2007 proved to be a banner year for Asheville singer-songwriter Eliza Lynn.   Her selection for inclusion on the Putumayo Records Americana collection was a huge honor which resulted in a significant boost to her touring career.  The Putumayo CD was billed as: "Americana:  From Austin to Asheville, contemporary singer-songwriters explore America's rural musical roots" .  Featured on the CD were Old Crow Medicine Show, Tim O'Brien, Alison Brown, Robert Earl Keen, The Little Willies and Asheville's own Eliza Lynn.

The new year is getting off to great start for Eliza as she prepares for her upcoming trip to Europe.   Eliza (http://www.elizalynn.com/ )   was invited to perform at the annual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival in Belfast Ireland.  The festival occurs on February 20-24 and will feature well-known performers from America including Nancy Griffith.  Eliza will be performing on the 22nd and again on the 23rd.

Being invited to perform at the Beflast festival is quite an honor but Eliza's trip will include an equally impressive honor when she visits London just prior to traveling to Ireland.    (Pause for drumroll)   Eliza has been invited to take part in a live recording session at the historic Abbey Road studios.  The recording will be part of The Live Sessions at Abbey Road, held in conjunction with the Brit Music Awards. It is hosted by Ted Kelly and Bill Rock of XM radio and the whole thing is broadcast LIVE through XM and Napster!  (Note: Eliza was featured on XM Radios UPOP Station last year in connection with her East coast promotional tour in support of the Putumayo release.)

Eliza is elated with this opportunity but she doesn't view it as just a personal triumph.  Eliza, like so many other Asheville musicians, is extremely grateful for the supportive environment which exists in Asheville for independent musicians.  In fact, Eliza feels so strongly about helping spread the word about Asheville music that she's taking along a box of Asheville music sampler CDs to hand out to while on her trip. 

Last fall, Eliza contacted a few of her musical friends in town and invited them to participate by submitting a track for the sampler CD.  Included on the sampler are: Menage, Jar-e, Stephanie's ID, Toubab Krewe, Tyler Ramsey, Eliza Lynn , Mad Tea Party, Firecracker Jazz Band, Woody Wood, Barrelhouse Mamas, The Afromotive, Ruby Slippers and Kellin Watson.  Cover art, layout, and design was contributed by Asheville artist  Jude Stuecker

Eliza is particularly excited about handing out the CDs at a music industry event she'll be taking part in while in London.  Eliza hopes to get "Asheville Music" into the hands of festival promoters, radio hosts, and other industry personnel and show the world what Asheville has to offer. 

To help defray the cost of her travels, Eliza will be holding a solo fundraising concert at 7pm on Sunday February 10th at Karmasonics Music in downtown Asheville.    Friends and supporters are cordially invited to the fundraising event and will be invited to contribute $15.00 toward the upcoming trip.  Karmasonics is a relatively small performance space and Eliza hopes to raise $500.00 which would amount to 34 people at 15.00 per person.

Those interested in helping fund the trip, but who are unable to attend the event, can still donate by sending a check to

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