Love Bytes says hello and welcome to author Avon Gale who is joining us today to talk about new release : The Love Song of Sawyer Bell.

Welcome Avon 🙂

Hi! My name is Avon Gale, and I’m here today to talk about my new book, The Love Song of Sawyer Bell, which is about an Americana rocker who falls for her new fiddle player, a classically-trained student at Juilliard looking to rediscover her love of music.

 

Americana/Alt-Country is my favorite music genre, but it’s somewhat hard to define and I’m sure people would argue with me for putting them together. But for the sake of this post, I’m gonna – I can leave the arguing for the comments section of Pitchfork, LOL.

 

Anyway, Americana is a mix of rock, country-western and folk music (as I would define it), and I thought I’d share with you today five of my favorite bands if you were interested in checking them out. These bands run the gamut from more rock-focused to folksy, but I love all of them 😀

 

Murder By Death

By far my favorite band, these guys are just…incredible. Their music mixes Americana and dark folk/rock, and the lyrics are often stories about miscreants and villains, which I adore. Their sound is evolving from their earlier music, and I love every album on their journey though my favorite is Red of Tooth and Claw. Adam Turla, the main singer, has a deep baritone and I swear sounds like Johnny Cash on the song “Shiola.” Also, his wife Sarah plays the cello and shows up at concerts with an electric cello, so, you know. A) that’s badass, and B) the sound just makes the music so rich and interesting. Guys, I can go on and on about Murder By Death (they’re also super nice), but let me just end this by saying they do a three-night show at the Stanley Hotel (Stephen King’s inspiration for the Overlook in The Shining) every year, and I’m going for my second year in a row. I love them and you should, too.

 

Album I’d Recommend: ALL OF THEM (for a newbie, check out Good Morning, Magpie – the album and the song both – or Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, which is outstanding).

Avon’s Favorite Song: Good Morning, Magpie (I have a tattoo of the lyrics “just follow some other storm”).

 

Lucero

I’ve been to more Lucero concerts than any other band (and am going to one in a few days!), and they’re the inspiration for the band Racer in The Love Song of Sawyer Bell. Lead singer Ben Nichols (my inspiration for Jax Elliott) has a gravel-rough voice, is super awesome, and the band is high-energy and their concerts are the same – you might, though, get sprayed with some PBR if you’re in the front row. This band has developed a loyal and passionate following just through touring, and it shows. Their sound is evolving from rock/alt-country to add a distinct Delta Blues style, which makes sense as they’re from Memphis.

Album I’d Recommend: 1372 Overton Park

Avon’s Favorite Song: What Else Would You Have Me Be?

 

Drive-By Truckers 

The Truckers are another band with an insanely loyal following, developed through years and years of constant touring. They’re definitely a rock band, and the line-up has changed over the years (including Jason Isbell), but it remains centered around Patterson Hood (who is like…amazing? He’s political and outspoken and I can’t even with this man) and Mike Cooley (who might have the hottest voice I’ve ever heard in my life). They have a longstanding friendship that is totally #friendshipgoals, omg. Truckers shows are basically the most stress-reducing things ever.

Album I’d Recommend: Southern Rock Opera

Avon’s Favorite Song: Zip City

 

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls

Frank Turner is definitely on the rock!side of things. He’s British, and his band puts on one HELL of a show. He’s outspoken and a fantastic lyricist, and he just wrote a song about the current world we’re living in called “Be Kind”, so that should tell you something about how awesome he is. His music is upbeat and his lyrics are super honest, raw and hopeful.

Album I’d Recommend: England Keep My Bones

Avon’s Favorite Song: The Road (I have a tattoo of these lyrics, too)

 

Shovels and Rope

This is a husband-and-wife team from South Carolina, and they’re so unique – I can’t think of any band that sounds like them. They play every single instrument at their shows – like, at once. As in one of them is playing the drums while singing and playing the harmonica and the guitar, I don’t even know how it’s possible. Also Cary Ann’s voice is powerful and distinctive and I just adore it.

Album I’d Recommend: O be Joyful

Avon’s Favorite Song: Birmingham

 

Other bands I love: Devil Makes Three, Turnpike Troubadours, Old 97’s – look, I could go on and on.

 

Come talk to me about music anytime!!

 

 

About The Love Song of Sawyer Bell

 

Victoria “Vix” Vincent has only two weeks to find a replacement fiddle player for her band’s summer tour. When classically trained violinist Sawyer Bell shows up for an audition, Vix is thrilled. Sawyer is talented, gorgeous, funny, and excited about playing indie rock instead of Beethoven. Their friendship soon blossoms into romance, even though Vix tries to remember that Sawyer’s presence is only temporary.

 

Sawyer’s parents think she’s spending the summer months touring Europe with a chamber ensemble. But Sawyer is in dire need of a break from the competitiveness of Juilliard, and desperately wants to rediscover her love of music. Going on tour with her secret high school crush is just an added bonus. Especially when Vix kisses her one night after a show, and they discover that the stage isn’t the only place they have chemistry.

 

But the tour won’t last forever, and as the summer winds down, Sawyer has to make a tough decision about her future—and what it means to follow her heart.

 

Now available from:

Riptide Publishing.

Amazon

About Avon Gale

 

Avon grew up in the southern United States, and now lives with her very patient husband in a liberal Midwestern college town. When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music or yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together, already. Avon is always up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress relieving as a good rock concert, and will never say no to candy.

 

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare. This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

 

Connect with Avon:

• Website: www.avongalewrites.com
• Blog: www.avongalewrites.com/category/blog/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/avongalewrites
• Twitter: @avongalewrites
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/avongalewrites/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/avongale/

 

 

To celebrate this release, one lucky winner will receive a signed paperback copy of The Love Song of Sawyer Bell! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 30, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!