• Grit & Polish – Mark Schatz & Bryan McDowell

    Curtailed from touring by the pandemic, multi-instrumentalists Mark Schatz and Bryan McDowell, both former members of the Claire Lynch Band, opted instead to retreat Schatz’s basement recording studio and cut thirteen tracks that provide a fine representation of combined dexterity

  • Southport Songwriting Festival debuts this weekend

    Award-winning songwriter Louisa Branscomb and her non-profit, Front Porch Productions, will host the first Southport Songwriter Festival this weekend in the coastal town of Southport, NC. But unlike many similar events, this one isn't centrally located, but spread across a number

  • Daydreams – Cory Piatt

    Young Cory Piatt is currently mandolinist with The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band. He has been playing almost half his 17 years, and has developed a stunning mastery of his instrument in this short time, as evidenced by his debut

  • Daydreams from Cory Piatt

    Cory Piatt, the talented young mandolinist with The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, has recently completed a solo project. Entitled Daydreams, the album will be released this summer by Patuxent Music. Piatt tells us that he has been working on finishing this

  • The Education of Bryan McDowell

    Like any good student, Bryan McDowell worked hard on his lessons before Monday’s big test. And like many of the best and brightest, as soon as it was over he lamented that he should have done better. “I studied hard, but

  • Bryan McDowell to Claire Lynch

    Claire Lynch has welcomed a new member into her group. Bryan McDowell has come aboard to play mandolin and fiddle, and help with the harmony singing. He steps in for Jason Thomas, who has been with Claire since 2007, and is