Today I am so pleased to welcome Avon Gale to Joyfully Jay. Avon has come to talk to us about her release, The Love Song of Sawyer Bell. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

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Favorite Female Artists in Americana/Alt-Country

Hi! I’m Avon Gale, and my new book, The Love Song of Sawyer Bell, is about a rocker chick named Vix Vincent, who falls in love with her band’s new classically-trained fiddle player over their summer tour. The series is called Tour Dates, and I really wanted to focus it on bands whose successes come mainly from an often-grueling tour schedule – and in my favorite genre, which is Americana/Alt-Country.

To celebrate the book release, here are some of my favorite female artists in that genre!

  1. Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless is my inspiration for Vix, and I was at one of Lydia’s shows when I got the idea to write Sawyer. That was just about a year ago, actually! Lydia’s music is raw and powerful, and when I saw her, she had some awesome messy purple hair – just like Vix does throughout the book.

  1. Amanda Shires

My inspiration for Sawyer is Amanda Shires, who is herself a fiddle player. She has some awesome solo stuff (I love her album “Carrying Lightning” so much) and performs with her husband, Jason Isbell. Also one time MANY YEARS AGO she called me cute on Twitter and I died, true story.

  1. Lindi Ortega

Lindi’s got this great voice that is a throwback to old-school country western and reminds me a bit of Patsy Cline. I saw her play a concert on a weeknight in my town, and there weren’t that many people there but she sure played like there were. She’s the inspiration for Temple Keats in the book.

  1. Nikki Lane

Not only is Nikki Lane awesome, but she has a clothing line called “High Class Hillbilly” which I think is amazing.

  1. Cary Ann Hearst

Cary is one part of the duo Shovels and Rope, one of my favorite bands of all time. She’s got some PIPES and I love her voice. She also has some awesome solo stuff, and can play like three instruments at a time while belting it out loud enough to bring the house down. Super talented lady is what I’m saying.

  1. Shonna Tucker

Shonna was a part of the Drive-By Truckers for a long time, and now has her own band called Eye Candy. She’s another one with a throw-back voice that reminds me of old-school country singers.

  1. Sarah Baillet

Sarah is the cellist for my favorite band in the whole world, Murder by Death. She plays an electric cello on the stage, be more badass than that, I dare you.

  1. Emmylou Harris

I mean, how do you make this list without Emmylou? You don’t!


Blurb

The Love Song of Sawyer BellVictoria “Vix” Vincent has only two weeks to find a replacement fiddle player for her band’s summer tour. When classically trained violinist Sawyer Bell shows up for an audition, Vix is thrilled. Sawyer is talented, gorgeous, funny, and excited about playing indie rock instead of Beethoven. Their friendship soon blossoms into romance, even though Vix tries to remember that Sawyer’s presence is only temporary.

Sawyer’s parents think she’s spending the summer months touring Europe with a chamber ensemble. But Sawyer is in dire need of a break from the competitiveness of Juilliard, and desperately wants to rediscover her love of music. Going on tour with her secret high school crush is just an added bonus. Especially when Vix kisses her one night after a show, and they discover that the stage isn’t the only place they have chemistry.

But the tour won’t last forever, and as the summer winds down, Sawyer has to make a tough decision about her future—and what it means to follow her heart.


Bio

Avon grew up in the southern United States, and now lives with her very patient husband in a liberal Midwestern college town. When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music or yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together, already. Avon is always up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress relieving as a good rock concert, and will never say no to candy.

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare. This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

Connect with Avon:


Giveaway

To celebrate this release, one lucky winner will receive a signed paperback copy of The Love Song of Sawyer Bell! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 30, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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