MP3 Sand Sheff - Free On This Mountain

"The very definition of Americana"..."Take one part Tabasco, throw in a heaping helping of prickly pear, add a dash of patchouli oil, mix well in a margarita shaker, grill over an open fire under the stars, serve up a Southern drawl and you've got singer-

16 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Folk, COUNTRY: Bluegrass



Details:
Sand Sheff has been a cowboy, firefighter, minister, author, wilderness vagabond and recording artist. He has performed everywhere from campfires to Carnegie Hall. Sand Sheff (his real birth name) was born on June 4th, 1967 in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was raised in the foothills of the Ozarks in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It was there that he learned how to play guitar. Moving west when he turned eighteen, Sand began performing regularly in Colorado and Utah. He released two desert-flavored cassettes, Quicksand Soup and Highway 666.

In 1995, he moved to Nashville to see if there was any room for his unusual brand of original music in the realm of corporate country. Once again, he met with some success. With his new band Buck 50 (the name has since been appropriated by an unrelated act) he recorded the album Red Dirt Road for the fledgling label Monkey Finger. Music Row Magazine called that record "the very definition of Americana" and it was compared to John Prine's debut in the Swedish Press. Sand and his band quickly made a name for themselves as one of the premiere live acts in Nashville. In early 1997, Buck 50 recorded what would become Clouds Turned to Horses. After Buck 50's break-up in the same year, Producer Marshall Morgan (Ricky Skaggs, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Whites) signed him on to cut yet another record. Turn me Around was Sand's biggest production to date, as Morgan enlisted a veritable who's- who of Nashville session men to complete the disc.

Sand left Nashville in 2000 and took a two-year hiatus from performing. This hiatus allowed for Sand to find his writing inspiration back in the open spaces of the West, write a book, sharpen his voice and help fight forest fires. He returned to performing in April 2002 with a triumphant performance of his "Survival Revival". His new band and sound is a musical bridge between rock and
country, hippie and cowboy. He currently lives and performs in Durango, Colorado.

On the heels of his recently compiled Nashville Anthology, is his newest CD Free On This Mountain , released in February 2004, is some of Sand's finest work yet. Stylistically, it weaves through folk, bluegrass and old campfire country, to jazz and rock. The CD includes the contribution of several veteran artists, including a track with the Reeltime Travelers (Cold Mountain), and Martha Scanlan who also sings backup on a few other tracks.

Sand Sheff's new 2004 release, Free On This Mountain is a collection of intimate, literary songwriting which touches the listener with the magic of an old story that stays alive. His songwriting encourages you to celebrate life, embrace your dreams and it speaks with a sentiment to people, places and times.

Having traveled and recorded from California to Nashville, and having performed at Carnegie Hall, this new release brings his stories back home towards the West. A collection of some of Sand's finest work, these songs feature a collaboration of many fine musicians and vocalists, stylistically weaving through folk, bluegrass and old campfire country, to jazz and rock-flavored energy. Particularly special to this CD is the contribution of the old-time string band Reeltime Travelers (recently recorded on the soundtrack Cold Mountain ). They are featured on the song 'Gamblin' Greta', along with Martha Scanlan, whose mountain songbird vocals provide background on a few other tracks.

Listen to Sand Sheff and you will be traveling those old county roads, immersed in the diversity of American landscapes and meeting it's characters without leaving your living room!