Chuck Mead (BR549) & Amy LaVere

He’s been known as the co-founder of the three-time Grammy nominated BR549, the honky-tonk heroes that almost single-handedly lit and carried the blowtorch for the mid-‘90s alternative country explosion. He’s been hailed as ‘The Hillbilly Renaissance Man’ for his subsequent successes as a songwriter, performer, producer and musical theater director. Now after more than a decade as one of the most uncompromising and consistent talents in the American roots music movement, Chuck Mead at last emerges with the most anticipated role of his entire career: Solo Artist.

Amy LaVere

Amy LaVere routinely gets antsy after she's been off the road awhile. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana and a native of Bethany, Texas, she's really more a child of America - a self-described 'General Motors brat' whose father's jobs kept her small family frequently on the move. Her life as a touring musician seems tailor-made for a woman who is seemingly one part upright bassist and another part gypsy.

Of late, Amy says she's been surprised at how much she's enjoyed 'nesting' in the Midtown Memphis home she shares with Paul Taylor, her boyfriend and collaborator. Typical afternoons have found her in between bursts of household chores, sips of warm tea, back-scratches for her lab mix, Charlie, and living-room band practice with Paul and guitarist Steve Selvidge. In the early evening, with the temperature hovering in the teens outside, there's dinner as classical music plays underneath.

Welcome to the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, right But like the music on Amy's stereo, this relative calm is merely a rest between movements.