Local Music Monday

 Local Music Monday

Huntsville- Do not let anyone fool you into thinking Huntsville is just a bunch of nerds.  The music that has come out of Huntsville has always been special.  From Oakwood college singing stars to garage bands to American Idol to song writers Huntsville's music scene is for sure on the map.  Steve Knight, Nina Grae, and Stephen Kane are no different.  Steve Knight was raised in Huntsville and went to Huntsville High School and his dad has been kind of a local legend of playing folk, blue grass, gospel music and known to many as the autoharp man.  Stephen Kane who went to Sparkman High School grew up with music in his veins as well and his dad was a DJ at the top 40 radio station WZYP.  Nina is the only none Huntsville grown product to be part of this project be she comes from some good stock too her dad an NFL football player for the Oakland Raiders.

Steve Knight started a group called FlipSyde.  Flipsyde is a group based out of Oakland, California that features Piper (MC), Steve Knight (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar) & Dave Lopez (Lead Guitar). Flipsyde, who first hit the airwaves in 2005 with their debut hit single, "Someday" from their worldwide successful album We The People, has been working hard in the studio bringing fans new music of the times. Lauded by The Washington Post as "the best hip hop album of the year," Flipsyde's debut album We The People went on to sell a quarter of a million units world wide and 750,000 singles- embraced by audiences as far as Japan, India, and Germany, where "Happy Birthday" became a top 3 hit. In the US, "Someday," a powerful song about overcoming adversity, became the theme song to NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics in 2006 and in 2008 their song "Champion" was the theme song for the Summer Olympics. It has been quite an adventure for Flipsyde who embarked on a steady touring schedule for over five years, opening for the likes of Snoop Dogg, The Game and The Black Eyes Peas. With all Flipsyde has accomplished, the adventure does not stop here.

This new project which Stephen "PR" Kane has produced for for Steve Knight and Nina Grae is nothing short of world class music.

Here is a sample of the music  "Hear My Voice" find it on iTunes or http://www.knightandgrae.com

Top 3 Huntsville Born Musicians

Top 3 Huntsville Born Musicians

Huntsville- Talent in a city comes and goes and it takes a lot of blood sweat and tears to make it through in a city like Huntsville, AL.  Music lovers and especially Huntsvillians should know name of these three outstanding musicians.  

Topping our list is Mr. Mervyn Warren

About

Five-time Grammy-winning film & TV composer, record producer/arranger, songwriter/lyricist, pianist, vocalist, and all-around fun guy.

Biography

Five-time Grammy Award winner and 10-time nominee Mervyn Warren is a highly accomplished film & TV composer, record producer, songwriter/lyricist, arranger, pianist, and vocalist.

Equally adept at various styles, Merv’s work spans the genres of pop, R&B, jazz, orchestral, classical, hip-hop, vocal, country, and gospel. One of the industry’s most sought-after producers, his credits read like a who’s-who of pop, R&B, jazz, and country and include Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Barbra Streisand, Rascal Flatts, Michael Bublé, Chicago, Queen Latifah, Al Jarreau, and Faith Hill, among many others.

Merv has composed orchestral scores for many feature films – from comedy to drama to action – including the #1 film The Wedding Planner (Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey), the hit A Walk To Remember (Mandy Moore), and Honey (Jessica Alba). He also produced and arranged most of the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum soundtrack for the film The Preacher’s Wife (Whitney Houston) – one of the biggest-selling inspirational soundtracks of all time.

Merv also composed the underscore and songs for the highly acclaimed film A Raisin In The Sun (Sean Combs, Felicia Rashad) – the first film made for television ever to be accepted into the Sundance Film Festival.

Merv was recently selected by Quincy Jones to produce and arrange a song for the upcoming Quincy Jones project.

Merv co-produced the first posthumous Michael Jackson single – “This Is It” and co-produced with Babyface the Billboard #1 R&B hit “Last Night” by Az Yet. He also produced a Billboard Top 10 hit – “I Believe In You & Me” (movie version) by Whitney Houston and penned a Billboard #2 Dance hit – “The Power of One” for Donna Summer.

Merv was an original member of Take 6, the a-cappella sextet that took the world by storm in 1988, recording two albums with them – one platinum, one gold. On those albums, Merv produced, co-wrote, and arranged most of the award-winning songs. With them he won four Grammy Awards, six Dove Awards, two Stellar Awards, and a Soul Train Award.

On his own, Merv earned an additional Grammy for the all-star Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful celebration, as well as five additional Grammy nominations, a Dove Award (of three nominations), and two Gospel Music Workshop of America Awards, including one for Contemporary Producer of the Year.

Merv has written many arrangements for Quincy Jones, David Foster, and the late, legendary Arif Mardin, including extensive work on Quincy’s “Back on the Block” and “Q’s Jook Joint” and various recordings with Celine Dion, Brandy, Leann Rimes, The Manhattan Transfer, and others.

A native of Huntsville, AL, Merv was playing piano by age 5 and writing songs by age 10. In high school he formed a popular vocal group, and as a teenager, was regularly hired to arrange, play on, and sing on commercials and albums for local pop and country artists. He went on to earn two degrees in music, including a Master’s degree in arranging.

 #2 is Larry Byrom

Now living in Muscle Shoals, AL doing work out of the world famous FAME studios as well as journeys to Nashville,TN

Guitarist and songwriter Larry Byrom has performed on over a 100 albums in genres ranging from rock to country to somewhere comfortable in between. Byrom was born in 1948 in Huntsville, AL, but spent a lot of his childhood in South Bend, IN. He dropped out of high school to try out his dream of reaching rock stardom. When it didn't work out as he planned, he made a detour and found success on his own terms.

In the mid-'60s, Byrom joined a band called the Precious Few. He went right to professional status, performing on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. Byrom's next step was to head out to California where he joined the group Hard Times, appearing on the television show Where the Action Is. The Hard Times group called it quits before long. Byrom, undaunted, got together with Nick St. Nicholas and formed another band, T.I.M.E., which unabbreviated is Trust in Men Everywhere.

Before 1970, T.I.M.E. disbanded while Byrom joined a new rock band, Steppenwolf. Byrom recorded a number of hit songs with the group, including some he penned himself, like "Hey Lawdy Mama." In 1972, he left Steppenwolf to start another band, Ratchell. When it had little success, he went back home to Alabama to think about his career and where he wanted it to go. Where it went was to country music and into the studio.

By 1980, Byrom was living in Nashville, TN. He soon began working steadily as a session guitarist for superstar country artists like Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbit, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, and Kenny Rogers. Byrom's skills with slide, acoustic, and electric guitar, as well as his songwriting, kept him in constant demand. Over the years he added more recordings to his list of credits, working with well-known country singers such as Lorrie Morgan, Brooks & Dunn, Tanya Tucker, Randy Travis, Clint Black, and many others.

#3 on our chart is Ernest Bert Ashworth

 (December 15, 1928 – March 2, 2009) was an American country music singer and longtime Grand Ole Opry star. Signed to the Hickory label, he recorded two studio albums in his career and charted several singles on Billboard Hot Country Songs, including the number one "Talk Back Trembling Lips" and six other top ten hits.

Biography[edit]

Born Ernest Bert Ashworth in Huntsville, Alabama on December 15, 1928, he began his career singing on Huntsville radio station WBHP-AM. In 1949, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked for several radio stations and was signed by Wesley Rose as a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music. Among the artists who recorded his songs between 1949 and 1955 were Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith, Johnny Hortonand Paul Anka.

Success as a recording artist eluded him, however, and in 1957 he returned to Huntsville and began working at the US Army's Redstone Arsenal, doing guided missile work. Three years later, Rose arranged a recording contract for him with Decca Records. Billed as Ernest Ashworth, his first single, "Each Moment (Spent With You)," became a Top Five Hit. Later that year, "You Can’t Pick A Rose In December" went into the Top Ten; and in 1961, "Forever Gone" reached the Top 20.

In 1962, Ashworth moved to Hickory Records, owned by Acuff-Rose, and he scored a Top Five hit with "Everybody But Me" and a Top Ten with "I Take The Chance."

But it was his third release for Hickory that became a smash hit and his signature song. "Talk Back Trembling Lips" hit number one and stayed on the national country chart for 42 weeks, and peaked at No. 101 on the pop charts.

Voted "Most Promising Male Artist" by Cashbox, Billboard and Record World magazines in 1963 and 1964, he was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. More chart records followed including "The D.J. Cried," "At Ease Heart" and "I Love To Dance With Annie." Ashworth continued to be a regular performer at the Opry, but he never had a record to match the success of "Talk Back Trembling Lips".

In 1989, he purchased radio station WSLV in Ardmore, Tennessee. In 1992, Ashworth was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Always a popular performer overseas, he had a number one song on the UK Independent Chart, "Lonely Only Bar," in 1999 and was also named the "Number One Most Programmed Independent Artist in Europe" that year.

Ashworth remained active as a recording artist until his death in 2009, making appearances at the Grand Ole Opry and spending much of his time tending to the affairs of his radio stations in Ardmoreand Gallatin, Tennessee.

In 2008, Ernie was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Throughout his career he achieved many awards and inductions into Halls of Fame across the United States.