MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival

Kat Daddy delivers an exciting, eclectic mix of sounds from the 1950s to the present, focusing on classic rock and dance music. Based in Fort Worth/Dallas, this is a high-energy band that's always big fun.

Mark Harper is a seasoned guitarist, performer and multi-platinum award winner who is introducing yet another side of his creative abilities to the world. Mark has recorded and performed with some of the industries top performers such as: Kirk Whalum, Ronnie Laws, Bebe Winans, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Phyllis Hyman, Tom Braxton, Fingerprints, The Mac Band, George Duke, Jonathan Butler, Michael Lington, Wayman Tisdale, Tower of Power and a host of others.

For seven years Mark was the guitarist for Wayman Tisdale. Mark and Wayman had a very special bond and friendship that was sealed at the very first rehearsal. After rehearsing all of the songs that Wayman had listed for an upcoming show, Mark began to play other songs of Wayman's while band members began to pack-up. Wayman was excited, joined Mark and right there a spark was ignited. They jammed for some time. After playing Wayman's music, both being fans of old school music they began to play songs from the 70's & 80's. By the time they finished an hour and a half had vanished! The spark that was ignited continued in Wayman's shows and fan's looked forward to the old school music tribute.

During his time with Wayman, Mark was in the process of writing and co-writing his solo project. Wayman heard some of the material and was astounded by what he heard. That inspired Mark and Wayman to record together on Mark's project. Mark and his keyboardist/co-producer, Tony Blaine, spent four days at Wayman's ranch completing the material for Mark's project. One of Wayman's favorite songs on the project was a song titled "Dedication" written for Mark by a long time friend and great musician, Steve Lewis. Wayman told Mark that "Dedication" was the perfect song for he and Mark to perform a duet and he felt people would love it! Just days prior to Wayman's passing, the radio mix for the single "Dedication" was complete. Wayman heard this duet with his friend and said, "That's a winner!" Neither Mark nor Wayman knew that the title of this track, Dedication, would in the end have a deep and personal meaning.

Ms. LaVette is one of the greatest soul singers in American music history, possessed of an incredibly expressive voice that one moment will exude a formidable level of strength and intensity and the next will appear vulnerable, reflective, reeking of heartbreak. Unfortunately, it says much about the vagaries of the popular music industry that, although LaVette has been recording for over four decades, up to this point she has remained criminally unknown.

Definitely Maybe® is the premier party band of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. An eight-piece band featuring a hot horn section and dynamic vocalists, performing a wide range of styles - from old school funk, classic rock, and 70s dance music, to jazz standards, romantic ballads, roadhouse blues, and even a little country and western.

Big Sam's Funky Nation have established their presence on the forefront of the New Orleans music scene. Trombone powerhouse and band leader "Big Sam" Williams, formerly of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, has been celebrated as "the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz" by the San Francisco Chronicle and the band has been touted for consistently "bringing a straight raw party" by Jambase. 2010 has been a busy year for The Nation, with two European tours (France and Greece), a recurring role in the new HBO original series "Treme", and a busy US touring schedule including festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival, South by Southwest, Doheney Blues Festival and Gathering of the Vibes. For 2011, BSFN does not intend to slow down. The momentum BSFN has recently accumulated will only continue to grow off of the successful release of their fourth and most prolific album to date, King Of The Party. Be on the lookout for BSFN's masterful blend of a rock, with an improv-style associated with jazz and a horn-heavy front section that's the hallmark of funk. The energy level is always high voltage when BSFN takes the stage.

Ravi Coltrane is a critically acclaimed and Grammy™ nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Since 1991, Mr. Coltrane has worked as a sideman with many jazz luminaries, recorded noteworthy albums for himself and others, overseen important jazz reissues, and founded the prominent independent record label, RKM.

Everyone knows Better Than Ezra. They're the million-selling band with hits like "Good" and "A Lifetime" that sells out venues coast to coast and enjoys a legion of fans so faithful they've dubbed themselves the Ezralites. So, what's the story behind that name?

"We have never revealed it, even under duress," says front man Kevin Griffin. "We just said, 'Why don't we just keep it a secret, and that will be our one little publicity stunt.' As a result, there's a couple of books out there about the origin of band names. U2 or Rolling Stones will have a paragraph dedicated to them, and then there's like a page and a half on
the origins of Better Than Ezra, which is just hilarious."

While the band name remains a well-kept secret for now, the seemingly mysterious title of Better Than Ezra's latest project, Paper Empire, speaks right to the heart of a world asking a lot of questions and ultimately discovering the things worth holding onto.

"I was drawn to that phrase "Paper Empire,' Kevin explains. "It seemed apropos given the current economic woes and where we are right now. Most of these institutions in your life -- whether it's love, relationships, your belief system, religious convictions, or politics -- are pretty fragile when it comes down to it. There's a really precarious nature to everything that you hold dear in your life. If you recognize that, you're more likely to do a better job taking care of it."

The future of Better Than Ezra may have seemed a bit precarious to their fans who've been waiting for new material from the band since 2005's Before the Robots. While that project spawned BTE's radio hits "A Lifetime" and "Juicy," the guys felt a need to recharge their creative batteries after the tour behind that album was finished. Lead singer
Kevin Griffin took time to pen tunes for other artists including David Cook, Howie Day and Blondie while bassist Tom Drummond was busy producing other musicians in the band's native New Orleans. In late 2007, Kevin got the urge to fire up what he calls the "Better Than Ezra thing" and start recording his own material again.

"It happened really organically and when a song was good, it got recorded," Kevin explains. "We didn't feel that pressure to do it all in a two week blast. We took a year and a half. So, I think as a result, the songs on the album are the cream of the crop that stood the test of time in the editing process to make the album." The fruit of that recording method is highlighted in Paper Empire's first single "Absolutely Still.” Marked with Kevin's knack for creating an infectious melody and a
meaty lyric, the tune also encapsulates how fragile a love affair can really be.

"'Absolutely Still' is about when you're with someone, and you have those fleeting moments of clarity when everything is right between the two of you, and you can block out all the chaos and noise outside. You don't have to say anything and everything is understood. Before it all goes wrong, there are all those perfect moments of bliss."

While the driving, uptempo rhythm of "Absolutely Still" and the second-chance anthem "Just One Day" will cover familiar territory for BTE fans, Paper Empire contains a few musical detours most evident in the stoned childhood reflection of "Black Light" or the New Orleans gospel strains of "The Loveless."

"I think the reason we've been able to stick around as long as we have is that we're all bringing in new influences into the band. Whether I'm listening to a Friendly Fires album or MGMT or the new Raconteurs, you're gonna hear that in our music. The sound has always kind of changed as we've changed, but I think that's why we continue to have success and every album as a couple of songs that do well at radio. We stick around. It's gotta be interesting and challenging to us if we're gonna keep doing it."

Another vital influence to Better Than Ezra's ever-evolving sound is the group's newest member Michael Jerome on drums. Boasting a very accomplished resume (John Cale, Richard Thompson), Michael brings a nuanced yet powerful drumming style to the BTE sound.

"Some drummers are at the back of the beat, and really in the pocket and all about the feel. That's the way Michael is," Kevin says. "He's also a very muscular drummer as well. Being a three piece band, everybody's really gotta hold their own. Michael does that with aplomb."

Fans can witness Michael's drumming prowess when Better Than Ezra hits the road in support of Paper Empire. Bred in the southern college circuit that produced R.E.M. and The B-52's before them, BTE has made a point of putting on a surprising, high-energy live show every time they hit the stage.

"You can never accuse Better Than Ezra of being a shoegazer band. Our show is a lot of fun, and it's entertaining, whether we're getting people onstage to play our instruments or I'm using a digital sampler out in the crowd to sample phrases people are saying to me and then mix it into a song, There's usually something different that we're gonna do in addition to a different set list every night when you come and see us. That's our mantra -- we put on a great show."

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Keb’ Mo’s music is a living link to the seminal Delta blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America--informing all of its musical roots—before evolving into a universally celebrated art form. Born Kevin Moore in South Los Angeles to parents originally from the deep South, he adopted his better known stage name when he was a young player who became inspired by the force of this essential African-American legacy. In the storied tradition of bluesmen before him including Muddy Waters—formerly McKinley Morganfield—and Taj Mahal, who began his days as Henry St. Clair Fredericks, Moore became known as Keb’ Mo’.

Mo’s music is also a purely post-modern expression of the artistic and cultural journey that has transformed the blues, and his own point of view, over time. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock folk and jazz, in which he is well-versed. In total, it owes as much to contemporary music’s singersongwriter movement, encompassing his longtime friends and collaborators Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, as to the spirit of blues godfather Robert Johnson that dwells in his work. For Keb’ Mo’, the common bond between these influences is the underlying storytelling ethic, the power of song to convey human experience and emotional weight.

Keb’ Mo’ is a three time Grammy winner for Contemporary Blues Album and was Grammy nominated for Country Song of the Year for ‘I Hope’ a co-write with the Dixie Chicks that appears on their latest album. His songs have also been covered by such artists as BB King, Wynonna, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Robert Palmer and Tom Jones!

On camera he has appeared and performed music for several television and motion pictures including playing himself, singing “America The Beautiful” during the inauguration scene of the moving series finale of the award-winning show. 

It’s apropos that DOYLE BRAMHALL’s new Yep Roc CD is titled Is It News because, although they’re absolutely true to his deep roots in the blues, its dozen original tunes mark a turning point that is both ambitious and the logical summation of his artistic evolution. The answer to the forward thinking, envelope-pushing CD’s title is a resounding yes—and the news is all good!

“I wanted to make an all-original record that was big, energetic, intimate, and unpredictable,”Doyle states. “We got a lot of the sounds by pushing everything to the limit and then pulling it back from there.”

Fans already accustomed to Doyle’s high standards and willingness to chart new territory will nonetheless be pleased and surprised at just how high he raises the bar. This instant classic is the benchmark of Bramhall’s storied career—which is saying a lot! Continuing the tradition he started with the songs he co-wrote with Stevie Ray Vaughan, which struck a chord with the biggest audience the blues has ever enjoyed, he deftly expands the idiom’s vocabulary and texture.

Any discussion of Texas blues, be it T-Bone Walker or Stevie Ray, is incomplete without mention of Doyle Bramhall. As singer, songwriter, and drummer, he has been an integral part of that rich state’s music for almost 40 years and, indeed, one of the founding fathers of the blues/roots resurgence synonymous with the Lone Star state and the migration from Dallas to its musical epicenter, Austin. Considering the impact Texas, the state and the state of mind, has had on music around the globe, Bramhall’s importance cannot be overstated.

Growing up in Dallas, his Chessmen opened for Jimi Hendrix in 1968, when Doyle was still in his teens. Moving to Austin with the band’s guitarist, Jimmie Vaughan, the two formed Storm, which Bramhall eventually left to form the Nightcrawlers—this time with Vaughan’s little brother, Stevie Ray. Two Bramhall compositions, “Change It” and “Lookin’ Out The Window,” became linchpins of Stevie’s repertoire, and the pair began a fruitful songwriting collaboration that yielded seven more classics - including “The House Is Rockin’,” “Tightrope” and “Wall of Denial” from In Step, and three tunes from the Vaughan Brothers’ Family Style, which featured Bramhall on drums.

The term legend is bandied about, often in reference to Doyle, but there are few triple-threats as strong—as songwriter, singer (sited by Stevie Ray as his biggest vocal influence), and instrumentalist (blues queen Lou Ann Barton calls him as “the best drummer in the South”). So it was little surprise that his 1994 album, Bird Nest On The Ground, was such a powerful debut. Following that success, he produced critically acclaimed albums by Marcia Ball, Indigenous, and Chris Duarte, while leading
his own rocking band. His follow-up CD, Fitchburg Street, was a heartfelt ode to the blues and R&B he heard during his formative years in Big D—which also happens to be Doyle’s nickname, to differentiate between him and his son, guitar great Doyle Bramhall II.

Mia Borders has captured the attention of both local and national audiences with her energetic blend of funk, soul, and contemporary songwriting.  Offbeat Magazine's Alex Rawls writes, "Note to self: Pay more attention to Mia Borders," and USA today named Mia one of the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival's “hidden surprises.”  The April 2010 release of the band’s second full-length album, "Magnolia Blue,” earned them a nomination for Best Emerging Artist at the Big Easy Music Awards, as well as a nationally broadcast performance at N.O. Jazz Fest '10.  They hit the road this year and performed at Mount Helena Music Fest, San Jose Jazz Fest, Taos Mountain Music Fest, Voodoo Fest, and Bonnaroo (VIP pre-party with Big Sam's Funky Nation).  When the band opened for Corinne Bailey Rae at the House of Blues New Orleans in September 2010, "Borders drew the crowd in and had them cheering for more" (NewOrleans.com).  With this and much more ahead, Mia Borders has secured her role as one of the fastest rising artists from New Orleans.

In their fourteen years together as a band, celebrated Los Angeles culture-mashers Ozomatli have gone from being hometown heroes to being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors.

Ozomatli has always juggled two key identities. They are the voice of their city and they are citizens of the world.

Their music-- a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga-- has long followed a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around L.A.

This has never been truer for Ozo than it is in 2009. More than ever before, the band is both of the world and of L.A.

Originally formed to play at an area labor protest over a decade ago, Ozomatli spent some of their early days participating in everything from earthquake prep "hip hop ghetto plays" at inner-city L.A. elementary schools to community activist events, protests, and city fundraisers. Ever since, they have been synonymous with their city: their music has been taken up by The Los Angeles Dodgers and The Los Angeles
Clippers, they recorded the street-view travelogue “City of Angels” in 2007 as a new urban anthem, and most recently, they were featured as part of the prominent L.A. figures imaging campaign “We Are 4 L.A.” on NBC.

"This band could not have happened anywhere else but L.A.,” saxophonist and clarinetist Ulises Bella has said. “Man, the tension of it, the multiculturalism of it. L.A. is like, we're bonded by bridges."

Ozo is also a product of the city’s grassroots political scene. Proudly born as a multi- racial crew in post-uprising 90s Los Angeles, the band has built a formidable reputation over four full-length studio albums and a relentless touring schedule for taking party rocking so seriously that it becomes new school musical activism.

"Just being who we are and just doing what we're doing with music at this time is very political," says bassist Wil-Dog Abers. "The youth see us up there and recognize themselves. So in a playful, party-type of way, I think it's real easy for this band to get dangerous. We are starting to realize just how big of a voice we actually have as a band and how important it is for us to use it."

In 2007, the reach and power of that voice went to new global heights. The band had long been a favorite of international audiences—playing everywhere from Japan to North Africa and Australia—and their music had always been internationalist in its scope, seamlessly blending and transforming traditions from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East (what other band could record a song once described as “Arabic jarocho dancehall”?), but last year, they entered the global arena in a different way.

They were invited by the U.S. State Department to serve as official Cultural Ambassadors on a series of government-sponsored international tours to Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East, tours that linked Ozomatli to a tradition of cultural diplomacy that also includes the esteemed likes of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong.

For those who wondered how a band known for its vigilant anti-war stance could become a partner with the very Bush administration they have so vocally critiqued in the past, the band was clear about their position: it was all about responding to a global “cry for change” by using music to promote messages of peace and understanding.

As Bella told The Los Angeles Times during the band’s visit to an orphanage in Cairo, “Our world standing has deteriorated. I’m totally willing and wanting to give a different image of America than America has given over the last five years.”

In places like Tunisia, India, Jordan, and Nepal, Ozo didn’t just play rousing free public concerts, but offered musical workshops and master classes and visited arts centers, summer camps, youth rehabilitation centers, and even a Palestinian refugee camp. They listened to  performances by local musicians and often joined in for impromptu jam
sessions with student bands and community musicians. Most shows ended up with kids dancing on stage and their new collaborators sitting in for a tabla solo or a run on the slide guitar.

In the case of Nepal, the band’s trip was part of a celebration of the country’s newly ratified peace accord and they arrived with a direct message: “different instruments but one rhythm, together we can make a prosperous Nepal.” Their concert, which drew over 14,000 people, was a historic one—Ozo were the first Western band to do a concert in Nepal and the event was the country’s first peaceful mass gathering that was not a protest or religious ceremony.

For the U.S Embassy in Nepal, Ozomatli were a model of how diversity promotes change. According to an official embassy release, “Ozomatli is living proof that diverse backgrounds make a stronger and more prosperous whole. Ozomatli’s nine members are committed to addressing social issues of local, national and international importance
and they use the power of their own diversity to achieve this.”

Suddenly the lessons of L.A. had found their way into the world at large.

“I’ve always felt that music is the key to every culture, the beginning of an understanding,” says vocalist and trumpet player Asdru Sierra. “It’s a language far more universal than politics.”

 When I was 18, I was on the road with my dad. One day, we were sitting in the tour bus, talking about songs, and he mentioned a song, and I said, "I don’t know that one." He mentioned another one, and I said, "I don’t know that one, either." Then he started to get alarmed, so he spent the rest of the day making a list on a legal pad, and at the top he put "100 Essential Country Songs." And he handed it to me and he said, "This is your education."

The genesis of Rosanne Cash's remarkable new album, The List, dates back to that day in 1973—to a time before her eleven previous albums, her 1985 Grammy and numerous additional nominations, her twenty-one Top 40 country singles. She had just graduated high school and was starting to write songs of her own when her father, the incomparable Johnny Cash, discovered some gaps in her knowledge of American roots music.

"I think he was alarmed that I might miss something essential about who he was and who I was," says Cash. "He had a deeply intuitive understanding and overview of every critical juncture in Southern music—Appalachian songs, early folk songs, Delta blues, Southern gospel, right up to modern country music."

Three dozen years later, Cash has selected twelve songs from the syllabus presented to her by her father and recorded her first album of covers. Still, she remains a songwriter to her core, so she approached each composition—from Jimmie Rodgers' "Miss the Mississippi and You" to Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country"—in search of its particular essence.

The result is a glorious range of sounds and moods, as rich and complex as such Cash masterworks as Seven Year Ache, Interiors, and Rules of Travel.

The idea for The List came about while Cash was on tour promoting her 2006 studio album, the widely acclaimed, Grammy-nominated Black Cadillac

'It just didn’t interest me," she says. "I learned all the songs, but then I set on my own course as a songwriter, and set about separating myself from my parents, as you do when you’re young. When I was writing the narratives for the Black Cadillac. 

Still, she resisted the idea of recording the classic songs herself. Eventually, though, Cash decided that she needed a change after Black Cadillac

The response was immediate. "People were eating it up, like they were hungry for these songs," she says. "And the import started to sink in—that this was about me and my dad, but it was also about a cultural legacy. These songs are as important as the Civil War to who we are as Americans.  Something clicked and I entered it full-bodied then, with all my heart."

Not even blindness can stop vocalist/keyboardist Joe McBride. His status as one of today's most popular contemporary jazz musicians is rooted in a solid foundation of talent. Born in 1963 in Fulton, Missouri, he began playing piano at age four and started singing in high school. As a teenager, McBride contracted a degenerative eye disease and eventually lost his eyesight, but his passion for music was never impaired. He continued his studies at the Missouri School for the Blind and at Webster University in suburban St. Louis. McBride trekked to the sunny shores of San Diego for a while before enrolling at North Texas State University to study jazz and performance.

This sensational band from Fort Worth has been on the musical circuit for more than 30 years. Led by brothers Carlos and Leo Saenz, Latin Express band has racked up many accolades over the years, including the "Little Joe y La Familia Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Brave Combo is America's premier contemporary polka band, and a Grammy winning one at that. Their versatility knows no bounds: they're a world music act, a jazz quintet, a rock band, a Tex-Mex conjunto, a blues band, a cocktail combo, a Latin orchestra and a dance band par excellence.

Cienfuegos is an 11pc salsa orchestra that has one goal at each performance: to keep the dancers moving. The band’s repertoire is a mixture of Latin styles, including classic salsa dura, contemporary salsa, timba, merengue, cumbia, Cuban son, and more. 

Starting out as a 3pc Cuban son group in 2004, Cienfuegos has expanded in size and repertoire to become the premier salsa orchestra in Austin, TX. The ensemble features a 3pc horn section, three percussionists, three vocalists, as well as bass and piano, to produce a high-energy sound that makes standing still virtually impossible.

 CIENFUEGOS was voted “Mejor Artista Nuevo” (Best New Artist) in Univision’s PREMIOS MUSICA LATINA de AUSTIN (Latin Music Awards of Austin) 2006 and won top honors in the Salsa/Merengue category in 2007. The band has previously been featured on Fox 7 News in the Morning in Austin, Great Day S.A. in San Antonio, and Horizontes Latin music program on Austin’s KUT 90.5 FM.  Mayor Will Winn and the Austin City Council honored the band by proclaiming Nov. 17, 2005, “CIENFUEGOS DAY”.