Mike Farris, INO Records recording artist

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08.30.10Press Release For Charity EP

New Release to Benefit Nashville Homeless and Flood Relief

"MIKE FARRIS is MAGIC - The Rejuvenator! You gotta see it to believe it!" - Delbert McClinton

( Nashville , TN ) August, 2010—Acclaimed Americana/Gospel artist Mike Farris announces the October 26^th Entertainment One Music release of The Night The Cumberland Came Alive, a 6-song EP to commemorate and celebrate the rebirth of Nashville, a city and its surrounding communities devastated by a "1,000 year" flood on May 1, 2010.

The project was recorded just weeks after the flood, as the people of middle Tennessee regained their civic pride and rallied to help their neighbors and rebuild. The Night The Cumberland Came Alive features an all-star cast of musicians including: Sam Bush, Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart), Ketch Secor and Gill Landry from Old Crow Medicine Show, Byron House (Robert Plant), as well as Ann, Regina and Alfreda McCrary (The McCrary Sisters), Derrek Phillips and Eric Holt from Farris' own Roseland Rhythm Revue.

The Night The Cumberland Came Alive - the first of Farris' Rose Memorial Fund projects, an ongoing charitable outreach in memory of his long time manager and friend Rose McGathy - rolls out a decidedly pre-war Americana sound while delivering a hopeful message of restoration.

"Stylistically, pre-war American music has long been a passion of mine," Farris says of the project. "Before the flood, we'd been searching for songs that would evoke the struggle and the victory of the working class, a sound rising up out of flesh and bone, of spit and spirit. But then, as a city, we were hit square in the gut by this unbelievable flood. And that sound meshed with the spirit of resurrection we saw rise up all over this area. When we gathered in that historic church to lay it all down, what happened was beyond our imaginations."

The title track's lyrics deal directly with the flood, and Farris penned "Dear Lazarus" along with Ketch Secor just days before the recording. According to Mike, "Playing these songs—sight unseen, without so much as a lead sheet—and with such a dream team of musicians was the thrill of a lifetime. You can hear the passion. You can feel the love in the room. And I'm thrilled to release it to help this community get back on its feet."

This release comes hot off the heels of Farris' recent GMA Dove Award for Best Traditional Gospel album of the year for 2009's SHOUT! Live, a sweat-drenched document of his Sunday Night Shout residency dates at the legendary Station Inn in Nashville . The EP is also a continuation of the musical and spiritual journey that Farris began with his 2007 release, Salvation In Lights, which contributed to him receiving the 2008 Americana Music Association's New & Emerging Artist of the Year award. The music is steeped in traditions explored on that record and widens the lens of the American treasure that it represents - roots, gospel and blues.

07.26.10Recommended Download

Mike's song, Trouble of the World, was one of the two recommended download picks in a review online at The Pilot, which has a huge circulation in the Virginia Tidewater area.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/various-forgotten-not-gone?cid=poblg

07.23.10New Songs Available To Download

3 new songs from the upcoming charity EP are now available as a free download at www.noisetrade.com/mikefarrismusic and we encourage everyone to post this on their facebook, tweet and tell the world about it. There is an option to donate to the artist via paypal if you like and those monies will be donated to the charity effort in advance of the full EP releasing this fall.

07.21.10Southern Music at Its Best

Nice article about the 2010–2011 Southern Soul & Song Concert Series

http://musicmattersga.blogspot.com/2010/07/southern-music-at-its-best-gospel.html

06.14.10The Night The Cumberland Came Alive

Mike recently recorded six songs in six hours at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville with a host of major Nashville talent including Ketch Secor and Gill Landry from Old Crow Medicine Show, Sam Bush, Kenny Vaughan, Byron House, The McCrary Sisters and several others. You can preview a rough mix of the track "The Night The Cumberland Came Alive" now at http://www.mikefarrismusic.net/charity/

06.01.10Mike does his best Bono

Mike will be performing several songs with The Long Players Friday June 4th @ The Cannery Ballroom in Nashville as they interpret U2's The Joshua Tree. For more details please go to www.TheLongPlayers.com

04.22.10SHOUT! wins Dove Award

Mike Farris' SHOUT! Live has won the Dove Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album of 2009. We are very honored to be recognized by the Gospel Music Association with this award and humbly acknowledge the other artists in the category. The 41st Annual Dove Awards were held at the Grand Ole Opry on Wednesday April 22nd in Nashville, TN.

04.04.10Solo shows opening for Allen Toussaint

Mike will be opening up for Allen Toussaint on three upcoming shows. He will be performing solo on these dates. 4/12: Belcourt Theatere- Nashville, TN; 4/14: Bijou Theatre - Knoxville, TN; 4/15: The Orange Peel-Asheville, NC. Not to be missed if you are in the vicinity of any of them.

02.08.10Mike & The McCrary Sisters guest on Patty Griffin's new release

Downtown Church by Patty Griffin was just released and features Mike along with Ann & Regina McCrary on backing vocals on several of the tracks. The record, produced by Buddy Miller, also features Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Raul Malo as well as Buddy himself and wife Julie Miller. Comprised of old spirituals and 2 originals this record was recorded at the Downtown Presbyterian Church (where Mike did his Salvation In Lights record release show back in June 2007) and is an absolutely sumptuous album sure to appeal to not only her dedicated fan base but all lovers of this traditional spiritual music. For more info on the project and Patty go to www.pattygriffin.com