On September 15th, the BMI Stage will feature the following artists beginning at 11:15 a.m.:

The Steps, Amy Loftus, Cary Ann Hearst & The Gun Street Girls, Trent Summar & The New Row Mob, and Jeffrey Steele.

For more info: aclfestival.com

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

SAHARA SMITH   
11:15-11:45am
A 15-year-old Sahara Smith placed second in A Prairie Home Companion's  "12 to 20" talent contest; now 18, the Austinite's forlorn voice cries, seduces and whispers, wrapping itself around her ageless lyrics.
www.myspace.com/saharasmithmusic

ADAM HOOD 
12:40-1:20pm
Alabama's Adam Hood released Pete Anderson-produced Different Groove in May 2007 -- a collection of truckstop poetry parlayed into soul-swaggering roots rock by Hood's rich vocals.
www.myspace.com/adamhood

AMY LAVERE  
2:40-3:20pm
Amy LaVere's tiny frame juxtaposed with her train-chugging upright bass and smoky vocals creates a definitively sui generis combo, aptly displayed on the Memphis girl's blithe sophomore album, Anchors and Anvils.
www.myspace.com/amylavere
 
JOHN RALSTON 
4:40-5:20pm
Lake Worth, Florida native John Ralston's Needle Bed (Vagrant Records) features lush pop arrangements and melancholy vocals that sound more Transatlantic than Southern. The troubadour will spend most of the Fall opening for Dashboard Confessional.
www.myspace.com/johnralston
 
LOUIS XIV 
6:40-7:20pm  
The New York Times called San Diego-based Louis XIV "very sexy and really glam" while Blender praised the group's "catchy send-up of retro-rock sleaze;" the group is hitting the road with the Killers this fall.
www.myspace.com/louisxiv
 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

THE STEPS 
11:15-11:45am
Youthfully exuberant Austin quartet The Steps swim in self-imposed '60s British rock exile, venturing out every now and again to nod towards post-punk exuberance.
www.myspace.com/thesteps

MARIO MATTEOLI  
12:40-1:20pm
Former Weary Boy Mario Matteoli's solo work reveals an introspective yarn spinner, and prompted the Austin-American Statesman to proclaim Matteoli's debut, Hard Luck Hittin', "would make his songwriting idols Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt proud."
www.myspace.com/mariomatteoli
 
CARY ANN HEARST & The Gun Street Girls 
2:40-3:20pm
South Carolina's Cary Ann Hearst takes ghosts and angels from her native South and channels them into cogent lyrics; her musky voice plays nicely with her country, blues and punk-tinged combo, resulting in raucous treats.
www.myspace.com/caryannhearst

TRENT SUMMAR & The New Rob Mob  
4:40-5:20pm
Trent Summar's farm rock smirks at expectations and the status quo; whether penning Jack Ingram's brassy single "Love You" or belting out his own "Pink John Deere," the native Tennessean packs an inimitable punch with every syllable.
www.myspace.com/trentsummar

JEFFREY STEELE  
6:40-7:20pm
While 2003 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year Jeffrey Steele churns out hits dipped in twang for mainstream country stars like Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw, his own live sets reveal an energetic performer who rocks against the grain instead of growin' it.
www.jeffreysteele.com

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

JENNIFER NICELEY  
11:15-11:45am
Tennessee native Jennifer Niceley's voice huskily combs through her dreamy reflections and intimate poetry set to a soothing balance of country and jazz, while sultry attitude simmers just below the surface of her beguiling tunes.
www.myspace.com/brandonrhyder

KARA GRAINGER   
2:40-3:20pm
Australian chanteuse Kara Grainger's moody debut Grand and Green River features ace players who've worked with Stevie Wonder and Jackson Browne, among others, plus a duet with Amos Lee, but newcomer Grainger's smoky vocals serenely claim the spotlight. Several tracks from the album are featured on Starbucks stores' in-house programming.
www.myspace.com/karagrainger1
 
PATTERSON HOOD  
4:40-5:20pm
Rock guru Robert Christgau has called Patterson Hood a "new master of the vanishing art of literal, narrative songwriting," thanks to songs exploring themes like heartbreak and organ transplants; in short, the Drive-By Truckers front man embraces the life's quirks and imaginative pitfalls.
www.myspace.com/pattersonhood
 
GUY FORSYTH  
6:40-7:20pm
Antone's Records artist Guy Forsyth crafts lyrics that exhale and meander through cantankerous melodies; poetically organic and decisively Austin, Forsyth's blues are worth catching.
www.myspace.com/guyforsythband

The Austin City Limits Music Festival is produced by C3 and Capital Sports & Entertainment. For more information on ACL, please visit www.aclfestival.com.

At Lollapalooza, buzz artists including Nashville, Tennessee's Bang Bang Bang (www.myspace.com/bangbangbang), St. Louis, Missouri's Ludo (www.myspace.com/cagetheelephant) and Muscle Shoals, Alabama's John Paul White (www.myspace.comjohnpaulwhite) will perform on BMI's day stage. Set in Chicago's Grant Park, the indie-inspired festival presents legendary names like Iggy and the Stooges alongside a selection of the world's most promising independent up-and-comers.

The Austin City Limits Music Festival, the namesake of the long-running PBS series, fittingly invades the Austin, Texas, the Live Music Capitol of the World. Over three days in Zilker Park, BMI's stage at the festival will present an enticing line-up of auspicious up-and-comers and renowned singer/songwriters, including Memphis, Tennessee's Amy LaVere (www.myspace.com/amylavere), Nashville's Jeffrey Steele (www.jeffreysteele.com), Charleston, South Carolina's Cary Ann Hearst (www.myspace.com/caryannhearst), and Athens, Georgia's Patterson Hood (www.myspace.com/pattersonhood) of Drive by Truckers fame.

The Big State Festival is a new breed of country mega-concert held at Texas Motor Speedway in Bryan-College Station, Texas. The event will feature an all-star line-up and another impressive BMI showcase stage dedicated to highlighting honk-tonk-tinged artists that claim Texas roots. Over two days, the BMI stage will feature a line-up including Austin's Sunny Sweeney (www.myspace.com/sunnysweeney), New Braunfels's Drew Kennedy (www.myspace.com/drewkennedy), Austin's The Weary Boys (www.myspace.com/thewearyboys) and Austin's The Gougers (www.myspace.com/thegougers).

All three festivals are produced by C3 and Capital Sports & Entertainment. For more information on Lollapalooza, please visit www.lollapalooza.com; for information on the Austin City Limits Music Festival, visit www.aclfestival.com; and for details regarding the Big State Festival, please go to www.bigstatefestival.com.

BMI's "See It Hear First" podcast has become an important tool for exposing new BMI songwriters and artists to key industry professionals and fans alike. Since its release in May 2005, more than one million listeners from around the world have tuned in to discover new music from a broad range of genres and regions.

In addition to hearing great music from an array of vital new songwriters and artists, podcast listeners can also vote for their favorite artist to help them win a CD duplication package from Disc Makers, the leading CD manufacturer for the independent musician. Winners get 1,000 discs, a prize with a promotional value of more than $10,000.

All editions of the BMI podcast are available at bmi.com/podcast, as well as from iTunes at bmi.com/itunes and Yahoo's podcast directory at podcasts.yahoo.com, or you can listen on the go with mobile podcasting services like Pod2Mob. The first in the music industry to be listed in Apple's podcast directory, "See It Hear First" is currently rated five out of five stars at Yahoo! and has won the "5 Star Award" from PodSpider, one of the world's largest podcast databases.

Orlando's Between the Trees combine universal tales of adolescence, young adulthood and all the gray space between with catchy, pop melodies. Most of the five members have yet to turn 20 years-old, so identifying with their young fans comes naturally. Their debut album, The Story and the Song, hit shelves Sept. 15, formally introducing a band that exudes sanguine confidence. Hear Between the Trees first on "Words."

The Explorer's Club entice audiences with sweet pop concoctions that recall the complex harmonies and arrangements of The Beach Boys and Zombies to sinful perfection. The six members' worshipping of Brian and Carl Wilson adopts a serious tone when the listener realizes these young musicians' lyrical skills, four-part harmonies and eccentrically brilliant arrangements serve as their timeless prayers. Dive in on "Forever."

Twenty-six -year-old Cary Ann Hearst takes ghosts, angels and dreams from her native South and channels them into cogent, poetic lyrics. Hearst's musky voice plays nicely with her choice of country and punk-tinged instrumentation, resulting in moody, raucous treats. The singer-songwriter's study of the sounds of icons like Hank Williams and Bob Dylan transmits deftly through her compositions. Savor Cary Ann Hearst on "Dust and Hearst."

Rollicking lyrics propel singer-songwriter Corey Smith's feel-good tunes. Smith's grass-roots gigs and acoustic charm have fostered a growing fan base that's surged outside sold-out shows in his native Georgia into much of the southeast coast. His soulful voice shares stories of brazen youth, carefree college days and characters in which his listeners easily recognize themselves. Hear this up-and-comer first on "If I Could Do It Again."]]> 2006-09-22T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/533472 Artists, Hearst, Cary Ann, Organic, Musicworld, On The Scene Mississippi-sown, barrel-aged in Tennessee, and finally cultivated in the marsh of the Carolina low country, 26-year-old songwriter Cary Ann Hearst is pleased to present her first full-length album… CAH: Dust and Bones.

Recorded in the basement studio, Rebellion Road, the production of CAH was a collaborative effort between Hearst, bass player Ash Hopkins and drummer Evan Bivins. The songs on Dust and Bones are a collection of warm, earnest vignettes about sordid family history, back country mythology and romances tattered and redeemed. While maintaining the organic and heart-worn sound for which Hearst is loved in her home town of Charleston, S.C., there is a sharp edge to Dust and Bones that reflects Hearst’s love for punk, swamp blues, ethereal gospel and primitive rock and roll. 

When Evan Bivins and then bass player Johnny Gray stumbled into a Charleston, S.C., dive bar in 2001, they found Hearst playing her final gig with the country/Irish/pirate-folk band, The Boonies. Bivins, Gray, Hearst and a young Danny Cassady formed the local alt-country favorite, The Borrowed Angels, to play in the bars and make some cash. The Angels were always something to see… always high on whiskey, always playing songs they barely knew, always having more fun than anyone else in the bar, they were beloved in the Charleston music scene for juxtaposing raucus honky-tonk attitude against earnst songwritting. Their three-part hormonies were driven by Hearst’s sweet though increasingly gravely and whiskey-smokey voice.

Those years playing in Charleston’s bars galvanized Hearst place in that city’s music community, offering her the opportunity to write and perform with many of Charleston’s other young talents. Her writing collaborations include Dustin Welch (Scotch Greens), Bill Carson and Salder Vaden (Leslie). She performs with The Explorers Club and Michael Trent (the Films), and is featured on recordings by Ward Williams, Bill Carson, Michael Flynn (Slowrunner) and Lee Barbor (Caravan). Many of these artists come together to perform at Hearst’s live shows.

In November of 2004, Hearst produced “Le Chat Noir,” a rock and roll burlesque/cabaret with Bill Carson and His Checkered Past, The Defilers, The Borrowed Angels and a dangerous chorus line of rock and roll mamas. This year’s release of Dust and Bones featured special guest perfomances from The Explorers Club, Sadler Vaden and Josh Kaler (Slowrunner) on pedal steel. She closed the show with a heart-breaking performace of “The Straits of Our Love” as a duet with Kitt Gillespie of The Chimney Sweeps.

Her next project is the production of a rock n roll prom at the music farm that will feature her band, as well as The Explorers Club, and hundreds of rockers in punk rock prom gear. She’s comin’ to a town near you; do lock up your sons.

http://www.myspace.com/caryannhearst