Bad For You, the chart-topping fifth album from Nashville's hard-edged bluegrass band The SteelDrivers, arrived after a period of triumph and adaptation. The band's 2015 release, The Muscle Shoals Recordings, won the GRAMMYÒ award for ‘Best Bluegrass Album.”  In bluegrass and acoustic music circles, respect for this Nashville quintet is so strong that the win seemed somehow inevitable, like a box being checked off. For the band though, as well as its passionate audience of Steelheads, it was a much bigger deal. The GRAMMYÒ validated the vision and collective striving of a string band with a rock and soul heart. Industry recognition and better bookings followed. Then just when the follow-up album was coming together, vocalist and guitar player Gary Nichols decided he needed to go his own way. It was a setback, to be sure. Negotiating the transition from the magisterial soul country voice of band co-founder Chris Stapleton to Nichols had taken work and perseverance, but it had led to the most cohesive, impactful Steeldrivers to date. With a second singer on his way out in eight years, there were questions about how to go forward, if they could at all. But this was a unique, highly resilient band, rooted in the kind of mutual respect that only many years of personal history can forge. Richard Bailey (banjo), Tammy Rogers (fiddle), Mike Fleming (bass) and Brent Truitt (mandolin) have been musical colleagues and friends for more than three decades, which is to say nearly all of their adult lives. They were bringing their instrumental, vocal and songwriting skills to various bands, ad hoc gigs, picking parties and recording sessions long before The Steeldrivers first came together. That happened in 2005 when Nashville veteran Mike Henderson and Stapleton, a young gun on Music Row, had co-written a batch of songs that felt right for bluegrass instrumentation. Some casual get-togethers with Bailey, Fleming and Rogers led to a run of shows, a deal with historic Rounder Records and critical acclaim. In a story now well-known, Stapleton hit a streak of rocket-ride success as a solo country artist, and the Steeldrivers resolved to continue on, maintaining the overall soul-grass feeling of that founding voice without hiring a clone. Henderson stepped aside as well, with many things on his plate. The band, made of sturdier stuff than one voice or part, called on Truitt to play mandolin. The search for a new singer after Gary Nichols was trickier. They wanted to keep their cards close to the vest, and they weren't looking for a mainstream bluegrass singer. It wasn't easy, but one day, says Tammy Rogers, "My daughter found him on YouTube." This designee was bound to be unconventional, and he was, a 25-year-old rock and roll singer from Berea, KY named Kelvin Damrell. "I was pretty fresh to bluegrass," Kelvin says. "The only bluegrass I'd heard was couch pickin' at my grandparents' house, and I wasn't into it, to be completely honest. I was a rocker. Cinderella was my favorite band before I met these guys." But that kind of angular perspective was more in tune with The Steeldrivers than he could have known, and his initiation into bluegrass infused a convert's zeal into his performances. "Everybody in the band were virtuosos," he says. "And I'd never seen that side of bluegrass. I thought it was just that old foot stomping traditional stuff, so I was surprised to hear this. And I knew I had a lot of work to do to keep up." While Steeldrivers 3.0 rehearsed and started playing shows, Rogers, the band's dynamic fiddle player and harmony vocalist, leaned hard into developing new material. "Having been known as a songwriting band, I felt like it was still what the band needed to do," she says. Indeed, original, band-written songs were as much a part of the Steeldrivers origin story as its infectious grooves and its R&B leanings. Those first rehearsals and shows with Stapleton/Henderson songs included "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey," "If It Hadn't Been For Love" (which was covered by pop star Adele), "Sticks That Made Thunder" and other certified band standards. Rogers surveyed material she had going back a few years and called some of the co-writers, such as Jerry Salley and Liz Hengber, who'd contributed songs to the original Steeldrivers eponymous debut, to Reckless in 2010, to Hammer Down in 2012 and to the Muscle Shoals Album of 2015. The process of sifting through 50 or 60 prospect songs was of course influenced by Kelvin's taste, sound and phrasing. "There are songs here that aren't even bluegrass to me," he says. "They're rock and roll." He cites the title track "Bad For You" as a prime example. "Banjo is the only bluegrass thing about it," he says. That album-opening title track churns slowly like a paddle-wheel steamer negotiating a shallow muddy river. Kelvin's voice rises and howls with a poignant desperation. Tammy's fiddle carves lonesome answering lines, and the 15-year SteelDriver tradition of dark, jagged-edged goth-grass feels intact and heading for new places. Then in "The Bartender (Load The Gun)" the main character wrestles with his role. Is he a friend-in-need or an accessory to a crime? It's a question perfectly suited to the Steeldrivers' unsparing blues. Up next, "12 O'Clock Blues" takes us inside the haunted anxiety of insomnia. Written by Rogers with longtime musical companion Kieran Kane and his duo partner Rayna Gellert, it became Kelvin's favorite for its groove shockwaves and its depiction of a shared human experience. There are brighter offerings as well, including the pure ardor of the project lead-off #1 single "I Choose You" and the Cajun-inflected country bounce of "Glad I'm Gone," in which the girl doesn't come back and the singer is damn glad about it. Yet the emotional seriousness of the whole collection is firmly established by "Falling Man," a song inspired by the breathtaking photo of an unidentified victim of 9/11 "caught in a frame" and thus made immortal. "I'll never die/I'll never land/Call me what I am/A falling man," sings Kelvin in his most vulnerable performance, with Rogers in sympathetic harmony. It leaves us with chills. That a quintet could sound so consistent over time, while adding new repertoire and even new lead singers, is a testament to a classically Nashville way of thinking. "I always say we just happen to use traditional instruments, but we're really a singer-songwriter band," Rogers says. One regularly hears the edict to "serve the song" among top tier players in Music City. But because this is bluegrass, and this is the Steeldrivers, the truth is that often, serving the song means you gotta play like hell.

Born in Nashville and raised in a recording studio, multi-instrumentalist Yates McKendree grew up hearing and playing with many great musicians. Self taught from the age 3, music came to him naturally. Although just 21 years old, his experience as a professional musician goes back 10+ years. That early experience includes playing regularly in some of Nashville’s most notable venues (The Bluebird Cafe, The Ryman Auditorium, 3rd & Lindsley). It also includes North American and European tours and multiple appearances on national television (Imus In The Morning, CBS Mornings). During Yates’s high school years, he played on and engineered many recording projects; most notably for Delbert McClinton and John Hiatt, who told Rolling Stone Magazine, “Yates was our secret ingredient.” In January 2020, Yates earned a Grammy™ Award for his role as an engineer and a musician on Delbert McClinton’s “Tall Dark & Handsome.” His debut LP “Buchanan Lane” on the Qualified Records label released on October 28, 2022 to critical acclaim worldwide. The album features both classic tunes and 4 original compositions, 2 of which's Yates co-wrote  with stellar Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame 2022 inductee and multi-Grammy winner Gary Nicholson. Produced with his father, Kevin McKendree, “Buchanan Lane” highlights Yates’ skills, remarkable style and taste as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with an emphasis on guitar.

Welcome to the website of bassist, writer and producer Dave Pomeroy and Earwave Music! This is the place to explore the wide variety of cool and unusual music available from Dave and his friends on the Earwave Records label and securely preview and purchase CDs and DVDs from our store at www.earwavemusic.com. You can also find out more about Dave's various musical adventures, discography, articles and interviews, his Nashville Unlimited Christmas homeless charity project, and his work representing professional musicians. In June 2023, he was elected to the office of International Vice President of the American Federation of Musicians, after serving 13 years on the AFM International Executive Board. He remains as President of the Nashville Musicians Association, AFM Local 257, an office he has held since 2009. Here at the Earwave Music Store, our motto is "real music for real people" and we hope you'll agree. Our newest release is Dave's latest solo CD, "Angel in the Ashes," www.davepomeroy.com/angel, which is garnering excellent reviews, some of which you can find in "The Latest" page here on the site. In addition to Dave's two previous solo CDs, "Basses Loaded"and "Tomorrow Never Knows," the albums and videos we have for sale are unique projects by artists such as Three Ring Circle, The Jamie Hartford Band, Paco Shipp, Supercool, Lorianna Matera and more, that cover a wide range of sounds and styles. You can listen to audio samples and securely purchase CDs and DVD from Earwave Records online right here at www.earwavemusic.com. Earwave's most recent DVD release is the legendary All-Bass Orchestra concert video "The Day The Bass Players Took Over The World". This is an earthshaking and historic concert video filmed at the legendary "Basses Loaded" concert series at the Ace of Clubs in Nashville. In addition to performances by Dave Pomeroy and the All-Bass Orchestra, highlights include an incredible 20 minute version of "Footprints" by Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Oteil Burbridge and Bill Dickens, which has been viewed over 300,000 times on You Tube. This high quality digitally remastered version takes these epic bass performances to new highs - and lows! Originally available on VHS only, this Special Edition DVD has the complete 1996 concert, a mini documentary, "Building the Bass Orchestra," and five unreleased performances, including guests Bob Babbitt and Duane Eddy. This is a one of a kind release and is a must for bass players and music lovers of all types. Both Three Ring Circle CDs are available here as well. This high powered acoustic instrumental trio features Dave collaborating with world-renowned acoustic music masters Rob Ickes on Dobro and Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle. From futuristic hoedowns to down home funk, and hot jazz, these boys pick it like you've never heard before! Earwave's acclaimed documentary film, "Sleepy LaBeef Rides Again," which was selected for the Nashville Film Festival and the Little Rock Film Festival, tells the compelling story of one of Arkansas' favorite sons, and at 81 years old, he is the living embodiment of Americana Music. The DVD and soundtrack CD are available here at the Earwave store. The film captures his heart and soul and the man behind this dynamic live performance, backed by a quartet of Nashville's finest players, Kenny Vaughan on guitar, Rick Lonow on drums, Gene Dunlap on keys, and Dave Pomeroy on bass. Dave produced the film, which was directed by Seth Pomeroy, and which includes 4 documentary inserts illuminating the incredible story of the greatest artist you ALMOST never heard of. Acclaimed roots music journalist Peter Guralnick makes an appearance in the film, calling Sleepy "one of the greatest live performers of this or any era." The soundtrack is also available here at www.earwavemusic.com. Stay a while, look around, listen to some tunes, bookmark us, and come back often for the latest news and music! Groove On...