americana

Israel Nash Gripka was born and raised in the heartland of Missouri. The son of a southern Baptist minister, Israel was introduced to gospel music and later, finding classic albums of his father’s past, he became well versed in rock n’ roll classics such as CCR and The Rolling Stones. While pleasing his mother’s wishes to learn the piano and its accompanying weekly lessons and practice, Israel discovered a classical guitar missing 2 strings and a chord book in the shadows of his parents’ closet. He soon focused on guitar and began writing songs by the time he was 12 years of age.

Sons of Bill are a country rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia, that formed in the fall of 2005. At its core are brothers James, Sam, and Abe Wilson, the sons of Bill Wilson, the source of the band's name. The brothers returned to Virginia from very different paths in life to form a band based in the country music they grew up learning from their father while bringing along their interests in rock and jazz to influence their sound.

Read more about Sons of Bill on Last.fm.

Based on his musical interests and abilities, singer-songwriter-ethnomusicologist Tim Eriksen might have been born in a splintery wooden crib during the Revolutionary War, in a backwoods North Carolina church, in a hut along the Ganges, maybe even in the CBGBs bathroom. But no, the late-30s Eriksen was born in Massachusetts and grew up surrounded by the sound of his parents singing and by

Bruce Cockburn, (pronounced "CO-burn"), has had a long and distinguished career with much success in his native Canada. His first albums were fairly straight ahead folk music spotlighting his brilliant guitar playing. In fact, there were a good number of instrumental guitar numbers on those early recordings. A Christian element came into his music around the time of the album Salt, Sun And Time, and over time his writing has taken on a stronger and stronger political orientation.