All the news that's print to fit!

4/19/20 - Dirt Track Racer is releasing a new single, "Better Days," on April 20, 2020.  From April through September of 2020, Dirt Track Racer will donate 100% of the Digital Download Revenue from "Better Days" to the Global Giving Corona Virus Relief Fund.  Global Giving is a top rated, international charity, putting over 90% of donations directly to work, in countries around the world.  So, please, join us in helping to make a difference, and download your own copy of “Better Days” from your favorite digital download source.  We are all in this together, and together, we will see this through. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the current album, Somethng's Gotta Give, has been picked up across Europe, the UK, the United States and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Uruguay.  It  is always a thrill to think that our music is finding a home in the hearts and feet of people, everywhere.

1/19/20 - "Something's Gotta Give" is picking up steam!  We have been picked up by stations across the United States, the UK, Europe, Australia, and even a station in Uruguay.  Over fifty stations so far as we make new friends in the radio community and get our sound out to a wider fan base.  We just learned today that our great friend, Llew Garner, host of the "Blues, Soul, Country and Rock & Roll Show" at RadioWarrington in the UK, has named "Something's Gotta Give" as his album of the month for January.  And a special thanks also to Stevie B at KPOV in Bend Oregon, who has been featuring tracks from the album, weekly on his show, Americana Underground.  We may create the music, but that is only half of the gig.  The other half is done by the great people at stations around the world who put the playlists together for their listeners, giving context to the music and shaping how the audience hears and appreciates the songs.  We could not do this without you!

11/26/19 - Dirt Track Racer has partnered with AirPlay Direct and Traction Americana to digitally distribute our new album, Something's Gotta Give, to radio, worldwide.  The Traction Americna campaign to AMA chart reporters, launches a little later this month, but the AirPlay Direct campaign started on Monday, 11/25 and by Tuesday, the new album was charting at #5 in their top 50 Global charts (these are across all genres).  Exciting stuff and a portentuous start!

6/8/19 - Dirt Track Racer's new album, Something's Gotta Give, is set for release on December 2, 2019.  We are very proud of this project; it marks a stage of growth for the band as we move a little more toward the electric and we see Julie Myers step to the front as lead singer on half of the tracks.  Here is a little video as an intro to the album, the title track, "Something's Gotta Give."  Listen for Julie's unbelievable eight part vocal harmony behind the lead vocal, and the sweet sound of Geoff's Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean in the solo.  Hope you love it and all of the songs on the new disc! - Geoff, Julie, Paul and Nick

12/23/17 - Just in time for Christmas, here is a little video to accompany our song, "Home For Christmas," which appeared as a bonus track on the 2014 album, "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots."  Here's wishing everyone the holiday season of their dreams. - Geoff, Julie, Paul & Nick

9/3/17 - Dirt Track Racer is Back In the Studio

Geoff, Julie, Paul and Nick get back to recording today at Sweet Creek Studios with intital tracking for the next album, "Ghosts In Blue."  We have twelve great songs, eight originals and four classic covers, which will touch on folk, blues, celtic and rock genres, and will present the band in a little more of an electric setting (we're always eclectic!).  Even better news is that Julie is taking the lead vocals on half of the album, so our sound is going to be richer and more varied than ever.  We're excited to be working with John Fachet at Sweet Creek and can't wait for the magic to begin!  More to come.

Geoff & Paul at the Morris Arboretum

Jul 22, 2015
Earlier this evening, Geoff and Paul played a set at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, as part of their "Date Night" series.  We had a great time playing some "unplugged" versions of DTR songs, as well as a few old-time Country Blues classics and a few brand new songs, on which we were joined by the lovely and oh-so-talented Monique Canniere.  We took video of everything, but right now, I'm too bleary-eyed to look at it.  Here, instead, is a video clip from youtube of the band's 2014 #2 single, "Bucket Full of Rain."  Meanwhile, many thanks to Michelle Connors at the Arboretum for having us, and to Mike Lightkep for his magnificent sound system!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVDaBj9Vkg8

The website is all new and just launching today!  We've got a great new player from SoundCloud able to handle all of our tracks, a new blog page, a merchandise section with T-shirts, CDs and the like, and a much cleaner lyrics page set up.  Hope you enjoy it and please be sure to "Like" us on Facebook (there's a button on the right - apologies to John Fogerty).

We have just received word that "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots" has been named Americana Album of the Month for March, 2015 by The Akademia Music Awards out of Hollywood.  Here is what they had to say:

     "Geoff Hansplant & Dirt Track Racer wield a potent combination of poetic lyrics, distinct vocals and flawless acoustic instrumentation in this wonderful and diverse collection of Americana treasures."

Our sincerest thanks to The Akademia for this honor and my own personal thanks to bandmates Julie Myers, Paul Deck and Nick Terramani.  Here is a link to The Akademia's page: http://www.theakademia.com/march2015_bestalbum_americana.html

For the week of 3/11/14, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots has risen to #24 in the Roots 66 charts and as of today, we stand at #64 on the AMA charts.  All good signs!  And, wherever you are, be sure to call your favorite station and request "Bucket Full of Rain" and "Already Gone."  Thanks for your love and support!

For the week ending 2/21/14, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots stood at #4 on the RMR Rock charts and our single, "Bucket Full of Rain" came in at #2 on the RMR Rock Singles Chart!!   That's #2 in the country!!!  Things keep looking up!

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots has moved up nine slots to #33 in the Roots 66 charts for the week of 2/18/14!  We have also entered the AMA charts for the first time, at #207 on the terrestrial charts and #121 on the internet charts.  Let's keep this ball rolling!!  

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots has debuted in the Roots 66 charts for Americana music, where we are sitting at #42 as of this writing!

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots has been named Album of the Week for the week of 2/15 - 2/21/14 on RootsRevival, an Americana Radio show broadcasting from Belgium

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots has been named Album Of The Month for February on Llew Garner's Blues & Country Show on RadioWarrington in the UK!

GEOFF HANSPLANT & DIRT TRACK RACER

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (Twilight Tango)                                      

Americana with a much-needed twist.

LVS Granted, Geoff Hansplant isn’t a household name yet. But, with the aid of his band Dirt Track Racer, the Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter takes traditional forms of Americana and adds delicious Latin rhythms, tricky jazz and classical flavors, narrating the ups and downs of the human condition.  As expected, Hansplant is up front with his vocals and Piedmont-injected guitar, with Julie Myers adding violin, piano, organ and vocals.  The result is a much-needed fresh take on the musty mountain that is Americana.  Opening with the title track, an irresistible rocker, the set includes a number of worthwhile highlights. The bare-bones, primitive desires of “Delilah” mesh well with the spicy percussion that punctuates the plaintive blues grind of “Already Gone.” The true centerpiece of the set, the effervescent “Bucket Full of Rain,” delivers Americana with a funky, Stax-tinged swagger.   Hansplant, like many artists before him, seems determined to detail the many moods of love.   And with “Eliza Jane” and “From This Moment On,” he tackles two very different sides of that often-confounding emotion, deftly expressing the mercurial joys of the pursuit. Overall, it’s a very solid debut.

From Insite Magazine - Atlanta’s Entertainment Monthly
http://www.insiteatlanta.com/music.asp

Geoff Hansplant & Dirt Track Racer are thrilled to announce that their new album, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots, has been released and is available for purchase.  You can find the album now at CDBaby

We have also started our Radio Promotion campaign with our friend Fred Boenig from Americana Media Promotions and have sent the album to some 300 stations in the US and close to 100 overseas.  Many of the stations are just receiving the album now, but the response is already enthusiastic and our hopes are high for extensive airplay.

You can hear the album now on our SoundCloud widget on the Music page, or you can stream all of them at our AirPlay Direct page.  Thanks for all of your good wishes and support!

Well, "Home For Christmas" is almost here.  The song has been recorded, mixed and mastered and sounds great!  It has a lyrical vibe like the great Christmas songs of the second world war era and a bossa nova groove like Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.  We have started the process of promoting the song to radio and other media outlets and have partnered with the National Military Family Association, who will receive one hundred percent of our earnings from the downloads of the song, to be used in their programs supporting our military personnel and their families.  We are psyched to be able to be the conduit for all Americans to show their love and support of the members of our armed forces.  Here is the cover for the single, which will be available just about everywhere as of November 25th!

And, you can have a listen to the single here:                 AirPlay Direct

Wow!  We finished the new studio album (for the second time) earlier this past summer and are really happy with the result.  The album is set for a January 2014 release, to coincide with a major National and International Radio Promotion program.  For that, we are teaming with Fred Boenig and Americana Media Productions.  We are very excited to get the music in front of all of you!  In the meantime, we are getting set to return tot he studio and record an original Christmas song, "Home For Christmas," which we'll promote nationally later this year during the holiday season.  We have a little something special in mind for this song, with proceeds from downloads of it donated to a charitable organization supporting American servicemen and women and their families.  More details on that to come...  In the meantime, here is a recent photo of the band.  Left to right it's Paul Deck, Julie Myers, Geoff Hansplant and Nick Terramani, now collectively known as Dirt Track Racer.   Stay Tuned!

The new studio album is getting a little bit closer each day.  We've been adding some percussion overdubs and Julie and I will be hitting background vocals on Monday the 30th.  After that, it will be back to studying rough mixes, deciding if there is any further sweetening to be done and, if not, on to mix-down and mastering.  We think we're going to knock a lot of folks off their feet.  Stay Tuned!

Steve Ahearn wrote a very flattering article about Geoff and his music for the Chestnut Hill Local's July 26, 2012 edition.  Here is a link for your viewing and reading pleasure.   Chestnut Hill Local

"Kick Off Your Muddy Boots" is coming!

I've been listening to the rough mixes of our new album, "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots," and think we're on to something really special. The hard part (vocals) is yet to come, but I believe that the results will knock a lot of folks out. The key is simple; I have an unbelievably talented band around me and their performances have elevated the songs to heights I could not have imagined. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to Julie Myers, Paul Deck and Nick Terramani. Stay tuned!

Geoff will be appearing live on WDVR FM in Seargentsville, N.J. with the wonderful Julie Myers, Friday, March 30th around 2:00p.m. EST.  You can listen in at 89.7 on the FM dial or connect via the web at: http://www.wdvrfm.org/

Just released is my second album, a live effort recorded at the Mermaid Inn in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, and titled "Swimming To The Sun."  It is a thirteen song set featuring three cuts from "Pilgrim's Progress," four covers and six previously unrecorded songs set for appearance on my next studio album, "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots."

It was a kick to record this set in front of an appreciative crowd and a lot of fun to present the songs in a stripped down format of guitar and vocals.  This is the way the country blues was meant to sound and I had a blast including classics like "Statesboro Blues," "Police Dog Blues" and "He's In The Jailhouse Now."  For good measure, I also included one of my favorite songs from the great Moby Grape, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson's "8:05."

Beginning in late May of this year, I went back into the studio and re-cut all of the vocal tracks for Pilgrim's Progress, then, under the expert guidance of master engineer / producer Ron DiSilvestro, we remixed and remastered the entire project.  The results can be heard on the SoundCloud widget on the Music page.  Have a listen and please feel free to contact me with your opinions on the tunes.  Personally, I think that there has been an immense improvement over the original tracks.  Enjoy!

"Pilgrim's Progress" has just been named album of the month for Llew Garner's  blues show at RadioWarrington (UK) for the month of January 2011.  It is a great honor to be chosen and to have the opportunity for a world wide audience to hear my music.  Be sure to check out the Blues Show's live internet feed on Tuesdays from 1:00-3:00 p.m.  Eastern Standard time in the U.S.  You can follow this link: RadioWarrington/UK

The world is getting smaller every minute.  One of the tracks from "Pilgrim's Progress," a tune called "Signs and Wonders" was featured on Gerrit Caspers Americana Radio show, "Goodno(i)se" which airs every Thursday evening across Northern Europe.  Geoff's song shared airspace with works by John Gorka, The Waybacks and Linda Ronstadt, some pretty good company.

Geoff's latest release is "Pilgrim's Progress," a collection of songs exploring many aspects of life's journey.  Recorded with Paul Deck on drums and Monique Canniere on violin, Geoff plays guitar, bass and dobro and contributes all of the vocals.  The collection of thirteen songs is a happy mixture of Piedmont Blues, Ragtime and Contemporary Folk with great grooves and thought provoking lyrics.  Ask for it at your local Brick and Mortar store or download it today from CD Baby, Itunes, DigStation, Rhapsody and BestBuy.com.  On Twilight Tango Records.