Down Home

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Belk today announced the winners of the company's second annual Southern Musician Showcase. Chosen from more than 4,000 submissions, the seven winners will receive a cash prize as well as an opportunity to perform at Belk sponsored events and national music festivals throughout the South.

Other prizes include a performance wardrobe and stylist provided by Belk, and an opportunity for the artists' songs to be featured in a Belk television commercial.

"We continue to be impressed with the talent we have seen this year through the Southern Musician Showcase. This year we had double the submissions of last year's showcase, which made the talent pool that much larger," says Katrina Streiner, Belk vice president, creative services. "We are so proud of these winning musicians, and are looking forward to giving them the opportunity of a lifetime."

Southern Musician Showcase Winners

Chase Likens: Point Pleasant, WV
Genre: Pop Country

Carly Jo Jackson: Orlando, FL
Genre: Pop

Paul Wayne Pierce: Franklin, TN
Genre: Pop Country

Beth Spangler: Aiken, SC
Genre: Pop

January May: Austin, TX
Genre: Pop

Eryn Shewell: Gaithersburg, MD
Genre: Blues

Down Home: Nashville, TN
Genre: Americana

The Southern Musician Showcase was open to solo artists and bands in the Americana, Pop, Pop Country, Blues and Bluegrass genres. Contestants were asked to submit three original songs, a brief biography that details their affiliation to the South, head shots, a full length photo, and a video. Semifinalists competed in regional auditions. - CNBC

Think about the best bar band you ever heard playing outside of a packed beer and wine joint on a Saturday afternoon at some riverside bar that caters to fake bikers, real drunks, and also happens to serves the kind of BBQ you imagine Heaven smells like.
Jeff estesJeff Estes and the Down Home Band are the band you’re thinking about. They play a loose limbed and eloquent variety of rock, flavored with southern, Cajun, blues touches and just enough country spices to keep it interesting.
“Cajun Queen” is a number that builds like a fast moving squall. Designed to fill dance floors, it alternately slithers and hops to life, and is just plain hard to ignore.
“How I live and how I die/They are the same,” Jeff Estes sings on the southern shuffle, “Broken Road.” He seems to have a lot of stories worth telling, if only we’ll listen.
This release is solid from start to finish. With enough of a polish on it to make it easy for repeated listening, there’s still some rough hewn bite these boys bring with them to the performances. The rhythm section here is sweetly propulsive, getting more with a bit of honey, as the expression goes. Estes vocals are warm and inviting without ever attempting to overpower the songs.
The sleeper song here is “Drink to Remember.” It feels like 1968 Stones tackling a country number and do you need a better reason to listen? Exhausted physically, emotionally, and having given up on something that still matters, but don’t work no more, Estes pours himself a double, and resigns himself to all he’s got left; memories.
Monrovia deserves a listen, and worth charting a destination to. Repeated visits will make you feel like a welcomed friend. - Indiemusic.com

Ah, the siren call effect that Nashville has on artists…it’s almost as if the record industry allure of Los Angeles and the “If I can make it here…” New York attitude paired in a north central city in Tennessee. That also happens to claim country music headquarters and may be one of the bigger singer/songwriter towns around. So, when I hear of a recent relocation to the city, I’m not usually surprised. And such is the case with alt country Americana outfit, Down Home. After all, there is a home there for their genre-laden amalgam of blues tinge, songwriter sentiment and folksy rock. Now set to release their debut full-length, DHB brings every musical facet at their disposal on Monrovia.

Take “Cajun Queen” with its vivid New Orleans imagery in the lyrical matter. DHB captured the ethos of the track with a complementary “swamp rock” feel of blues electric fills over blues-tinged acoustic pick and strum work, complete with obligatory harmonica honks through to the outro. Paired with the “Cajun and crawdad” lyrics the song as a whole comes full circle. “Son of Mine” is a heartfelt homage to the importance of family after a series of encouraging letters came soon after Estes’ relocation. The demure track opens to solo acoustic and vocal tandem with distorted electric strums at the fills. When the song structure, the vocal delivery and harmonized chorus come together it gives this track a definitive Avett Brothers feel in the execution. The Americana rock comes through on “Come On Home” with alt country leanings, rat-a-tat percussion work and honky tonk style acoustic/electric guitar interplay. More vivid imagery in the lyrical matter is a testament to the strong songwriting consideration. Two clever time changes makes “Vagabond Blues” wax and wane between acoustic-led honky stomp to down tempo blues number and back amidst more clever lyrical matter. “Oh My Baby” blasts out of the gate with more frantic acoustic strum and electric chord work over the agro rhythm section beat keeping. What shines on this track is the multiple instrumental soundscapes stay appropriately just beneath the vocals allowing the pristine harmonized chorus to come through squeaky clean. “Old 95” opens to Appalachia pick acoustic and electric strum while lyrically it sounds to be a shout out to touring (all of us Eastern seaboarders who travel totally GET this track). When the pick acoustic and gruff electric meld with the beat keeping, the alt country shines and I never get tired of that.

“cajun Queen”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QqHBq9xvsg

Since only relocating earlier this year and the work they’ve put in during that brief scope of time; DHB certainly has the work ethic to make it in Nashville. And the work put in on this album reflects that sentiment. The songwriting is a definite strength, the effortless blending of genre facets is honest and the album top to bottom is done well in execution and production. Not only is it a welcome addition to the genre but also a nice representation of what the genre has become. A rather respectable first full-length that anyone should be happy to have on their resume.

Buy: http://paltip.com/skopeing/!2psn9

http://downhomeband.com

by Chris West – cwestlaz@gmail.com

I give this 4 Skopes. - Skope Magazine

Boulder, Colo.-turned Nashville, Tenn., rockers Down Home Band have a lot to be proud of in their debut effort ‘Monrovia.’ The 11-track collection’s title refers to the capital of Liberia on the Ivory Coast of Africa. What listeners will soon discover on the journey is that Down Home’s arsenal is varied and full of Americana, country-rock, bluegrass and even cajun tunes.

What struck me the most about this band is the fine line between tenderness and imagery. The lyrics in each song seem to drift off into another chapter each verse; while some tracks rely on subtle harmony, others reap rewards from well-constructed prose.

In “Old 95″ the introduction has this Alabama-esque toe-tapper orchestration. It’s as if the song is center stage on a Sunday at church – you can hear the strings permeating off the guitar’s hand crafted wood.

“End of The World” is a downer. True, it’s a lazy song that meanders along like a hungover heartbroken hipster. There’s this sense that it could be so positive with a tinge of bright harmonious guitar. This song reminded me of Passenger’s “Let Her Go.”

Other standouts are “Cajun Queen,” which as its title suggests has a Southern-drawl sewn right into it! This is an upbeat tune and really sets a fun scene. “Son of Mine” is quite emotional, and I felt as a listener a bit intrusive in the intense, personal feelings. However, it made me feel – this felt very artistic, albeit, not shoved in my face.

“Drink to Remember” is a bit predictable in its lyrical choice, but the backing orchestration and chorus command is appreciated.

I’d check this band out my next trip to Nashville’s Broadway Street. I think they have an interesting voice and perspective; ‘Monrovia’ is a well-worth-it trip. Overall review: A- - Hot Indie News

Another intermission, and suddenly there’s a blonde woman at my table talking up the next band, saying that it would be impossible for me to be disappointed. And, while I later found out that this woman was the mother of the band’s lead, she was absolutely right. This was a fast-paced act that re-payed every cat call and shout with an uncharacteristically fun time (regarding of course my limited exposure to the genre). Here we have another very fun act that has molded its own identity, creating a group that distinguishes what could be admirable about this style of music. Somewhere in the mix their reverence of the stage, the adoration felt by the audience, and the full utility of the light show, Down Home gave a performance worthy of the War Memorial Auditorium.
- No Country For New Nashville

Read the interview in the link below. - Vents Magazine

Album Review: Jeff Estes

After a few hours of sifting through raw material fresh out of the studio, I began to notice that the songs Jeff just cut all fit together in one immensely personal and telling story of love lost and heartache felt. I’m amazed at how a man who’s less than a quarter-century old can have so much to say about love, life and triumph. With a voice that sounds musky from the whiskey he drank the night before, and guitar picking that sends marvelous melodies through your mind, this collection of raw, uncut songs paints an authentic look at the music of Jeff Estes.

Right from the onset of “Vagabond Blues” you learn that Jeff’s heart has been broken and trampled; and despite all that’s been taken from him, he perseveres with a perspective that makes him thankful for the freedom of youth. “Every Goddamn Thing” and “Like Yesterday” tell the stories of reflection, where a man has given it all for the one he loves, and through all the ups and downs, his offering is still not enough to satisfy the allusive beauty of his heart. And so he must walk away. Jeff decides to hit the pavement running... and literally finds himself on a long “Broken Road” full of lessons learned and new promises conjured...the story continues with “Lost at Sea,” depicting the life of a broken man out on his own with only his mind and will to propel him through. Jeff finds himself leaning on prayers of friends and family to pull him through. This epic venture into the life of a young man finding his way is starting to come to life before our very ears.

Picking himself up off that horse he has fallen from, Jeff comes finds his redemption with “I Can Be” a testament to prosper through the madness of love and life.

From the coastline of the Alabama shores, “Hot Damn” brings a rock n’ roll flavor to show a juxtaposition to the serious side of love with catchy lyrics and melody. From the highs of climbing the tallest mountains once thought out of reach, come the lows of valleys so deep you can’t see though the mental fog...and looking at it all straight down the barrel, he dives deep and reflects on his lost love with “Make it Through Tonight”... Then, with a blistering affliction as a reprisal for “Every Goddamn Thing,” he let’s it all go in “Isabel”. Jeff finally makes it clear that this love is gone and that wretched woman can rot in hell where she belongs. It all ends where it circles back again... with thoughts from his family asking him to “Come On Home”... Years fly by as seconds pass listening to Jeff’s stories with heartache as real as your own sorrows. Spend 36 minutes listening to this collection of raw material and spend a lifetime with Jeff and his freedom of lyrics and melodic guitar work. - Chas Vergauwen