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Jason Eady - The eighth full-length from singer/songwriter Jason Eady, To The Passage Of Time first took shape in a frenetic burst of creativity back in the doldrums of quarantine. Over the course of a three-day period last August, the Fort Worth, Texas-based musician wrote more than half of the album, locking himself in his bedroom and emerging only when he felt completely burnt out. “I went in thinking I was going to write just one song—but then the songs kept coming, and I didn’t want to break the spell,” he recalls. “I’d go to sleep with the guitar by the bed, pick it back up when I woke up the next morning, and do it all again. I’d never really experienced anything like that before.”

With its nuanced exploration of aging and loss and the fragility of life, To The Passage Of Time arrives as the Mississippi-bred artist’s most lyrically complex and compelling work to date. As Eady reveals, the album’s understated power stems in part from the intentionality of the recording process, which involved enlisting Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist as producer and gathering many of Eady’s favorite musicians he’s played with over the years (including Noah Jeffries on mandolin and fiddle, Mark Williams on upright bass and cello, and Geoff Queen on Dobro, pedal steel, and lap steel). “I really love egoless players—people who know how to serve the song,” notes Eady, who recorded at The Finishing School in Austin and made ample use of the studio’s goldmine of vintage gear. “We started every song with just me on guitar, and if someone felt like they had a part to add, they had to come forward and say what they heard there. Everything was built from the ground up, and because of that there’s no filler—nobody playing to show off or take up space.”

The follow-up to 2018’s I Travel On—an album that “overflows with enough spontaneous energy to power a fleet of Ford pickups,” according to NPR’s glowing review—To The Passage Of Time shows the full force of that approach on the hard-driving lead single “Back to Normal.” Like all of the album, “Back to Normal” was recorded live with no overdubs, bringing gritty guitar work and galloping rhythms to an urgent meditation on the inevitability of change. “I wanted to write about how, when things get disrupted, you can never really return to the way they were before,” says Eady. “No matter how big or small that disruption is, you have to accept that change is a fundamental part of life, and just keep moving forward.” The result: an immediately catchy track that’s pragmatic but hopeful, proving Eady’s gift for turning uncomfortable truths into songs with a potent impact.

On the album’s exquisite centerpiece “French Summer Sun”—a devastating epic astoundingly captured in the very first take—Eady shares one of his most riveting pieces of storytelling yet. “My grandfather fought at Battle of Anzio in Italy in World War II, and a few years ago on tour I went to visit the beach where the battle took place,” says Eady. “I was struck by how small the beach was—I realized that if my grandfather had made one wrong move he would’ve been killed, and I wouldn’t be standing there thinking those thoughts. I ended up writing this song about how when someone dies in war, it isn’t just killing that person: it’s killing the generations of people who would have come from them.” Building to a shattering plot twist in its final moments, “French Summer Sun” drifts between its somberly sung chorus and spoken-word verses, attaining an unlikely transcendence as Eady sheds equally poignant light on the horror of war and the ephemeral beauty of everyday life.

One of the more lighthearted tracks on To The Passage of Time, “Saturday Night” muses on the early days of Eady’s career, when he and fellow Texas-based country artist Cody Jinks spent many a night playing sparsely attended gigs at Lil’ Red’s Longhorn Saloon in Fort Worth. “When you’re just getting started as a musician and nobody knows who you are, there’s a lot of nights when you’re mostly playing to the bar staff,” says Eady. “I was trying to set the scene of playing to an empty room, and what that really feels like.” Co-written by Eady and his wife Courtney Patton (also a

singer/songwriter), “Saturday Night” channels that spirited frustration in moody guitar riffs and soul-stirring vocals, subtly taking on a momentum that’s undeniably exhilarating.

In a particularly meaningful turn for Eady, To The Passage Of Time closes out with its confessional title track, a piece he regards as the album’s most personal offering. “I turned 40 a few years ago, and this song is me talking directly to time about some of the realizations I’ve had since then,” he says. But while the lyrics to “To The Passage Of Time” reflect a rueful awareness (“I still remember when I thought you were my friend/You made me feel like this never would end/Now I am older and I finally see/That you’re a little indifferent to me”), the song’s dreamy steel tones and luminous harmonies ultimately summon a certain quiet glory.

A near-lifelong songwriter who names Merle Haggard, Guy Clark, and Willie Nelson among his main inspirations, Eady grew up in Jackson and got his start performing in local bars at age 14, showing his natural grasp of everything from soul and R&B to blues and country. After some time in the Air Force, he moved to Fort Worth and started playing open mic nights, where he quickly built up a devoted following. After independently releasing his debut album From Underneath the Old in 2005, he expanded his touring radius and continued turning out critically praised work, including 2012’s AM Country Heaven (a top 40 debut on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart), 2014’s Daylight/Dark (an album that “belongs on a shelf next to Dwight Yoakam’s Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room, Joe Ely’s Letter to Laredo, and yes, even Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages,” according to AllMusic), and his self-titled 2017 effort (hailed by Rolling Stone as “[h]eavily steeped in his storyteller lyrical style and cleverly framed by uncluttered, acoustic-rich arrangements”). Through the years, Eady has also made his name as an unforgettable live performer, sharing stages with the likes of Sturgill Simpson, Band of Heathens, and Reckless Kelly.

In creating To The Passage Of Time, Eady incorporated several songs born from a songwriters group that started up during quarantine, including Patton along with artists like Brent Cobb, Adam Hood, and Jamie Lin Wilson (who also joined Patton in contributing harmony vocals to the album). “In the early stages of quarantine we realized that nobody was getting any writing done, even though we all had so much downtime,” he says. “We started this group and gave each other prompts to try to turn out a song a week, and it really helped get rid of that paralysis we were all feeling.”

Looking back on the making of To The Passage Of Time, Eady points to such unexpected moments as the recording of the album-opening “Nothing On You.” “Apart from my guitar, the only two instruments on that song are cello and steel guitar—which is a combination I’d never heard before, and gave it a whole new character that took my breath away,” he says. But for the most part, Eady achieved a rare outcome in the album’s production: a direct expression of his deep-rooted and highly specific vision. “I write my songs on acoustic guitar, so sometimes in the studio things take different turns and end up not really matching with what you had in your head,” says Eady. “But because of the approach we took with this album, there’s hardly anything that came out different from what I’d envisioned. This is 100 percent the album I hoped I would make.”

https://www.jasoneady.com/


Stranded in the City
Stranded in the City is made up of brothers André Reyes, Jr. and Antonio Reyes, Timmy Keith, Matt Elton, and Densil (D.J) Malabre. Together they form one of Kansas City's powerhouse bands. André and Antonio arose from a musical family tracing across four generations. They met Timmy, a natural rock guitarist, and bassist, Matt, who would later become the core of Stranded in the City. Densil adds his West African style to the mix to solidify the sound. 

As a diverse group, Stranded in the City provides a retro flavor in a fresh sound, playing every song with soul and every beat of their hearts. Through the thickness of the groove, they deliver rich vocal harmonies and smoking improvisational skills. Expect a melting pot of genres; R&B, Funk, Country, Tex-Mex, Rock and Pop all in their music. Never the less backed by the right energy.

They perform locally and pack venues in Kansas City and the surrounding areas. In the spring of 2023, they will be premiering their debut album. Visit the calendar for more details on live performance dates, album releases, events and more. Sign up for the mailing list for updates, and follow on social media for live streams and more content.

https://strandedinthecityband.com/


Outlaw Jim & The Whiskey Benders
Outlaw Jim and The Whiskey Benders are a hard-hittin’ Outlaw Country band with roots in the sounds of Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, as well as influences from New Orleans Funk and Southern Rock. They have traveled extensively in the Midwest and South, playin’ festivals, concerts, private events, as well as the beloved honky-tonks along the way. They have played The Grand Ole’ Opry Plaza Parties and famous venues on Lower Broadway in Nashville, numerous bars and festivals in New Orleans, and mountain towns in The Rocky Mountains.

In their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, they have opened for David Allan Coe, Billy Joe Shaver, Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin, John Michael Montgomery, Jason Boland and Stragglers, The Wilders, Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys, Blake Shelton, Josh Gracin, Carolina Rain, and also played Y’allapalooza.
Playin’ a unique list of original songs and sing-along favorites, many are comparing Outlaw Jim and The Whiskey Benders to the original outlaws, but with a flare all their own.

https://www.outlawjim.com/


Dallas Wayne
Dallas Wayne considers himself lucky to be able to make a living doing something he loves. Some people might say it has more to do with talent than luck. A native of Springfield, Missouri, Dallas is a singer, songwriter, radio DJ, voice-over artist, actor and music producer. His latest album project Coldwater, Tennessee was released on the BFD/Audium Nashville label, with distribution via Sony Orchard. Produced by the legendary Buddy Cannon, the album is a collection of all-original songs that showcases the depth of Dallas' songwriting and the range of his vocal talent.

Dallas has performed throughout North America and Europe, releasing 13 albums of his own, and performing on various compilation and band recordings including the honky-tonk supergroups Heybale! and the TwangBangers, as well as a Grammy-nominated bluegrass album. He began performing professionally while in school before moving to Nashville, where he developed his vocal style singing demos for the top music publishing houses and began songwriting. While touring Europe in the early 90s, Dallas signed a record deal and soon moved to Scandinavia where he was a staff songwriter for Warner/Chappell Music. After four years living and touring in Europe, Dallas returned to the U.S. and signed with HighTone Records.

He later relocated to Austin, TX, releasing albums on the Koch Nashville and Smith Entertainment labels. In 2016 and 2018 he released a popular collection of classic country songs on two albums, Songs The Jukebox Taught Me, Volume 1 and Volume 2, on Heart of Texas Records. This collection includes duets with Willie Nelson, Jeannie Seely, Darrell and Mona McCall, and Paula Nelson.

Dallas currently lives in Bristol TN/VA, the Birthplace of Country Music.

On the Air

Dallas can be heard six days a week on SiriusXM Radio: Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. Eastern at Willie’s Roadhouse (channel 61), Tuesday through Friday in Outlaw Country (channel 62) from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern at Willie's Roadhouse.

Dallas got his start in radio in 1989, drawing on his many years as a performer. He solidified his radio career when he joined Outlaw Country on Sirius Radio in 2005. A year later he accepted a position at KHYI 95.3 FM in Dallas, Texas, where he served as Program Director and morning drive-time DJ until the end of 2007. After the merger of Sirius and XM in 2008, Dallas became On-Air Personality and Associate Format Manager for the Texas-based honky-tonk channel Willie’s Place, which later became Willie’s Roadhouse.

https://www.dallaswayne.com/