Stephanie Fagan

Show #78- Hammers, Hot New Stuff, Walls
Published March 22, 2012 - PT's Roadhouse

By: Traci Bridges | SCNOW
Published: December 22, 2011

FLORENCE, SC --

Most musicians head to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.

But for Ken “Dakota” Jones and his wife, Missy Davis-Jones, it ultimately took leaving California to turn dreams into reality.

After spending many years working in the music industry in California, the couple moved to the Pee Dee about four years ago.

Since then, the couple has been making big waves in the local music scene.

So how did this rock n’ roll story end up in the Pee Dee?

Well, it wasn’t an accident.

A native of Darlington, Jones grew up in the Pee Dee and graduated from Dillon High School. Jones’ dad was a pastor. His mom taught at Florence-Darlington Technical College

Jones first picked up a guitar when he was about 13. Three months later, he was in a rock band.

“It was called Sabre. We were just your basic classic rock band,” Jones said. “But we actually played Parker Music’s grand opening, which was a pretty big deal back then.”

When Jones graduated from high school, he immediately packed up and headed to Los Angeles to go to school at the Musicians Institute.

He played in a hard rock band for a couple of years until that group broke up. Then he joined a funk band called Wuditiz. The band developed quite a following in Southern California and regularly packed the famous Roxy and Troubador.

“We were very popular in the Los Angeles area,” Jones said. “We just never got that break to go national.”

Eventually, that band also broke up and by that point, Jones said, he was interested in learning a different side of music.

“Playing live was great, but when the night was over, it was over,” Jones said. “I got into the recording side, because I wanted to capture the moment and branch out into different aspects of music.”

And that’s exactly what he did. He began training with Dave Jenkins at Valley Center Studios and learned everything he could. He did sound for television shows, some movie tracks and even a popular beer commercial that ran prominently during a Super Bowl.

Eventually he got into recording at home and also was working for a company that manufactured music accessories. It was through the second gig that he met his wife, a New Jersey native who’d relocated to Los Angeles to work as a buyer for Hot Topic.

“Someone introduced us, but we didn’t do business together, because I was a music T-shirt buyer. I didn’t have anything to do with accessories,” Davis-Jones said.

“Ken always says, ‘I was buying. He was selling. But I wasn’t buying what he was selling,’” Davis-Jones said, laughing. “But it was through our jobs that we met.”

The two hit it off and eventually got married.

Though not a playing musician, Davis-Jones said she’d always been a fan of music and even took photos of local bands for their album covers when she was a teenager. Though she enjoyed her job at Hot Topic, she said, she always yearned for a career in music.

“I loved what I did at Hot Topic, but I was not as big a part of the creative process as I wanted to be,” Davis-Jones said. “I never felt like I was truly creating anything or hand anything to show for what I did.”

That was until the couple decided to move back to Florence to be closer to Jones’ parents.

Jones had contemplated selling his recording equipment several times through the years but never followed through with it. And when the couple got settled in Florence, that recording equipment came in handy. The couple decided to make their dreams a reality.

Earlier this year, they opened Southern Harmony Recording Studio. And just last month, Davis-Jones launched her own music label, Yonder Music.

“It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Davis-Jones, who also works in sales at Monster, said. “We said, ‘Let’s do it.’ And we went for it. The studio is Ken’s project. I help out when he needs me, but that’s really all Ken’s deal. Yonder Music is my baby.”

The risk is already paying off tenfold, according to the Joneses. Several local acts already have recorded at Southern Harmony, which uses analog equipment, including Morgan’s Road, James Scott Bullard and the Late Night Sweethearts, Stephanie Fagan, Slug’s Revenge, Donner Party, Jazz Plus and I Deserve Hell.

Jones said he is open to recording all kinds of music and sound but is most known for his work with live musicians.

“I like to say I record living, breathing human beings,” Jones said. “We do analog, which is a niche for live musicians. I don’t do beat production and that sort of stuff.”

Davis-Jones also likes working with live musicians, which is what prompted her to launch her own record label. She signed local musician Stephanie Fagan earlier this year and is working to promote Fagan’s new release, “Heart Thief.”

She hopes to sign more musicians in the future, but right now wants to focus her efforts on Fagan.

“The label was just a natural progression,” Davis-Jones said. “I’ve really been amazed by the talent I’ve seen in this area. It’s so much better that most of what I saw living in Los Angeles, as far as local bands. There’s a whole lot of talent here, and it’s worth getting it out there for other people to know about.”

The local talent is just as impressed with the Joneses and the way they do business.

“I’m impressed with them not only for their work but as people,” Bullard, who is working on a new album at Southern Harmony, said.

“Ken is just so laid back, but he’ll say, ‘Hey, that’s great, but let’s try this’ and by the time you’re done, you don’t realize you’ve done it four times. It’s not work with Ken. And Missy’s just a wrangler, which most musicians and artists need. She’s the person who can look over the forest and say, ‘Go this way or that way,’” Bullard said.

“As far as a team, you’d never know they were married because they work so well together. They’re not at each other’s throats like most married couples who work together. They’re just awesome.” - The Morning News (Florence, SC)

1. Woody Guthrie – Woody At 100 (Smithsonian/Folkways)

www.folkways.si.edu


2. Lowlands & Friends – Better World Coming (Gypsy Child)

www.lowlandsband.com


3. Audrey Auld – Wood (Reckless)

http://audreyauld.com


4. Audrey Auld – Resurrection Moon (Reckless)

http://audreyauld.com


5. Mark Davis – Eliminate The Toxins (Saved By Radio)

www.markdavismusic.ca


6. Oh My Darling – Sweet Nostalgia (Oh My Darling)

www.ohmydarling.ca


7. Albert Bashor – Cotton Field Of Dreams (Earwig)

www.earwigmusic.com


8. Morgan O’Kane – Pendulum (Morgan O’Kane)

www.morganokanemusic.com


9. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Ashes And Rose (Zoe/Rounder)

www.rounder.com


10. Kyle Carey – Monongah (Kyle Carey)

www.kyleannecarey.com


11. Rory Block – I Belong To The Band: A Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis (Stony Plain)

www.stonyplainrecords.com


12. Suzanne & The Blues Church – The Cost Of Love (Gorgeous Tone Music)

http://theblueschurch.com


13. Deep Dark Woods – The Place I Left Behind (Sugar Hill)

www.sugarhillrecords.com


14. Tom Kell – This Desert City (17° Recordings)

www.tomkell.com


15. Colin Linden – Still Live (CrossCut)

www.crosscut.de


16. Six Mile Grove – Secret Life In A Quiet Town (Rena’s Kitchen)

http://sixmilegrove.com


17. Mac Wiseman – Bluegrass 1971 (Rural Rhythm)

www.rurarlrhythm.com


18. J.W.W. & The Prospectors – It’s High Time (The Prospectors)

www.myspace.com/jwwandtheprospectors


19. Heather Myles – Just Like Old Times + Untamed (Retroworld)

www.fwrecords.co.uk


20. Jamie Kent – Navigation (The Collective Music Group)

http://jamiekent.com


21. Chris Watson Band – Pleasure And Pain (Gator Music)
http://chriswatsonband.com


22. Stephanie Fagan – Heart Thief (Yonder Music)
http://stephaniefagansings.com

- Highway 61

Roots/Americana Country Top 50 – For the Week of May, 11 2012
Published 2012/05/11
Roots Music Report – Roots/Americana Country Top 50 – For the Week of May, 11 2012 All data entered online direct to the RMR database by member stations



TW

LW

Artist

CD Title

Label
1

1

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE THE WAY YOU FEEL ABOUT ME NOW

BLOODSHOT
2

7

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

THE GRIFTER’S HYMNAL

BORDELLO
3

3

DAVE CARTER & TRACY GRAMMER

LITTLE BLUE EGG

RED HOUSE
4

6

AARON FLINN

MISS READY BLOSSOM AND THE SEED OF DREAMS

SELF
5

13

LUCERO

WOMEN & WORK

ATO
6

15

FISH & BIRD

EVERY WHISPER IS A SHOUT ACROSS THE VOID

FIDDLE HEAD RECORDS
7

11

CORNFLOWER BLUE

RUN DOWN THE RAILS

SELF
8

33

SUGAR & THE HI-LOWS — TRENT DABBS AND AMY STROUP

SUGAR & THE HI-LOWS — TRENT DABBS AND AMY STROUP

SELF
9

4

JAY FARRAR, WILL JOHNSON, ANDERS PARKER, AND YIM YAMES

NEW MULTITUDES

ROUNDER
10

2

DARRELL SCOTT

LONG RIDE HOME

FULL LIGHT
11

14

NATASHA JAMES

MY COUNTRY HAS THE BLUES

HIGHWAY ONE
12

5

ROBERT EARL KEEN

READY FOR CONFETTI

LOST HIGHWAY
13

16

BETTYSOO AND DOUG COX

ACROSS THE BORDERLINE — LIE TO ME

SELF
14

8

KASEY CHAMBERS

STORYBOOK

LIBERATION MUSIC
15

10

LYLE LOVETT

RELEASE ME

CURB / LOST HIGHWAY
16

24

PUNCH BROTHERS

WHO’S FEELING YOUNG NOW?

NONESUCH
17

18

DANNY CLICK

LIFE IS A GOOD PLACE

DOGSTAR
18

0

THE MCEUEN SESSIONS

FOR ALL THE GOOD

MESA
19

17

ANDRA SUCHY

LITTLE HEART

RED HOUSE RECORDS
20

19

JOHN HIATT

DIRTY JEANS AND MUDSLIDE HYMNS

NEWWEST
21

9

VARIOUS ARTIST

THIS ONE’S FOR HIM – A TRIBUTE TO GUY CLARK

ICEHOUSE MUSIC
22

26

CATHERINE MACLELLAN

SILHOUETTE

TRUE NORTH
23

25

NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE

17 PINE AVENUE

WOODSTOCK
24

23

CHRIS CASTLE

LAST BIRD HOME

DIRT SANDWICH
25

28

LYDIA LOVELESS

INDESTRUCTIBLE MACHINE

BLOODSHOT
26

36

OH SUSANNA

SOON THE BIRDS

OUTSIDE
27

12

THE LITTLE WILLIES

FOR THE GOOD TIMES

EMI / MILKING BULL
28

38

TOM JONES

PRAISE & BLAME

LOST HIGHWAY
29

29

I SEE HAWKS IN LA

NEW KIND OF LONELY

SELF
30

31

DECEMBERISTS

WE ALL RAISE OUR VOICES TO THE AIR

CAPITOL
31

45

WARPED 45S

MATADOR SUNSET

PHEREMONE
32

0

STEPHANIE FAGAN

HEART THIEF

YONDER
33

37

DELTA SPIRIT

DELTA SPIRIT

ROUNDER
34

0

BRYAN CLARK & THE NEW LYCEUM PLAYERS

SOUTHERN INTERMISSION

SELF
35

0

DIAMOND RUGS

DAIMOND RUGS

PARTISAN
36

50

THE GOURDS

OLD MAD JOY

VANGUARD
37

48

LAURA GIBSON

LA GRANDE

BARSUK
38

21

MARTY STUART & HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES

NASHVILLE VOL. 1 — TEAR THE WOODPILE DOWN

SUGAR HILL
39

0

THE STEEL WHEELS

LAY DOWN, LAY LOW

SELF
40

0

JOE FLETCHER & THE WRONG REASONS

WHITE LIGHTER

WRONG REASONS
41

0

FRED EAGLESMITH

6 VOLTS

INDIE
42

0

CHUCK SCHAEFFER

ALONG THESE LINES

SELF
43

43

MIKE AND RUTHY

THE NYC EP

HUMBLE ABODE
44

0

BROCK ZEMAN

ME THEN YOU

BUSTED FLAT
45

40

JIM WHITE

WHERE IT HITS YOU

YEP ROC
46

0

CUFF THE DUKE

MORNING COMES

PAPER BAG
47

0

GIRLS GUNS AND GLORY

SWEET NOTHINGS

LONESOME DAY
48

0

STETSON & CIA

STETSON & CIA

SELF
49

0

TOKYO ROSENTHAL

WHAT DID I USED TO BE (SINGLE)

ROCK AND SOCKS
50

0

MELANIE ROSE DYER

THE LONG WAY AROUND

SELF

- Cashbox Magazine

Taproot Radio News
Rotation #300, February 20, 2012

Howdy,

Lucero leads off the news this week with the announcement of a new upcoming CD, Women & Work. Nobody does twang infused blues rock any better than these guys and Women & Work highlights is their best yet, soulful when it needs to be, bad-ass the rest of the time. “Like Lightening” is going in as the road song this week. My other highlight is the title track, which sounds like the Stones, if they could do southern accents honestly.

Speaking of rock, Snatches of Pink front man Michael Rank has a new band called Michael Rank and the Stag. The guest list on this CD includes a who’s who of Chapel Hill rock and country legends including Rick Miller, Dex Romweber, and John Howie Jr. The first release from the new line up is Kin. These guys have more of a late night jam band feel to them, full of angsty energy and wailing instrumental work.

Also, I gotta mention that the new CD from Andre Williams is out. On Hoods and Shades, the New Orleans hell hound himself has transcended his nefarious past and moved into Gil Scott-Heron territory, giving us a slice of street cred and wisdom with almost a beatnik poet delivery.

My interview guest on the live show this week is Jason Alexander. He and his band, the Stedpsiders are at the top of the FAR charts these days with a very fine CD of straight up honky tonk. As always locals can tune into the live show on WCOM in Chapel Hill/Carrboro and everyone else can tune into the webcast.

A couple of logistical announcements. In an attempt to simplify the madness that is my weekly routine, I have decided to drop the Live365.com station. The weekly rotation will continue to be available for full listening on spotify.com. See the header of this newsletter for the relevant links. I’m kinda sad to be leaving Live365.com. They are good folk. Never had a thing to complain about with them. But it’s not free and it takes time and there are commercials in the stream. On the other hand. Spotify is free for me and listeners don’t have to hear commercials. So the decision was pretty simple.

Likewise, I will no longer be publishing the weekly rotation in iTunes Ping? What’s Ping? Exactly my point. If iTunes was paying affiliate commissions on sales generated from my pay lists, I might consider it. But as it stands now, I’m spending time each week for no return.

And lastly, I’m combining the weekly newsletter with the WCOM play list post. Again, to save a little bit of time each week. But also to keep the web site from being quite so cluttered.

On episode 75 of the Taproot Podcast, Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner, and Molly Venter of Red Molly talk about their music backgrounds, the appeal of female trios, the excitement of playing Merlefest, the appeal their music has for the NYC coffeehouse crowd, and the stories behind three of their songs on the CD Light In The Sky.

I tried to think of something to say to commemorate the 300th Taproot Rotation. Taproot Radio has gone through numerous incarnations starting from my show on WXDU, the Duke student station. Moved to WCOM, added the podcast, added the webcast, added the weekly newsletter. But at the end of the day, it’s all about sharing good music with as many people as I can. The thing I can say about getting up to my 300th rotation is that I’m happy to have done it.

Dig Deep,
Calvin
Taproot Road Song

You gotta like a song that starts out with an old-timey acoustic piano riff which leads into power chord driven guitars and blaring trumpets and that’s what you get from Lucero’s “Like Lightening” from their Women & Work CD.
Recent Podcast Episodes

Episode 71 – John Lilly talks about meeting Bill Kirchen and Bill’s help on his most recent CD, Cold Comfort; how he funded the CD by winning a songwriting contest; working at the Country Music Hall of Fame and getting to visit “the cathedral of Country Music”; his yearly Hank Williams Tribute show; and introduces us to three songs on his Cold Comfort CD.
Episode 72, Lee Briante of The Far West talks about the importance of having video and internet media available for today’s audience; how it made him feel to move to Los Angeles; and how recording in an American Legion hall brought their debut self-titled CD to life.

Episode 73 – Lincoln Durham talks about his residency at Gruene Hall, why he can’t write love songs, his long path from playing fiddle to Son House and Fred McDowell, and why he wrote a creepy songs about ne’er-do-well characters playing forty

Episode 74 – Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing from Hymn For Her, how they met and started making music together; their evolution from folk duo to lo-fi rock band; and recording in their airstream trailer.

Episode 75 – Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner, and Molly Venter of Red Molly talk about their music backgrounds, the appeal of female trios, the excitement of playing Merlefest, the appeal their music has for the NYC coffeehouse crowd, and the stories behind three of their songs on the CD Light In The Sky.
Recent Adds

tenderhook / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 1] / 4:26

on the bleed / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 1] / 4:52

straw man / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 1] / 3:24

Sea Measures / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 2] / 4:25

Gypsy Django / Humming House / Humming House / 2:51

Boy Who Doesn’t Exist / Stephanie Fagan / Heart Thief / 4:52

I Can Tell The World About This / Sankofa / The Uptown Strut / 2:16

Curveball / Duane Eddy / Road Trip / 3:33

Back To Santa Rosa / Carolann Ames / Laurel Canyon Road / 3:40

Dirt / Andre Williams / Hoods and Shades / 3:13

Jaw Dropper / Andre Williams / Hoods and Shades / 2:06

Hu-matic Man / Andre Williams / Hoods and Shades / 3:13

The Train That’s Bound For Glory / Garrison Starr / Amateur / 3:41

Angel Of Death / New Country Rehab / New Country Rehab / 2:52

Bird / Chris Castle / Last Bird Home / 1:47

Trees Fall Every Day / Chris Castle / Last Bird Home / 3:10

Dirty Water / Chris Castle / Last Bird Home / 4:21

On My Way Downtown / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:29

Women & Work / Lucero / Women & Work / 3:07

Juniper / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:44

Sometimes / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:53

Like Lightning / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:15

This Week’s Rotation



Taproot Play Lists on iTunes

This week’s play list on Spotify



Women & Work / Lucero / Women & Work / 3:07
Trees Fall Every Day / Chris Castle / Last Bird Home / 3:10
Dirt / Andre Williams / Hoods and Shades / 3:13
tenderhook / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 1] / 4:26
Makin’ Time / Westbound / Blackjack Road / 2:54
After the Game / Maynard and the Musties / Cheap Cigar / 3:17
Babe I Ain’t Perfect / Mike June & The Wilson Street Refugees / Exile On Wilson Street / 3:19
Try / Joel Dasilva And The Midnight Howl / Joel Dasilva And The Midnight Howl / 2:35
Lessons / Drew Nelson / Tilt-A-Whirl / 4:13
Come On Back To Me / Jackstraw / Sunday Never Comes / 3:08
Fool’s Gold / The Damn Quails / Down the Hatch / 4:15
Reckoning Lament / Lincoln Durham / The Shovel Vs. The Howling Bones / 3:11
Home / Thieving Birds / Thieving Birds / 4:43
Songbrd / Randy Thompson / Collected / 4:08
Worry B Gone / Hayes Carll / This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark [Disc 1] / 3:49
Bitter, Drunk & Cold. mp3 / The Far West / The Far West / 2:32
C’mon / Hymn For Her / Lucy & Wayne And The American Stream / 3:13
Ode To Misery / Paladino / Paladino / 2:27
You’re Through Fooling Me / Patty Loveless A/ The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams / 2:06
Marginalized / The Gourds / Old Mad Joy / 5:31
Gypsy Django / Humming House / Humming House / 2:51
I Can Tell The World About This / Sankofa / The Uptown Strut / 2:16
Little Elvis & Fat Cat Eddie / Doug Prescott / The Journey & The Deep Blue Sea / 3:15
Boy Who Doesn’t Exist / Stephanie Fagan / Heart Thief / 4:52
Curveball / Duane Eddy / Road Trip / 3:33
Like Lightning / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:15
The Slummer The Slum / Steve Cropper & Buddy Miller / Dedicated – A Salute To The 5 Royales / 3:12
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long / Otis Redding / ARB 6: 1965-1967 / 3:15
She / Gram Parsons / Sacred Hearts And Fallen Angels: The Gram Parsons Anthology (Disc 2) / 4:59
Let Me Be A Woman / Brenda Varner / Sweet Sounds Of Muscle Shoals: Vol. 1-Tear Stained Soul / 3:15
Feel Good Again / Charlie Feathers / Get With It: Essential Recordings (1954-69) [Disc 2] / 8:16
Wildisde / Mark Lennon / Down The Mountain / 4:35
Mama Don’t / Jon Doe with Dave Alvin & Veronica Jane / This Is Americana Volume 2 / 2:48
Walkin On My Dreams / Hacienda Brothers / This Is Americana Volume 2 / 3:39
Suppose Tonight Would Be Our Last / The Two Dollar Pistols & Tift Merrit / The Two Dollar Pistols With Tift Merritt / 2:43
Sin City / Clive Gregson & Boo Hewerdine / Conmemorativo | A Tribute To Gram Parsons / 5:09
Wayward Son / Adam Klein / Wounded Electric Youth / 4:05
I Don’t Like Half The Folks I Love / Paul Thorn / Pimps & Preachers / 4:21
Hate It Here / Wilco / Sky Blue Sky / 4:34
I’m Just A Nobody / Freddy Love / The Soul Side Of The Street – The Hadley Murrell Story: 1964-1972 / 2:38
My Baby Loves the Secret Agent / The Detroit Cobras / Baby / 2:00
Sugar Bee / Sir Douglas Quintet / The Prime of Sir Douglas Quintet / 2:19
Flashback Blues / John Prine / John Prine / 2:32
She Lives Up The Street / The Silos / Cuba / 3:13
Poke Salad Annie / Captain Luke and Cool John / Outsider Lounge Music / 4:49
All The Time / Elizabeth Cook / Americana Music Awards Sampler / 2:54
Naked Eye / Luscious Jackson / Fever In Fever Out / 4:41
Watch Yourself / Bucktown Kickback / Speakeasy / 4:08
The Mercenary Song (3:01) / Cory Morrow / The Cory Morrow Band / 3:01
I’m Gone / Pieta Brown / Mercury / 2:21
Stick On You / Otis Taylor / White African / 3:31


This Week’s WCOM Play List

Interview Guest: Jason Alexander and the Stepsiders

Like Lightning / Lucero / Women & Work / 4:15
tenderhook / Michael Rank and Stag / Kin [Disc 1] / 4:26
Ode To Misery / Paladino / Paladino / 2:27
Bitter, Drunk & Cold. mp3 / The Far West / The Far West / 2:32
Makin’ Time / Westbound / Blackjack Road / 2:54
Come On Back To Me / Jackstraw / Sunday Never Comes / 3:08
Dirt / Andre Williams / Hoods and Shades / 3:13
Suppose Tonight Would Be Our Last / The Two Dollar Pistols & Tift Merrit / The Two Dollar Pistols With Tift Merritt / 2:43
I’m Gone / Pieta Brown / Mercury / 2:21
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long / Otis Redding / ARB 6: 1965-1967 / 3:15
Babe I Ain’t Perfect / Mike June & The Wilson Street Refugees / Exile On Wilson Street / 3:19
Reckoning Lament / Lincoln Durham / The Shovel Vs. The Howling Bones / 3:11
Trees Fall Every Day / Chris Castle / Last Bird Home / 3:10
You’re Through Fooling Me / Patty Loveless / The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams / 2:06
I Don’t Like Half The Folks I Love / Paul Thorn / Pimps & Preachers / 4:21
My Baby Loves the Secret Agent / The Detroit Cobras / Baby / 2:00
After the Game / Maynard and the Musties / Cheap Cigar / 3:17
- Taproot Radio

Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk and Roots Country charts are posted here with permission.

RMR Radio Airplay Chart - Folk Top 50 Albums

TW LW Artist CD Title Label
1 1 PIETA BROWN MERCURY RED HOUSE
2 3 RED MOLLY LIGHT IN THE SKY SELF
3 2 ABIGAIL WASHBURN CITY OF REFUGE FOREIGN CHILDREN RECORDS
4 4 MADISON VIOLET THE GOOD IN GOODBYE TRUE NORTH
5 5 JUNE TABOR RAGGED KINGDOM TOPIC
6 6 GENE AND GAYLA MILLS IF STONES COULD TALK HEART PINE
7 8 SARAH MACDOUGALL THE GREATEST ONES ALIVE RABBIT HEART MUSIC
8 7 LAURA MARLING A CREATURE I DON’T KNOW EMI
9 11 PHARIS & JASON ROMERO A PASSING GLIMPSE LULA
10 10 DAVID BROMBERG USE ME APPLESEED
11 12 100 MILE HOUSE HOLLOW PONDS HOLE IN MY SHOE PRODUCTIONS
12 13 GOOD LOVELIES LET THE RAIN FALL SELF
13 14 HAL CANNON HAL CANNON OKEHDOKEE RECORDS
14 22 JOHN MCCUTCHEON THIS LAND – WOODY GUTHRIE’S AMERICA APPALSONGS
15 9 THE DEEP DARK WOODS THE PLACE I LEFT BEHIND SIX SHOOTER / SUGAR HILL
16 15 STEPHEN FEARING & ANDY WHITE FEARING & WHITE LOWDEN PROUD
17 16 MAE MOORE FOLKLORE POETICAL LICENSE
18 19 THE ONCE ROW UPON ROW OF THE PEOPLE THEY KNOW BOREALIS
19 18 PAUL SIMON SONGWRITER LEGACY
20 20 ROBIN & LINDA WILLIAMS STONEWALL COUNTRY RED HOUSE
21 23 VARIOUS ARTIST A NOD TO BOB 2 — AN ARTISTS TRIBUTE TO BOB DYLAN ON HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY RED HOUSE
22 31 HEATHER STYKA LIFEBOATS FOR ATLANTIS KIT STRIPE
23 28 KYLE ALDEN SONGS FROM YEATS BEE-LOUD GLADE SELF
24 0 STEPHANIE FAGAN HEART THIEF YONDER MUSIC
25 25 NORMA MACDONALD MORNING YOU WAKE PAPERWEIGHT MUSIC
26 26 CARRIE NEWCOMER EVERYTHING IS EVERYWHERE AVAILABLE LIGHT
27 27 LAURA REPO GET YOURSELF HOME REPO GIRL
28 30 KATIE MOORE MONTEBELLO PURPLE CAT RECORDS
29 32 MURRAY MCLAUCHLAN HUMAN WRITES TRUE NORTH
30 40 DAVID FRANCEY LATE EDITION LAKER MUSIC
31 17 PAUL SACHS OIL TOWN SELF
32 36 VANCE GILBERT OLD WHITE MEN DISISMYE MUSIC
33 24 INDIGO GIRLS BEAUTY QUEEN SISTER VANGUARD
34 34 THE WAILIN’ JENNYS BRIGHT MORNING STARS RED HOUSE
35 37 GENTRY BRONSON GENTRY BRONSON STOLEN HAT
36 29 THE CIVIL WARS BARTON HOLLOW SENSIBILITY
37 33 AMANDA SHIRES CARRYING LIGHTNING SELF
38 41 IAN TAMBLYN WALKING THE BONES NORTH TRACK RECORDS
39 35 ELIZA GILKYSON ROSES AT THE END OF TIME RED HOUSE
40 42 KATE REID DOING IT FOR THE CHICKS FIREBONES
41 43 CHUCK BRODSKY SUBTOTAL ECLIPSE SELF
42 0 ROBBY HECHT LAST OF THE LONG DAYS 101 DISTRIBUTION
43 45 RACHEL HARRINGTON CELILO FALLS SKINNY DENNIS
44 21 JOY KILLS SORROW THIS UNKNOWN SCIENCE SIGNATURE SOUNDS
45 0 DRIFTWOOD FIRE HOW TO UNTANGLE A HEARTACHE SELF
46 39 PAUL SIMON SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT HEAR MUSIC
47 0 PATTI CASEY THE HEART OF A WAITING BOY LONGSHOT MUSIC
48 0 JAMES LEE STANLEY AND CLIFF EBERHARDT ALL WOOD AND DOORS BEACHWOOD
49 0 ANDREA ENGLAND HOPE & OTHER SINS LEMONADE FACTORY
50 0 BRUCE COCKBURN SMALL SOURCE OF COMFORT TRUE NORTH
For the Week of December 16, 2011 All data entered online direct to the RMR database by member stations - Acoustic Music Scene

This song is stalking me. It follows me to bed. It finds me in the shower. I can’t get away from it. It is intoxicating. Fagan’s voice is reminiscent of Natalie Merchant with a slight twang. Originally hailing from South Carolina, but now overseas living as an army wife, we can thank her for two reasons: the sacrifice she and her husband have made for our country, and this amazing song. - Indie Music Reviewer (IMR) Magazine

By: Traci Bridges | SCNOW
Published: December 08, 2011

FLORENCE, SC --

For those of you who didn’t attend, quite a crowd turned out to support local musician Stephanie Fagan as she introduced her new CD “Heart Thief” during a special launch party at Southern Hops Brewing Co. in Florence.

Hundreds, actually, and I have to say it made me proud to see Florence supporting one of her own.

Many I spoke with readily admitted they weren’t familiar with Stephanie’s material but at least wanted to check it out and lend some support. Others were longtime friends, and lots and lots of those in attendance were other local musicians.

In fact, Southern Hops was basically a who’s who of the local music scene: Melanie McMillan, Kevin Singleton, John Bazen, James Scott Bullard, Liv McBryde, Mikey Dowling and of course the godfather of the Florence music scene, Mr. Allen Johnson, just to name a few.

Many played on Stephanie’s new release, and a few joined her on stage Saturday — including James Scott Bullard, who opened up the show with his band The Late Night Sweethearts.

Bullard and the Late Night Sweethearts got the crowd going with some good ol’ fashioned alt-country, even delving into their rock side a bit with a little Velvet Underground cover, ecletically interwoven with a few lines from Oasis and The Marshall Tucker Band. No, it wasn’t Big Country, as I’ve been trying to get Scott to cover for at least a year now, but still pretty good stuff.

Then came the Belle of the Ball, and I have to say Stephanie’s voice is amazing. You’re probably saying I say that about everyone, but I don’t. Stephanie’s voice is really something special (a little like a cross between Adele and Sarah McLachlan, if you ask me), and I think anyone who’s ever been in love (or even unlucky in love) can definitely identify with her lyrics.

Don’t believe me? Well, check it out for yourself. Stephanie’s “Heart Thief” is now available through her website, www.stephaniefagansings.com.

Saturday’s party also marked the launch of Yonder Music record label, Missy Davis-Jones’ latest venture and also the label to which Stephanie is signed.

Missy and “Country Fried Rock” hostess extraordinaire Sloane Spencer were instrumental in putting on Saturday’s CD release and label launch party and have become good friends through their musical ties.

I ran into Sloane in the VIP section Saturday night (I know, I know, but I had to fit that VIP thing in somewhere, because let me tell you, that wristband does make you feel pretty dang important), and she told me a funny little story about how she and Missy joined forces.

Sloane said the two met in passing while grabbing coffee at Aroma Underground about a year or so ago. Missy quickly told Sloane how she was going to start a record label.

“I was thinking in my head, ‘Yeah, right, lady,’” Sloane told me, laughing.

Sloane told Missy how she was going to be one of the top music bloggers in the country.

“And I’m sure she was thinking the same thing. ‘Yeah, right, lady,’” Sloane continued.

Well guess what? They both stuck to their word, and man, am I glad they did.

For music lovers, Saturday was like a big, fat early Christmas gift. Let’s continue to support local music and local music endeavors, and we’ll make it the gift that keeps giving all year.

Here’s to another great week! I’ll see ya on town.

Morning News Digital Journalist Traci Bridges is on the town and in Currents every Thursday. Contact her at 843-317-7325 or tbridges@florencenews.com. Or find her wearing her headphones and the office and listening to tunes from Florence-based and native musicians - The Morning News (Florence, SC)

Wow! In 2011, Country Fried Rock featured 50 roots musicians via in-depth interviews, highlighting their songwriting and musical influences. From those, we selected the 40 most-listened to programs, and let our listeners select their Top 10. Hundreds of listeners voted for the Country Fried Rock "Best of 2011" list, yielding a surprisingly clear Top 10.

If you liked any of the music we have featured this year, please consider buying the albums and supporting the musicians who make great songs. All of the songs posted for download are with express written permission of the artists. Please "thank" them by visiting their pages or buying their music. If you buy music through our links, a very small portion also goes to bring you Country Fried Rock in the future. Thanks for supporting roots music & Happy (almost) New Year!

10. Renee Wahl, Cumberland Moonshine
9. Betsy Franck, Still Waiting
8. The Back Row Baptists (now called Some Dark Holler), Broken Hearts and Bad Decisions
7. Dylan Sneed, Texodus
6. James Scott Bullard, The Rise & Fall of James Scott Bullard & The Late Night Sweethearts
5. Driftwood, Wanderlust
4. The Mother Truckers, Van Tour
3. Kevin Kinney, A Good Country Mile (with the Golden Palominos)
2. Abby Owens, Indiantown
1. Stephanie Fagan, Heart Thief

By: Sloane Spencer - Country Fried Rock

Stephanie Fagan married, started her second record, moved to Germany, waved her husband goodbye while he went to Iraq, returned to South Carolina, finished the record, played to a standing room only CD release party, and went home to Germany--all in less than a year. The twenty-something songwriter from the country takes it all in stride, and has already written her third album while her husband serves our nation.
Fagan describes her first effort as "trying to sound like a singer-songwriter," but Heart Thief comes from a more personal and genuine moment in her life, post-college, pre-marriage, in a comfortable limbo of adulthood.

Fagan wrote the first single, "Beautiful Man," as a "platonic love song" to her former roommate. Thematically, her songs cover everything from being hungover in a greasy spoon diner to being irritated with oneself for obsessing over a former love to a sweet-sounding "I hate you" song. Her tunes are catchy, but not bubble gum. With a cast of players including nearly every professional musician in her hometown, the tunes are layered with instrumentation and ambient sounds, reflecting the public folk music that greatly impacted her appreciation for German street performers. Stephanie tells an amusing tale contrasting the complex pedal steel that only took an hour to record with trying to get the sound of gentle wind chimes, which took five hours!

Fagan is a self-described "lyrics snob," with melody and instrumentation coming in far behind. She also is a product of her generation--she grew up listening to singles, and only recently has discovered the pleasure of an entire album. Interestingly, this has led her to re-examine some of her former favorite songs and find the artists' deeper catalogs and histories--a completely novel concept to Fagan! Prior to the last two years, she could not even identify artists, simply individual songs, but at the encouragement of the producer, Missy Jones of Yonder Music, Fagan began to immerse herself in albums from start to finish and found that the cohesive concepts greatly improved her own writing for this record.

Stephanie's voice needs no "fairy dust" to bring forth meaning beyond her lyrics. Her live performance, whether backed by a full band, in an acoustic duo, or just with her guitar, remains true to the recording yet stands on its own. If you enjoy her live, you will appreciate the album, and vice versa. Heart Thief accurately reflects songwriting to which many people can relate and enjoy.

By: Sloane Spencer - Country Fried Rock

"Her honeyed voice brings the songs a gentle, almost melancholy way"
- Valère Sampermans, Rootstime.be (Mar 01, 2012) - Rootstime.be

After an initial spin, there is no doubt as to why singer/songwriter Stephanie Fagan has named her latest album Heart Thief. Lyrical content aside, it’s what Fagan will do to new listeners; her crystalline voice flows with honeyed sweetness and wintry melancholy. The music on Heart Thief effortlessly slides between genres, from folk to acoustic pop to Americana but it is the haunting ache in her singing that stitches these diverse threads together. From the rootsy balladry of “Beautiful Man” to the atmospheric Beth Orton-ish moodiness of “Prodigal” to the old-school country twang of “Sweethearted,” Fagan easily robs listeners of their pulse.

Q: As a musician, where did it all begin for you? In other words, what artists started the fire within your heart to become one yourself?

A: The first music I ever remember listening was a lot of '60s and '70s singer/songwriters like Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, John Denver, and Gordon Lightfoot. They all had fairly simple instrumentation and really charming well-crafted lyrics. Those were probably my first loves. They still are.

Q: How old you were when you made the decision to become a musician? Was it something that you treated seriously back then? Or did you feel it was simply a hobby?

A: Musician? Who said I was a musician? I play guitar about as poorly as a person can and still be tolerated by an audience, and I only learned to play the little I do out of pure necessity. I’ve written songs and sang my whole life but it wasn’t until college I learned to play on a $20 used, no-name guitar with nylon strings because I was sick of the hassle of trying to get up with “real” musicians and having creative differences. I knew the way I wanted to sing it, and I just needed something playing along, nothing fancy. So I learned a few chords and that’s about the size of it. I still don’t play bar chords and my musician friends rag on me all the time about it but honestly it's just not something that’s super important to me. So far I’ve been able to get by with the few chords I know, and if one day I hit a creative wall with it and it starts to hinder my songwriting, I’ll learn more.

Q: How did you get signed to the independent record label Yonder Music?

I would say dumb luck but looking back it seems more like fate. I wasn’t really looking for a record deal. I was living in Florence, South Carolina working an office job at 21 and had gotten burned out and fired from that so I just gone to work for a local coffee shop. I was meandering, depressed, and writing the best songs of my life. One day this guy with shaggy blonde hair, Ken Jones, comes into the shop, and we have this long conversation about city planning of all things. Two weeks later, he calls me at the coffee shop and asks if I want to come to his house and do work some computer work for him. I know nothing about computers but he didn’t strike me as an axe murderer, and I needed extra money, so I said sure. I went to his house, met his super cool wife, Missy Davis Jones, and it wasn’t long before I was doing odd jobs for her. I hit it off with both of them on a friend level, and through that they heard my music. As it happens they had just moved there from L.A. and were both working in and around the music and music merchandise business. The next thing I knew they had opened a really top-notch recording studio and founded a record label, Yonder, with me as the flagship. It’s been three years in the making but it still feels like a bit of a whirlwind.

Q: How prolific are you in terms of songwriting? Is it a meticulous process for you or do the lyrics flow naturally?

A: That really all depends. It comes and goes like a tide. Some weeks I’ll write five songs, which is a really good week for me, and sometimes I couldn’t write a song if my life depended on it. I’d say in my whole life I’ve written somewhere in the ballpark of 200 full songs. When I am inspired writing, a first draft is a breeze. But editing can be painstaking. I am a lyrics snob so I try to look at my work as objectively as possible and think “would I be critical of this if it weren’t mine?” Inspiration is the easy part in a way but it’s a very small part of the process. It’s divine, fleeting, and uncontrollable like a spark. Editing is like tinder. A spark isn’t a fire without tinder but there’s no need for tinder without the spark. The worst writers to me are the ones that can’t edit and are immensely proud of every piece of garbage they create. Editing is 99% of writing.

Q: How long did it take to you record Heart Thief? Did you write the songs specifically for the record or have they been around for a while?

A: It took about 2 months to record Heart Thief spread out over the course of a year or so. We didn’t mean for it to take so long but during that time the studio relocated, and the Army shipped my husband and by extension me to Germany, plus we had to work around the schedule of the 20 some odd local musicians who so graciously lent their talents to the process. The songs were written maybe a year before the record as a project was conceived but they were all written within the same two-month span of time.

Q: Did you finance the record yourself? What advice would you give to other independent acts out there?

A: I didn’t finance the record luckily. Even though Yonder is a small indie label they have been really great about everything in that regard. We worked at Southern Harmony the studio owned by Ken and Missy and I even lived with them for like three months during the final recording and mixing process, which is completely unheard of. I would say to other acts that you should examine honestly and carefully what you want and what you’re willing to do. If you just want to gig around, maintain complete creative control of your art and keep all the profits for yourself; you need to be on your own. Scrounge up the money and D.I.Y. it. That’s what I did for my first record. For most musicians, that’s what I would recommend. That said, it’s hard to get your foot in the door (with radio, etc.) that way. If you want to take it to the next level and really pursue it as a career, a label is a necessity. Be careful about record contracts and don’t be afraid to ask for what you think is reasonable; be sure to read the fine print and get a decent lawyer familiar with the music business to advise you. Yonder is amazing; they are really respectful of my rights as an artist and willing to work with me but I know musicians that have worked as basically slave labor for years under well-known labels for no pay because they got giddy at the sight of a record contract and signed their lives and their songs away. Be savvy.

Q: What's the most personal track for you on Heart Thief and why?

A: That a tough one because they are all really personal, but if I had to pick just one I’d say “Two Strangers.” Even now, years later, it makes me uncomfortable to sing. It’s a song about a non-relationship relationship. I was in this nontraditional long distance thing that was basically just phone conversations and e-mail. I’m sure to most people something like that wouldn’t mean anything but at the time it meant a lot to me. When it ended I grieved for what it never was, and I struggled to define it. That song is embarrassingly honest.

By: Stacy Zering - No Depression

Chance encounter at coffee shop led to singer/songwriter Stephanie Fagan signing to powerhouse indie label Yonder Music

The days of an artist getting signed because of a chance meeting at a coffee shop are long gone. However, somebody forgot to tell that to singer/songwriter Stephanie Fagan.

The dulcet-voiced troubadour has just released her debut album, Heart Thief, on the independent record label Yonder Music, and she can partially thank this country's dependence on a morning caffeine rush for that accomplishment. "I was living in Florence, South Carolina working an office job at 21. I had gotten burned out and fired from that so I had just gone to work for a local coffee shop," Fagan recalled. "I was meandering, depressed, and writing the best songs of my life. One day this guy with shaggy blonde hair, Ken Jones, comes into the shop, and we have this long conversation about city planning of all things. Two weeks later he calls me at the coffee shop and asks if I want to come to his house and do some computer work for him. I knew nothing about computers but he didn't strike me as an axe murderer, and I needed extra money, so I said sure. I went to his house and met his super cool wife, Missy Davis Jones, and it wasn't long before I was doing odd jobs for her. I hit it off with both of them on a friend level, and through that they heard my music. As it happens they had just moved there from Los Angeles and were both working in and around the music merchandise business. The next thing I knew they had opened a really top-notch recording studio and founded Yonder Music with me as the flagship act."

Given the emotionally charged singing and insightful lyrics on Heart Thief it's no shock that Yonder Music would be attracted to Fagan's artistry. Versatile enough to balance her folk and country inspirations without leaning towards too much on either of them, Fagan is a definite crossover musician, among the few who can do so without any trace of self-consciousness. For Fagan, it's all about going back to her listening roots, to a certain generation of singer/songwriters that refused to see stylistic boundaries. "The first music I ever remember listening was a lot of ‘60s and ‘70s singer songwriters like Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, John Denver, and Gordon Lightfoot," Fagan revealed. "They all had fairly simple instrumentation and really charming well-crafted lyrics. Those were probably my first loves. They still are."

More Information: http://stephaniefagansings.com

Submitted By:
Wavelength Radio Promotion - Jazz Corner

It’s no wonder why Stephanie Fagan’s Heart Thief was voted the top disc of the year by Country Fried Rock. This is the most amazing voice I’ve heard in quite some time. She’s featured by the new label Yonder Music.

Fagan’s first disc was Ideas For Your Earbone. I haven’t heard it, but the title alone is intriguing. In Texas growing up, we had all kinds of “bones,” from an honesty bone to the traditional funny bone. It’s a southern term I’ve always favored as a way to talk about the spiritual or physical body.

Fagan’s voice is very strong and her lyrics are as well. She learned to play a few chords on the guitar so that she could accompany herself. I loved her honesty when talking to No Depression’s Stacey Zering.

Musician? Who said I was a musician? I play guitar about as poorly as a person can and still be tolerated by an audience, and I only learned to play the little I do out of pure necessity.

I’ve written songs and sang my whole life but it wasn’t until college I learned to play on a $20 used, no-name guitar with nylon strings because I was sick of the hassle of trying to get up with “real” musicians and having creative differences. I knew the way I wanted to sing it, and I just needed something playing along, nothing fancy.

So I learned a few chords and that’s about the size of it. I still don’t play bar chords and my musician friends rag on me all the time about it but honestly it’s just not something that’s super important to me. So far I’ve been able to get by with the few chords I know, and if one day I hit a creative wall with it and it starts to hinder my songwriting, I’ll learn more.

You kind of get the idea that one day she will learn more, too. She’s very good for someone so young, but still open to broadening her scope. Musing about her, Country Fried Rock said:

She…is a product of her generation–she grew up listening to singles, and only recently has discovered the pleasure of an entire album. Interestingly, this has led her to re-examine some of her former favorite songs and find the artists’ deeper catalogs and histories–a completely novel concept to Fagan! Prior to the last two years, she could not even identify artists, simply individual songs, but at the encouragement of the producer, Missy Jones of Yonder Music, Fagan began to immerse herself in albums from start to finish and found that the cohesive concepts greatly improved her own writing for (Heart Thief).


Though their voices are not similar at all, the first time I heard her sing My Old Man, she caught me the same way Janis Joplin did when I first heard her on the radio. That instant feeling that there is something deeper here worth listening to.

Now, about her current album, Heart Thief…A lot of folks like Beautiful Man, which is a nice song. To me, though, she really comes into her own with Prodigal.

It’s easily the best piece on the album. It’s an eery song in the best style of country (or blues), one that sounds like it comes straight out of the mountains from a wail that is beyond humans but just happens to flow through them as its only avenue of release.

For shame, for shame. I trusted you with my soul. For shame, for shame. You led me down. Down to that promised land. For shame, For shame…

There is something beyond time about this song and her voice on it. It sounds like it could have been sung a hundred years ago, there is something so primal about it.
Spring was my second favorite song on the album. It’s another one that shows some of what her voice can do. Like Two Strangers, it gives you a feeling that this is a voice to watch.

The Diner Song was a fun song about drunk dialing. It had that twangy, steel guitar feel. Coffee, toast and grits. It’s morning and I drink myself awake. Hair of the dog, I was drunk last night and called. That was a mistake!

It’s a refreshing and humorous love song. Later, she talks about the rest of the day…

Two hours break between morning shift and late put my tired back on track. Don’t mind the work ’cause the money doesn’t hurt.

Similar to how Prodigal is the epitome of a wailing country song, this is a classic fun song where the lyrics are well crafted and flow to make a story you really want to sing along with. I really enjoyed Heart Thief. Definitely worth a listen.

by L.H. O'Connor - Roothog Radio

By the third track or so, the spell Stephanie Fagan weaves is in full force. A voice possessed of both a down-home earnestness and a jazzy lightness both comforts and
compels as the South Carolina-bred singer/songwriter relates a string of heart-baring episodes, her lyrical intimations the beneficiary of a tuneful, deceptively simple-sounding song-crafting style. Each song on Heart Thief sustains the charm of the one before and sets one up for another gem. Standouts on this stand-out set include “You Are The Devil”, “Sweethearted” and “No Response”.

Reviewed By: Duane Verh - Roots Music Report

From The Anderson Independent Mail:
"...a brief listen to her music proves that she’s too modest. Ms. Fagan describes herself as a Western swing/folk artist, and that truly shows in her music. Her delicate voice perfectly complements the twangy guitar on songs such as “Icarus” and “Square Dance.”
“I’m really just a storyteller with a different perspective,” Ms. Fagan said. “A song like ‘Home’ is just about the things around my house, while ‘Icarus’ is taken from mythology. The inspiration can come from anywhere.”
http://independent-mail.com/news/2008/mar/19/belly-corner-bagel-shop-anderson/ - Anderson Independent Mail, March 2008

i recently got this cd on whim in a small independent record store just cause i like trying new music. A lot of times im disappointed with the results but im happy to report that this is not the case with this fantastic artist. her voice is heavenly and so incredibly sweet, sort of like jenny lewis, or zooey dechannel. all the songs are really different (some have a band some are just one guitar and one is accapella) so i can listen to it all the way through without getting bored. what really gets me though are the lyrics... i mean wow. my absolute fav is icarus....OUT OF THIS WORLD!.... I would be really surprised if she didnt end up being one of the great singer/songwriters of my generation and I feel kind of cool for being one of the first to hear of her. all my friends are now rabid fans! - Amazon.com User Review of "Ideas For Your Earbone", December 2009