LONESOME DAY RECORDS READIES A FULL RELEASE SCHEDULE THROUGH 2015

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LONESOME DAY RECORDS READIES A FULL RELEASE SCHEDULE THROUGH 2015

Silver Bullet Bluegrass: A Tribute to Bob Seger Slated for August

(Booneville, KY) - Lonesome Day Records is having its most prolific year yet with new releases ranging from a star-studded tribute record to blue-collar rocker Bob Seger to bluegrass stars Tim Shelton, Richard Bennett, Jeff Clair, and Jeff Parker to rock singer/songwriter Sarah Borges and more.

Earlier this year, the Booneville, Kentucky-based label released Boston Music Awards winners Girls Guns And Glory's Good Luck, in February. Good Luck has recently reached Top 15 on the American Airplay Chart and Top 10 on the Roots Music Report, and has received rave reviews from the press. No Depression recently wrote, "If there is any justice, Good Luck will transform the winners of six Boston Music Awards into a national act," while The Day newspaper in New London, Connecticut called Good Luck "the band's finest work."

Next on deck is bluegrass artist Richard Bennett's In The Wind Somewhere, which is due May 27. Bennett's fifth solo release features Mark Schatz (Nickel Creek, Emmylou Harris, LindaRonstadt), IMBA Mandolin Player of the Year Adam Steffey, celebrated fiddler Ron Stewart, and Sean Lane of the Grammy-nominated band Blue Highway on tenor vocals. The record was recorded at the Lonesome Day Studio Booneville, Kentucky, and mixed by Grammy Award winning engineer Brandon Bell.

On June 24, newly signed rock singer/songwriter Sarah Borges will see the release of Radio Sweetheart, her first solo record since disbanding Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles. "I'm really proud of this record. I wrote songs that felt important to me. It doesn't feel like a new me, but it feels like the old me is finally back," says Borges.

The finishing touches are being put on Silver Bullet Bluegrass: A Tribute to Bob Seger, which is tentatively slated for an August release. The compilation features many artists on Lonesome Day Records' roster, as well as American Idol Season 4 runner-up Bo Bice, and singers from the bands Blue Highway, Wildfire, Mountain Heart, the SteelDrivers, and the Boxcars.

"This is a project that I have been wanting to do for a long time, and it is all bluegrass. One of our goals with this record is to make it very easily recognized as bluegrass, and also very palatable to the bluegrass listener. It is not a 'hot pickin' record; the focus is on the songs and the singers, and the arrangements stay fairly true to the originals. These are legitimate versions of great songs that will have some of the best singers in bluegrass contributing to them," Lonesome Day Records owner Randall Deaton recently told Bluegrass Today.

Another release eyed for a potential fall release is a new record by bluegrass artist Jeff Clair, which will start production soon under the helm of country singer Gary Nichols of the SteelDrivers. "I met Gary at the bluegrass festival Rudyfest in Kentucky and we kept in touch. I was a big fan of the SteelDrivers and thought Gary was an excellent singer and was happy to get him on the Bob Seger tribute. He had expressed an interest in producing more and asked if I had any artists. I mentioned Jeff so Gary looked him up on YouTube, they had a few conversations and hit it off, and now here we are," says Deaton.

Meanwhile, Jeff Parker, a bluegrass music stalwart known for his timeless singing and virtuoso mandolin skills and member of Dailey & Vincent, starts production on his next record on April 28. A fall release is planned.

Additionally, Tim Shelton, who fronted Newfound Road on Rounder Records for years, will also begin production soon - sometime this summer - with Paul Kolderie (Girls Guns And Glory, Phish's Mike Gordon) at the helm for an early 2015 release.

Silver Bullet Bluegrass track listing (not final):

1.    Tim Shelton, "Against the Wind"

2.     Girls, Guns and Glory's Ward Hayden, "Betty Lou's Getting' Out Tonight"

3.     Blue Highway's Tim Stafford, "Even Now"

4.     Wildfire's Robert Hale, "Feel Like a Number"

5.     Darrell Webb, "Long Twin Silver Line"

6.     Mountain Heart's Josh Shilling, "Mainstreet"

7.     Larry Cordle, "Night Moves"

8.     Bo Bice, "Ramblin' Gambling Man"

9.     Jeff Clair, "Roll Me Away"

10.   The SteelDrivers' Gary Nichols, "Turn the Page"

11.   Jeff Parker, "We've Got Tonight"

12.   The Boxcars' Keith Garrett, "You'll Accomp'ny Me"

BLUEGRASS ARTIST JEFF CLAIR TAKES ON ROCKER BOB SEGER

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BLUEGRASS ARTIST JEFF CLAIR TAKES ON ROCKER BOB SEGER

Touring Continues in Support of His Critically-Acclaimed, They Called Him Jesus

Set to Go Back Into Studio With Gary Nichols For New Album

(Booneville, Kentucky) - As Lonesome Day Records bluegrass artist Jeff Clair continues to crisscross America on tour in support of his latest release, They Called Him Jesus, the Kentucky-bred artist has taken time out of his busy schedule to record a Bob Seger classic for a forthcoming tribute album to the Silver Bullet man.

Clair's contribution to Silver Bullet Bluegrass, which will be released on Lonesome Day Records later this year, is the track, "Roll Me Away" from Seger's 1982 album "The Distance." The album is in its final stages of production and also features contributions from Josh Shilling (Mountain Heart), Tim Shelton, Jeff Parker, Keith Garrett (The Boxcars), and Ward Hayden, the singer of Lonesome Day Records rockers Girls Guns And Glory.

"This is a very tasteful tribute that will showcase Seger's songs, as well as the great voices that are in bluegrass," says Lonesome Day Records owner Randall Deaton, who founded the label in 2002. As for Clair's track, the artist says,"I'm excited to be part of Silver Bullet Bluegrass. Bob Seger is such an icon in the music industry and to be asked to do 'Roll Me Away' on the tribute is a big honor. Seger has such a unique voice and his music is a departure from the straight ahead bluegrass that I have done in the past but I was glad for the challenge and Randall's confidence in my ability to expand into other genres. "

Clair is also getting ready to start work on a new record that will be produced by Muscle Shoals native and former Mercury Records artist Gary Nichols (The Steel Drivers). Brought together by Randall, who has known Clair since he was 13 years old and who met Nichols at Rudyfest about a year ago.  He notes "I was wearing a Sun Records T-shirt and Gary thought that was unusual for a bluegrass festival. He came over and we started talking." Nichols, backed by The Steel Drivers band, also contributed a song to Silver Bullet Bluegrass.

Of the artist's musical direction, Randall says, "Jeff's on a mission to make bluegrass music with lyrical content that is more relevant to society today than what is found in a lot of bluegrass music. Jeff is from Eastern Kentucky and can relate to the lyrical content of traditional bluegrass songs because he grew up in the culture, but he also knows that if you are going to connect with people today you have to sing about topics that they can relate to."

Bluegrass Today.com has been singing the artist's praises as well, describing "They Called Him Jesus" as "soulful, old-style bluegrass music."

"When I set out to make this CD, I wanted to make a CD that included both classic songs and some new material but I wanted to maintain the traditional sound and I think we were able to accomplish that with this album. The title cut is an original that I wrote just prior to recording the album and there are cuts from, Ozzie Thorpe, Tom T. and Dixie Hall, Bob Gilbert, Judy Marshall, Larry Sparks and others," Clair told Bluegrass Today.

Clair's bluegrass roots run deep. As a child, his father would take him to concerts in Jackson, Kentucky, where he's from, and introduced him to such greats as Larry Sparks, Dave Evans, Ralph Stanley, and Sam Wilson. "I grew up listening to this style of bluegrass and when I started performing on my own, naturally I played a style that is heavily influenced by these artists," he told the publication.

When Clair isn't busy making music or touring, he volunteers his time and talent with the Appalachian Service Project (ASP), an organization which benefits low income families in the Appalachia area, including repairing homes and improving the living conditions of those less fortunate.

"Appalachian Service Project provides a great service to the people in our region and they should be commended for it," explains Clair, who has been volunteering for 15 years. "Providing an educational concert for the volunteers is my way of thanking them for all they have done to help the people of Appalachia. In addition to making lifelong friends and meeting thousands of people we have had the opportunity to present bluegrass and traditional music to an audience that may have not heard this style of music otherwise. Many of the volunteers come from hundreds of miles away and I'm glad we had the opportunity to introduce all of them to bluegrass music and bring in new fans for the music."

Jeff Clair tour dates (more to be announced):

March 29, Clay City, KY, Meadowgreen Park Music Hall

April 3, Hazard, KY, Coal River Grille

April 12, Vest, KY, Beckham Combs Community Center

June 7, Hallie, KY, Line Fork Community Center

June 20, Cedar Bluff, VA, Southwest Virginia Community College

June 21, Beattyville, KY, private party