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Mark Olson & Gary Louris

Mark Olson & Gary Louris are an American alternative country duo, formerly of the band The Jayhawks . Olson and Louris formed The Jayhawks in Minneapolis in 1985 and together they released four acclaimed alternative country albums, The Jayhawks (1986), Blue Earth (1989), Hollywood Town Hall (1992), and Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995), before Olson left the band in 1996. While Olson formed a new band with wife Victoria Williams, The Creepdippers, Louris remained with The Jayhawks, releasing three more albums, Sound of Lies, Smile and Rainy Day Music.

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John Hammond

John Paul Hammond (born 13th November 1942), also known as "John Hammond Jr", is a blues singer and guitarist. He usually plays acoustic guitars and dobros and sings in a barrelhouse style. Since 1962, when he made his debut on Vanguard Records, Hammond has made 29 albums. In the 1990s he recorded for the Pointblank label. Hammond has earned one Grammy Award and been nominated for four others. He is the son of the legendary record producer John H. Hammond.

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Grantura

http://www.myspace.com/grantura Born from the ashes of broken bands and midnight jams, Grantura are a vocal harmony driven anglo-americana band with a liking for mandolins, south east London and singing. Grantura have been making steady progress on the UK music scene. Their debut single Waves became single of the week on BBC 6Music's breakfast show. They did a session for BBC Radio 2's Janice Long show in February. They are signed to Ruffa Lane record and a second single will be released in June, followed by the album, In Dreams and Other Stories, in July.

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Giant Sand

Giant Sand, originally The Giant Sandworms, is an American rock band formed in 1985, based in Tucson, Arizona, USA (although Los Angeles, California was its home for many years). Overseen by singer-songwriter-guitarist-pianist Howe Gelb, its membership has shifted over the years -- at times with each album -- though for a long while the drum and bass duties were handled by John Convertino and Joey Burns, who went on to form Calexico.

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The Stairwell Sisters

Producer Lloyd Maines recalls hearing The Stairwell Sisters for the first time: “I happened upon this tribe of women musicians, playing old-time string music, with the power and excitement of a great rock band.” Tribe of women indeed. Evie Ladin explains what holds sway with the sisters, themes similarly found in one of their early influences, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard: “not exactly the sweet and tender ladies, but the stand up for yourself and face the world kind of women.”

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Cordelia's Dad

Cordelia's Dad is a band from Northampton, Massachusetts that combines folk and punk rock influences and was instrumental in the creation of the genre later to be dubbed "No Depression". The band formed in 1987 and was active until 1998, when the members relocated to different parts of the country. After releasing an album of older material in 2002 the band has reunited in 2007 for their twentieth anniversary.

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