Will Kimbrough is an acclaimed songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Mobile, Ala. now based out of Nashville. He has toured and recorded with such acts as Rodney Crowell, Jimmy Buffett and Todd Snider while releasing seven albums of his own, including his latest, Sideshow Love. A generation ago, Kimbrough was the leader of popular club act, Will and the Bushmen. His latest band project is Willie Sugarcapps, a Gulf Coast folk-rock group whose eponymous-named album was voted best Americana album of 2013. He continues to tour solo and with Willie Sugarcapps.

David Joy’s debut novel is the just released, Where All Light Tends to Go (Putnam). It is the story of 18- year-old Jacob Neely who works in his father’s organized meth ring in the hard scrabble mountains of North Carolina. Violent events force Jacob to choose between his father’s brutal drug dealings or the woman he loves in this harrowing story described as “Winter’s Bone meets Breaking Bad.” Joy’s previous book was the memoir, Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey. Joy lives in Webster, North Carolina.

Songwriter Mark Edgar Stuart has just released his second CD, Trinity My Dear (Madjack). A native of Arkansas, he is based in Memphis where for years he was the bass player for the Americana band, the Pawtuckets. The death of his father and his own bout with cancer in 2011 pushed Stuart into songwriting culminating in his first solo release, Blues for Lou. Stuart is now a sought after producer and performer in the musically-rich Memphis area.