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The Mane Room ??
310 North Pine Street
Florence, AL 35630

Performance & Event Venue
The Salt&Pepper is a quarterly music series presented on the 4th Thursday of Jan. Ap. July. and Oct.
(727) 308-8156

JIL CHAMBLESS & SCOOTER MUSE

“Traditional classics revisited in a new and unique fusion of sounds and style, with both artists adding their own brand of musicality to a host of songs, some well-known and others less so. Thoroughly enjoyable throughout, the CD combines vocal excellence with outstanding, sensitive and intelligent instrumentation. For me, quite simply as good as it gets!” ~ Alex McKinven, Mull of Kintyre Music & Arts

CHAMBLESS and SCOOTER MUSE

For more than 25 years, Alabama natives Jil Chambless and Scooter Muse have been performing the music of Scotland, Ireland and America with various ensembles in a wide variety of venues, from simple house concerts to festivals and concert halls. Jil and Scooter have been fortunate to work alongside many of the finest artists in Celtic music, resulting in many spontaneous collaborations. In 2010, Chambless & Muse began performing as a duo to promote their individual solo projects. Since then they have released several CDs, The Laverock Sang (2011), Passing Tales & Glories (2014), Live @ NTIF with John Taylor (2016), and The Lang Awa’ Ships (2017).

As singer and flute and whistle player, Jil Chambless has performed across the US as well as in Canada, Scotland, and Israel with the band Henri’s Notions, Chambless & Muse, Scottish singer Ed Miller, Scottish fiddler John Taylor, the band Vulcan Eejits!, The Mairtin deCogain Project, the John Whelan Trio, the Vogt Family Contra Band, and others. In 2009, Jil released her first solo CD, The Ladies Go Dancing, produced by the legendary Brian McNeill. Jil brings to any audience a wonderful listening experience from haunting ballads to upbeat songs with a smooth delivery that never fails to bring both smiles and tears in each and every performance. See www.jilchambless.com

Although Scooter Muse has his roots in bluegrass and is quite an accomplished 5-string banjo player, in the late 1980s he moved into the world of Celtic guitar and soon after founded the Full Moon Ensemble, performing for eight years across the US and in Scotland before joining Henri’s Notions in 2003. In 2005 Scooter released his first solo recording of original guitar instrumentals, Saddell Abbey, which he is proud to say was purchased by the Scottish Tourist Board in Kintyre. The Saddell Abbey Trust of Scotland calls the recording, “…a haunting and beautiful piece of music.” See www.scootermuse.com.

www.jilchambless.com

www.scootermuse.com

Sugar Harp’s “Back Alley, Storytelling” Blues

When Charles Burroughs was 8 years old, his great-grandfather would simultaneously blow harp and strum a handmade guitar formed from an orange crate and broomsticks. Charles would say, “Grandaddy, I need to do that.”

If you witness what Charles describes as his “down in the gutter, back alley, storytelling blues” today, you’ll know he inherited his great-grandfather’s creativity and musical talent. In the decades since he first picked up the harmonica, he has more than earned his moniker, Sugar Harp.

“IF YOU LOOK AT THE OLD BLUES ARTISTS, THEM GUYS COULDN’T EVEN READ. THEY PLAYED BY EAR; THEY DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NO SEVENTH CHORDS, ABOUT NO WHEEL OF FIFTHS. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS PICK UP A GUITAR AND SING ABOUT HOW THEY FEEL.”Sugar Harp

But recently, Sugar Harp found himself sugarless and harpless. On November 26, 2019, driving his van — packed with all of his treasured belongings, including his harmonicas — through his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, Sugar Harp noticed a driver in another vehicle motioning to him frantically. Sugar’s van was becoming engulfed in flames. Moments later, Sugar acted on instinct, jumping out of the moving vehicle, and rolling on the ground to extinguish the fire that had spread and caught onto his jacket. Sugar was completely distraught, and soon thereafter, when the pandemic hit, he worried he might be done playing the harmonica for good.

But a year and a half later, with the help of a few friends, Sugar had a new ride, a set of harmonicas, and an optimistic attitude. He joined Music Maker in Birmingham in May of 2021 to record a few songs. Upon first introductions, Sugar seemed like a wise, reserved, wordly professor. But despite his quiet demeanor, once you get Sugar started talking or singing, his passion and joy for the music is clear. Sugar has a way with words in his songs: His original lyrics are a little raunchy, full of innuendo but always clever. He guides listeners to draw their own conclusions, never saying anything X-rated outright, keeping his shows technically family-friendly but keeping the audience cracking up.