new European Tour Dates: 9 - 24 November 2007
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Promo material (photos and bios): English bio see below. |
Releases (link to artists website)
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click image to download high resolution picture
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Performing original bluegrass and Americana music, Chris Stuart & Backcountry features vocals, banjo, guitar, and upright bass. We are a 2004 International Bluegrass Music Association showcase band and the song, "Silver Quarter," from our debut album, Saints and Strangers, spent twelve months on "Bluegrass Unlimited" magazine's national bluegrass survey chart. Our second album, Mojave River, was greeted with rave reviews and appeared on the Americana Music Association chart, the Freeform American Roots chart, the Euro-Americana chart, and the Roots Music Report chart. The band also teaches workshops at festivals and camps and has toured in the U.S., Canada, Oman, and the United Kingdom.
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Chris Stuart & Backcountry, featuring Janet Beazley and Eric Uglum: Chris Stuart, guitar and lead singer, is a respected bluegrass songwriter and touring artist and was first prize winner at the prestigious Merlefest Bluegrass Festival in both the bluegrass and gospel categories. Chris's songs have been recorded by several top bluegrass artists including Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, and Larry Cordle. He was an IBMA showcase songwriter in 2003, and was nominated by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America as Songwriter of the Year in 2005. Chris has also taught rhythm guitar and songwriting at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the American River Music Camp and at the California Bluegrass Association music camp, and will be teaching songwriting at the Sorefingers Bluegrass Week in the UK in April 2007. Janet
Beazley on banjo is originally from Bakersfield, California,
and is an accomplished songwriter, singer, and banjo player. She
has taught banjo and music theory classes at both the British
Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the American Banjo Camp, and the
California Bluegrass Association music camp. She was recently
featured in Banjo Newsletter. Eric Uglum, lead guitar and mandolin, is well known as one of the most tasteful players in bluegrass. His tone, timing, and taste, are always used to create a mood in a song, rather than simply showing off. He played in the original Weary Hearts band in the 1980s with Ron Block, Butch Baldassari, and Mike Bub, and for many years with Lost Highway, who toured internationally. Eric's solo album on Backcountry Records, Shenandoah Wind, was selected by Bluegrass Now magazine as the best album of 2003, and the song Shenandoah Wind, written by Chris Stuart, was on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart for several months. Eric also runs New Wine Studio in Hesperia, California, where he has recorded some of the greats, such as Ralph Stanley, Nickel Creek, and Ron Block. Austin Ward, acoustic bass, and 16 years old, is Eric Uglum's stepson and is also from Hesperia, California (and Christian's brother). Austin has, in a very short time, become a great bass player, and has a thorough feel for bluegrass and acoustic music timing and tone. He played at the 2005 CMA Fan Fest with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs, and is already in high demand as a session player. He knows just how to get that bluegrass thwack on the bass! Christian Ward, fiddle, is also Eric Uglum's stepson and lives in Hesperia, California (and Austin's brother). He also has become recognized as one of the hot new fiddle players in bluegrass and loves to go out and jam as well as give workshops. He and his brother played at the 2005 CMA Fan Fest with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs, and Christian is also in high demand as a session player. At 14 years old, he displays an amazing virtuosity, but also a taste that goes beyond his years. |
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