Sugar Bayou is thrilled to announce that work on their third CD, LUCKY LIFE is complete. The incomparable Lloyd Maines produced the project, with Layton DePenning, Elmo's Lab in Buda, TX engineering. Sugar Bayou is April Rapier (vocals, guitar, mandolin and banjo), Bob Oldreive (vocals and guitar), Bill Browder (vocals, guitar, and piano) and Richard Bowden (fiddle, cello and mandolin). For more information and show schedule go to www.sugarbayouband.com or www.sonicbids.com/sugarbayou. Sugar Bayou has built a multi-genre, box-free sound from infinite roads, great friendship, good fortune, three lead singers (=thrilling harmonies), virtuoso musicinship, hard work and lifetimes of experience - good, bad and everything in between. Is there anything left worth fighting for? We think so. "Dance Hall Incident" (voted #3 in the TOP TEN ALBUMS from local artists of 2007 by the Houston Chronicle) debuted at McGonigel's Mucky Duck Friday, October 5th, 2007 to a sold-out gang of rowdies, royalty and ne’er-do-wells. Had there ever been dancing at the Duck before that night? We think not. Co-produced by April Rapier, Bob Oldreive, Bill Browder and Mike Thompson/Ivory Tower Realizations, it was recorded in Buda, TX at Elmo's Lab. Layton DePenning engineered, Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Digital in Austin mastered, and the CD, Sugar Bayou's second, features some of the finest musicians in the galaxy. That's right. The whole damn galaxy. Previous notes: “NOWHERE BUT GONE” Review by Lucky Boyd Multiple talents converge to form Sugar Bayou and the enchantment begins. With an acoustic foundation and an electrifying orchestration, Sugar Bayou navigates through the twelve cuts on “NOWHERE BUT GONE” (Vocalicon) like a poled pirogue down a curvaceous bayou on a lazy Sunday afternoon. A masterful production and a double dose of ‘smooth’ are just the beginning accolades for this sweet 2003 release. April Rapier, Bob Oldreive and Joe Lindley are the core of Sugar Bayou, trading and sharing the writing and vocal duties throughout this Robbie Parrish (The Cry) production. Appearances by MTM members Shannon Cutts (and brother Adam) and Anita Kruse (The Cry) add to the project with an all-star cast of pickers including Parrish himself. April and Bob split the lead vocal performance about half and half with each of them applying their unique style to the expert arrangements. Both voices are silky and polished with an inviting tone that shrouds the listener in an inexplicable urge to drag a big cozy recliner out to the water’s edge and just lounge the entire day away. The genre leans to the folk side at times, but then there’s the swing element and an occasional country influence, especially when April adorably croons the line “…and when I stopped looking there you were…” in “To Have And To Hold.” This is an excellent album from a very promising band of Houston professionals. One listen, you’ll be a big fan, too.