Hurley Ridge: Bio
Hurley Ridge - The Band
From back in the hollers and into the bluegrass music scene Hurley Ridge has made many accomplishments as a band. 2008 will be no different as they finish recording and putting touches on their latest cd of all original material, which is expected to hit radio hard in 2008. Look out.
Their first cd released in 2004, "Lost Track of Time" received significant airplay and good reviews(go to reviews page), with special recognition for the 9 of 14 original songs that were on that cd.
In 2005 this award-winning band went on to receive a grant from Frankfort Arts Foundation for their contribution to the Arts in Frankfort, KY, and were also featured on the Frankfort Arts Showcase that year, right alongside the opera singers, dance companies and theater groups.
They have a large fan-base and have been fortunate enough to have shared the stage with Ernie Thacker, The Lewis Family, Seldom Scene, Mountain Heart, Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike, Rhonda Vincent and many more.
If you see Hurley Ridge at a festival near you this year, you will be entertained because Kent, Amy and Glenn all three write original tunes, and all three sing lead and harmony. When you put that together with the various musical influences in the 70's and 80's you have a band that is very diverse and a name with a style all its own, Hurley Ridge, and a proud hometown of Annville, KY.
Glenn Hurley - Lead and Harmony Vocals, Songwriter, Mandolin and Guitar
In the 80's you might have found Glenn cruising around in the "old gray ghost"(station wagon) listening to Motley Crue or Twisted Sister and not paying much attention to the bluegrass music that was around. In the 90's however he returned to his roots after hearing Seldom Scene's "Wait A Minute" and picked up his guitar and mandolin and became an official bluegrasser. Glenn wrote the title track to the current release, "Lost Track of Time" and writes many other good songs. He can rare back on an original he has written such as "Barely Is Better Than None" that will take you back home in rural Kentucky, or he can smoothly do an old Bob Dylan song like "Easy Chair" and have some of the old rock'n'rollers raising their eyebrows and singing along. His mandolin style shines on the old Styx song "Boat On The River" and it will bring tears to your eyes on "I Cry" from the current cd.
Amy Hurley - Lead and Harmony Vocals, Songwriter, Bass Player
Although Amy was a Leif Garrett fan and an Elvis fan in her teenie-bopper years and listened to many country artists such as Randy Travis and Ronnie Milsap, the greatest influence on her soulful style comes from the Southern Gospel music of the 80's that she heard. Some of her favorite groups included The Hemphills, The Hinsons, The Paynes, and The Greenes. But her raw vocal talent and southern style influenced also by African American music, from artists such as Ce Ce Winans and Charles Johnson and The Revivers, is not all she has to offer. She can also deliver a ballad that will bring silence and introspection to any audience. Even though she did not write any songs for the latest release "Lost Track of Time" she is a writer and many people are going to be very surprised with the release of a second cd. She is one of the best bass players around and you will see Amy smiling often as she plays her bass for Hurley Ridge.
Kent Hurley - Lead and Harmony Vocals, Songwriter, Banjo, Harmonica, and Guitar
If you would have come into the Jackson County High School Library in the late 70's you would have found Kent sitting in a cubicle doing homework with an Olivia Newton-John t-shirt on, wearing a Kiss necklace and listening to the McClain Family Band albums all at the same time. Or you might go down the hall to the music room and hear him playing a French Horn solo in "Summertime" as the band played music from Porgy and Bess. In the 80's you would have seen him performing with what was then called the Black Gospel Ensemble at Morehead State University. When you come to see him in concert now you will find him playing banjo and guitar with Hurley Ridge, doing rock, pop, bluegrass, gospel and country tunes bluegrass style. His singing is soulful, introspective and has a touch of grit at times. If you want to know anything about Kent just listen to the words of the songs he writes because most of them are autobiographical.
Paul Eldridge - Rythmn Guitar, Lead Vocals
Paul has been around for awhile but he just recently became an official bandmember. His first guitar was a kid size pawn shop "finger killer" as he puts it and as a teenager he had a guitar in his hands and three chords in his head. Couldn't afford music lessons with his old Harmony guitar in 1975. In 2000 both boys were out of the nest and Paul decided it was time to take a few lessons with a class that Anthony Stratton and Greg Breeding taught. With a tape of Brushfire, that Greg had given him, Big Black Wheels was the first song he ever broke down and learned. He moved on to lessons from John Fields and started attending the jam sessions at Tony's Barn in Lawrenceburg, KY. That's where he got the bluegrass fever. His musical influences are many and include Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Stepenwolf, Creedance Cleerwater Revival(got him thru Vietnam), Bill Monroe, Flat and Scruggs, Osborne Brothers, Jim and Jesse, Porter and Dolly, Merle Haggard, Alabama. Paul's rythmn and style are an excellent addition to Hurley Ridge. His vocals shine on Blue Ridge Cabin Home and his personality shines all the time. When Paul grins everybody grins.