Music:
Member Since: 2/22/2007
Band Website: deserthighwayrecords.com
Band Members:
Bill Reveles: Los Angeles, CA
Songwriting turned sideways. Classic, Traditional.yes. Schizophrenic. maybe. Neurotic.definitely. Folk-Rock, AAA, Alt Country, Rock and Pop depending on the moment. Bill's music has been featured in numerous television shows as well as motion pictures. Bill recorded his first album, "Empty Chair" in 1997 for Roughrider Records. His second album, "Unamerican Dream was released in 2001 on the Deaf Poet label. Bill has just released his third album, "Inside Gospel Garage", for the independent label, Big Belly Records. Bill has recently been named Best Male Artist by the Southern California Music Awards.
Melody Mann: Austin, TX
The creative thrust behind Melody Mann is the songwriting team of Kelly Williams-Mann and Thomas Mann. South meets north with Kelly’s upbringing on Texas Honky Tonk and gospel music combined with Thomas’s East Coast jazz and classical piano roots. Together they create a style of music that is both familiar and new, blending blues, rock and jazz with a little Texas twang. Their songs provide seductive melodies and emotional, thought-provoking lyrics. But don’t think this is your typical, run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter fare. The music is full of energy and the messages ring of optimism, triumph and hope. And from time to time, Kelly even recounts a little bar room bravado, while Thomas throws in his own rollicking style of stride piano.
Kelly and Thomas have toured extensively throughout the Southeast and Midwest formerly as The Kelly Williams Band. Supporting their eponymous titled CD, they have performed at such notable clubs as Antone’s in Austin, Rockefeller’s in Houston, Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA, The Grand Emporium in Kansas City, MO and The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, NE. They have shared the stage with national acts including Chris Duarte, Storyville, Pat Benatar, Atlanta Rhythm Section, NRBQ, Duke Robilard, Delbert McClinton and Robert Earl Keen. Beginning as primarily a blues based rock band, Kelly and Thomas have gone through something of a musical metamorphous in recent years, and have found their true voice in the current project of Melody Mann. Melody Mann released their debut CD, ‘Hard Road’ in February of 2006. Kelly Williams-Mann is a finalist for a 2007 Texas Music Award, in the category of “Female Vocalist of the Yearâ€.
Elam McKnight: Western Tennessee
Growing up in the rural Gibson County of Western Tennessee, Elam McKnight was influenced by the music that abounded in the area. As a child he encountered everything from country, rock, hillbilly, and blues, which all added to his sonic palette. Frequent visits to Memphis solidified his early musical vision as a child and as he grew so did his interest in all forms of blues. In 2003 McKnight self released "Braid My Hair" to critical acclaim and worldwide airplay. The album was considered a "breath of fresh air" by many in the somewhat stagnant world of formula blues and charted #8 on the Roots Music Report for Blues albums. McKnight toured the south extensively with British born harmonica virtuoso Keith Carter and released his second album in 2005 entitled the "Last Country Store" which journeyed further into "deep Blues". The album charted # 22 on the National Living Blues Chart, #9 on the Roots Music Report, and was heralded by numerous critics. McKnight has made many appearances on the legendary King Biscuit radio show in Helena, AR, toured Italy two times, played the Clarksdale, MS Juke Joint Blues Festival, and played and recorded extensively in the Mississippi Delta and Northern Hill Country. These travels and experiences deepened McKnight's earlier musical vision and are now encapsulated fully on his Desert Highway Records release "Supa Good" which takes many styles into account and challenges "blues based" music as a jumping off point into something gritty and harsh. “Supa Good,†which releases in March 2007, has already been requested by more than 100 radio stations worldwide.
Type of Label: Indie
