Jimmy George is a Canadian folk rock band from Ottawa, Canada, who combine Celtic folk with rock influences and formed in 1991.
Jimmy George is a Canadian folk rock band from Ottawa, Canada, who combine Celtic folk with rock influences and formed in 1991.
The line-up through the majority of the Duke of Somerset years, recording of both albums and all videos was Eric Altman (drums, management), Joel Carlson (mandolin), Michael Eady (fiddle), Steve Donnelly (bass), Jeff Kerr (banjo), Michael "Spike" Lawson (guitar), J Todd (main vocals, acoustic guitar) and Mickey Vallee (accordion). While Todd took the majority of singing duties, other members sang harmonies and most sang lead on a song or two. The original, short-lived lineup consisted of Michael Lawson (electric guitar), Joel Carlson (mandolin), Steve Barry (vocals), Duncan Gillis (acoustic guitar/penny whistle), Rob Porter (drums), Michael Eady (fiddle) and Colin Burns (bass).
At the end of their nine-year run as house band at the Duke of Somerset pub, the band consisted of J Todd, electric guitarist Steve Donnelly, bassist George Jennings, Joel Carlson on mandolin, Jeff Kerr on banjo, Mickey Vallee on accordion, and Tom Werbowetski on drums. Other members at various times included Christine Chesser (fiddle, vocals, 1991-1992), and Vitas Paukstitis (bass, 1991).
In 1993, the band was asked to open for Spirit of the West in Peterborough and at Carleton University's Porter Hall in Ottawa. Bill Stunt, producer of CBC Radio's All In A Day program, was at the show in Ottawa and approached the band afterwards, offering to record the band's material using funding from the CBC development budget. Recording took place over the next few months at Ottawa's Sound of One Hand studio, and the album A Month of Sundays was released on Montreal's now-defunct Cargo Records later that year, with national distribution by MCA Records. Two years later the band released their follow-up record Hotel Motel, produced by Marty Jones (Furnaceface), and recorded at Sound of One Hand and Raven Street Studios.
The band toured Canada twice and also played occasional shows in the United States. Most of the band also visited England and Ireland in July, 1992, busking in the streets of London and Dublin including Temple Bar.
Jimmy George was the house band at the basement Duke of Somerset pub in downtown Ottawa for a nine-year period, playing every Sunday night and one Thursday-Saturday weekend a month, sometimes playing the "Duke" up to 10 times in a month, as well as other shows around town. They played over 500 shows at the pub which was usually packed with revellers, including several St. Patrick's Days and New Year's Eves.
As the Duke of Somerset underwent renovations and crowds thinned, the band ceased recording and playing, playing a "final" show in 1997. They played regular "reunion" shows in Ottawa to celebrate St. Patrick's Day or over the Christmas holidays for several years. In 2001, on the occasion of a reunion show at Barrymore's Music Hall in Ottawa, the band released the CD Same Sh!t Different Day, a collection of songs from their previous releases, plus some live recordings including the previously unreleased song "Where You Bleed". In April 2002, the band headlined Ottawa's Tulip Festival Concert Series and played a headline show at Ottawa's Barrymore's Music Hall.
On October 7, 2007, the former owners and staff of the Duke of Somerset pub organized a reunion event at local pub The Heart and Crown. Jimmy George played two sets with the line-up of J (vocals/acoustic guitar), Jeff (banjo), Mike (electric guitar), Joel (mandolin/bass), Rob (drums), Steve (bass/mandolin/accordion) and guest appearances by Angela McFall (Fairytale of New York) and Madeleine Giguere (Rock and Roll Thing) on vocals and Colin Burns on bass for a few songs.
On March 17, 2008, the band played a St. Patrick's Day show at Zaphod Beeblebrox in Ottawa. The lineup for this show consisted of J Todd (vocals, acoustic guitar), Joel Carlson (mandolin), Rob Porter (drums), Steve Donnelly (bass, electric guitar, accordion) and Colin Burns (bass on a few songs).
In December 2011 the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with 3 shows at Kaffe 1870 (Wakefield, QC) and Elmdale House Tavern (Ottawa, ON). Altman flew in from Japan and Vallee returned from Alberta for the occasion. The band played to capacity audiences for three nights; the second night featured all three drummers from the band's history, Altman, founding member Rob Porter and Tom Werbowetski. The band has since played occasional St. Patrick's Day shows at House of Targ in Ottawa. In 2018 the band also played the Grey Cup festivities in Ottawa in Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park.
The members continue to perform in bands including Bible All-Stars (Carlson); The Kingmakers, Ray Harris, Sean Oliver, KJ Thomas bands (Donnelly); Mike McDonald Broadband (Vallee). Several of the band's songs have been performed by other bands, including "Breakfast With St. Swithin", which appeared on Vancouver band The Town Pants' CD. Other bands have performed the band's "Token Celtic Drinking Song". Their songs have been featured in several television programs including MTV Live, American Restoration, Toddlers and Tiaras, The Willis Family, Southbound, Still Standing and Southie Rules.
The band has made several TV appearances, including The Tom Green Show , Rita & Friends (CBC), and Lunch TV (CITY TV Toronto).
The band played at festivals including Northern Lights (Sudbury), Ottawa Folk Festival (Ottawa), Tulip Festival (Ottawa), Mariposa (Toronto), Music West (Vancouver), North By Northeast (NXNE) (Toronto), Canadian Music Week (Toronto) and Riverfest (Deep River).
Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band whose origins go back to 1965 and Waverly, Ohio, with singer and guitarist Craig Fuller, drummer Tom McGrail, guitarist and drummer Jim Caughlan and steel guitar artist John David Call. Fuller started the band in 1970 and McGrail named it after a fictional 19th century temperance union featured in the 1939 Errol Flynn cowboy film Dodge City. Pure Prairie League scored five consecutive Top 40 LPs in the 1970s and added a sixth in the 1980s. The band has had a long run, active from the early 1970s through the late 1980s. The band was revived in 1998 and again in 2004 and as of 2019 continues to perform over 100 concerts a year in venues across the nation. Concerts for 2020 have already been booked.
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band founded in Santa Monica, California in 1996. Their musical output includes pieces from traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres. The band had its first big break in 1997, appearing in the blockbuster film, Titanic and recording songs on the movie's soundtrack. Their most recent album, Go Climb A Tree, was released on July 28, 2017.
Transcendental Blues is the ninth studio album by Steve Earle, released in 2000. It features Sharon Shannon on the track "The Galway Girl". The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category.
In the Company of Angels is a studio album from Caedmon's Call released in the United States on September 25, 2001 through Essential Records. This more than any other previous album by this band features songs of worship.
Red Hot + Country was the follow-up to No Alternative in the Red Hot Series of compilation albums, a series produced to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV as well as other related health and social issues. This compilation featured music from the classic country and classic rock genres performed by an assortment of seasoned old and new country music artists.
Witness is the twelfth studio album by British folk duo Show of Hands. The album was recorded in January 2006 at Presshouse Studio, Colyton, Devon, and was produced by Simon Emmerson and Simon ‘Mass’ Massey from the Afro Celts, who helped to incorporate elements of traditional African, ambient and electronic dance music with the duo's characteristic folk style. It was the band's first album in twelve years to use a rhythm section. Lyrically, the album addresses communal and heritage values, and was described by the duo's lead singer Steve Knightley as a "cinematic style journey of the West Country." The album features unofficial third member Miranda Sykes on ten of its twelve tracks.
Top of the World Tour: Live is the first live album by American country band Dixie Chicks, released in November 2003.
Death Vessel is an American neo-traditional folk band from Rhode Island, signed to Sub Pop and ATP Recordings, and headed by Joel Thibodeau. Their first album, Stay Close was released on North East Indie Records in 2005 to critical acclaim.
Other Voices, Too is a 1998 album by Nanci Griffith. Following on from the Grammy Award winning album Other Voices, Other Rooms, Other Voices, Too is a second album of cover songs written by a wide variety of singer/songwriters. The album includes many guest performances from musicians, including Guy Clark, The Crickets, Odetta, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Richard Thompson.
No Deeper Blue is a 1994 studio album by Texas country/folk singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. This was Van Zandt's first studio album of original songs in seven years following At My Window and the last to be widely released before his death on New Year's Day 1997.
The Elders are a six-piece Irish American folk rock band, that formed in Kansas City, Missouri.
It's Not Big It's Large is an album by Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, released in 2007. The recording was made live in studio {recorded with all instruments as if a concert venue, but done in a studio}.
Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems is the name of a 2007 box set of songs personally selected by Emmylou Harris: "I've selected not greatest hits, but personal favorites: that, with a few exceptions-have never appeared on any other compilations, but were important gems in the string of pearls that each album strives to become. Also included are special collaborations, unreleased live and demo tracks, as well as contributions to tribute projects, which I may now gather into this fold.”
The Balham Alligators were a band from London that mixed rock 'n' roll, cajun, country and R&B. The band centred on singer and instrumentalist Geraint Watkins.
Song of America is a 3-disc, compilation album comprising 50 songs related to the history of America. Released on September 18, 2007 under Split Rock Records/Thirty One Tigers, the music collection was conceived by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and musician Ed Pettersen.
Billy Hill was an American country music group founded by singer/songwriter/guitarists Dennis Robbins, Bob DiPiero and John Scott Sherrill, along with Reno Kling and Martin Parker (drums). Before the group's foundation, Robbins had been a member of The Rockets, and Kling played bass for Steve Earle. Sherrill and Robbins alternated as lead vocalists, but credited the frontman role to a fictional character named Billy Hill and wrote a biography on the character.
Songs of the Civil War is a compilation album, released in 1991 by Columbia, that presents an assortment of contemporary performers recording period pieces and traditional songs, most of which date back to the American Civil War.
Aim for the Heart is the second and final album from the American country music trio The Remingtons. Released in April 1993 on BNA Entertainment, the album produced two singles on the Billboard country singles charts: "Nobody Loves You When You're Free" at No. 52 and "Wall Around Her Heart" at No. 69. "Everything I Own" is a cover of a song originally recorded by Bread on their 1972 album Baby, I'm a Want You, and "Ride 'Em Cowboy" was a single for Paul Davis in 1974.
Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions is a 2002 album by The Chieftains. It is a collaboration between the Irish band and many top country music musicians including Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Martina McBride and Alison Krauss.
Sarah Buxton is the self-titled debut album by American country singer Sarah Buxton. It was released on February 23, 2010 via Lyric Street Records. The album's only single, "Outside My Window," was released in June 2009 and was a Top 25 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, reaching a peak of number 23 in March 2010. The album also includes Buxton's previous three singles that were released on her extended-play, Almost My Record. As of April 2010, the album has sold nearly 30,000 copies.
