NorthwestPrime

Donica Knight is a singer, songwriter from Montgomery, Alabama. Donica’s unique blend of rock, country and blues has led to a rigorous touring schedule in the Southeast, performing more than 350 dates, opening for both country and rock superstars, as diverse as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Kenny Rogers, Scotty McCreery, Jamey Johnson, Little River Band, Skid Row, Kellie Pickler, Blackberry Smoke, Joe Nichols, REO Speedwagon, The Band Perry, Chris Young, 3 Doors Down and many others.  A self-proclaimed tomboy and sports fan, Donica wrote and recorded “Great To Be,” which was regularly played at her beloved Auburn Tigers’ football games.  She has also written and recorded duets with country legend, Ronnie Milsap.  Donica’s music can be heard in several television and radio commercials, and on the award-winning soundtrack for the film Halloween Party. She also has two co-writes in the upcoming Tracy Lawrence film, Alabama Dirt. http://www.donicaknight.com 

Madelyn Victoria grew up in Harlingen, TX performing in public for the first time, during a local Christmas Pageant, at age 5. She continued performing and singing throughout her youth, at local competitions and pageants, earning awards and recognition as one of the area’s top young performers. Madelyn auditioned to perform with the Radio Disney Superstars of Dallas, was selected, and opened for pop boy band sensation, The Jonas Brothers. She and her band have opened for some of the biggest names in country music, including Easton Corbin, Turnpike Troubadours, Tracy Lawrence, Kevin Fowler, Clay Walker, Josh Thompson, Dustin Lynch, Zac Brown Band, The Charlie Daniels Band, and more.

Northern Shakedown is a concoction of alternative rock and hip-hop brewed from the musical cauldron that is Seattle, WA. Truly a band of brothers, they have become a unifying force among music fans from a diverse set of genres.

The members of Northern Shakedown have been playing together from a very young age. As brothers, Ben (drums) and Tyler (guitar/vocals) started their musical journeys in grade school, playing in school bands, choirs, and at their home church where their father pastored. Jabreel (keys/vocals) and Solomon (bass guitar), also brothers, began attending and playing music at the same church during middle school and the four became close friends. 

Over 10 years later, they are as tight as ever and have channeled their passion toward the creation of heartfelt original music featuring a well-rounded display of energetic hip-hop and dance, focused rhythm, and soulful melodies. https://www.facebook.com/NorthernShakedown/timeline

Isaiah Dominguez: With an iPhone full of audio memos, a new mentality, and a different city of unfamiliar views, Seattle-based singer/songwriter he returns with a batch of his most honest and thoughtful songs to date.

Isaiah has been adamant about representing his hometown of Olympia, no matter where life takes him and his music reflects it. His style, a unique blend of folk and pop/rock, has developed and evolved over the years through various influences. His previous music endeavors reflect this statement; Dominguez fronted the pop/punk band, Take Me Instead, for several years, playing with the likes of The Story So Far, Shoreline Drive, and Dylan Jakobson, before disbanding 2012 and launching into an era of self-discovery. The band’s breakup was bittersweet, Dominguez said. As a solo artist, he is now able to express himself with more freedom.https://www.facebook.com/isaiahjdominguez/timeline

Andrew Landers has spent 2 decades playing his narrative in the unsung Americana Folk genre, a colorful brainy singer songwriter who shares the stage with a myriad of national artists. With 11 records to his name, he is the epitome of what a modern day traveling corduroy storytelling troubadour sounds and feels like.              

Ed Rowell (Author & Speaker) "Andrew is not at all that hard to figure out. He's just a neo-hippy poet musing on theology and sociology from a post-modern perspective. He simply finds the sacred in the ordinary, the humor in the serious, and the tranquil in the noise that surrounds us all." http://www.andrewlanders.com

NWP welcomes Graham Elliot! Graham is co-host of the popular Fox series MasterChef and MasterChef Junior, and host of the new Food Network show, “Craziest Restaurants in America,” wants everyone to cook—to push up their sleeves and get some good food on the table. So, he’s written his first cookbook, an entertaining, accessible guide for the home cook to create delicious, beautiful food for every occasion. 

Graham Elliot is a critically acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and television personality who costars with Gordon Ramsay  

He has traveled to all 50 states in search of the best food America has to offer and in 2008, his eponymous Chicago restaurant became one of 15 restaurants in the United States to hold two Michelin stars. He has been nominated for multiple James Beard awards, as well. Graham, who used to play in a band and is a singer and guitarist in his own right, is the culinary director for Chicago's Lollapalooza. He lives in Chicago with his family. COOKING LIKE A MASTER CHEF: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary by Graham Elliot  is his new cookbook! http://www.grahamelliot.com  Music today provided by http://www.paulsawtelle.com & http://aftonprater.com

Afton is a Country-Pop 17-year old singer/songwriter/guitarist from Seabeck, Washington. She learned to play the guitar when she was 11 years old and wrote her first song when she was 12. She is an honor student and also enjoys hanging out with friends and family and having as much fun as possible! 

Afton Prater recently released a 6 song EP, called ‘I Want a Truck’.‘I Want a Truck’, is a Nashville produced, energetic upbeat mix of pop and country music. It's a must listen for pop and country music lovers.Sunset Chevrolet/Trucks (Seattle area) is partnering with and promoting Afton and will be using the fun catchy song, I Want a Truck, for advertising on television and radio throughout Washington. Afton is an amazing performer and has opened for country stars Kelsea Ballerini and Josh Thompson. Afton also sang the National Antheim at Safeco Field for the 2015 Richard Sherman Celebrity Softball Event. Her debut EP, ‘Stay With Me,’  is great collection of self-written songs that has made waves in the teen and Top 40 market. Afton won Best Country Songwriter and Best Teen Songwriter at the 2013 Indie Music Channel Songwriter Awards. She also  won Best Female Teen Artist and Best Teen Album (Stay with Me), in the 2014 Indie Music Channel Annual Awards Ceremony. Her Nashville producer, Sean Giovanni, was voted Producer of the Year and Best Country Producer for his work with Afton’s music. ‘Stay with Me’ has received outstanding reviews and amazing radio support. The first single, ‘Forever With You,’ shot to #1 on the popular The Radio Café Indie Music Countdown where it remained for several weeks. http://aftonprater.com

Veteran saxophone player, Paul Sawtelle, has been paying his dues as a musician for over 30 years and he’s enjoyed every minute of it. As a top-shelf arranger, big band leader, funk, rock and blues band sideman, in-demand session player and featured soloist on scores of studio projects and live shows. He’s played for President Clinton, worked with Heart, opened for artists from Savoy Brown to Jonny Lang, appeared on national television shows and, in 2008, won a prestigious Spelleman Award, the Norwegian equivalent of The Grammy, for his horn arrangements and playing on Sony Music’s extraordinary blues band, Orbo and the Longshots album.

When asked about the first music that inspired him as a player, he didn’t hesitate. “The first Chicago Transit Authority album had a tremendous impact on me. The mixture of rock and horns was inspiring and fresh. Seeing that band for the first time live was magical.” He also couldn’t get enough of other groove and horn based bands and players like Tom Scott, Tower of Power, Janis Joplin, Moby Grape, Blood, Sweat & Tears, David Sanborn, Lenny Pickett, Grover Washington, Jr. & Stanley Turrentine.

The CD was recorded during the fall of 2014, at the legendary London Bridge Studio in Seattle with producer/engineer Geoff Ott. Paul gushed about the experience. “Geoff was laid back, patient and positive and he created an atmosphere conducive to artistic expression.” Jeffrey Ross, Kenny G’s first manager and no stranger to jazz, funk and R&B, served as Paul’s coach, mentor and co-producer during the sessions.  http://www.paulsawtelle.com

NWP welcomes celebrity chef Jacques Pépin!

Jacques Pépin is world renowned as the host of his acclaimed and popular cooking programs on public television, and as a prolific author, respected instructor, and gifted artist. Pépin was awarded the highest honor by the French Government and holds the title of CHEVALIER DE L'ORDRE NATIONAL DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR. Pépin is taping the upcoming series "Essential Pepin" in October 2010 for KQED in San Francisco. His memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003 and in paperback in May, 2004. He is also a proud grandfather of his daughter Claudine’s child, Shorey.  Chef Pepin is out with his new cookbook "Heart & Soul in the Kitchen" where in he reflects on his amazing life as personal chef to Charles de Gaulle, cooking for other world leaders and passing his love of life and food on to his grandchild. http://www.jacquespepinart.com/

Alana Chernila is mostly a cookbook author, but also a dinner wrangler, mother to two girls, wife to an artistic preschool teacher, farmers’ market worker, a writer, a teacher of all things yogurt, and an undercover Berkshires ambassador.

Agraduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, which means she knows a little ancient Greek and Quantum Theory, but also that she craves green chile nearly every day of the year.

Author of two books: The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making, and The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes for Cooking With Pleasure. She has written for Martha Stewart Living magazine, Taproot, Food52.com, and many other online and print periodicals. 

http://eatingfromthegroundup.com

NWP welcomes super chef, Pierre Thiam! 

Chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, Pierre Thiam was raised in Dakar, Senegal, a bustling and culturally diverse metropolis on the west coast of Africa. Although he developed an interest in the culinary arts at an early age, he studied physics and chemistry from the city’s Cheikh Anta Diop University.  Thiam moved to New York in the late 1980s where he began working in a number of restaurants. His bottom-level entry steadily led upward, and by 2001 he opened his first restaurant, Yolele, a visionary African bistro in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. His second outlet, Le Grand-Dakar Restaurant followed, opening in neighboring Clinton Hill three years later; it quickly became a culinary and cultural locus for Africans from the continent and the Diaspora. Currently he owns Pierre Thiam Catering, which introduces a diverse, savvy New York clientele to contemporary interpretations of ethnic flavors; he also serves as consulting chef for a number of restaurants in the City and beyond.  http://PierreThiam.com

I'm catching up with multi-gold and platium recording artist HICKS 

Miqael Persson aka Hicks is the first Swedish country artist to land his first two singles in the New Music Weekly Top 10 and the first to reach the Music Row Top 80.  Hicks is also an award-winning songwriter from the south of Sweden, with multiple Gold and Platinum records to his credit. His rock-edged songs have been recorded by artists like Jimi Jamison (Survivor), Giant (Dann Huff), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Little River Band, and many other Grammy-winning artists.  In addition to his songwriting credits, Hicks is an Independent Country Music Association award winner, and the British Country Music Association’s 2013 European Country Act of the Year.  He has been nominated for the New Music Awards, Indie Music Channel Awards, International Music and Entertainment Association awards, and the Nashville Universe Awards. His latest, “I Belong To You” was co-written by Hicks with Erik Martensson, and hit songwriter, Jorgen Elofsson, writer of two smash hits for Kelly ClarksonWith its anthemic, soaring vocal hook, Mumford and Sons-like rhythm section, and enough fiddles to inspire a river-side hoe-down, “I Belong To You” is a breath of much-needed fresh air for summer playlists  http://www.hickscountry.com  http://www.facebook.com/northwestprime  

This show is sponsored in part by http://audibletrial.com/northwestprime 1st book is Free! Click & see if audible books are right for you, 30 Day FREE trial