A TRIBUTE TO ALL VETERANS PRESENTED BY CUMBERLAND PLATEAU CHAPTER 1015 OF THE VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA FEATURING CARRIE HASSLER AND HARD RAIN
Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain came out of nowhere -- actually Crossville TN -- in 2006 when their debut album for the Rural Rhythm label, Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, took the bluegrass world by storm coming onto the Billboard Top Bluegrass Top Album Charts at number 11 and charting regularly for the next two years. It earned enough airplay to spend nine months on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey Top 15 Album Chart, and the album's first single, "Seven Miles from Wichita," went to number one on Sirius Radio's Bluegrass Top 40 and spent ten months on the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Chart, crossing over to country radio as well. To top it all off, the gospel flavored track, "Least That I Can Do," spent a year on Bluegrass Now Magazine's Gospel Truths Chart. Not too bad for an album that was originally made to give away as a gift to family and friends.
Hassler was a stay at home mom with a husband and young son and although she enjoyed singing and performing, getting a record deal was the furthest thing from her mind. She was born in Chattanooga and raised in the small town of Pikeville, TN. Her mother was a piano teacher and everyone in her extended family sings and plays music. Her father worked the soundboard for a local gospel group, so Hassler was well versed in various styles of gospel music as a child. She was a shy, quiet girl, but when she started singing in the church choir at the age of nine, she shocked family members with the power and clarity of her voice. All she ever wanted to do was sing, but school, and later on raising her family, took precedence over her desire to be on-stage.
Hassler sang with a few bands doing covers of country music hits and had a low-key local career playing weddings, fairs, and private parties. She took some vocal training in junior high with gospel singer John Blassingame who taught at Chattanooga State College, but when he passed on she never went back and relies on her innate music sense for her vocal style. In 2004, she had a part in a review that payed tribute to Patsy Cline. A bluegrass band was on the bill and she asked them if she could sing a song with them. Both the band and Hassler were blown away by the power of her performance. Pikeville hosts three bluegrass festivals every year, so Hassler had grown up loving bluegrass and gospel, but never thought about singing with a bluegrass group. The reaction to her performance was immediate. She started playing local bluegrass shows with a loose coalition of players, most of them older pickers. When friends and family suggested making an album she warmed to the idea. Hassler met fiddler Jim VanCleve of Mountain Heart and he offered to produce a CD for her and her still unnamed band. The sessions were a patchwork affair; some tunes were cut with Hassler's regular group and some with musicians VanCleve brought in. Five of the new players -- Kevin McKinnon, mandolin; Keith McKinnon, guitar; Travis Anderson, bass; Josh Miller, banjo, and Dennis Harper, Dobro -- soon became Hassler's regular backing band. "Hard Rain" was the name of one of the strongest tracks they cut for the album and it became the name of the band. Shortly after Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain was finished, fiddler Jamie Harper stepped in to replace Dennis Harper, who was leaving to play with Doyle Lawson's band.
Even before the sessions for Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain were over, Rural Rhythm expressed interest and when the album came out its unexpected success was a surprise to everyone. CHHR took to the road and logged over 150 dates with Hassler's husband and son joining mom on the road in her new career. With Hassler's emotive alto a clear match for any country diva you might want to compare her to and a smoking band, CHHR shot to the top echelon of live bluegrass bands.
In 2008, the band cut Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain 2 produced again by VanCleve. It entered Billboard's Top 50 Bluegrass Chart at number five. Hassler's vocals have been compared to gospel singer Sheri Easter, Etta James, Patsy Cline, Dale Ann Bradley, and Alison Krauss, but she has her own style of down-home soul. The songs were all road tested and many were written by banjo ace Josh Miller, who finely balances traditional bluegrass and contemporary country instincts in his tunes, although the band has no plans to make any overt crossover moves. In early 2009, CHHR were already writing new material and planning album three. ~ j. poet, All Music Guide
Carrie Hassler...
I grew up in a very musical family so love for music was something we all shared. Singing music I enjoyed and serving the Lord was something I loved and still love to do. Although I’ve tried many types of music, I never found my true place until I sang my first bluegrass song. I was thrilled with the sound, warmth, and just the feeling that bluegrass music gave me. Keeping with my roots and my love for gospel music, this was a great opportunity to keep doing a few wonderful bluegrass gospel songs in almost every show. I owe so much to my wonderful family. God truly blessed me and still blesses me with all the love and support I need to keep moving on. Now, two of the greatest blessings in my life are my husband, Thom, and our precious little boy, Halen. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the excitement in our little man’s eyes when he gets on stage with his fiddle.
Jamie Harper...
Jamie Harper, the fiddle player for CHHR born and raised in Mocksville, NC. Got his start in his family band growing up, at the age 7 took up the fiddle and entered Fiddlers Conventions where he meet Keith and Kevin McKinnon. Now burning it up on stage with Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain.
Kevin McKinnon...
Kevin McKinnon is a 19 yr old musician, who is in love with bluegrass. Learning of bluegrass at an early age, he was babysitter by old tapes of bluegrass shows from CMT. He got his Mandolin when he was 3 and has added more instruments to his catalog including, banjo, guitar, bass, and drums. He started a band with his brother around the age of 14 ( Lonesome Drive ), which went on to win many band contests along the way. In August of 2005, Kevin hit the road with The Jeanette Williams Band, before finally ending up with Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain!!!!!!!!!
Keith McKinnon...
Keith McKinnon was born and raised in Southwest Virginia. He grew up around bluegrass and learned to love it. At age 5 he was given a fiddle by his dad and from then on that's all he wanted to do. He would sit in front of the TV and watch old tapes of the American Music Shoppe and that would be his babysitter. He grew up playing fiddle and placed in a few competitions around the area. At age 12 he found a love for guitar. He started picking up his dad's guitar and messing around on it until eventually he was as good at playing guitar as he was playing the fiddle. He went on to win several competitions. Shortly after having picked up the guitar he started a band with his brother and few family friends. They played around at local fiddler's conventions but nothing big. Now at age 19 he has found himself playing and singing with Carrie Hassler. With his aggressive rhythm and tasteful breaks he makes up 1 of 5 of Hard Rain.
Travis Anderson...
“I can remember laying in the floorboard of our ’78 Ford Ranger with the speaker rattling on the low notes right in my ear. I think that helped me focus on the bass lines in the songs. Daddy had an Emmylou Harris 8 track, and I thought it would be so cool if I could play that bass like they did on C’est La Vie (You Never Can Tell), and Two More Bottles of Wine. After seeing Steve Bryant with J.D. Crowe and the New South, and T. Michael Coleman with Doc and Merle Watson I knew for sure I had to learn how to do that.” With Travis on Bass and his brother Chad on Mandolin, they began learning songs with their Dad who played Banjo and Guitar. Around that same time Bob started playing Dobro, they picked up a Banjo player named Steve Moore and became known as Anderson and Moore. Playing local venues with this group helped Travis hone his performing skills. br> New member no info available.
Warming up the crowd will be Paul Pace Paul's Bio below.
You walk into a bar, and there's this guy on a stool by the window, crouching over his guitar. And you just know he's going to try to cut through all that noise with something like "Boot Scootin' Boogie" or "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," anything to grab the crowd's attention. But this one doesn't. Instead, with the softest of strums, he eases into a satin-smooth version of Don Williams' "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good." Slowly the chatter at the bar trails off, and heads begin turning his way. Now he's got them. The singer is Paul Pace, and this is the kind of vocal magic he works every time he performs. To top it all off, he knows country music like a librarian knows books. Two songs later, he's resurrecting Bobby Bare's "Tequila Sheila," a song so seldom heard these days that even Bare has probably forgotten it.
Pace grew up on a farm near Cattletsburg, Kentucky, in the same area that spawned Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, the Judds, Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam and Billy Ray Cyrus. At home, he was steeped in music. "My dad and mom had a big record collection and this old console stereo," he recalls. "Dad had all of the Merle Haggard, George Jones, Marty Robbins and Buck Owens records. Mom had the Ray Charles, Peter, Paul & Mary and Perry Como stuff. I was watching TV once and saw Merle Haggard singing in front of all those people. Right then I decided that's what I wanted to do."
In support of his musical ambition, Pace's mother enrolled him in piano lessons when he was in the second grade. "So I started on the piano," he says. "I always wanted a guitar, though, and they finally got me one when I got to junior high school. By the time I went to high school, I wanted to play in bands. So I started playing the guitar more and singing more." Although his was a minority opinion in high school, Pace says he never wavered in his love for country music. "Everybody was listening to AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne, and I was saying, 'No, man, you ought to be listening to this George Jones guy and this George Strait guy.'"
Pace planned to go to college and major in agriculture, but he changed his mind at the last minute. "Instead of studying Ag, I enrolled in a small college Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and studied opera there for six years. I really enjoyed that. It was a good experience. I met a lot of good people and, as a vocal major, learned a lot about music. I used some of the techniques they taught me for opera to sing country music in bars on the weekends."
Urged on by Judy Jennings, then the general manager of radio station WTCR in Ashland, Kentucky, Pace entered the local division of the True Value Country Showdown in 1991 and won. Then he competed at the state level and won there as well. Emboldened by his success, he began commuting to Nashville. Jennings introduced him to the legendary Jack McFadden, who was so impressed by Pace's powerful voice and stage charisma that he offered to manage him. "Judy promoted me as if I were a national act," Pace says, "and she continues to support me and play my songs." McFadden had become famous managing Buck Owens and, years later, Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan. Unfortunately for Pace, McFadden was also handling another newcomer at the time, Billy Ray Cyrus. When "Achy Breaky Heart" broke the following year and McFadden found himself riding a superstar, Pace knew it was time to move on.
By this point, Pace had become a formidable songwriter. To develop that talent and pursue a recording career, he relocated to Nashville in 1995. Since then, local gigs, songwriting sessions and an occasional show "back home" have kept him busy. But he's even busier now recording his first album for Labeless Nashville, with Buddy Hyatt producing. "Buddy knows everything there is to know about making a record," Pace marvels. "He's got great ears."
As for his own musical direction, Pace's vision remains clear. "You want to know who my heroes are. I can name them to you in order: George Jones, Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, Don Williams and Alan Jackson. And I love Ronnie Milsap and Conway Twitty, too. I grew up in the middle of country music, and I can't get enough of it."
Carrie Hassler...
I grew up in a very musical family so love for music was something we all shared. Singing music I enjoyed and serving the Lord was something I loved and still love to do. Although I’ve tried many types of music, I never found my true place until I sang my first bluegrass song. I was thrilled with the sound, warmth, and just the feeling that bluegrass music gave me. Keeping with my roots and my love for gospel music, this was a great opportunity to keep doing a few wonderful bluegrass gospel songs in almost every show. I owe so much to my wonderful family. God truly blessed me and still blesses me with all the love and support I need to keep moving on. Now, two of the greatest blessings in my life are my husband, Thom, and our precious little boy, Halen. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the excitement in our little man’s eyes when he gets on stage with his fiddle. 
Keith McKinnon...
Keith McKinnon was born and raised in Southwest Virginia. He grew up around bluegrass and learned to love it. At age 5 he was given a fiddle by his dad and from then on that's all he wanted to do. He would sit in front of the TV and watch old tapes of the American Music Shoppe and that would be his babysitter. He grew up playing fiddle and placed in a few competitions around the area. At age 12 he found a love for guitar. He started picking up his dad's guitar and messing around on it until eventually he was as good at playing guitar as he was playing the fiddle. He went on to win several competitions. Shortly after having picked up the guitar he started a band with his brother and few family friends. They played around at local fiddler's conventions but nothing big. Now at age 19 he has found himself playing and singing with Carrie Hassler. With his aggressive rhythm and tasteful breaks he makes up 1 of 5 of Hard Rain.
Travis Anderson...
“I can remember laying in the floorboard of our ’78 Ford Ranger with the speaker rattling on the low notes right in my ear. I think that helped me focus on the bass lines in the songs. Daddy had an Emmylou Harris 8 track, and I thought it would be so cool if I could play that bass like they did on C’est La Vie (You Never Can Tell), and Two More Bottles of Wine. After seeing Steve Bryant with J.D. Crowe and the New South, and T. Michael Coleman with Doc and Merle Watson I knew for sure I had to learn how to do that.” With Travis on Bass and his brother Chad on Mandolin, they began learning songs with their Dad who played Banjo and Guitar. Around that same time Bob started playing Dobro, they picked up a Banjo player named Steve Moore and became known as Anderson and Moore. Playing local venues with this group helped Travis hone his performing skills.
Paul's Bio below.
You walk into a bar, and there's this guy on a stool by the window, crouching over his guitar. And you just know he's going to try to cut through all that noise with something like "Boot Scootin' Boogie" or "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," anything to grab the crowd's attention. But this one doesn't. Instead, with the softest of strums, he eases into a satin-smooth version of Don Williams' "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good." Slowly the chatter at the bar trails off, and heads begin turning his way. Now he's got them. The singer is Paul Pace, and this is the kind of vocal magic he works every time he performs. To top it all off, he knows country music like a librarian knows books. Two songs later, he's resurrecting Bobby Bare's "Tequila Sheila," a song so seldom heard these days that even Bare has probably forgotten it.
Pace grew up on a farm near Cattletsburg, Kentucky, in the same area that spawned Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, the Judds, Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam and Billy Ray Cyrus. At home, he was steeped in music. "My dad and mom had a big record collection and this old console stereo," he recalls. "Dad had all of the Merle Haggard, George Jones, Marty Robbins and Buck Owens records. Mom had the Ray Charles, Peter, Paul & Mary and Perry Como stuff. I was watching TV once and saw Merle Haggard singing in front of all those people. Right then I decided that's what I wanted to do." 