Old Sole

Old Sole is a new band, a reunion of sorts for a circle of long-time friends, a gathering of energies of four musicians who have traveled many musical roads recording and performing. As picking parties and bluegrass jams foster friendships and musicianship, so was the case at Miss Hyatt's jam in Asheville, NC where Jason Shore and Shane Lail met in the mid-1990s. From that night on, they continued to play at local jam sessions together and later attended a popular annual bluegrass event in Asheville, "Bluegrass First Class," where Joe Littel entered the picture. Littel's smooth bluesy style on the Dobro instantly meshed with Shore's spirited banjo and guitar licks and Lail's flatpicking rhythm. And once they started singing together an irreplaceable blend emerged. This union was originally called "Old Soul," and the trio played for local audiences, riveting them with soul-infused singing and energetic instrumentals.

Parallel to this collaboration, Shore and bassist Jordan Marr met during a gig at the infamous Rubber Soul in Winston-Salem, a mutual stomping ground. Shore and Marr began to share ideas and found a common musical ground, especially in combining Marr's bass style with Shore's vocals, experimenting with percussion, working out song
arrangements and learning recording technology.

Despite the barriers of geography, Shore, Lail, Littel, and Marr have remained linked through music and have played together on various occasions to perform, or just to jam. As each member's native territory is in a different corner of
the state, the gravitational pull towards home has never allowed them to fully concentrate on one band. "Old Soul" has been renamed, therefore, "Old Sole," indicating the many travels and roads taken since the band members first met. Coming together again now, the band is made up of four Carolina boys with four stories to tell, about recording original songs in the studio, about performing in notable venues across the South, about collaborating with session players and songwriters, and about their bluegrass, newgrass, blues, and jazz roots. Band influences include Doc
Watson, Tony Rice, Sam Cooke, Skip Ewing, Bela Fleck, George Jones, Hank Williams, James Taylor, Norman Blake, Newrass Revival, Irish fiddle tunes, and traditional bluegrass and gospel.

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JASON: A native of Stokes County, North Carolina, Jason Shore grew up in an old-time and bluegrass influenced family of musicians, including bluegrass fiddler Cub McGee, who shared the stage with Mac Wiseman for many years. Shore was musically seasoned as a teenager playing bass, guitar and banjo in a popular long-running old time jam hosted by his uncle Roy McGee. The jam was, in fact, held in his uncle lawnmower repair shop, so when the lawnmowers were not being fine-tuned, the musicians gathered at the shop to "fine-tune" their instruments. There, Shore learned tunes like
"Blackberry Blossom," "Devil's Dream," "Maiden's Prayer, and "Sailor's Hornpipe." Acoustic jams were the seedbed of Shore's musical foundation and eventually Jason's banjo playing caught the attention of a Chapel Hill-based bluegrass group, The Shady Grove Band. During his four years with the band Jason toured Europe, performed for local arts council programs, festivals, and many notable music venues in the South. Since then he has performed in the Carolinas independently on banjo, guitar, bass and vocals with musicians David Via, guitar virtuoso John Garris, progressive banjoists Rex McGee and Ryan Cavanaugh, Asheville's High Windy Band, The Grass Cats, Stokes County's Dixie Broadway and Nightflier, Steve Sutton, and Wayne Henderson. Temporarily leaving his home in the Carolinas, Shore ventured across the mountains to Nashville and was involved in session work, engineering, and songwriting with country artist Kevin Harris and engineer John Kunz. While in Nashville he also performed with the Christopher Robin Band with one of the original "long-hairs" of country music, Richie Albright, longtime drummer for Waylon Jennings. Shore toured with seasoned flatpickers Doc Watson and Jack Lawrence as opening act for a string of shows. Shore has spent most of his recent days focusing on his main passion--songwriting and arranging.

SHANE: Shane Lail was born in the foothills of Burke County, NC and raised in the mountains of Madison County, NC. He began playing guitar when he was 15 years old, influenced by western NC's old-time music, bluegrass and gospel, and select artists like Tommy Emmanuel, Tony Rice, Chesapeake, and the jazz styles of Django Reinhardt. Avidly practicing and listening finally paid off when Lail was invited to play guitar in his first band, The New Asheville Grass. Setting the bar high from the get-go, Lail and the band went west to Grass Valley, CA and opened for the Tony Rice Unit. Later Shane joined Hazel Creek and focused on his singing skills. This group opened for such well-known bluegrass b