Acclaimed solo artist. Grammy-winning songwriter. Road warrior. By the time Kendell Marvel moved into a 200 year-old farmhouse in the Tennessee countryside in 2021, he'd already spent more than two decades expanding the boundaries of modern-day country music.

Albums like Lowdown and Lonesome and Solid Gold Sounds were showcases for his blend of southern twang and super-sized vocals, filled with songs that split the difference between honky-tonk country and roadhouse rock & roll. Marvel's catalog reaches far beyond his solo work, too, with artists like George Strait, Gary Allan, and Chris Stapleton all landing Top 40 hits with his compositions. The man had clearly left his mark. If he'd chosen to celebrate his new home by taking a few months off, the vacation would have been well-earned.

Of course, you can take the man out of Nashville, but you can't take the Nashville out of the man. Hours after moving in, Marvel unpacked his guitars and quickly got to work in his new space, writing songs that blended timeless textures with contemporary insight. He began with "Younger Me," a nostalgic ode to young manhood and resilience that became a Grammy-winning hit for the song's co-writers, Brothers Osborne. He kept writing during the months that followed, fine-tuning the mix of country-rockers, soul standouts, and bluesy ballads that now fill his third solo effort, Come On Sunshine.

Recorded in Dallas, TX, with producer Beau Bedford — ringleader of The Texas Gentlemen, as well as the sonic architect behind albums by Paul Cauthen and Leah Blevins — Come On Sunshine burns as brightly as its name. These are songs for Saturday night hell-raising and Sunday morning comedowns. They're stand-your-ground anthems and help-your-neighbor rallying cries. They're sharply-written tunes about booze and breakups, true love and false prophets, bad habits and proud traditions, delivered by a songwriter who's lived enough life to confidently chronicle its ups and downs.

"I'm 51 years old, which means I'm long past the point of catering to anybody," Marvel says. "I'm just telling the stories I want to tell, whether it's a song like 'Come On Sunshine' — which Devon Gilfillian and I wrote at the height of the pandemic, looking to pour some light into the people who were shut in, shut down, and struggling with the doom and gloom we were all seeing on TV — or “Keep Doing Your Thing,” which argues that the world would be a better place if we just let people be who you are."

He even zeroes in on money-hungry televangelists with "Put It In The Plate," a southern-fried stomper that's already become an audience favorite during Marvel's ongoing tours with Chris Stapleton. "It's got that sound I grew up loving, like Hank Jr's songs in the '80s," he explains. "It's not country, it's not rock; it's just a perfect mixture of all of it. It's an interesting song because it's calling out the righteous gemstones of the world! Maybe it'll piss people off, but sometimes, the truth does that."

The truth goes down a little easier when it's set to a soundtrack of greasy funky-tonk and nuanced Tennessee twang, though. At its heaviest moments, Come On Sunshine leans closer to the rock & roll side of the country-rock divide, with Marvel delivering amplified anthems like "Don't Tell Me How To Drink" with the gruff growl of a lifer who's earned the right to call his own shots. "Brother, I've spilled more on the barroom floor than you've ever had, so let me do my thing," he barks in his deep baritone, backed by cymbal crashes and ringing power chords. If those moments nod to the ZZ-Top-meets-Merle-Haggard sound of his Keith Gattis-produced debut, Lowdown and Lonesome, then tracks like "Hellbent on Hard Times" and "Dyin' Isn't Cheap" salute the vintage warmth of 2019's Solid Gold Sounds, which Marvel recorded with The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. Come On Sunshine finds the middle ground between those two records, its diversity mirrored by Marvel's broad list of collaborators.

Auerbach makes another appearance, this time as the co-writer of the piano-driven drinking song "Off My Mind." Mickey Raphael, longtime harmonica player for Willie Nelson, adds atmosphere and ambiance to "Dyin' Isn't Cheap," while Stapleton serves as a co-writer and backing vocalist on two tracks. Finally, solo artists like Dee White, Waylon Payne, Dean Alexander, Kolby Cooper, NRBQ's Al Anderson, and Josh Morningstar all contribute to the remaining songs. Such a lengthy guest list brings with it a number of different perspectives, which Marvel insists is the whole point.

"I like to work with people who are different than me," he notes. "Working with Beau Bedford in Dallas meant that I was playing with guys I'd never met before. Guys who had different ideas, different tones, and different ways of playing than my friends back home. We recorded the album live, finishing the whole thing in four days. That's how you capture magic. The same thing can be said for the people I write with. I prefer left-field people — people who come from different backgrounds and different genres. Devon Gilfillian comes from the R&B world; he hears different melodies than I do. Waylon is a gay man, so he has some experiences that are different than mine. I love to surround myself with people like that, and sit in the writing room with someone who isn't just like me. Because that's how you capture magic, too."

It's been nearly 25 years since Marvel — a native of southern Illinois, where he began playing barroom gigs at 10 years old — moved to Nashville and wrote Gary Allen's Top 5 hit "Right Where I Need To Be" during his first day in town. With Come On Sunshine, he proves that one's day in the sun can last a lifetime, as long as you're willing to listen to the muse, challenge your perspectives, and chase down the magic in front of you.

https://www.kendellmarvel.com/

Light and dark. Good and evil. Predator and prey. If you’re searching for a well-balanced meal in a world filled with junk-food music experiences, pick up Joe Stamm Band’s newest concoction: Wild Man.

Ever since their inception in 2013, JSB has offered distinct storytelling mixed with their signature Black Dirt Country Rock sound. A sound that Stamm defines as “a nod to our Midwestern roots, as well as the Red Dirt music scene, which has had a big influence on our music.”

From playing in middle-of-nowhere dives to being named Peacemaker Fest’s 2023 “Emerging Artist of the Year,” Stamm has earned the grit and stage presence to support artists like Chris Knight, Shane Smith and the Saints, Tyler Childers, Whiskey Myers, Charles Wesley Godwin and more. It’s the same rough-edged outlaw spirit from his early days that fans will hear in Fort Smith, an EP produced in partnership with Peacemaker Fest that sounds best when driving with the windows down. And it’s the same spirit Joe brings to any stage and every audience today.

“There’s a sinewy, rootsy texture to his inflections, always evocative and drenched in a rock ‘n roll spirit.” -- B-Sides & Badlands

The band’s third full-length studio album – recorded and produced at Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville – puts thought-provoking stories to a country-rock score. Fans will recognize the classic-rock-inspired riffs from Dave Glover’s lead guitar throughout Wild Man. They’ll also pick up on Bruce Moser’s fortifying bass lines and Tim Kramp’s dynamic drum performances. The words – specifically, how they sound in Stamm’s larger-than-life voice – are what really stand out on this record.

The album kicks off with the title song, inspired by a man referenced in the New Testament whose demons Jesus casts out and into the pigs feeding nearby. The song’s Zeppelin-esque words, “Where two men meet with the chaos in their eyes…Where the owl flies hunting for the snake, the wild man gives me back my name,” make the listener wonder: Which of the two men is the wild one?

As the record twists and turns, listeners will experience the gambit of human emotions. Nostalgia. Curiosity. Hurt. Hope. Acceptance. The things we choose to remember and the things we have yet to reckon with. It’s the nuance within our feelings, memories and dreams that Stamm’s lyrics grab ahold of. A songwriter of his caliber knows mucking around in this nuance isn’t an easy job – but it’s certainly rewarding.

While Wild Man masterfully bends the boundaries of rock, country and Americana, there’s a throughline from start to finish. The seemingly little, everyday choices we make – that Stamm’s characters make – create a patchwork of a life. Of light and dark. Good and evil. Predator and prey.

https://www.joestammband.com/