New Year's: Dailey & Vincent, Jimmy Travis & High Road - December 31, 2015
Dailey & Vincent
Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent became the most heralded new act in bluegrass as their debut album Dailey & Vincent (2008) and busy tour schedule introduced them to wildly appreciative audiences. The group took home seven awards at the 2008 International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, including Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year. Brothers from Different Mothers presents the band at a level of synergy that only comes from constant live performing. It exudes the enthusiasm of a venture still fresh for all its participants. Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent have been bluegrass musicians throughout their careers and never depart from that core sensibility on Brothers from Different Mothers. But, like the earliest icons, they also push the bluegrass envelope. Best of all, they've found the closest thing to brotherhood - a true musical partnership.
Jamie Dailey (guitar, bass, lead and harmony vocals) was hired by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver in 1998 as lead, baritone and tenor singer and bass player. Three years later he switched to guitar, but he continued to sing lead and harmony vocals on the concert trail and on nine of the band's albums. During Jamie's tenure the band won 13 IBMA Awards - including Vocal Group of the Year from 2001-2007 and Song of the Year for Blue Train, which featured his singing - and earned four Grammy® and five Dove Award nominations. Jamie has recorded with Dolly Parton and Rhonda Vincent, appeared on five Gaither Homecoming DVD's, and was a guest on Ricky Skaggs' Grammy-winning Brand New Strings album.
Darrin Vincent (mandolin, bass, guitar, lead and harmony vocals) started singing at age three and playing music at age six as part of his family band, The Sally Mountain Show, along with sister Rhonda Vincent. As a member of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for the past ten years, Darrin has won five Grammy Awards (Ancient Tones, Soldier of the Cross, A Simple Life, Brand New Strings, Instrumentals) and eight IBMA Awards for Instrumental Group of the Year. He also performed on Grammy-winning albums by Dolly Parton (The Grass is Blue) and Jimmy Sturr (Top of the World). He has performed and recorded with a multitude of other artists including Nora Jones, Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Bruce Hornsby, Vince Gill, John Hartford and Keith Urban. Darrin earned three Grammy nominations for co-producing Rhonda Vincent's One Step Ahead, Ragin' Live and All American Bluegrass Girl. His other production credits include Susie Luchsinger's Dove Award-nominated Count It All Joy, The Cherryholmes' Bluegrass Vagabonds, and Hunter Berry's IBMA-nominated Wow Baby.
Christian Davis (bass vocals, guitar) began to sing at age three, and throughout his childhood he learned to play various instruments. He began singing professionally in 1998 while attending Liberty University, as bass vocalist with The Sounds of Liberty, traveling to many churches and venues around the country. Later that year Dr. Jerry Falwell, with Christian's persuasion, formed the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet, which Christian began as the original bass singer. He has since sung with other quartets such as the Old Friends Quartet (while George Younce was ill), Christian Brothers Quartet and Mercy's Mark. In addition to his music career, Christian served as the Assistant Director of Recruiting for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 2006. Christian and his wife, Sophia, are the proud parents of Shelby, Richard and Anneliese.
Joe Dean Jr. (banjo, guitar, bass vocals) is the youngest in the group, born on July 18, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri. He gained an interest in music at the age of five after watching The Eagles reunion tour on television. He soon began taking guitar lessons. At the age of 10 he picked up the mountain dulcimer and won the Illinois State Dulcimer contest at age 11. Joe became interested in bluegrass at the age of 12, when he started playing mandolin. At 13 he picked up the banjo. Joe played with a few local groups in the St. Louis area including the Rosa Stringworks Band. In 2004, he stepped in to play mandolin for Bull Harman's band, Bullseye. Joe played for Bull until the end of 2006, when he took a job with Barry Scott. Barry was forming his band and needed a banjo player and bass vocalist. In June of 2007 Joe was hired by Dailey & Vincent. He had just graduated high school and was a month shy of turning 18 at the time. Besides playing and singing, Joe really enjoys meeting and greeting fans at every show.
Jeff Parker (mandolin, guitar, harmony vocals) is a proud Kentucky native who learned to play guitar from his father, Vester, when he was just 6 years old. After tackling the guitar, he moved on to other instruments, until at age 12 he was inspired by Harold Russell of the Russell Brothers to play mandolin. Soon after, Jeff joined his dad and other family members, playing at area churches and radio stations, and they became known as the Sounds of Gospel. When he was 19, Jeff left the Sounds of Gospel and joined Train 45, The Bluegrass Drifters, and other acts. He then became a member of Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, where he played mandolin, guitar, banjo and fiddle and sang harmony vocals in the staff band from 1986 to 1994. He also performed with The Parker Brothers, a featured bluegrass act at Renfro Valley. They were named Best Bluegrass Band at Renfro in 1992. In 1994 Jeff was awarded Best Harmony Singer, and in 1991 he was named Best Instrumentalist. After leaving Renfro Valley, Jeff spent five years in the group Wilderness Trail, which he formed with his brother Mike. In October 2001 Jeff joined The Lonesome River Band as mandolin player and tenor singer. He spent the next five years with LRB and recorded three albums with them. He also recorded a solo album titled Two Roads to Travel on Lonesome Day Records. Jeff has performed or recorded with other acts including Dale Ann Bradley, Steve Gulley, Rick Bartley, Aaron McDaris, Wildfire, David Marshall, Jason Davis, Linda Lay, Larry Sparks, Tony Rice and the late Larry Rice. He joined Dailey & Vincent in January 2007.
Jesse Stockman (fiddle) was born June 17, 1977, in Deming, New Mexico. He started playing fiddle at age 8, and went on to become New Mexico State Fiddle Champion four years in a row. After he married, Jesse moved to Arizona to play with a local band, Patti Bell and the Arizona Jamboree. He entered and won the Arizona State Fiddle Championship, Four Corners Mandolin Championship, and Four Corners Regional Flat Pick Guitar Championship. While in Arizona Jesse and his good friend, Jess Barry, formed a bluegrass band called Crucial County. It was while performing with Crucial County in Arizona that Jesse was approached by Doyle Lawson and offered a fiddle job with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Jesse moved to Tennessee in March 2002 and stayed with Lawson for the next 3 and a half years. In August 2005, Jesse began playing fiddle with The Isaacs. While with The Isaacs, Jesse performed on many Gaither videos, traveled to Africa, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, and performed on several cruises. He also had the privilege of playing with Vince Gill, George Jones, Josh Turner and many others. Jesse and his wife Amanda have three children: Hannah, 10; James, 6; and Oliver who just turned one year old.
Jimmy Travis
Jimmy Travis is a multi-talented performer who constantly proves that you can be funny, informative, and entertaining without being offensive!
As one reviewer put it: 'Jimmy Travis took the stage and within minutes made everyone in the audience feel like his new best friend. His presentation was hilarious, clean, and definitely had something for everyone. His approach to humor was very refreshing in a day and age when so many lace their shows with profanity' VARIETY
Attempting to describe a Jimmy Travis show or presentation is a lot like trying to herd cats! It's not impossible, but definitely takes some doing. He's funny, creative, spontaneous, energetic, and since he frequently interacts with the audience, no two shows are ever the same! Simply put, Jimmy Travis is unique!
Jimmy brings a wealth of entertainment experience to your event. His client list includes hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, corporations and associations! He's performed in all 50 states and has the uncanny ability of being able to relate to audiences of all ages. 8-80! Jimmy has toured with with some of the biggest names in show business. He's been a repeat performer in major concert halls as well as the main showrooms of Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Jimmy's special blend of humor and music have led to over 50 national television appearances on such networks as Odyssey, The Family Channel, TNN, The Inspirational Network, and on NBC as part of The Jerry Lewis Parade Of Stars.
Jimmy Travis is also a gifted and successful song writer. His songs have been used in promotional campaigns by Nascar, Toyota, Auntie Ann's Pretzels, Sea Ray Boats, Crystal Cruises, Shaklee Corp. and many others. If your group has an event theme or is honoring someone special, Jimmy can write a custom song and sing it during his performance!
He's recognized as one of the countries most popular writers of Christian children's music. Over 150 of Jimmy's songs have been recorded and performed by choirs both in the United States and Internationally.
Jimmy Travis was recently honored as the recipient of The Jimmy Durante Award. This award is presented annually to a comedian or humorist and recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of family entertainment.
Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Florida where he attended school on a football scholarship. He lives in Nashville, Tn. where he and his wife own a music publishing and production company. They specialize in children's music as well as custom songs for companies, corporations, and associations.
High Road
In a world where conformity is king and following the crowd is practically a survival instinct, the women of HighRoad, an award winning acoustic gospel group from Nashville led by Sarah Davison, have always preferred the road less traveled.
Finding origins at Belmont University's prestigious School of Music, the group was founded in 2010 after a three hour jam session in a basement with friends. Now approaching 2016, the group has been awarded as the 2015 AGM Female Group of the Year and worked with Grammy Award winning producers, Ben Isaacs and Mark Capps. They have been featured at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Silver Dollar City, Singing in the Sun, The Gatlinburg Gathering, and have lead the worship music at the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Women of Faith Conferences, and the Alaska Baptist Convention.
With instrumentation on piano, fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar, and upright bass, the girls have a feel for being "down home." "We strive to be real in our music and in our daily walk with Christ," Sarah says. "We share stories at our concerts that are close to our hearts. That's the way we have always wanted to approach our entire music outreach and do things a little differently."
Sarah Davison, who leads the group, grew up in on a family farm in Southwest Iowa playing gospel, ragtime piano, and country music with her dad who leads Cowboy Church in their home area. Sarah moved to Nashville to study Commercial Piano Performance at Belmont University after high school and currently resides in Music City along with the other members in the group. Made up of individuals from several different states, it is evident that God brought them all to Nashville to use them to further His kingdom through HighRoad's music ministry.
One of the group's most requested songs called "High Road" includes the lyrics; "oh the high road, it might get lonely, but it's the only way to go". Hoping to encourage listeners to join them on the narrow path, the music of HighRoad highlights how we are all designed to serve Him and that our lives are actually maximized when we are following the unique plan He has in mind.
In addition to featuring many songs that underscore this message, their 2014 project titled Angel at the Crossroads features Mr. Bill Gaither on a stunning accapella arrangement of When God Dips His Pen of Love in My Heart. This standard is a great representation of their love for those good old Gospel tunes and their desire to keep them alive in fresh ways for today's worship. This project also includes the Top 40 single, Angel at the Crossroads, as well as the original, Don't Weep for Me released in the spring of 2015.
The group has written several originals and arranged every song they perform or record. HighRoad isn't just another group of talented musicians who play songs that are close to their hearts. Instead, they consider it an incredible blessing to provide listeners with the message of hope found in the Gospel and pledge never to forget their down home country roots in the process.
Now, can we get an amen for that?
