Chris Stuart & Backcountry

Music:

Member Since: 1/23/2006
Band Website: chrisstuart.com
Band Members:Chris Stuart, lead singer and rhythm guitarist, is best known for his songwriting. His family is from Texas, though Chris grew up mostly in Jacksonville, Florida, where his mother was a school teacher and his father a minister. Chris won first-prize at the prestigious Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in both bluegrass and gospel categories, and his songs have been recorded by many top artists such as Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, and Larry Cordle. Five of his songs have appeared on the Bluegrass Unlimited top-30 chart. He was an IBMA showcase songwriter in 2003, and was nominated by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) as Songwriter of the Year in 2005. Chris also writes feature articles for music magazines and was nominated as Print Media Person of the Year for the IBMA in 2006. He has also taught rhythm guitar and songwriting at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the American River Music Camp and the California Bluegrass Association music camp, and will be teaching songwriting at the Sorefingers Bluegrass Week in the UK in April 2007, and rhythm guitar at the Augusta Heritage workshop in August 2007.
Janet Beazley, banjo and lead/harmony singer, is a true westerner. She spent her early years in Bakersfield, California, as well as Alaska and New Mexico. She is an accomplished banjo player, teacher, songwriter, and singer, and has taught banjo and music theory classes at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the American Banjo Camp, and the California Bluegrass Association music camp. She’ll be teaching banjo at the August Heritage camp and at the Sorefingers camp in the UK in 2007. She was recently featured in Banjo Newsletter. Janet holds a doctorate in early music and teaches at the University of Southern California and at the University of California Riverside. She plays flute, recorder, viola da gamba and historical guitars, and her pennywhistle playing can be heard on several Backcountry recordings. Janet's solo album, 5 South appeared on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart for a year with a song by Chris, "Julia Belle."
Eric Uglum, on lead guitar and mandolin, is one of the most tasteful players in bluegrass and acoustic music. His tone, timing, and taste, have been a major part of every band he’s played in including Weary Hearts in the 1980s with Ron Block, Butch Baldassari, and Mike Bub; Copperline; and for many years with Lost Highway. Eric's solo album on Backcountry Records, Shenandoah Wind, was selected by Bluegrass Now magazine as the best album of 2003, and the song “Shenandoah Wind,” written by Chris, was on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart for several months. Eric also runs New Wine Studio in Hesperia, California, where he has recorded some of the greats, such as Ralph Stanley, Nickel Creek, and Ron Block. He’s recently released a new album on Backcountry Records with his two stepsons, Austin and Christian (also in Backcountry), called The Old Road to Jerusalem, which is getting extensive airplay internationally.
Austin Ward, on acoustic bass, lives in the desert community of Hesperia, California, and has in a very short time become a respected and solid, yet creative, bass player. He has a thorough feel for bluegrass and acoustic music, and played at the 2005 Country Music Association Fan Fest with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs. Austin, even at a young age, is already in high demand as a session player, and has just released his first album—with his step-dad, Eric Uglum, and his brother, Christian Ward—The Old Road to Jerusalem.
Christian Ward, on fiddle, also lives in Hesperia, California, and has become recognized as one of the hot fiddle players of the new generation of bluegrass. Christian, along with his brother Austin, played at the 2005 CMA Fan Fest with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs. He is also in high demand as a session player and displays an amazing virtuosity, but also a taste and maturity, in his playing that goes beyond his years. He has just released his first album, with his step-dad, Eric Uglum, and his brother, Christian Ward, called The Old Road to Jerusalem, in which he contributes a self-penned fiddle tune, Stonewall.
Influences: Topo Gigio, Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Doc Walsh, Doc Boggs, Doc Holiday, Dr. Strangelove, the Flying Walendas, John Keats, Buster Keaton, William Butler Yeats, Yip Harburg, Andre Dubus, Eugene Debs, and Little Debbies.
Sounds Like: Alison Krauss + Union Station without the talent. . . .
Record Label: Backcountry Music
Type of Label: None