Josh Shilling Music - Nashville, TN

3.10.2010

D'Addario Blog - The Perils of a Traveling Musician

Author: Josh Shilling

http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/03/perils-of-traveling-musician.html

Credit: http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/03/perils-of-traveling-musician.html

2.5.2010

D'Addario Blog - In The Studio With Mountain Heart

Author: Josh Shilling

http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-studio-with-mountain-heart.html

Credit: http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-studio-with-mountain-heart.html

1.15.2010

D'Addario Blog - On The Road With Mountain Heart

Author: Josh Shilling

http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-road-with-mountain-heart.html

Credit: http://daddarioinc.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-road-with-mountain-heart.html

1.14.2010

Josh Shilling blogging for D’Addario

Author: John Lawless, The Bluegrass Blog

Josh Shilling, lead singer and multi-instrumentalist for bluegrass bad boys Mountain Heart, is launching a new blog series for D’Addario.

The blog will be a behind-the-scene look at life on the road with Mountain Heart. This is a fun-loving bunch of guys, so you can expect a measure of zaniness in his reports.

Here’s Josh’s first entry. Subsequent blogs will be will be posted on both the MH and D’Addario sites.

It’s Sunday morning, January 10th and I think I can speak for all the guys in Mountain Heart when I say we had an AMAZING weekend on the road!

Although Sundays are usually spent licking wounds for most musicians after traveling, today we’re all celebrating yet another sell-out show at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday night. From what I was told, this was the 6th straight sell-out at this intimate room which is also where we recorded our live record, The Road That Never Ends in 2007. We had a line downtown that went on forever to get in and see our show.

We stuffed ourselves at our favorite Mongolian Grill just a few blocks away, and hit up a Starbucks, or as we like to call it “Fivebucks,” and we suited up for showtime. The show kicked off with an sold-out, wall to wall electric crowd that actually seemed louder than the band at times!

After multiple encores and an interesting encounter with two fans who wanted to duet on stage (we can talk about that later), we ended up on stage for over three hours, playing every single request from the crowd. We ended up spending another hour at the record table signing and schmoozing before finally loading up the Prevost and heading South. Michigan has become one of our favorite states when it comes to fan support, and Ann Arbor in particular, seems to be addicted to live music!

After such a ridiculously good night in MI, we headed to Clay City, KY to play to another die-hard crowd that also fought several inches of snow on country roads to party with us. It seems like our rock edge us rubbing off on even the traditionalists in eastern Kentucky. I noticed a lot of young faces and requests for Allman Brothers covers . . . CRAZY!

After the great show last night, we packed up the bus and scooted back down to Nashville for some recording sessions this week. Outside of touring, our main focus right now us writing new material and recording a new record. The only thing I can share about the project thus far is that it’s going to the most creative and original sound I’ve ever heard!

The bus trip was crazy as usual, with Aaron doing his monkey impressions and the rest of us trying to keep from wetting ourselves over the stories, crazy song lyrics and general mayhem that is a trip with MH.

As always, we are all so blessed to be using great gear in the studio and on tour, so I wanna say “thanks D’Addario for their products and never ending support.” With as many strings as we go thru on tour, (Jones!!!) we couldn’t live without them!

Until next time…

Josh Shilling

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/josh-shilling-blogging-for-daddario/

12.1.2009

Back in blue

Mountain Heart is not your grandfather's bluegrass band

Author: Bill DeYoung - Connect Savannah

Smack in the middle of Mountain Heart’s most popular instrumental rave–up, “#6 Barn Dance,” the award–winning bluegrass sextet will veer into 4/4 time and start banging out some familiar–sounding chords … and there it is, like it was meant to be part of an old–time breakdown: AC/DC’s “Back in Black.”

That’s the sort of thing to expect from this most progressive of progressive bluegrass groups: The unexpected. Ever since the band was formed, 10 years ago, by exiles from Alison Krauss’ and Doyle Lawson’s bands, Mountain Heart has been about adding surprise and showmanship to its certifiably brilliant brand of acoustic musicianship.

Mountain Heart returns to Randy Wood Guitars, to the intimate Pickin’ Parlor, Friday, Dec. 4. Every time they’ve played at Randy’s, the place has been packed.

The band includes founding members Jim Van Cleve (fiddle) and Barry Abernathy (banjo), plus Clay Jones (guitar), Jason Moore (standup bass) and Aaron Ramsey (mandolin), each one a bluegrass virtuoso and a harmony singer of considerable prowess.

The newest member is 26–year–old Josh Shilling, who grew up in a Virginia mountain town, not far from where Mountain Heart and other acoustic artists worked at a small recording studio.

Shilling, who cut his teeth on rhythm ‘n’ blues music, is a versatile vocalist capable of stunning shifts of color and power, and his addition to the band in 2006 turned a really, really good group into one of the great ones (ever heard a bluegrass version of the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post”?)

The days of Bill Monroe and a bunch of stiff–backed guys in coats and ties are long gone. Bluegrass, thanks to energetic, electric bands like Mountain Heart, has reached the present day.

How did you come to join Mountain Heart?

Josh Shilling: I would be in doing these demos of R&B–type stuff, and this engineer I knew also ran sound for Mountain Heart. I think he took some of my demos on the bus one weekend, and turned the Mountain Heart guys on to me as a singer. They’ve always been progressive and innovative; a little bit outside the norm as far as the traditional bluegrass band is concerned. They were a phenomenal band, way back when.

The first time we all actually met was in 2005. They were recording Clay Jones’ solo record, and I went by the studio and hung out with them. They talked to me about if there would ever be a possibility of me singing with them. At that time, I’d never thought of myself as a tenor singer, whatsoever. I was this behind–the–groove, backbeat kind of guy who played all this R&B and funk stuff.

Another year or two, they were actively looking for another singer. And I was in an R&B band – big horn section, I’m playing Hammond organ. Drums, soul singers, a full–on R&B band. I was wearing myself thin, playing like four or five nights a week. And not getting the exposure I wanted, I think, as a singer or as a writer. It was a very good time for them to make a change, and it was a good time for me to try something new.

Did it gel right away?

Josh Shilling: If there was something that pushed me over the edge, it was when at our first rehearsal we worked up a song that I’d written. These guys were willing to go out there and represent my songs with their talent. It was an honor, first of all, and secondly it was “Hang on. This looks more like a career situation than playing in festivals and honky tonks, and playing cover music every night.” Which is kind of what I was doing.

You’re a piano player … but you have the second guitar spot in Mountain Heart, which isn’t exactly softball stuff.

Josh Shilling: I played acoustic guitar, but I only used it for writing songs. And I might break it out onstage every once in a while, for a country song in a bar somewhere, and play rhythm. When they approached me I said “Man, I’m not a real good guitar player.” I’m thinking of all the negatives: I’m not a tenor singer, and I really don’t know any bluegrass material. They were like “Trust us. This will be awesome if we can work it out.”

We had one rehearsal, and we decided to give it a trial run. Then they called and said “We got your first gig – we’re playing at the Ryman Auditorium, at the Grand Ole Opry, on live radio.”

That was your first gig?

Josh Shilling: In January 2007, live on the radio. To beat it all, I had a bad head cold, and I was still getting to know everybody. And here I am on one of the stages people dream about playing. Thank God it was a really good response. You only get two songs on the Opry; that night we did their song “I’m Just Here to Ride the Train,” and one of my own songs, “Who’s the Fool Now.”

I remember that right as I was finishing up the last line of the song, I closed my eyes and did this big high note. Put all the juice on it that I could or whatever, and finished the song out, and when I opened my eyes I realized that the whole place was standing up. They skipped a commercial, and sent us back out there to do another song. We didn’t even have another song worked up! I was just out there with the guys, flyin’ by the seat of my pants.

Welcome to the contemporary world of bluegrass.

Josh Shilling: I’d never been exposed to bluegrass, really, in that sense. I mean, I knew what bluegrass was, but I’d never been to all these festivals and realized that man, there’s this huge cult market all over the world for this stuff. I thought it was a kind of East Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia kind of a thing. I didn’t know you could go over to Switzerland and everybody knows you by your first name. You can play a festival in London and they think you’re stars. I didn’t realize that at all.

There are a lot of progressive bluegrass bands around. Is there a feeling in the band like “Yeah, we’re doing something really different”?

Josh Shilling: There are bands that have done some things that are really different, just to be doing something different. Just to try to make the bluegrass community mad, or try to mix something into country that country wouldn’t allow. Honestly, Mountain Heart just kinda does whatever represents who’s in the band. Aaron, who plays mandolin, is more of a jammer, like Sam Bush or somebody. So we do some of that stuff – let him jam, let his hair down, go wild. And it’s because that’s his personality.

When I think about the Doobie Brothers, you’ve got Pat Simmons and Michael McDonald, random guys. You’ve got all these different personalities who came together to make this sound, and that’s kind of like what Mountain Heart’s done. All these different styles and it’s melded together, and it’s this nice big sound that you’ve never heard before.

Are you thinking this might be temporary, that you might use this as a springboard to something else, a door to a solo career?

Josh Shilling: I don’t think it’s temporary. When I first joined the band I wondered how long it would work out for them, as a group. At the time they were still very bluegrass, even though they were on the edge of bluegrass. And I didn’t know if bluegrass was something I wanted to do forever.

Now, we can go do a bluegrass show. We’ll go out with Tony Rice and sing bluegrass all night long. Or, we can go on tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd, which we’ve done, and be a rock ‘n’ roll band. We can add a drummer and go do a country or rock show. Or we can strip it down and be as traditional ‘grass as you want to be.

Yeah, they do give me a lot of the spotlight, which has been an awesome situation to be in. Considering I had all these tunes and all these ideas that I didn’t really have an outlet for.

We get out on the edge of acoustic music, or bluegrass for sure, and I think that’s part of what’s made it OK for me to be here. And it’s also part of what’s made me want to stay.

I don’t see this as a door at all. It’s almost 2010, and the music business is down. It’s not 1990 when Garth Brooks could put out almost anything, and sell 50 million records out of a Wal–Mart. Those days are gone. I guess what I’m saying is: If the perfect case scenario came along, and I saw a huge opportunity for me – and there was no doubt it was going to be a huge deal for the country music world or whatever, and for me – that may be an opportunity that I would have to take.

But that opportunity’s never come along. The thing about the music business today is that if you’re making a living doing your own thing, then man, you’re doing better than 99 percent of the people out there.

Credit: No article link available.

10.23.2009

Bassett native to sing anthem before Sunday's NASCAR race

Author: ELIZA WINSTON - Martinsville Bulletin

Bassett native Josh Shilling and the band Mountain Heart will perform an a cappella version of the national anthem before the TUMS Fast Relief 500 race Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

Shilling said 50 percent of the performance will be a solo — he will sing, and the band will harmonize behind him.

He might get to watch some of the race, said the 2001 Bassett High School graduate, but he hopes to do so from outside the racetrack so he can beat the traffic. Shilling has to return home to Nashville on Sunday night.

Shilling became Mountain Heart’s lead singer in 2007. He has performed at the speedway several times before as part of the annual July 4 celebrations.

Since he joined Mountain Heart, Shilling has been busy touring around the world and honing the group’s sound.

“In the last year,” he said, “Mountain Heart has come full circle as a band.”

During that time, Shilling said, the group toured frequently. Last September, Mountain Heart toured with iconic southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, which he said was a great experience.

He added that recently he traveled to London for the first time when Mountain Heart performed in a festival there. During the trip, the band toured parts of London and Shilling saw Stonehenge.

He and another band member also played at a private event in the Virgin Islands.

Shilling said the band’s music has been well received, with both bluegrass audiences and others, such as the Lynyrd Skynyrd crowd. He thinks it is working because what the band is doing now is “very honest,” he said. “We’re not trying to be something that we’re not.”

Since he joined Mountain Heart, Shilling said the band has released one album and is working on a second.

In the latest project, the band experimented with crossing over from bluegrass and country music to jam band, country and Americana music, as well as some jazz and blues influences. Shilling said he feels the project will appeal to a wide range of people.

People often assume Mountain Heart band members live together, or at least near each other, Shilling said. They actually live in different locations around the country and typically don’t see each other unless they’re on a bus, a plane or a stage.

When the band is going to play together, he said, the members rehearse on their bus. Other times, he can write music and e-mail it to his fellow band members.

Shilling said the band works up a new show around January or February and performs it about 150 days that year. In December, Shilling said, the band doesn’t tour, but members do meet and rehearse together.

When he’s not touring or rehearsing with Mountain Heart, Shilling is a full-time songwriter in Nashville. He writes songs for himself and Mountain Heart, he said, and he also writes songs to pitch to big-name artists such as Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts.

“Working for a music publisher in Nashville is like playing the lottery,” Shilling said. “Every so often, someone records your song, and there’s a lot of money coming in,” he said, but other times can be slow.

Still, he said he enjoys working in Nashville because there, being a songwriter is a business and a full-time job.

“It’s not just someone writing alone in their room,” he said.

However, he said if he could get the same amount of work done in Martinsville as he does in Nashville, he would “move back in a minute.”

“There is something very pure about the Martinsville-Henry County area,” Shilling said. “It’s nice to be able to say you grew up in a great place.”

For more information on Shilling, visit www.joshshilling.com. For information about the race, visit www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

Credit: http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=21017

10.23.2009

Out & About: Mountain Heart

Author: Tad Dickens | The Roanoke Times

The U.S. national anthem is notoriously difficult to sing. It's a test of range, timing and vocal skill, not to mention lyric retention.

If anyone has the chops to pull it off, it's Henry County native Josh Shilling, lead singer of bluegrass genre-busters Mountain Heart. Shilling and the band are scheduled to perform it live and a cappella on Sunday before the Tums Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

But they won't be singing to just to the thousands in the stands. The ABC network, including Lynchburg's WSET (Channel 13), will televise it.

It will be kind of a first for Shilling, who thinks he might have sung "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a July 4 party or two. He has performed several times at the speedway -- "but never in front of 25 million viewers," he said.

Almost any singer will tell you, "the most intimidating song we ever have to do is the national anthem," Shilling said. "No matter what your range is, the national anthem's going to test it."

But he thinks it will turn out OK. After all, this is a guy whose first performance at the Grand Ole Opry drew a standing ovation and an encore -- rare feats at that Nashville, Tenn., institution.

"For me, man, it's like we're onstage every night," he said. And regardless of crowd size, "I tend to go out and do my thing, one way or another, so that's how I'm going to approach this."

-- Tad Dickens

**Click article link to play the podcast.

Credit: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/music/wb/223635

10.12.2009

Mountain Heart Brings Tradition To Anthem

Author: News - martinsvillespeedway.com

Mountain Heart, the band that figured a way to combine bluegrass, rock, blues and jazz, will bring its amazing vocals to Martinsville Speedway to perform the National Anthem before the running of the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on October 25.

Mountain Heart is accustomed to large stages; the group has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry over 100 times and performed with acts ranging from Brad Paisley to Lynyrd Sknyrd to Montgomery Gentry to Alison Kraus.

In the decade since the group assembled, Mountain Heart, or members of the band, have either won or been nominated for multiple Grammys, ACM, CMA and IBMA awards.

The band’s musical ability and high energy produces a unique sound and stage show, which appeals to a wide variety of fans, in the United States and abroad.

Mountain Heart’s appearance at Martinsville Speedway will be a homecoming for the band’s young lead singer, Josh Shilling.

The 24-year-old Shilling grew up almost in the shadow of Martinsville Speedway, attended local schools and still calls the area home, despite living in Nashville.

Shilling graduated from high school a year early at 17 so he could hit the road as a professional musician. He performed with nationally-known groups in wide-ranging types of music from rock to beach to funk before settling in as Mountain Heart’s lead singer in 2007.

After his debut performance on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry with Mountain Heart, he received a standing ovation, a rare accolade at the Opry, especially for a newcomer.

Tickets for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, October 25, the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, October 24 and the Farm Bureau Insurance Pole Day on Friday, October 23 are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

Credit: http://www.martinsvillespeedway.com/Articles/2009/10/mountain-heart.aspx

10.2.2009

Mountain Heart video from IBMA

Author: posted by John

Watch the video from Mountain Heart we shot during their special Tuesday night showcase at IBMA. It offers a glimpse of the variety of music they deliver, from traditional bluegrass to a rockin’, hybrid sound. The presentation was powerful, and whether you agree with taking bluegrass in this direction, the impact of the performance was impressive – and unforgettable.

**Watch the video here.

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/mountain-heart-video-from-ibma/

5.31.2009

Tony Rice in North Carolina

Author: posted by John - The Bluegrass Blog

Josh Shilling shot some video onstage during Mountain Heart’s show with Tony Rice and Terry Baucom on Friday night in Morganton, NC.

Josh snuck up on Tony while he was playing the extended intro to Manzanita, and shot through the whole tune with the band.

The video quality isn’t superb, but the vantage point is one we don’t often get to see – and Rice absolutely kills on this song.

Visit YouTube to watch the video included in the article: Click Here to Watch video

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/tony-rice-in-north-carolina/

4.30.2009

MerleCast: Mountain Heart's Josh Shilling, Jim VanCleve

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Producer's notes: Shilling, a Martinsville boy who now lives in Nashville, has been a podcast friend for a long time. He and VanCleve met up with me backstage at the MerleFest main stage, shortly before their band, Mountain Heart, played a hot set with bluegrass guitar genius Tony Rice..

Click Download link to play right in your browser, right-click and choose Save to download: Download The Podcast

Credit: http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/cutnscratch/2009/04/30/merlecast-mountain-hearts-josh-shilling-jim-vancleve/

9.10.2008

Bluegrass meets Southern rock tonight in Danville

Mountain Heart opens for Lynyrd Skynyrd

Author: Charity Apple - Times-News, Danville, VA

DANVILLE, Va. - Josh Shilling was that kid - you know, the one with the mullet and Lynyrd Skynyrd albums posted on the wall.

"I was definitely influenced and proud of what they did for the world of southern rock," Shilling, a member of bluegrass act Mountain Heart, said in an interview from his home in Hendersonville, Tenn., on Tuesday morning. As a kid, he raided his dad's album collection and has one of the original "Street Survivors" album covers with flames encircling some of the late original members.

The 25-year-old Martinsville, Va., native was probably the only member of Mountain Heart up at this hour. It was 10 a.m., but for night owl musicians, it was early.

Shilling was still in his pajamas, but said that he's always the first one up when the band is on the road. Constant travel and the inability to sleep on a moving bus can also have something to do with it, too.

"Traveling and not sleeping well - it's the way of the road," he said. "You get these butterflies in your stomach and it's a stress you have to deal with and cope with every day. You feel a little tired and you try to sleep ... if you can ever learn to sleep running 90 miles an hour on a bus."

Then again, touring has given Shilling a chance to do things and meet people he never thought possible, like his musical idols, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mountain Heart and the southern rock legends will team up for three shows in the next three weeks, including a performance at 8 p.m. today at the Carrington Pavilion in Danville. The other two shows are at 8 p.m. Friday at The Holmes Center at Appalachian State University in Boone and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Coast Guard Support Center in Elizabeth City.

This isn't the first time the two acts have played the same event. Shilling said both groups performed at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival in Enterprise, Ala., along with a number of other groups. But the upcoming three shows will be the first time Shilling, along with fellow bandmates Jim Van Cleve, Barry Abernathy, Jason Moore, Clay Hess and Aaron Ramsey, are side-by-side with their musical heroes. It's a little difficult to fathom.

"For bluegrass and acoustic music, that's a huge step," he said. "We're on the stage with true legends."

Radio Media Productions organized the concerts.

"I've known the guys in Mountain Heart for years, and how they adapt to and excel in a performance situation. They bring a really diverse musical background, and they just light up a stage. I knew this would be a great combination," promoter Kent Martin wrote in a press release.

Prior to joining Mountain Heart in January, 2007, Shilling performed with beach music legends The Embers. Shilling wrote or co-wrote the four new songs on the band's first live album "Road That Never Ends." The title track was No. 4 on Billboard's bluegrass chart.

One of the things that Shilling loves most about bluegrass bands is that they are so connected to fans. Mountain Heart recently performed at Bass Mountain Music Park's Labor Day Music Festival and got to meet-and-greet fans individually.

"It's awesome. You'll go to these festivals and see some of the biggest names in the business just eating pinto beans and cornbread. We're ordinary people. We're like everybody else. We're just trying to make a living in the music business," he said.

When Shilling isn't recording or writing, he is wetting a line or hunting with friends.

"Barry and I spend more time talking about fishing and hunting than the music business," he said with a laugh. "We're very down-to-earth."

Although he is excited about being on stage with Lynyrd Skynyrd tonight, the excitement is twofold. Shilling will be 40 minutes from his hometown and bassist Jason Moore will be 20 minutes from his hometown.

"We're going to be right in our backyard. It's a very exciting thing to do," he added.

Credit: http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/shilling_17528___article.html/mountain_danville.html

8.22.2008

Mountain Heart Joins Lynyrd Skynyrd for Three Special Shows

Acoustic Overdrive Meets Southern Rock in Virginia, North Carolina

Author: PRESS RELEASE

NASHVILLE, TENN. (August 22, 2008) - Ground-breaking and genre-defying acoustic band Mountain Heart will join iconic southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd for three special shows next month:

September 11 - Danville, VA - Carrington Pavilion - 8 p.m.
September 12 - Boone, NC - The Holmes Center, Appalachian State University - 8 p.m.
September 13 - Elizabeth City, NC - Coast Guard Support Center - 7 p.m.

"I can't begin to tell you how exciting this is for Mountain Heart, and for me personally," said lead singer Josh Shilling. "I grew up listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, and as a piano player I've been greatly influenced by and have always appreciated the innovative playing style of Billy Powell."

The shows are being presented by Radio Media Productions. Promoter Kent Martin says, "I've known the guys in Mountain Heart for years, and how they adapt to and excel in any performance situation. They bring a really diverse musical background, and they just light up a stage. I knew this would be a great combination."

The September shows actually aren't the first time Mountain Heart played the same venue as Lynyrd Skynyrd - they both played at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival in Enterprise, Alabama, on June 7.

Mountain Heart's name has been synonymous with cutting-edge excellence in bluegrass and acoustic music circles since the group's formation in 1998 by a group of veterans from Alison Krauss's Union Station and Doyle Lawson's Quicksilver. Mountain Heart deftly combines elements of rock, jamband, country, blues, jazz, and bluegrass into a high-energy sound that is at once fresh, accessible, and unmistakable. That sound is fully embodied on their most recent CD, Road That Never Ends (The Live Album) released on Rural Rhythm Records in the fall of 2007. The band has shared the bill with everyone from Montgomery Gentry, Merle Haggard and Brad Paisley, to Tony Rice, Travis Tritt, Yonder Mountain Stringband, LeAnn Rimes and Patty Loveless. Mountain Heart took home its first annual International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 1999, and they've been racking up group and individual awards and nominations; Grammy, IBMA, CMA and ACM--ever since.

Mountain Heart's upcoming schedule includes shows with Diamond Rio and Tony Rice, and a performance at IBMA's Fan Fest. For more information and tour updates, visit www.mountainheart.com.

Credit: No article link available.

7.1.2008

Bassett native to perform for 3rd time at annual show

Author: Jennifer Beeler - The Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA

For Celebration 2008 at the Martinsville Speedway, Henry County native Josh Shilling will leave the big city of Nashville, Tenn., and return to his roots to perform.

Although he is a member of Mountain Heart, an acoustic bluegrass jam band, Shilling will join the Domino Band on Thursday for Celebration 2008, an annual free concert. This year, Domino will open for country singer Tracy Lawrence.

Gates will open at 5 p.m., and Shilling and Domino will perform at 7 p.m. Lawrence will follow around 8:30. There is no charge for the concert, fireworks show or children’s rides, which will stay open until 11:30 p.m.

Shilling described his "homecoming" as a "back to the roots experience."

A 2001 graduate of Bassett High School, Shilling, son of Billy and Kathy Shilling, is looking forward to his trip home, he said.

"It’s a great way to see my family and friends," he said, and to "get to perform in front of my hometown and see that many familiar faces."

Although he will be home only for a day, Shilling said the Independence Day celebration, held the day before July 4, always fits conveniently into his touring schedule. This will be his third Celebration performance.

On Wednesday, Shilling will be performing in North Carolina with Mountain Heart, and he also will be performing with them on Friday in Elizabeth City, N.C. With a few days off from touring with the band, Shilling will have time to return home and celebrate an early birthday with his family, he said. His 25th birthday is Saturday.

Shilling lives in Tennessee, about 18 miles outside of Nashville, and works full time as a songwriter and performer.

In Nashville, Shilling explained, "I’m exposed to a lot I wouldn’t have seen in Martinsville, Roanoke or even Raleigh."

Currently he writes three to five days a week, records as a singer, pianist and guitarist, performs 100 shows a year with Mountain Heart, performs at the Grand Ole Opry a couple times a month and makes guest appearances, he said, such as at Celebration 2008.

His music career is just as varied as his work schedule. Shilling said he has performed with R & B jam bands, Southern rock country bands, beach bands, and has played jazz in downtown Roanoke and piano and Frank Sinatra at the Hotel Roanoke, The Greenbrier and other resorts.

"The biggest change in my life musically," he said, is playing with Mountain Heart, an acoustic band. "It’s the hardest thing to get used to."

Shilling joined Mountain Heart, which was formed in 1998, in January 2007 and played piano and guitar in its album "Road That Never Ends," which was on the BillBoard Magazine Top 15 after four months of sales.

"I do love jumping around from the different bands and genres," Shilling said, and to be able to get in the different artists’ heads to think about music differently. "I’ve pretty much covered the spectrum," he added.

Although he has no definite plans for the future, the "only thing that could make me jump around anymore is a solo deal," Shilling said. "If I do that," he stressed, "it has to be the right scenario - a major record deal only."

Shiling’s goal as a child never was to play at the Opry or make record deals, he said. Instead, he thought smaller.

"I set a goal in every level of my career, even as a kid," he said.

As he accomplished one goal, Shilling would then make another, slightly bigger one, which would gradually grow to larger goals set outside of his hometown, he said.

"I never dreamed I would look over, see Brad Paisley, say ‘Hey,’ then walk out on the stage at the Opry," he said, but that happened. Shilling first performed at the Opry with Mountain Heart after joining in 2007.

His dreams certainly never reached Europe either. But while performing in Zurich, Switzerland, last year, he visited a music store and saw his band’s album and "my face plastered everywhere," he said.

"They knew way more about me than I ever thought," Shilling said, adding that "they even know more about American music than I do."

Shilling describes this growing fame as a "pinch yourself sort of thing," but he doesn’t consider himself famous. He merely thinks of himself as a "cut-off jeans in the river" type guy, he said.

"I do step back a whole lot and go ‘Wow,’" he admitted. "It’s hard to consider myself famous."

Shilling is looking forward to his trip home, he said, and plans to escape from the big city, take his shotgun and fishing gear for his Henry County homecoming and simply "disappear into the mountains" with some friends for awhile.

Credit: http://martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=14490&back=archives

6.3.2008

Mountain Heart Blogs again, with Josh Shilling

Author: Travis Tackett - bluegrassjournal.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of two blogs written exclusively for BluegrassJournal.com by members of Mountain Heart, which is gearing up for an appearance at the BamaJam Music Festival that takes place June 5-7 in Enterprise, AL. The author here is Mountain Heart’s captivating lead singer Josh Shilling.

We’ve already talked about how excited we are to be a part of the lineup at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival in Enterprise, Alabama, this weekend.

We are huge fans of the other artists on the bill, including Lynyrd Skynyrd. A few weeks ago we played a show with Tony Rice in Ellijay, Georgia.

A young woman came up to the merch table and said hello. She said her dad was also a musician and that he was a big fan of ours. Turns out her dad is none other than Bob Burns, former drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd!

We had a great time visiting with him and expressing our mutual admiration.

Josh Shilling - Mountain Heart

Credit: http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/06/03/mountain-heart-blogs-again-with-josh-shilling/

4.3.2008

Mountain Heart + Tony Rice at Bristol's Paramount Center

Author: CYBERGRASS

If you like your Bluegrass music with lots of hot licks and drive then you’ll want to be part of this exciting event. Coming to the Paramount Center for the Arts on April 12th will be an evening with Mountain Heart with their special guest, guitar legendTony Rice. The Paramount is located at 518 State Street, Bristol, TN-VA 37620.

Mountain Heart is the band that has been fearlessly revolutionizing the way acoustic music can be presented and played. Widely known throughout the music industry for constantly redefining the cutting edge, the band has gained legions of fans both as a result of their superlative musicianship, and more notably, their exciting live performances. Mountain Heart's name has been synonymous with cutting-edge excellence since their creation in 1998. As one of the most highly awarded ensembles ever assembled, Mountain Heart, and members of the band, have won numerous Grammys, ACM, CMA, and IBMA Awards. They have appeared on the revered stage of the Grand Ole Opry in excess of 100 times and have shared the stage with everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Montgomery Gentry, Merle Haggard and Brad Paisley, to Alison Krauss, Yonder Mountain Stringband, LeAnn Rimes and Patty Loveless.

With the introduction of their phenomenally talented young lead singer, Josh Shilling, the band is poised to take their success to even higher levels. Leading the charge in taking acoustic music to the masses, Mountain Heart deftly combines elements of rock, jam band, blues, jazz and bluegrass into a high- energy sound that is at once fresh, accessible and unmistakable.

Tony Rice is one of the premier exponents of flat-picked acoustic guitar. Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flat picked guitar since Clarence White. His early stints with the Bluegrass Alliance and J.D. Crowe and the New South introduced a guitarist with a classic bluegrass sensibility matched with a thirst for experimentation. He was a member of David Grisman’s groundbreaking first quintet, and then set out with a series of solo albums that saw him integrating bluegrass music with elements of jazz, folk, country, and other contemporary forms.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4693

3.11.2008

Mountain Heart releases video for "Road That Never Ends"

Author: Travis Tackett - bluegrassjournal.com

Nashville, Tenn. - Once again, Mountain Heart is blazing new trails for bluegrass and acoustic music with the March 5th music video release of the title track from the Road That Never Ends (The Live Album) on Rural Rhythm Records. This is Mountain Heart’s first music video and was produced by Josh Shilling and directed by Scott Hansen from Renown Studio.

AristoMedia will distribute the video to National and Regional music video outlets. Jessica Bilak Porfirio, Manager of Video Marketing & Promotions with the company enthusiastically stated, "We are happy to be working with Rural Rhythm Records and Mountain Heart on this new project. We are looking forward to taking this high energy and well produced music video to our panel of outlets where we anticipate a great response."

The video was shot in numerous locations around Roanoke, Virginia including the live show performance and bar scenes filmed at the Grey Stone Tavern. Another location included the Virginia Beach area with an interesting story told by Shilling...

"The most memorable part of filming the video for Road That Never Ends has got to be the bone-chilling scene we tried to capture in the rain. We needed a scene to accent the lyrics that portrayed a man begging forgiveness for all that he’d done wrong. It was midnight, around Christmas time, and the temperature had dropped to a painful 15 degrees. We setup lighting in a dark alley and piped a water hose to the scene from a nearby building. We spent twenty minutes filming me falling to my knees with freezing water being sprayed all over the scene from above. After the cameras, our clothes, and the concrete surrounding us began to freeze, we had to call it off. My skin was red and felt numb as we stripped our wet clothes off and huddled around a small space heater in a garage. I’m certain this was the closest you can get to hypothermia without being hospitalized. After we thawed out, reality set in that after all of our efforts, the awesome shot we were going for, simply didn’t exist. It’s something the world would’ve never known about, but hey, I guess it’s all for the love of music!"

Josh Shilling - Mountain Heart

"Road That Never Ends" written by band members Josh Shilling and Grammy-nominated Jim VanCleve, was chosen by Dirty Linen Magazine as part of the Dirty Linen CD Sampler titled, Editor’s Choice. This CD sampler will be distributed to all Dirty Linen subscriber’s as well as future subscribers. The song is also rapidly climbing the Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine Top 30 Singles Chart and hit #1 on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Top 40. The Album reached #4 on BILLBOARD Magazine’s Top 15 Bluegrass Album Chart and made its debut this month on Bluegrass Unlimited’s Top 15 Album Chart.

Mountain Heart is widely known throughout the music industry for constantly redefining the cutting edge. The band has gained legions of fans both as a result of their superlative musicianship, and more notably, their incomparably exciting live performances. This was truly evident at their recent return performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This special "homecoming concert" was sold out days in advance. Mountain Heart band members include: Josh Shilling (lead vocals, guitar, piano); Jim Van Cleve (fiddle, vocals); Barry Abernathy (banjo, vocals); Jason Moore (bass, vocals); Aaron Ramsey (mandolin); and Clay Hess (guitar, vocals).

Credit: http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/03/11/mountain-heart-releases-video-for-road-that-never-ends/

3.8.2008

Bluegrass Music at the Paramount with Mountain Heart and Tony Rice

Author: CYBERGRASS

The Paramount Center Theatre in Bristol, Tennessee will be featuring an evening of bluegrass music on April 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM. Two of the top entertainers of the genre will share the stage and will share with the audience plenty of hot licks, fast picks and a whole lot of drive. Bristol Tennessee/Virginia is in the heart of bluegrass music country and the birthplace of country music. It doesn't get any better than this!

Mountain Heart is the band that has been fearlessly revolutionizing the way acoustic music can be presented and played. Widely known throughout the music industry for constantly redefining the cutting edge, the band has gained legions of fans both as a result of their superlative musicianship, and more notably, their exciting live performances. Mountain Heart's name has been synonymous with cutting-edge excellence since their creation in 1998. As one of the most highly awarded ensembles ever assembled, Mountain Heart, and members of the band, have won numerous Grammys, ACM, CMA, and IBMA Awards. They have appeared on the revered stage of the Grand Ole Opry in excess of 100 times and have shared the stage with everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Montgomery Gentry, Merle Haggard and Brad Paisley, to Alison Krauss, Yonder Mountain Stringband, LeAnn Rimes and Patty Loveless.

With the introduction of their phenomenally talented young lead singer, Josh Shilling, the band is poised to take their success to even higher levels. Leading the charge in taking acoustic music to the masses, Mountain Heart deftly combines elements of rock, jam band, blues, jazz and bluegrass into a high-energy sound that is at once fresh, accessible and unmistakable.

Tony Rice is one of the premier exponents of flat-picked acoustic guitar. Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flat picked guitar since Clarence White. His early stints with the Bluegrass Alliance and J.D. Crowe and the New South introduced a guitarist with a classic bluegrass sensibility matched with a thirst for experimentation. He was a member of David Grisman’s groundbreaking first quintet, and then set out with a series of solo albums that saw him integrating bluegrass music with elements of jazz, folk, country, and other contemporary forms.

Tickets for this music event are $20.00 and are on sale now at the Paramount Center located at 518 State Street, in Bristol Tennessee. You can also order and charge by phone by calling 423-274-8920. Tickets are also available at www.etix.com.

Built in 1931 and restored to its original splendor in 1991, the Paramount continues to grow as the Appalachian Mountain Empire's premier performing arts center. Here audiences share passion and drama, laughter and tears, majesty in motion, joy in music, pride in learning... and memories.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4583

12.19.2007

Be in a music video with Mountain Heart tonight

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Bluegrass band Mountain Heart, featuring local boy Josh Shilling on vocals, is shooting a video tonight at Greystone Tavern for its song, "Road That Never Ends." It's the band's first-ever video.

Be at Greystone at 6:30 p.m. to get in on the action. The nightspot is at 1106 Kessler Mill Road, Salem. For more info, call (540) 375-2128.

The video should be produced about the first of the year, and the band expects it to be on GAC and CMT shortly afterward.

Credit: http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/144064

12.18.2007

Local bluegrass band wants audience for music video

Author: Unknown - WDBJ7, Roanoke, VA

The Roanoke Valley will provide the backdrop for a music video this week, and the band Mountain Heart is hoping local fans will play a supporting role.

Mountain Heart is an acoustic group with bluegrass and country roots, and it is now enjoying success on the national stage. Members of the group will be in the area Wednesday filming a music video they expect to air on GAC and other country networks.

The band is hoping local fans will turn out for the video shoot and free concert, beginning at 6:30 Wednesday night at the Greystone Tavern on Kessler Mill Road in Salem.

Credit: http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7516576

11.11.2007

Josh Shilling takes on Nashville as album climbs the charts

Author: Holly Kozelsky - The Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA

A Henry County native is the lead singer on a nationally released album that has been on the BillBoard Magazine Top Ten Sales List for two weeks running.

Josh Shilling, who joined the band Mountain Heart almost a year ago, also plays piano and guitar on "Road That Never Ends." The record is going to break into the Top 5 when the next BillBoard Magazine is released, an e-mail from the band predicted Friday.

Shilling, 24,first met the members of Mountain Heart about three or four years ago when he was working in Doobie Shea studio in Boones Mill area, he said. Scotty Bolen, who was recording demos at the studio, also is the audio engineer for Mountain Heart. He recorded Shilling’s singing and introduced his sound to the band, Shilling said.

In December, the band asked him to be the lead singer. He joined them in January.

Shilling said, "They’re rooted in bluegrass, but they’ve always been very aggressive and edgy in pushing the boundaries between (that and) rock and roll," adding that Mountain Heart’s interest in him probably came from a desire to "hire a more commercial, rock-type singer to front this band."

"My style of singing is very aggressive, very soulful, rock, (with a) jazz and blues influence," he said. "In Roanoke, I played the soulful, all the big R& B bands. Then with the Embers, beach music; then Cimmaron, a deadhead country style;" and even "30s swing music" when he played piano for Rania’s in Martinsville as a teenager. "I adapt to what the situation requires me to do."

Shilling wrote four of the tracks on the album. "‘Who’s the Fool Now’ is something I like that I put my heart and soul into. I had a standing ovation at the Opry to it. That song has opened more doors and ended up meaning more to me than the others," he said. That Jan. 3 performance at the Opry was his first with the band; in fact, he had only been with them for two days, even though he had known them for years.

He describes the new album as having "influences of jazz, bluegrass and country." He likens "Who’s The Fool Now" to Vince Gill’s style. Conversely, his piano version of the Alman Brothers’ "Whipping Post" has a "very rock and roll" sound, he said.

The live album was recorded at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "This record is ... about as live as you can possibly make one. It allows listeners to really feel and hear and picture in their minds a rowdy crowd, full of energy," he said.

Mountain Heart songs have been heard on local radio; "every acoustic, Americana and bluegrass station is playing the CD," he said.

Since he was small, Shilling knew he’d be a musician. From the time he was 5 or 6, "I remember being able to naturally be able to hear something and pick it out on the piano," he recalled. It was only as an adult looking back on his quick learning does he realize it was unusual, he said.

Growing up, he "did all the talent show stuff throughout elementary and middle school. In high school I was involved with whatever little thing the high school put on. I started doing weddings on Sundays and playing clubs when I was 12."

The son of Billy and Kathy Shilling, he is a 2001 graduate of Bassett High School. He finished high school a year early by accumulating enough credits to graduate as a junior. "When I graduated ... instantly I was getting all these contacts ... to play full time. I kind of knew that was what I wanted to do," he said.

He stayed in the area until he was 21, when he moved to Roanoke. He performed in Martinsville at Celebration 2006, the Independence Day celebration at Martinsville Speedway, as the opening act for Blake Shelton.

Shilling spent last year touring with the Embers, playing piano and singing lead, and living in Raleigh, N.C.

Now, he’s a committed Nashville resident; he bought a house there recently.

"This is where all of it happens. I love living here," he said.

Even the daily routine in Nashville reflects that "it’s a music town," he said. For example, banks and other businesses acknowledge and respect being a musician as a suitable job that would qualify someone for credit. "You tell them I’m a song writer or a singer, and they don’t look at you like you’re completely stupid," he said. "In this town, it’s completely normal to be an artist."

There’s also a lot going on: "There’s something to do seven nights a week - it’s music 24/7," he said.

Shilling isn’t the only one from here who has found his way to Nashville, either. "You’d be surprised how many of the people involved in our business come from our area. I hang out with about 20 people on a weekly basis, and several of them are from that little area up there," he commented.

"Shilling and Mountain Heart played in Dade City, Fla., Friday and Bloomingdale, Ga., Saturday. They are scheduled to perform in Kent, Ohio, today."

Credit: http://martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=11558&back=archives

11.9.2007

Mountain Heart's 'Road That Never Ends' Enjoys Sales That Never End

Author: CYBERGRASS

Mountain Heart would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of our brand new album, "Road That Never Ends"! It has already received some great reviews and we are really excited now to make a little announcement.

Now entering our third week of sales, the album has already cracked the BillBoard Magazine Top Ten Sales List for two weeks running! We also have just been informed that the record is going to break into the Top 5 when the next BillBoard Magazine is released! We are very excited and would like to thank all the friends and fans who have been behind the band since the very start, as well as the new ones that we're meeting every day!

Credit: No article link available.

10.23.2007

Mountain Heart "Road That Never Ends" - (Rural Rhythm Records)

Author: Travis Tackett - bluegrassjournal.com

Mountain Heart’s newest project, "Road That Never Ends" released today, October 23, on Rural Rhythm Records is the groups first live album and is the first to feature the group’s new frontman, Josh Shilling.

On "Road That Never Ends", recorded at "The Ark" in Ann Arbor MI, the band covers a lot of ground. Along with the progressive bluegrass sound Mountain Heart has developed since the groups inception, the group brings a rock and roll influenced mentality to the title track, "Road That Never Ends." The Josh Shilling penned, "It Works Both Ways," finds the group delivering up a "down in the dumps" blues number. The fretboard burning pace of Jim Van Cleve’s own "Devil’s Courthouse" serves up a healthy dose of bluegrass fiddle and mandolin work along with some classical and jazz flavors thrown in to boot. While "Mountain Man," featuring Adam Steffey on the vocals, finds the group returning to a more traditionally rooted sound.

Instrumentally, Mountain Heart stays true to form throughout the new project delivering many virtuoso, high energy performances, replete with the intricate melody, unison and harmony lines from the instruments of Adam Steffey, Jim Van Cleve, Barry Abernathy and Clay Jones And, at times, at blisteringly fast tempos.

Josh Shilling’s vocals bring a new and very progressive slant to Mountain Heart’s signature sound enabling the band to push the boundary’s of acoustic music even further. Shilling’s vocal delivery is at ease delivering an energetic and heavily rock inspired performance on the title cut that opens the album as he is on the soulful and emotionally charged delivery of "Who’s The Fool Now" that could easily find an audience on top 40 country radio stations.

Mountain Heart also includes their wildly popular "The Gospel Train" on the recording. Previously released on the group’s 2002 release, "The Journey," (now out of print). This a cappella tour de force showcases the groups tight harmony vocals that are entrenched throughout "Road That Never Ends."

Credit: http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2007/10/23/mountain-heart-road-that-never-ends-rural-rhythm-records/

10.23.2007

The Road That Never Ends - 2007 (Rural Rhythm)

Reviewed by John Lupton

Author: John Lupton

Responding to numerous requests over the years for a live album that captures the energy and dynamic quality of Mountain Heart's stage show, this disc features the bluegrass band captured live at The Ark, a venerable acoustic venue of long standing in Ann Arbor, Mich., in March 2007.

Perhaps even more significant, it marks a fundamental transition and change in the band's vocal sound. After co-founding the band with banjo player Barry Abernathy nearly a decade ago, guitarist and lead singer Steve Gulley departed to form Grasstowne in late 2006. Newcomer Josh Shilling proves to be a dynamic replacement, a powerful vocalist along the lines of the likes of a John Cowan. Longtime fans of the band are bound to miss Gulley's down-home, traditional sound, but Shilling brings a new edge to the band's gradual move to a more progressive Americana sound.

It's still mostly straight-ahead bluegrass here, though, with live versions of crowd favorites "Mountain Man" and "Gospel Train" (the original album on which it appeared is out of print). Shilling does a nice bluesy turn on "It Works Both Ways" as well as accompanying himself on piano on an intriguing version of the Allman Brothers's "Whipping Post." Whatever direction they're headed in, this finds them still among the most exciting bands in bluegrass.

Credit: http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=3746

10.21.2007

Josh Shilling - hometown boy makes good

Author: posted by John on thebluegrassblog.com

We’ve written a good bit this past few months about Josh Shilling, the newest member of Mountain Heart who had the unenviable job of taking the spot held by founding member, Steve Gulley, on guitar and vocals. Josh and the rest of the band will release their newest CD, Road That Never Ends - The Live Album, on Tuesday, October 23 on Rural Rhythm Records.

Our local Roanoke, VA newspaper, The Roanoke Times, has published a feature on Josh, written by staffer Tad Dickens, which follows the “local boy makes good” format. Josh grew up not far from Roanoke in Martinsville, VA, and got his professional music career started playing with Roanoke-area bands.

For 24-year-old Shilling, the road that never ends started around Roanoke.

Shilling was already a veteran of the region’s music, nightspot and recording scene by the time he graduated from Bassett High School. Every male in his family plays guitar. His maternal grandfather, Leon Woodward, and uncle, Kim Woodward, were well-known nightclub pickers.

Read the full article on The Roanoke Times web site.

Don’t forget that tomorrow (10/22) between noon and 10:00 p.m. (ET), any registered user of The Bluegrass Blog can download a free track from Road That Never Ends. Be sure to log in during that time and get a free first look at Josh Shilling and Mountain Heart live

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/josh-shilling-hometown-boy-makes-good/

10.20.2007

Josh Shilling is living a soulful dream

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

It was a musician’s dream. Josh Shilling was living it.

Onstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Playing his first show with his new band, bluegrass act Mountain Heart. Strumming guitar as he sang one of his own songs. A wild ovation sparking a callback for more music - a rare feat at the Opry.

All this for a musician who is better known, around these parts at least, as a fiery keyboard player and versatile, soulful singer.

"The place just erupted," recalled Shilling, a Martinsville native who until recently lived in Roanoke County’s Cave Spring neighborhood. "They were going nuts. There was no better way to kick it off, I guess."

Soon, everyone can hear what set off that Opry crowd nine months ago. Mountain Heart’s new live compact disc, "Road That Never Ends," comes out Tuesday. It features four songs written or co-written by Shilling, including the title song. His new writing partner, Mountain Heart fiddle player Jim Van Cleve, says he is thrilled with the results and can’t wait to see how his band can expand its style and audience with the multi-talented Shilling.

"We’re just now starting to see the possibilities, really. I’m not ready to rule anything out. I think we can touch turf that’s never been touched before," Van Cleve said. "He’s got everything that we want to put into the mix with Mountain Heart."

Versatility impresses

For 24-year-old Shilling, the road that never ends started around Roanoke.

Shilling was already a veteran of the region’s music, nightspot and recording scene by the time he graduated from Bassett High School. Every male in his family plays guitar. His maternal grandfather, Leon Woodward, and uncle, Kim Woodward, were well-known nightclub pickers.

Shilling would learn to play guitar, too, but was first drawn to the keyboards he heard on the Southern rock and blues music he grew up with. By age 6, he was sitting at the piano, teaching himself songs from the radio.

"I just had a natural ability to sit down and pick out the notes and the key," he said.

Uncle Kim got him his first nightclub gig. Shilling remembers being 12 or 13 at the time. The gigs kept coming.

Later, he was doing demo recording work at the old Doobie Shea studio in Franklin County when he met sound engineer Scotty Bolen.

Bolen, of Vinton, was also traveling as Mountain Heart’s sound man. He was impressed with the young musician, and played some of his material for the band. Mountain Heart became Josh Shilling fans.

"We started listening to it, and it was just incredible, just really, really versatile," Van Cleve said. "He could sound like Michael McDonald in one song, and then sound like a country ballad singer in the next song, then a rocker again. Real good tone quality, and just a real mature sound."

A few years back, band members were working on a project at Doobie Shea when they heard that Shilling was performing live. He was at Club Paradox (now 202 Market), playing with one of the funkiest bands that Roanoke rarely heard - Bernard Hairston on bass, Steve Finch on guitar, Kelly Gravely on drums - aka the Funky Loophole, aka the Edge, aka the Groove.

"Here’s a bluegrass band that’s recording a bluegrass album in Boone s Mill, and they’re standing in downtown Roanoke, listening to a funk band," Shilling said. "And I’m standing there singing Al Green songs and Stevie Wonder material, and they just apparently were floored."

In the space of a day, band members had heard, met and befriended Shilling.

A career highlight

Fast forward to February. Singer and co-founder Steve Gulley had recently left Mountain Heart after an eight-year run. So Mountain Heart called Shilling, who was on the road with beach music band the Embers. Three days after joining the band, he was onstage at the Opry.

"It’s just a very special moment, and it’s definitely something that’s going to be up there in the highlights of my career," Shilling said. "Pretty amazing." Since then, Van Cleve has watched the band’s audience grow and get louder. He attributes that to Shilling’s presence. Mountain Heart had already established a reputation for jammy tendencies, and now it can add some serious soul and blues elements to its repertoire.

"I’m not going to say that we’re blindly chasing after whatever is commercial, but it’s kind of hard not to see the writing on the wall when more and more people are showing up" for concerts, Van Cleve said. "We play what we play because we love it. But we have a product right now that is unique and different. The whole world seems starved for something different right now."

It’s certainly different for Shilling, who could always play guitar, but had never fronted a band away from his keyboards. There will be a place for piano in Mountain Heart, but Shilling wants to spend his time away from the band continuing to expand his jazz, blues and funk chops on his primary instrument. And he promises a Mountain Heart show in Roanoke soon - a reunion for him and the many players he’s worked with around here. These days he lives in Hendersonville, Tenn., and only gets home for holidays.

"Just have a big time there in the hometown, with all the friends and players," he said. "Just share the music, make a big deal out of it and have a good time."

Credit: http://www.roanoke.com/insideout/music/wb/136485

10.19.2007

Where The Bluegrass Grows

More IBMA Memories

Author: Stephen L. Betts - countryhound.com, Nashville, TN

While Oct. 23 is shaping up to be another "Super Tuesday" of CD releases in country music (Carrie Underwood, Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allan, and Shooter Jennings – not to mention indie acts Rissi Palmer and Lisa O'Kane), there's one bluegrass release coming that MUST be on your shopping list. It's Road That Never Ends (The Live Album), the latest from Mountain Heart, on Rural Rhythm Records. The album was, as the title says, recorded live, and features the band's extraordinary new lead singer/guitarist Josh Shilling. Having heard the guys live in the small, very unplugged setting of the Rural Rhythm suite at IBMA, I can tell you they remain of bluegrass music's true supergroups, and the addition of Josh as lead singer adds a bluesy, soulful element that's as thrilling on record as it is in person. If they're coming anywhere near you any time soon (and again, the CD's title would suggest that is quite likely!), do whatever you can to get there!

Credit: No article link available.

10.19.2007

Mountain Heart. "Road That Never Ends (The Live Album)."

Rural Rhythm. 16 tracks.

Author: Keith Lawrence - Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, KY

Mountain Heart needs to rethink its name. It still has plenty of heart, but the addition of 24-year-old blue-eyed-soul singer Josh Shilling as lead singer makes the band's sound more Mountain Soul. Shilling came to Mountain Heart from The Edge, a Virginia-based funk, R&B and soul group. His main instrument is a piano and he's at the top of his game on the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" - which is pretty far from bluegrass.Publicity for the album - recorded live in May at The Ark, a 400-seat theater in Ann Arbor, Mich. - says Mountain Heart brings "new elements of rock, blues and even jazz to its signature blend of bluegrass, gospel and jamgrass."When a bluegrass band starts referring to itself as "acoustic," fans worry if there's going to be any bluegrass left. For the most part, Mountain Heart is still a bluegrass band. But it plays with rock intensity.Bluegrass is a type of music that's best heard live. And "Road That Never Ends" is an album that captures the full intensity of a performance by a top band - whether it's acoustic or bluegrass. Can't find it in stores? Try www.RuralRhythm.com.

Credit: No article link available.

10.17.2007

Mountain Heart beats stronger

Author: Tim Preston - The Daily Independent, Ashland, KY

ASHLAND -- Things have been hectic, and a bit confusing for fans as the acoustic band Mountain Heart has driven its way to success.

The band, with a new singer/guitarist and lead guitar player, will prove they’ve only grown stronger when they perform Oct. 25 at Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, two days after the release of their latest CD "Road that Never Ends."

"That will be a big night for us. It will be the first show we play after the release," said vocalist Josh Shilling, who recently made his debut with Mountain Heart on stage at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville.

While he had known members of Mountain Heart for a while, Shilling said his first time on stage with the band was a special, and nerve-racking, experience.

"I just closed my eyes and sang as hard as I could go," Shilling said of that show in early 2007. "It was just an awesome night altogether."

By the time the band left the Grand Ol’ Opry stage, the audience was on its feet offering ovations.

Shilling isn’t the only new man on stage with Mountain Heart. Standing in for veteran guitarist Clay Jones, who is on the band’s new recording, is veteran guitarist Clay Hess. Each of the guitarists have earned numerous awards and honors for their playing, and both are former members of Ricky Skagg’s Kentucky Thunder group.

"On stage with the guy, he’s just a tremendous talent," Shilling said of Hess, adding he is equally easy to get along with off stage.

Shilling said the audience at the Paramount will hear a set quite similar to the song list captured on the new CD.

"For the most part it is one take live recording. You can’t really overdub a lot on a live bluegrass recording because there are so many mics on so many things. There is an incredible amount of energy and attitude on there. You can hear us raising Cain the whole show and there’s a lot of audience interaction," Shilling said. "In some ways it was probably easier than doing a studio record, but it is also a more vulnerable state for an artist."

"People who leave the Paramount with that recording will be carrying away something to help them remember their experience," Shilling concluded.

Credit: http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_290184830.html

9.26.2007

Mountain Heart to Release Pan-Genre Masterpiece 'Road That Never Ends' Oct. 23rd

Author: CYBERGRASS

Nashville, TN -- Mountain Heart, one of the most talented, versatile and explosive sextets in the acoustic and bluegrass firmament, will offer a special treat to fans new and old this October 23rd with the release of Road That Never Ends (The Live Album) on Rural Rhythm Records. Building on the group's already recognized strengths, Road That Never Ends ups the ante by bringing new elements of rock, blues and even jazz to its signature blend of bluegrass, gospel and jamgrass, underlining the sextet's unique role in the world of acoustic music.

New Release: Mountain Heart to Release Pan-Genre Masterpiece 'Road That Never Ends' Oct. 2nd New ReleasesBMNN wrote: on Sep. 26, 2007: Mountain HeartNashville, TN -- Mountain Heart, one of the most talented, versatile and explosive sextets in the acoustic and bluegrass firmament, will offer a special treat to fans new and old this October 23rd with the release of Road That Never Ends (The Live Album) on Rural Rhythm Records. Building on the group's already recognized strengths, Road That Never Ends ups the ante by bringing new elements of rock, blues and even jazz to its signature blend of bluegrass, gospel and jamgrass, underlining the sextet's unique role in the world of acoustic music. Recorded on May 26th of this year in the intimacy of Ann Arbor, Michigan's 400-seat venue, The Ark, The Road... represents Mountain Heart's first live recording, and as their faithful listeners (from cozy clubs to such fabled festivals as Telluride, MerleFest and RockyGrass) well know, it is in front of a live audience that this award-winning combo is truly in its exuberant, celebratory element. Presenting nearly an hour's worth of tried-and-true fan favorites along with some choice new additions destined to lock-in even upon first hearing, the recording also showcases the band's newest addition, guitarist and primary lead singer Josh Shilling.

Just 23 years old but with a wealth of pan-genre experience (and already a gifted songwriter), Shilling's elastic, expressive tenor handles the traditional high lonesome sound with uncanny flair even as his way with ballads (as on his own seductive, heartbreaking "Who's the Fool Now?") and soulful, gut-bucket blues (the low-down original "It Works Both Ways" and a scintillating interpretation of the Allman Brothers' eternal "Whipping Post") further expand Mountain Heart's already-enviable stylistic range and command.

Of course, to hold his own in this vaunted company, he HAS to be good. Formed in 1998 with a core group of veterans from Alison Krauss's multi-platinum and highly-awarded, Union Station, and Doyle Lawson's hallowed Quicksilver juggernaut, Mountain Heart cadged its first annual International Bluegrass Music Association award ('Emerging Artist of the Year') in 1999, and they've been racking up group and individual awards and nominations ever since.

Mandolinist Adam Steffy has garnered six consecutive IBMA nominations as best in his field (winning FIVE!), fiddler, founding member and Road... producer Jim Van Cleve earned a 2006 GRAMMY nomination for 'Best Country Instrumental' with his solo disc No Apologies, (on Rural Rhythm Records) and the rest of the gang (co-founder/banjo wizard Barry Abernathy, bassist Jason Moore and guitarist Clay Jones) routinely dazzle crowds with their individual prowess, intuitive, extra-sensory group interplay and--always--an uncommon knack for crowd-pleasing showmanship.

The disc features scintillating live versions of fan favorites such as Steve Gulley's "I'm Just Here to Ride the Train," a showboating workout on the beloved "Heart Like a Road Sign," Barry Abernathy's stellar reading of Pat McLaughlin's soaring "God and Everybody," and rollicking, kinetic instrumentals "Devil's Courthouse" (from Van Cleve's solo disc) and the lights-out closer "#6 Barn Dance" (which somehow falls just short of setting the Michigan woodlands ablaze).

An extra-special treat is the welcome return of "The Gospel Train." Mountain Heart's awe-inspiring rendition of the well-traveled traditional roof-raiser helped them earn an IBMA award for 'Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year' in 2002 with the album The Journey, but their then-label has since folded, leaving this inspirational evergreen out-of-print until now.

Change--as we all know--can be taxing, particularly when it involves the personnel of a much-loved touring band. But with Road That Never Ends, Mountain Heart memorably meets the challenge, keeping the home fires burning even as it strikes out for--and conquers--new musical territory. Their hearts may lie in the mountains, but wherever the Road That Never Ends takes them, these acoustic music masters will always make it feel like a natural home.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3887

9.20.2007

Piano manin a bluegrass band

Author: Steven Uhles - Augusta Chronicle

Don't look now, but the new voice of the string-savvy bluegrass act Mountain Heart is a piano man.

Josh Shilling, who debuted with the popular bluegrass act in January, admits he brings a new sound to the band. A musician whose previous bands have included horn-based blues bands and pop and rock acts, he said stepping into the world of Mountain Heart was initially daunting.

"A high profile bluegrass act was something completely different for me," he said in a recent telephone interview. "But they made me feel very comfortable."

Mr. Shilling, who appears Friday with Mountain Heart at the Imperial Theatre, said it helped that although Mountain Heart was built on a foundation of traditional bluegrass, the band has felt free to evolve.

"They were rooted in bluegrass, but not limited by it," he said. "These are guys that could go anywhere, could play anything. They are that well-versed. This is a band that chooses to be involved in bluegrass and because of that are one of the best."

An upcoming live album will feature Mr. Shilling playing piano, not a traditional bluegrass instrument. Still, he said, it's indicative of the sort of aesthetic chances the band is willing to take. He said those chances are the reason Mountain Heart decided to introduce its newest member on a live, rather than studio, release.

"There were really multiple reasons for us to do a live record," Mr. Shilling said. "This band is outstanding in the studio but live there is just so much more energy, energy that can't be captured in a studio. Live means it isn't going to be perfect and that's what makes it interesting. It's just us."

Credit: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/092007/mus_144364.shtml

8.24.2007

New Mountain Heart Single 'Road That Never Ends' Released to Radio

Author: CYBERGRASS

The new title-cut single, "Road That Never Ends", has just been released to radio! The guys have also posted it on their Mountain Heart MySpace to give you a glimpse at the forthcoming Mountain Heart LIVE project. The song was written by Mountain Heart's own, Josh Shilling and Jim VanCleve and will be the lead off track on the upcoming project.

The project will be called, Mountain Heart The Road That Never Ends, The Live Record, and will be released on Rural Rhythm Records on October, 23rd. The album was recorded live at The ARK, which is well-known as one of the premiere music rooms in the country, in front of a VERY appreciative and boisterous audience. .

Personnel changes may have been a part of bluegrass ever since Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs left Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and formed their own group in 1948, but they can still cause consternation among fans. So it was natural that the debut of Mountain Heart's new guitarist/lead singer Josh Shilling would qualify as one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the new year -- and by the time the group finished their January 5th, 2007 appearance on the venerable Grand Ole Opry to a standing ovation for Shilling's original ballad, "Who's The Fool Now," there was no doubt that the award-winning sextet is ready and able to take their success to an even higher level.

Yet the stunning performance was no surprise to the knowledgeable, for Mountain Heart's name has been synonymous with cutting-edge excellence since the group's creation in 1998. Winning their first International Bluegrass Music Association annual award before they'd ever released an album, the group has blazed new trails by combining an unfettered ensemble sensibility with outstanding individual strengths, typified by the Grammy nomination earned by fiddler Jim Van Cleve for a selection from his hot-selling solo debut, No Apologies, the five consecutive IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year honors given to Adam Steffey and the acclaim that greeted guitarist Clay Jones' solo release, Mountain Tradition. The result has riveted audiences from traditional bluegrass festival-goers to fans of legends like Merle Haggard and George Jones as well as contemporary artists such as Brad Paisley and LeAnn Rimes. "When you put all of the players together with that kind of drive, it's fun to hear," says VanCleve. "The best thing about this band is that feeling, like we're taking chances and we're out on the edge -- we're being who we are, almost fearlessly sometimes."

That same feeling can be found, too, in Mountain Heart's recordings, from their self-titled 2000 debut to last year's Wide Open, produced by country music powerhouse Mark Bright (Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans). "I idolize these guys and their musicianship," he declares. "To be able to sit in the studio and make music with them is a bit overwhelming. After making records for the better part of 15 years," he adds, "I can honestly say for the first time I started the record with a bunch of strangers and completed it being surrounded by close friends."

Indeed, it was the group's tight-knit identity -- both musical and personal -- that first caught Shilling's attention several years ago. "They're world-class players, every single one of them," the 23 year old Martinsville, Virginia native says, "and the fact that everybody's pushing, that each individual is working as hard as the other, made it a great vibe from the first time I heard them."

For the rest of Mountain Heart -- banjo man Barry Abernathy, bassist Jason Moore, Jones, Steffey and Van Cleve -- it was both Shilling's talent and the intensity of his love for music that made him an attractive candidate for membership. "Jim and I actually first heard him a couple of years ago, when we were working on Clay's solo record [Mountain Tradition]," Abernathy says. "He was playing at a club, and we went over and listened to him, and he was just unbelievable. He's such an incredible musician -- he thinks about music, he's got it on his mind; he wants to be good at everything he does. Anybody that sings and plays like he does has got to be driven to do it. Needless to say, we were impressed, and I thought, if there were ever a move made here, he would be the first one that we would call. I just heard something that I thought could really click."

Though Shilling is new to bluegrass audiences, he's no stranger to the limelight. A performer since his early teens, when he began playing piano and then singing with a variety of groups, Josh turned professional after completing high school, lending his talents as an instrumentalist and singer to a series of increasingly high-profile groups that worked club and resort venues in the south Atlantic states. A versatile stylist, he's logged time with area favorites like Cimarron and The Embers as well as nationally known artists like Billy "Crash" Craddock. "It's a little scary not to have a piano to hide behind," he notes of his move to guitar -- and center stage -- "but the guys are so creative and positive that it's a real thrill to be here."

While the group is beginning to plan their next trip into the recording studio, their schedule is already crowded with the captivating personal appearances that, even more than their recordings, have earned Mountain Heart its legions of fans. "Our shows are like a big throwdown," says Moore. "We want you to leave as tired as we are." And with his habitual shot at having the last word, Van Cleve grins and adds, "We go out there and it's an hour of adrenaline. When I get done with the show, my heart is racing and I usually have to change my shirt -- it's literally like a rock concert. The energy and fire that are in everything this band does are so unique."

Blending tradition and experience with youthful energy and exploration, and with a new lineup that preserves the essence of the group's spine-tingling experience yet also adds a new dimension of intensity and creativity.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com//modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3735

4.21.2007

Mountain Heart to Record Live Album at the Ark, Ann Arbor's Acoustic Music Hall

Author: CYBERGRASS

One of bluegrass music's greatest entertainers, Mountain Heart, recently performed at the famed Michigan music hall, the Ark, and will soon be returning to record a live album. Tickets will go on sale this weekend Saturday - at 9 AM through the Michigan Union ticket office, 734-763-TKTS, and at 10 AM through Ticketmaster (in person or at www.ticketmaster.com). Tickets are $20 for the show, slated for Saturday, May 26, at 8 PM.

News: Mountain Heart to Record Live Album at the Ark, Ann Arbor's Acoustic Music Hall Music NewsBMNN wrote: on Apr. 21, 2007: One of bluegrass music's greatest entertainers, Mountain Heart, recently performed at the famed Michigan music hall, the Ark, and will soon be returning to record a live album. Tickets will go on sale this weekend Saturday - at 9 AM through the Michigan Union ticket office, 734-763-TKTS, and at 10 AM through Ticketmaster (in person or at www.ticketmaster.com). Tickets are $20 for the show, slated for Saturday, May 26, at 8 PM. Mountain Heart's new guitarist and lead singer Josh Shilling would qualify as one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the new year -- and by the time the group finished their January 5th, 2007 appearance on the venerable Grand Ole Opry to a standing ovation for Shilling's original ballad, "Who's The Fool Now," there was no doubt that the award-winning sextet was ready and able to take their success to an even higher level.

Winning their first International Bluegrass Music Association annual award before they'd ever released an album, the group has blazed new trails by combining an unfettered ensemble sensibility with outstanding individual strengths, typified by the Grammy nomination earned by fiddler Jim Van Cleve for a selection from his hot-selling solo debut, No Apologies, the five consecutive IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year honors given to Adam Steffey and the acclaim that greeted guitarist Clay Jones' solo release, Mountain Tradition.

For the rest of Mountain Heart -- banjo man Barry Abernathy, bassist Jason Moore, Jones, Steffey and Van Cleve -- it was both Shilling's talent and the intensity of his love for music that made him an attractive candidate for membership. "Jim and I actually first heard him a couple of years ago, when we were working on Clay's solo record [Mountain Tradition]," Abernathy says. "He was playing at a club, and we went over and listened to him, and he was just unbelievable. He's such an incredible musician -- he thinks about music, he's got it on his mind; he wants to be good at everything he does.

Blending tradition and experience with youthful energy and exploration, and with a new lineup that preserves the essence of the group's spine-tingling experience yet also adds a new dimension of intensity and creativity, Mountain Heart is set for an exciting 2007.

The Ark is Ann Arbor's nonprofit home for acoustic music. Considered one of the top music clubs in the world, The Ark is renowned for the quality and breadth of its programming. The Ark is an intimate 400-seat club presenting performers who fall into the wide-ranging genres of folk and roots music. With live music nearly 300 nights each year in one of the best listening rooms anywhere, The Ark is a sure bet for a memorable evening of enriching entertainment, musical artistry, and personal warmth.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3196

2.6.2007

The ‘new guy’ with Mountain Heart

Author: posted by John on thebluegrassblog.com; excerpt from Jennie Frank

There has been much discussion this past few weeks about Josh Shilling, the newest member of Mountain Heart who joined the band when founding member Steve Gulley departed in late 2006. Whenever a major band makes such a prominent change in their lineup, loyal fans feel a knot in their stomachs. After all, they loved the band with Steve - how will it be with the new guy?

Early reports have been enthusiastic, and Josh has been described as an amazingly talented vocalist with real "star power."

They made their Station Inn debut in Nashville last week with Josh, and we have a report on the show from Jennie Frank, sister of bluegrass picker Ashby Frank. Jennie works for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and operates a teaching studio, Inspire Reflect Studio, in Nashville.

Here’s Jennie’s review, which she titled Who’s The Fool Now?

Bluegrass staple, Mountain Heart, with new lead vocalist Josh Schilling, packed the Station Inn on 12th Avenue South in downtown Nashville this past Wednesday night. I was one of the lucky ones to catch the show.Now for most in the bluegrass world, this band’s incredible talent is no news to you, but the particular sound emerging from the stage was not one of a typical Mountain Heart performance. It echoed a new voice in bluegrass; one that is guaranteed to grow there for a really long time.Schilling made his debut with the band only a couple weeks earlier on the Grand Ole Opry stage, immediately showcasing his songwriting abilities with self-penned Who’s the Fool Now? - a "melt your heart while it’s breaking" tune that would make Vince Gill contemplate the idea he had a long lost brother. On the Station stage, he topped his Opry crooning, throwing into the mix of the traditional MH sound with soulful, unique renditions of classics such as Soulshine by Warren Hayes and Eric Clapton’s Running on Faith.

Mind you now, the highs of the evening were not carried by the newcomer vocalist alone. Mountain Heart - summing up musicians plus vocalists equals a whole lotta something good - has never been so full of energy. Loved favorites of the band, plus a couple cuts from fiddle player Jim Van Cleve’s self-debut No Apologies, spattered the song list, as one after another were executed in perfect accord. When the crowd cheered for more at the end of the second set, a band member of another well-known bluegrass group whispered to me "gosh, I love this band!" as the group re-entered for an encore.

And encore they did. Van Cleve tore up the last number, blazing half the hairs off of his bow and I do believe a couple audience members’ heads. By the time the show closed, every member glowed with the sweet sweat of a successful, bless your bluegrass heart performance.

So, if you haven’t taken a listen to this band in awhile, I urge you to "get thee to their website" for a listen to Mountain Heart and their new sound with the familiar trimmings. The appeal is quite mesmerizing and the freshness will be well-known in bluegrassland very soon.

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/the-new-guy-with-mountain-heart

1.25.2007

Speaking of funky

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Another one of our podcasts featured Josh Shilling. If you read Ralph Berrier's Riffs column on Sunday, you noticed that Shilling has a new gig. He's now the lead singer for Mountain Heart, a Raleigh, N.C.-based bluegrass band that has amazed audiences with its music. You can hear Shilling on two of our podcasts. He came in with his keyboard and played some for us, and he also visited with bassist Cameron McLaughlin to talk about their band, Balancing Act. On both 'casts, you can hear Shilling, 22 at the time, showing some great chops and soul. Now, in what could be a breakthrough moment for him, he's playing guitar, and of course, singing. This combination reminds me a little bit of what New Grass Revival had going back in the day, with John Cowan singing songs such as Marvin Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar." Go to www.myspace.com/mountainheartofficial to hear Shilling singing his own tune, "Who's the Fool Now," at the Grand Old Opry.

Credit: No article link available.

1.21.2007

Next stop: bluegrass

Author: Ralph Berrier - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

You're a young musician and singer in Roanoke. You have worked with everyone from classic rockers the Kings to country veterans Cimmaron to local funk masters Bernard Hairston and Kelly Gravley. You have toured with Tower of Power's Mic Gillette and performed with those sandy-haired beach bums, the Embers. So, what full-time gig do you get next? Why, lead singer in a bluegrass band, naturally. Martinsville native and Roanoke resident Josh Shilling, 23, was recently hired as singer for the primo bluegrass outfit Mountain Heart. Shilling, whose musical resume matches that of someone mentioned in an earlier paragraph, hooked up with the band through a mutual friend, sound engineer Scotty Bolen. Even though he had never sung bluegrass, he was familiar with the music from a life spent in Virginia's mountains and Piedmont. According to thebluegrassblog.com, Shilling told veteran writer Jon Weisberger, "I've got everything from Bill Monroe to Tower of Power, and I find something I like in all of it." Shilling said that the trickiest part of bluegrass is not the vocal but the rhythm guitar playing. "Playing rhythm guitar with these guys has been a big challenge," he told Weisberger. "It always seemed almost obsolete in the other bands I've played in. It was like, 'I'm just trying to fill a hole here, who cares what it sounds like?' But here, it's very important. You either do it right or don't do it at all." Shilling and Mountain Heart performed on the Grand Ole Opry on Jan. 5 and 6. Early reviews were favorable. With Shilling's soaring voice in the lead, the band might want to consider changing its name to Mountain Heart and Soul.

Credit: No article link available.

1.16.2007

County native a hit at Grand Ole Opry

Josh Shilling performs in Nashville

Author: Kathrin Klenshteyn - The Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA

A Henry County native sang to a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., recently.

Josh Shilling, who performed at Celebration 2006, the Independence Day celebration at Martinsville Speedway, was at the Opry with the band he has joined, Mountain Heart.

Shilling joined the group at the first of the year, he said, and the performance was his first time on stage with it.

It also was his first time playing at the Opry and the first time in a year he held a guitar.

"It was 10 minutes full of firsts," he said, adding that it brought on a reaction from the crowd he did not expect

The first song the group played was called "I’m Just Here To Ride the Train." The audience applauded, and then Shilling played his own song titled, "Who’s the Fool Now?".

"You could tell the crowd was really feeling my voice," he said. "At the end of the song, the place went crazy."

Shilling, who lives in Raleigh, estimated that more than 1,000 people were at the Opry. They gave him a standing ovation as he and the band left the stage.

After they left, Connie Smith, the show’s host, ran back to the band members and told them they had to go back out on stage.

"The management got me with this real stern look," he said, referring to the demand to return to the stage.

He and the band went back out and played an encore, called "Heart Like a Road Sign."

Since then, he has received many compliments and been contacted by many songwriters.

"A lot of people in the industry were interested in talking to me," he said.

In addition, his Web site statistics have gone "through the roof," he said. Shilling’s site is www.joshshilling.com.

He is excited about reaction to his performance at the Opry because "the Grand Ole Opry is kinda like one of the summits (of the music industry) that you’d want to play."

Shilling, 23, son of Billy and Kathy Shilling of Henry County and a graduate of Bassett High School, said music has been part of his life as long as he can remember.

Listing first dates, first kisses, bad nights and remembering someone who has died, he said "there’s a song for every event, every memory in your life."

"Music has kinda engulfed me to the point where it’s like no matter what walk of life or what I’m trying to do in day-to-day life ... it’s a constant everyday thing," he said. "It’s almost like something I’m married to."

In the next year, Shilling expects to continue playing and working on an album with Mountain Heart, as well as doing a lot of writing and being featured on several other album projects.

He also is working on a solo album which, he said, does not lend itself to any particular genre. Shilling expects the album to span everything from bluegrass to acoustic jam-band rock to rhythm and blues.

"It’s something I’m working on in my spare time," he said.

The other members in the band Mountain Heart are Adam Steffey on the mandolin, Jim Van Cleve on the fiddle, Jason Moore on the bass guitar, Barry Abernathy on the banjo and Clay Jones on the guitar.

Shilling said he is not sure at this point whether he will perform at Celebration 2007.

Credit: http://martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=7737&back=archives

1.9.2007

Bluegrass Band Mountain Heart Announces New Member

Author: CYBERGRASS

During the big band member shuffle and musical chairs that took place at the end of last year, there were some vacancies left in various groups. One of those bands was the popular Mountain Heart. Finding a new member for a touring band is often a difficult task and can take some time. In this case, the wait is over.

The Mountain Heart web site has announced that Josh Shilling, is the newest member of Mountain Heart! Josh will be filling the position of Guitar player that was left open when Steve Gulley left. Josh's debut performance occured on the night of January 5th, 2007, and took place on the stage of the Historic Ryman Auditorium.

Propelled by a star producer and a legion of Nashville's most awarded songwriters, Mountain Heart speeds into 2006 with "Wide Open", the band's third album from Skaggs Family Records. The 12-cut collection was released in stores February 14. Lookin to maintain its edge as one of the most adventurous and exciting young acts in acoustic country music, Mountain Heart turned to producer Mark Bright, the studio mentor to such multiplatinum acts as Rascal Flatts, Blackhawk, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans and Jo Dee Messina. It was a perfect match.

"I idolize these guys and their musicianship", Bright declares. Central to Mountain Hearts appeal is its great sense of song, a talent that became evident in 1999 when the International Bluegrass Music Association proclaimed the band its Emerging Artist of the Year before the guys even had a recording contract. For Wide Open, Mountain Heart tapped into songwriters whose works routinely inhabit the top of charts.

Among these are Harley Allen, Jeffrey Steele, Wendy Waldman, Jim Rushing, Ronnie Bowman and Mac McAnally, whose combined roster of country and bluegrass hits includes, Me and John and Paul, The Cowboy In Me, Fishing In The Dark, Little Mountain Church House, Its Getting Better All The Time and Old Flames, respectively. Fiddler Jim VanCleve contributed three songs.

Once established, Mountain Heart was quickly embraced by the country and bluegrass community. It has appeared regularly on the Grand Ole Opry (in excess of 90 times) and, apart from its own headlining appearances, it has opened larger concerts for such luminaries as Montgomery Gentry, George Jones, Travis Tritt, Patty Loveless, Roseanne Cash, Junior Brown, Joe Nichols, Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs, Brad Paisley and LeAnn Rimes. Members of the Band have individually won numerous Grammy's, CMA, IBMA, SPBGMA, and Dove Awards; they as well, have appeared on scores of award-winning and multi-platinum recordings as guest musicians and vocalists.

Credit: http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2721

1.6.2007

New Mountain Heart on The Opry tonight

Author: posted by John on thebluegrassblog.com; excerpt from Jon Weisberger

Mountain Heart unveils their new sound this weekend on The Grand Ole Opry, introducing guitarist/vocalist Josh Shilling for the first time on last night’s Friday Opry, and performing again tonight on the Opry radio broadcast.

They got a call back from the Opry audience last night after Josh sang one of his tunes, and all the guys are excited about having him in the band.

Jon Weisberger, Nashville writer, musician and member of the IBMA Executive Committee, attended the band’s rehearsal yesterday, and passed along some more information and his impressions of Josh, and how he fits into the Mountain Heart sound.

I stopped by Jim Van Cleve’s house Friday to catch a few numbers as Mountain Heart was rehearsing for their weekend’s shows at the Grand Ole Opry with new member Josh Shilling, and, like the members of the band themselves, I was blown away by his talent. Just 23 years old, Josh grew up around Martinsville, Virginia and now lives in Roanoke. But while he heard bluegrass from an early age, almost inevitable in that area, he was drawn to the piano as a youngster, and by the time he graduated from high school, he was already playing a wide variety of music with an equally wide variety of bands on a semi-professional basis. Indeed, by the time he got the call from Mountain Heart, he was working 200 dates a year.

From what I heard, a half-dozen numbers, including "I’m Just Hear To Ride The Train," "God And Everybody," "Heart Like A Road Sign, Head Like A Wheel," "Deadwood" and a beautiful contemporary country-flavored original of Josh’s, this young man’s going to fit right in with Mountain Heart’s signature sound, while bringing some new dimensions to their music. He can definitely cut the vocals on their existing material. Josh doesn’t sound exactly like Steve Gulley, but there’s no apparent limit to the upper end of his range, and he’s getting inside the songs quickly, so fans will find a lot of continuity of sound in their favorite material.

I sat and talked with some of the guys, Josh, Barry Abernathy and Jason Moore, mostly, during one of their breaks, and was impressed by their mutual admiration. Perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that Josh and the band had been aware of each other for some time, having connected through Mountain Heart’s sound engineer Scotty Bolen, who engineered some demos for Josh a few years back.

"They were doing a record for Clay [Jones] about two years ago," Josh told me. "And for some reason, I just decided I wanted to go by and check it out, so I eased into the session and introduced myself to everybody. And then just a week or so later Scotty gave them some of the demo stuff."

"Scotty and Jim and I went to see him at one of his regular gigs, and he was just unbelievable," Barry added. "Needless to say, we were impressed, and I thought, if there were ever a move made here, he would be the first one that I would want to call, not that I had any idea he would take a job playing bluegrass!"

Though Josh’s background isn’t in bluegrass, he’s got a solid grasp of the music, both from his wide-ranging tastes, "I’ve got everything from Bill Monroe to Tower of Power, and I find something I like in all of it," he told me, and from the perceptiveness that accompanies his talent. "Bluegrass takes the simplest form of music and does so much with it," he said. "Playing rhythm guitar with these guys has been a big challenge, it always seemed almost obsolete in the other bands I’ve played in; it was like, I’m just trying to fill a hole here, who cares what it sounds like. But here, it’s very important. You either do it right or don’t do it at all. It’s got to lock with everything else. And the music is so organic that it’s almost like creating something from nothing. You don’t have to have every piece of technology in the world to make it happen."

Barry summed up the band’s thoughts about their new member this way. "The first time I heard Josh I knew that that’s the person I wanted to see if he would be interested in doing it. Not that he couldn’t do it, but I don’t really hear Josh singing "Sunny Side Of The Mountain." He’s not that type of singer. But for what we do, I could hear him fit real well; I heard something that I think can really click. We had two or three people in mind that we knew could do the job, but I just felt like this would be special."

"I’ve been telling people, you’re going to love it. If you don’t, you don’t like music. And that’s pretty much the way I leave ‘em."

The group promises to record some songs at rehearsal soon and post them online, but in the meantime, Mountain Heart fans who want to get a taste of the group with Josh Shilling can listen to the Grand Ole Opry tonight (1/6), they’ll be on the 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm segments (all times CST), by tuning into WSM (650 AM) or visiting the station’s website at http://www.wsmonline.com.

The Opry show tonight is streamed live on WSM, and excerpts from both the Friday and Saturday Opry shows will be posted on the WSM Archives page by early the following week if you miss the live stream. There’s no guarantee that the Mountain Heart shows will be included, but with an encore on Friday night, one suspects that they will be featured.

Mountain Heart invites all their friends and fans to give a listen to the Opry this weekend, and share your thoughts about the new sound in their online forum.

Credit: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/new-mountain-heart-on-the-opry-tonight

7.11.2006

Area native out to strike it big

Author: Matthew McCormick - The Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA

Forget the corporate ladder. Josh Shilling has his sights on climbing the pop charts.

Since graduating from Bassett High School in 2001, the 23-year-old Stanleytown native has pursued that goal up and down the nation’s coasts, honing his piano and vocal chops with a variety of national and regional touring acts.

Among them are funk and R & B musician Mic Gillette, the Tower of Power trumpet player with whom Shilling performed at Celebration 2006, and Billy "Crash" Craddock, a country stalwart whose songs topped the charts throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Shilling’s latest gig is adding his fiery piano licks and soulful singing to The Embers, a Raleigh, N.C.-based band whose beach music blend has entertained audiences nationwide for four decades.

"To most people my age, it seems like music your folks or even grandparents listened to," Shilling said of The Embers’ style. "But it’s what I cut my teeth on so it’s like second nature to me."

Indeed, much of the music that inspired a 7-year-old Shilling to begin tickling the ivories came from decades long since passed.

Born into a musical family, "They would do sing-along type things at Christmas time, that sort of thing," he said, Shilling’s first real foray into the piano was picking out melodies from the Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Preston and Rolling Stones recordings in father Billy Shilling’s music collection.

"I could easily pick out parts as a kid," he recalled. "I could hear a song on the radio or a CD and pick out the chords."

It was that ear-based education, combined with an early enthusiasm for the piano, that Shilling said largely has driven his advancement on the instrument.

Playing the piano "wasn’t something I did every day when I was 7 or 8," he said. "But it was something I was always interested in. I would learn a little ditty like ‘Stand by Me’ and put it away (for a little while). I came back to it (the piano) weekly, if not daily."

He went back to it so much that when Shilling’s uncle, Ken Woodward, tapped his 12-year-old nephew to play a set with his band, Shilling was able to hold his own with far more seasoned performers.

The experience was a turning point for the budding musician, turning a precocious passion into an adolescent addiction.

"It was just a dream to be out there on the stage" performing, said Shilling. "There’s not a rush like it, even at that age."

And he wanted more of it. For the next five years, Shilling played furiously, performing with local cover bands, at talent shows, weddings and school functions.

The hard work paid off. By the time he graduated from high school at 17, a year early, he had no problem finding work as a professional musician.

"I kind of knew what I wanted to do, and I had the offers to do it," he said of deciding to forego college in lieu of launching his musical career.

"It’s definitely a huge decision (not to go to college). It weighs on me today," he added. "At some point, am I going to say ‘is this really what I need to be doing?’... But the past few years, I’ve had a lifetime of great performance experiences that never would have happened in the classroom."

Those include jamming with Michael McDonald, whose vocals and piano playing have been featured with both the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, as well as Bill Champlin, best known for his work as the front man of Chicago.

"(Champlin) is just an incredible musician all the way around," Shilling said. "He’s a great singer, a soulful guy, he’s the real deal."

Although Shilling has a deep-felt appreciation for the pioneers of soul and R & B, readily apparent during his rendition of Marvin Gaye’s "What’s Going On?" at Celebration 2006. he hopes to pave his own musical course.

Shilling has been writing his own music since high school, examples can be heard on his Web site, www.joshshilling.com, and plans to use the material to launch a solo career. He already has had some success, licensing a tune to MTV for use two of its programs, "Punk’d' and "Making the Video."

But until he finds a major label to record his work, Shilling said he is more than happy to tour the East Coast with The Embers.

"They are very well established and well known on the East Coast, not only to fans but to musicians and producers," Shilling said of the band. "It’s a great way to network and build relationships."

Credit: http://martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=856&back=archives

7.4.2006

Celebration 2006 draws thousands

Author: Matthew McCormick - The Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA

A grandstand-full of Josh Shilling’s closest friends and family welcomed the Stanleytown native back to the area Monday evening at Celebration 2006.

After touring for the past year and a half with the R & B band The Embers, Shilling returned home Monday to take the stage with Domino, which opened for headliner Blake Shelton at Martinsville Speedway’s annual Independence Day celebration.

This year, 12 local business and government sponsors united to put on the $120,000-event, which featured a fireworks display by Henry County Director of Public Safety Steve Eanes, a half-dozen carnival-style rides and musical performances free of charge.

"You look out, see 40,000 people and you know half of them," said Shilling, who offered a soulful rendition of Marvin Gaye’s "What’s Going On?" "It’s like one big family reunion," he said of the event.

Shilling was not the only one with family on the mind at Celebration 2006. Stroller-pushing, hand-holding moms and dads abounded at the eighth annual event.

"It’s the only thing where you can go out and enjoy an evening with the young’uns," explained Bruce White. "They can have a little bit of fun with the fireworks and the rides."

Nine-year-old Bridget Williams, daughter of White and Naomi Coleman, looked like she had more than just a bit of fun after she disembarked from Catch ’N Air.

Williams was all smiles as she explained why her 25-minute wait in line to experience the Catch ’N Air’s scream-inducing spins and lifts was worth it: "I was scared."

"It was awesome," she added.

A little bit of fear also went a long way on the Cliff Hanger, on which riders lay on their stomachs on hang glider-like harnesses that took them into the sky at sharp angles.

"It was scary because of the height," said 9-year-old Johnny Ortega, son of Donna Ortega.

Scary enough that when Ortega was asked if he would take the ride again, he answered with an enthusiastic "Yeah!"

Other riders were not quite ready for such an adrenaline-inducing experience. Four-year-old Devyn Brown said that after sliding down the Magic Carpet on a burlap sack — safely flanked by parents Peggy and Jonathan Brown — he was headed to Willie the Whale, which provided a gentle, sloping jaunt into the air in whale-shaped cars.

While many of Celebration 2006’s younger attendees waited in line after line for their favorite rides, most of their parents said they were looking forward to hearing the evening’s main act, country star Blake Shelton.

Michael Womack said he drove 120 miles from Henderson, N.C., to see Shelton. Womack got to do just that when he and a handful of other attendees boarded Shelton’s tour bus prior to the show as part of a meet-and-greet with fans.

"To me, country musicians personify love of country and respect for troops abroad," said Womack. "It’s nice to celebrate the Fourth of July with artists that have the same convictions as you."

Womack apparently was not alone in that sentiment. When Shelton’s guitarist broke into the crunching opening chords of "Redneck Girl," a cheer went up among the packed grandstands that turned into full-fledged screaming when Shelton took the stage.

It was a response that delighted the country singer.

"I’m one of the new guys in country music, so I’m not used to such big crowds," he said. "It’s awesome, man."

The audience also was kind to Shelton’s opening act, obliging when the Roanoke-based, horn-backed Domino, which has been invited to perform at the Speedway celebration the past four years, urged the crowd to "get up on your feet" during their rendition of Wilson Pickett’s "Mustang Sally."

"It’s really great," said Domino’s special guest, Mic Gillette, a trumpeter who has played with groups such as Tower of Power, Santana and the Rolling Stones. "Every year, a country crowd shows up and we play R & B for them, and they get up and dance."

It is the kind of reception that Gillette said kept him and Domino coming back to Henry County and Martinsville’s Independence Day celebration year after year.

"I love this neck of the woods," he said. "I’ll come back any time they ask."

Credit: http://martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=497&back=archives

4.19.2006

PODCAST: Cameron McLaughlin, Josh Shilling

Members of the funky outfit Balancing Act talk about the music and spin some songs.

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Cameron McLaughlin plays the mess out of a bass guitar. But the ego is in check. When he met another fine bass player, Matt Henninger, at a bass camp a couple years back, the two realized they could make some great double-bass music together without making it sound like two bassists were just having a freaked-out ego trip.

The result is their band, Balancing Act. McLaughlin and bandmate Josh Shilling came in to spin a couple of the songs and talk about the process.

Download The Podcast

Credit: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/podcasts/wb/xp-61646

10.26.2005

PODCAST: Josh Shilling

Hot singer, keyboardist plays some, talks music

Author: Tad Dickens - The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Josh Shilling plays keyboards and sings with some of the valleys' most talented performers, and recently wowed members of funk legend Tower of Power in a concert with Mic Gillette. But he can also turn around and play laid-back keys for country artist Billy "Crash" Craddock. Check out this podcast and others from Inside Out by using an IO Jukebox. You'll need a Flash player to stream them. What are podcasts? you might still be asking. They're like radio shows in mp3 format. You can right-click and hit "save target as" to download it.

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Credit: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/podcasts/wb/37972