Category: Entertainment News

Award winning fiddler Jason Carter’s new album Lowdown Hoedown

Jason Carter gathers all-star lineup and good times tunes for new album Lowdown Hoedown. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

For thirty years, Jason Carter has been the fiddle player for the Del McCoury Band—the most awarded group in bluegrass history. He has won three Grammy awards, including 2018’s “Best Bluegrass Album” with the Travelin’ McCourys, of which he is a founding member. He has taken home five IBMAs for “Fiddle Player of the Year,” a staggering number that is not quite so crazy once you realize just how many bluegrass greats have turned to Carter for collaboration. (Jason Carter, 2022)

Jason Carter has spent years collaborating with a laundry list of all-time great musicians across a multitude of genres—not to mention his three decades as a member of the Del McCoury Band and being a founding member of the Travelin’ McCourys—but, never before have all of his friends, from all those years, joined Carter on his own solo album. That is, until now.

On November 4, 2022, Carter will release Lowdown Hoedown, a thirteen-song collection featuring Carter’s own rich vocals and red-hot fiddling backed up by a stunning lineup of musicians whom he calls friends. Imagine that Carter is throwing the pickin’ party of the century and we are all invited to join in. The guests? Well, there is Dierks Bentley, Aiofe O’Donovan, Vince Gill, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Jon Fishman, Marty Stuart, and that is just for starters. The multitude of guests speaks not only to Carter’s long-known stellar musicianship but also to his personality, lighting up the backstage hangs of music festivals nationwide. 

Carter shared the opening track from Lowdown Hoedown, “King of the Hill,” a Bruce Hornsby tune that features Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, Russ Carson on banjo, Dennis Crouch on Bass, and Cody Kilby, Carter’s longtime Travelin’ McCourys bandmate, on guitar. “The story is about a guy who is unhappy with his job and relates to it like a prison. I think it made a great bluegrass song,” says Carter, who was introduced to the song by Kilby. “This was the first song we recorded for the record and the band knocked it out of the park.” 

Fans can hear “King of the Hill” right here and pre-order or pre-save Lowdown Hoedown ahead of its release at this link. 

Lowdown Hoedown track list:
King of the Hill
The Six O’clock Train and a Girl with Green Eyes
The Likes of Me
Paper Angel
Dust Bowl Dream
Hoedown for My Lowdown Rowdy Ways
Good Things Happen
Midnight Flyer
Queen of the Nashville Night
Kissimmee Kid
You Led Me to the Wrong
Highway 52
Bird Song

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Review: Proxima Bound by Davi Mai

Proxima Bound is an exciting futuristic outer space adventure that puts humans as the prey. Photo: Amazon

Davi Mai is a short story writer focusing on fantasy, science fiction, and transgressive fiction. Proxima Bound is Davi Mai’s latest novella. (Davi Mai, 2022)

Proxima Bound –  Humanity’s last hope rests with the colonists aboard the generational starship Attenborough bound for Proxima Centauri, a thousand years away. Catastrophe strikes when a reactor meltdown cuts off those in the ship’s front from the rear. Two factions must now struggle to survive. With four hundred years still to travel, we join a plucky teenager, “Thief.” She has found a way through the ventilation system, around the radioactive core of the ship, and into the front sections. The story begins as Thief is crawling through the ventilation shaft to access engineering and bring back, or ‘steal’ anything that Johan, the tech wiz of the colonists, can use to keep their section of the ship going. Deep down inside, Johan knows that there must be an AI onboard that can help them get an edge over the colonists at the front of the ship. This time, Thief brings back vital components that might help the rear-dwellers connect to the ship’s computer. For the first time in hundreds of years, there is hope. The colonists not only have to worry about surviving their environment, they have to constantly watch their backs because people are disappearing without a trace. To make matters worse, a new virus is stressing an already overworked makeshift hospital. Now that there is hope of communicating with the AI, Thief needs to crawl through the bowels of the ship, the furthest she has ever been, to retrieve the necessary components and hopefully rescue one of their own who was recently taken.

One of the best things about short stories and novellas is that the story is direct and to the point without unnecessary build up and other distractions. Such is the case with Proxima Bound. Right from the start, readers are introduced to Thief and how important this character is to the colonists’ survival. She is young, and therefore small enough to crawl through small spaces, but old enough to understand the harsh reality of what they are facing and how important her work is. All the action takes place aboard the starship, which makes it that much more exciting. The story is well paced, the language is down to earth, and the characters are relatable due to the main theme being the universal human survival instinct. Despite it being such a short story, the author manages to get readers to care about what happens to these characters, which proves how prolific of a story teller she is. Comic relief comes, ironically, via one of the antagonists, and the humor is sometimes a bit dark. An unnerving moment occurs when the AI, once online again, admits that she was programmed to make sure there are enough survivors to populate the new colony and luckily in this case it was the humans. Since there are still many years left in the voyage, hopefully this will become a series. Proxima Bound is a fascinating and suspenseful tale of human survival and is recommended for readers who enjoy science fiction and outer space adventures with a strong female character.

“Bianca swept through the corridors like a strong breeze. She told herself to slow down and adopt a more dignified poise, but found it hard to control her blood lust; to force down the urges welling up inside her— but prolonging the moment heightened the enjoyment when it came.”

*The author received a copy of this novella for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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New movie release: How Dark They Prey

From Film Valor, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

From Film Valor and directors Jamison M. LoCascio and Adam Ambrosio, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. (October Coast, 2022)

How Dark They Prey – Includes four dark tales about the haunting nature of man and the unknown from WWII to Alien investigation, finding the occult, and kidnap with torture. The highly anticipated horror anthology is written by Adam Ambrosio, Anthony LoCascio and Jamison M. LoCascio. Starring Josiah Schneider, Timothy Paul Jobe, and David Johnson.

New movie release: The Mystery Spot

The Mystery Spot releases on digital and Video On Demand on October 7 from Terror Films. Photo: Google

From director Mel House, and starring Graham Skipper (Re-Animator: The Musical), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4-5), and scream queen Debbie Rochon, experience the terror of The Mystery Spot this October. (Terror Films, 2022)

The Mystery Spot – A number of lost souls find refuge in a small motel in the middle of nowhere, its only distinguishing characteristic being the ruins of an old Mystery Spot—a long-dead roadside attraction with strange metaphysical powers. Nathan and Rachel find solace in one another, both attempting to escape dark pasts that seem to be using the Mystery Spot to go from being painful shadows of their lives to very real entities of the present. Everyone at the Mystery Spot will be affected by its unique properties, but only some will survive its reality-shattering implications.

The Mystery Spot releases on digital and VOD October 7 worldwide from Terror Films.

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Chris Shiflett’s new single ‘Born & Raised’

Chris Shiflett blends West Coast nostalgia and heartland hooks with brand new single “Born & Raised.” Courtesy photo, used with permission.

While Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chris Shiflett gets recognition for his role in Foo Fighters, the modern-day guitar hero has seemingly always had one foot in the country music world—and, these days, he has been spending plenty of time making music in Nashville. Just last week, Shiflett played the Grand Ole Opry alongside a best-of-Nashville band—Sierra Hull (mandolin), Mike Bub (bass), and Michael Cleveland (fiddle). Now he has released his second of two singles recorded with legendary producer Vance Powell, “Born & Raised.” Shiflett began writing the tune while surfing his hometown Santa Barbara coastline but finished it in Music City where a group of Americana studio all-stars—bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Julian Doro, keyboardist Mike Webb, and steel guitarist Luke Schneider—brought “Born & Raised” to life. (Chris Shiflett, 2022)

A swirl of West Coast nostalgia, heartland hooks, and Deluxe Reverb drive, the song unfolds like a love letter to one’s roots, delivered by a man who has spent most of his adulthood on the move. “Born & Raised” and Shiflett’s recently released “Long, Long Year” are both songs that find Shiflett in a reflective mood, looking at where he has been before heading toward whatever is next. Fans of Shiflett should certainly be keeping an eye out for even more new music over the next year. They can save “Born & Raised” here and watch the lyric video now at this link. “Long, Long Year” is also available right here.

“My trip out to Nashville in March of 2021 was my first time recording any solo material since I made Hard Lessons. I hadn’t done much traveling post-covid lockdown so I was a little nervous heading out there to work with a producer and roomful of musicians I didn’t really know. In true Nashville style we made our introductions and got right down to work, hammering out the basic tracks in a few hours. Vance was great and made me feel right at home, and the group of players he put together were on point.” – Chris Shiflett

Catch Chris Shiflett on tour:
September 17 – Redondo Beach, CA – BeachLife Ranch Festival 2022
December 3 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
December 8 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Anaheim
December 17 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues Las Vegas
December 28 – Los Angels, CA – The Belasco

A longtime member of Foo Fighters, Shiflett has already played an integral role in shaping the sound, swagger, and scope of rock music throughout the 21st century. He joined the band in 1999, after kicking off his career playing guitar for seminal pop-punk groups like No Use For a Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. While flying the flag for modern rock & roll, he also made time to pursue projects outside of the band. Groups like Jackson United and Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants found him in the driver’s seat, establishing his credentials as a front man, while the long-running Americana podcast Walking the Floor found him shining a light on his heroes and contemporaries, its 200+ episodes highlighting the storytellers, songwriters, and road warriors of contemporary roots music. Two critically acclaimed solo albums, 2017’s West Coast Town and 2019’s Hard Lessons, marked Shiflett’s own entry into the Americana world, mixing classic Bakersfield influences with greasy guitar riffs, Marshall amplifiers, and country-rock crunch.

 

Ghost of Paul Revere announces final album

Ghost of Paul Revere signs to Americana Vibes for final album, Goodbye, and catalog deal. Photo: Nicole Wolf, used with permission.

Ghost of Paul Revere, a band with over a decade of accolades and friendship, offer their final collection of songs in the form of a record aptly titled Goodbye, which is available everywhere for streaming. Releasing via Americana Vibes, and featuring the band’s—Griffin Sherry [guitar, vocals], Max Davis [banjo, vocals], Sean McCarthy [bass, vocals], and Chuck Gagne [drums, vocals]—signature blend of folk, bluegrass, rock, country, and Americana rooted in ponderous lyricism and raucous energy, Goodbye is both an offering of gratitude to fans and a celebration. (Ghost of Paul Revere, 2022)

For this release and their back catalog, the band has signed with Americana Vibes, of which the label co-founder Ivory Daniel, says “Everything that we strive for here at Americana Vibes is embodied within the music, art, and humanity behind this album, Goodbye. We’re excited to welcome the Ghosts to our family, and even more so to release this body of work while amplifying the importance of the Ghosts catalog across the globe.”

The collection of songs on Goodbye feels a bit like a victory lap, one in which the band is enjoying the natural end to all good things and inviting fans to attend a rowdy, joyful curtain closing of sorts. The album’s origins are much like the band’s, beginning by decamping to a family cabin to reunite and write in late 2020. 48-hours of writing in ‘20 fueled the creativity to continue writing into ‘21. By the time they hit the studio with co-producer and engineer Dan Cardinal, they had decided the overall direction and opted to primarily record live.

“The record ebbs and flows between soft songs that are more akin to what we used to do and more rocking songs with pretty good grit to them,” says Sherry. The band’s final offering, Goodbye, plays homage to the more-than-a-decade of music-making with friends. “How does one write an obituary of a ghost?” the band asked on social media when announcing their departure from the scene. The answer, of course, is hidden in the 12 songs of Goodbye.

Goodbye track listing:
At Least I Know It’s True
In My Yard
Gratefully Here
In Deep
JTE
Letters From the War of Love and Loss
Me and My Shadow
Rider
Vivid Dream
Older Lately
Knuckle
Goodbye

Novella of the week: Proxima Bound by Davi Mai

Proxima Bound by Davi Mai. Photo: Amazon

Davi Mai is a short story writer focusing on fantasy, science fiction, and transgressive fiction. Proxima Bound is Davi Mai’s latest YA science-fiction novella. (Davi Mai, 2022)

Proxima Bound –  Humanity’s last hope rests with the colonists aboard the generational starship Attenborough bound for Proxima Centauri a thousand years away. Catastrophe strikes when a reactor meltdown cuts off those in the ship’s front from the rear. Two factions must now struggle to survive. With four hundred years still to travel, we join a plucky teenager, “Thief.” She has found a way through the ventilation system, around the radioactive core of the ship, and into the front sections. Thief brings back vital components that might help the rear-dwellers connect the ship’s computer. For the first time in hundreds of years, there is hope.

But people are disappearing without a trace, and the makeshift hospital is overflowing with cases of a new virus. It is up to Thief to embark on her toughest mission yet. To crawl through the bowels of the ship, the furthest she has ever been, and find some answers, before there is no-one left alive. What she finds at the front of the ship, however, is terrifying.

Proxima Bound is also available as an audiobook.

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Book adaptation: ‘The Devil in Ohio’ by Daria Polatin

‘The Devil in Ohio’ is now a limited series on Netflix. Photo: Amazon

Daria Polatin is a TV writer/executive producer, award-winning playwright, and author. She wrote and directed her new play PALMYRA at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, which ran on CTG’s Digital Stage. Her plays have been produced across the United States and internationally. She is a founding member of The Kilroys, the advocacy group for gender parity in the American theater. Under her 1001 Pictures banner, Daria continues to write and produce propulsive stories that challenge and entertain. “Devil in Ohio,” her debut novel, was adapted into a Netflix limited series consisting of eight episodes starring Emily Deschanel and Madeleine Arthur. Daria is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer. (Amazon, 2022)

“Devil in Ohio” – Based on a true story. When fifteen-year-old Jules Mathis comes home from school to find a strange girl sitting in her kitchen, her psychiatrist mother reveals that Mae is one of her patients at the hospital and will be staying with their family for a few days. But soon Mae is wearing Jules’s clothes, sleeping in her bedroom, edging her out of her position on the school paper, and flirting with Jules’s crush. And Mae has no intention of leaving. Then things get weird. Jules walks in on a half-dressed Mae, startled to see: a pentagram carved into Mae’s back. Jules pieces together clues and discovers that Mae is a survivor of the strange cult that’s embedded in a nearby town. And the cult will stop at nothing to get Mae back.

New book release: ‘The Spark’ by William Steele

‘The Spark’ is book one in the Beyond the Light Universe series. Photo: Amazon

William Steele is an artist and writer from the Rio Grand Valley in Texas. He is the creator of the Beyond the Light Universe. His debut novel “The Spark” is book one of four in the Beyond the Light series. (Amazon, 2022)

“The Spark” – Art and Science… Magic and Logic… Creation and Destruction…Choice and Inevitability…All are constructs born of an apex sentience, and somewhere out beyond the boundary of our known universe, there exists another apex species that has long since eclipsed us in experience. Their faith in magic has dwindled, and the Era of Egal has passed. By marching forward into the Era of Capitol, and abandoning the magical tether to their planet, the Thearians have decided to meet the trials of evolution head on. They have sealed their embrace of the New Way within the immortal city of Key-Rown, and choose the shelter provided by the great depths of the crystal flower. All have sealed their fate. All but one. This is his message.

New book release: ‘Overkill’ by Sandra Brown

‘Overkill’ is Sandra Brown’s new novel. Photo: Amazon

Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-four New York Times bestsellers. There are more than eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. Four of her books have been made into films. In 2008, the International Thriller Writers named Brown its Thriller Master, the organization’s highest honor. In her new book “Overkill” she delivers a riveting thriller in which a conflict of conscience for a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor swiftly intensifies into a fight for their lives. (Amazon, 2022)

“Overkill” – Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger has not seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time—not since their volatile marriage imploded—so he is shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he—despite their divorce—has medical power-of-attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.
 
Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban—the heir of a wealthy family in Atlanta—gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change—if she were to die—Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder. It is not lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but cannot resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he is in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca—and the end of his freedom.