On Tour

Back in 1959 guitarist Tommy Allsup lost the flip of a coin with Ritchie Valens for a seat on a plane, and the rest as they say, 'is history'. It was the ill-fated Buddy Holly plane which went on to crash shortly after take-off, killing Buddy, Ritchie and the Big Bopper.

Tommy was the guitarist with Buddy's band on songs like 'It's So Easy', 'Heartbeat', 'Wishing' which of course explains his link to Kevin Montgomery. Kevin's dad wrote 'Heartbeat' and 'Wishing' with Buddy, back in the days before The Crickets, and Kevin has always featured those songs, along with others, in his set when he tours over here in the UK.

'An Evening with Tommy Allsup and Kevin Montgomery' will begin acoustically with Kevin and Tommy, playing and singing and sharing stories, and even taking questions from the audience. For the second part of the show they will be joined by Danny White on bass and Paul Griffith on drums to help rock through some of the songs on which has Tommy played during his life-long career.

After Holly's death, Tommy Allsup went into producing the great Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and worked with the likes of Willie Nelson, Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Julie London and Vickie Carr and played with and produced Asleep At The Wheel.

At 75 years of age this is Tommy's first tour of the UK, and first ever visit to Scotland, it will be an un-missable opportunity to see one of the great guitarists with Nashville's finest singer/songwriter.

Travis LeDoyt, touted as the “world’s best young Elvis” will not be returning to the UK’s Americana Festival in 2007 but will be returning to the UK in the near future according to Ledoyt’s manager, Dick McVey.

In a statement released by McVey, he states, “There is a lot of false and untrue information being circulated about Travis LeDoyt and me and Travis's failure to return to the UK for this year’s Americana Festival and I feel obligated to our fans and interested parties there to set the record straight. I want to assure everyone there that the reasons for us not returning to the Americana are simple and have nothing to do with money or greed on our part. The primary reason we are not returning to the Americana stems from the return of the Americana contract from the promoter to us with items stricken from the contract that are essential to us providing the fans with our best show. On our last tour in October 2006 with this same promoter, there were several broken promises and contractual oversights on his part and we didn’t want to return to the Americana without protecting ourselves from these kinds of things happening again. I want to assure the fans that Travis and the band loved performing in the UK and Travis is very appreciative of the outpouring of love and support he received there. He will return to the UK.”

LeDoyt is performing in the UK on April 7, 2007 in Thurso, Scotland at the Easter Festival and is working on several dates in the UK for the future. McVey adds that he doesn’t want the fans in the UK to think LeDoyt will not be returning to the UK, and adds they are looking at several options and offers to return to the UK in the near future. McVey advises fans to watch LeDoyt’s website at http://www.travisledoyt.com for future dates in the UK.

ALL STAR PUBLICITY
9 Music Square South – 177
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone 615-264-3637

LUCIE DIAMOND TO HEADLINE BIGGEST COUNTRY FESTIVAL IN EUROPE

Hot British country artist Lucie Diamond and her full UK band will headline the Mirande Festival in France on 14th July - the biggest country festival in Europe - to 40,000+ country fans.

Lucie is the only female headliner on the 5 day festival, which attracted 165,000 people last year and is filmed by national French TV.

UK fans will also get to see why she has made a big name for herself in Nashville, Europe and many other countries, when she takes to the main stage with her band at The South Will Rise Again festival at Canford Park Arena near Poole, Dorset on 29th July.

More than 2,000 blues fans are in for a rare treat and some quality country fare on Sunday 24th June, when Lucie and her band appear at the annual Blues On The Farm festival near Chichester, Sussex.

Lucie is on the road with her acoustic show right now, and recently played sell-out shows in Edinburgh and London.

End of this month through to Easter weekend, Lucie visits Dubai and the Middle East for shows and media promotion.

28th April she appears as "very special guest" at the Phippsville memorial festival in Northampton, in memory of the late great singer-songwriter and raconteur Tom Hall, organised by his family.

May will be a busy month for triple award-winner Lucie, when she hits the road for the BMAD festival on Paignton sea front on 5th, then opens for her pal Albert Lee on 22nd and 23rd May in Portsmouth. Guitar legend Albert played on Lucie's 2005 debut hit single.

26th May, Lucie flies to the USA to begin a series of major shows and finish off her long-awaited album, due for release this summer. On 1st June she is special guest of hit writer Kent Blazy ("If Tomorrow Never Comes" and regular Garth collaborator) at what will be her 3rd show at the world famous Bluebird Cafe.

On 4th June she represent the UK at the annual CMA Global Artist Party in downtown Nashville at The Stage, with full US band. Lucie is the sole female on the bill of 6 International artists.

On 6th June, "Lucie Diamond and friends" will invade Christopher's Pizza Co on Music Row for an evening of music and surprises! This will be her 3rd visit to that venue.

In September, Lucie is booked to headline the Pride of Texas in Belgium on 8th, with her full UK band - and she headlines the Bristol Acoustic and Roots festival on 22nd, with her guitarist.

24th Sept to 10th October, Lucie makes her first trip to South Africa for shows and media promotion, postponed from last year.

More UK and European shows are still to be announced for 2007, and Lucie is already in demand for overseas festivals in 2008.

"I have wanted to book Lucie since last year, and I am thrilled she will be on our main stage on the Sunday, the busiest day of the festival. Several industry VIPs have recommended her to me, and I know from her records and the video clips of her shows in Nashville that she will be a huge hit with the 5,000 country fans who will be on our festival site," said The South Will Rise Again festival organiser Justin Cook.

http://www.luciediamond.com
http://www.myspace.com/luciediamond

TOM RUSSELL’S TARAHUMARA TRAIN

Ride The Sierra Madre Express from Tucson, Arizona to the Copper Canyon of Mexico with Tom Russell, Butch Hancock, Terry & Jo Harvey Allen, and Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum

Seven-day train and hotel package includes opening night concert in Tucson; 24-hour, 8,000-foot climb on Sierra Madre Express train and three days at Copper Canyon, Mexico resort ranch; excursion trips; numerous intimate workshops, concerts and jams with the trip’s featured songwriters and musicians. Info: http://www.rootsontherails.com 802-463-3669

Join some of the most distinctive voices in American music on this week-long adventure to the heart of Mexico's Copper Canyon. Sixty-five passengers ride, eat, play and socialize on board the Sierra Madre Express vintage streamliner with host Tom Russell and guests Butch Hancock, Terry & Jo Harvey Allen and Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum. Throughout the journey, the music ebbs and flows - daily Open Mic Picking Parties hosted by the phenomenally talented Michael "Lorca" Martin (able to make even the shyest picker feel at home), and each evening, concerts with Tom Russell, Butch Hancock, Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum. Late night jams and song swaps, where the hours and guitars are passed with easy sociability.

The trip begins in Tucson, Arizona with a kickoff concert and reception. Next morning, the journey begins: aboard the train, overnight across the Sonoran desert to the town of Suffragio. Thence a breathtaking climb from sea level to 8,000 feet through some of the most incredible scenery accessible by rail in the Western Hemisphere. Travel the rail in style in enclosed rooms with cozy bunks, dome dining car, round-end observation car and open air lounge - and plenty of room to roam. Meals are prepared freshly on board.

Once in Copper Canyon, stay for three nights at the exceptional hotels Posada Barrancas Mirador and the adjoining Posada Barrancas Rancho. The Rancho is located on the historic El Madrono ranch, with rooms featuring charming hacienda decor, while the Mirador is situated on the canyon rim itself - each room with private terrace where guests can enjoy unparalleled views of mountains and canyons.

On a side trip to Creel, local guides will conduct a tour to Cusarare, an old Tarahumara village. Time is set aside during the trip for hiking, exploring, horseback riding, shopping or simply relaxing. Visits to mission churches allow guests to learn more about the colonial period and how the Spanish colonists introduced their language and culture to the New World.

The dignified and reclusive Tarahumara Indians are a tribe who have chosen to live apart from modern western culture. In the winter they live in caves, moving into small log cabins in the summer. They are excellent weavers and produce fine wool blankets and baskets. The Tarahumara call themselves Raramuri (Light Feet). The Tarahumara consititute the largest indigenous group (estimated population 50-70,000) in the state of Chihuahua. This trip provides a glimpse into their world, a glimpse we hope proves respectful and rewarding for all.

Roots on the Rails trips bring folks back again and again. Here are just two comments from 06 Tarahumara Train travelers:
"Thanks again for a great trip! Everything was just fantastic!"
"What an amazing experience - our friends are already tired of hearing about it. It was one of those rare experiences that was even better than we had expected. We hope to see everyone again on the next train!"

Cost per person: $4,790 US includes train, hotel, meals, transfers and more. For complete information, contact Roots on the Rails: flyradar@sover.net or by calling 866-484-3669 (toll free in the US & Canada) or 802-463-3669.

PERFORMERS

TOM RUSSELL
"Russell's work is among the most moving and literary of the past thirty years, an antidote to the recent trajectory of self-absorption in American singer-songwriting . . . his story-songs are unlike any others." - Andrew Marcus, East Bay Express. Tom Russell was born in Los Angeles and now makes his home on the border in El Paso, Texas. He has recorded eighteen albums of original material and has written such classics as "Navajo Rug," "Gallo del Cielo," "Blue Wing," "Walking on the Moon," "St. Olav's Gate," and "Outbound Plane." Russell's songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Doug Sahm, Dave Alvin, Joe Ely, Ian Tyson, Suzy Bogguss, Iris DeMent, Peter Case, k.d. lang, Bob Neuwirth, Sylvia Tyson, Katy Moffatt and many others. Russell's acclaimed tribute to Merle Haggard, "Tulare Dust," co-produced with Dave Alvin, was responsible for creating what came to be known as the "Americana" radio format. Rolling Stone stated of Russell's THE MAN FROM GOD KNOWS WHERE, "Russell is one of America's greatest songwriters... as close to a Homeric treatment of American history as we're ever likely to see."

TERRY & JO HARVEY ALLEN
Over the course of 11 albums, Terry Allen has recorded with the likes of David Byrne, Lucinda Williams, Guy Clark and Marcia Ball. Along the way, he has had songs recorded by Little Feat, Bobby Bare and Robert Earl Keen and featured in the Byrne film True Stories along with composing music for other film soundtracks and theater and dance pieces. Jo Harvey Allen is an accomplished actress, writer and performance artist. "Nobody else does country music like Terry Allen. But then, what other country singer-songwriter is also an established visual artist and playwright? Those talents are eminently apparent in the Texan's exquisitely crafted, image-rich songs, in which he applies words and instrumental textures with the skill of a master painter - dabbing, brushing or smearing for the most powerful effect. There's not a wasted word or extraneous musical lick." - LOS ANGELES TIMES

LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM
You can't measure Laurie Lewis's career with the usual commercial yardsticks. She has won a Grammy and twice been named Female Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. "Laurie is one of the pre-eminent bluegrass and Americana artists of our time," says the IBMA's Dan Hays. "She spreads her talent over several genres - bluegrass, folk, country - and with the recognition she has within all those fields, I would certainly say she's one of the top five female artists of the last 30 years." Her songs helped shape the template for the modern bluegrass-pop style. Lewis's performing companion is ace mandolinist-singer Tom Rozum. Their 1996 CD, "The Oak and the Laurel," was nominated for a Grammy. "I love to have a partner to sing with, crave it deep down inside," Lewis says. "And Tom's the same way. He's a very conversational mandolin player, always responding to what's going on at the moment." Since joining forces with Laurie in 1986, Tom's versatility and diverse musical influences come to the fore every night on stage. He plays primarily mandolin, but is also an accomplished fiddle, mandola, and guitar player. Tom's critically-acclaimed solo album, "Jubilee" features help from such luminaries as Mike Marshall, Rob Ickes, Darol Anger and Herb Pedersen.

BUTCH HANCOCK
Singer/songwriter Butch Hancock helped kick-start the progressive country movement of the '70s. His lyrics are meaningful and memorable, his delivery uses some of the gliding style of Dylan, and he plays both harmonica and guitar to accompany himself. His albums are hard-to-find treasures, zealously guarded by their owners, and praised to the skies by critics. Butch Hancock has received rapturous critical acclaim, with songs such as "If I Were A Bluebird" (Emmylou Harris), "Boxcars" (Texas Tornadoes) and "She Never Spoke Spanish to Me" (Joe Ely) and as one-third of the Flatlanders, a long-running if intermittent collaboration with Lubbock-bred childhood pals Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Rolling Stone magazine describes Hancock as "a raspy-voiced West Texas mystic with an equal affinity for romantic border balladry and Zen paradox."

Price
$4790 per person double occupancy. Optional single supplement $750 additional (private single room on board train, guaranteed single rooms at hotels). $250 per person non-refundable deposit by credit card required to hold space. 2% discount on total price if you provide us with monthly postdated checks, sent at time of sign-up. Payments outside of deposit are refundable until 60 days prior to departure. Reservations are transferrable. Trip is limited to 65 patrons. Liability release signature required.

For more information about the Tarahumara Train performers and itinerary, and additional ROTR events, please visit: http://www.rootsontherails.com or call Roots on the Rails at 866-484-3669 (toll free in North America) or 802-463-3669.

For Press Inquiries, please contact: Michaela O’Brien ~ michaela@younghunter.com ~ 413-587-0713