Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley Join Compass Records Family!

Compass Records is pleased to announce the signing of bluegrass and traditional country-infused duo Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley to the label.

 

Their debut collaboration, BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN, slated for a January 2015 release, pairs the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 15 time Dobro Player of Year, Ickes, with the up and coming singer/guitarist, Hensley, whom Ickes recently discovered in a stroke of good luck.

Says Ickes, “Last year, when we were working on the latest Blue Highway album, THE GAME, we needed a scratch vocal done on one song so we could play live without having to go back and replace the vocal. The studio owner said he knew a kid nearby who was a great singer and could do it on short notice. So he called Trey in and he proceeded to sing the hell out of “My Last Day in the Mines”, a song he’d never even heard before! And the way he sang it was so perfect that we couldn’t imagine replacing it or changing anything about it, so his “scratch” vocal quickly became a “guest” vocal. Later, I saw some YouTube footage of him playing electric guitar and it was obvious he was as strong on guitar as he was on singing. So I told Trey that if there was ever anything I could do to help him in his career, I’d be happy to do it, and soon after, he and his wife moved to Nashville and we started playing the Station Inn on a regular basis.”

The more the two musicians played together the more they became inspired to record a studio album together. BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN is the result of that effort and it is a unique project for the way it seamlessly blends contemporary bluegrass and the spare studio stylings of classic ’60s and ’70s country music.

Hensley’s voice is something of a miracle, a throwback to the great country singer icons of the genre’s first golden era, at one moment evoking an early George Jones or Merle Haggard, and at another, Conway Twitty or Hank Snow. The fact that Hensley is still just in his early 20′s makes the experience of listening to him even more astounding.

His talent has drawn the attention of more than his fair share of Music Row heavy weights including Marty Stuart who said: “Trey Hensley is the real deal – I’m one of his biggest fans.”

Dobro master Rob Ickes is the perfect musical foil to Hensley’s prodigious talent, both as a musician and producer. His Dobro ornaments Hensley’s vocal lines with perfect finesse one moment and with jaw-dropping fire the next, showing why he is one of the best to ever pick up the instrument.

As a producer, Ickes has a solid hand and deep musical understanding which enables him to draw the connections between bluegrass and early country to create a cohesive and highly successful end result.

Compass co-founder Alison Brown says, “We are delighted to be working with Rob and Trey. Individually they represent some of the best talent roots music has to offer. Rob’s Dobro playing is an absolute force of nature and Trey is one of the most gifted singers and players I’ve ever heard. As a duo they are forging new territory, creating a sound that is steeped in tradition but utterly fresh and completely captivating.”

Ickes adds, “I’ve known Garry West and Alison Brown for years and I am very excited to be working with Compass. Their passion and dedication to Roots Music is second to none and I’m looking forward to seeing where this new venture takes us all!”

WHERE TO SEE THEM LIVE Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley will be on tour in California and the Pacific Northwest in December: 12/4/14 – Royal Room – Seattle, WA 12/5/14 – Green Frog – Bellingham, WA 12/6/14 – Treehouse – Leavenworth, CA 12/7/14 – Little River Inn – Little River, CA 12/9/14 – Tallman Hotel – Upper Lake, CA 12/10/14 – TBA, Redding, CA 12/11/14 – Don Quixote’s – Felton, CA 12/12/14 – Boulevard Music – Culver City, CA 12/13/14 – Powerhouse – Del Mar, CA 12/14/14 – TBA, Sonora, CA