About the Show
Music City Roots
A weekly concert and live radio show presented from The Loveless Cafe Barn in Nashville, TN.
Recorded live in Nashville, this edition of Music City Routes features artists Marty Raybon, Blue Ridge Entertainers, Corbin Hayslett, and Ed Snodderly.
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Marty Raybon
Throughout his epic journey, spanning nearly three decades, Marty Raybon has produced a remarkable list of career accomplishments including; multiple number one singles, top selling albums, CMA, ACM, IBMA, and Grammy Awards, along with scores of other accolades. Collectively, his contributions to the recording industry have sold well into the millions and he has performed literally thousands of live concerts at four corners of the earth. But what does all that really say about Marty Raybon?
Among his contemporaries, he is considered to possess one the purest natural country voices in the business. Gary LeVox, Lead vocalist of Rascal Flatts, refers to Marty Raybon as “The greatest singer on the planet to this day!” Country music star, Josh Turner says, “Marty is one of the best soul singers in music. He gets inside a song and turns it inside out. When you listen to him sing, he makes every word sound important and makes you feel as though he is singing straight to you. I love everything he’s done. He’s a great singer, a great artist, and a great man”, Grammy Award winning Christian artist, Jason Crabb says that Marty has “One of the greatest voices to ever sing, with a tear in his voice that will just melt you”.
Unequivocally it can be said that Marty Raybon is a talented man, an accomplished man, a man who has left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment. He has appeared on all the major television networks and has been featured in numerous hit music videos. He has circled the globe entertaining millions along the way, always leaving the audience with a clear and lasting impression of himself as singer of songs.
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Blue Ridge Entertainers
Hailing from Johnson City, Tennessee, The Blue Ridge Entertainers are proud purveyors and dedicated students of Appalachian old-time string band music. Young lifelong musicians Coleman Akin (guitar, fiddle, vocal) and Kris Truelsen (mandolin, guitar, vocal) began performing as a duo in early 2013, engaging audiences with a vast repertoire of American popular music.
In rapid time the Entertainers have gained a great deal of notice, leading to numerous and varied bookings. Among these are major festivals, TV and radio appearances, and recorded film performances. The duo has won numerous blue ribbons at venerated fiddlers conventions around the region including the Great Southern Fiddler’s Convention, and Laurel Bloomery Fiddler’s Convention.
The Blue Ridge Entertainers, Kris Truelsen and Coleman Akin are quickly making a name for themselves through their unique interpretations of American string band music. Not only do they specialize in music of their East Tennessee region, but they also play a spectrum of American traditional music that ranges from early jazz, blues, ragtime, and string band music from the Deep South. The band—all possessing multiple instrumental skills—pass instruments back and forth throughout performances, engaging any audience with laughter, fun, and intimacy. The deep dedication to their craft and love for what they do emanates from the music the Entertainers bring to the stage.
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Corbin Hayslett
Corbin Hayslett, age 20, has fast become an accomplished performer of old time, traditional and acoustic Americana music. His skills on the banjo span historical early styles as well as Old Time “claw hammer” or “frailing” and Blue Grass picking. Corbin weaves the history of “America’s instrument” through shows with His lively stage presence and singing with his dry wit adding to his family-friendly performances.
Winner of numerous awards (most recently, First Place in Youth Banjo at both the Galax Fiddlers Convention and the VA State Fair), this modern minstrel on the five-string plays several styles of banjos, as well as guitar, dulcimer, jaw harp and sings solo. He has played with and under the tutelage of numerous masters, including the McKenzies, the Amazing Jim Lloyd and the late/great, Mike Seeger. He has also appeared live on WVTF’s Back to the Blue Ridge.
Don’t miss his toe tapping, hand clapping, “great fun” performance!
Ed Snodderly has dedicated his life to the arts and is a well-respected musician, writer, actor and owner of one of the country’s longest running music venues. Ed’s low-key personal demeanor belies a wealth of accomplishment and talent that distinguishes Ed in the world of Southern-roots based music.
When Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled it’s new building in 2001, Ed was permanently honored when his song lyrics were literally inscribed into the wall. It is quite an honor to be recognized by an institution that could have picked any one of hundreds of legendary and renowned songwriters to distill the essence of what the Museum embodies. But it was the simple eloquence of Snodderly’s pen that gave his artistry an immortality.
And Ed comes by that honestly. Born in East Tennessee, Ed’s love of music and his ability to inspire others began with his own grandfather who was an old-time fiddler. Together with Ed’s father on guitar and his uncles playing fiddle, piano and banjo, his family’s band played for the same square dances back in the 1930’s that the then young Roy Acuff played on the alternate weekends. And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Ed’s family were tobacco and cattle farmers, with music an inherent part of family life. Ed’s own down to earth outlook and artistry draws from his background where his rich musical heritage nurtured the artist within.
In the 70’s, Ed spread his wings to take advantage of a record deal with Philo Records and then moved to Boston, later migrating briefly to the West Coast to record another album. But it was Ed’s native Tennessee roots that called him home when in 1976 Ed and a friend decided that East Tennessee needed a quality listening venue, and The Down Home Pickin’ Parlor was born. Surviving through numerous ups and downs of the music business, The Down Home continues to present the finest in Southern and national artists over these three decades.
As Ed continued his various musical projects, it was in the 90’s that his musical brilliance was to be feted in a duo with Eugene Wolf known as “The Brother Boys.” Almost as a testimony to that all Ed absorbed in his early musical years, Ed & Eugene were acknowledged critically for a decade with their now three classic recordings on Sugar Hill. Continuing to perform in a variety of situations, Ed recently formed a “writers in the round” group that he tours with featuring some of the best artists the south has to offer – Tony Arata (noted for writing Garth Brook’s The Dance), Malcomb Holcomb and Jelly Roll Johnson. Additionally Ed’s own songs have also been recorded by artists such as Missy Raines, former New Grass Revival’s John Cowan and Sam Bush as well as Jerry Douglas.
