“Well, I went up to the city to find myself, and didn’t find a thing at all/ except for a couple new ways to forget what I was lookin’ for… but gimme a compass needle, some honest people, and a place that I can stay/I can find my own way home.”
Thus begins Kirby Brown’s Uncommon Prayer, a ten-song soliloquy of loneliness and longing, underpinned with a fundamental belief that there is always a home to be found. From being raised in a small, picturesque farm town, to years spent roaming the charged, gritty sidewalks of New York City, Brown has made his home in the extremes of American culture. However, it is his own experiences of personal loss and subsequent growth — in combination with these varied backdrops — that inspire his constant search for perspective.

Brown’s life took a sharp turn in his late teens. Shortly after high school, both his first love and his long time best friend died tragically and unexpectedly in the space of a year, and it was feelings of immense loss and brokenness that initially inspired him to record an album. Rather than attend university as he had previously planned, Brown found himself floating around the Dallas area, working for his friend’s band and trying to regain his sense of what life was supposed to be. Out of sheer emotional necessity he began to write and record what eventually became his first album, Child of Calamity. When a gig brought him to New York City, Brown unexpectedly fell in love with the place.

Joined by fellow Dallas musicians and frequent collaborators The Texas Gentleman and producer Beau Bedford, Brown sounds completely at home on Uncommon Prayer, which was recorded at the legendary FAME studios in Muscle Shoals. His conversational phrasing and plaintive vocals lead the listener through the winding hills of the Ozarks, the muggy heat of Texas, and the crowded streets of New York City with ease. Despite his literary bent, the songs are upbeat and go down easily, with clear pop melodic sensibilities complementing the evocative lyrical twists and turns. His hopeful tone leaves the listener feeling both understood and inspired to “keep on keeping on,” and to embrace the pain and loneliness that we all inevitably come upon. Throughout the album Brown conveys to his listeners that no matter where they are on their own journey through brokenness and growth, there is always beauty, truth, and a sense of meaning to be found. As he says in “Broken Bell”: “anyway you come is plenty enough for you to feel at home — until you move along.”

Making Room 41 nearly killed Paul Cauthen. Ironically enough, it’s also the very thing that saved him. “Finishing this record was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever been a part of,” reflects Cauthen, the larger-than-life Texas troubadour nicknamed Big Velvet for his impossibly smooth, baritone voice. “I’m honestly glad it’s done because I don’t think I’d survive if I had to do it all over again. No way.” Written during a roughly two-year stint spent living out of a suitcase in Dallas’ Belmont Hotel, Room 41 chronicles Cauthen’s white-knuckle journey to the brink and back, a harrowing experience that landed him in and out of the hospital as he careened between ecstasy and misery more times than he could count. Cauthen has long been a pusher of boundaries (musical and otherwise), and Room 41 is no exception, with electrifying performances that blend old-school country and gritty soul with 70’s funk and stirring gospel. His lyrics take on biblical proportions as they tackle lust and envy, pride and despair, destruction and redemption, but these songs are no parables.

Cauthen first earned his reputation as a fire-breathing truth-teller with the acclaimed roots rock band Sons of Fathers, but it wasn’t until the 2016 release of his solo debut, My Gospel, that he truly tapped into the full depth of his prodigious talents. Vice Noisey dubbed it “a somber reminder of how lucky we are to be alive,” while Texas Monthly raved that Cauthen “sound[s] like the Highwaymen all rolled into one: he’s got Willie’s phrasing, Johnny’s haggard quiver, Kristofferson’s knack for storytelling, and Waylon’s baritone.” The album landed on a slew of Best Of lists at the year’s end and earned festival appearances from Austin City Limits and Pickathon to Stagecoach and Tumbleweed along with dates opening for Elle King, Margo Price, Midland, Cody Jinks, Social Distortion and more. He followed it up two years later with Have Mercy, an album that prompted Rolling Stone to dub him “one of the most fascinating, and eccentric, new voices in country music” and NPR’s Ann Powers to proclaim 2019 as “the year of Paul Cauthen.”

Cauthen credits his survival in no small part to his collaborators on the album, a wide range of writers, musicians, and producers who rallied around him and believed in his work enough to help him see it through. The production credits alone read like a who’s who of modern Texas music, including Niles City Sound (Leon Bridges, Nicole Atkins), Matt Pence (Jason Isbell, Nikki Lane), and Beau Bedford and Jason Burt, Cauthen’s longtime creative foils at Dallas’ Modern Electric studio. The mix of producers and recording environments helped Cauthen walk the line between retro and modern, with bold, adventurous arrangements informed by country tradition but completely untethered from its strictures. The introduction of album opener “Holy Ghost Fire” sounds more like Gnarls Barkley than Merle Haggard, and the ultra-funky “Cocaine Country Dancing” flirts with Prince, but the arrival of Cauthen’s unmistakable voice gives each song a singular life of its own. 

In the end, writing and recording Room 41 showed Cauthen that he wasn’t alone, and in that sense, maybe these songs are parables after all. As richly detailed and firmly rooted in Cauthen’s lived experiences as they are, the stories here are universal, with the kind of deeply layered meanings and insights that continue to reveal themselves slowly over time. These days, Cauthen is out of the hotel, but he still carries the lessons he learned in room 41 everywhere he goes, approaching life with a newfound gratefulness and living in the moment with an appreciation for the present that might have seemed impossible even just a year ago.

Sometimes, authenticity can sneak up on you. The first sounds you hear on The Texas Gentlemen’s debut studio album, TX Jelly, is that of a band slowly coming together.
It’s deceptive, because it creates the impression these Gentlemen might be hesitant about their first record, but any hint of uncertainty vanishes as the core quintet — Beau Bedford, Nik Lee, Dan Creamer, Scott Lee Jr and Ryan Ake — tears into the opening track, Habbie Doobie, a low-slung piece of vintage country-funk that slams out of the speakers and announces The Texas Gentlemen as a force to be reckoned with.

This Lone Star-bred collective takes its cues from some of the iconic acts of the past — the quicksilver brilliance of The Wrecking Crew, The Muscle Shoals Swampers (who backed everyone from Aretha to Wilson Pickett), Booker T. and The M.G.’s, and Bob Dylan’s one-time backers The Band are the most obvious examples. In 2014, the band took up a residency in Dallas, Texas at Sundown at Granada, during which The Texas Gentlemen assumed their name. Soon after, the Gents began collaborating with a multitude of artists on stage and in the studio, becoming an all-purpose backing band for an eclectic array of singer-songwriters, including Leon Bridges, Nikki Lane, and more.

In 2016, the Gentlemen were lured out of the studio to the Newport Folk Festival, where they were joined by iconic troubadour Kris Kristofferson, making his first Newport appearance in more than 45 years. Rolling Stone called it one of the festival’s “most exciting sets”. Kristofferson so enjoyed collaborating with The Texas Gentlemen that he enlisted them to reprise their roles in a series of critically acclaimed Texas concerts. Of Kristofferson and The Texas Gentlemen’s appearance at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, music critic Preston Jones wrote “The [instruments] would slowly coalesce around Kristofferson’s gnarled but still potent voice, creating an electric sensation of the past fusing with the present.”

That deft fusion of before and right now is possible thanks to the musicians’ unswerving dedication to simply playing to the best of their abilities, trusting their instincts, and letting the music guide them. Case in point: TX Jelly was created in less than a week — four days, start to finish — at Muscle Shoals’ singular FAME Studios. Pared down from the 28 songs the Gentlemen recorded in that 96-hour span, TX Jelly effortlessly connects way back to what’s next, summoning the spirits of American songcraft even as it heralds the arrival of 21st century talent. Cut live, with little use for the blinding polish and careful presentation of so much modern music, TX Jelly oozes with skill backed up by that hard-won authenticity.

TX Jelly moves between contemplative and raucous, encompassing the full breadth of the American experience. The music touches on blues, soul, folk, country, rock and gospel — from first track to last, you can feel The Texas Gentlemen reaching deep inside themselves and finding what’s genuine — what illuminates the truth of the country’s rich, complicated and singular artistic history — and delivering it the only way they know how: real, raw and righteous.

Singer-songwriter James LeBlanc was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. James picked up the guitar at age seven, inspired by his father James Sr. By the time James was 18, he knew he wanted to make a life and living in the music business. After many years of struggles, trials and tribulations, James finally got an opportunity when he was “discovered” by Rick and Rodney Hall. They were and still are the proprietors of FAME Studios/Publishing Co. in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. James signed a production agreement and a publishing contract with FAME. Soon thereafter, he began getting songs recorded by the likes of Martina McBride, Bryan White, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Thompson Square and more. James co-wrote the hit song “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” for Travis Tritt. He also co-wrote the hits “Relentless” for Jason Aldean and “Learning How to Bend” for and with Gary Allan. James’ songs have been on records which have sold over 25 million copies. “I’m ready for what comes next! I’m so excited to be a part of the FAME/Dreamlined Entertainment team!”  James is working on his forth album which should be out this spring.

For the past half-century, Muscle Shoals, Alabama has produced some of the finest musicians of our day. From W.C. Handy to Percy Sledge and the immortal Muscle Shoals Rhythm Sections otherwise known as “The Swampers”, Muscle Shoals has always been a hotbed of talent.

Gary Nichols is the next in line of the great Muscle Shoals songwriting performers. Even though he is only 30 years old Gary has been playing professionally for nearly 20 years. The hotshot instrumentalist, singing wonder and songwriting champ fits the classic definition of a “guitar slinger,” but he’s no novice.

This is a role he was born to play. Gary has been playing guitar and singing since the age of 6. As a teenager, Gary played with his uncle Larry Condrey, who subbed on gigs for the legendary Muscle Shoals guitar great Travis Wammack.

I am a proud mother of the most awesome son. I have amazing family and friends in my life and I am so blessed to have them.

Music is my passion. It has always been a huge part of my life. Being surrounded by my family who were all singers and musicians, my brother, sisters and I were born with the love for music. I wrote my first song at the age of 10. At the age of 13 I won my first school talent show and I was hooked.

I am so lucky to be able to do what I love. I have signed with Rick Hall at Fame Recording and Publishing Company in Muscle Shoals, Alabama as a writer. I have been fortunate to have written with some great writers such as, Billy Lawson, James Leblanc, Walt Aldridge,  Gary Nichols, James Slater, Kris Bergsnes and the late Ava Aldridge.

My style of Country, R&B and Rock and Roll has strongly been influenced by the Muscle Shoals Sound.

Although the Golden era of Alabama’s fabled Muscle Shoals sound had passed by the time Dylan was born in 1990, his ancestral roots and family background connected him to one of the most significant sources in the rich tapestry of American music. His father’s position as a Muscle Shoals session player and songwriter meant that early in life Dylan was privy to the sights and sounds of an unvarnished, vanishing epoch and such legends as Spooner Oldham.

“I grew up around a lot of the session players… when I was 11 or 12, I would watch and ask a lot of questions, so for me it was like going to music college,” is how the tall, gentle voiced, lank haired Shreveport, Louisiana native remembers it. “It seemed like a much simpler world – it was romantic to me the way everyone sat in a circle and “took it from the top”. They just played and hit the record button.

That’s the path I followed when I made this album.” Dylan expands… “for me music is about getting together with a group of people who feel like family – you create a bond, feeding off each other. Just a look or a hand gesture and they know what you’re talking about.” Dylan’s progress was natural, organic – learning the ropes as a young sideman helped define his own worldview and artistry through his teens.

Just like the twinkling blooms of southern Star Jasmine, singer Holli Mosley’s voice infuses the air with sweet, sultry melodies that are taking this artist straight to the top. From opening the stage for the likes of Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton & Travis Tritt and into the hallowed halls of Muscle Shoals’ FAME Recording Studios, Holli has positioned herself alongside some of the most venerated southern rock & soul performers of the last 50 years. Under the tutelage of FAME Studios President Rodney Hall, Holli is perfecting her sound with hand-picked writers and seasoned session players dubbed the new FAME gang – a modern day version of the studio’s legendary rhythm section.

The combination of Holli’s soulful lyrics, powerful voice and company she keeps will make her  one to watch. Capturing the essence of the Muscle Shoals’ sound. Collaborations on the project feature guest writers and performances by The SteelDrivers’ former lead vocalist Gary Nichols, Larry Byrom of Steppenwolf fame and Grammy Award winner John Paul White, formerly of The Civil Wars, as well as ten time CMA musician of the year Mac McAnally

Holli’s musical talent is seemingly genetic, passed straight down through her grandfather’s country & bluegrass lineage, directly into her soulful sound. At the tender age of 8, she knew she wanted to sing, began competing and has been climbing the ranks ever since. Crediting country as an early influence in her life, Holli now looks to southern rock & soul as a source of inspiration. As her musical tastes have matured, so has Holli’s voice – the result of which leaves her a rising star on the Country and Americana landscape.

Her drive and determination has taken her from humble beginnings in Mobile, Alabama to opening for major music industry stars.