Charlie Louvin Remix Contest

Comments from the Judges

First Place

  - "Fantastic construction and execution of track."

Runners Up

 

Honorable Mentions

 

Prizes: Grand Prize Winner

ALCHEMY A.R.T. CYMBAL SET, including 14" hi-hats, 16" crash and 20" ride cymbals, and a free deluxe cymbal bag from Istanbul Cymbals.
XDN prize pack including music and more.
1 PCDJ FX system.
1 year subscription to The Record Pool.
ACID Pro 5 software.
Two Premium Collection libraries from the Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples collection.

Prizes: Two Runners Up

Pluggo3 software from Cycling 74.

About the Contest

Progressing further into the realms of emotion and art, Charlie has recently collaborated with the experimental and eclectic jazz sounds of The Project. The progressive and soul-scarred single "Yesterdays King" features Charlie Louvin on vocals, Robert Bond on drums and percussion, Dustin Michael on Shehnai, Moe Denham on Hammond B3, and Nigel Pulsford of the multi-platinum rock band Bush on Guitar.

The media entity known as The Project is comprised of two distinct and established Jazz and Electronica producers: Percussionist/Producer Robert Bond and Experimental Division Nashville Director Dustin Michael. Together, they build on each other's experience and insight to create and push the envelope of how music is composed and constructed. The main focus of The Project is the experimentation and evolution of music through varied improvisational and production techniques. Using what is considered Jazz as the foundation, The Project pushes forward by incorporating countless other compositional styles and elements into their intense productions.

The Project's debut album also features world-renowned artists and musicians such as jazz legend Les McCann, saxophonist Chico Freeman, Peter Gabriel veteran Joy Askew, Cyndi Lauper producer Jan Pulsford, progressive guru Holmes Ives, and many others.

That's a lot of firepower behind "Yesterday's King." Now it's time for you to get involved. Put your own spin on this eclectic track.

Note: As always, The Mixdown show on WRVU Vanderbilt is streaming remixes from the ACIDplanet.com contests across the globe. So tune in and listen for your remix in their playlists.

About the Artist

In country music's long tradition of brother duet singing, Ira and Charlie Louvin served as the link between the Delmore Brothers and the Everly Brothers. More important, the Louvin Brothers' stratospheric vocal interplay made them probably the most influential harmony duet in country music history, touching everybody from Emmylou Harris to the cowpunk band Rank & File.

The Louvins recorded for Apollo in 1947, Decca in 1949, and MGM in 1951 and 1952. They did not achieve great commercial success, however, until they began recording for Capitol in September 1952, an affiliation that would continue until the Louvins broke up in August 1963. Although the duo's biggest hits for Capitol were released in 1955 and 1956, during the early days of rock & roll, their musical style was already defiantly anachronistic. Their high, lonesome harmonies, punctuated by Ira's stirring mandolin solos, were closer to country music of the 1930s than the honky-tonk or country-pop of the mid-1950s. As a sign of their traditionalism, their first three Top Ten singles, "When I Stop Dreaming," the chart-topping "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," and "Hoping That You're Hoping," didn't include drums. They mixed gospel and secular forms, often focusing on the traditional themes of family, love, and obligation that link the two.

1959's "My Baby's Gone" served as their last Top Ten hit. Increasing personal tensions led to the pair's 1963 breakup, after which each brother embarked on a separate career. Ira's 1964 album, The Unforgettable Ira Louvin, which featured electric mandolin and electric guitar, turned out to be his only solo LP; he died in a Missouri car crash on June 20, 1965. Charlie's solo career began with two Top Ten hits ("I Don't Love You Anymore" and "See the Big Man Cry"), but through the 1970s and 1980s he became best known as a fixture on weekly Opry broadcasts.

Country-rocker Gram Parsons introduced the Louvins' songs to the rock world, in several instances as duets with Emmylou Harris. Harris, in turn, reintroduced the Louvins' material to country audiences when her 1975 version of their song "If I Could Only Win Your Love" became her first Top Ten country hit.

On occasion Charlie has returned to the Louvin Brothers' duet sound in his own music. Partnering with Charles Whitstein, he undertook a "Louvin Brothers Music Celebration" tour in 1992. In 1996 Watermelon Records released Charlie's album The Longest Train, on which he was joined by guest performers such as Barry and Holly Tashian and Jim Lauderdale. In 2003 Louvin recorded "I Will Go Sailing No More," from the movie Toy Story, for a Walt Disney CD, O Mickey, Where Art Thou? Also in 2003 artists such as James Taylor, Patty Loveless, Merle Haggard, and Dolly Parton paid tribute to the Louvins on the Universal South CD Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers. Rock group Cake persuaded Charlie to join their 2003 national tour, also featuring Cheap Trick.