6 May 2013

Legendary Southern Rock guitarist Dan Toler died February 25 at his home in Sarasota Florida. Dan passed away after a long battle against (ALS) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. He was celebrated in the late 1970s for his astonishing guitar work as a member of the Dickey Betts & Great Southern band. He was featured on the two albums with Dickey Betts & Great Southern and later become a member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1979 and remained until 1982. Dan’s guitar work was featured on the ABB’s hit album, Enlightened Rogues, in 1979; Reach for the Sky in 1980 and Brothers of the Road in 1981. Dan Toler and his late brother David (Frankie) Toler were members of the Gregg Allman Band in the 1980s, and were featured on his hit album, I’m No Angel, in 1987; and again on Just Before the Bullets Fly in 1988. In 2005, Dan along with other Southern Rock Royalty joined The Renegades of Southern Rock, whose members included George McCorkle of The Marshall Tucker Band, John Townsend from the Sanford-Townsend Band and Jack Hall from Wet Willie. In 2008, Dan and his friends Ron Gary and Ed Zinner formed TGZ, an ethereal Blues-Jazz combination that received world attention when released on the indie label, King Mojo Records. Dan teamed up again with John Townsend in 2009 and formed the Toler/Townsend Band. Their self-titled album was released that same year on the Garage Door Records indie label.

Country music veterans Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin and Joe Diffie have teamed up for an American tour they’re calling “Roots & Boots.” On stage together, the trio perform acoustic versions of their more than 40 Top Ten hit songs, as well as share stories about the roots of their music “The ‘Roots & Boots’ tour is three friends who love country music having a good time, telling jokes about each other and telling jokes on each other,” says Kershaw. “We tell stories behind all of our songs. It’s a great show, so don’t be square, be there!” Diffie adds, “Sam, Aaron and I have a great time doing these shows and the fans do too. It’s always an adventure.” Tippin says of the tour, “Being onstage with Sammy and Joe is a blast. I admire both of these guys so much. We have a great time together and the show is different every night and always a lot of fun.” Kershaw’s platinum-selling albums have had hits such as “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful,” “I Can’t Reach Her Anymore” and “National Working Woman’s Holiday.” Tippin’s fame was launched with the release of his uncompromising single “You’ve Got to Stand For Something.” He followed that with other major hits including “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly,” “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong with the Radio” and “Kiss This.” Since he first topped the charts in 1990 with “Home,” Diffie has delivered twelve #1 hits, twenty top 10’s and four gold and platinum albums.

This year’s line up includes: Mindy Smith, Ruth Moody, Good Lovelies, Phil Lee, I See Hawks in LA and Suffolk’s own Neil Innes. Guardian top ten small music festival award winners Maverick Festival have announced a new way to attend the festival this year. Maverick Festival has teamed up with Hackney company Festival of the Bicycle to put together a 60mile cycling tour from London to Maverick which is based in the idyllic Suffolk countryside. Cycle lovers will set off from a location in East London on Friday 5th July – in time to set up camp and enjoy the first bands on stage. The festival takes place over the weekend of the 5th, 6th and 7th July and to join the tour will cost an extra £10 per ticket and will follow the Sustrans national route 1. Organisers encourage London based festival goers to make the trip one to remember by joining the tour, where bands will perform at secret points along the route, and a vehicle will ease the load by driving camping bags from the start to end point. Prizes will be given for categories including best dressed and most courageous rider and the soundtrack for the ride will be provided by local From A to B sponsor, Hackney GT. Festival of the Bicycle co-founder, Sophie Bailey is looking forward to July: ‘Tour de Maverick will run at the same time as the Tour de France on the continent! Our tour will run at much more of a leisurely pace for all music enthusiasts to take in the sounds and sights of Suffolk and get to the festival energised and in need for one of those magical ciders. We attended Maverick Festival last year and loved it! We’re looking forward to coming back in style in 2013, and adding an extra element of adventure to the weekend.’ This year the Maverick festival celebrates its sixth birthday with a stellar lineup that includes some of Canada‘s finest roots musicians, THE GOOD LOVELIES, RUTH MOODY and LEEROY STAGGER, sun-soaked country rockers from California I SEE HAWKS IN LA, the Nashville outlaw PHIL LEE, the UK‘s best and brightest DANNY GEORGE WILSON, THE CARRIVICK SISTERS and HATFUL OF RAIN plus, with his unique, Pythonesque take on Americana, Suffolk‘s very own NEIL INNES. To buy tickets: https://www.ticketweb.co.uk/event/VGD0507 Blog:http://festivalofthebicycle.tumblr.com/tourdemaverick Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/festivalofthebicycle

On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March 2013, C2C: Country to Country will see a line up of some of the leading country music artists in the world on stage together, including Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Little Big Town, Brantley Gilbert, Kristian Bush and LeAnn Rimes The spirit of Nashville is set to be captured in The O2 with a number of pop up stages and The Town Square – a bespoke retail area – being created as part of the Country to Country festival. These pop up stages, which will be open from midday, will offer free performances, showcasing emerging country artistes. The pop up stage entertainment is in addition to the stellar line up of some of the biggest names in country, who will be performing in The O2 Arena. Confirmed acts for the pop up stages include Robert Vincent; Jill Johnson; Dean Owens; The Good Intentions; Ags Connolly; Alan West; Raintown and Raevennan Husbandes.