Recorded in the basement studio, Rebellion Road, the production of CAH was a collaborative effort between Hearst, bass player Ash Hopkins and drummer Evan Bivins. The songs on Dust and Bones are a collection of warm, earnest vignettes about sordid family history, back country mythology and romances tattered and redeemed. While maintaining the organic and heart-worn sound for which Hearst is loved in her home town of Charleston, S.C., there is a sharp edge to Dust and Bones that reflects Hearst’s love for punk, swamp blues, ethereal gospel and primitive rock and roll. 

When Evan Bivins and then bass player Johnny Gray stumbled into a Charleston, S.C., dive bar in 2001, they found Hearst playing her final gig with the country/Irish/pirate-folk band, The Boonies. Bivins, Gray, Hearst and a young Danny Cassady formed the local alt-country favorite, The Borrowed Angels, to play in the bars and make some cash. The Angels were always something to see… always high on whiskey, always playing songs they barely knew, always having more fun than anyone else in the bar, they were beloved in the Charleston music scene for juxtaposing raucus honky-tonk attitude against earnst songwritting. Their three-part hormonies were driven by Hearst’s sweet though increasingly gravely and whiskey-smokey voice.

Those years playing in Charleston’s bars galvanized Hearst place in that city’s music community, offering her the opportunity to write and perform with many of Charleston’s other young talents. Her writing collaborations include Dustin Welch (Scotch Greens), Bill Carson and Salder Vaden (Leslie). She performs with The Explorers Club and Michael Trent (the Films), and is featured on recordings by Ward Williams, Bill Carson, Michael Flynn (Slowrunner) and Lee Barbor (Caravan). Many of these artists come together to perform at Hearst’s live shows.

In November of 2004, Hearst produced “Le Chat Noir,” a rock and roll burlesque/cabaret with Bill Carson and His Checkered Past, The Defilers, The Borrowed Angels and a dangerous chorus line of rock and roll mamas. This year’s release of Dust and Bones featured special guest perfomances from The Explorers Club, Sadler Vaden and Josh Kaler (Slowrunner) on pedal steel. She closed the show with a heart-breaking performace of “The Straits of Our Love” as a duet with Kitt Gillespie of The Chimney Sweeps.

Her next project is the production of a rock n roll prom at the music farm that will feature her band, as well as The Explorers Club, and hundreds of rockers in punk rock prom gear. She’s comin’ to a town near you; do lock up your sons.

http://www.myspace.com/caryannhearst

Series creators Fred Goss and Nick Holly knew that the show required a songwriting team that could create a diverse musical soundtrack to help guide the viewer through the episodes. “We wanted the music to fit in naturally,” says Goss. “‘Sons and Daughters’ has a true to life feel and the music needed to contribute to that. The bumpers and segues that work in a scripted show would feel out of place in this format. We needed the music to be as effortless to the characters as it would be in real life.”

Having grown up together in Torrance, Calif., Goss and Berry have a strong personal and professional relationship. While developing the show, Goss contacted Berry, then a resident of New Orleans and a veteran of that city’s eclectic music scene, knowing that he would bring a fresh perspective to the show. Simultaneously, Goss and Holly were interviewing local composers and took a liking to the organic musical qualities of BMI film and television veteran Adam Gorgoni (Waiting, Happy Family). With the unique team of Berry and Gorgoni, the producers knew they had found the voice they were looking for.

When they finally met, Berry and Gorgoni recognized their similar tastes and compatibility as co-writers. “Once we found out that we could both quote Eddie Izzard, Sweeney Todd and Spinal Tap word for word, the music came easy,” said Berry.

“Sons and Daughters” features a multi-generational extended family and the producers instructed their new writing team to approach the show with that in mind. “People listen to music all the time, but it’s not usually played that way on TV,” says Gorgoni. “This soundtrack is different in that we are tailoring original source material to the characters and situations. Classic rock plays on the radio in the kitchen while the family is starting their day, later an older character might listen to a jazz CD, while in the next scene their grandchild has alternative-rock song on their iPod. It makes for a really interesting mix.”

On “Sons & Daughters” composers Bill Berry and Adam Gorgoni bring a fresh perspective to television by allowing the thoughts and feelings of the show’s characters to resonate through the music that fills their world.

Héctor was raised between Nogales, Arizona, and Culiacán, Sinaloa (Mexico), with the certainty that his best form of expression lay in the purest Anglo form of pop-rock. And thanks to his experience and direct contact with the earth, he’s continued the natural process of good fruits/harvest: the necessary time, organic, no-additives and no-maturing devices.

Perhaps his original last name “Crisantakis” would explain it all. As a Greek descendent, the value and generosity of the earth and the ties with art are everything. At the young age of 8 he knew that the adrenaline from stage was magnetic and strong like that of the earth. “I grew up cultivating tomatoes with the illusion of one day becoming an agriculturist… but I was 8 when I set foot on stage for the very first time. The group we had with my brother and a few cousins was invited to perform at a benefit concert in front of 10,000 people. My hands were sweaty and my mind was blank. I felt as if I couldn’t play my guitar, but at the same time I felt that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

He owes finding himself face-to-face with music to his father. “When my father was young he dedicated himself to music as a hobby, then he was sent to study in San Francisco, and grew up with the music of that time. When we moved to Culiacán, he took over the rock group he once had with his friends. My brother and I saw that and I thought, ‘that’s what I want to do when I grow up’.” In that instant, his path was set.

“We never had formal lessons. The same year I started playing as a hobby we went out to perform in public. Our schooling was the street and records from the Beatles, Rolling Stones...they were my idols. We put a group together, started writing songs and experimenting.”

Hector’s instruments include the guitar, keyboard, drums and vocals. He writes and composes his songs in English and Spanish. All of the songs on his debut album are a product of his experiences and his vision of the most real and genuine love possible. “To be up on a stage is a sensation unlike no other. An experience you want to repeat over and over.” And Crisantes is anxious and ready to taste it.

“Broadway is the last place I ever thought I’d find myself. It seemed like such an archaic form. I’m shocked to discover it’s the most spontaneous medium I’ve ever worked in; it’s live all the time so you could always be on the brink of disaster,” she says gleefully.

Willis is riffing on the musical incarnation of The Color Purple , based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker (1983) and Oscar-nominated film by Steven Spielberg (1985), which she’s co-authoring with songwriters Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray, and Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award-winning book writer Marsha Norman.

Willis declares: “I’ve probably worked with 1,000 people, and this is the best collaboration I’ve ever been involved in.” She was initially the art director on the production but soon chose to join forces with Russell and Bray — with whom she was scoring two animated series she’d co-created, “Fat Girl” (Oxygen Network) and “Driving While Black” (urbanentertainment.com) — to write spec songs that would compete with the work of seven other creative teams.

The first was “Shug Avery Coming To Town,” which became the cornerstone of The Color Purple. “With the animation, we made sure each character had a particular rhythm and pace and style,” Willis explains. “For the show, we chose to musicalize a multi-character scene because we knew we could apply this and it would capture a variety of sounds and moods. It has Celie and Mr. in it, but also the townspeople, the church ladies — everyone has an opinion about Shug Avery coming to town.

“Once we nailed that song, the entire show started developing that way,” she continues. “Since we became involved so early, the show really formed around the music. I think that’s why, bar for bar, it’s one of the most hook-filled musicals ever written.”

She says of her collaborative method: “It’s been like family therapy! It’s a complete democracy. If two of us are passionate about a part, it stays. And we don’t do anything until we turn on the machines; we’re in recording mode from the second we start writing. That way we capture the lightning bolts, rather than refining the song so completely that we squeeze all the juice out of it. Then, as soon as something sounds good — whether it’s a beginning, ending, lyric, melody, string part — we start developing it. When we run out of ideas, we jump to another section, and eventually, it all comes together in a very organic way.”

Willis had not written a song since 1994 (the “Friends” theme). Her thrill in rediscovering the craft is palpable. “Someone recently put my album, Childstar , which was released in 1974, on CD for me,” she says. “It’s the first 10 songs I ever wrote and I hadn’t heard it since it came out. Unbelievably, what I’m writing today bears a striking resemblance to my earliest work. It’s because I’ve been left alone — with Brenda and Stephen — to do whatever I want. Working this way, you can indulge your every fantasy. No place is too extreme. If you feel it, you go there.”

The Color Purple premieres at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in September. It will make its Broadway debut in 2005.

In 2000, they signed with Warner Music Latina, and delivered a self-titled release that won fans from Latin America to Spain, garnered two Latin Grammy nominations and earned the band gold status — albeit in Colombia. Still, it was an auspicious introduction; the single "Tabaco y Chanel" hit #1 on Latin radio and a tour opening for Spanish superstar Alejandro Sanz showcased them to the world.

It set the stage for the group's next album, Caraluna, which takes its title from a phrase invented by the band to mean "the face of the moon." The blockbuster album earned the threesome two awards at the 2003 Latin Grammys, "Best Tropical Song" for "Mi Primer Millon," their humorous account of trying to make it in the music industry (performed live on the show) and "Best Pop Album by a Group." Additionally, at this year's 45th Annual Grammy ceremony at Madison Square Garden, Caraluna walked away with "Best Latin Pop Album."

Cross-pollinating bossa nova, tango and flamenco with flavors of Caribbean, cumbia and ska, Caraluna reflects Bacilos' widescreen influences, while one song, "Elena," also features lyrics in English. A headlining tour concurrent with this release has taken Bacilos from New York to Bogota; Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, establishing the band as a premier concert attraction. Additionally, primary songwriter Villamizar has distinguished himself as a writer for other artists, with cuts by Alejandra Guzman and Fernando Osorio.

Despite the group's successes, they express no interest in becoming a glossy pop band. Their hit "Me Primer Millon" may feature strings and brass, but Bacilos continues to honor their origins with real songs, acoustic instruments and unadorned harmonies, an organic approach in an ever so techno world.

For their growing legion of fans, it's a sound that is absolutely contagious.

But thanks to such gifted street poets as Atlanta’s Outkast and Detroit’s Eminem, the rap world has become a far more geographically diverse place in recent years. Kentucky’s Nappy Roots is currently adding to this diversity by bringing a distinctly rural-Southern flair to its fetching hip-hop sound.

The group’s recent CD, Watermelon, Chicken, & Gritz, is less about the boyz in the hood and more about the boyz on the front porch trying to figure out how to make ends meet. With the new track “Ballin’ On a Budget,” the sextet raps about having “no pager, no cell phone, no access at all.” These country-college boys chose to scrimp and save rather than sink their hard earned money into fast cars and fancy jewelry.

The members of Nappy Roots are in no danger of becoming homeless anytime soon. This past October, Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz went platinum.

Nappy Roots first coalesced at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green (except for member Big V, who attended Eastern Kentucky) in the mid-’90s. While students, they operated a record store near campus with a production studio in the back. When they began creating music, they enlisted the help of fellow students who knew about recording equipment, graphic design and making music videos. Nappy Roots released two independent albums, Country Fried Cess and no comb, no brush, no fade, no perm.

Atlantic Records signed the group in 1998, but the band’s first album for the label (Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz) wasn’t released until 2002. It was clearly worth the wait as well the time and effort Nappy Roots put into this refreshingly organic work, which features a down-home vibe thanks to such elements as organs, harmonies, mandolins and blues guitars.

Now the group is the toast of both coasts and points in between, having become an MTV staple and guests on “Late Night With David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Make no mistake, rural rap has arrived.

At one point in the spring of 2002, five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 featured production and songwriting by the Neptunes, including tracks by *NSYNC and Usher. In fact, it might be easier to list the hitmakers of the past couple of years who haven’t worked with the dynamic duo. “We have to schedule when the songs are going to come out,” says the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, to which his partner, Pharrell Williams, adds, “Otherwise, the airwaves could be in gridlock.”

Record labels and artists alike are eager — rabid might be a more accurate term — to hook up with the Neptunes; after all, practically everything they touch turns to gold. The twosome’s distinctive sound — syncopated, often synthesized rhythms hyped up by alternately terse and heavy beats — has enlivened more than one tune. It’s currently a given that, if you want a hit, you’d best make a call to the Neptunes one of your top priorities.

Williams and Hugo first met in a seventh-grade jazz band. Nothing if not eclectic in their tastes, the pair devoured everything from hip-hop to punk and arena rock via their parents’ record collections, and by the early 1990s were performing in various Virginia Beach-area venues. One such notable combo was a hip-hop outfit with the catchy moniker Surrounded by Idiots, wherein Williams played behind DJ Timmy Tim, who would eventually rename himself Timbaland and become a producer of no small repute himself.

Williams was also playing in a vocal group with Hugo and fellow high-school mate Shay, which hit the big time when it was discovered at a 1992 talent show by new jack swing pioneer Teddy Riley. Williams and Hugo learned production under Riley, working with such groups as Blackstreet and S.W.V. The rising stars soon took on the name the Neptunes — legend has it because, astrologically, Neptune rules water and the Earth is, after all, mostly water — and began producing their own songs.

But while the hip-hop and dance-music landscapes are littered with a thousand sound-alike producers, the Neptunes took a different, more organic approach, allowing the music room to breathe instead of being swathed in “production values,” and sometimes adding drum or synth parts that land in unexpected places.

“That’s how music was in the beginning,” Williams has said, “because it was played by humans. A live band would take it all over the place. Sequencers are perfect, humans are not, and that imperfection is perfection.”

Of course, taking a contrary approach to the conventional wisdom can become a convention of its own. To solve this, the Neptunes are determined to continue shaking things up. “We don’t want to be judged for our name, but for our work,” Hugo maintains. “In the future, we’re going to use a lot of different names and aliases on our records, so you may not even know it’s the Neptunes when you hear them.”

Such was the case with In Search Of…, the debut album by the production team as artists. Except the artist in this case wasn’t labeled the Neptunes, but N.E.R.D., for “No-One Ever Really Dies.” Comprising Williams, Hugo and Shay, the group took a predictably unpredictable approach to recording In Search Of…: when the original album dropped in Europe as a wholly sampled-and-programmed set, rock magazines were quick with their praise, while hip-hop publications’ reviews were mixed.

“The music felt constricted, layered through keyboards,” Williams explained. As a result, the group went back into the studio with live musicians and re-recorded every song. “Now it’s become . . . an eagle flying off of all these cliffs,” he said.

The album reflects the interests of a group who’s worked with both Alicia Keys and Limp Bizkit, mixing up hip-hop, electronica and ’70s-style rock into a heady stew. “We actually started out doing r&b,” Williams emphasizes, “but our heads and minds are wherever music is. It’s any and everything; I like Mr. Mister the way I like Earth, Wind & Fire just like I like Queen.”

The word is definitely out amongst both the hip-hop and rock cognoscenti. The Neptunes’ reputation has been nothing if not enhanced, and Williams’ growing habit of showing up in other acts’ videos — perhaps most notably alongside Busta Rhymes and P.Diddy in the “Pass the Courvoisier Pt. 2” clip — hasn’t hurt either.

When working as producers, the Neptunes will often write to order for the artist, as they did with Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U,” but they’re also sitting on a number of songs that didn’t work at a particular moment. “There are times the artist doesn’t like the track, so we just do it with someone else,” Williams avers. “Then you realize who the real artists are — not the guy that just wants the hit.”

Earlier in 2002, the duo signed a deal with Arista Records to distribute material from new acts the Neptunes have signed to Star Treck, their own label, which will include, of course, both hip-hop and rock acts. In the meantime they’re continuing to work on a list of acts with whom they have not yet worked – almost unbelievably, such artists do exist – which includes Stevie Wonder, Bjork, Enya and America.

“It’s not a matter of wanting to have a million songs out there,” Williams insists. “It’s the freedom of knowing you can work with who you want to work with and have no creative limitations, except the ones you place on yourself. That’s why I don’t think we’ll ever get stagnant. It’s our nature to outdo ourselves.”

After all, the then-threesome — which now includes bassist Sergio Andrade, drummer Rick Woolstenhulme and newest member guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme, Rick's brother — went from cutting its teeth at church fairs near their suburban L.A. home of Agoura Hills to virtually overnight success. The band's debut album, No Name Face, sold two million copies and produced the ubiquitous radio hit, "Hanging by a Moment," winner of the BMI award for Most Performed Song on College Radio.

But, as Wade points out, he first wrote "Spin" when he was 16 years old, more concerned with his parents' divorce than rock stardom. Lifehouse's first album was filled with songs of emotional and personal anguish, so the band's chief singer/songwriter decided to lighten up this time thematically. At the same time, the music has become edgier and more prog-rock, with an array of different guitar sounds introduced by long-time producer Ron Aniello, who discovered the band, and noted mixer Brendan O'Brien.

"One thing I'm doing this time is not trying as hard,” says Jason shortly before the album's release. "I think I spent almost too much emotion and energy on the songs for the last record. This time, I put the recorder on the table, had a melody and just kind of let the lyrics come to me naturally, without thinking too much about them. It's about letting the song happen as opposed to trying to write it."

Sergio, who co-founded the band with Jason when the one-time neighbors discovered a kindred spirit for guitar-heavy, melodic rock, acknowledges the newfound freedom earned from their success allowed them to experiment in the studio. "We knew what to expect this time. We understood how the process worked. That allowed us to take more charge of things and focus on how to really make this our own."

The group has honed itself on the road by touring with matchbox twenty and Pearl Jam. Jason says the band has developed a chemistry and signature sound they didn't really have before, using sound checks to work out the material for the new album.

"We wanted to strip it away and make every single part count, let the song come out and breathe," says Wade. "Every single thing on there has to matter. When you take things out and just let it be organic, then, all of a sudden, the sound becomes a lot bigger."

Even more than the band's music, though, what has attracted such a devoted flock is Jason Wade's combination of heartthrob appeal and his uplifting messages of faith, belief and spirituality.

"That's my favorite part of it," he says of reaching people through his music. "Because it makes me realize I'm not crazy. I'm not alone. If I touch someone or help someone, it does just as much for all of us."

The singer/songwriter/guitarist's first solo effort, last year's Heartbreaker - released on the independent Bloodshot label - broke away from his ex-combo's twangy alt-country sound to create a deeply personal song cycle that painted a disarmingly intimate account of a shattered love affair. Adams' new album, Gold - his first for Universal's rootsy new Lost Highway imprint, which filled the brief gap between Heartbreaker and Gold by issuing Whiskeytown's long-delayed swan song, Pneumonia - pretty much picks up where Heartbreaker left off.

Gold's 16 songs chronicle the recent changes in Adams's personal life, beginning with him bidding farewell to the Big Apple (and a broken relationship) on the opening track, "New York, New York," and ending up in the artist's current home base of Los Angeles, whose landmarks are invested with emotional significance on "La Cienega Just Smiled" and "Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd." It was in L.A. that Adams recorded Gold with the help of producer Ethan Johns (son of legendary studio vet Glyn Johns), who also plays drums and guitar on the album.

Despite its personal lyrics, Gold - unlike the pensive Heartbreaker - is largely a rocking affair, with tunes like "Firecracker" and "New York, New York" boasting an organic classic-rock sound that's more celebratory than solemn. "I just think it happened that way," Adams says of Gold's upbeat vibe, adding, "It wasn't a bad idea, considering I already made a really bummer record.

"I do think the process of forgiving myself is really evident on this one," Adams says. "The songs aren't really self-loathing or self-destructive. This record is more about making amends with things and really facing them. And it's more upbeat because I think I'm giving myself some air to breathe."

He also says that switching locales has affected his songwriting for the better. "In New York, I think I wrote more from a claustrophobic kind of sense," Adams recently stated to Billboard. "You're in this small-ass apartment, the subway is hot, it's busy. So you internalize. But when I came to California, I think I looked harder for structure, because there's so much room here, so much space.

"I do have two new rules," concludes Adams, who already has three albums' worth of newly-recorded material in the can. "One is not to analyze what I write. The second is not to read my own press. I just want to make it and not fuss about it. No excuses for it. Just make it and there it is. That way, the process is more pure. And even if people hate it, well, it doesn't matter. Because I'm just doing it to do it."

With 34 gold record certifications, 24 platinum albums, and Grammys, Tonys and Oscars to his credit, no one could accuse Elton John of resting on his laurels. But critics and fans agree that Elton's new CD is a phenomenal achievement, even by the singer's own perfectionist standards. Songs from the West Coast is Elton's 27th studio album and his 40th disc overall, and it's an indisputable masterpiece. Lyrical, melodic and organic-sounding, the disc hearkens back to Elton's '70s classics with "Madman Across the Water" and "Honkey Chateau." The first single culled from the new album, "I Need Love," has resulted in an engrossing music video featuring actor Robert Downey Jr.

Recorded during two sessions in late 2000, Songs from the West Coast finds Elton fully returning to his roots. The disc reunites the legendary piano man with members of his '70s band, including drummer Nigel Olsson and guitarist Davey Johnstone. Strings were arranged by conductor and longtime compatriot Paul Buckmaster, while the album's evocative lyrics were penned by Elton's indispensable collaborator, Bernie Taupin. These old friends have assembled to create an album that possesses the snug, familiar feel of a vintage coat or an embracing heirloom blanket.

Songs from the West Coast began taking shape in 2000, when Elton and Taupin expressed a mutual desire to get back to basics. "We had to be really harsh on ourselves," Elton said recently. "We drew a line in the sand and said: 'by the time this album comes out, I'm going to be 54. I want to make it really strong, the best album I can do.' And I think we've really achieved that."

Just days into recording, it was apparent that Elton and Taupin had accomplished their goal. As Elton recalled: "I'm there at the piano, singing these songs as we were putting down the rough tracks and thinking, 'God, this sounds really good.' It was how we used to do it years ago at the Chateau with the old band."

Critical acclaim for Songs from the West Coast has been unanimous. Rolling Stone gave the album a rare 4-star rating, while Details magazine described the disc as, "the best Elton John album to come along in years. . . . It's as if he's rediscovered his passion for making rock music."

The new disc is the latest achievement in a career that apparently knows no bounds. Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Middlesex, England, Elton John's career began in earnest when he answered a "songwriters wanted" ad placed by Liberty Records. Responding to the same ad was lyricist Bernie Taupin, and the company teamed the duo to provide material for the label. A publishing deal eventually led to a recording contract. Elton's self-titled sophomore album became an international best-seller, yielding the classic hit single, "Your Song."

The rest is musical history. Elton's '70s albums - including Tumbleweed Connection, Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and others - are among the most acclaimed pop recordings of all time. And while many fans' fondest memories are of Elton's flamboyant '70s period, the singer cannot be dismissed as a "Me Decade" relic. In fact, Elton has demonstrated an uncanny talent for surfing the notoriously fickle tides of pop culture. Through the '80s, '90s and to the present, Elton's hitmaking streak continues unabated.