September 2006 Fountain Express / AFTERDARK, with most recent at top of page: Fountain Express vol. 2, no. 38 September 26, 2006 published weekly by R.A. Fountain, General Store & Internet Cafe Marshall Stephenson's Bluegrass Train Band Plays Fountain Friday, More Bluegrass Saturday with Smith Brothers € Donald Underwood Thompson Presents Free Thursday Concert [Fountain, NC] Marshall Stephenson's Bluegrass Train Band makes its first stop at Fountain General Store this Friday night. Stephenson, the bluegrass impresario who has been playing bluegrass since the 1950s and actively promoting it in eastern North Carolina since the 1960s, has assembled a new band that mixes some of the best of the region's veteran pickers--Clyde Mattocks, Kelly Tew, and Jaason Berry--with two of its best up-and-comers, John Mark Batchelor and Brad Hudson. "This is an outstanding band," said Stephenson, a favorite of bluegrass fans in Fountain. "Folks are really going to love Jason's fiddling." Berry, a Florida transplant now living in Zebulon, has played with Bob Osborne and has also won the Florida State Fiddling Championship six times. Joining Mattocks on dobro and Tew on mandolin and tenor vocals are Batchelor, the 19-year-old banjo whiz, and Hudson on bass and guitar; both are from Richlands. Stephenson, who has performed with a who's who of bluegrass legends and recorded with most of them, is host to the syndicated radio and television programs that use the same name, "The Bluegrass Train." Locally, the radio show is broadcast on 98.5 FM in Rocky Mount on Sunday evenings. The t.v. show is broadcast at various times on local cable channels throughout eastern North Carolina. Marshall Stephenson and the Bluegrass Train Band's September 29 concert begins at 7:30. General admission is $7. Kinston's Donald Underwood Thompson begins the 3-day weekend of live music in Fountain with a Thursday night concert of blues, folk, early country classics from the 1920s and '30s, blue yodels, and a few songs from the golden age of honky tonk. Thompson is known in Fountain for his entertaining shows, and for his showmanship. He mixes his music with story-telling, and this evening he will also be joined by two of his musical friends, Dr. Bill Blackley, a blues harmonica-playing physician from Elkin, and Jackie Holland on slide guitar and harmonica. Thompson's September 28 concert begins at 7:30; admission is free. The Smith Brothers Bluegrass Band from Rocky Mount debuts its show in Fountain on Saturday night. The three Smith brothers, Troy on guitar, Shelton on dobro, and Grady on banjo, are joined by Gerald Flowers of Wilson on bass, Ricky Privett of Nashville on mandolin, and Frank Davis of Sharpsburg on guitar. The Smiths grew up on a farm in Nash County, where Troy first started picking and singing bluegrass over 40 years ago. "Shelton and Grady started out on rock and roll," he said, "but they finally realized what real music was." The Smith Brothers perform live regularly on Rocky Mount televsion station WHIG 17. "You can expect to hear bluegrass classics played in the traditional style," said Troy Smith. "We love Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and Flatt and Scruggs, and Bill Monroe." The Smith Brothers Bluegrass Band's September 30 concert begins at 7:30 p.m.; general admission is $5. R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located in downtown Fountain at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol-free. For further information, phone 252-749-3228 or visit www.rafountain.com. € € . October Music at Fountain General Store 6 Tommy G, Mike Hamer, Chet Nichols: Singer-songwriter showcase 7 Carolina Sonshine 12 Gene & Gina 13 Mary Rocap 14 In the Tradition 15 Melody Brown 19 Bluegrass jam 20 Boys from Carolina 21 Jon Durham 22 Abe Quigley 26 Stuart Pierce 27 Hickory Hill Bluegrass 28 Carolina Junction € € € What You¹re Reading Each week, we send out a news release to 21 area newspapers and radio stations. The primary contents of each issue of the Fountain Express is that news release. The Express is distributed via an e.mail list in a version that contains no attachments; an enhanced version of each week's issue of the Express is also available at http://rafountain.com/fe/. To add friends to our e.mail subscription list, send their e.mail address to ²fountainexpress@rafountain.com.³ To remove yourself from this list, reply to this e.mail with ²unsubscribe³ as either text or subject of your e.mail. Our e.mail list is not sold or traded or otherwise shared with anyone. -30- Fountain Express vol. 2, no. 37 September 19, 2006 published weekly by R.A. Fountain, General Store & Internet Cafe Lightnin' Wells Concert Saturday Night with George Higgs CD Release Party € Buddy Zincone & Greenville Grass Friday € Damion Wolfe for Free on Thursday [Fountain, NC] Nationally renowned local bluesman Lightnin' Wells' Saturday night concert headlines the upcoming weekend of live music at Fountain General Store. Also on slate is a Friday bluegrass show by Buddy Zincone and Greenville Grass, and a free concert by a Baltimore-based singer-songwriter on Thursday. Wells, who grew up in Goldsboro but recently moved to Fountain from his 20-year residence in Farmville, has been presenting his professional mix of oldtime, blues, folk, gospel, country, pop, and vaudeville classics across the United States and Europe for over a decade. His shows draw from a vast repertoire of music from the first half of the 20th century. He performs on acoustic guitar, a National steel guitar, harmonicas, and ukelele. In addition to his outstanding vocals, his performances include whistling and yodeling. Wells is known primarily as one of the leading proponents of the Piedmont blues, which features faster and more delicate fingerpicking than the more widely known slide guitar of the Delta blues. He has traveled extensively with a who's who of the best Piedmont blues artists, including the late Big Boy Henry, Algia Mae Hinton, John Dee Holeman, and George Higgs, whose latest CD this concert will help celebrate. Higgs and Wells have both recorded for the Hillsborough-based MusicMaker Relief Foundation, and Wells' September 23 concert will also be a CD release party for Higgs' latest, "Rainy Day." Higgs, the Tarboro bluesman who in recent years has traveled throughout Europe, Australia, and the U.S., plans on attending the concert. "I miss my friends in Fountain," he said. Health problems this summer have forced Higgs to cancel his performances, and this will be the first opportunity he has had to meet his fans since the CD was released in August. "We're looking forward to it," said his wife, Bettye, "and we all hope to see you over in Fountain." Higgs' CD will be available from the Higgs family Saturday night only for $12, and Mr. Higgs says he hopes to feel up to signing a few copies. It regularly sells for $15-$16. The Lightnin' Wells concert and George Higgs CD release party begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $5. Buddy Zincone has been a fixture on the Greenville bluegrass scene for 40 years. His band, Greenville Grass, performs classic bluegrass standards by artists such as Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers. Zincone plays banjo and dobro. He is joined in the band by Lane Hollis on fiddle; Bill Poplin on guitar; Tom Scott on mandolin; and Willie Nelms on bass. All the members share in vocals. Greenville Grass's September 22 concert begins at 7:30; admission is $5. Damion Wolfe of Baltimore stops by for his free September 21 concert en route to shows in Atlanta. A Fredricksburg, Va., entertainment weekly recently described his music as "eclectic and cerebral, amusing, well-scripted and funky." Wolfe's free show starts at 7:30. R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located in historic downtown Fountain, at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol-free. Reserved seats are available for all shows. For further information, phone 252-749-3228 or visit www.rafountain.com. € € € Visit Greenville Grass's webpage http://home.earthlink.net/~wnelms/mondaynightbluegrassband/ Hear Lightnin' Wells perform "Guitar Waltz/Knoxville Blues" from his "Ragged but Right" CD: http://rafountain.com/audio/lightnin_guitwaltzknox.mp3 Visit Lightnin' Wells' webpage http://lightninwells.com/ Hear George Higgs perform "Wholesale Dealing Papa" from his new CD "Rainy Day" ON SALE SATURDAY NIGHT ONLY for $12! http://rafountain.com/audio/Higgs_Wholesale.mp3 More about Damion Wolfe: http://www.damionwolfe.com/music.html € € € October Music at Fountain General Store 6 Tommy G, Mike Hamer, Chet Nichols: Singer-songwriter showcase 7 Carolina Sonshine 12 Gene & Gina 13 Mary Rocap 14 In the Tradition 15 Melody Brown 19 Bluegrass jam 20 Boys from Carolina 21 Jon Durham 22 Abe Quigley 26 Stuart Pierce 27 Hickory Hill 28 Carolina Junction € € € What You¹re Reading Each week, we send out a news release to 21 area newspapers and radio stations. The primary contents of each issue of the Fountain Express is that news release. The Express is distributed via an e.mail list in a version that contains no attachments; an enhanced version of each week's issue of the Express is also available at http://rafountain.com/fe/. To add friends to our e.mail subscription list, send their e.mail address to ²fountainexpress@rafountain.com.³ To remove yourself from this list, reply to this e.mail with ²unsubscribe³ as either text or subject of your e.mail. Our e.mail list is not sold or traded or otherwise shared with anyone. -30- Fountain Express vol. 2, no. 36 September 12, 2006 published weekly by R.A. Fountain, General Store & Internet Cafe Honky Tonk Friday with Nashville Rash € Mac and Tammy McRoy Bluegrass Band on Saturday € Hank Williams Birthday Party Sunday with Stephenson Brothers and Linda € October Schedule Released Nashville Rash, a new Texas-style honky tonk band of all-star musicians out of Wilson, debuts its act at Fountain General Store on Friday night. The band is comprised of Bill Lamm on bass, Robin Woodard on lead guitar, Jimmy Matthews on drums, and Bryant Aycock on steel guitar. It takes its name from a Dale Watson song that, according to Lamm, "just sounded right for a band that plays traditional country and Texas honky tonk music." Nashville Rash joins the increasingly impressive lineup of country music acts coming out of Wilson County, including Bowie Martin's Country Roads Band with Nancy and Tammy Dail; Russ Varnell; Charlie Flowers and International Harvester; and Mike Baker's Drop Top Cadillacs, which made its public debut at Fountain General Store this past Sunday to an enthusiastic S.R.O. crowd. "I don't know what it is about this area," said the Rash's Bill Lamm, who was part of Sunday's crowd, along with Martin and Varnell, "but I think the folks that like it honky tonk style will enjoy what we do a bunch." Nashville Rash's September 15 concert begins at 8 p.m.; general admission is $8. The Mac and Tammy McRoy Bluegrass Band's return for a Saturday night concert of original and classic bluegrass and bluegrass gospel music is their first since releasing the CD "Live at Fountain General Store." Led by the husband-wife duo, the McRoy Band also includes Chuck Williams on banjo and guitar; Don Batten on mandolin; and Brian Batten on dobro. Mac McRoy plays guitar and sings. A Blounts Creek native, he grew up on a 100-acre farm on the banks of the Pamlico River. Tammy Quinn McRoy grew up in Aurora. Her bass style has been greatly influenced by Robin Crabtree, the former Grass Cats bassist. She sings lead on most of the band's songs. The father-son Batten combination includes mandolinist Don, who grew up in Johnston County but now lives in New Bern, and his son Brian on dobro. Brian Batten returned from a 2-year stint working in Nashville last year, and he has recently become a regular peformer with Lou Reid and Carolina. "He still makes all the dates he can with us," said Mac McRoy, "and he'll be in Fountain Saturday night. We're looking forward to a really good show." In addition to the live-in-Fountain CD, the McRoy band has also recently released the CD "New Standards." Copies of both will be available at their September 16 show, which will begin at 7:30. General admission is $5. Sunday afternoon's free Hank Williams birthday party will feature Shelby and Linda Stephenson with Shelby's brothers Marshall and Paul, bassist Mike Langdon, and special guest banjoist Richard Hood. The Hank Williams birthday party was the idea of poet/musician Shelby Stephenson, who with his wife Linda has released a Willliams tribute CD. The lineup for Sunday's free show includes what is often billed in Fountain and throughout eastern North Carolina as the Stephenson Brothers and Linda, but for this event the musical emphasis will be on the great musical legacy left by Hank Williams, who was born in Mt. Olive West, Alabama, on September 17, 1923. Shelby Stephenson plans on bringing his long-time friend and banjo picker Richard Hood of Ohio. Hood, who is one-half of the popular old time and bluegrass band the Bristol Brothers, is, like Stephenson an English Professor, at Dennison University in Granville, Ohio. Hood was named Best Bluegrass/Old Time Instrumentalist by Country Beat Magazine in 1997. He also plays autoharp, guitar, and dulcimer. One of his songs has been recorded by Jim Eanes. "The first time I met Richard," Shelby Stephenson recalled, "it was at a literary gathering, but somehow music came up and then Richard got his banjo out. Well, one of the pegs on his banjo broke, so I gave him my knife and he made a new one from a piece of wood and we kept playing. We've been friends ever since." With his musical companion Don Springer, the Bristol Brothers have released two critically acclaimed CDs. They have performed on PBS and at several major university concert halls. They won Country Beat Magazine's People's Choice as Best New Bluegrass Duo in 1995 and in 1997 for Best Bluegrass/Old Time Group. Hood's appearance is contingent on travel plans working out. Patrons are invited to come prepared to perform their favorite Hank Williams songs--or simply to request them. "We could use a steel guitar player, too," said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. The free Hank Williams birthday party celebration begins at 3 p.m. on September 17. This upcoming 4-day weekend of live music kicks off on Thursday night with a concert by Belvoir-based singer-songwriter Howard Bullock. Showtime is 7:30 and admission is free. R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol-free. Reserved seats are available for all shows; for further information, phone 252-749-3228 or visit www.rafountain.com. € € € Hear three tracks from the Mac and Tammy McRoy Band's CD "Live at R.A. Fountain" by visiting their webpage http://macandtammy.com/ More about the Bristol Brothers, comprised of Richard Hood and Don Springer http://www.dynrec.com/bristolbrothers/ € € € Geocachers Find Fountain Geocaching has brought at least 27 visitors to Fountain since May 29 in search of a little black box hidden behind Fountain General Store. Geocaching is a scavenger-hunt type game in which the finding of a cache is the quest. Pronounced "cash," the hidden container generally is stocked with a log book and writing implement and whatever other items finders choose to leave behind. Gecaching has two rules: If you take an item, leave something in its place, though nothing illegal or hamrful; you must write about your visit in the log book, contained in each cache. The box in Fountain was placed by a geo-cacher known as "carolinadreamer." Most searchers have found the cache, which currently contains a log book, a Thunderbird lapel pin, an unopened Off! Deepwoods towelette, a light necklace, a Blue Angels lapel pin, a geometric-shaped lapel pin, a generic doubloon, and a Jeep travel bug, which has been exchanged at least once. Items that have been taken include a golf ball, a light stick, a safety light, and a baseball l.e.d. When taken from one cache, travel bugs and geocoins are subsequently placed in another cache and their journeys are tracked on the internet. Caches use a 5-star rating system to identify difficulty of finding the box and the location's terrain. Fountain's cache is rated 2 stars for difficulty and 1.5 star for its terrain. The description posted for Fountain General Store reads in part: "Welcome to the big city of Fountain. It might not be much now but back in the old days it was a bustling busy city. . . " U.S caches are listed at www.geocache.com (registration is free), and their locations are identified by precise global position coordinates. The coordinates used to identify Fountain General Store are N 35° 40.463 W 077° 38.384 € € € Nancy and Tammy Dail and Country Roads Band Release Second CD The Country Roads Band, eastern NC's premier country music show band, featuring Nancy and Tammy Dail, has released its second CD, "The Train Stops Here." "The Train Stops Here" is titled after the original composition Tammy Dail's husband, James Waters, penned for the band. It also includes another tune by Waters, "This is the Best Time I've Ever Had." Country Roads is led by Bowie Martin on pedal steel guitar. Also in the band are Glen Speight on bass guitar, Ronnie King on lead guitar, Ken Dawson on Drums, and John Akerman on piano. In addition to the two original James Waters tunes, "The Train Stops Here" includes covers of classic country songs like "When I Think about Cheating" and "Always on My Mind" and some surprises, such as the beach music classic "39-21-40 Shape," and the rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama." Copies of "The Train Stops Here" are available for $12 at Fountain General Store and at Robbins Music in Wilson, and at Fountain General's secure e.store at www.rafountain.com € € € October Music at Fountain General Store 6 Tommy G, Mike Hamer, Chet Nichols: Singer-songwriter showcase 7 Carolina Sonshine 12 Gene & Gina 13 Mary Rocap 14 In the Tradition 15 Melody Brown 19 Bluegrass jam 20 Boys from Carolina 21 Jon Durham 22 Abe Quigley 26 Stuart Pierce 27 Hickory Hill 28 Carolina Junction € € € What You¹re Reading Each week, we send out a news release to 21 area newspapers and radio stations. The primary contents of each issue of the Fountain Express is that news release. The Express is distributed via an e.mail list in a version that contains no attachments; an enhanced version of each week's issue of the Express is also available at http://rafountain.com/fe/. To add friends to our e.mail subscription list, send their e.mail address to ²fountainexpress@rafountain.com.³ To remove yourself from this list, reply to this e.mail with ²unsubscribe³ as either text or subject of your e.mail. Our e.mail list is not sold or traded or otherwise shared with anyone. -30- Fountain Express vol. 2, no. 35 September 5, 2006 published weekly by R.A. Fountain, General Store & Internet Cafe Nashville Recording Artists Perform Friday Night € Bluegrass Redemption Returns Saturday € Drop Top Cadillacs Sunday Afternoon € Grateful Dave and Little Wobbly Wade for Free on Thursday [Fountain, NC] A return engagement by Nashville recording artists Billie Joyce and Toni Catlin on Friday night headlines the upcoming 4-night weekend of live music at Fountain General Store. Joyce and Catlin are among the best of the new singer-songwriter talents in Nashville, and they have recently returned from a successful European tour. Joyce, a native of Kamsack, Saskatchewan, has been singing since she was 5; as a teenager she traveled the US and Canada with her own rock band. She subsequently returned to her home, where she worked as a prison guard who still wanted to be a singer. In 2002, she relocated to Nashville, released her debut CD, and began touring the US and Europe. Her recent European tour was to support release of her second CD, "One Willing Heart," which was recorded in the Netherlands. Joyce performs mostly her own material, bluesy rock ballads from a strong woman's point of view. Catlin, who grew up in the Adirondacks, sings "rootsy folk-rock with integrity." Her song "Me and My Heartache on the Run" won the 2001 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest. She has opened for Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Chicago and is a regular participant in the monthly Nashville singer-songwriter showcase known as Girls with Guitars. Catlin was a finalist in the pop song category in the U.S.A. songwriting competition in 2004 for "Undertow" and in 2005 for "Deeper." "Her CD "Uncovered," with 13 original songs, is in final production. Billie Joyce and Toni Catlin's September 8 concert begins at 8 p.m.; general admission is $5. The Arnold brothers, Dave and Wade, who perform as Grateful Dave and Little Wobbly Wade, will present a free concert on Thursday night. Dave Arnold, who now lives in Goldsboro, promises "an eclectic set of original compositions and cover tunes." Both brothers play guitar and sing. Wade Arnold, of Rocky Mount, also plays blues piano. Grateful Dave and Little Wobbly Wade's free September 7 concert begins at 7:30. Bluegrass Redemption, one of the most popular bands to play Fountain, returns for a big bluegrass and bluegrass gospel show on Saturday night. Led by vocalist and banjo picker Keith Gaster of Bailey and featuring the Batchelor family of Black Creek, Redemption performs high energy bluegrass and bluegrass gospel with speed and precision. "This is one of the best bands musically that we have in Fountain," said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. "They put on a really good show." Johnny Batchelor plays lead guitar and sings; his daughter Lindsay, 15, plays mandolin and sings; and daughter Brooke often joins in to sing a few tunes. Skylar Smith plays upright bass, and Ernie Tanner has joined them on dobro. Bluegrass Redemption's September 9 concert begins at 7:30; general admission is $5. The country music band Drop Top Cadillacs, with Mike Baker singing, makes its Fountain debut on Sunday afternoon in a free concert set to begin at 3 p.m. Baker, a Wilson native who lives in Black Creek, has performed in Fountain at bluegrass jams and open mics. He sings often at the open jams held weekly at Robbins Music in Wilson and is a frequent guest singer at country music shows throughout the region. Baker sings and plays acoustic guitar and has recently assembled this band for gigs such as this one. Performing with him in the Drop Tops will be Glen Speight of the Country Roads band on bass; Johnny Barham of Wendell on steel guitar; Donnie Turner of Wilson on drums; and Mike Jones of Goldsboro on lead guitar. Jones, who also plays with the Southern Star band, has performed on the CMA awards show and with Merle Haggard. "We'll play a lot of traditional country music," said Baker, "and some old time gospel numbers." Advance seats are available for all shows for an additional fee. Phone 252-749-3228 or visit www.rafountain.com for further information. R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol- free. € € € Hear Billie Joyce sing "Thunder Bay" http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/billiejoyce2-05.m3u Hear Toni Catlin sing "Strong Stuff" http://www.tonicatlin.com/index1.htm Hear Bluegrass Redemption perform "Freeborn Man," recorded live at Fountain General Store http://rafountain.com/audio/BR_Freeborn_ed.mp3 € € € Fountain General Sets Up Shop in Greenville for a Day Fountain General Store will have a booth set up at the free RiverRock Festival at the Town Commons in Greenville this Saturday, September 9, from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. The RiverRock Festival is dedicated to the support of live local music. Fountain General Store was one of 3 area venues to host benefit concerts for the festival in the weeks leading up to Saturday's big event, which will feature music from 8 bands. The store's booth will be set up with other venues and performers, and will be offering for sale Gary Thompson's homemade jams, jellies, and pickles, as well as Dr. Brown's sodas, Pirate flags, and an assortment of locally produced CDs. "We're nothing if not about live, local music," said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. Two festival acts, Carolina Still and Someone's Sister, have performed in Fountain. To view a complete schedule of acts, visit the festival's webpage at http://www.riverrockfest.com/ Oops! Bluegrass Jam Cancelled for September A scheduling conflict has forced cancellation of this month's bluegrass jam, originally set for September 21. "It's my fault," said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. "I booked Damion Wolfe out of Baltimore for September 21 back in May, and then I changed calendars in early summer and this date didn't make the transfer. I didn't realize the conflict until Damion tried to confirm the date." The monthly jams, led by Greenville picker Jack Wrzesinski since last January, have attracted good crowds of musicians over the summer and various audiences. "I'd like to get in three more good ones this year," added Albright. "We'll take a break from Thursday scheduling for the winter months and after the first of the year go to Friday and Saturday night shows only. "We hope Jack will be back next spring, too, to keep leading the jams." Geocachers Find Fountain Geocaching has brought at least 26 visitors to Fountain since May 29 in search of a little black box hidden behind Fountain General Store. Geocaching is a scavenger-hunt type game in which the finding of a cache is the quest. Pronounced "cash," the hidden container generally is stocked with a log book and writing implement and whatever other items finders choose to leave behind. Gecaching has two rules: If you take an item, leave something in its place, though nothing illegal or hamrful; you must write about your visit in the log book, contained in each cache. The box in Fountain was placed by a geo-cacher known as "carolinadreamer." Most searchers have found the cache, which currently contains a log book, a Thunderbird lapel pin, an unopened Off! Deepwoods towelette, a light necklace, a Blue Angels lapel pin, a geometric-shaped lapel pin, a generic doubloon, and a Jeep travel bug, which has been exchanged at least once. Items that have been taken include a golf ball, a light stick, a safety light, and a baseball l.e.d. When taken from one cache, travel bugs and geocoins are subsequently placed in another cache and their journeys are tracked on the internet. Caches use a 5-star rating system to identify difficulty of finding the box and the location's terrain. Fountain's cache is rated 2 stars for difficulty and 1.5 star for its terrain. The description posted for Fountain General Store reads in part: "Welcome to the big city of Fountain. It might not be much now but back in the old days it was a bustling busy city. . . " U.S caches are listed at www.geocache.com (registration is free), and their locations are identified by precise global position coordinates. The coordinates used to identify Fountain General Store are N 35° 40.463 W 077° 38.384 € € € Nancy and Tammy Dail and Country Roads Band Release Second CD The Country Roads Band, eastern NC's premier country music show band, featuring Nancy and Tammy Dail, has released its second CD, "The Train Stops Here." "The Train Stops Here" is titled after the original composition Tammy Dail's husband, James Waters, penned for the band. It also includes another tune by Waters, "This is the Best Time I've Ever Had." Country Roads is led by Bowie Martin on pedal steel guitar. Also in the band are Glen Speight on bass guitar, Ronnie King on lead guitar, Ken Dawson on Drums, and John Akerman on piano. In addition to the two original James Waters tunes, "The Train Stops Here" includes covers of classic country songs like "When I Think about Cheating" and "Always on My Mind" and some surprises, such as the beach music classic "39-21-40 Shape," and the rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama." Copies of "The Train Stops Here" are available for $12 at Fountain General Store and at Robbins Music in Wilson, and at Fountain General's secure e.store at www.rafountain.com € € € What You¹re Reading Each week, we send out a news release to 21 area newspapers and radio stations. The primary contents of each issue of the Fountain Express is that news release. The Express is distributed via an e.mail list in a version that contains no attachments; an enhanced version of each week's issue of the Express is also available at http://rafountain.com/fe/. To add friends to our e.mail subscription list, send their e.mail address to ²fountainexpress@rafountain.com.³ To remove yourself from this list, reply to this e.mail with ²unsubscribe³ as either text or subject of your e.mail. Our e.mail list is not sold or traded or otherwise shared with anyone. -30-