{"id":12963,"date":"2014-08-28T12:05:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T16:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=12963"},"modified":"2014-08-28T11:15:41","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T15:15:41","slug":"on-stage-junior-sisk-rambles-to-longwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=12963","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Junior Sisk rambles to Longwood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Also: Kim Edwards, Nik Everett, Lindsey Saunders highlight Labor Day weekend<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"junior-sisk-1\"<\/a>

Junior Sisk & Rambler\u2019s Choice are the featured artists at Longwood Gardens open air show, Friday night.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re involved in something and nature calls, you\u2019ve got to suspend whatever you\u2019re doing at the time and answer the call. Everybody knows that.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a songwriter and music pops into your head, you\u2019ve got to suspend whatever you\u2019re doing at the time and answer the call. Just ask Junior Sisk.<\/p>\n

Sisk, who will make his area debut On August 29 at Longwood Gardens (Route 1, Kennett Square, 610-388-1000,\u00a0www.longwoodgardens.org<\/a>), is one of the top acts in bluegrass music today,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the road about 175 days a year — playing over 100 shows a year,\u201d said Sisk, during a phone interview earlier this week from his home in Virginia.<\/p>\n

Just prior to the interview, Sisk was pursuing one of his other loves — deer hunting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was putting deer cameras up on the mountain behind my home,\u201d said Sisk. \u201cI play bluegrass music nine months a year so that I can deer hunt three months of the year. I even wrote the third verse of our new single in a tree stand. I sang it into my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisk knew that he had to stop what he was doing (trying to bag a deer)\u00a0and answer the call.<\/p>\n

The 7:30 p.m. show at Longwood\u2019s Open Air Theater will feature Junior Sisk & Rambler\u2019s Choice. The band includes Jason \u201cSweet Tater\u201d Tomlin (bass, harmony vocals), Jonathan Dillon (mandolin, lead and harmony vocals), Jason Davis (banjo, vocals), Billy Hawks (fiddle, guitar, vocals) and Sisk (guitar, lead and harmony vocals).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been making music professionally for over 25 years,\u201d said Sisk, during a phone interview earlier this week from his home in Virginia. \u201cI\u2019ve been in quite a few bands over the years. Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice has been together now for over 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisk, who lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia, became a member of Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz in the early 1990s and also was a member of Blueridge. In 1998, he formed Ramblers Choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, we won the (2012) IBMA and (2013) SPBGMA \u2018Album of the Year\u2019 award for \u2018The Heart of a Song\u2019 album,\u201d said Sisk. \u201cAnd, our single \u2018A Far Cry from Lester & Earl\u2019 won the (2012) IBMA and the (2013) SPBGMA \u2018Song of the Year\u2019 award.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisk and his band have a definite link to the music of \u201cLester & Earl\u201d — bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep the Flatt & Scruggs tradition going,\u201d said Sisk. \u201cI was raised on the Stanley Brothers\u2019 music along with the music of Larry Sparks (Larry Sparks & the Bluegrass Ramblers) and Dave Evans (the subject of the film \u201cLast of the Breed\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep traditional bluegrass music alive today. We\u2019re traditional bluegrass with our own style. A lot of younger bands try to play as many licks as they can while we tend to keep it simple. When it comes to real bluegrass — the simpler the better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a new project but it won\u2019t be out until September 16. It\u2019s a brand new album called \u2018Trouble Follows Me.\u2019 And, we just released a new single called \u2018Honkey-Tonked to Death.\u2019 We\u2019ll be playing some of the new songs at this weekend\u2019s show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"saunders-1\"<\/a>

Lindsey Saunders, one of the most promising and most talented young singer-songwriters to emerge in the last year, appears at two local venues in the next wee: Chaplin\u2019s in Spring City, and The Grape Room in Manyunk.<\/p><\/div>\n

Area music fans may be unfamiliar with Lindsey Saunders now but that won\u2019t last long. Saunders, who is one of the most promising and most talented young singer-songwriters to emerge in the last year, will be making two area appearances in the next week.<\/p>\n

Saunders will perform at Chaplin\u2019s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110,\u00a0http:\/\/chaplinslive.com<\/a>) on August 31 and then a few days later will have a show at the Grape Room in Manyunk on September 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played shows all over the West and Midwest but this is the first time I\u2019m coming through your part of the country,\u201d said Denver-based Saunders, during a phone interview this week from a tour stop in Chicago. \u201cI visited New York once but none of the other cities in the East. I\u2019m really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saunders will be performing songs from her debut EP \u201cNothing Normal\u201d along with a number of new, unreleased tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been singing forever,\u201d said Saunders, whose resume includes performances in New York at the\u00a0CMJ Music Marathon<\/a>\u00a0and showcase slots with Access Films and Koffeehouse at the\u00a0Sundance Film Festival<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve been writing songs since I was 12 — eight years now.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic runs in the family. My dad taught me guitar when I was I middle school. He had a cover band and I\u2019d sing songs with them. I pretty quickly got used to performing in front of people — especially since I was in musical theater and plays at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t take long for me to develop as a songwriter. I was playing gigs on my own by the time I was a senior in high school. Then, I decided to forego college. I wanted to concentrate on my music career.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Saunders, her music career as a singer\/guitarist has been a D.I.Y. effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many things you have to learn when you\u2019re promoting yourself — from learning Photoshop to make show posters to dealing with business contracts,\u201d said Saunders.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, my only release has been \u2018Nothing Normal.\u2019 My next EP will be all instrumental. I write a lot of instrumentals. I composed a score for a modern dance piece and that music will be the next EP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Tiso, a top-flight modern dance choreographer from Chicago, invited Saunders to compose and perform the score her modern dance piece \u201cDiverge\/Connect\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music piece I wrote for the dance production is called \u2018Paths Diverge\u2019 and is composed of four different songs,\u201d said Saunders. \u201cIt was fun to stretch myself — to take Catherine\u2019s vision and make it mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saunders\u2019 music features her strong vocals and impressive technical skills on the guitar. She is equally at home composing instrumentals or writing pop tunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my biggest influences is Tool — especially their drummer Danny Carey,\u201d said Saunders, who performs with her band out West but is just a solo act on this tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cRhythm is one of my favorite things. It\u2019s definitely influenced the way I write. Other influences are Fiona Apple and the other alt-girls from the 90s — and, of course, Stevie Nicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe instrumental EP is just something I wanted to do for myself. After that, I\u2019m working on another pop EP. I\u2019ve had the songs for awhile. I have over three hours of original pop music that I\u2019ve written in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show at 7 p.m. on August 31 at Chaplin\u2019s is billed as \u201cOpen Mic Night featuring Lindsey Saunders\u201d and tickets are $4. The show at the Grape Room (105 Grape Street,\u00a0Philadelphia, 215-930-0321,www.graperoommusic.com<\/a>) will start at 10:30 p.m. with tickets prices at $5.<\/p>\n

Other shows at Chaplin\u2019s this weekend will be Steve Madonna on August 29 at 7 p.m. and a multi-act bill on September 1 at 7 p.m. featuring Life on the Sideline, Home Again, Brosef Gordon Levitt and Whatever We Are. Tickets for either show are $10.<\/p>\n

The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>) has a variety of shows on tap for this weekend beginning with a performance by Splintered Sunlight on August 28 (9:30 p.m., $10).<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>

Kim Edward, a Lehigh Valley native, is part of \u201cSummer Love & Music Tour\u201d at the Ardmore Music Hall, Friday.<\/p><\/div>\n

On August 29, the AMH is hosting the \u201cSummer Love & Music Tour\u201d featuring Kim Edwards, Vincent James, Jeff Twardzik, Leigh Goldstein, Kelsey Coan, Brooke Falls and Valerie West. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $10.<\/p>\n

Edwards is a singer-songwriter from the Lehigh Valley who has written and recorded a number of well-crafted indie-pop songs. Her instrument of choice is the piano.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started taking classical piano lessons when I was in kindergarten,\u201d said Edwards, during a phone interview earlier this week. \u201cWhen I was in high school, I wanted to write film scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Edwards was 14, she did online research and found the company in charge of Alan Menken\u2019s Disney scores for \u201cThe Little Mermaid,\u201d \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d and \u201cAladdin.\u201d She wrote to the company and said — \u201cI\u2019m a student of orchestration, could you send me some scores?\u201d\u00a0 The company honored her request.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hit college, that\u2019s when I really worked on performance,\u201d said Edwards. \u201cIt was then that I also realized that I didn\u2019t want to be a classical performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter one year of studying classical music performance at Moravian College, it wasn\u2019t in me to perform other people\u2019s music. I started slowly but surely writing songs. The songs had a broad array of topics — love, life, anything and everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won third place at a national songwriting festival for a song I had written. But, I still hadn\u2019t decided to make a career of it. When I finally made the decision, I knew it was what I wanted to do — what I loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a year at Moravian, Edwards transferred to Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas where she majored in theology and music. Her first recorded output was an EP titled \u201cEP.\u201d Her first real release was the \u201cWanderlust\u201d album — an album of chamber-pop music that was released in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on a few tours after \u2018Wanderlust\u2019 was released, \u201c said Edwards, who lived in the Dallas Metro area for a few years before returning to live in the Lehigh Valley. \u201cI hope to have a new EP out in the next few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still writing songs and doing co-writes. Writing now is easier in the sense that I have a better idea of what I\u2019m about. But, it\u2019s also harder because I hear really good songwriters and the bar gets raised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write mostly on piano but also sometimes I write on guitar or ukulele. Usually, the music comes first when I\u2019m writing a song but lately I\u2019ve been trying to change it up more and focus on the lyrics first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans will get a small preview of her new EP during her set at the Ardmore Music Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EP is mostly done,\u201d said Edwards, who was born in Seoul, South Korea. \u201cIt just needs some finishing touches. I recorded it in Dallas and it has six songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the show on Friday, I\u2019ll probably do two songs from the new EP. I\u2019m looking forward to testing them out in front of a live audience. Most of the songs I\u2019ll play will be from \u2018Wanderlust.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"everett<\/a>

Wilmington native Nik Everett headlines at the Ardmore Music Hall, Saturday.<\/p><\/div>\n

After presenting a young artist in the early stages of her career on Friday, the Ardmore Music Hall on August 30 will have a much more experienced veteran performer — Nik Everett.<\/p>\n

Everett has been recording and releasing music for 20 years now — if you count his cassette album \u201cParalyzed in Motion,\u201d which was released in 1984.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first real record was \u2018Surrender Tonight,\u2019 which I did in 1988,\u201d said Everett, during a phone interview this week from his home in Wilmington. \u201cMy next album after that was \u2018Gravel and Honey\u2019 in 1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a lot of kids, I loved the Beatles in the 60s. I started out as a drummer. I loved Ringo (the Beatles\u2019 Ringo Starr) and Ginger Baker (drummer for Cream and Blind Faith).<\/p>\n

\u201cI eventually migrated to guitar and moved up front. I loved singer-songwriters — Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello. I just loved guys who put an acoustic guitar and a harmonica around their neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everett played in small, local bands when he was in high school at Brandywine High in northern Delaware and Marietta College in Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always jammed around in bands,\u201d said Everett. \u201cIn college, I really got serious about being a solo performer and began playing coffee houses. But, I always got back into bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a good music scene in Delaware in the early 80s with Robert Hazard, the A\u2019s and Ken Kweeder. I played the Cabarets (Chestnut Cabaret, 23 East Cabaret, Ambler Cabaret) and had a regional hit. I made an album in 1996 and then I got burned-out. I was semi-retired — just playing restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a job as a limo driver in New York and quit on 9-11 (2001). My last stop the night before was dropping a guy off at the World Trade Center. When all that happened, I said to myself — I\u2019ve got to get back to music. I\u2019ve stayed with it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everett\u2019s songs are characterized by driving rhythms and pleasant melodies. When he returned to music, he delivered three albums in five years — \u201cSummer\u2019s Gone\u201d (2004), \u201cLittle Victories\u201d (2007) and the soundtrack for \u201cGreetings from Asbury Park\u201d (2009).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy seventh album — \u2018Music\u2019 — just came out in July,\u201d said Everett. \u201cI recorded it over the last year with Chris Hillis. He has a great studio in Phoenixville called The Hacienda. I also did some tracks at Studio 825 in Wilmington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time, it was a band record. I\u2019ve had the same line-up for my band for over two years — Eric Miller on guitars and mandolin, Richie Rubini on drums and vocals, Chris fountain on bass and me on guitar and vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe album had David Uosikkinen of The Hooters on drums. Most of the songs were written over the last year. When it\u2019s time to make a record, it stirs the juices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nik Everett Band\u2019s show at the AMH will also feature the\u00a0Harry Walther Band<\/a>\u00a0and Adam Kowalczyk as openers. The show is slated to start at 8 p.m. with tickets listed at $10.<\/p>\n

On September 1, the Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650,\u00a0http:\/\/www.keswicktheatre.com<\/a>) hosts R&B legend Jeffrey Osborne. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $39.50 and $49.50.<\/p>\n

At the\u00a0<\/em>World Caf\u00e9 Live at the Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 302- 994-1400,\u00a0www.queen.worldcafelive.com<\/a>), the<\/p>\n

Upstairs Stage will present the Beta Hi-Fi Emerging Music Festival 2014 on August 28 and 29, Lonnie Shields and Jesse Loewy on August 30 and the \u201c4W5 Blues Jam\u201d on September 3.<\/p>\n

The American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, 717-397-7700,\u00a0http:\/\/www.amtshows.com<\/a>) will have \u201cMusic of the Night: Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber\u201d on August 28.<\/p>\n

There is still time to catch a performance of the smash hit musical \u201cBook of Mormon.\u201d The show runs through September 14 at the Forrest Theatre (1114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 866-276-2947,www.kimmelcenter.org\/broadway<\/a>) as part of the Kimmel Center\u2019s \u201cBroadway Philadelphia\u201d series.\u00a0Ticket prices start at $67.<\/p>\n

The Sellersville Theatre (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>)\u00a0has an interesting schedule that features the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on August 28, Crack the Sky on August 29 and Jackopierce on August 30<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Also: Kim Edwards, Nik Everett, Lindsey Saunders highlight Labor Day weekend By Denny Dyroff,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times If you\u2019re involved in something and nature calls, you\u2019ve got to suspend whatever you\u2019re doing at the time and answer the call. Everybody knows that. If you\u2019re a songwriter and music pops into your head, you\u2019ve got to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,4],"tags":[5117,5118,5119,5120,5121,5122,5123,5124,5125,5126],"class_list":["post-12963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-featured","tag-brooke-falls","tag-jeff-twardzik","tag-jeffrey-osborne","tag-junior-sisk","tag-kelsey-coan","tag-kim-edwards","tag-leigh-goldstein","tag-lindsey-saunders","tag-nik-everett","tag-vincent-james"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12964,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12963\/revisions\/12964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}