In 1976, Emmylou Harris, an old friend, called to ask me to sing on her upcoming album, Elite Hotel, in LA. That wonderful experience led to a two-album record deal with Warner/Reprise. Rockin' Chair was recorded with The Hot Band (and believe me, they were), an amazing group of musicians like James Burton, Herb Pederson, Glen D. Hardin, Rodney Crowell and Emmy Lou herself. Soon I was back hitting the road. I moved back to the States, to New Hampshire, in 1979, and continued to tour. Sail Boat featured many of the same people and yielded a Top-10 Canadian hit with "Carolina, Caroline."

1982 found me remarried, re-energized and living in Virginia, just miles from where I grew up. I did a live record in '82 with my own band on my own label, Chronic Records, and sometime after that started sitting in with one of the best bluegrass bands in the world - The Seldom Scene. They played every Thursday night at a local club. It sounded good. So good that in 1988 we went into the studio together and recorded and released Blue Ridge for Sugar Hill, the bluegrass label. Around the same time, I recorded an album for children on a tiny label in Connecticut, produced by former Seldom Scene member Phil Rosenthal. Selected by the National Library Association as a "Notable Childrens' Recording," the album has sold over twenty thousand copies, far beyond our original expectations, and is still going strong! Around that time I also established my musical relationship with Cheryl Wheeler, first hiring her as my touring bass player, then producing her first album (and just last year I got to produce her latest, Driving Home, as well).

Wendy Waldman and I got together in 1989 and co-produced an album on MCA/Curb called The Natural Thing. The video, "What We Made (When We Made Love)" ran for nine months on the country video channels. It was a collection of great songs about the love of family and the love of love. We had a blast making the record, working with great, soulful studio musicians, but if there's one thing I've learned about the record business, there's so much more to it than just the music...We didn't get the promotional push needed to make the album a hit, so -- bang -- it was a quick trip into the cut-out bins!

As the '90's began, I signed with Fleming/Tamulevich for touring. They're an agency that believes in getting their artists work. Surprisingly, that's not how most booking agents do it. Usually an act puts out a record and their agent sets up a promotional tour. If the record's a hit, there's more touring. If it's not, there are no more gigs until the next record. Fleming/Tamulevich keeps their roster small, and they work hard. I love it. I tour most of the year. It keeps me in touch with the thousands of folks who come out to see me and want to hear all the songs whether I've got a record deal or not. I don't care if I'm playing in a corner bar, or a church basement or in a large concert hall: I like reaching people. I like reaching the people who have maybe never seen me before; I like reaching people who may only know "Sunshine" or "Lay around the Shanty;" I like reaching people who come up to me after the show and say, "I just want to thank you jor the music you've put into my life and the hard times you've helped get me through and by the way where's that new album?"

Well here it is. Last year I was out at Christine Lavin's "Songwriter's Retreat" on Martha's Vineyard (one of my tunes is featured on the new Philo cd "Follow That Road") where I met Lloyd Donelly and we fell in musical love. We recorded the record at a little analog studio in Upstate New York, having a great time, going for a warm, tube-amp driven sound. It's a broad mix of songs, some with a doo-wop feel, some with a Soul or Gospel twist, and some pretty folk-based stuff. There's a tune I co-wrote with Pierce Pettis, and Garth Hudson of The Band stopped by to play on another one. Give it a listen. I love it.

It may be difficult to categorize just what kind of music I do, but I'm loving that whatever-it-is more and more. I get to call the shots in my career; I get to travel around the world playing tmy songs for people who want to hear them.

And on top of all of that, I get paid for doing it. Who could ask for more?

Thanks for listening!

-- Jonathan Edwards, 7/94