Americana country music with a bite

11 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Traditional Country, COUNTRY: Country Rock



Details:
By day, biologist Caroline Monroe makes rabies vaccine at a plant in Athens, Ga. By night, she entertains the rabid fans of her country music.
A sixth-generation Atlantan who earned a biology degree from the University of Georgia, Caroline has released her first album, Ghost Town, produced by Fester Hagood of King Cotton. Caroline, 25, started singing country songs as a 9th-grader in Atlanta.
âI've got it in my heart and soul to sing country even though I 'm a city gal,â she says. âI love the stories in country music. And what I love about this album is that each song stands alone and that such great musicians recorded with us.â
Ghost Town, recorded at Full Moon Studio in Watkinsville over the past year, features many of the top musicians in Athens.
âI tried to gather the best musicians I could round up in town,â says Hagood, a Watkinsville native and veteran of the Athens music scene. âI tried to make the album ride the fence between mainstream Country and Americana. Some of the subject matter may be a little rough for the Nashville types, but not overboard.â
The album is a showcase for Carolineâs striking voice and Hagoodâs compelling songwriting. Hagood wrote or co-wrote nine of the 11 songs on the album. He co-wrote three of them with Caroline and her father, Atlanta writer Doug Monroe. Two songs were written by Shayne Fair, a UGA graduate who was an early member of the Athens music scene in the late â60s, and is now a songwriter and producer in Laguna Beach, Calif.
The musicians on Ghost Town include:
Sax, organ, piano: Randall Bramblett.
Pedal steel: John Neff (Drive-By Truckers).
Mandolin: Michael Paynter (Packway Handle Band).
Guitars: Fester Hagood (King Cotton), Donald Spurlin (King Cotton), Charlie Garrett (Charlie Garrett Band) and Rick Fowler (Rack of Spam, Redneck GReece).
Drums/percussion: Mark Cooper Smith (The Squalls).
Bass: Jay Rodgers (AquaLove), Mike Steel (Randall Bramblett Band) and Greg Veale (Normaltown Flyers).
Dobro: William Tonks (Barbara Cue and Redneck GReece).
Cello: John Daniel Powers.
Violin: Andy Carlson.
Harmony vocals: Mikes Hines (Randall Bramblett Band), Susan Stanley (Solstice Sisters), Jay Rodgers (AquaLove) and Fester Hagood.
Harmonica: Fester Hagood.
For more information, check out:
www.carolinemonroe.com
www.myspace.com/carolinemonroe
www.myspace.com/festerhagood
www.dougmonroe.com