Acoustic In-The-Round with Eric Brace + Dan Navarro + Peter Cooper November 5, 2010

"Peter Cooper looks at the world with an artist's eye and a human heart and soul. His songs are the work of an original, creative imagination, alive with humor and heartbreak and irony and intelligence, with truth and beauty in the details. Deep stuff. And they get better every time you listen to them." -Kris Kristofferson
___________

Dan Navarro is better known as one half of the acoustic duo Lowen & Navarro, who, for the past 20 years, have barnstormed the country on the heels of their 11 albums. L&N still continues to record and tour, though on a diminished schedule since Eric's 2004 diagnosis with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. So, for the past three years Dan has been stepping out on his own and playing greater and greater numbers of solo shows all over the country.

The distinguishing marks are the same for Dan solo as they have been with Eric Lowen all these years -- songs of insight and experience, delivered straight up with honesty, passion and grace. His songs (written with Eric Lowen, with other collaborators and on his own) have been recorded by artists as diverse as Pat Benatar (the Top Five smash "We Belong"), The Bangles, Dionne Warwick, Dave Edmunds, and many more.

In addition to his activity as an artist, Dan also lends his voice to movies, TV shows and commercials, both in English and in Spanish. Some of his better credits have included Happy Feet, Ice Age 2, Prison Break, Family Guy, American Dad and commercials for McDonald's, Ford, Nationwide Insurance, Nissan, Shakey's and countless others.
______________

Since 1997, Eric Brace has been the frontman and songwriter for the acclaimed roots-rock band Last Train Home. With eight CDs and one live concert DVD to its credit, LTH is one of the most prolific and admired bands in the "Americana" world.

At the core of the band's sound are Eric's evocative songs and his warm voice. "Brace's tenor, when combined with his lyrics which evoke endless late nights on the prairies without ever specifically referring to them, is one of the treasures of the whole Americana genre," says roots-rock great Sid Griffin (Long Ryders, Coal Porters) in a review in the peerless British music magazine MOJO.
The Washington Post proclaims that "Brace hasn't let years of grueling road work compromise his songcraft," while the British audiophile magazine Hi-Fi Plus lauds Eric's "great grasp of melody and song structure."

With his latest release, "You Don't Have to Like Them Both," Eric steps away from the comfortable surroundings of Last Train Home, and puts his own name on the cover of the CD. It's a co-bill, a duo recording with Nashville songwriter Peter Cooper (whose debut "Mission Door" is a Red Beet release). Eric and Peter have been friends since Eric's move to Nashville in 2004, a friendship that was solidified in Peter's living room listening to Tom T. Hall, Willis Alan Ramsey, the Seldom Scene, Charley Pride while pouring screw top red wine. Pretty soon they were playing guitars and singing songs together-first in that same living room, then on tour: Europe, Alaska, and the Lower 48 too. Then came the recording sessions for "You Don't Have to Like Them Both," where some of the greatest musicians in Nashville lent their skills to songs of Eric's and Peter's, as well as covers by Jim Lauderdale, Todd Snider, Kris Kristofferson and others.

The collaboration with Peter Cooper is the second of Eric's non-LTH projects, the first being the 2006 release "The Skylighters." That's Eric, plus bluegrass legends Mike Auldridge (dobro, pedal steel) and Jimmy Gaudreau (mandolin, guitar), along with the LTH rhythm section of Jim Gray and Martin Lynds. That record is a lively mix of bluegrass, country, western swing and more.

Besides keeping LTH rolling down the track, Eric's got several other collaborations and solo projects in the works. One currently on the front burner is a musical (or song cycle or concept album or whatever you want to call it) about the California Gold Rush. It's a collaboration with Washington DC songwriter Karl Straub (whose songs "Tonight," "It Doesn't Matter," "They Dance Real Close There," and "Soul Parking" have been recorded by LTH).

This whole musical path started when Eric played in a Boston-area bluegrass band, the Mystic Valley Mountaneers, while in college. Back in Washington DC in the '80s he formed the guitar-pop/indie-rock band B-Time with his brother Alan Brace.
A more roots oriented band, the Beggars, followed in the early '90s, again with Alan, LTH steel player Dave Van Allen, singer Alice Despard, ex-Neighbor guitarist John Moremen, and others. Eric also spent several years playing bass with Kevin Johnson & the Linemen. During that same period, Eric ran the Washington-area label Top Records, releasing a dozen albums by DC bands Carnival of Souls, the New Keys, Sleep of Reason, Not Even, and more.

From 1992 to 2002, Eric was a columnist for The Washington Post, covering first the local arts scene, then the area's nightlife and live music world.

In 1997, the self-titled "Last Train Home" CD was released, and it was just a matter of time before word got out to the point where Eric could take LTH on the road full-time. That happened in 2002, the same year that LTH won the Washington Area Music Association's Wammie award for "Artist of the Year." Since then, the band has appeared on the CBS's "Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson," the syndicated public radio program "Mountain Stage," and on stage opening for the likes of Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

Living in Nashville has led to recognition of Eric's strengths as a songwriter, and he has collaborated with some of Nashville's finest writers, such as Jim Lauderdale, Walter Egan, Amelia White. He recently formed the Red Beet Records label, releasing two compilation CDs of music from East Nashville, as well as Peter Cooper's "Mission Door" and Fayssoux's "Early."

http://www.petercoopermusic.com/
http://www.dannavarro.com/

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com