Eric Bolander's flavor of Americana/folk music offers soulful vocal tone with thoughtful melodies that have staying power.  Lyrically driven by life experiences, Eric's songs will give you a glimpse into his life and a realization that happiness can be perpetuated through pain. Eric grew up in the small eastern KY town of Garrison in the Ohio River Valley along the foothills of Appalachia (pop. 1400).  He learned through his Dad to work for what you want/need and never take someone for granted.  Love and work ethic were driving forces of his humble upbringing.  Eric now lives and works out of Lexington, KY.  He's called Lexington home for most of his adult life.  An Art Teacher by day and Musician by night, Eric's mind is always immersed in the arts.  Passion for the arts is what keeps him moving forward. Eric Bolander // The Wind (Eastwood Records, March 29, 2019) Human beings are surprisingly resilient creatures. Through honoring his grandmother, singer-songwriter Eric Bolander weathers his own emotional firestorm with his new record The Wind. It’s a brooding, often languid, folk set-piece weaving in and out of tales of drug addiction, religion, renewal and the birth of his two-year-old daughter. He casts off his hard-rock outer shell for a more traditionally-rooted and sensitive storybook, steeped in heartfelt emotions and embodying the endurance of the human spirit. Much of his work has been scattered in the rock music scene through the years. He’s mounted numerous creative endeavors, including rock bands Modern Day Relic and Alcatraz Shakedown, and made enduring friendships with the likes of producer Duane Lundy (Sturgill Simpson, Ringo Starr) and Americana troubadour Arlo McKinley among countless others.   The Wind, produced by Lundy at Shangri-la Studios in Lexington, Kentucky, is as much a natural transition in Bolander’s catalog as an evocative love letter to a weathered existence in an ever-tumultuous world. “Along the way / Don’t know if I’m rested / But I’m here to stay,” he calls into the impending whirlwind, a visceral dedication to his grandmother’s steely determination against all odds. “I can’t see past all the trees / Why don’t this wind blow me away…” Opener “Closer to That Flame” gallops through the crossroads of John Moreland and Bruce Springsteen (circa Devils & Dust), a rollicking exploration of struggle and its broken remnants, while the heart-scratched “Oh, Lord” wafts up as a bitter, cynical prayer. “The song has a reference to pills and drugs in eastern Kentucky,” says Bolander of the latter, noting its references to cancer. “I’ve had a lot of folks pass away from it. I had this recurring dream of seeing my granny hold my mom crying at a funeral.” The guitar snakes along in the dirt, writhing at rock bottom, with equally skin-crawling percussion in hushed whispers in the background. “It’s capturing that hopelessness. I had a cousin who was burned alive in a car. It was marked as an accident. He was caught up in drugs,” he continues. “From what I understand, he owed money to the wrong people. Part of the song is also about this clinic that moved in, and for $100, you could get a script of oxycontin or whatever else.” He excavates such timely themes with refreshing bravery. Even with an organic interpretation of Prince’s iconic “Purple Rain,” he manages to reconfigure the song’s intent, barrelling through the downpour with a profound sense of replenishment. Cello aches through the production in drips, expanding the inherent emotional weight and giving Bolander a chance to flex the full extent of his skill set. Pop covers are a dime a dozen these days, but the care Bolander takes in adhering to the original’s structure while soaring outside the lines just enough is a marvel. The album features such other players as Seth Murphy (cello), Ben Caldwell (drums, backing vocals),Vandaveer’s J. Tom Hnatow (pedal steel), Matt Polashek (sax) and John Ferguson (keys) and tears each shade of emotion with a fire-quenching passion. Bolander’s sensitivity to the human condition stems primarily from humble roots in the small eastern Kentucky town of Garrison, stretching at the edge of the Appalachian foothills and running along the Ohio River Valley. Growing up in a low income household instilled within him a sense of hard work and fighting for what he wanted in life. His mother was a homemaker (whose family had ties to several bluegrass legends) and his father a union carpenter and construction worker, both pivotal forces behind his early development. Bolander didn’t get around to actively pursuing a music career until his freshman year of college. Long-standing best friend Kevin had a guitar and would show him various chord structures. Soon, Bolander snagged a cheap Ibanez electric guitar, and later a cheap Dean acoustic guitar to learn on. Stricken with an ache for live performance, he began jamming around town in various collectives, but again, it took him some time before he made the decision to step up to the microphone himself.  In his spare time, he began to scrawl down various lyrics or melodies for potential material for the band, but his sensibilities were leaning quite heavily into the blues-folk arena, a mold that didn’t quite satiate his metal or rock status. His first EP, Unapologetic, emerged out of those songwriting sessions, and it was quickly evident he need to branch off on his own. His first proper full-length album, Postcards to Myself, arrived in 2016, further blurring the lines between his brawny rock-country blend. As you can already surmise, Bolander’s influences run far and wide, from the thick grunge-rock of Alice in Chains and SoundGarden to the rootsy traditions of Don Williams, Earl Thomas Conley, Keith Whitley and George Jones. He contributes his biggest contemporary influence to John Moreland.  Now an art teacher by day, guitar-slinger by night, Bolander gallops ferociously into the countryside with a sweeping Americana record. The Wind is at its very core a collection of authentic tunes.

Bio Listen to Jonell Mosser just once in concert and you’ll be an instant believer. She sings with all-out passion and heart. No frills. No games. Just a soulful intensity that makes you realize you’re in the presence of the real thing, not some manufactured, corporate-approved diva of the sort littering the landscape these days.  By STEVE MORSE, former staff writer at the Boston Globe for nearly 30 years, who has also written for Billboard and served on the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jonell is as honest as they come, both in her personal life and in her music. Her voice is stunning in its raw power, scope, and ability to take you places where you’ve never been. In addition to her four official album releases, she will be releasing a new album this year.   Jonell's Music Journey Past Jonell started singing at a young age, rising to do jazz standards in piano bars in her childhood home of Louisville. Her dad, a retired Air Force Master Sargent, had died of a heart attack when she was 3, so she was brought up by her mother, Joy, who loved jazz. “I listened to all the big band stuff,” Jonell recalls. “I loved Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday. She bought me 45s and albums from the time I was 5 or 6. Later on, my brother had great records by Jethro Tull, Al Green and Dobie Gray.” And what about Janis Joplin, to whom she has been compared? “I didn’t like her at first. Janis seemed unattainable. And on the other side, Aretha Franklin seemed unattainable. So I was drawn more to men’s voices, like when I heard Otis Redding for the first time. And James Taylor, of course. I adored him and Jackson Browne and Dan Fogelberg. And then I found Lowell George and Little Feat.” She also loved Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt {whom she first met in Bowling Green around 1978 or ’79} and her debut album was a 1996 compilation of Townes covers called “Around Townes.” Solo Projects Her second album was “So Like Joy” in 2000, a smart, sophisticated batch of songs that Jonell wrote with John Hall (of Orleans fame) and Johanna Hall. They have been major believers in her. The disc included the high-arcing ballad “Do You Love Me” and the stylish title track, about letting go of regret. It is a connoisseur’s record. Next up was “Enough Rope,” a 2001 album that Allmusic.com proclaimed had “enough class, muscle and tough grace to stand out from the pack.” Then a lull followed as Jonell turned to raising her sons, before her “powerful “Trust Yourself” CD came out. The title track was a Dylan song given new heft by Jonell, while other stand outs were three co-writes with the Halls, and a sax-laced soul version of Harlan Howard’s “The Chokin’ Kind.” And perhaps the most intriguing project she’s been involved with in the last few years or so is being one of the Freedom Singers, who perform under the auspices of the First Amendment Center headed by former USA Today editor Ken Paulson. They feature songs that were once banned or censored, such as George M. Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Rag” (later changed to “Grand Old Flag”) and the controversial Billie Holiday tune, “Strange Fruit. ”It adds up to a highly unique career with no end in sight. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in this business, but I feel successful as a human being,” says Jonell. I play and sing every day” “I’ve gotten to sing with Mavis Staples. I’ve gotten to sing with Levon Helm, and with Sam Moore, Bruce Cockburn, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. I’ve gotten to meet and play music with so many great people, most of whom I feel I can call my friends” “That means everything to me” Now it could be Jonell’s moment to grab the spotlight. “I feel a tidal wave coming,” she says hopefully. “I just don’t want to get buried by it. I want to ride it.