Pure Prairie League and Orleans

From their beginnings in mid-Sixties Ohio as a group of friends playing cover tunes to the present-day unit featuring the propulsive team of drummer Scott Thompson and bassist Jared Camic, keyboard master Randy Harper, guitar ace/vocalist Jeff Zona and Pedal Steel/Saxophonist John Heinrich, PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE continues to embellish the rich 50-plus year history of one of Country-Rock’s pioneering forces. As one reviewer recently wrote: “PPL’s sound combines sweet memories with edgy, contemporary muscle. Their vocals are as strong as Kentucky moonshine and the musicianship and performance skills are as sharp as a straight razor”.

Their eponymous first album – featuring the Norman Rockwell/Saturday Evening Post cover that introduced fans to PPL’s trademark cowpoke “Sad Luke” – has been hailed as a “major early influence in the emerging popularity of Country-Rock music”. Their second effort, the multi-platinum “Bustin’ Out” brought us the Craig Fuller-penned classic “Amie”, along with other gems of the genre. With “Two Lane Highway”, nine more albums and countless shows, a legacy has been forged and enriched, highlighting contributions from several noteworthy members, including original co-founder George Ed Powell, Cincinnati’s legendary Goshorn Brothers, Country Hall of Famers Gary Burr and Vince Gill, award-winning writer Jeff Wilson (3 Top-20 singles), top Nashville session vocalist Curtis Wright, and a host of other guest appearances from Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, EmmyLou Harris, David Sanborn, Don Felder, Nicolette Larson, Rosemary Butler, Jenifer Wrinkle, Jeff (Birdman) Kirk, Mat Britain and many more.

With the release of their new album “Back On Track” PPL brings it all back home with a dozen new songs that complete the circle begun in 1970 and continue today

From their earliest days as a favorite at colleges and clubs in the Northeast US … to studio and live collaborations with great artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Little Feat and many others … to Top 10 success with bona-fide classics such as “Still the One”, “Dance With Me” and “Love Takes Time” …  Orleans is now celebrating 50 years of creating musical history.

   Formed in Woodstock, NY in February 1972 by John Hall, Larry  Hoppen and Wells Kelly, Orleans became a quartet when Lance Hoppen joined in October of that year. Hall’s “Half Moon” was in the first batch of original song demos but, to fill out live shows, they played lots of covers. Some were Alan Toussaint, Neville Brothers / Meters tunes (hence the intended-to-be-temporary choice of name) as they went about perfecting a delicious recipe of eclectic material, incorporating rock, R&B and reggae with vocal harmony. That led Rolling Stone  magazine to christen them “the best unrecorded band in the country” in early 1973.