MONICA TAYLOR AND HER RED DIRT RAMBLERS
M onica Taylor earned the nickname , The Cherokee Songbird , for her distinctive singing style , her Cherokee heritage and her home near the Cimarron River in Oklahoma . For more than three decades she has been writing songs from the heart and has recorded and performed with a litany of famed Red Dirt , country and bluegrass musicians including Jimmy LaFave , John Fullbright , Jared Tyler , Robin Macy , and the godfather of Red Dirt , Bob Childers .
Taylor has worked with many performers on stages across the country : Garrison Keillor , Asleep at the Wheel , the Nitty Gritty Dirtband , Ellis Paul , Sam Baker , Keith Carradine and others . With a sound like Emmylou Harris and a slight yodel in her voice , Monica captivates you her vocals .
She will perform this weekend with a group called Monica Taylor and Her Red Dirt Ramblers .
“ I feel blessed to have performed with really fine musicians and songwriters over the years ! If you attend one of my shows you will see these friends alongside me on stage - as a full band or 3 or 4 piece ,” Taylor said .
Taylor ’ s band is made up of some of the cream of the Oklahoma crop of professional musicians . Taylor on guitar or bass , Travis Fite on lead guitar , Jared Tyler on dobro or banjo , Shelby Eicher on fiddle and mandolin , and Jordan Hehl on upright bass .
She has two new albums out this year – a solo work and a tribute to the some of her friends .
Trains , Rivers & Trails is a long-awaited solo album filled with songs inspired by things in the title . It includes eleven new recordings – seven originals written by Taylor and four cover songs that are highly requested at her shows .
A Red Dirt Ramble , Volume 1 is a tribute to the pioneers of red dirt music . It includes nine new recordings of songs written by Bob Childers , Jimmy LaFave , Don Morris , Tom Skinner , and other red dirt artists . IBF
MOUNTAIN SMOKE
IBF
DON ’ T FORGET TO VISIT OUR MERCHANDISE TENT !
M ountain Smoke is one of Oklahoma ’ s most venerated and long-lived bands performing for 49 years . They have played for every Oklahoma Governor since 1973 and if that ’ s not impressive enough they have also played for President Carter and Presidents Gerald Ford , George H . W . Bush , and Ronald Reagan . On top of all the accolades , they also launched the careers of Vince Gill , Bobby Clark of the Williams & Clark Expedition and David Coe of Michael Martin Murphy .
Listing the bands they have played with is a whole paragraph in itself but their music reflects some of them nicely . Jimmy Buffett comes through in songs like “ Reach ” while New Grass Revival and Ricky Skaggs shine on “ You Still Gotta Mow the Grass from their 2009 album The River Road . “ The Way that it Was ” from 2007 Bluegrass Hop holds true to Willie Nelson and Leon Redbone . The version of In Tall Buildings by John Hartford is both Hartford , Emmy Lou Harris all the while being one hundred percent Mountain Smoke .
Composed of Billy Perry , Tom Bergman , Kenny Davis , Randy Sanders , Dave Thomason , Katie Barrick , Rich DiMonico , Floyd McCuistain and founding member Hal Clifford : Mountain Smoke is an acoustic , folk , bluegrass , western swing , Red Dirt , mountain ballad , get yer knees wiggling and your fingers wet band that takes you on a musical journey through the years . IBF
OKLAHOMA ’ S INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 2022 / 13