john r. williamson and the c’est la vies, who perform original toe-tapping salt-of-the-earth roots music, call to mind the soul-stirring stuff of Mississippi John Hurt, Bob Dylan, and the late great Johnny Cash. Their music is a rich canvas of country blues, gypsy music and gospel painted with the acoustic brush of daniel s. mccoy at ToneMesa.com. “John R. Williamson is a music artist. He writes beautiful and haunting songs that come from a different place.” - T Bone Burnett. Their two most recent albums, the visceral “Lost Songs” (2002) and the stunning “Maybe In A Shade You Don’t Know” received critical acclaim from PASTE Magazine and Opus Magazine. While their passion is playing concerts, they have also appeared on NPR’s All Songs Considered, as well as Choices with Dorothea Bradley and KXLU radio. They are currently recording their new album, “Portable Shrine”, which is slated for release later this year on ToneMesa. the current lineup features John R. Williamson, who has been writing and performing since 1987, the amazing Zeus Alvarez on drums, and Rosamond Finley, a compelling violinist who studied violin performance at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Alvarez is the veteran of the band, having joined in 1999. He's a Gabrielano, which is ironic in that they are a tribe that doesn't utilize drums. In other words, he's the exception to the rule. Alvarez has a fondness for the Ludwig kit and has been known to make and refinish his own drums. He plays with mallots, brushes, sticks, and even deer's toes. Many of his instruments have his personal signature on them. He's a work of art … a dynamo. Finley, who began playing at the age of 3, also performed in a Nashville Belly Dancing Troupe and Orchestra, called The Perfumed Garden, before coming out West. Influences: Bob Dylan (particularly Highway 61 and Time Out of Mind), Joni Mitchell (Blue only), Townes Van Zandt, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, T Bone Burnett, Peter Case, Lucinda Williams, Hank Williams, The Louvin Brothers, The Beatles, Susana Baca, Los Super 7, Sylvio Rodriguez, John Hartford, Yo La Tengo, Phily Joe Jones, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Johan Sebastian Bach, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie Players: john r. williamson - singing, guitars, charango, bass, percussion + daniel s. mccoy - engineer and producer at tonemesa west (www.tonemesa.com) // supporting crew (past and present):// rosamond finley - violin zeus alverez - drums and percussion robert deeble - singing and guitars, plus percussion mandy troxel - singing david finley - singing and guitar the world's toughest milkman - guitar joel heflin - marimba, percussion trevor king - bass steve mcgill - vibraphone, percussion alan bartholemew - cello buggs manocchi - drums ricardo romero - guitars and charango mike nichols - guitar richard cranch - guitar mike fay - upright bass jerry monteros - flutes orlando duenas - accordion and organ