Music
Christabel and the Jons
The first thing that hits you when you see Christabel & the Jons perform is lead singer/songwriter Christa DeCicco’s velvety effortless voice. Sultry, southern, and laid back, her classic delivery and stage presence often draws comparisons to Billie Holiday, Madeleine Peyroux, and Norah Jones. While the similarities are there, she’s also developed a sound that’s all her own, with earthy melodies and swingin’ rhythm guitar work. Currently touring the country from coast to coast, she is quickly solidifying her reputation as one of the country’s finest up and coming folk/jazz singers. Multi-instrumentalist Seth Hopper adds colorful ambiance to the songs with his virtuoso assortment of violin, mandolin, trumpet, and accordion. The snappy rhythm section is led by Jon Whitlock on drums with Nate Donegan on upright bass. The group mixes their original songs with thoughtfully arranged jazz standards, western swing, and classic country for a sound they call “Tennessee swing.”
They have released 4 albums, “Love and Circumstances” (2006), “Custom Made For You” (2008), “Live from the Walnut Room” (2009), and “The Christmas Album” (2010). Their fifth studio release, “The Same Mistake” will be recorded later this year. These new songs show the influence of 1950s-1960s exotica, bossa nova, and samba beats on the group’s country swing feel.
Past performances include: Bonnaroo, Riverbend, Floydfest, Bele Chere, Blue Plum Festival, McMenamins, Shakori Hills Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Tennessee Shines, and Sundown in the City. They’ve also opened for many national acts including The Brazilian Girls, The Be Good Tanyas, The Red Stick Ramblers, The Wilders, and Loudon Wainwright.
Michael Gamble's Rhythm Serenaders
Michael Gamble is an internationally accomplished dancer, DJ, and organizer, having organized music and/or been head DJ for Lindy Focus (which he also organizes), Beantown Camp, International Lindy Hop Championships, Lonestar Championships, and the European Swing Dance Championships, among many others. He holds a bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Carolina Asheville.
His Rhythm Serenaders are the product of nearly a decade of collecting swing music, transcribing classic swing-era arrangements, and cultivating strong opinions about what elements of swing music most drive dancers. The song selections span the greatest decades of swing music, featuring compositions of Jelly Roll Morton, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington. The arrangements take the riffs and shout choruses of classic big band arrangements and compress them into combo form, for a high-energy, hard-swinging groove that never fails.
Slow Blind Hill
Original members Jaimie Cameron and Eddy Roberts have been working with harmonica player Henry Perry since 2003. Martin Hodge is the latest in a long line of very talented drummers.
Slow Blind Hill has four CDs on their own label, Straightnose Records. The most recent CD "Jump In Deep" contains all-original material and is for sale on the web and at the Disc Exchange.
Kelle Jolly
At the first downbeat, you realize that everything else you’ve heard were only failed attempts at what Kelle’s Jolly Boy Bunch does effortlessly. This band stands on the shoulders of great bands of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s who’ve traveled before them. They’ve left Knoxville audiences feigning for “just one more dance” at the local restaurants and bars. Kelle and her Jolly Boy Bunch share their jazz, soul and funk roots in every infectious groove. Her sound is reminiscent of Ella, Natalie & Patti Austin-and jumps and dips over 3 octaves! Kelle summersaults through progressions like some kind of time traveling “funk fairy” plucking songs that make feet remember how to move. You’ll have a hard time getting out this band’s deep pockets.
Old City Buskers
The Old City Buskers coalesced when a group of dancers picked up some instruments and said to one another, "You wanna play some dance music?" They started jamming after their weekly dances, playing late into the night. They grew tired of staying up so late on a school night, so they started playing music on Market Square on the weekends. Bystanders mistook them for a "real" band and started asking them to play shows. They happily agreed as it gave them an opportunity to get out of the elements.
Since then they have played all over Knoxville and even made appearances at dance events around the Southeast. Whether they're playing in a living room, on a boat, at the Laurel Theatre or Market Square, they like to keep the energy high, the music happy and the beat chunky.