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Brad Sweitzer - Stove and Taker

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Maybe it stemmed from a simple creative slump or possibly a culmination of an overwrought musical education and being raised on records meant for listeners twice his age. Whatever the reason, when Josh Preston laid down his loud electric guitar (along with his rock band mentality) and picked up an acoustic guitar, it all finally clicked into place. In quickly becomes apparent that Josh's singer-songwriter exploration blossomed into songs containing thought provoking lyricism and melodies that rapidly and cunningly bury themselves in the listener's sub-conscience. It took some time however, for these songs to move from the safety of being listened to by friends into an intense and deeply personal live show. The long road to solo performance was preceded by numerous side-man gigs up and down the Eastern seaboard with a final stint in New York City as a guitarist for singer-songwriter Aaron Brotherton (which led to a performance with Aaron at Farm Aid 2003 and a recording session at the now defunct Hit Factory). While in New York, Josh began recording his first solo release "Between Memory and Mortality" and he finished up this record after a lifestyle altering move to Nashville. Writing, recording and touring are now a significant part of Josh's everyday life and his second solo release "Rooftop Silhouettes" along with recent compositions such as "Thousand Years" and "Safety Feels The Exit" are image-laden gems that border on slight poetic insanity.

Having been fortunate enough to make his living in nearly every facet of the music business since he was old enough to hold down a job, Josh used his knowledge to found an upstart indie record label called Me and the Machine Records. While Josh now has a launching pad for his forthcoming releases, Me and the Machine also continues to delivers powerful releases from some of the finest and certainly the most honest singer-songwriters on the scene today.

Sometimes there's just no point in trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up. The trails and tribulations of childhood rarely determine what we become. With Nick Shelton's music, there's a strong argument that being able to tell a story about your life in unflinching honesty outshines nearly-failed middle school music classes. Luckily, disinterest in rote musical endeavors didn't stop Nick from dusting off his grandfather's guitar. With a few chords settling in under his fingers at the outset of his high school years, Nick knew early on that he would forego flash for substance. It's this unspoken mantra that has given birth to deeply personal compositions such as "Adrianna" and "Carolina's Twilight Creeping" from his debut album Average Everyday.

In his live set, Nick's warm, unforced stage presence lends itself brilliantly to his songs. There is an aged beauty that whisks around every note he sings and it is both tempered and unforgettable. It's as if his voice is an audible photo of the West Virginia coal town where he was born and raised. While hovering in the stylistic territory of John Prine, Bob Dylan and Elliott Smith, Nick has found his own distinctly dusty musical road to travel and leaves his signature on the walls of the figurative rest stops along the way.