Claire Lynch

Birth Name:	Claire Lynch
Born:	February 20, 1954
Origin:	Kingston, New York, United States
Years active:	1973—present
Labels:	Rounder Records

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Halfway to Hazard was an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters David Tolliver and Chad Warrix. Though Tolliver and Warrix grew up in different towns in southeastern Kentucky, their band's origins are in Hazard, Kentucky, which was halfway between their hometowns.

Their debut single, "Daisy", was a Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 2007. The song was also featured as iTunes' single of the week on August 6, 2007. In addition, they toured as Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's opening act on their Soul2Soul 2007 Tour. McGraw helped to produce the album.[1]

On October 14, 2007, the duo performed the national anthem prior to the Green Bay Packers' home game against the Washington Redskins.[2] Later that season they performed again at Lambeau Field for the Packers NFC Championship game against the New York Giants.[1]

In May 2008, they were nominated by the Academy of Country music for their "Duo of the Year," award. Halfway to Hazard toured again on the Live Your Voice tour with Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.

A single from their second album, "I Know Where Heaven Is," was released on July 20, 2009. The album, Come on Time, was released on October 19, 2009. Neither charted.

On January 20, 2010, Tolliver announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the duo via their website. All future tour dates were indefinitely postponed. The future of the act is unknown.

Claire Lynch (born February 20, 1954), is an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, and session vocalist who joined her first band, then called Hickory Wind, in 1973. After changing its name to the Front Porch String Band, the group worked regularly throughout the Southeast over the next several years, becoming fan favorites on the strength of its open-minded musical approach and lead singer.

Lynch and her family lived in Kingston, New York until the age of 12, when the family moved to Hazel Green, Alabama. By 1981, despite a handful of well-received albums (including Lynch's first solo effort, Breakin' It) and increasing word-of-mouth, the band had tired of the grind and called it quits. A decade would pass before the band re-grouped, but Lynch put the time to good use. In addition to raising a family, she launched dual careers as a songwriter (her songs have been recorded by Patty Loveless, the Seldom Scene, Kathy Mattea, the Whites and Stephanie Davis) and as a session vocalist. Her harmonies have been on albums by such leading artists as Loveless, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Pam Tillis, Kathy Mattea, John Starling and Ralph Stanley.

A re-energized Front Porch String Band with Claire, her husband Larry Lynch on mandolin/fiddle, Herb Trotman on banjo and Andy Meginniss on bass roared back onto the scene with their 1991 album, Lines and Traces. The success of that album and of the band led to Claire's second solo album, Friends for a Lifetime in 1993. Next came the Grammy-nominated Moonlighter in 1995, followed by 1997s Silver and Gold, which also received a Grammy nomination.

During the next several years on the fast-track, the Front Porch String Band evolved into one of the sharpest, most exciting post-modern bluegrass bands on the circuit. Their last recording effort was on Lynch's 2000 solo CD on Rounder, Love Light, of which more than half the tracks are original Claire Lynch songs.

In addition to her two Grammy nominations, Lynch has had extended stays in the top reaches of the Gavin Americana and Bluegrass Unlimited charts, and received an IBMA award for "Female Vocalist of the Year" (1997).

Since 2005, Lynch has been touring and recording with former FPSB bandmates Jim Hurst and Missy Raines, plus Dave Harvey under the name "The Claire Lynch Band". Lynch's 2006 Rounder release, "New Day," was named #2 in Bluegrass Now magazine's Top Ten Albums of the Year chart.

In April, 2007, fiddler/mandolinist Jason Thomas joined The Claire Lynch Band, replacing Dave Harvey.

In May, 2007, The Claire Lynch Band undertook its first-ever European tour and was the first-ever bluegrass band to perform a concert in a German Opera House, the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in Oldenburg, Northern Germany.