Pam Tillis
Background information
Birth name	Pamela Yvonne Tillis
Born	(1957-07-24) July 24, 1957 (age 54)
Origin	Plant City, Florida, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, rhythm guitar
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Arista Nashville Lucky Dog Stellar Cat
Associated acts	Mel Tillis Dolly Parton Kathy Mattea Mary Chapin Carpenter Tanya Tucker Billy Ray Cyrus Miley Cyrus
Website	Pam Tillis Official Site

Pamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis (born July 24, 1957 in Plant City, Florida) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis.

Originally a demo singer in Nashville, Tennessee, Pam was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1981, with nine singles and a studio album being released in the 1980s. She later found work as a staff songwriter for Tree Publishing. By 1991, she had signed to Arista Records; that year, she reached Top 5 on the Billboard country charts with "Don't Tell Me What to Do", the first of five singles from her second album, Put Yourself in My Place, which was certified gold by the RIAA.

Between 1991 and the present, Tillis has charted more than 30 singles on the U.S. Billboard country charts, including her only Number One single, 1995's "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)". She has also released ten albums overall (nine studio albums plus a Greatest Hits compilation), with three platinum and two gold certifications. She has also founded her own label, Stellar Cat Records.

Biography and career[link]

Early years[link]

Tillis grew up in Nashville surrounded by music. As the daughter of country star Mel Tillis, she made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry at age 8, singing "Tom Dooley." ^[1] At 16, she injured herself in a severe car accident, requiring many years of surgical reconstruction. Throughout her education, Tillis said, music was the only thing she took seriously.^[2] Following surgery, Tillis enrolled at the University of Tennessee and later Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, forming her first band. She dropped out of college to pursue her own musical career in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During this period, she performed with local club groups, such as, Cor, the Stan Lassiter Group 'Oceans' and Strutt, which also featured Freeman Brown from 'Bottom & Company' fame and, a new in Nashville, Dan Schafer.^[3]

'Strutt' Band-Nashville 1982
'Pam Tillis' 3rd from left

Tillis got her musical start in San Francisco, joining the jazz-rock band Freelight along with local guitar legend John Cipollina. She then returned to Nashville as a demo singer. She took another shot at pop stardom with her first (and only) album for Warner Bros. Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey was released in 1983. After five unsuccessful country single entries, Tillis left the label and became a staff songwriter with Tree Publishing in Nashville. As a staff writer, Tillis shifted her focus to contemporary country. Tillis started making regular appearances on The Nashville Network's Nashville Now, a variety show hosted by Ralph Emery.

During her time with Warner Bros. Records, Tillis transferred from the pop to the Nashville country division, working as a staff writer for Tree. Her songs have been recorded by artists as varied as Suzy Bogguss, Chaka Khan, Martina McBride, Gloria Gaynor, Joy Lynn White, Conway Twitty, Holly Dunn, Juice Newton, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Dan Seals, and Highway 101. Tillis recorded a pop album, Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey, in 1983, during a short stay on the Warner Brothers label.^[2] Tillis was released from her Warner Bros. contract in 1987 to poor artistic showing on the country music charts, her highest being "Those Memories of You" in 1986 (that song would become a Top five hit for Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt the following year), which peaked outside the Country top 40 at No. 55. Another song that Tillis recorded while at Warner Bros., "Five Minutes", would become Lorrie Morgan's first No. 1 in April 1990. During this time, Tillis released singles on her own as a country artist, none of which were very successful, including songs like, "I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way" and "There Goes My Love".

1990 – 2001: Breakthrough and popularity[link]

Pam Tillis singing on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at the 2006 Missouri State Fair. Tillis opened the show for George Jones.

In 1989, Tillis, signed with her second record company, Arista Nashville. Here, Tillis gained her biggest success. Tillis released her label debut, Put Yourself in My Place, in 1991, and the lead single, "Don't Tell Me What to Do," raced into the Top Five, giving Tillis her long-awaited breakthrough. Of the album's five total singles, "One of Those Things" and "Maybe It Was Memphis" also made the Top Ten (as did the album). 1992's Homeward Looking Angel was an equally successful follow-up, with "Shake the Sugar Tree" and "Let That Pony Run" both making the Top Five.^[4] The success the singles brought led to Tillis' album being certified "Gold" by the RIAA that year, and reaching No. 10 on the "Top Country Albums" chart and No. 69 on the "Billboard 200" that year.

Homeward Looking Angel was Tillis' first album to be certified "Platinum" by the RIAA. Tillis had two other successful hits from the album that reached the Country top 20, "Do You Know Where Your Man Is" and "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial". While at Arista, Tillis recorded six albums, earning two gold and two platinum in the process. At one point, she was also married to songwriter Bob DiPiero, who co-wrote several of Pam's singles.^[5] One of Tillis' compositions, "We've Tried Eveything Else," was later recorded by Canadian country music artist Michelle Wright in 1994. Tillis also recorded the song and included it on her second album for Arista, Homeward Looking Angel, released in 1992.

In 1993, she won her first major award from Country music, winning the CMA Awards' Vocal Event of the Year with George Jones and Friends for "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair".

In 1994, Tillis, released a fourth album, Sweetheart's Dance, which is to date her highest-charting studio album on both the "Top Country Albums" chart and the "Billboard 200" chart, peaking at No. 6 and No. 51 respectively. The album also became Tillis' second "Platinum"-certified album. The first single, "Spilled Perfume" was a Top 5 Country hit in 1994, and its follow-up, a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room", was an even bigger hit, peaking in the Top 5 at No. 2, just missing the Country chart's top spot. However, it was her third single from the album, "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" that became Tillis' first — and, to date, only — Number One single, spending two weeks on top in February 1995. Another release from this album, "I Was Blown Away", was making its ascension up the charts in the spring of 1995 when Tillis herself requested it be pulled^[6] and that radio stations stop playing it^[7] in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.

In late 1995, Tillis released a brand-new studio album, All of This Love, which was certified "Gold" by the RIAA., All of This Love was the first album Tillis produced by herself, and gave her Top Tens in "Deep Down" and "The River and the Highway".^[4] In 1997, Tillis released her first-ever, Greatest Hits album. The album featured two new tracks, which were released as singles, "All the Good Ones Are Gone" and "Land of the Living", which both reached the Top 5 in 1997. Tillis called her Greatest Hits record, released in 1997, a turning point. Her career gained momentum when the single "All the Good Ones Are Gone" was nominated for numerous awards, including two Grammys.^[8] In 1998, Tillis released a new studio album, Every Time. 1998's Every Time reflected her recent divorce from songwriter Bob DiPiero and gave her a near-Top Ten hit in "I Said a Prayer." ^[4] The title track, second and last single from the album barely cracked the Top 40 at No. 38, and showed Tillis' declining popularity on the Country charts.

In 2000, Pam became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Pam also appeared on the Opry's 75th Birthday special on CBS, performing an original song she wrote as a tribute to Minnie Pearl called "Two Dollar Hat".

A reshuffling at Arista delayed the release of Thunder and Roses until 2001, so in the meantime Tillis performed on Broadway in the Leiber & Stoller tribute production.^[4] The one single released from the album, "Please" nearly reached the Top 20 in 2001, and was also her second entry onto the Billboard Pop charts, reaching No. 120. By this time in 2001, after the new 2000 millenium, Country music grew less and less Neo-traditional and more Country-pop sounding with newcomers, like Faith Hill and Shania Twain, and therefore, Tillis' career slowed down greatly. She then left Arista in 2001.

Acting career[link]

She felt 1998 was the right time to expand her acting repertoire. She appeared in back-to-back crossover episodes of Promised Land and Diagnosis: Murder on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). "My interest in acting started in 1989 when I starred in Tennessee Repertory's 'Jesus Christ Superstar' as Mary Magdalene," explained Tillis, who has also appeared on L.A. Law and hosted Live at the Ryman.^[8] As well as singing, she has acted in guest spots on television and on stage in the Tennessee Repertory production of Jesus Christ Superstar and on Broadway in Smokey Joe's Café that ran from 1995 to 2000. In 2011, Tillis will start in a new movie called The Goree Girls alongside Jennifer Aniston, and Jennifer Landon.

2002 – present: Career today[link]

In 2002, Pam was signed by Sony Music Entertainment / Epic Records roots subsidiary Lucky Dog and debuted It's All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis, a collection of her father's material that finally found her embracing his legacy on her own terms.

In 2007, Tillis launched her own Record label, Stellar Cat Records. Her first album, RhineStoned, was released in April 2007.^[4] The Two singles released from RhineStoned were "Band in the Window" and "The Hardway" both sent to country radio in 2007. Her second album on Stellar Cat Records Just in Time for Christmas, was released on November 13, 2007.

Tillis earned 13 top ten hits on the country music charts, and in 1994, was named the Country Music Association "Female Vocalist of the Year". In 1999, she earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

Tillis ranked #30 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.

In 2012, Pam Tillis will release "Recollection", a 14 track album that features new versions of her past hits on Arista. Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan are recording a duets album, scheduled for release in Summer 2012

Twice divorced, she has a grown son, Ben, and lives in Nashville.

Discography[link]

• 1983: Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey
• 1991: Put Yourself in My Place
• 1992: Homeward Looking Angel
• 1994: Sweetheart's Dance
• 1995: All of This Love
• 1998: Every Time
• 2001: Thunder & Roses
• 2002: It's All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis
• 2007: RhineStoned
• 2007: Just in Time for Christmas

Filmography[link]

References[link]

• McGraw, Marjie. (1998). "Pam Tillis". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 539.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pam Tillis

• Official Website
• Official MySpace

Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939 in York, PA^[1]) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively. In June 2010, he received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2011 he was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Career[link]

McCoury has had a long career in bluegrass. Although originally hired as banjo player, he sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1963, with whom he first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. McCoury briefly appeared with the Golden State Boys in 1964 before taking a series of day jobs in construction and logging, while continuing to work as an amateur musician in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.^[2]

In the 1980s his sons began performing with him. Fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined McCoury's group in early 1990s. McCoury's group toured widely throughout the US. They relocated to Nashville, Tennessee as they began to attract attention. Fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Mike Bub joined in 1992. Alan Bartram joined the band as bassist in 2005. McCoury became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in October 2003.

McCoury was also one of many performers at The Clearwater Concert at Madison Square Garden on May 3, 2009. The event celebrated the 90th birthday of Pete Seeger.

McCoury has influenced a great number of bands, including Phish, with whom he has shared the stage several times,^[3][4] and who have covered his songs.^[5] He has also performed with The String Cheese Incident and Donna the Buffalo, and recorded with Steve Earle.^[6] McCoury has covered songs by artists as diverse as The Lovin' Spoonful, Tom Petty, and Richard Thompson.^[5] McCoury has appeared at festivals including Bonnaroo, High Sierra,^[2] the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and the Newport Folk Festival.^[7] His television appearances include Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman.^[8] Del has a very enthusiastic fan base, known as the Del-Heads.

In October 2009, The Del McCoury Band began offering fans recordings of their performances on USB flash drives available immediately after their concerts.^[9]

In June 2010, McCoury received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts in the field of folk and traditional arts, including a stipend of $25,000.^[10]

DelFest[link]

Del McCoury Band at 2nd annual DelFest, 2009

In 2008, Del McCoury started DelFest, an annual bluegrass festival in Cumberland, Maryland, held at the Allegany County Fairgrounds ^[11]

Discography[link]

Del McCoury, 2005

Del McCoury[link]

Del McCoury Band[link]

Awards[link]

Del McCoury has won 31 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year four consecutive times^[12] (nine total^[7]). McCoury has also won IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year four times. In 2004 he was nominated for the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy Award for It's Just The Night, and in 2006 he won his first Grammy Award, in the same category, for The Company We Keep.^[7]

International Bluegrass Music Association Awards[link]

• 1990 Male Vocalist of the Year – Del McCoury
• 1991 Male Vocalist of the Year – Del McCoury
• 1992 Male Vocalist of the Year – Del McCoury
• 1994 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 1994 Album of the Year – A Deeper Shade of Blue; Del McCoury
• 1996 Instrumental Group of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 1996 Entertainer of the Year – Del McCoury
• 1996 Male Vocalist of the Year – Del McCoury
• 1997 Instrumental Group of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 1997 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 1997 Album of the Year – True Life Blues – The Songs of Bill Monroe; Sam Bush, Vassar Clements, Mike Compton, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Pat Enright, Greg Garing, Richard Greene, David Grier, David Grisman, John Hartford, Bobby Hicks, Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, Mike Marshall, Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Jim Nunally, Scott Nygaard, Mollie O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, Alan O'Bryant, Herb Pedersen, Todd Phillips, John Reischman, Peter Rowan, Craig Smith, Chris Thile, Tony Trischka, Roland White.
• 1998 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 1999 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 2000 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 2002 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 2002 Song of the Year – 1952 Vincent Black Lightning; The Del McCoury Band (artists), Richard John Thompson (writer)
• 2003 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 2004 Entertainer of the Year – The Del McCoury Band
• 2004 Album of the Year – It’s Just the Night; The Del McCoury Band

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• Del McCoury Band official website
• Del McCoury Band on Myspace
• Discography at Discography of Bluegrass Sound Recordings

v t e Bluegrass music Typical instruments Acoustic guitar · Banjo · Dobro · Fiddle · Mandolin · Upright bass Stylistic origins Blues · Country music · Folk music · Old-time music Sub- and fusion genres Traditional bluegrass · Progressive bluegrass · Bluegrass gospel · Czech bluegrass Notable festivals Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival · California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Bluegrass Festival · Delfest · Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival · High Sierra Music Festival · Kentucky Festival of the Bluegrass · Merlefest · San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival · South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival · River City Bluegrass Festival · Rockygrass · Telluride Bluegrass Festival · Wintergrass Other International Bluegrass Music Museum · International Bluegrass Music Association · International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame · Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America · Bluegrass Unlimited Category · Portal

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Nanci Griffith
Background information
Birth name	Nanci Caroline Griffith
Born	(1953-07-06) July 6, 1953 (age 58)
Genres	country, folk, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocalist, acoustic guitar
Years active	1978 to present
Labels	B.F. Deal, Featherbed, Philo, MCA, Elektra, Rounder, New Door
Associated acts	The Blue Moon Orchestra The Crickets Darius Rucker The Kennedys
Website	http://www.nancigriffith.com

Nanci Griffith, (born Nanci Caroline Griffith, July 6, 1953, Seguin, Texas) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter based in Austin, Texas.

Biography[link]

Griffith's career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she terms "folkabilly". Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her recording, Other Voices, Other Rooms. This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who are her major influences. One of her better-known songs is "From a Distance" by Julie Gold, although Bette Midler's version achieved greater commercial success. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than Griffith herself. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime", and Suzy Bogguss had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane".

Griffith's high school boyfriend, John, died in a motorcycle accident after taking her to the senior prom, and subsequently inspired many of her songs.^[1] Griffith was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. In the early 1990s, she was engaged to singer-songwriter Tom Kimmel, but the couple parted before marrying. In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998.^[2]

Griffith has in recent years toured with various other artists including Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent; Suzy Bogguss; and Judy Collins. Griffith has recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), The Chieftains, and Darius Rucker (singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). She has also contributed background vocals on many other recordings.^[3]

Griffith suffered from severe 'writers block' for a number of years after 2004, lasting until the 2009 release of her The Loving Kind album which contained nine self-penned or co-written songs.

After several months of limited touring in 2011, bandmates The Kennedys (Pete & Maura Kennedy) packed up their professional Manhattan recording studio and relocated it to Nashville, where they installed it in Nanci's home. There, Ms Griffith and band (including Pete & Maura Kennedy and Pat McInerney) co-produced her forthcoming album, Intersections over the course of the summer. The album includes several new original songs and is due to be released in early 2012 with a UK tour scheduled and an American tour to follow.

As well as her own songs Griffith is well known for her outstanding versions of other people's material, usually by contemporary singer-songwriters.

Awards[link]

Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Band (The Blue Moon Orchestra)[link]

Current members[link]

• Nanci Griffith — lead vocals, guitar
• Pat McInerney — percussion
• Maura Kennedy — vocals, guitar
• Pete Kennedy — guitar, vocals

Previous band members[link]

• James Hooker — keyboards, vocals
• Clive Gregson — guitar, vocals
• Thomm Jutz — guitar, vocals
• Ron De La Vega — bass, cello
• Iris DeMent — vocals
• Fran Breen — drums
• Philip Donnelly — guitar
• Le Ann Etheridge — bass guitar, vocals, mandolin
• Lee Satterfield — vocals, guitar, mandolin
• Lyle Lovett — backing vocals

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Videography[link]

• Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration Sony VHS (1993)
• Other Voices, Other Rooms Elektra Video VHS (1993)
• Winter Marquee Rounder/Universal DVD, Widescreen, (2002)
• One Fair Summer Evening...Plus! Universal Music & VI DVD, Fullscreen, (2005)

See also[link]

• Music of Austin

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official web site
• Comprehensive Nanci Griffith Discography