Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

Growing up in Delaware, a future career as a country musician barely crossed Chuck Wicks’ mind. A passion for baseball led to collegiate play in Florida and a family passion for potato farming was the fall-back job if he didn’t make it to the big-leagues. But while in college, Wicks wrote his first song and [...]

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Even if you don’t know Chip Taylor’s name, you almost certainly know his songs, which include “Angel of the Morning,” “Wild Thing,” and “Son of a Rotten Gambler.” Earlier this year, he and his band The New Ukranians released the provocatively-named F**k All the Perfect People, a project recorded in Norway and largely inspired by [...]

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It’s easy to forget that Jessica Andrews hasn’t even turned 30 yet. Andrews made her debut back on DreamWorks Records back in 1999 and did so as an up-and-coming 15-year old with “I Will Be There For You” on Prince of Egypt movie soundtrack. Since then, she’s released three albums, charted eleven singles on the country [...]

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For those that haven’t had the privilege of hearing anything from Chelle Rose’s new album, The Ghost of Browder Holler (due May 1), listen to these ingredients that make up the music. First, you take multiple generations of Appalachian family members and the stories that are passed on down from each one. We’re not talking [...]

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Man About Town may be Moot Davis’ third album, but it’s also responsible for several career firsts: it’s the first album after the singer-songwriter’s split from Pete Anderson’s Little Dog Records, the first project on his own label, Highway Kind, and the track listing includes both his first duet (recorded with Elizabeth Cook) and his [...]

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Having recorded his first song in 1962, this year Gene Watson is celebrating his fiftieth year in the music business. To celebrate, he’s released Best of the Best: 25 Greatest Hits—featuring re-recorded versions of some of his classics—on his own label, Fourteen Carat Records. While on the road, Gene found a few minutes to chat [...]

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Jimmy Wayne, above all else, is a humanitarian. Sure, lately he’s been a master of all things media-related: his novel Paper Angels was published last fall and his singing career has seen three albums and ten charted hits among them his number one smash hit “Do You Believe Me Now.” In addition, 2012 will likely [...]

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In 2004, Mississippi native Shelly Fairchild established herself as one of the most promising performers in mainstream country music with her debut album, Ride. The project’s first single, “You Don’t Lie Here Anymore,” was just a small taste of her considerable talents as a singer and songwriter. Though she would later tour as an opening [...]

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Second chances don’t often make themselves available in the music industry. Thankfully one found its way to Donna Ulisse (pronounced “you-liss-ee”). Like so many other aspiring country music artists, Ulisse followed her dream to Nashville where she first found work as a back-up and session singer, working with the likes of Jerry Reed. She finally [...]

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Keni Thomas has one of the most interesting back stories of any current country singer. He’s currently making music with his band Cornbread, but before he made music his career, he was an Army Ranger who first saw combat in 1993 at the Battle of Mogadishu, which would later be immortalized in Mark Bowden’s book, [...]

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