Jeff Black | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jeff Black |
Born | December 3, 1962 |
Origin | Kansas City, Missouri |
Genres | Americana, bluegrass, folk |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, recording artist, producer |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, banjo |
Years active | 1980s–present |
Labels | Arista, Arista Austin, Dualtone, Lotos Nile |
Website | jeffblack.com |
Jeff Black is an American singer-songwriter originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. His writings have been described in the Allmusic as "impressionistic songs that are smart without forgetting the emotional undercurrent." [1] His songs have been covered by Alison Krauss, Waylon Jennings, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and BlackHawk. BlackHawk's cover of Black's song, "That's Just About Right," was a Top 10 Country single in 1996. BlackHawk's cover of Black's song, "King of the World" was a Top 30 Country single in 1998. Black also co-wrote the title track "Circles Around Me" with Sam Bush for his 2009 Grammy-nominated album Circles Around Me . Black has released 10 of his own self-produced albums and tours widely. He is also recognized as a digital music pioneer by NPR for his podcast, Black Tuesdays. [2]
Jeff Black was born on December 3, 1962, in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Liberty, Missouri. [3] Black received his first guitar as a present for his tenth birthday. [4] In his twenties Black began performing at Blayney's, a Kansas City blues club where he also worked as a bouncer. Soon Black began touring and eventually relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he re-connected with Kansas City friend, Iris DeMent (Black lends some backing vocals on DeMent's 1992 debut album, Infamous Angel ). [3]
Black's own first album, Birmingham Road, was recorded with the members of the band Wilco, minus lead singer, Jeff Tweedy. The songs have been described as "fine portraits of American life without the sappiness or self-consciousness often attributed to the singer/songwriter genre." [5]
Nanci Caroline Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985 during Season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on the Channel 4 programme Town & Country with John Prine in a segment entitled "White Pants", where Nanci Griffith wore white pants at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee, along with Buddy Mondlock, Barry "Byrd" Burton, and Robert Earl Keen. In 1994, Griffith won a Grammy Award for the album Other Voices, Other Rooms.
The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder George Wein, music manager Albert Grossman, and folk singers Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, and Oscar Brand. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America and remains a focal point in the expanding genre of folk music. The festival was held in Newport annually from 1959 to 1969, except in 1961 and 1962, first at Freebody Park and then at Festival Field. In 1985, Wein revived the festival in Newport, where it has been held at Fort Adams State Park ever since.
"Lily of the West" is a traditional British and Irish folk song, best known today as an American folk song, listed as number 957 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The American version is about a man who travels to Louisville and falls in love with a woman named Mary, Flora or Molly, the eponymous Lily of the West. He catches Mary being unfaithful to him, and, in a fit of rage, stabs the man she is with, and is subsequently imprisoned. In spite of this, he finds himself still in love with her. In the original version, the Lily testifies in his defense and he is freed, though they do not resume their relationship.
Iris Luella DeMent is an American singer-songwriter and musician. DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice.
Chely Wright is an American activist, author, and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit, "Single White Female." She later became known for her role in LGBT activism after publicly coming out as a gay woman in 2010. She has sold over 1,500,000 copies and 10,000,000 digital impressions to date in the United States.
Blackhawk is an American country music band founded in 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of founding members Henry Paul and Dave Robbins. They are accompanied by a backing band consisting of Randy Threet, Jeff Aulich (guitar), Jimmy Dormire (guitar), and Mike Bailey (drums). Paul, a then-former member of Southern rock band Outlaws, founded Blackhawk with Robbins and former solo singer Van Stephenson, both of whom had success as songwriters for other acts such as Restless Heart. Stephenson left shortly before his death from melanoma in 2001 and was replaced by Threet, then Anthony Crawford and Michael Randall; however, Threet has remained in the touring band. Robbins left in 2008 and was replaced with Jon Coleman before rejoining in 2010. After Paul re-established Outlaws in 2005, he, along with Robbins, Threet, and members of the backing band, have toured as both Outlaws and Blackhawk simultaneously.
Joan Baez/5 is the fifth solo album and third studio album by American folk singer Joan Baez, released in October 1964. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. The single "There But for Fortune" reached number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and became a top-ten single in the UK.
Thomas George Russell is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Johnny Cash, The Texas Tornados, k.d. lang, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Jason Boland, Nanci Griffith, Katy Moffatt, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sailcat, Iris Dement, Dave Alvin, and Suzy Bogguss.
"Geordie" is an English language folk song concerning the trial of the eponymous hero whose lover pleads for his life. It is listed as Child ballad 209 and Number 90 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad was traditionally sung across the English speaking world, particularly in England, Scotland and North America, and was performed with many different melodies and lyrics. In recent times, popular versions have been performed and recorded by numerous artists and groups in different languages, mostly inspired by Joan Baez's 1962 recording based on a traditional version from Somerset, England.
"Rock Island Line" is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in 1934.
Love & Gravity is the third studio album released by American country music group Blackhawk. It features the singles "Hole in My Heart" and "Postmarked Birmingham", which peaked at #31 and #37, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts in 1997.
"Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" (Roud 3103) is a traditional ballad folk song known in the US as associated with colonial and later music in the Appalachian Mountains. It is believed to have originated in Scotland, as it refers to the River Clyde in the lyrics. American musicologist Alan Lomax supported the thesis of Scottish origin, saying that the song was an American "re-make of British materials."
Honey in the Lion's Head is an album by folk singer/guitarist Greg Brown. It is his second release on the Trailer Records label.
Watson Country is the title of a recording by American folk music and country blues artists Doc Watson and Merle Watson, released in 1996.
Dan Milner was a singer of traditional Irish songs, a scholar-teacher and a writer. He died on September 27, 2023. Born Daniel Michael Milner on March 27, 1945 in Birmingham, England to an Irish mother, Nora Mary Cremin of Brosna, County Kerry, and an Irish-English father, Willam Milner, he was the younger brother of Liam Donal Padraig Milner (1940-2008), who was also a fine singer. The Milner family moved frequently following World War II, the result being the brothers grew up in far-flung localities including Birmingham; Ballybunion, County Kerry; Toronto, Canada and Brooklyn, New York.
Birmingham Road is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Jeff Black, released in 1998.
Tin Lily is an album by American singer-songwriter Jeff Black, released in 2005.
Freak Flag is an album by American folk singer/guitarist Greg Brown, released in 2011. The album peaked at number 34 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.
Roy Ernest Palmer was a singer, teacher, folklorist, author and historian who wrote more than 30 books on folklore and folk song. In 2003 he was awarded the Gold Badge, the English Folk Dance and Song Society's highest honour.
Jeffrey R. Hanna is an American singer-songwriter and performance musician, best known for his association with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His professional music career has spanned seven decades.