The Bills are an extraordinary quintet from the west coast of Canada, renowned for their instrumental virtuosity, lush vocal arrangements, exuberant live performances, evocative songwriting and refreshingly innovative interpretations of traditional tunes from around the globe. Hailed by The Glasgow Herald as “the biggest blast of fresh air to come out of Canada since The Band,” they have racked up a string of Canadian music awards and a devoted fan following that extends across North America and Europe.
The band features an all-star line-up of talent that includes Chris Frye (guitar, lead vocals), Marc Atkinson (mandolin, guitar, vocals), Adrian Dolan (fiddle, accordion, piano, vocals), Richard Moody (violin, viola, vocals) and Scott White (upright bass). All busy musicians, The Bills had been working on other musical projects until they recently reunited to record Yes Please, the follow-up to their Juno Award nominated album Let Em Run (released on Red House in April, 2005).
The Bills began as The Bill Hilly Band in 1996, when Canadian jazz and rock musicians Marc Atkinson (guitar) and Scott White (upright and electric bass) took up new acoustic instruments (mandolin and fiddle, respectively) and began exploring folk tunes from around the world. The two had already toured extensively throughout North America and Australia in various groups, playing such prestigious events as the Montreal Jazz Fest. A vocalist and guitarist raised on fiddle music, Chris Frye was a jazz guitar student of Marc’s. Chris and Marc quickly formed musical bonds, sharing a taste for a broad variety of musical styles. Chris’ powerful singing and deep knowledge of North American traditional tunes lent themselves to the music that Marc and Scott were creating, and they quickly welcomed him into their new band and released their first self-titled album. Featured prominently on CBC Radio, the band quickly gained momentum adding 17-year old prodigy Adrian Dolan (fiddle, accordion, piano) to their line-up. They went on to release their second album All Day Every Day, which earned them a Juno Award nomination and won them a Western Canada Music Award for “Outstanding Roots Release.” They were also honored as BC Touring Artists of the Year.
Shortening their name to The Bills, the band released their album Let Em Run in 2005, which was picked up by Grammy-winning US label Red House Records. The album earned them their second Juno Award nomination, and the video for “Let Em Run” was aired across Canada on CMT. Seasoned Winnipeg jazz and world music talent Richard Moody (violin, viola) joined the band not long after. Touring the US, the band became a favorite at bluegrass, folk and Americana festivals and quickly won over legions
Responding to fan demand, The Bills released Yes Please in 2013 on Red House Records. Featuring almost all originals, the album is a vibrant collection of instrumentals and songs that perfectly showcase why The Bills are known the world over as one of the most boldly innovative roots bands, always remaining true to the global acoustic traditions they revere.
Bill Hinkley and Judy are a musical treasure. Over decades of playing folk and bluegrass the duo has appeared with such greats as Steve Goodman, Dave Van Ronk, Willie Murphy, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Koerner, Ray and Glover as well as regular appearances on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. The two are top-notch performers entertaining audiences with their delightful tunes as well as their captivating presence.
Bill and Judy are members of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame as well as recipients of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Association.
Archie was born in Glasgow into a large singing family, which yielded three professional singers—Archie and his sisters Ray and Cilla Fisher. His father’s appreciation of many musical styles (opera, vaudeville, traditional ballads) proved to be a heavy influence on Archie’s music while his mother, a native Gaelic speaker from the Outer Hebrides, influenced the lyrical quality of his songwriting.
Archie first became interested in folk music during the Skiffle era of the late 1950’s and such performers as Lonnie Donegan and Johnny Duncan. Later, the recording of the Weavers at Carnegie Hall also had a profound effect on his approach to music and his political outlook. During the TV folk boom of the 1960’s and 70’s he appeared regularly with his younger sister Ray on magazine programs and the BBC Hootenanny series. He was based in Edinburgh at the time in the contemporary company of musicians such as Robin Williamson, Clive Palmer and Mike Heron (who together formed The Incredible String Band) and was an early guitar colleague of Bert Jansch.
Archie’s first self-titled album was recorded in 1968 with the fiddle and mandolin of John McKinnon and whistle player John Doonan. During the mid 1970’s he formed a long-term partnership with Dundee musician Allan Barty, which was later grafted on to the revived pairing of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy. As well as performing as a backing musician and arranger for the Makem and Clancy duo, he also produced a series of albums with them. Meanwhile, Archie got involved in record production with the dynamic Scottish band Silly Wizard. During the 1980’s he turned his attention to freelance radio work and originated several series of documentary programs with his local station Radio Tweed. He then returned to the recording studio during what he describes as one of his most creative songwriting periods. It was around this time that he began a partnership with Canadian songwriter Garnet Rogers. They toured throughout North America together, and Garnet produced two Fisher albums including the highly acclaimed Sunsets I’ve Galloped Into, which was released on Red House Records in 1996.
Following the success of that release, Archie toured throughout North America, playing with John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. In 2008 Red House released Windward Away, a collection of introspective ballads that evoke the wild and rough beauty of the Scottish Border country. While working on this album, Archie discovered a copy of an old recording he made in the late 1970’s while working with Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy. Although several songs on this missing master had been recorded on other Archie Fisher albums, this missing master had never seen the light of day. Because he believed these recordings represented an important period in his music, he felt they were worthy of formal release. Together Windward Away and The Missing Master represent more than 28 years of Archie’s distinguished writing and singing career.
Seven years in the making, A Silent Song finds Archie combining original compositions with his interpretations of classic songs for a wonderful addition to his distinguished catalog.
Ann Reed is a singer-songwriter who has been producing dazzling folk music for a quarter century and shows no signs of ceasing. Her delightful songwriting has been the favorite of her abundant fanbase playing countless concerts and festivals. She is a favorite of A Prairie Home Companion as well as Minnesota Public Radio’s The Morning Show (now Radio Heartland). Over the course of her career, Ann has garnered accolaides from the likes of Billboard Magazine, the Natrional Association of Independent Recording Distributors, the Minnesota Music Academy, and the Girl Scouts.
Ann has released two albums on Red House including Just Can’t Stop (1986-out of print) and Talk to Me (1990).
When she’s not on the road, writing, or playing music, Ann spends a great deal of her time in community involvement with various non-profit groups that benefit women and children.
Raised on a beef and wheat farm in North Dakota by folk musicians, Andra Suchy began touring and performing at festivals at a young age. Classically trained and a veteran of musical theater, the guitar-playing singer moved to Minneapolis in 1996, where she has gone on to make a name for herself as one of the finest vocalists around.
A regular performer on the national radio show A Prairie Home Companion, Andra has performed around the world, singing with such artists as Brad Paisley, Mindy Smith, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile and soprano Renee Fleming. She has recorded with a wide range of indie, rock, blues and folk acts, including The Honeydogs, Jonny Lang, Peter Ostroushko and Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner.
Full of infectious originals, Little Heart is a twang-tinged mix of country, rock, folk and blues, this album shows that Andra is poised to become the next big voice in country, Americana and roots music.
When not on the road, Andra knits, practices Bikram yoga, bakes bread and performs around Minnesota.
Born in the Salvation Army Hospital in Hackney, London, Legg is a classic mongrel Londoner, with the long mixed East End blood of entrepreneurial Hugenot and Jewish refugees topped up from a sturdy line of East Anglian farmers; a fertile genetic stew mixed further with Welsh, West Indian and Philippino in his grandchildren.
While studying oboe under parental pressure (his own words), he began fashioning his own guitars, “or rather odd stringed instruments that at least could execute an acceptable twang” from pictures in newspapers, scraps from the school woodwork scrap bin, fret wire and with strings held on by head rest cover containers taken from the local bus station. While working at the airport in Liverpool, he met a young man who invited him to join a band and introduced him to country music.
After two years of working in Liverpool working men’s social clubs, he hitch-hiked back to London, where he played electric guitar in clubs and joined up with bands that eventually traveled outside the U.K. A demand from a band leader that he use an acoustic to play loud chords up against a mic for one number nudged him towards the acoustic as a separate instrument.
Since then Adrian Legg has gone on to become a guitar wizard who defies all categorization. His virtuostic playing can take you places you have never imagined. Legg’s unbounded creativity and grace, led him to be voted the “Best Fingerstylist” by the readers of Guitar Player magazine. Legg is, without exaggeration, one of the finest guitar players alive. Few artists can cover such a spectrum of music on one instrument. His albums showcase his intricate and elegant blending of country, jazz, folk, rock, and classical influences.
Beginning with Guitar and Other Cathedrals (released in 1990) he has displayed remarkable technique and intuition, great wit and humor, and a gift for composing lyrical melodies. Guitar for Mortals (1992) and Mrs. Crowe’s Blues Waltz (1993) were each named “Best Acoustic Album” in the Guitar Player polls, and in 1994 Wine, Women and Waltz was honored as “Best Overall Guitar Album,” a rare feat for a primarily acoustic work. The readers of Britain’s Guitarist Magazine topped them all, naming Legg the “Guitarist of the Decade” in their 10th Anniversary Poll.
Not only is Legg an instrumental genius he also has a reputation for his funny stage presence. His deadpan humor and hilarious stories have been as much of a concert draw for him as his music. He has been a commentator-at-large for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He has toured with such varied artists as Nanci Griffith, Tanita Tikarum, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Steve Vai – converting more “Leggheads” as he goes.
On his last Red House release, Fingers and Thumbs, Legg delivers plenty of classic flowing guitar eloquence as well as some quirky detours. Recorded with Eric Johnson, bassist Roscoe Beck and drummer Tom Brechtline, it’s a runaway train of guitar and rhythm. “Not Remotely Blue” was written in 1974 and promptly abandoned when he relized his “Englishness predisposed [him] to depression rather than any convincing blues.” He pulled it out again in 1998 when he “no longer cared”–much to our benefit. Not only is Adrian a world-class guitarist, but as an avid photographer his work highlights the packaging of Fingers and Thumbs. Adrian continues to keep a healthy tour schedule traveling the US and UK wowing crowds with his jaw-dropping style.
Greg Brown was born in the Hacklebarney section of southeastern Iowa and raised by a family that made words and music a way of life. His seasoned songwriting, storytelling, and music are deeply rooted in that place. He moves audiences with warmth, humor, a thundering voice and his unpretentious musical vision.
His mother played the electric guitar, his grandfather played the banjo, his grandmother was a poet, and his father was a Pentecostal preacher. Greg’s youth was spread across a map of the Midwest as they moved between churches (and even denominations), but music was always a staple. Gospel and hymns, classical, hillbilly, early rock and roll, country, and blues coalesced into a simmering stew of sound. Greg studied classical voice and piano as a child and also sang with choirs and in state competitions. At six he took up the pump organ and at twelve he learned the basics of guitar from his mother (who was also an English teacher—so books and poetry were always around the house.
At 18, Greg won a contest to play an opening set for singer Eric Andersen in Iowa City, who then encouraged him to head east. Moving to New York, Greg landed a job at Gerdes Folk City in the Village running hootenannies. Next he tried Portland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but after a few years he moved back to Iowa. He recorded a couple of albums on his own (44 & 66 and The Iowa Waltz), then began working on the renowned national radio show A Prairie Home Companion and touring nationally. After Greg teamed up with Bob Feldman in 1983, they re-released Greg’s first two albums under the name Red House Records — the beginning of the now legendary folk/roots label that has released nearly all of Greg’s 27 albums.
In 1985 Greg released In the Dark With You, an acoustic classic. In 1986, he set poems of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience to music on a critically acclaimed album of the same name. One Big Town (1989) learned Greg his first Indie Award for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year, as well as a rave review in Rolling Stone. Dream Café (1992) was also a huge critical success. The Washington Post called it an “unassuming triumph,” and in the opinion of Z Magazine, it rivaled Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.
Following Dream Café, Brown recorded Friend of Mine with Bill Morrissey, which earned him his first Grammy nomination, and he also released a children’s album, Bath Tub Blues. 1994’s The Poet Game saw significant international radio play (charting on AAA and topping The Gavin Report’s Americana chart) and earned not only critical raves, but also the Indie award for singer-songwriter Album of the Year. The Live One (1995) proved to be a fan favorite capturing the humor, warmth, insights, and spirit of his legendary live shows. His 1996 release, Further In, topped them all: critics called it a masterpiece and it received a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Greg’s 1997 release — Slant 6 Mind — received more of the same and earned Greg his second Grammy nomination. 1999 brought the re-release of One Night, a live concert recording originally released on the Coffeehouse Extempore label. Two releases followed in 2000: Over and Under (Trailer Records) and the critically acclaimed Covenant, which won the Association for Independent Music’s award for Best Contemporary Folk Album of 2000.
The year 2002 brought two albums – Milk of the Moon and Going Driftless: An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown. The latter, features some of today’s best female songwriters including Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Iris Dement, Gillian Welch, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Greg Brown’s three daughters and more. These artists joined forces to record a beautiful tribute album — each selecting their own favorite song by Brown to cover for a special CD benefiting The Breast Cancer Fund. In September of 2003, Greg released If I Had Known – Essential Recordings, 1980-1996 (Red House), a retrospective w/DVD highlighting the body of Greg’s work through 1996. Honey in the Lions Head, was released shortly thereafter (Trailer Records) and is an album of folk standards from the public domain. Also in 2004, he released In the Hills of California: Live From the Kate Wolf Festival 1997-2003, a collection of live performances recorded at the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival featuring guest appearances by Nina Gerber, Shawn Colvin, Garnet Rogers, Dave Moore and others.
In 2006, Greg released The Evening Call, his first new studio album in over four years, which charted high on Americana and folk radio, earned him five stars in Mojo and garnered rave reviews in No Depression, Acoustic Guitar and The Washington Post. The 2-disc collection Dream City: Essential Recordings Vol 2, 1997-2006 features some of these new Americana classics along with other fan favorites from his last six studio albums and some previously unreleased material and live tracks.
Dave Moore is one of the great songwriters to come out of the state of Iowa. Known for his elegant songwriting and instrumental prowess on blues guitar, button accordion and harmonica he has become somewhat of a legend. Coming of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Dave enrolled in college only to drop out to follow a girlfriend down to Guadalajara, Mexico. Though the journey lasted only a few months, it was to be the first of many travels in Latin America and totally altered his world view. Returning to the States for the holidays in 1971, his mother serendipitously left a harmonica in his Christmas stocking and he soon found that he could not quit playing it. He spent the next few years traveling the Southwest and Northwest, working an assortment of jobs (lumberyard worker, fruit picker, plumber’s assistant) – all the time getting deeper into music.
After his western travels and another lengthy sojourn in Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) he found that the college town of Iowa City had turned into quite the music scene. Folk, blues, and rock were spilling into the streets as music hangout began to pop up all over the city.
Around this time, he began to experiment with guitar and decided that he wanted to learn the instrument. Inconspicuously, he headed back to Mexico-this time to a town that has since become a home-away-from-home, San Cristobal de las Casas. With only a little plywood-topped Harmony 6-string, he holed up with a box of blues tapes and took occasional lessons from a Chiapas guitarist with a passion for American ragtime.
In 1980 Dave returned to Iowa City and teamed up with local songwriter Greg Brown who was just beginning to develop a national reputation. For the next few years Dave backed up Brown on recording projects, extensive tours and several appearances on Garrison Keillor’s popular A Prairie Home Companion on NPR.
It was at this time Dave stumbled onto his other great musical passion, the accordian. Awestruck by an accordion album featuring Fred Zimmerle’s Trio San Antonio, he traveled to Texas where he sought out the great masters of Conjunto music: Zimmerle, Johnny Degallado, and Santiago Jimenez, Sr. (the legendary father of Flaco and Santiago, Jr.). All three men would give him lessons and encouragement on the 3-row button box.
In 1984 at a little folk festival, Dave won a contest whose prize was free recording time in a studio. He took the oppurtunity to record Jukejoints and Cantinas, an album that brilliantly pulled together all of the American roots influences that had been stewing in him for years. He passed its 14 sizzling blues and Conjunto tracks on to Bob Feldman of Red House Records, who enthusiastically offered to put it out.
The release of Jukejoints… led to a National Endowment for the Arts grant that underwrote three intensive months in Tejas studying with accordion master Fred Zimmerle. Occasionally sitting in with Fred’s band in the dance halls, Dave found himself completely immersed in a major American regional music tradition. Fred quickly became one of Dave’s closest friends and until his death, the closest thing he had to a mentor.
In 1986 Garrison Keillor invited Dave to perform on A Prairie Home Companion and after frequent appearances, he became the show’s band leader on tours to Alaska and Hawaii. A year or two earlier he had quietly started writing his own song and in 1990 he released Over My Shoulder, an 11-song collection that has become a cult classic.
Moore was in preproduction of his third disc in 1994 when his wife lost a daughter in infancy. He stopped playing for a while, and when he did return, preferred to stay closer to home and family. Five years went by, songs accumulated and, in time, a desire to return to recording and touring. He had written an enormous number of chilling-to-the-bone songs based on his own experiences.
In mid 1998, he announced that he was ready to record again. Seeking a co-producer for the project, he looked to Iowa City roots-rocker Bo Ramsey, who had produced several discs for Greg Brown and had just finished touring in Lucinda Williams’ band. Dave had long admired Bo’s work and instinctively felt he was the best man to guide the recording session.
The result was Breaking Down to 3, an album that is considered his best ever. Recorded with an all-Iowa band, the songs are as breathtaking as they are stunning with vivid imagery drawn from the depth of his life experiences painting a picture of the quintessential American journey.
-->
