Time Sawyer + Crenshaw Pentecostal
Time SawyerTime Sawyer’s name reflects the pull between the past and the future. The character Tom Sawyer evokes the rural background and love of home that the band shares. Time is a muse for songwriting; it’s the thread that runs through life, bringing new experiences and giving us a sense of urgency, while still connecting us with our past.The folk-rock band has performed on the stages of some of the Southeast’s most iconic festivals, including Merlefest, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Albino Skunk Music Festival, and Carolina in the Fall. They’ve shared bills with American Aquarium, John Craigie, Hiss Golden Messenger, Langhorne Slim, John Moreland, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Wood Brothers, Susto, and many more.In March 2020 the band started a variety livestream called “Sam on Sunday.” The show originated out of necessity, as the pause button was hit for live shows, but quickly, connecting with friends, family, and fans each week became just as important. As live music returned, the project transformed into “Sam on Someday,” bringing together guest artists of widely varying genres to create memorable, one-time-only collaborative experiences.Time Sawyer’s songs call out the attitudes and behaviors that lead to our divisions – the way that we show understanding to our friends and family, without thinking about how folks outside our social circle are experiencing their own problems, and are, at heart, just like us. The music does what might seem impossible. It holds listeners accountable, but at the same time, draws them in and makes them feel good about what we all have in common. One of Time Sawyer’s goals has always been for listeners to feel a sense of community and connection during the show, and then to keep it with them, long after the music ends.Crenshaw Pentecostal Zach, Dusty, Brian, Jeremy, & DrewNorth Carolina Dive-bar Arena Rock est. 2017
Eliot Bronson w/ Alan Peterson
Over the course of six albums, indie folksinger Eliot Bronson has created his own brand of atmospheric American roots music. He’s an award winner. A road warrior with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. An internationally-renowned songwriter with a voice that swoons and sweeps, making fans out of everyone from his hometown newspaper, The Baltimore Sun — who championed Bronson from the very start, hailing him as “a folk singing wunderkind” back when he was still playing local coffeeshops — to Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, whose work on 2014’s Eliot Bronson and 2017’s James placed Bronson on the same client roster as heartfelt songwriters like Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton. Talking To Myself marks the most meditative, melodic album of his career, with sparse soundscapes that are laced with acoustic guitar, light touches of keyboard, and clouds of reverb. When Eliot’s voice enters each song, it’s like sunlight piercing its way through the fog. “There’s pedal steel, upright bass, and a little bit of electric guitar,” he explains. “Other than that, it’s just me and Damon.” He’s talking about Damon Moon, the Atlanta-area producer best known for his work with regional indie rock bands. “Damon usually makes records with louder bands,” Eliot says, “and that was interesting to me. I wanted to work with someone who had a different sensibility than I did. He brought a new atmosphere to the album. Instead of playing bass on a song, we’d use a Moog. Instead of playing a shaker, we’d use a brush on the side of a tambourine. We wanted to get outside the box of what an Americana folk singer is supposed to sound like.” The result is a 10-song showcase of spacey dream-folk, with Eliot Bronson pulling triple-duty as singer, songwriter, and co-producer. On his previous record, Empty Spaces, he wrote about the messy end of a decade-long romance and the start of something new. Portions of Talking To Myself serve as an epilogue to that story, with songs like “From Rabun Gap” and “Are You Still Mean” measuring the distance between past heartbreak and present resilience. Elsewhere, Talking To Myself finds Eliot taking stock of the world around him, turning his personal experience into universal songs about the feelings we all share. “I was writing about loneliness, isolation, and reflection,” he says. “The songs were written or refined during the pandemic, and that’s what I was doing during that period: reflecting. It’s not a pandemic album, but it’s one that reflects the depth of an inner-life cultivated in a unique time in our lives.”
An Evening With Driftwood
An Evening With Driftwood
Hank, Pattie & The Current- CANCELED!!!
Two of North Carolina’s veteran bluegrass musicians– Hank Smith on Banjo and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw on fiddle– join forces with some of the most versatile musicians in the Carolinas to create modern, American, acoustic music featuring the full range of their talents as composers and arrangers. The band is on tour regionally and nationally in support of their new album, RISE ABOVE onRobust Records. The band makes use of traditional bluegrass instrumentation in a nontraditional way to present original music to the listener that goes beyond the limits of the idiom. The arrangements take on a new level of maturation that follows in the footsteps of Bela Fleck, Mark O’Connor, Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, and Tony Rice. Hank, Pattie & The Current want to pick up where seminal crossover groups like The Punch Brothers, Strength In Numbers and the ever-changing Bluegrass Allstars call home. The music is vocal and instrumental, allowing the band to experiment with arrangements and tailor the compositions to become vehicles for exploration. Hank Smith plays banjo, Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw plays fiddle and is lead vocalist. The Current includes Billie Feather on guitar and Stevie Martinez on bass.
The Pink Stones with Colin Cutler And Hot Pepper Jam + She Returns From War
“This record was me trying to take everything I love as a listener and a player and shove it all into one thing without it sounding random, ”says Hunter Pinkston, former punk turned cosmic country auteur, describing ‘You Know Who’, the boisterous, ambitious sophomore album by his band The Pink Stones. Ostensibly they play country music, yet all the pedal steel sobs, the two-steppin’ rhythms, twangy harmonies, and lyrics about broken hearts and long days on the road are launch pads for wild experiments and unexpected stylistic forays. “There’s obviously a lot of country and rock in our music, but there’s a lot of gospel and soul and psych and dub. I really wanted to get all of those things living peacefully together in one record.”**A Greensboro, North Carolina-based songwriter toting a guitar, banjo, and harmonicas, Colin Cutler’s music spans the breadth of Americana, from oldtime to blues to roots rock, with lyrics informed by the earthy storytelling traditions of the South, his Pentecostal upbringing, and literature. **Hailing from the historically rich city of Charleston, South Carolina, americana music artist Hunter Park is defining what it means to not only live in the modern south, but to be a trans woman and artist within this landscape. Combining folk-infused vocal melodies and evocative lyrics that capture the unfiltered human experience, She Returns From War is taking her seat in the Americana music world with grace, strength, and passion. The project shows no signs of slowing down. From opening for Bernie Sanders at his presidential rally in Charleston, to performing at national festivals like Stagecoach and High Water Festival and with artists such as Pat Benatar, Band of Horses, and Nikki Lane, She Returns From War is sharing with the world what the modern south should look and feel like: inclusive, compassionate, unfiltered, and loving.
Holler Choir Album Release Show w/ CASEYMAGIC
Led by the lyrical craftsmanship of singer, guitarist, and songwriter Clint Roberts, the distinctly Appalachian, old-time sound of Asheville’s Holler Choir combines haunting harmonies, stirring string compositions, and heart-wrenching ballads, yet hardly conforms to a stereotypical genre. Call it a confluence of old-time, Americana, and bluegrass, but, by its own exceptional design, the sound and atmosphere of Holler Choir are singular. Robert’s wordcraft and explosive vocal range is met with the dulcet clawhammer banjo plucking of long-time collaborator Helena Rose and the sturdy timekeeping of upright bassist Norbert McGettigan. With a rotating cast of gifted musicians featured on Holler Choir’s recordings and electrifying live performances, it’s no wonder they are the band to watch in 2023. The band’s inception began when recording Robert’s 2022 solo release, entitled “Mountain Air”. That fortuitous collaboration of gifted roots musicians at Asheville’s Crossroads Studios proved to be the genesis of an unmistakable new sound built on that shared experience. Produced by Grammy award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Michael Ashworth, of The Steep Canyon Rangers, the five-song EP lit the fuse and Holler Choir was well on its way to delight audiences throughout the southeast and beyond.
Pressing Strings + Drew Foust And The Wheelhouse
When music is given the benefit of instinct, imagination and inspiration, the results are guaranteed to be good. So it ought to come as no surprise that the critically-acclaimed Annapolis, Maryland-based trio, appropriately dubbed Pressing Strings, has infused those elements within their musical mantra since the beginning. The band — Jordan Sokel (Guitar, Vocals), Nick Welker (Bass, Vocals), and Justin Kruger (Drums, Vocals) — can trace its origins to Sokel’s initial fascination with some iconic influences, among them, the usual suspects — Bob Marley, Paul Simon, Bill Withers, Taj Mahal, Al Green, Otis Redding, Nick Drake etc., as well as some more contemporary artists like Ben Harper, The Black Keys, The Wood Brothers, Iron & Wine etc.A natural soul singer and blues musician, Drew Foust’s music sounds like it’s made between the bleary hours of a rock bar’s last call and a southern preacher’s early morning prayer. Hand made, self-made and arranged in dramatic structure, the music is lyrical and rhythm driven, always pushing a feeling forward. His latest release, “Good Thing,” is inspired by the Memphis soul music from the 60’s and 70’s.
Will Hoge (solo) w/ Meaghan Farrell
Born and raised in Tennessee, songwriter Will Hoge made his name honing a blend of soulful Americana and heartland rock & roll. After spending his childhood in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, he left Tennessee to study history at Western Kentucky University. Music drew him back home, however, and he relocated to Nashville to assemble a band that included former Georgia Satellites guitarist Dan Baird. Hoge then cut his teeth on the Southern bar circuit and issued a live release, 1999’s All Night Long, before inking a deal with Atlantic Records. With the label’s support, he entered Memphis’ famed Ardent Studios to record his official debut, Carousel, with engineer John Hampton (the Replacements, Gin Blossoms). The album was released in 2000, and Blackbird on a Lonely Wire followed in 2003 (albeit without Baird, who’d left due to the band’s demanding tour schedule). Record sales were slim, though, and Hoge found himself receiving minimal attention from his label. Requesting release from his contract, Hoge was made a free agent. Following his departure from the Atlantic roster, Hoge combined a relentless tour schedule with a string of independent releases, from live albums and brief EPs to a full-fledged studio effort (2006’s The Man Who Killed Love). Rykodisc took note of Hoge’s work, particularly his 200-plus shows per year, and signed the artist. Draw the Curtains, Hoge’s fourth studio album and first effort for Rykodisc, was released in October 2007, followed by — what else? — an aggressive fall tour. Recording sessions for another record began in 2008, but work was temporarily postponed on August 20th, when a scooter accident left Hoge severely injured. Months of physical therapy followed. Hoge focused on his recovery for the remainder of 2008, eventually returning to the studio project in 2009 and releasing The Wreckage later that year. Hoge put out his seventh studio album, the appropriately titled Number Seven, in September 2011. He and co-writer Eric Paslay received 2012 Academy of Country Music (ACM), Country Music Association (CMA), and Grammy nominations for Best Country Song for “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” the opening track on the Eli Young Band’s album Life at Best. In December of 2012, Hoge released the digital-only EP Modern American Protest Music, which included the songs “Folded Flag” and “Ballad of Trayvon Martin.” In October of 2013, Never Give In, his eighth full-length, was released by Cumberland Recordings. The album’s first single, “Strong,” was tapped by Chevy for its 2014 Silverado pickup truck ad campaign. He followed it in 2015 with the album Small Town Dreams, which landed at number 15 on the country charts. While touring in support of the record, Hoge hit a career wall. He enjoyed writing songs for others and playing live, but he had fallen out of love with being in a band. What followed was a period of introspection. He let his working group go and took off on a cross-country jaunt playing solo. Reclaiming the joy that inspired him to make music a vocation in the first place, he began writing while traveling. He reentered the studio with an ace cast of studio players and completed Anchors. The self-produced 11-track set was previewed in June 2017 by the single “Little Bit of Rust” (a duet with Sheryl Crow), and followed two weeks later by “Baby’s Eyes.” The album proper appeared in August from Eldo/Thirty Tigers. Hoge quickly followed Anchors with My American Dream, which appeared in October 2018. 2020’s Tiny Little Movies was a thematically and musically diverse LP, including personal numbers about failing romances and broadsides against political and spiritual dishonesty.~ Andrew Leahey
Jess Klein and Tamika Wells
JESS KLEIN“A songwriter with a voice of unblinking tenacity” — The New York Times“Jess Klein’s music is one part grassroots social activism and two parts alt country guitar rock — a combo we can certainly get behind.” — The Bluegrass Situation“She has one of those voices you want to crawl up close to the speakers to listen to.” — MOJO Jess just released the video for a wonderful new single:”Never Gonna Break Me” (from Jess’ forthcoming album, When We Rise coming out September 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyqGyA_8CH0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyqGyA_8CH0)Tamika Wells is an American author, poet and multi-passionate creative, gifted in prophetic empathy. Her written and spoken word superpower lies in her innate ability to empower women who are powerful in public but face life circumstances that make them feel pitiful in private. While managing several budding entrepreneurial ventures, Tamika is the CEO and Master Certified Life Coach of Elevate Her Coaching Program. In addition, she is an Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Practitioner; through her firm, Honey Tree Healing, Tamika helps clients heal the love relationship with self and others, breaking recurring cycles of abusive and unhealthy relationship patterns including those of sexual trauma. Her programs are rooted in clients’ abilities to experience new transformations, mutually beneficial relationships and even better financial outcomes. Tamika is mother to her adult son and resides in North Carolina with her two kittens, Joy and Mercy.
Joe Kaplow with The Turkey Buzzards
Up until now it was easy for California based songwriter Joe Kaplow to be pushed along. At eight he was getting screamed at by Uncle Jim for playing out of time. A few years later found him passing almost every single after school evening getting stoned and jamming with his band in Bondar’s basement. Years later he was studying music at college and having to sink or swim in the sea of talent crowding Boston streets and finally, for the past 5 years, plugging his amp into the outlet of American music heritage, driving around and playing shows in bars, clubs, and coffeeshops while figuring out along the way that CDs are lame and that booking pitches should be concise. It was almost like there wasn’t time to stop and think. Recently, it seems like all he does is think. When all the momentum, all the plans, all the validation, all the adventure, and all the money just stop; when the pushing stops, one may find themselves asking, “Why am I doing this?” An underdog without an over-dog is just a dog. Kaplow describes music as his “currency for life. We all have something, or a few things that we do, we work at, we commit to and that’s how we pay for our time here. It’s like life is a Ferris wheel at the county fair. You can’t just ride all night. Every 4 times around you have to stop at the bottom and pay for another half hour or whatever.”
