Press Kit

“Wickedly Funny.” ~Susquehanna Folk Music Society
”Devastating.” ~Americana Highways
”[Tarwater is] one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”~No Depression
"A Fantastic Singer-Songwriter.” ~BBC Introducing

SHORT Solo BIO

Colin Cutler is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller toting a banjo and guitar. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll—to form what No Depression has described as “one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”.

While his first few albums were directly inspired by his background in oldtime music, his most recent effort was even more ambitious and electric. Tarwater was inspired by both life and the earthy characters of Georgia author Flannery O'Connor, achieving "...a juke joint energy coursing through it and a humidity that seems to sweat out the sins and the booze that these characters are often soaked in” (Paste).

The 2022 Winner of the Susquehanna Folk Festival’s Emerging Artists Competition, the last couple years have seen Cutler playing across the Southeast, with appearances at Merlefest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, the North Carolina Folk Festival, Antlers and Acorns Songwriters Festival, and the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival.

Long solo Bio

An Army veteran who traded in his rifle for a banjo and guitar, Colin Cutler is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll.

While his first few albums were directly inspired by his background in oldtime music, his most recent effort was even more ambitious and electric. Tarwater was inspired by both life and the earthy characters of Georgia author Flannery O'Connor, achieving "...a juke joint energy coursing through it and a humidity that seems to sweat out the sins and the booze that these characters are often soaked in” (Paste). It was developed in part at a National Endowment of the Humanities Institute in Milledgeville, GA.

The 2022 Winner of the Susquehanna Folk Festival’s Emerging Artists Competition, the last couple years have seen Cutler playing across the Southeast, with appearances at Merlefest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, the North Carolina Folk Festival, Antlers and Acorns Songwriters Festival, and the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival.

Also a traveler and educator, Cutler has opened for Caroline Spence in England, Kerry Fearon in Ireland, and Lilly Drumeva O’Reilly in Bulgaria, while placing songs on BBC Introducing and the British zombie film Zomblogalypse and performing at the City of York Folk Festival, Greensboro Bound Literary Festival, the Romanian National Museum of Literature with the Fulbright Program, and Notre Dame University. He has also shared stages with national names like Caroline Spence, Buffalo Nichols, Dashawn Hickman, and Josh Morningstar, and regional legends like David Childers, Molly McGinn, Nikki Morgan, and Momma Molasses.

He is currently working on another album combining trad folk styles with his own songwriting, and is writing a folk opera based on Dante’s Inferno.

colincutlermusic.com

"Gritty, real life, traditional yet modern folk tales with depth and meaning, a tale to tell, and a righteous message to boot.”
~Daniel Lucas of Boss Caine

”A fantastic singer-songwriter.”
~Jericho Keys, BBC Introducing, Radio York

”A seasoned performer, Colin combines his worldly and traveled view with the sound of southern roots.”
~Around Town Sessions

Member of FAI, NSAI, BMI, and AMA-UK

Band bio

Folk? Country? Blues? Rock and Roll? Sugar, vinegar, or spice? When Colin Cutler and Hot Pepper Jam show up, it's all on the table.

"...a juke joint energy coursing through it and a humidity that seems to sweat out the sins and the booze that these characters are often soaked in." ~Paste
"Wickedly funny." ~Susquehanna Folk Music Society
"Devastating." ~Americana Highways
"One magnificent tapestry of roots music." ~No Depression

Colin Cutler and Hot Pepper Jam's music stretches across the American roots music world, from acoustic oldtime and alt country to electric blues and rock’n’roll, with touches of bluegrass and jam band energy.

The last couple years have seen them playing at Merlefest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, the North Carolina Folk Festival, the Susquehanna Folk Festival, Antlers and Acorns Songwriters Festival, and the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival, while selling out Greensboro's Flat Iron and touring for shows from Georgia to Indiana's Notre Dame University.  Tarwater, their first release as a band, reached the top 20 in both Folk and Alt Country radio charts on its release.

Colin Cutler (vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica)

An Army veteran who traded in his rifle for a banjo and guitar, Cutler is a poet, teacher, and songwriter who grew up Pentecostal in a military family with North Carolina and Pennsylvania roots.  He pulls on the varied threads of life and literature, as well as the blues, country, gospel, oldtime, and rock music he grew up with to weave what No Depression has described as a "magnificent tapestry of roots music." 

Bob Worrells (lead guitar)
North Carolina native Bob "Uncle BB" Worrells adds the jam to the band. His tasty licks pull from both bluegrass, jazz, and jam band roots ranging from Jerry Garcia and Miles Davis to Doc Watson. Worrells founded HighStrung Bluegrass (bluegrass) and The Greensbrothers (jam rock), was a member of UNCG's Spartans Play Dead, and has been adopted as uncle to the rest of CC+HPJ.

Lu Furtado (bass)

Immersed in the old-time tradition while growing up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Lu Furtado was playing bass and banjo while other children were learning their ABC’s. An award-winning instrumentalist and dancer, Furtado has recorded with several music projects, including with their siblings on the acclaimed Gina Furtado Project, and performed with folks like Joe Troop.  Outside of performing, Furtado is also a teacher who has taught traditional old-time music through the Junior Appalachian Musicians program and as a private instructor. 

Emmanuel Rankin (drums) - A Greensboro native who spent the majority of his childhood playing in church and tagging along with his Uncle to juke joints in and around Raleigh, Rankin's major influences are from soul and funk, and he is involved in recording, producing, and performing with Bedroom Division and as the frontman of Lando Sparks.