MIKE FARRIS is an artist’s artist and a musician’s musician, celebrated and revered by his fellow performers. He is a GRAMMY, Americana Association, and Dove Music award winner, with six solo albums since 2001. He is also a founding member of 90’s mainstream rock group, The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies.

For The Sound of Muscle Shoals, Mike Farris’s first album since 2018’s Silver & Stone, Farris made the pilgrimage that many soul shakers and stirrers have made before him, across the O’Neal Bridge and over the Tennessee River, straight into the creative vortex of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and right up to the door of the legendary Fame Studios.

The result of that pilgrimage is The Sound of Muscle Shoals. It’s the culmination of all of Farris’s musical influences and life lessons learned, captured in a location that holds deep meaning for him, in creative collaboration with members of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and other session stalwarts of ‘The Shoals’ recording scene: Clayton Ivey (keys), Will McFarlane, Kelvin Holly, Wes Sheffield (guitars), Jimbo Hart (bass), and Justin Holder (drums). Collectively, they capture lightning in a bottle, channeling the spirit of their musical forebearers.

Overseen by award-winning executive producer Rodney Hall (son of legendary producer and record man Rick Hall), the new album conjures up the intrinsic magic of the Muscle Shoals sound and wraps it around Farris’s heartfelt and hardscrabble blue-eyed soul vocals. In the intertwining threads of spiritual and earthly, of gospel and rock ‘n’ roll, of faith and fire, Farris once again brings what Rolling Stone Country describes as his “supersized voice filled with the electricity of Saturday night and the godly grace of Sunday mornings” to the album’s 11 tracks.

The reflection on life’s lessons, hard learned and hard-earned, and how to move forward is the underlying theme of The Sound of Muscle Shoals. Take “Ease On” for example, which details Farris’s early life growing up in Franklin County, Tennessee. “We didn’t have much, and life always felt like a struggle, and for many years, I found it hard to go back there. But in a way, “Ease On” pulled the curtain back and allowed me to take stock of where I came from and how I got here.” said Farris.

The mantra of “ease on” continues in “Bird in The Rain.” “That song came to me,” said Farris, “like many songs do, early in the morning around the kitchen table. When I left New York to move back to Tennessee, it was partly because I had realized I couldn’t write the songs I needed to write up there. I had to get back home and have the soil under and all over my feet. “Bird in The Rain” is proof of that. And “Sunset Road” is about the futility of worry… that’s it in a nutshell. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of my songs are written directly through me via the Great Spirit.”

“Bright Lights” was the last song written for the album. Farris said, “I had the chorus for a few years, but I never could get past that point to the verses. But the power of sometimes letting go of what your perceived plans are, or ideas of songs, or maybe life in general, and allowing all possibilities to have a place at the table can surprise you in the most amazing ways. The idea behind the song is that the musician’s life is way more complicated than just what you see once the songs reach the performance stage. For all that to happen, it takes thousands of hours alone, working on the craft — countless ups and downs, self-doubt, big moments that fill you with hope, and low moments that test every ounce of meddle you have. It’s a deep, mysterious road we travel, that only a relative few are crazy enough to endure, and it demands everything. In the end, it’s all we know. It’s all I have ever done, and I wouldn’t trade it for all the riches in the world.”

BARRY WALDREP - James "Barry" Waldrep is an American Bluegrass, Jam Band, Americana instrumentalist, songwriter, composer and producer.   Main instruments played are acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin and banjo.

Waldrep co-founded the Alabama-based bluegrass/jam band Rollin' in the Hay in July 1993.  The band was based in Birmingham, Alabama, and formed as a side project.  Waldrep was a also a full time member of the Birmingham band Telluride.  Rollin' In The Hay soon became a full-time band touring the Jam Band circuit of festivals and college campuses across the country until May 2009. Rollin' in the Hay produced 7 CDs and performed over 300 dates per year for 16 years. 

During this time, Waldrep recorded 21 bluegrass tribute albums for CMH Records in Los Angeles for Eric Clapton, The Black Crowes, Widespread Panic, Phish, R.E.M., Tim McGraw, The Allman Brothers, Neil Diamond and others. He was also featured on the CD Masterworks of American Bluegrass also produced by CMH Records. At this point, Waldrep started recording solo records and doing studio sessions with other artists. 

In September 2009, Zac Brown invited Waldrep to join him on his Breaking Southern Ground Tour.  Waldrep is featured on the Zac Brown Band Pass The Jar CD/DVD, along with Kid Rock, and Little Big Town. During this time he met the husband and wife country duo Joey + Rory. He did a tour with them during the Zac Brown Tour, and in some cases, they all toured together. In addition, Waldrep performed at the Grand Ole' Opry several times and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, which was the previous home of the Grand Ole' Opry. 

In January 2013, after landing a record deal with Singular Records in San Francisco, California, Waldrep began the "Smoke From the Kitchen" sessions, which is a bluegrass banjo/southern rock project. This project includes artists Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones), Paul T. Riddle (Marshall Tucker Band), Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers), Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), Coy Bowles (Zac Brown Band), Benji Shanks and Jazz Grass Mandolin player David "Dawg" Grisman. 

In January 2016 Barry teamed up with singer songwriter Kelli Johnson to spend the year touring as a duo. During this year they released one CD titled "Hey Country" (where are you now). 

October 2016, Barry announces he will be touring with Country Artist John Berry as a member of his band on Johns 2016 Christmas tour. 

January 2017, Barry Waldrep and friends began performing their fusion of Bluegrass/Southern Rock with special guest vocalists. The band is Barry (Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin & Banjo), Jason Bailey (Mandolin), Chris Reeves (Drums) & Bryan Hall (Upright Bass). Guest vocalists Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie, Jeff Beck, Hank Williams Jr), Donna Hall & Joe Debrow.  

2018, Barry continues with  his own band, and their shows have been called by fans as a "SOUTHERN CULTURE REVIVAL".  Waldrep states that this branding is the result of just being who we are.  "No matter what we play it's gonna sound southern". 

He and his band mates all all natives of Georgia and Alabama and have musical influences from Bluegrass, Jazz, Southern Rock and Gospel. 

2020, In addition to his band performances, Barry often appears with various artists including John Cowan, Radney Foster, John Berry and Jimmy Hall.

2021, Barry releases Barry Waldrep & Friends Celebrate Tony Rice.  An album he produced and recorded in tribute to Acoustic Guitar Master Tony Rice featuring: Vince Gill, Marty Raybon, John Berry, John Cowan, Rodney Crowell,Jimmy Hall, Radney Foster, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Mike Farris, Jacob Bunton, Kim Richey, Kelli Johnson & Donna Hall, John Jorgenson, Patrick Simmons, Rory Feek, Warren Haynes,Jim Lauderdale, Darrell Scott,John Paul White,Tammy Rogers,Emmylou Harris and many others.