Photo: Kevin Smith
Ida Red is the musical endeavor of steel guitarist Rose Sinclair and guitarist Sophia Johnson, two Texas transplants who packed up their lives and moved to Austin (the former from across the country, the latter from across the pond) to hone their skills playing the style of music born in the Lone Star State — western swing. These two award-winning musicians discovered a shared interest in playing the “twin guitar” parts in the music of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, and decided to pursue that tradition by playing the classic tunes as well as incorporating guitar-and-steel harmony parts into new original material.
Rose and Sophia met when they were both hired to put together music for a Cindy Walker Tribute at the 2019 Ameripolitan Music Award show in Memphis, TN. Texas songwriter Cindy Walker wrote many hit songs for Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, which are western swing standards today. They arranged and worked out the twin parts, expanding into some trio parts with fiddler Katie Shore (Asleep at the Wheel) who was also part of the all-women project, involving a 7-piece band with 6 guest singers. The show was a success and upon returning to Austin, Rose and Sophia decided to forge ahead, roping in a rhythm section and taking their twin guitar swing into the clubs.
After months of intense woodshedding during the pandemic lockdown, Ida Red headed into Ameripolitan Studios in October 2020 to record their debut album, Harmony Grits. With engineer Cris Burns at the helm, Sinclair and Johnson were joined by their stellar rhythm section of Phil Spencer on bass and Jason Baczynski on drums, and special guests Emily Gimble on piano and backing vocals, and saxophonist Lauryn Gould.
The title track is Ida Red's version of the 1946 recording by Mary Lou Williams' Girl Stars, featuring Lauryn Gould on saxophone. The album comprises of 13 cuts of predominantly western swing, from Bob Wills to Tennessee Ernie Ford, the first Johnson/Sinclair co-write Ida Blue, a Sinclair original Spider Blues, and Restless, an original Johnson family composition from Sophia's Toy Hearts days. Ida Red pays tribute to their heroes within the genre, while also adding their own unique flavor and style to their arrangements of western swing classics and original material alike.
Harmony Grits will be released May 21, 2021.
Rose and Sophia met when they were both hired to put together music for a Cindy Walker Tribute at the 2019 Ameripolitan Music Award show in Memphis, TN. Texas songwriter Cindy Walker wrote many hit songs for Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, which are western swing standards today. They arranged and worked out the twin parts, expanding into some trio parts with fiddler Katie Shore (Asleep at the Wheel) who was also part of the all-women project, involving a 7-piece band with 6 guest singers. The show was a success and upon returning to Austin, Rose and Sophia decided to forge ahead, roping in a rhythm section and taking their twin guitar swing into the clubs.
After months of intense woodshedding during the pandemic lockdown, Ida Red headed into Ameripolitan Studios in October 2020 to record their debut album, Harmony Grits. With engineer Cris Burns at the helm, Sinclair and Johnson were joined by their stellar rhythm section of Phil Spencer on bass and Jason Baczynski on drums, and special guests Emily Gimble on piano and backing vocals, and saxophonist Lauryn Gould.
The title track is Ida Red's version of the 1946 recording by Mary Lou Williams' Girl Stars, featuring Lauryn Gould on saxophone. The album comprises of 13 cuts of predominantly western swing, from Bob Wills to Tennessee Ernie Ford, the first Johnson/Sinclair co-write Ida Blue, a Sinclair original Spider Blues, and Restless, an original Johnson family composition from Sophia's Toy Hearts days. Ida Red pays tribute to their heroes within the genre, while also adding their own unique flavor and style to their arrangements of western swing classics and original material alike.
Harmony Grits will be released May 21, 2021.
Rose Sinclair
Photo: Kevin Smith
Rose Sinclair played multiple instruments in bands for years, entertaining at festivals, honky tonks, and theaters in the United States, Canada, and Europe, from NYC’s Town Hall to the Carter Family Fold. In 2000, she took up the non-pedal steel guitar, eventually moving to Austin, TX in 2012 to focus on western swing and learn from some legendary steel players including Maurice Anderson, Denny Mathis, Pee Wee Whitewing, and Herb Steiner. In 2013 Rose released a steel guitar record, Lone Star Landing, then hit the road to play steel guitar for Texas hillbilly boogie singer Wayne Hancock from 2014-19 in the U.S., Spain and Brazil, and appears on his 2016 album, Slingin' Rhythm. She is a frequent performer at steel guitar conventions around the U.S. and was voted 2018 Steel Guitar Player of the Year by the Texas Steel Guitar Association.
Sophia Johnson
Photo: Kevin Smith
Since moving to Austin, Texas in 2015, Sophia Johnson may now be geographically pretty far from her roots in Birmingham, UK, but she definitely feels she has now found "home." Indeed, she has quickly become a regular fixture in both the live music scene and on Austin radio. In the years since relocating across the globe, her career has gone from strength to strength, as an artist in her own right, and as a hired-gun guitar slinger. Sophia released her debut solo record One Year in 2016, and in March 2018 she was awarded Western Swing Female at the 2018 Ameripolitan Awards in Memphis, TN.
The term "triple threat" springs to mind in reference to Sophia as she definitely has 3 distinct talents that make her stand out from the crowd: she is an accomplished guitarist (notably the first British woman to get a feature in specialist USA Bluegrass publication Flat Pick Guitar Magazine), a songwriter, and a vocalist. Not only does Sophia front her own project, the Sophia Johnson Band, but she is also in high demand as a guitar player and harmony vocalist with several different projects in Austin (Tiger Alley, Ida Red, Lil Darlin) and further afield (The Toy Hearts).
Some career highlights over the last few years include playing guitar for artists such as Nancy & Beth, Sunny Sweeney, Brennen Leigh, Whitney Rose, Rosie Flores, The Carper Family and Mary Battiata. She has toured across the UK, Europe and the USA, some significant recent performances include the Alaska Folk Festival, Sirius XM Outlaw Music Cruise, Newport Folk Festival, and The Grand Old Opry. Sophia plays most nights in Austin, Texas and depending on which night you catch her and which band she is playing with she may be playing bluegrass, gypsy swing, rockabilly, honky tonk, western swing or rock and roll.
Austin is known as the Live Music Capitol of the World, and though many longtime residents may be lamenting the loss of “old Austin” as the city rapidly expands and perhaps loses some of that magic which lured Willie away from Nashville, Sophia’s journey proves that though Austin may be changing its appearance on the surface, the real heart and soul of the city is still making musical dreams come true for those who wish to submerge themselves in its music scene.
The term "triple threat" springs to mind in reference to Sophia as she definitely has 3 distinct talents that make her stand out from the crowd: she is an accomplished guitarist (notably the first British woman to get a feature in specialist USA Bluegrass publication Flat Pick Guitar Magazine), a songwriter, and a vocalist. Not only does Sophia front her own project, the Sophia Johnson Band, but she is also in high demand as a guitar player and harmony vocalist with several different projects in Austin (Tiger Alley, Ida Red, Lil Darlin) and further afield (The Toy Hearts).
Some career highlights over the last few years include playing guitar for artists such as Nancy & Beth, Sunny Sweeney, Brennen Leigh, Whitney Rose, Rosie Flores, The Carper Family and Mary Battiata. She has toured across the UK, Europe and the USA, some significant recent performances include the Alaska Folk Festival, Sirius XM Outlaw Music Cruise, Newport Folk Festival, and The Grand Old Opry. Sophia plays most nights in Austin, Texas and depending on which night you catch her and which band she is playing with she may be playing bluegrass, gypsy swing, rockabilly, honky tonk, western swing or rock and roll.
Austin is known as the Live Music Capitol of the World, and though many longtime residents may be lamenting the loss of “old Austin” as the city rapidly expands and perhaps loses some of that magic which lured Willie away from Nashville, Sophia’s journey proves that though Austin may be changing its appearance on the surface, the real heart and soul of the city is still making musical dreams come true for those who wish to submerge themselves in its music scene.