Royal Cab Co

Thomas Royal’s 25-year endeavor of creating experimental lo-fi pop noir, producing various EPs and albums like “The Age of the Average” in 2023, evolved into Royal Cab Co. This transformation happened in 2023 through regular music sessions with friends, leading to the establishment of a six-member band. Royal Cab Co’s music is eclectic, blending influences across genres and periods. Imagine The Heartbreakers performing Replacements tracks, Wilco abandoning Country for Yacht Rock, The Jayhawks covering The Cure, Bill Callahan and Bill Frisell, Glenn Campbell and Glenn Tipton. You get the gist. Royal Cab Co, Thomas Royal, Rhett McAllister, and Jason Blalock on guitar and vocals, Hank Royal on keys, Todd Sizer on bass, and Jutin Horth on drums, amalgamates nearly a century of musical experience. These folks have amassed thousands of performances across various bands, contributing to their rich, eclectic sound. Their collaboration results in a diverse musical tapestry, characterized by its uniqueness and influences that are left of the dial, finding normalcy in the unconventional and indie side of music. Their collective journey in music spans different genres and eras, resulting in a sound that is both seasoned and exploratory. An all-new Neo Dad Rock movement is here; defiantly maximalist and nostalgic – not a genre, but a catch-all term for anything you can get away with in the car that might offend but won’t annoy the wife and kids.

The Wilson Springs Hotel + Conrad Moore

Homegrown in the rich music scene of Virginia, Wilson Springs Hotel is a band brought together under a genreless flag; A folk band committed to rock and roll, and a rock band committed to classic country. After forming in 2021, Jacob Ritter (guitar/songwriter/lead vocals), Victor McManus (lead guitar), Brendan Boylan (fiddle), Sebastien Richard (drums) and Andrew Carper (bass), released two albums in quick succession and are once again releasing new music in 2024. Their first single “Pulling Weeds”, available now, explores the struggle with repetitive mental loops, like attempting to get nutrients out of the same spent garden. Their new songs are a split between a classic country, and a more rock influenced sound, finding the band still unwilling to conform to a single genre, and instead celebrating the many influences that brought them to where they are today. Conrad Moore is a North Georgia native singer-songwriter who captures the soul of the working southern man. His songs have roots in folk storytelling which nod to the ups and downs of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. All washed in hints of booze, half-truths, and motel rooms. His lyrics personify Mother Nature and her dance with Appalachia. The human condition and blue-collar woes are often his muses. Although his songs have no shortage of heartbreak and day to day strife. Conrad produces a relatable angst of a generation growing up within the confines of a flawed American dream. Not without hope, his music shares with us what’s left to save about the southland.

Dance From Above Sessions Presents: MAMMALIEN

Heavens Die, Dimension Six, Almost Heaven, and Owe You Nothing

Ric Robertson Band

Ric Robertson is an American original, pulling influences from the greats that came before, but wholly responsible for building his own creative universe. His new full-length record Carolina Child is nothing short of an opus, taking his wealth of musical proclivities—from the mountain music of his home state of North Carolina, all the way to the jazz and funk of his current homebase in New Orleans—and fueling it into a gonzo vision of Americana that is equally innovative as it is simply beautiful to hear. As a songwriter, Robertson takes his inspiration from the fragility of our inner lives and the small moments packed with meaning that surround us. This is John Prine by way of New Orleans, Harry Nilsson in a Nudie suit, a stoned Dr. John lost in Nashville, Bill Monroe on mushrooms listening to Bessie Smith. It’s a riot of juxtapositions and a chaos of imagination anchored by Robertson’s soft, flowing voice, and his uncanny knack for chronicling our lost lives. Carolina Child was produced by Dan Molad of Lucius, and features Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig from Lucius plus a whole host of Robertson’s friends and picking partners including Dori Freeman, Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers), and Logan Ledger. Listening to the album’s ten tracks, it’s clear that Robertson—one of the best kept secrets of Americana—is poised for a breakout moment with Carolina Child. Step into his boundlessly creative multi-verse and you’ll find nothing short of American songbook excellence.

R.R. Williams, Bob Fleming, and Ryan Lockhart

Abigail Dowd’s Songwriter Series featuring: Abigail Dowd, Jonathan Byrd, and Alexa Rose

JONATHAN BYRD: Jonathan Byrd is a preacher’s kid, Gulf War veteran, and award-winning songwriter with a near-cult following. With twenty plus years of touring and over a dozen albums, Byrd’s deceptively simple, working-class songs have become campfire standards and crowd favorites for artists like Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien. A Jonathan Byrd show will take audiences on a journey from hell-raising sing-alongs to heart-wrenching ballads and back across the backroads of his native North Carolina. A lifelong collaborator and innovator, Jonathan Byrd’s latest project is Song Miners, a project to not only write and release new songs, but also to teach others how it’s done. Leading powerful online songwriting workshops and creating free songwriting education for social media, Byrd seems on a mission to fill the world with great songs- not least, his own. Not to be missed. ALEXA ROSE: Alexa Rose was born in the Alleghany Highlands of western Virginia, raised in the tiny railroad town of Clifton Forge. Though no one in her immediate family played or sang, she inherited a deep musical legacy. That sense of place and storytelling spirit became woven into Rose’s voice and songwriting. In 2019, she released her debut album Medicine For Living, the title track of which won Merlefest’s revered Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Her 2021 follow up Headwaters garnered national attention from American Songwriter and Rolling Stone, among others. Rose wrote most of the album in the early stages of the pandemic, which she astutely characterizes as having “that weird lucid feeling of not-time.” Perhaps following in the steps of her great grandfather, Rose’s songs feel like oil paint landscapes of her own life in the mountains, often wringing out the beauty in mundanity and exploring timeless topics. Her earnest, well crafted stylings are a multi-layered merger of old country music and traditional folk songs, colored by rock and roll and mountain soul. ABIGAIL DOWD: singer/songwriter/guitarist AND host of the songwriter series, Abigail is grew up under the longleaf pines of North Carolina and comes from a long line of musicians. Known for her storytelling and command of an audience, she has been called “a writer of the highest caliber” (All Scene Eye). Her soulful voice and unique classical guitar style have been described by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as “The guitar-driven introspective folk of the 1970s is a touchstone, but so are blues and roots rock ’n’ roll.”

The Justin Cody Fox Band

Justin Cody Fox is a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Wilmington, NC. Justin gained regionalnotoriety for his guitar skills at the age of 15 and has been performing professionally since then. Over theyears Justin has written and recorded multiple albums and toured up and down the east coast and VirginIslands, sharing the stage with many great national acts including: Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, AliceCooper, Whiskey Falls, Thin Lizzy) Vince Neil (Motley Crue) Mother’s Finest, David Lee Roth (VanHalen), Blackfoot, Cowboy Mouth, Joe Bonamassa, Frank Bangs (Buddy Guy) American Minor, TheSteepwater Band, The Trews, Will Hoge, Hubert Sumlin, Sonny Landruth, Chris Duarte, Zoso, LynyrdSkynyrd, Three Doors Down, Rusted Root, Candlebox, Marshall Tucker Band, Shooter Jennings,Blackberry Smoke, Buddy Guy, Gregg Allman Tab Benoit, Donna the Buffalo, Audley Freed, FordThurston and many others.Justin signed with Spectra Music Group in 2017 to release his sophomore album “Go DownSwinging”. Justin’s latest singles are a well balanced showcase of smart songwriting and polishedmusicianship For his latest group of recordings Justin teamed up with Legendary Guitarist Audley Freedto record what would be known as the “Three Days in Nashville” EP. The project was Produced by Mr.Freed and enlisted the Allstar talents of Audley himself(guitars), Robert kearns(Bass/Vocals), JenGunderman(Keys) and Fred Eltringham(Drums)

Sam Fribush and Friends (NC Folk Festival After Party|Night Two

Keyboardist Sam Fribush is on the frontlines of the Hammond organ revival. Hisdebut release, Riverboat and the Root, was produced by Charlie Hunter andrecorded over quarantine in North Carolina. In 2024, Fribush released his secondcritically acclaimed record People Please. Fribush became a member of HissGolden Messenger in 2021. Currently based in Greensboro, NC, Fribush hasbrought his fonky, soulful vibe home to the town where he was born and raised.Over the past few years, Fribush has established himself as one of the country’s hottest youngbandleaders and People Please pushes the keyboardist’s music into new and unchartedterritory, revealing a deep affinity for crispy, wah-wah driven funk, Hip-hop beats and sultryHAMMOND ballads. Says Fribush, “My intention is to take this music into the future. I’m trying toexpand the rules about what organ trio music is.” Indeed, the album places Fribush’s music notonly among the giants of soul jazz–Ronnie Foster, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Larry Young–but also in thepantheon of funkateers like Sly Stone and the Meters. Throughout the album, Fribush is joinedby frequent collaborator Charlie Hunter–a guitarist who has been an instrumental part of musicculture since the late 90s –and North Carolina allstar Calvin Napper (the drummer in Maze feat.Frankie Beverly for the past 13 years), Xavier Lynn and Nick Falk. But even among hishigh-caliber guests, keyboardist and composer Sam Fribush remains the star of the show.

Genre: Concerts