Jean Anne Chapman Richardson

From Brooks Hunnicutt:

Hello all!!!

The 8th Annual Byway Fall Farm Fling, aka  ”Brookstock 2012″ is a blast and gets better each year!

PLEASE READ ENTIRE INVITE!

EIGHTH ANNUAL FALL FLING – SEP. 28TH, 29TH & 30TH

For a slide show of a past Fling, please go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/leighandchristopher/BrookstockV#
http://picasaweb.google.com/leighandchristopher/BrookstockV

This year’s T-Shirt with our logo (all designs by Ms. Donna Overall) can be seen at and ordered from www.zazzle.com/donnaoverall
which is Donna’s online store. The  T-Shirt is at the very top of the page, under “Top Picks”.

Mark your calendar – bring family and/or friends. The weather is usually perfect!

FRI: Live music begins Friday evening, so please support these wonderful players! We have a delicious dinner & munchies & we play until we want to sleep. If you come on Friday, you are welcome to spend the night!!  We have lots of air mattresses, and those of you with tents or campers are also welcome.

Breakfast: Those who spent the night or come back early on SAT. & SUN. get ham & cheese omelettes, cinnabons, toast, coffee and OJ!

SAT: The main party on Saturday starts around noon, so please make a special effort to come and support the music when it begins. Bands and acoustic musicians will play all day, so there is a wonderful variety of music available on both the stage outside and an acoustic jam inside the house. Aside from the appetizers that guests bring and put accross the front porch on Saturday, Cowboy’s BarBQue will have food for you to purchase all weekend, and we will make sure to have some vegetarian dishes for those of you who are so inclined.

GUESTS: On Saturday, please bring an appetizer or dessert for all to share on Saturday afternoon. There will be Pony Rides, a Moon Walk and more for the kids! There is also a quiet room for naps for the kids (and YOU too, should you need one). There are horse shoes, frisbee, volleyball and many other games for everyone.

SPENDING THE NIGHT(S): You are welcome to spend Friday and Saturday nights at the farm with another wonderful breakfast on Sunday morning, and more music on Sunday, ending early enough to get home and get ready for (YUCK) work!

SUN: There is going to be a Picker’s Circle on Sunday afternoon just like we have at Cowboy’s, and it should be wonderful! We been having close to 20 musicians and singers each time we hold it. Acoustic, percussion and all instruments are welcome.

HELP THE FLING: Please bring chairs, air mattresses, tables, etc. if you have them to spare/share.

URGENT: Please RSVP as soon as you can with an estimate of how many folks you are bringing and what days/nights you will be there so I can plan for enough food for Saturday and Sunday breakfast. The number of folks doesn’t have to be exact, just a guesstimate so I can plan.

PLAYERS: So far we have players coming from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas City, Tennessee, California and Vermont. Come support these terrific people since they have come so far to offer their talent for this event.

MUSICIANS: We thank you in advance for your wonderful donation to this event and can’t wait to hear you play! Please let me know as soon as possible if you want to play, because I am scheduling now.

I am asking for a donation of $10 from those of you who are not musicians to help cover part of the cost of the Fling.  Children under 12 are welcome free, and this donation helps pay for all three days of wonderful music, fellowship, sports, entertainment, and food, as well as camping should that be your desire.  If you cannot make a donation, please still feel free to come and enjoy the party anyway as I understand these are difficult times.

There will be lots of different types of music to enjoy, from Rock to Bluegrass and Blues, which will be played both outside on the “stage”, and Acoustic music in the house, so please mark your calendar and plan to come! The Fling is a wonderful time for all, and this is our 8th year!!!!
The next “Tweeker” will have more detailed band info and directions to the farm.

Please feel free to contact me with questions at:
brookshunnicutt@bellsouth.net or C: (404) 285-5011 H: (706) 468-1969.
Warmest regards to you,

Brooks

by Jean Anne Chapman Richardson

Atlanta born Deborah Reece was raised in Columbia, S.C. before moving back to the Atlanta area for high school at Clarkston, then on to Athens and UGA, where she earned her BA in English. Reece got her start in radio at campus station WUOG, later working for the venerable Clarke Broadcasting, WGAU/WNCG Athens under the leadership of the late, great H. Randolph Holder. Her father and maternal grandfather showed musical talent. Otherwise Reece was not from a particularly musical family. An older brother bringing in Beatle albums, and the discovery of Joni Mitchell, among other artists, sparked her passion for music and need to sing.

During the Athens years, Reece sang in several bands, notably Plat Eye Blue, and spent nearly a decade as a backing vocalist in The Randall Bramblett Band. “When the day comes my life flashes before my eyes, singing R&B with the great players of Plat Eye Blue, and being on stage with Randall, Davis Causey and the band, will be among my fondest memories. They’re just brilliant, world-class musicians. It was an exhilarating experience I was fortunate to be a part of, and I occasionally still get a chance to sing with Randall. I love it.”

Over the years, Reece worked with Athens producer John Keane, notably on a Ralph Roddenberry record produced by Bill Berry. She recorded with Plat Eye Blue, working with late, great producer Mark Richardson, recorded with The Randall Bramblett Band on VISIONARY SCHOOL and SEE THROUGH ME, and has sung back-up with Diane Durrett, Terry Flynn and Deep Blue Sun.

A highlight for Reece was singing with Darryl Rhoades for the Hahavishnu Celebration show of Sept. 2009, at Variety Playhouse.  “It was 6 weeks of intense rehearsal. I’ve never felt more alive. Music AND comedy. Total happiness!! We had a blast for all time. Darryl Rhodes is just the best – as a musician, as a comedian, as a friend.  Check his stand-up comedy touring schedule @ www.music-comedy.com and catch him live. You must! We likely won’t reprise the Hahavishnu show, but Darryl may unleash the DVD at a time when the world needs it most…. Stand by…”

Reece’s band, THE ROOSTERS, was founded by Atlanta music man Guy Goodman to honor his longtime friend, the aforementioned Mark Richardson, a.k.a. “Rooster”. Guy had worked for Atlanta band HYDRA back in the ‘70’s and never forgot the seismic synthesis that occurred when Spencer Kirkpatrick (guitar) and Steve Pace (drums) played together. Goodman and Reece split vocal duties for the band’s rare appearances, likening the experience to being “sparrows in a hurricane”, engulfed by the improvisational power of Spencer and Steve. “The experience has made me a better singer”, says Reece.  “When these guys asked if I could sing Steve Marriott, I said ‘sure’, really having no idea if I could pull off 30 DAYS IN THE HOLE. Hell, I learned to sing with Joni Mitchell records. Surprising what you can do when there’s a freight train behind you!”  The band is currently in rehearsal and planning future gigs, with Dave Condra on bass.

Back to the simulcast: Reece’s radio career brought her to the Cox stations at WSB Atlanta, when ownership of her Athens stations changed hands years ago. Starting out as a utility person, board-oping WSB and filling in on-air for the FM music stations, Reece landed in Team Clark Howard 13 years ago, and that privileged duty comprises about half of her work for Cox Media. Reece writes, voices and produces teases for the show, and takes care of other production tasks. She is the fill-in jock on B98.5FM. As of June 17, 2012, Deborah Reece hosts a new show on 97.1The River, Atlanta, called The DEEP RIVER MUSIC VAULT. The show is truly ‘radio the way you remember’. “We’re responding to our listeners wanting to hear a deeper variety of classic hits and classic rock”. Aforementioned Rooster, Guy Goodman is Reece’s co-producer for the Vault show, as in life. The couple has been together many years, some spent in the independent record store business in Auburn, AL and in Athens, GA. That experience, plus his own work as a musician, and the fact that he’s seen every great music show minus Otis Redding and the Doors, makes Guy a key asset to The DEEP RIVER MUSIC VAULT.

Says Reece, “Guy’s encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock – he lived it, adds incredible dimension to the show. We’re all DJ’s and everybody wants to program radio. Now technology lets people do just that. What a wonderful surprise to have an opportunity to do an old school show like this on terrestrial radio. We’re introducing some obscure songs many have never heard, bringing back forgotten gems, flash forwarding to recent work by classic artists, and pretty much blowing our own minds by what we get to play… like we do at home on our quaint analogue McIntosh tube-powered sound system.  The response has been great. This is kind of too good to be true, which makes me a tad uneasy.  In any case, we’re loving the ride and working to make it last. There’s no shortage of material, and you never know what you’ll hear. Sundays, 8 to 10pm, it’s Deep. And in the words of the great Darryl Rhoades, ‘It’s all for the kids.’ ”

Meanwhile, while you’re on hold with a medical facility, you might hear this singer/DJ’s dulcet tones invoking National Immunization Month on the phone, or talking furniture on TV. Reece laments, “People ask me how to get into voiceover work and honestly, I don’t know. There’s no clear path it seems. Just a few things have come my way over the years by virtue of being in radio. It’s an ongoing and extremely competitive pursuit, but doable if you work it full-time. I’ve had to keep the day job, while always looking for freelance voice work as much as possible. “

For the 3^rd show of The DEEP RIVER MUSIC VAULT on July 1st, Reece & Guy had legendary concert promoter Alex Cooley on the air, and devoted hour 1 to The Atlanta International Pop Festival of July 4th & 5th, 1969 at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, GA, and the 2^nd hour to The 2nd Atlanta International Pop Festival, July 3rd, 4th & 5th, 1970 at the Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, GA. Guy Grande (Goodman’s radio name) was in attendance at both festivals back in the day, at a very impressionable age. “That”, Reece surmises, “explains a lot…. All good of course!”.  Now the radio producing couple is planning  shows to celebrate 3 events: The Beatles playing Fulton County Stadium in 1965 (Rooster guitarist, Spencer Kirkpatrick was in the opening band), Woodstock,  and the upcoming Capricorn show at Chastain on September 14^th, with Chuck Leavell & The Randall Bramblett Band, Wet Willie, Cowboy, Col. Bruce Hampton and others.  “So our Sunday, Sept. 9^th show will feature Capricorn artists, and we’ll try to have Randall and the Col. in with us live. How is this possible? ”, Reece says, incredulous, happy. Sometimes, the years give back. And there’s a song in that.

Listen live and join the River’s Facebook page from here:

http://www.971theriver.com/news/entertainment/personalities/deep-river-music-vault/nPQrw/

The DEEP RIVER MUSIC VAULT Facebook Event page
http://www.facebook.com/events/429707970403518/

Reece’s website in deep need of an update: www.ReeceVox.com

by Jean Anne Chapman Richardson

Every little girl has big dreams. They ask themselves, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” The possibilities are endless…”I can be a teacher, a nurse, The President of the United States, or an American Idol!”

The musician we are featuring in this month’s issue has already accomplished so many things in her life so far, but the one thing she keeps coming back to is her music.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Angela Reign grew up a church-going mid-western girl. She was in awe of the church choir, and by the time she was nine years old, she was invited to be the soprano voice in the all adult aged singing group!

She was also mesmerized by the musical theater all throughout her school years, so much so, that acting and performing was all she could think about. She knew that was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Angela states, “I always felt I was able to interpret and communicate emotion through my music at such a young age.”

She goes on to say, “ Growing up, I learned to dance and clog with my cousins. My uncle played guitar and sang gospel songs, and my mother sang to me every night at bedtime.” Angela’s love of drama, comedy and music allowed her the freedom to perform in every talent show and stage production that came along. Jeff Whitesell was her mentor and he directed her in most of the productions that she was in over the next few years.

Angela went on to college and graduated from the Northern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science degree and a teaching credential. She used her education and taught Anatomy, Zoology, Biology and Environmental Science at Conner High School in Hebron, Ohio.

Angela’s next mentor was Barry Dalton, who said she needed to be utilizing her “Gifts In Science”.

She was offered a position as a consultant in a start-up program called ” The Center For Applied Biology”. The central focus was on stream restoration and land pollution.

All this time she was keeping up her love of music on the side, and Barry introduced her to bluegrass music. So after long days of falling in lakes, wearing overalls, and getting her hands dirty in her “day job”, she and Barry formed a band, practiced at the office in the evenings and went on to play their music at churches and festivals.

Angela’s environmental job was eventually eliminated due to a lack of funding. Then her cousin introduced her to a position with a consulting firm, which involved a lot of travel. There she was involved in training people on computers and technology. This job eventually brought her to Atlanta, Georgia. At this point, she didn’t need to travel as much, and she really wanted to get involved in her music again.

She performed at the Kudzu Theater in Roswell and also at the Polk Street Theater in Marietta. Then she met Mike Waller, (who is now her husband and full-time manager) through work. Mike introduced her to Stan Roberts, a writer and guitar player from the Nashville scene who now lives in Atlanta. They put together a duo act playing around the Atlanta area and eventually came to the attention of Wil Hodge, a Nashville session player and songwriter.

Connecting all the dots, her current C.D. “Livin’ In Between” was born with Stan Roberts playing guitar and singing  background vocals. Wil Hodge is producing, writing and playing guitar, and helped create this “leather and lace” compilation of tunes. By this I mean,  one minute Angela shows her softer side on ballads like “I Color You Angel” and “You Know Something I Don’t”, then she’ll hit you with a more edgy vocal performance on “I Wanna Ride The Bull”, which is currently being played on 94.9 “The Bull” radio station.

I recently saw Angela perform as Steve Rutledge’s guest songstress at “The Listening Room” in Nashville. The place  was packed and the crowd was loving her music. Angela has been nominated for a Georgia Music Award as “Best Female Country Artist!”

…Good luck with your single “I Wanna Ride The Bull”!   You are well on your way!

To learn more about Angela Reign and her writing, recording and touring, go to the following:

WWW.ANGELAREIGN.COM

WWW.REVERBNATION.COM/ANGELAREIGN

WWW.CDBABY.COM/ARTIST/ANGELAREIGN

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ANGELAREIGNBAND

editor’s note: Angela will be accompanied by the North Georgia Leisure/Southern Influence Model team when she plays at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta. The team will model Dallas Roe’s “Miss Priss Tutus” and dance the line dance to “I Wanna Ride The Bull”!

by Jean Anne Chapman Richardson

Every day I think about all the incredible musicians who grace the city of Atlanta. I know a lot of these artists have spent their entire lives playing, writing, recording, and traveling with their stories …weaving their way in and around the landscape of this beautiful country and beyond. It takes a special soul to live constantly out of their suitcase, haul equipment, set up for the gig and a few hours later tear down the magic of the night and pack it all up again. So is the life of the dedicated, hard working music man or woman.

I often wonder what it must have been like for Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane, or Janis Joplin and Big Brother And The Holding Company. How did Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders do it…night after night, year after year? The heartbeat of songs holds the soul and spirit together and music runs in the veins of every true Gypsy. It’s a way of life no one else could ever understand, but it’s a beautiful road well traveled by those who have promised themselves to it.

I am highlighting a rock artist this month who stands in this category on the highest level, Anne-Marie Perry.

She was born and raised in Vidalia Georgia. Her brother and sisters all play instruments and sing, and they learned it all from their dad Ed Perry. Ed started out as a D.J. Shirley came to his radio station one day to sing in a contest and when they met, they fell in love and got married. Four children came from their union and music was everywhere in their house. Ed started a label called Gala Records where he produced and managed musical talent including Wayne Cochran’s first hit “Last Kiss.” Ed also wrote songs, had his own band and he rehearsed at their house several times a week. Anne-Marie took in every music move her Daddy was making, and as a young child, started singing and recording at the age of 5 years old.

By the age of 11, she was playing guitar and her dad bought her a guitar of her own. It was then she started writing songs and finding her voice. She participated in school and church functions as a musician, but that wasn’t enough…

She later decided to move to Texas and it was there she started her first band, CHEERFUL TEARFUL. Based out of Houston, they played for 5 years all over Texas and the Southeast and built quite a following. Most notable gigs were opening for Stanley Clarke at Fitzgerald’s in Houston and for King’s X in Galveston Beach. Anne-Marie wanted more…

She then made the move to Atlanta where she formed the band GILDED LILY. They rocked their way into opening for acts like The Georgia Satellites and The Violent Femmes, played the Samsung Stage during the 1996 Olympics, and also won the Best Georgia Band contest which afforded them free recording time at Tree Sound. 99X picked up and played their single from this session, “The Mistress.” Then…

In 2004 she started up her current band, GREEN BRACELET, who won a songwriting contest in Key West for Mel Fisher Days. They play the entire Southeast circuit in clubs and theatres including the world-famous Fox Theater. They are also invited repeatedly to perform at several festivals including The Cherry Blossom Festival, Homefest, The Leveefest, and the Brookhaven Festival. They also won Best Alternative Rock Band at The Killer Creek Harley Davidson Festival.

They recorded their first C.D. “Home” in Nashville with producer Michael Roe of The 77’s/Lost Dogs and  engineer Derri Daugherty of The Choir. This album really shows off Anne-Marie Perry’s rock ‘n roll writing style and that magnificent, powerhouse voice.

They are currently recording with Frank French at his Dragon Path Music Studio. Anne-Marie says, “Frank is also playing a few guest parts on many of these songs, keyboards and harmonica. Recording with Frank is very laid back. He’s a great producer in that he pulls the creative sparks from you without interfering with the true spirit of the song. I really like the approach we’re taking without too many vocal effects. Songwriting is my passion and this project shows all my different styles of writing so I can pitch tunes to other artists as well. This album will be up for sale toward the end of this year.”

GREEN BRACELET consists of John Landrum on lead guitar and backing vocals, Stan Metz on bass and backing vocals, Hays Hall on drums and Anne-Marie Perry on rhythm guitar and lead vocals.

While interviewing Anne-Marie I gathered enough stories to write a book, but someday she will have to tell you the story of her wedding day. She and John Landrum (her husband) were driving down to Macon to get married by John’s father, had a flat tire along the way, finally arrived late to the church to find a casket in the chapel …sounds like a game of “Clue.” Ask her sometime. She’ll tell you all about it.

It’s all Rock ‘n Roll !

For more information on Anne-Marie Perry go to these websites, sign up for monthly email, check out tour/gig dates, buy and listen to music at the following:

http://www.reverbnation.com/greenbracelet

Join the GREEN BRACELET band page on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/green-bracelet/93844026778

by Jean Anne Chapman Richardson

It was  a  late summer afternoon when I pulled up to Martin Kearns’ studio, DOWN IN DEEP, in Atlanta, Georgia. He asked me to come on down and and meet a singer he was producing.  He had told me about the powerful songwriting and the big, bold voice of this Country/Americana  artist. 

A girl with bright red hair, boots to match and a nose ring stepped outside of the control room and firmly introduced herself ,”Hi! I’m Holly Renee Allen !”

The three of us gathered inside the studio cave to take  a listen to their work in progress.

From the swampy, gospel-infused song, “Lorelee” to the sultry sounds in the tune, “Taste Of The First Kiss,” about original sin, I was interested to hear what was going to come  next.

The ride through all the music was everything from Santana-like,  hard – driving songs to the stark naked guitar/vocal tracks and everything in between.

Marty was the captain of this ship, steering some of Atlanta’s finest musicians through oceans of emotion and great storytelling;  Rick Hinkle, Tommy Dean and Gerry Hansen to only name a few.

Also, Oliver Wood and Shawn Mullins both made stellar guest appearances.

Then came the masterpiece “Miss Christine!” Marty touched the piano, Holly’s vocal  touched my heart, and it was allover. All I wanted to do at that point was to hear MORE…

Her words spell such raw honesty that you would swear you were right there inside every song. A witness to the beauty, but also the hard knocks in life, she dances in the company of artists like Tony Jo White,  Ry Cooder and Bobby Gentry.

But only Holly Renee  Allen can dish out her own story songs like nobody’s business, in RED DIRT SOUL, her current cd.

Holly is a Virginia native from the Shenandoah Valley at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

She comes from generations of bluegrass musicians, but also grew up on the music of Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, and Janis Joplin.

She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was 17 years old, with two hundred dollars in her pocket and a desire to learn how to write songs. With the help of publishers, other writers and a woman named Barbara Cloyd (from The Bluebird Café), she went about  the business of songwriting, and got the energy to really start telling her own stories.

She went on to her first recording experience in Ashville, North Carolina, then migrated over to Atlanta to live in Woodstock. She says, “Georgia had a strong impact on my writing. I was so inspired, I wrote for days, weeks and months at a time with enormous  creativity.”

She has played the Atlanta Red Light Café, Smith’s Ole Bar, and the song-writers haven, Eddie’s Attic.

Although she has moved back to Virginia, where she lives with her son Elijah, her fans can hear her interviews on various radio shows and see her perform at theaters and clubs all up and down the East Coast. Atlanta is still her second home, where she continues to record with Marty and work with various musicians from the area.

The thing about Holly’s music that moves me the most is that I can turn down the music and read her words and there is always a good story. The lyrics tell the cold, sometimes hard truth, and it makes us feel the deep emotion…pleasure or pain to the Nth degree.

Thank you Martin Kearns for introducing me to Miss Holly, who in turn introduced us all to “Miss Christine!”

To learn more about Holly Renee Allen, her touring schedule and her cd, RED DIRT SOUL, go to the following:

www.hollyreneeallen.com

She can also be found on MySpace, Facebook, CDBABY and iTunes