-titled debut.

“Every step of the way has just been so organic,” says drummer Alex Garcia. “Things just seem to happen naturally when the three of us get together.”

Indeed, there’s something inevitable about the sound of Thee Sacred Souls, as if these ageless songs of love and loss have somehow always existed, as if Garcia and his bandmates—bassist Sal Samano and singer Josh Lane—have been playing together for a lifetime already. Produced by Bosco Mann (aka Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth), the record is warm and textured, mixing the easygoing grace of sweet ’60s soul with the grit and groove of early ’70s R&B, and the performances are utterly intoxicating, with Lane’s weightless vocals anchored by the rhythm section’s deep pocket and infectious chemistry. Hints of Chicano, Philly, Chicago, Memphis, and even Panama soul turn up in their music, and while it’s tempting to toss around labels like “retro” and “vintage” with a deliberately analog collection like this, there’s also something distinctly modern about the band that defies easy categorization, a rawness and a sincerity that transcends time and place.

“I think we found the best of both worlds with this band,” says Lane. “We get to be innovative and honest and challenge ourselves as artists, but we also get to dig deep and pay homage to the foundational stuff that helped shape us.”

It was that shared love and respect for the foundations of soul that brought the band together in the first place. Launched in 2019, the group began with Garcia and Samano, who bonded over their similar experiences growing up in southern California and a mutual affinity for record collecting. While Samano didn’t pick up the bass until he’d already graduated from high school, Garcia had spent much of his teenage years obsessing over guitar and drums and teaching himself how to record on an old Tascam tape machine, and the pair’s mix of technical know-how and innate curiosity proved to be an ideal match. All they needed was a singer.

“I remember coming across Josh on Instagram,” says Garcia, “and I thought he could be a good fit even though he was doing something a little different. We invited him to come to a rehearsal with us, and he just came up with these great lyrics and melodies right on the spot. We knew he was the guy after one take.”

Joining a group like Thee Sacred Souls wasn’t an obvious move for Lane, though. A Sacramento native, he’d fallen in love with music through the church and studied classical voice in college, where he sang everything from French arias to Italian opera. When he moved to San Diego in 2017, he planned on becoming a solo artist, and his ambitions skewed more toward dreampop and chillwave than the old school soul sounds Garcia and Samano were cooking up.

“I grew up with a lot of the classic references like Al Green and Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield,” Lane recalls, “but I always just thought I’d sprinkle little bits of that into whatever I ended up doing. When I met these guys, though, they introduced me to deep soul and lowrider stuff like Thee Midniters, and that really opened things up.”

Performing live as a seven-piece (the core trio plus guitar, keys, and two backup vocalists), the band generated a local buzz almost immediately, which put them on Mann’s radar and led them into his Riverside, CA, studio. At the time, Mann was planning to launch a new Daptone imprint named Penrose Records, and Thee Sacred Souls were an obvious fit for the label’s inaugural release.

“They had a sound that caught my ear right away,” says Mann. “The combination of Sal and Alex’s taste and touch in the rhythm section with Josh’s masterful sense of voice and melody was just so fresh. I knew they could make an album that would blow some minds.”

The band more than delivers on that promise with Thee Sacred Souls, which opens with the mesmerizing lead single “Can I Call You Rose?” With lyrics penned on the spot by Lane during his first rehearsal with the group, the track is a silky slice of pure romance and an ideal entry point into the group’s timeless sound. Like much of the album, it’s a bittersweet meditation on matters of the heart and the primacy of love, one fueled by lush horns, velvety vocals, and an impossibly smooth rhythm section. The unhurried “Lady Love” tips its cap to the South Side of Chicago as it reckons with forgiveness and second chances, while the doo-wop tinged “It’s Overflowing” draws on both classic Chicano soul and Jamaican rocksteady music in its pledges of devotion, and the nakedly sensual “Future Lover” flips the band’s lineup on its head as it revels in the highs of infatuation.

“For a lot of songs, Alex writes the instrumental and demos them out at home,” says Samano, “but ‘Future Lover’ actually grew out of an after-practice jam session one day where we all switched instruments. I was on drums, Alex was on guitar, our guitarist was playing bass, and it all just clicked into place as soon as Josh started singing.”

The album’s vocals—both Lane’s beguiling leads and the collection’s airy female backups—serve as the glue that often binds these tracks together, imbuing the hypnotic arrangements with an undeniable sense of emotional urgency. The restless “Weak For Your Love” highlights Lane’s dazzling falsetto; the charming “Easier Said Than Done” complements his laidback delivery with a wordless counter melody; and the lilting “Trade Of Hearts”—a duet with vocalist Jensine Benitez—even brings Garcia and Samano in for call-and-response lines. But perhaps it’s the bittersweet “Sorrow For Tomorrow” that best showcases the breadth of Lane’s range as he shifts effortlessly between mellifluous vocal runs and semi-spoken passages all about loss and healing, growth and forgiveness, longing and regret.

“That song is basically permission to cry,” says Lane. “It’s a reminder that it’s okay to be open to pain and not to feel like your emotions are a burden or make you any less of a man.”

Ultimately, that’s what Thee Sacred Souls is all about: not just accepting our emotions, but embracing them as a beautiful and fundamental piece of the human experience. It can be difficult, no doubt about it, but as with everything else they do, Thee Sacred Souls make it look easy.

The Wall Street Journal has described it as a “genre and industry-defying mission.” NPR declared it a “multilayered experience.” The New York Times commended the movement as carving out a new path in country music. All tell the story of Miko Marks’ resurgence as she deftly blends country, blues, southern rock and even gospel to create a sound and experience that has literally brought every audience to its feet. This new sound along with her warm and soulful spirit catapulted her into a community of change with her doing more than breaking ground - she’s shattering it. It’s a serendipitous realization that Marks was meant to be here, atthis time, in this moment, for good.

After releasing her critically-acclaimed album, Our Country (via Redtone Records) in March 2021, Marks dove head first into an industry that previously never fully embraced her. She closed out 2021 with her EP release, Race Records, which shined a light on the arbitrary divisions forced upon artists and audiences in the early days of music marketing in the 1940s. In January of this year, Marks was named to CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2022 and by April, she stood alongside five other artists and managers chosen to participate in the inaugural Equal Access Development Program, a program designed by mtheory and CMT to foster and support marginalized communities underrepresented in the genre of country music. Now more than ever, the change needed is beginning to come to fruition; a change Marks feared she wouldn’t bear witness to in her existence: “I get emotional around it, because I didn’t think I would see any of this in my lifetime,” Marks says.

Nearly one year after the release of Our Country, Marks released the first single, “Feel Like Going Home” (March 25, 2022) from her forthcoming project of the same name, due this fall. The lyrics sing, “Rest for the wanderer who never more shall roam.” For Marks, the time to reclaim her roots that were planted long ago is now; a powerful reconnection that can be felt in every note. No longer a wanderer, Marks has returned to her true self after years of trying to figure out her place in the world and in her first true love: music.

Feel Like Going Home is an amalgamation of where Marks has been and where she is going. What she has learned and what she wants to teach. It’s an innermost look at the ebb and flow of her past, present and future. It’s the stories she wants to tell but hasn’t been able to speak into existence ever before. The messages are profound: healing, restoration and distinctly individual. Feel Like Going Home released on October 14, 2022.

“When you see North Carolina folk duo Chatham Rabbits on stage, you’re getting the real deal: heartfelt lyrics…an instant connection with audiences, and banter that can only come from a married duo that spends way too much time together but still manages to be in love.” - No Depression

As one of North Carolina’s most beloved roots music outfits, Chatham Rabbits has swiftly emerged from the fertile Americana scene in the Triangle. The husband-and-wife duo of Sarah and Austin McCombie favors rustic, minimalist acoustic arrangements—mainly clawhammer-style banjo and guitar that showcase deftness and maturity with their songwriting. The duo has a way of connecting with their audiences that is warm and universal.

Chatham Rabbits’ first album All I Want From You (2019) was recorded with the help of Watchhouse’s Andrew Marlin, and their sophomore album, The Yoke is Easy, The Burden is Full, released May 1, 2020. Their song “Oxen” was named one of the “Top Folk Songs of 2020" by Paste Magazine and the band has been covered by Garden & Gun Magazine, American Songwriter, and No Depression. Their ingenuity during the Covid-19 crisis led to the building of their own venue, The Burrow, and the creation of their mobile concert experience, The Stay at Home Tour which took Chatham Rabbits to 194 neighborhoods in 2020-21. The duo appears in an 8 episode TV series release by PBS NC called On the Road with Chatham Rabbits that premiered in Spring 2022.

American soul singer Danielle Ponder is both empowering and a powerhouse. In 2020, NPR described her music as anthemic while compassionate; soulful, while bold and strong. She reverberates with a goosebump-inducing passion,." Danielle attended Northeastern University where she received her Juris Doctorate. For 5 years, Danielle worked as a public defender where she provided criminal defense to the indigent community. While working as a public defender, Danielle also toured Europe and scored an opening spot with George Clinton. In 2018, after five years as a public defender, she made the gutsy decision to pursue her No.1 passion -- music. In 2021, Danielle performed at the Newport Jazz Festival where her performance was hailed as one of the stand out performances of the event. 2022 has been a banner year for Danielle with appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS This Morning, tours with Marcus Mumford, Amos Lee, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Leon Bridges. Danielle's debut album, Some of Us Are Brave, dropped in September 2022 on Future Classic. Danielle continues to advocate for criminal justice reform and has been an influential leader in the Black Lives Matter movement in Rochester, NY.

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Della Mae is a GRAMMY-nominated all-woman string band founded by lead vocalist/guitarist Celia Woodsmith and 2-time Grand National champion fiddle player Kimber Ludiker. Rounding out the current touring lineup are guitarist Avril Smith, and bassist Vickie Vaughn.

Hailing from across North America, and reared in diverse musical styles, Della Mae is one of the most charismatic and engaging roots bands touring today. They have traveled to over 30 countries spreading peace and understanding through music. Their mission as a band is to showcase top female musicians, and to improve opportunities for women and girls through advocacy, mentorship, programming, and performance.

Following up 2020’s Headlight, their new album Family Reunion features founding members Celia Woodsmith, and Kimber Ludiker as well as Avril Smith, Maddie Witler and Vickie Vaughn. The recording captures the joy of the band reuniting after more than a year of virtual collaboration, Zooms and group texts. 

The band is also joyful to be returning to touring. Concerts and events are listed here.

Throughout his 30+ year career, Dan Tyminski has left his mark in every corner of modern music. Tyminski’s voice famously accompanies George Clooney's performance of the Stanley Brother's classic song, "I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow," in the film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou and his vocal collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii on the song “Hey, Brother” was a global smash, having been streamed over 1 billion times to date.

Dan has also contributed guitar and/or harmony to projects by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Aaron Lewis and Rob Thomas, to name a few. In addition to his highly successful solo career, Dan Tyminski has played guitar and mandolin for Alison Krauss and Union Station since 1994. His unmatched instrumental skills and burnished, soulful tenor voice have been key components of the band.

Dan has been honored with 14 Grammy Awards, was named Male Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association 4x and was recognized as 2004’s Male Vocalist of the Year by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America.

The Dan Tyminski Band are on tour in support of his forthcoming full-length album, God Fearing Heathen, his first true bluegrass album in 15 years, dropping on June 23 via 8 Track Entertainment. The Dan Tyminski Band is Maddie Denton (fiddle), Jason Davis (banjo), Grace Davis (bass) and Gaven Largent (dobro).

Raychel Jayne LeBlanc served as OFOAM’s Marketing Director and as a member of the OFOAM Board from 2016 to 2019 when she landed her dream job in New Mexico. In 2020, Raychel resumed her Marketing Director position with OFOAM, working remotely from New Mexico. We fell in love with Raychel’s marketing skills reading her well-crafted arts and entertainment articles for the Ogden Standard-Examiner and her attention-grabbing social media posts. Raychel had the ability to get people out to events in Ogden. Far beyond being a job, Raychel had a mission to build and strengthen community through her writing and photos. She could tell Ogden’s story, and OFOAM’s story, like no one else.

Raychel Jayne LeBlanc, loving wife, mother, and daughter, passed away at the young age of 28 on January 31, 2021. Raychel was born on May 27th 1992 in Ontario, Oregon. Her legacy lives on through her loving husband Alex LeBlanc and their daughter Genevievé Jayne. Raychel grew up in Northern Utah where she attended Weber State University, fueling her deep love of journalism and kick starting her career in communications. She had a knack for finding adventure which led her to Taos, fulfilling her life’s dream of living in the Sangre de Cristo mountains with her beautiful young family. Raychel landed her dream job as the Marketing Specialist of Angel Fire Resort and she continued her work as a freelance journalist writing for the Taos News. Raychel was legendary, fearless, and passionate. “Legends Never Die.” She will be remembered and deeply missed by her husband and daughter, closest friends, family and the many people that she has met and impacted throughout her life. She certainly left her mark on her OFOAM family and we will forever miss and celebrate the life of the beautiful and brilliant Raychel Jayne LeBlanc.