Tyler Hughes and Sam Gleaves are an old time country music duo, performing songs old and new with close harmony singing and accompaniment on clawhammer banjo, guitar, fiddle and autoharp.
Tyler and Sam’s programs feature fiddle and banjo hoedowns, close mountain harmonies, stories of all kinds, Carter Family-inspired autoharp and guitar, country gospel songs, lonesome ballads & flatfoot dancing. In 2015, Tyler and Sam performed on West Virginia Public Radio's Mountain Stage, Lexington, Kentucky's Red Barn Radio, broadcast on Kentucky Educational Television, and at many other venues throughout the Appalachian region.
To book Tyler Hughes and Sam Gleaves, please contact TylerSamMusic@gmail.com.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
1. "I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew" (written by Tom T. Hall), vocal duet with clawhammer banjo and guitar.
2. "I Can't Sit Down" (learned from Wade and Julia Mainer), vocal duet with two-finger style banjo and guitar.
3. "Sugar Hill" (traditional), old time fiddle and banjo tune with vocals.
4. "My Dixie Darlin'" (A.P. Carter, 2nd and 3rd verses by Sam Gleaves), vocal duet with clawhammer banjo and guitar.
5. "My Stone Mountain Home" (written by Kate Peters Sturgill), vocal duet with autoharp and guitar.
6. "Stockyard Hill" (written by Sam Gleaves), vocal duet with clawhammer banjo and flatpicking guitar.
7. "Little Hot Pink House Trailer" (written by Sam Gleaves), vocal duet with banjo and guitar.
8. "Muskrat" (traditional, from Tab Ward), clawhammer banjo and guitar with solo vocal.
BIO
Tyler Hughes has been representing old time Appalachian music and culture on stages all across the east coast since age twelve. Hailing from Big Stone Gap, Virginia, his music is closely associated with that of the Carter Family, Dock Boggs, and Kate Peters Sturgill, among many others from the region. Tyler earned degrees in Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies and Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University and during his time there, Tyler performed as a mainstay of the ETSU Old Time Pride Band. Tyler continues to perform as a solo artist and with the Johnson City based Empty Bottle String Band. His recordings include a solo album, WISE COUNTY JAIL, TRAVELIN’ MAN with the Empty Bottle Stringband, and he is featured on THE NEW APPALACHIANS, produced by Dave Eggar. Tyler teaches banjo at Mountain Empire Community College and regularly teaches at MECC’s annual Mountain Music School summer program. Tyler travels extensively to share his music and he has appeared on PBS' Song of the Mountains, NPR's Mountain Stage, at Jazz at the Lincoln Center, and at the historic Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia. Traditional musician Rich Kirby says "Tyler plays the music of his native Southwest Virginia with the kind of knowledge, respect, and affection that speaks of a deep understanding of who and where the music came from. With folks like Tyler on the scene, I know our music is in good hands." To learn more about Tyler Hughes, visit http://www.tylerhughesmusic.com.
Born and raised in Wytheville, Virginia, Sam Gleaves performs innovative mountain music with a sense of history. Sam carries on the ballads and dance music he learned from numerous mentors in the Appalachian tradition, including Southwest Virginia barber and multi-instrumentalist Jim Lloyd and Western North Carolina ballad singer and storyteller Sheila Kay Adams. Through his songwriting, Sam tells contemporary stories from Appalachia. Sam’s debut record of original songs, titled AIN’T WE BROTHERS, is produced by Cathy Fink and has been featured on National Public Radio, No Depression, Sing Out! and The Bluegrass Situation. Sam earned a degree in Folklore from Berea College and performed for four years with the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, directed by Al White. Sam now makes his home in Berea, Kentucky, traveling to perform throughout the eastern U.S., and he has toured in Ireland, Japan, England and Canada. Appalachian novelist Lee Smith has heralded Sam as “the best young songwriter around . . . courageous as hell and country to the bone.”
HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS
(Photo 1 by Josh Saul, photo 2 by Jesse Anderson)
