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Packway Handle Band CD listening, Little Country Giants
Friday Dec 4, 2009 7:00 PM
- All
Ages Show -
Tickets on sale now! 2-Day passes available for tonight's show and Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for dinner and drinks.
Little Country Giants | 8:30 PM
 Vintage southern folk, bluegrass, and country band, Little Country Giants, bring America’s heartland to audiences across America. Gathering accolades, like a magnet gathers iron filings, the unique sound of the Little Country Giants draws audiences and nurtures fans.
Hailing from the foothills of northwest Georgia, the Little Country Giants are outgrowing their southeastern roots like kudzu. In two short years, the band has gone from playing small local festivals and noisy barrooms, to two- story theaters, acclaimed singer-songwriter listening rooms, and main stage performance slots at some of the region’s largest music festivals. The Little Country Giants are the heart and soul of songwriting duo Russell Dallas Cook, guitarist/ vocalist, and Cameron Federal Cook, upright bassist/ vocalists, from Rome, Georgia.
“Unapologetically Appalachian and unashamed in sadness, the Cooks’ songwriting preserves the poetry of a disappearing rural America,” said David Eduardo of Flagpole Magazine – November, 2006.
“Anyone out there who is a fan of music, of any genre, who is looking for the muse and for the artists who have found their own, the Little Country Giants have absolutely nailed an aesthetic quality that makes their music vibrant and effective,” said Robin Merrit of ArtFront – September, 2006.
Currently working on their 3rd album at Castle Recording Studios in Nashville, TN with producer/ engineer Rich Feaster (Bonnie Prince Billy, Thad Cockrell, Blind Boys of Alabama), the group has received glowing reviews in magazines such as Flagpole, Creative Loafing, Sing Out!, Performer Magazine, and Georgia Music Magazine. Their popular radio play on college and NPR stations all across the country is growing. The Little Country Giants were recipients of the Rome Area Council for the Arts “Emerging Artists of the Year” of 2006 and “Atlanta’s Best Traditional Folk Act” for both 2005 and 2006.
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Packway Handle Band | 9:30 PM
 It all started in Athens, Georgia in 2001 during a most peculiar spell when 5 or 6 bluegrass bands circulated the town. The famous Athens, which had once spawned the B-52s, REM, Widespread Panic, and countless other indie, pop and punk acts, was now the home to a competing minority of bluegrass players. The Packway Handle Band emerged from this small scene, finding national acclaim first as finalists at the Telluride bluegrass competition in 2002 and 2003, then taking 2nd place in 2004. The band’s 2003 debut album, “Chaff Harvest” was produced using prize awards from a local Battle of the Bands. PHB was on a roll and has continued to win over fans and rack up awards.
In early 2006 the band went on the road full time, wowing audiences across the country with close 4-part harmonies and their dance around two tightly-spaced condenser mics. The Packway Handle Band has emerged at the national forefront of bands that use this “gather around the mic” style. PHB’s second full length record “(Sinner) You Better Get Ready” was recorded this way. Theirs is not a mission to preserve historical styles—it’s just how they do what they do the best. And what they do best is rooted in thought provoking songwriting, clever choice and arrangement of bluegrass traditionals, and totally unexpected (even totally inappropriate) covers, all delivered with a crackling energy. If you get an idea of what Packway Handle is early in a show, you’ll probably change your mind several times before they’re done. But it’s obvious their enthusiasm and sense of humor are honest, and that what they do appeals to broad audiences, even those who don’t normally listen to bluegrass. Yes, they play bluegrass instruments, and hey, they even play them mostly in the bluegrass way; but you won’t find a whole lot of lyrics about rambling or trains or wagon wheels, and you’re not going to say you’ve heard this band before, unless you actually have.
"Packway Handle's strength is in its cohesiveness. Vocal Harmonies and string syncopations lock together like Legos.." -Aspen Daily News.
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