Weal and Woe + Trailer Radio + Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers @ The Way Station

8pm- Weal and Woe
Genre: Country, Americana
For fans of: George Jones, Melba Montgomery, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, the Louvin Brothers, Freakwater.

The Weal and Woe formed in 2009 between singers Barbara Ann and Russell Scholl, who had been working on a repertoire of classic close harmony country and gospel music. Russell's former Brooklyn Playboys bandmate Jason Cade was brought in on the fiddle, and veteran guitarist Mark "Maddog" Deffenbaugh joined the lineup on lap steel. The quartet released an ep titled "The One To Blame" in 2012, which was named one of the top 50 albums of the year by New York Music Daily blog.  The ep included four original songs by Barbara Ann, whose originals dissecting lost love and classism have continued to make up more of the band's repertoire.  The current lineup includes old-time fiddler Dotty Moore and washboard player Megan Slack Burleyson (the Roulette Sisters, 4th St. Niteowls).

"Gorgeously harmony-driven oldschool honkytonk and 1950s style proto-rockabilly sounds" - New York Music Daily blog

"Good close harmonies and nice instrumentals. More please." - No Depression

thewealandwoe.bandcamp.com

9pm- Trailer Radio
Genre:  Country & Blues
For fans of:  Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Ray Stevens, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, The Chalks, Johnny Cash, Southern Culture on the Skids

Trailer Radio jumped onto the New York City scene faster than a redneck on a Nascar Ticket in October 2010. The group, lead by WV native Shannon Brown, delivers an eclectic mix of original and classic country and features musicians who have worked with artists including Elton John, Levon Helm, The Lonesome Praire Dogs, Lou Rawls and others.

In 2011 Trailer Radio released a self-titled debut album with a fresh sound that celebrates the hillbilly way of life in songs delivered with backhanded-backwoods humor, lively arrangements and quirky guitar licks that complement Shannon Brown’s strong vocals and straight-up country sass.

"Shannon Brown has a belting vocal and a crew of deadly shit kicking musicians. I've said it here before but this band produces some of the funniest and punchiest country music in Brooklyn." Read more...
~ Neville Elder, No Depression, The Roots Music Authority

"If classic country music from the 60s and 70s with a comedic edge is your thing, you'll love Trailer Radio...their new album is excellent." Read more...
~ New York Music Daily

"Their new album has a fresh sound that celebrates the hillbilly way of life in songs delivered with backhanded-backwoods humor, lively arrangements and quirky licks that complement Shannon Brown's strong vocals and straight-up country sass." Read more...
~ Richard Diehn, Outlaw Magazine

www.trailerradio.com

10pm- Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers

Sean Kershaw — the Brooklyn-based music artist whose swaggering “high-octane honky-tonk” (NY Times) has thrilled and seduced audiences in New York City, north up to Alaska, and as far south as Australia — is now hoofing it across the Atlantic.

The Coney Island Cowboy (the title of Kershaw’s acclaimed debut CD) whose lead vocals and rhythm guitar suggest the whisky-soaked angst of Hank Williams Sr., with a twist, struts out a gritty brand of rockabilly that drives restless boots straight to the dance floor. However, it was a writer for Playgirl magazine who observed that those same boots might just as soon be kicked off and placed under a lover’s bed, after listening to the single “Moonlight Eyes,” Kershaw’s most popular recording to date. In fact, Coney Island Cowboy enjoyed regular airplay in the U.S., Australia and Europe; the latter augurs well for the upcoming summer tour.

Such is the rough-hewn but stubbornly romantic sound produced by this lifelong wanderer who was born in Baltimore, but growing up in a military family, lived overseas and all over the continental U.S.  Early in his career, Kershaw continued to embrace the road by busking throughout the country. Starting out in New Orleans, he headed west to play in Los Angeles and San Francisco, went north up to Seattle, back across to Chicago and St. Louis, and eventually settled in New York.

It was in Brooklyn that Kershaw became a driving force if not the face of a growing country music scene, spurring notices in various high profile media outlets such as the New York Post, New York magazine and Time Out New York, and eventually becoming the cover story of a Village Voice article dedicated to Brooklyn country.

From 1996 through 2003, Kershaw played with a band called the Blind Pharaohs. The rockabilly group developed a plugged-in and loyal following touring up and down the East Coast. But by 2007, having written and continuing to hone a host of original country and rockabilly songs, “Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers” became Sean’s main musical vehicle.

Depending on the venue, Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers scale up or down in players, and feature Sean on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, an upright bass, lead guitarist, drums, pedal steel, and occasionally keyboards, banjo, fiddle and the mandolin.

“Audiences that respond to mainstream country music will readily find the influences of Johnny Cash, jump blues and western swing in the New Jack Ramblers’ sound,” comments Sean Kershaw. “But it’s the remnants of my background as a punk rocker, the high-energy that the New Jack Ramblers bring to the stage, and the strange, unexpected tales our songs tell that tend to subvert country purists’ expectations and appeal to an even broader, often younger audience,” continues Kershaw.