Two years ago, it would have been a fair label to call Cadillac Sky a 21st Century Bluegrass Band. Today, however, their label gets a bit more complicated. Sure, they have traditional bluegrass instrumentation with their Mandolin, Banjo, Bass, Fiddle, Guitar setup. Sure they have vocal harmonies reminiscent of classic bluegrass and mountain music. But their sound goes beyond that with their latest album “Letters in the Deep” which was produced by Black Keys front man Dan Auerbach. While bluegrass still stands as a major influence for the group, elements of rock, pop and blues have worked their way into the mix. On their visit to the AM 1690 studios, they played the tunes “Trapped Under the Ice” and “Hangman” from “Letters in the Deep.”

Coming off a successful summer tour with indie-pop duo She & Him, the Chapin Sisters hit the road on their own supporting their latest album Two. The two sisters, Abigail and Lily, feature sparkling vocal harmonies reminiscent of classic Appalachian family groups but with the musical and harmonic sensibilities of pop, rock and psychedelic music. The Chapin Sisters also have a long family musical legacy, and are certainly in place to carry on that legacy. Their father is three-time Grammy award winner Tom Chapin, their uncle is legendary songwriter Harry Chapin and their Grandfather is Jazz drummer Jim Chapin. This, now their second session at AM 1690, features the duo performing their tunes Palm Tree and Left All Alone and sharing Trouble, a track from their latest album Two.

On the eve of their debut CD release, local group Oryx and Crake stopped by the AM 1690 studios to talk about the band and talk about the debut CD. That fact alone seems innocent and normal enough. But the lush, large, textured sound that came out of such a new band was the shocking part. Oryx and Crake are not a large band out of necessity, but instead out of what band leader Ryan Peoples calls “a desire to grow.” Stripped down, Oryx and Crake are a song driven, folk influenced band with a core of Banjo, Guitar and Bass. What gives the band their large sound is the addition of both programmed and live drums, cello, violin and keys. These help the group transcend the standard folk sound into an incredibly textured and almost dreamlike sound. Oryx and Crake play the tunes Pretty How Towns and Unbound from their debut CD in this session.

In 2009, Peter Case found himself in an unfamiliar and very scary situation. After a grueling tour schedule in 2008, Peter’s health was in decline. After going in for a routine procedure, Peter was rushed into emergency heart surgery. While the surgery was a success, his financial situation was grim. Faced with a six-figure medical bill, Case was left with a new passion for life but an almost insurmountable medical bill. Not long after, his biggest fans like Loudon Wainwright III, Richard Thompson and T-Bone Burnett rushed to his assistance. This generosity combined with a new passion for life led Peter to record his latest album Wig! in just three days. Peter stopped by the studio to chat with Matt Steadman about his renewed passion for music and the new album Wig! As a bonus, Peter breaks out the guitar and plays House Rent Party from Wig!

Frontier Ruckus is a folk-rock band from Michigan…well sort of. In fact, it’s a little bit tougher to accurately describe the sound of Frontier Ruckus and put it into one specific genre. Their sound borders on folk with tinges of Americana and rock, that much is true. But there are certain elements of experimentation in the band that cannot be ignored. Lead singer/guitarist Matthew Milia provides strong lyrically intense songwriting that left up to its own devices would be simple folk music. However, the rest of Frontier Ruckus, including Zachary Nichols on horns and singing saw add texture and depth to that sound resulting in a sound that is truly unique and 100% Frontier Ruckus

Most songwriters spend a majority of their life perfecting the craft of great songwriting. They toil over words and chords until the right combination comes out in their music. Then there’s Mary Gauthier. Mary didn’t write her first song until age 35 when the years of experience and heartache finally all came pouring out. Thirteen years and many awards later, Mary Gauthier (Go-SHAY) released the autobiographical album The Foundling to great critical acclaim. Mary stopped by the studio to play a few tunes from her catalog and talk about her latest album, what it means to be a songwriter and how great a job songwriting truly is.