The Mavericks, the eclectic rock and country group known for crisscrossing musical boundaries with abandon, has gone through three distinct phases since it was founded in Miami in 1989. An initial period of heady success marked by big hits and critical acclaim in the ‘90s. A long hiatus starting 2003 when the musicians each went their own way. And finally, a triumphant reunion in 2012 which held long enough for them to recently celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary.

Now, The Mavericks have ushered in the fourth phase of their evolution with the #1 Billboard debut of their first-ever, all Spanish album, En Español, released on the band’s own Mono Mundo label. Although all 12 tracks are in Spanish, as the title suggests, the collection represents a diversity of musical styles and cultural traditions, from tender boleros to brassy mariachi to reimagined Afro-Cuban classics. Seven of the tunes are familiar gems drawn from the vast Latin American songbook, while five are originals written or co-written by Malo.

Like the band’s entire body of music, this one album cannot be boxed into a single category. The songs are as diverse as Latin America itself, and as cohesive as the ideal of the American melting pot. To season this rich musical paella, The Mavericks add their signature country/rock/Tex-Mex flavors and a refreshing spontaneity to the mix. En Español flips the band’s usual fusion formula, which adds a striking assortment of genres – salsa, ska, norteño, mariachi, and much more – to its sturdy rock/country base. Now, the foundation is solidly Latin with streaks of irreverent rock and twangy guitars running through it, all branded with the unmistakable Mavericks style.

Three-time GRAMMY Award nominees The Avett Brothers made mainstream waves with their critically acclaimed 2009 major label debut, I and Love and You. In 2012, The Carpenter hit #4 on the Billboard 200, followed by Magpie and the Dandelion in 2013, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. The 2017 documentary May It Last: A Portrait of The Avett Brothers (co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio) chronicles the process of writing 2016’s True Sadness, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Albums, #1 on Rock Albums, #3 on the Billboard 200, and scored two Grammy nominations. The film was released theatrically and on HBO to rave reviews and is available on DVD/BluRay/VOD. In 2019, the band released their tenth studio album Closer Than Together featuring the single “High Steppin’” which reached #1 on the Americana Radio Singles Chart. The Third Gleam came out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums, #1 Rock Albums, #1 Vinyl Albums, and the single “Victory” hit #1 on the Americana Radio Singles Chart. This year saw the release of The Avett Brothers, an album that is as much untitled as it is self-titled: a collection of songs that revealed themselves naturally over time. The Avett Brothers have been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and recently earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. They are currently on tour throughout the U.S. and are looking forward to the Broadway debut this fall of Swept Away, a musical inspired by & featuring the music of The Avett Brothers.

For over fifty years, Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson has been traversing the globe as an ambassador of Western swing music and introducing its irresistible sound to generation after generation. More than 100 musicians have passed through the Wheel, but Benson remains the front man and the keeper of the vision, in the process racking up more than 30 albums, ten Grammy awards and literally millions of miles on the road.

“I’m the reason it’s still together, but the reason it’s popular is because we’ve had the greatest singers and players,” Benson explains. “When someone joins the band, I say, ‘Learn everything that’s ever been done, then put your own stamp on it.’ I love to hear how they interpret what we do. I’m just a singer and a songwriter, and a pretty good guitar player, but my best talent is convincing people to jump on board and play this music.”

Asleep at the Wheel has collaborated on records with genre-spanning friends, including Willie Nelson on 2009’s Grammy Nominated Willie and the Wheel and other critically acclaimed artists, including Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, George Strait, the Avett Brothers, Amos Lee, Old Crow Medicine Show and Lyle Lovett on Still the King, their 2015 critically acclaimed and Grammy winning tribute to Bob Wills. On their latest release, Half A Hundred Years, Asleep At The Wheel continued their contributions to the American music landscape when three original members of Asleep at the Wheel—Chris O’Connell, Leroy Preston, and Lucky Oceans—returned after 40 years to lend their voices and musicianship to a number of tracks on the album along with Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson.

Asleep at the Wheel represents an important cornerstone of American roots music, even though some of its members and audiences represent a new generation. That far-reaching appeal remains a testament to Benson’s initial vision.

“It took me 60 years, but I’m doing what I’m meant to do—singing and playing and writing better than I ever have. A bandleader is just someone who gathers people around them to play the best music they can play. I just try and make the best decisions possible and kick some ass every night onstage.”

From being cradled as a baby in the arms of Roy Orbison, to performing a duet with Willie Nelson, you would think that Tami Neilson lived a country music fantasy life. However, in between these monumental occurrences, The Neilson Family Band, with Tami’s parents and two brothers, were busking in the streets of small town Canada in order to put food on the table, performing gospel concerts to prisoners, and roaring across North America in an exploding RV on her way to open for Johnny Cash.

And then Tami left to start her own family on the other side of the world in New Zealand, where she now resides. From starting over at open mic nights to headlining theaters and major festivals across New Zealand, Tami has now won almost every music award possible, becoming one of New Zealand’s most beloved artists.

Her latest album, KINGMAKER shot to #1 on the NZ Top 40 charts and garnered critical acclaim in The Guardian, American Songwriter, MOJO and RollingStone. Her sold-out tour spawned a live album backed by the power of the 80-piece Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Fans from around the globe have discovered her music through cameo appearances on the hit TV show “The Brokenwood Mysteries” and singing the theme song in the latest Spongebob Squarepants movie, “Saving Bikini Bottom” for which she wrote the opening and closing songs. This year, Tami will be appearing as part of the star-studded lineup for the upcoming PBS special on the music of Patsy Cline, filmed live at the Ryman in Nashville and fulfilling her lifelong dream of making her debut  on the Grand Ole Opry.

“An imperious talent” - THE GUARDIAN

"Neilson is at the forefront of the women who are taking back country music.. this is the album of the year."

- NO DEPRESSION

“A fire breathing belter on her own terms.” - ROLLING STONE

NZ MUSIC AWARDS

2022 - Best Solo Artist

2022 - Best Producer - Kingmaker

Best Country Music Album / Artist

2022 - Kingmaker

2021 - Chickaboom!

2015 - Dynamite!

2012 - The Kitchen Table Sessions Vol II

2010 - The Kitchen Table Sessions

2009 - Red Dirt Angel

Best Country Music Song

2023  - Tami Neilson / Delaney Davidson “Beyond the Stars”

2021 - Tami Neilson, "Queenie, Queenie”

2020 - Tami Neilson / Joshua Neilson, "Hey Bus Driver"

2014 - Tami Neilson / Delaney Davidson, "Whiskey & Kisses"

The title of Willie Nelson's solo debut on Blue Note Records, American Classic, refers as much to the man himself as to the storied Tin Pan Alley repertoire he explores on this elegant new set. While its common now for mature pop artists to attempt to put their own stamp on the American Songbook, Nelson practically invented the approach. He set the standard for, well, playing the standards more than thirty years ago with Stardust, perhaps this outlaw entertainers most daring move, an album that many industry pundits thought would get him laughed off the charts and out of the biz. Instead, the Booker T. Jones-produced Stardust which showcased material from the Gershwins, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael and Kurt Weill, among others, in spare, easy-going arrangements became the most successful album of his career thus far. It reached #1 on the Billboards Country Albums chart; racked up more than five million in sales; earned Nelson a Country Male Vocal Performance Grammy; and, most significantly, helped to transform a colorful, middle-aged cult figure into a mainstream star.

Encouraging Nelson to record Stardust was Bruce Lundvall, now Blue Note's head, who had the prescience to sign Nelson to Columbia in the 70s and, thirty years later, offer him a home at Blue Note. Nelsons first effort for the label was his acclaimed 2008 collaboration with Wynton Marsalis, Two Men With the Blues, a spirited live set that debuted at #20 on the Billboard pop chart (Nelsons highest charting since Always On My Mind hit #2 in 1982). Fans around the world know that the adventurous Nelson can sing just about anything and with just about anyone he pleases. As he sees it, "The more songs you know, the more musicians you listen to, the more writers you hear, the better equipped you are to decide where you want to go next. Thats why I want to listen to everyone and everything and then decide which way I want to go. Then, of course, I might change my mind and go in an entirely different direction. But at least I have all these options." On American Classic, he's joined, on vocals and piano, by Diana Krall in an intimate rendition of "If I Had You" that feels more like pillow talk than mere wishful thinking. ("It came off so well she's so smooth and her piano playing is the best," praises Nelson.) He also duets with Norah Jones, countering playful protestations with romantic persuasion on Frank Loesser's "Baby Its Cold Outside." ("That particular song has a lot of meaning for me,"  Nelson admits, "and its obvious that I enjoy singing with her.") Backing musicians include such notable jazzmen as pianist Joe Sample, bassist Christian McBride, Krall guitarist Anthony Wilson, and drummer Lewis Nash; Nelson's longtime sidekick Mickey Raphael, his memorable co-star on Two Men with the Blues, plays harmonica, adding evocative, bluesy inflections to Angel Eyes and Since I Fell For You.

American Classic represents old-school record-making at its most sumptuously swinging, with a lighthearted yet sophisticated jazz feel. Three-time Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma known for his best-selling work with Natalie Cole, Barbra Streisand, Anita Baker, Michael Buble and Krall, among others helmed the sessions, joined by his veteran engineer-mixer colleague, Al Schmitt. Legendary composer-arranger Johnny Mandel contributed orchestral charts.  When Blue Note chief Lundvall floated the idea of a standards album a la Stardust to LiPuma, the producer recalls, "I said, Man, are you kidding? I love Willie and, on top of that, Stardust is my favorite album. Joe Sample and I work a lot together, so I thought I would use Joe to do the rhythm charts and set things up. Joe lives in Houston, and its just a drive to Austin for him. We both visited Willie and went over numerous songs with him, maybe 30 to 40 songs."

Much of the repertoire, Nelson explains, was picked by Tommy and Joe. "They came to the house and we sat around and talked about songs, like 'The Nearness of You' and 'Angel Eyes,' which is one of my favorite jazz standards. We talked about a lot of great standards. The vintage tunes they chose," says Nelson, "are of the same quality as Stardust, but we did them a little differently. Tommy put together the band, with guys like Joe, who's an incredible musician and arranger. Stardust was recorded with my band, but this was done with musicians who were coming, musically, from another place. You can't beat the players you have on this one, they're as good as they get. "The key to the project,"  notes LiPuma, "was that we all realized how much we loved Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. That brought us all together. I was a big fan of Wills, as was Joe; Willie, of course, was a huge fan, as well as a huge fan of Django Reinhardt.  So after we chose the songs and got the keys and all that stuff, we left a day or so to figure out what made the most sense as far as Willie was concerned, what Willie felt the most comfortable with. We ended up with a Django/Bob Wills feel to the arrangements and Willie fell right into it. 'The Nearness of You' was one of the first things that jumped right out, and from there we ended up doing about 16 or 17 tracks, then knocking it down to the ones we put on the album."

Nelson and LiPuma spent four days in December 08 at Legacy Studios in Manhattan, and then reconvened in February at the storied Capital Studio A in Los Angeles, where Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole cut many of their best-known sides, to work with Diana Krall. Throughout the sessions, Nelson's singing retained its easygoing charm. Theres warmth and humor in his delivery, along with some twinkle-in-the-eye sex appeal. Just check out his rendition of "On the Street Where You Live" - you can feel the eternal spring in his step. Remarks LiPuma, "Willie is just the best to work with. He's a very sweet cat. You just go in there and if you get something and it feels right, it's right. You don't belabor it. That's the way I like to work, too. And that's basically how it was we went into Legacy and within four days we got all 17 tracks. We did the Diana Krall duet in LA. One take and boom, we were finished. Twenty minutes. That was it. The rhythm section really had a sense as to what Willie was all about. All these guys were just so respectful of the guy and what he did. They're great musicians in their own right but they all had huge respect for him and gave him all the room in the world."

As a Nashville artist in the 60s, Nelson himself penned more than a few tunes that have arguably become American classics themselves, including "Crazy," "Night Life" and the sublime "Funny How Time Slips Away." But that was just the prologue for the iconoclastic singer-songwriter, who would redraw the borders of country music in the 70s after moving back to Texas and settling in the musical melting pot of Austin. Along with fellow traveler Waylon Jennings, Nelson was labeled the outlaw of the genre, but he was more visionary than rebel, especially with the way he attracted rock fans to take a closer look at country. He was celebrated for his work with buddies like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, but scaled even greater chart heights by singing, improbably enough, with Julio Iglesias ("To All the Girls I Loved Before"). Along with Marsalis, recent cohorts have included Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel and reggae icon Ziggy Marley. Nelson ends the album with a re-interpretation of "You Were Always On My Mind," the one-time Elvis Presley hit that Nelson took to #1 on the country chart and to Top Five on the pop chart in the early eighties. Looking back for a moment, Nelson decides, "Hopefully, Im a better singer. Hopefully, Im a better guitar player you're either going to get better or worse, you can't stay in one spot. I like to think that the band and I have progressed a lot and learned a lot from doing these songs. There is truth in the statement that you learn by doing, so the more you do em, the better you get." American Classic, then, is clearly Nelson at his best.