Musician interview: a conversation with Jacob Jolliff

Jacob Jolliff’s new album The Jacob Jolliff Band is available now. Courtesy photo, used with permission

Known for his stunning cross-genre virtuosity and his collaborations with musicians from across the musical spectrum, acoustic musician Jacob Jolliff recently announced the release of his album The Jacob Jolliff Band via Adhyâropa Records. Featuring tight vocal harmonies as well as the customary instrumental fireworks of a collaborative ensemble made up of fellow young stars, this album marks a major milestone in Jolliff’s evolution and the arrival of an authority on bluegrass mandolin. The Jacob Jolliff Band is available now for purchase. (Adhyâropa Records, 2022)

With his new album releasing today, I recently asked Mr. Jolliff a series of questions regarding his background and musical inclinations and this is what he had to say:

Sandra Cruz: You are known as a mandolin player. Do you play another instrument? Which one would you like to learn to play, if any?
Jacob Jolliff: I’ve mostly focused on the mandolin for the last 25 years. I play a bit of guitar, piano, and I sing. I’m finally moving in to an apartment that has a piano, and I’m really looking forward to practicing that!

SC: You have played with many notable musicians; who is your favorite?
JJ: I’ve been lucky to play with a lot of incredible musicians in my life—here are some that have had a huge influence:
—My dad, Bill Jolliff. My first gigging, recording and touring experiences were with dad, and his musical sensibilities have a big impact on me to this day.
—Alex Hargreaves. Alex is one of the best fiddlers in the world and we grew playing together, went to college together, and lived together in NYC. He’s been a huge influence.
—Tony Trischka and Béla Fleck. I’ve been lucky enough to perform with Tony and Béla, and they’re both huge heroes of mine.
—Some other peers of mine that have impacted me musically are: Wes Corbett, Stash Wyslouch, Mike Barnett, Grant Gordy, Lee Dynes, Mike Robinson, Sierra Hull, Michael Daves.

SC: Do you see yourself playing music many years down the road? Would you ever retire?
JJ: Yes! I hope to play my whole life!

SC: Do you prefer playing in front of big audiences or smaller, more intimate venues?
JJ: I like it all! It’s more dependent on who I’m playing with, and the level of attention of the crowd! I’ve really enjoyed everything from house shows to Red Rocks!

SC: What type of music do you listen to on your leisure time?
JJ: Lots of stuff! I’ve been particularly in to Sonny Rollins, Mulgrew Miller and Jason Isbell these days!

SC: Is there anything you would like your fans to know about you? Any messages to them?
JJ: Come to a live show! That band really brings it live!

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Dan Tyminski honors bluegrass hero with new EP One More Time Before You Go: A Tribute To Tony Rice

‘Church Street Blues,’ featuring Molly Tuttle, is the first single from the EP. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Growing up, 14-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist and singer Dan Tyminski was not a six-string picker, favoring mandolin or banjo when he joined the jam—until he heard Tony Rice, that is. Hearing Rice kick-off “Ten Degrees and Getting Colder” with J.D. Crowe and the New South for the first time, Tyminski was overtaken by the sound, forever changing his trajectory as a musician. Like the rest of the tight-knit bluegrass world, Tyminski was devastated by the loss of his hero in late 2020. Upon hearing the news, Tyminski took to writing a song for Rice as a way to relieve some of his grief. “I cried all day on day one, and on day two, had written the instrumental part.” The song ended up being called “One More Time Before You Go,” and grew into the title track of Tyminski’s new EP One More Time Before You Go: A Tribute To Tony Rice. (Dan Tyminski, 2022)

Tyminski shared a taste of the upcoming star-studded tribute with his recording of “Church Street Blues” featuring the reigning queen of bluegrass guitar, Molly Tuttle. Sticking closely to Rice’s classic arrangement, Tyminski and Tuttle cross-pick their way through the long-beloved tune, trading solos and sharing vocals on the song’s iconic chorus. Fans can check out “Church Street Blues” now.

When all was said and done, Tyminski ended up with five songs featuring a number of fellow Rice devotees and friends. New guard pickers like Tuttle, Billy Strings, and Dan Tyminski Band-member Gaven Largent share space with Douglas, Bush, Dailey & Vincent, and more for a stunning all-star tribute to the man who influenced a whole genre of music.

One More Time Before You Go track list:
Church Street Blues (feat. Molly Tuttle)
One More Time Before You Go (feat. Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Sam Bush, Josh Williams)
Ten Degrees And Getting Colder (feat. Dailey & Vincent)
Where The Soul Of A Man Never Dies (feat. Billy Strings)
Why You Been Gone So Long (feat. Gaven Largent)

Catch Dan Tyminski on tour:
August 12 – York, PA – Appell Center For The Performing Arts
August 13 – Goshen, CT – Podunk Bluegrass Festival 2022
August 18-20 – Marion, NC – North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival 2022
August 25 – Middlesboro, KY – Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series
August 27 – Lexington, VA – Lime Kiln Theater
August 28 – Doylestown, PA – Bluegrass at the TileWorks Summer Series
September 1-4 – Brunswick, ME – Thomas Point Bluegrass Festival 2022
September 1 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House
September 3 – Plymouth, MA – Spire Center for the Performing Arts
September 18 – Flagstaff, AZ – Pickin’ In The Pines 2022
September 27-29 – West Raleigh, NC – IBMA Bluegrass Ramble 2022
September 30 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center
October 7-8 – Big Stone Gap, VA – Blue Highway Fest 2022
October 14 – The Woodlands, TX – Dosey Doe Big Barn
November 10 – Wilmington, OH – Roberts Centre
November 10-12 – Wilmington, NC – Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival 2022

Throughout his 30+ year career, Dan Tyminski has left his mark in every corner of modern music. Tyminski’s voice famously accompanies George Clooney’s performance of the Stanley Brother’s Classic song, “I’m A Man of Constant Sorrow,” in the film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou and his vocal collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii on the song “Hey, Brother” was a global smash, having been streamed over 1 billion times to date. Dan has also contributed guitar and/or harmony to projects by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Aaron Lewis, and Rob Thomas, to name a few. In addition to his highly successful solo career, Dan Tyminski has played guitar and mandolin for Alison Krauss and Union Station since 1994. His unmatched instrumental skills and burnished, soulful tenor voice have been key components of the band.

Scott Krokoff announces new single Fortunately

Scott Krokoff’s new single *Fortunately.* Cover art by enchanted.marvel.

With a rich sound drawn primarily from his love of 60s and 70s music, New Yorker Scott Krokoff weaves elements of folk rock and country pop into confessional and compelling Americana. He is an evocative and introspective songwriter with a style that is reminiscent of Tom Petty and James Taylor and a voice that sounds like a mix of Jackson Browne and Steve Winwood. People of all ages find Scott’s music appealing and inspirational, relating to his music not only because of the infectious rhythm and energy each song possesses but because he represents the desire we each have to dream big and live life to the fullest. His latest single Fortunately, is now officially out and available for streaming on all platforms. It is a love song written for his wife in the bossa nova style reminiscent of those classic bossa sounds from the 60s. (Scott Krokoff, 2022)

He will be appearing at the Mercury Lounge in New York on Friday, August 5 along with Rory D’Lasnow and Victor V. Gurbo. Tickets are $10 and are available through Ticketmaster. Each be playing 30 minute full band sets.

To date, Scott has released 3 albums and several singles, including three singles with over 100,000 streams on Spotify (Far Too Many Times, My Own Terms and Groundhog). PopWrapped calls Scott “an artist to watch” and Music Crowns calls Scott’s latest release – 2022’s Fortunately – “a song you’ll want to hold your loved ones close to, and find harmony with one another while swaying along to the music.”

Award-winning found footage horror movie The Andy Baker Tape

A multi-award-winner on the festival circuit, *The Andy Baker Tape* premieres on the Terror Films Channel August 5 before a wide digital on August 12 and the Kings of Horror on August 19, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Alpha House’s Bret Lada writes, directs and stars in unnerving found footage horror movie The Andy Baker Tape, releasing this August from Terror Films. A multi-award-winner on the festival circuit, The Andy Baker Tape premieres on the Terror Films Channel August 5 before a wide digital on August 12 and the Kings of Horror on August 19, 2022. (Terror Films, 2022)

The Andy Baker Tape – On October of 2020 food blogger Jeff Blake and his half-brother Andy Baker hit the road on a food tour that had the potential to change their lives. They were never seen again. This is their footage.

“The Andy Baker Tape was written, shot, and edited in a 6-month period during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Created by a displaced screen actor, an out-of-work Blue Man, an Australian-based sound engineer, and a first-time female producer; this film is a testament to creation and keeping the artistic spirit alive while the rest of the world was forced into hibernation. Our story is a joyride of laughs, thrills, and suspense. My team and I are delighted to share it with you.” – Bret Lada

New found footage horror movie: Infrared

*Infrared* is now available on digital platforms and will be released on Kings of Horror on August 5, 2022. Photo: google

Terror Films released found footage horror film Infrared, starring The Room’s Gregory Sestero, worldwide on digital platforms on July 22 and it will be available on Kings of Horror on August 5, 2022. (Terror Films, 2022)

Infrared – A paranormal investigator and his production crew gain access to a mysterious, abandoned school but when the thrilling haunt turns deadly, the team must race to uncover the terrifying truth before they become the school’s next victims. Jesse Janzen, Leah Finity, and Lori Richardson also star in the spooker.

“Infrared is first and foremost a horror film, but at its heart, is a movie about siblings reconnecting in a time of need. Often in horror films, we find ourselves rooting for the characters we don’t like to die, so it was important for us to develop characters that we wanted to survive, creating a larger emotional investment for those watching. With this intention in mind, we set out to wholly develop their backstories and create a believable connection. From there we tackled the darker themes and scares within the film, workshopping ideas with our actors, and giving them the freedom of collaboration within our improvisational process. This film is injected with humor, tension and scares, and we really hope that nobody finds an owner’s manual in their basement.” – Directors Robert Livings and Randy Nundall Jr.

*Infrared* movie poster. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Television adaptation: Paper Girls comic book series

The television adaptation of the Paper Girls comic book series is available on Amazon Prime Video. Photo: google

Paper Girls is a mystery/science fiction comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang, published by American company Image Comics. Paper Girls follows the story of four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls (Erin, MacKenzie, KJ, and Tiffany) set in Stony Stream, a fictional suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. As they are out delivering papers on the morning after Halloween in 1988, the town is struck by an invasion from a mysterious force from the future. The girls become unwillingly caught up in the conflict between two warring factions of time travelers. The television adaptation premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, 2022 and consists of eight episodes. (Wikipedia, 2022)

Paper Girls is a science fiction drama television series created by Stephany Folsom based on the comic book series. It stars Camryn Jones as Tiffany Quilkin, Riley Lai Nelet as Erin Tieng, Sofia Rosinsky as Mac Coyle, Fina Strazza as KJ Brandman, and Ali Wong as Adult Erin. The girls become unwittingly caught in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers, sending them on an adventure through time that will save the world. As they travel between our present, the past, and the future – they encounter future versions of themselves and now must choose to embrace or reject their fate.

This series premiered on Friday July 29 and I just watched the first episode and judging by the comments online, it is being compared to Stranger Things (I have never watched that show). The first episode introduces the main characters and sets off the time traveling where the first meet Adult Erin. Being a big fan of science fiction, especially time travelling, it looks interesting. The story line goes back and forth between the past, present, and future so I hope I do not lose interest because I really want to see it through. The best thing is that all eight episodes are available now, so I can probably binge watch the entire season.

The Western Express announces new album Lunatics, Lovers & Poets

The Western Express show off their nuevo-retro style of Texas country with new single “Flower Of The Rio Grande.” Upcoming album *Lunatics, Lovers & Poets* is due out August 9, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Lone Star State honky-tonkers The Western Express are aware of the renewed interest in the eras of country music that inspire them—and the major-label artists who are leading that surge in popularity with radio-friendly hits—but they are not chasing trends. “My first real concert was the Judds at the Houston Rodeo in the late ‘80s. I sang George Strait songs at every talent show I could enter as a kid,” says Stephen Castillo, one half of The Western Express, along with Phill Brush. “I’ve just always been immersed in it.” Their sound is real, and it goes deep. Their new album Lunatics, Lovers & Poets will be out August 9, 2022. (The Western Express, 2022)

Phill Brush and Stephen Castillo, together known as The Western Express, met via Craigslist in early 2018 and bonded over their shared love of first-rate songwriting and the country hits of the 1980s and ‘90s. Drawn to the tragic or notable lives of writers and performers such as Dean Dillon, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Watchhouse, and Chavela Vargas, Brush and Castillo’s unique set of influences are balanced with classic country troubadours like Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, and Alan Jackson. It is through this lens that they refract a sound all their own. Touching on classic pop country, Latin blues, gospel, and even a little outlaw, The Western Express are cultivating their one-of-a-kind brand of Texas country.

Pro Country debuted The Western Express’ “Flower of the Rio Grande,” the first single from their upcoming full-length album, Lunatics, Lovers & Poets. With a swaggering, moody Mex-Tex feel, “Flower of the Rio Grande” tells the story of a lovelorn man roaming the desert, as Castillo puts it: “searching for the dark-eyed woman who now only lives in his dreams.” A lonesome fiddle and a reverbed-out electric guitar dance in and out of Castillo’s vocal melody, painting a perfect, cool desert evening scene. “He wants her and she knows it,” says Brush. “And she’s not giving in that easily.” Fans can check out the music video for “Flower of the Rio Grande” now and stream it.

The nine songs on Lunatics, Lovers & Poets work together despite their differences—much like Brush and Castillo themselves—because of Castillo’s strong, but not self important, songwriting decisions. There is an old-school storytelling style masking deeply personal reflections in “Flower of the Rio Grande,” and “Leyenda,” unflinching honesty over upbeat melodies in “Trust Me, You Can’t Trust Me” and “Emptying Me,” and straightforward, dancehall-ready love stories in “You and Me and the Neon” and “Lovin’ You for a While.”

“I took the craft of writing these songs seriously,” explains Castillo, who wrote much of the album during a solo trip to West Texas in the fall of 2018, “but the songs themselves don’t take themselves very seriously.”

Lunatics, Lovers & Poets track list:

Honky Tonk Saints
Flower of the Rio Grande
You and Me and the Neon
Trust Me, You Can’t Trust Me
Leyenda
Lovin’ You For A While
Last Apology
Emptying Me
Quesadilla Mamacita

Catch The Western Express on tour:
August 4 – Austin, TX – Broken Spoke Dancehall (Album Release Show)
August 7 – Helotes, TX – Floore’s Country Store
August 19 – College Station, TX – Calvary Court

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Tiffany Williams announces single ‘All Those Days of Drinking Dust’ from new album

Tiffany Williams pays homage to her family and every other long line of coal miners with stunning new song “All Those Days of Drinking Dust” from upcoming full-length debut *All Those Days of Drinking Dust*, out August 19, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Singer-songwriter Tiffany Williams is the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of eastern Kentucky coal miners, but the more she introduced herself to audiences that way at her live shows, the more she felt guilty about it. “I hadn’t done anything to deserve claiming that,” she says. What she meant is that she did not have to make the same sacrifices or take part in the back-breaking labor that they did, yet she was proudly sharing and identifying with that part of her culture and heritage. In actuality, Williams is an award-winning fiction writer and a self-described lexophile who has taught high school English and studied Appalachian speech and sociolinguistics in graduate school—not to mention working as a dialect coach on the set of “The Evening Hour,” which debuted at Sundance in 2020. She shares a stunning example of a sum of her lifetime of parts; the title track from her debut full-length album, All Those Days of Drinking Dust, due to be released August 19, 2022. (Tiffany Williams, 2022)

“All Those Days of Drinking Dust” was written, in a way, to purge Williams’ guilt about attaching herself to her forebearers’ hard-working Appalachian lineage, and what came from it is a hauntingly beautiful tribute to not only her family but to generations of families like hers; folks who spent their lives working beneath the mighty Appalachian mountains. Those mountains, as the song says, “are the only ones that watched us ripe and rot / and hold the bones of both our living and our dead”—the “ripe” and “rot” a reference to Shakespeare’s As You Like It. “From the first-line echo of the original coal miner’s daughter Loretta Lynn, this song pays homage to a succession of coal mining forebears and talks about living life in the shadow of the harrowing vocation—how it comes to bear on the body, the spirit, and the people making a home in fraught yet beloved coal country,” says Williams.

Americana Highways premiered “All Those Days of Drinking Dust,” writing, “Williams’ rich vocals hold sorrow and longing, and the album promises to be one of this year’s favorites.” Produced by legendary Lexington, Kentucky-based Duane Lundy, All Those Days of Drinking Dust will be released on August 19. Fans can pre-order or pre-save the album ahead of its release and listen to the album-opening title track. All Those Days of Drinking Dust represents a monumental convergence of each chapter of Williams’ life.

Williams and Lundy recruited an eclectic band of pickers from the Commonwealth that add energy and nuance to each track. Virtuoso cellist Ben Sollee lends a ghostly vibe to “The Sea,” while J. Tom Hnatow adds bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and steel to other tracks throughout. There is percussion from Tripp Bratton; contributions on keys, acoustic, and electric guitars from Justin Craig; fiddle stylings from Ellie Miller; and Taylor Shuck on banjo. Fellow Kentuckian and noted New York Times best-selling novelist Silas House adds vocals to a lively duet. Lundy not only produced and contributed keys but also engineered and mixed the recording.

All Those Days of Drinking Dust track list:
1. All Those Days of Drinking Dust
2. Carletta
3. Harder Heart
4. Know Your Worth
5. The Sea
6. Wanted It To Be
7. When I Come Back Around
8. Don’t Give A Damn
9. No Bottom
10. The Waiting

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The Ghost Lights is a suspenseful supernatural thriller

*The Ghost Lights* will be released on digital on August 26 followed by the Terror Films Channel September 2 and Kings of Horror on September 9, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Coming this August from Terror Films is The Ghost Lights, a spine-chilling new science-fiction thriller about a journalist on the search for truth about extra-terrestrial life. The Ghost Lights will be released on digital on August 26 followed by the Terror Films Channel September 2 and Kings of Horror on September 9, 2022. (Terror Films, 2022)

The Ghost Lights – A journalist returns home after the death of her father and discovers a mysterious cassette tape describing strange disappearances and mysterious lights appearing in the skies of West Texas. In an effort to connect with the memory of her late father, she sets out on a cross-state road trip to discover the truth. Billy Blair (Jonah Hex), Katreeva Phillips, and John Francis McCullagh uncover an X-File in this summer’s most intriguing genre jaunt.

The Ghost Lights begins as a photographer is taking pictures outdoors and exploring the area. The action then fast forwards to the present as Alexandra, a journalist, returns home to Dallas for her father’s (Arthur Steve Bennett) funeral but as it turns out, she is too late because the funeral has already taken place. When she goes to her father’s house to look around, she finds a mysterious cassette tape and it turns out to be her father’s interview with a miner from the small town of Terlingua, Texas. It is set on October 15, 1978, and he is interviewing Mario Cuevas in the Wild Cactus Saloon. Mr. Cuevas has a story to tell about the ghost lights in Terlingua. He claims that people have been seeing these lights for years and they disappear if they get too close to the lights. Intrigued by the story and hoping to learn more about her father, Alexandra sets out on a road trip to Terlingua to see for herself and continue the story he began.

It is promoted as a horror story, but The Ghost Lights is much more than that. It is a drama about loss, guilt, and coping with a loved one’s death. Halfway through it turns into a suspense thriller because a mysterious man, supposedly a ‘man in black,’ begins chasing Alexandra because she might be getting close to the truth. Without giving too much away, on top of the original interview, there is another one that takes place in the present that hints at what really happened to her dad. In the end, she manages to reconnect with her dad as she originally intended. The cinematography is stunning and the soundtrack sets the appropriate mood throughout this suspenseful and haunting story. The interview scenes are in black and white, giving them a melancholy feel. Having personally been to Marfa and West Texas in general, this movie accurately portrays the atmosphere, mood, and general spookiness of the region. Overall, The Ghost Lights is part family drama, part science fiction movie about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the government’s attempt to stifle any and all investigations. It explores the human condition through the universal themes of family, coping with tragedy, and the ongoing search for the truth.

*Thank you to October Coast for an advance screening.*

The Ghost Lights poster. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Winner of Best Historical Film, Orders From Above now available on digital

Orders From Above is now available on digital. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Vir Srinivas’ writing and directorial debut, Orders From Above has picked up awards or nominations at four world festivals, including Cannes and Mannheim. It is available on iTunes and all major digital platforms including YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. The 87-minute film is based on the interrogation of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann by Israeli police. (Gravitas Ventures, 2022)

Orders From Above – Winner of Best Historical Film at Cannes World Film Festival. Fifteen years after the end of World War II, Israeli police officer Avner Less interrogates Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Final Solution. Adolf Eichmann is finally captured and brought to Israel to stand trial, but without enough evidence to prosecute him, Avner Less needs a confession from him. Directed by Vir Srinivas, with Richard Cotter, Peter J. Donnelly, Darrell Hoffman, and Emmanuel Drakakis.

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