Recommended if you like: Jonny Lang, Nighthawks, Tom Principato
The Andy Poxon Band features 17-year-old phenom Andy Poxon on guitar and vocals, Russ Wasson on bass, and Mike O'Donnell on drums. The band has been together since May 2009, and plays regularly in various live music venues around Maryland/DC/Virginia. The band plays a wide variety of Andy‟s originals and covers, ranging from traditional blues to rockabilly and country. The combination of Andy‟s voice and guitar playing make for an unforgettable evening of music.
Recommended if you like: Milk Carton Kids, Brett Dennen, Erin McKeown
The Little Country Giants are the heart and soul of songwriting duo Russell Dallas Cook, guitarist/ vocalist, and Cameron Federal Cook, upright bassist/ vocalists, from Rome, Georgia.
Vintage southern folk, bluegrass, and country band, the Little Country Giants, bring America’s heartland to audiences across America. Gathering accolades, like a magnet gathers iron filings, their unique sound draws audiences and nurtures fans.
Hailing from the foothills of northwest Georgia, the Little Country Giants are outgrowing their southeastern roots like kudzu. In two short years, the band has gone from playing small local festivals and noisy barrooms, to two- story theaters, acclaimed singer-songwriter listening rooms, and main stage performance slots at some of the region’s largest music festivals.
“Unapologetically Appalachian and unashamed in sadness, the Cooks’ songwriting preserves the poetry of a disappearing rural America,” said David Eduardo of Flagpole Magazine – November, 2006.
Call Me Mercy (Indie) Saturday, May 19, 2012 8 P.M., $12
After playing music in a band during high school, the two decided to keep making music with this acoustic project. And so Call Me Mercy was born. The two decided to recruit fellow musicians Jordan Kellermeyer and Anthony Graves to form a full band and have a better live performance.
Guitarist Charlie Hunter is a musician on a journey. Never to be satisfied with a ravishingly successful recording career spanning 17 albums, he has continued to explore his own musical tastes, following the currents of his musical self. Continuing the evolution of his style and sound, Public Domain is Charlie Hunter's solo take on 11 bona fide classic tunes that have been around long enough for their copyrights, but not their charms, to have expired. His first solo album in 10 years, the material chosen for Public Domain, all of it close to Hunter's heart, is woven into the fabric of our collective cultural history.
Since the debut of Charlie Hunter Trio in '93, Hunter has recorded 17 albums and worked with Miles Perkins, Les Claypool, John Ellis, Bobby Previte, Leon Parker, Mos Def, Norah Jones, Adam Cruz, and John Mayer to name just a few.
Miss Tess has just released “Live Across the Mason Dixon Line”, a true documentation the group's extensive tour history. The album features two live shows – one from the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts and one from Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia.
This release proves to be a valiant effort by the band, Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade, to blur the lines that once clearly dictated style, genre, and location. Stemming from the truest meaning of the now overused word “Americana”, the band pushes their influences into the current music scene with something totally fresh and soulfully timeless.
The skilled musicianship of the quartet combined with Tess’s heartfelt songwriting and powerful stage presence creates a live experience that is more interesting and engaging then most by popular musicians today. It’s quality music you can’t define in one sentence.
Bombadil (Folk/Rock/Americana) Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 8 P.M., $10
What would rock ‘n’ roll sound like if someone poked fun at it? It would sound like Bombadil, four genteel rock nerds from Durham, NC. Part indie rock, part folk, part who-knows-what, Bombadil sees the value in the nuance and the humor in the awkward moment, tackling music with an enthusiasm kind of like kids with their first instruments.
The guys of Bombadil are far from novices, though. Through various college bands and outdoors clubs, Daniel Michalak, younger brother John, Bryan Rahija and Stuart Robinson formed the band in 2005. Soon after, James Phillips replaced John on drums to create the Bombadil lineup that’s been ever since.
Named after a free-wheeling, music-loving J.R. Tolkien character, the band embodies the same whimsical spirit with a host of influences from CAKE to The Kinks, their own musically diverse home state to the Cool Runnings soundtrack. Yes, really. And that versatility has brought them far; when Bombadil opened for The Avett Brothers in 2006, they caught the eye of Ramseur Records’ Dolph Ramseur and joined the label. They’ve toured nationally and performed at multiple festivals including Bonnaroo, FloydFest and Rhythm & Roots.
Recommended if you like: Steel Wheels, Arlo Guthrie, Spring Standards
A lot can happen in five years, and for the husband-and-wife duo Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, the time between Exploration, their first album together in 2005, and Bright Examples their new, full-length collaborative project, has been one nonstop whirlwind of activity.
Not only has the couple toured extensively both as a duo and as part of the “Guthrie Family Rides Again” tour (with Sarah Lee’s dad, Arlo Guthrie), they’ve also released the children’s album Go Waggaloo (Smithsonian Folkways), a live DVD entitled Folk Song, a solo album by Johnny (Ex Tempore), parented their two young daughters and moved from South Carolina to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, near where Sarah Lee was raised.
“We’ve been working really hard,” confirms Guthrie. “We even built a house. We felt very creative in South Carolina but we’re in a totally different space now. We had started another album together before we moved but it just wasn’t right. This one is.”
Ryful (Rock) Saturday, June 2, 2012 8:00 p.m., $12
Ryful is a Rock Duo from Maryland. Jon Fuller (drums) and Justin Pokrywka (guitar), previously of the band "All Together Spent" decided that they wanted to change things up and explore their raw rock n roll side that had been hiding inside for a while. Pokrywka switched to electric guitar and the wall of sound that the two of them began to produce was chimerical. Their music ranges from blues,grunge to alternative rock.
Lauren Shera (Americana/Bluegrass/Folk) Tuesday, June 5th 2012 8 p.m., $12
Music has played an integral part in Lauren Shera’s life from the very beginning. Her original songs and soulful voice combine to create a sound that is both powerful and melancholy. On her second and most recent album, Once I Was Bird, with the help of producer Andy Zenczak, Lauren weaves an opulent sound using an eclectic array of instruments including mandolin, violin, cello, banjo, ukelele, pump and pipe organs, trumpets, and more. The album’s lush sounds and beautiful temperament are complimented with guest performances by Abigail Washburn, and Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses).
Armed with a luscious vibrato, Lauren’s voice is a uniquely distinctive. Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead and Further says, “Every generation or two, a voice comes along that redefines what you thought you knew about music and touches you deep down in your soul…Her voice is going to define the next generation of folk music.”
In 2011, Shera performed at Bonnaroo and was also hand-picked by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons to be one of three artists to introduce his renowned artist collective, Communion, to the United States. The introductory Communion Tour featured Lauren, David Mayfield Parade and Matthew & The Atlas in a seamless evening of individual sets culminating with all 12 of the musicians making up the tour on stage together for a communal set of encore songs.
Lauren has shared the stage with such artists as Ray LaMontagne, Jackie Greene, Jason Mraz, Phil Lesh, Wanda Jackson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Billy Bragg, Nanci Griffith, Kristin Hersh, Joan Osborne and Abigail Washburn. In addition to Bonnaroo, she has appeared at the High Sierra Music Festival, Sausalito Music and Arts Festival, Monterey Music Summit and South by Southwest. When she was 18-years-old she was also invited to perform at the Bob Dylan Tribute Concert at New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall.
If you listen closely, you can hear a heartbeat in the songs of Erick Baker. A warm familiar pulse of love and loss echoing from somewhere just under the surface. Written with unguarded lyrical honesty, Erick's songs are passionate confessions that reflect many of our own deeply rooted emotions and secrets.
Since releasing his debut EP, It's Getting Too Late To Say It's Early, in 2008, Erick's powerful voice and deeply personal songwriting style have led listeners through music rich with themes central to the emotional cornerstones of their lives. And recently, the message of Erick's music has quickly started to spread.
This medley of heartfelt insight, accentuated by strong melodic hooks and emotive vocals, drives Erick's second full-length album, Goodbye June. Produced by Ken Coomer, (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo), Goodbye June skillfully blends a divergent set of influences – rock, pop, soul, blues, country, and folk – into one seamless, signature sound that defines Erick's distinctive voice.
Jill Andrews' songs will warm you like a winter quilt – or chill you to the bone. Either way, when you hear Jill Andrews sing, you will remember it.
What do you get when you combine a charismatic actress with a powerhouse voice, a multi-instrumentalist heartthrob-in-the-making and an introverted genius songwriter? You get Native Run (formerly Deep River). Named PASTE Magazines “Best of What’s Next,” Native Run is Rachel Beauregard, Bryan Dawley, and Luke Brindley, a power-folk trio from Virginia who create their own brand of music they've termed "Front Porch Pop." It's a fluid, sonic experience combining elements of pop, folk, and blues with straight-up homegrown sass. Native Run will have you singing along, always wanting more, and leave you curious about how their hair manages to look so frickin' good all the time. Native Run's debut album is named "Ten Mornings."
Cris Jacobs Band
w/ Benyaro (Blues/Americana) Friday, June 8th, 2012 8:00 pm, $15
After 10 years as guitarist, songwriter, and singer for Baltimore band The Bridge, Cris Jacobs is embarking on a solo career. With the new Cris Jacobs Band, he has tapped some of Baltimore's finest musicians and written a bunch of new material. With the upright bass wizardry of Jake Leckie, the textured and subtle drumming of Mike Gambone (also of The Bridge), the beautiful, haunting pedal steel guitar work of Dave Hadley, and the blissful harmony singing and tasty rhythms of Cris' longtime musical partner, Ed Hough, this band creates a fresh and unique sonic palate that is a perfect complement to Cris' soulful sound.
Recommended if you like: Jonny Lang, Damon Fowler, Jeff Beck
Tyler Bryant is a guitar prodigy who has shared the stage with Aerosmith, Heart, REO Speedwagon, Paul Simon, BB King, Pat Benatar, The Arc Angels, Vince Gill and many others. At age 15, Tyler won the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation’s New Generation Award, which recognized him as one of the most promising new artists on the music scene. He has also performed at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago, and was signed by Creative Artists Agency on the spot, after his first showcase in Nashville.
Tyler, along with Beck, Santana, and Slash, is featured in the award winning film, “Rock Prophecies,” which is directed by John Chester, and produced by Tim Kaiser (Seinfeld and Will & Grace). “Rock Prophecies,” is now airing nationally on PBS and is available on DVD. Also, this past year, thousands of kids across the world have been playing Tyler’s song, “Who I Am,” since its release on Guitar Hero® 5.
“To be 18 and play like this kid is the rarest of the rare. Hands down a future guitar god.” –Vince Gill
Recommended if you like: Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman
With his hybrid of roots rock, blues, and sacred steel, Florida native Damon Fowler started wowing audiences with his musical exploits as a teenager, building a reputation as one of the hottest young players on the scene. Adding songwriting and vocal skills to his repertoire over the years has brought him many accolades, with critics extolling his originality and maturity as well as his technical guitar expertise. In last year's "Best of Tampa" poll, Creative Loafing magazine named him "Best Guitarist... And Slide Guitarist... and Lap Steel Player... And Dobro Player."
Elizabeth Cook NightCat | 5 Goldsborough St | Easton, Md (Country) Sunday, June 10th, 2012 8 pm, $25
Recommended if you like: Loretta Lynn, Good Ol’ Country
To say that Elizabeth Cook’s background is like something out of a country song would be wildly underestimating the entire genre. The youngest of 11 half-brothers and sisters, she grew up in rural Florida where her musician parents met while playing in local country bars. Her father learned to play upright bass in a Georgia prison band while serving 11 years for running moonshine. Her mother, a singer and mandolin player from the hills of West Virginia, wrote her daughter’s first songs, including “Does My Daddy Love The Bottle More Than He Loves Me,” and had Elizabeth singing on stage at 4 years old.
In contemporary country music, it’s a rare performer who will dare to take on the industry on her own hogs-and-kisses terms. But for the artist whom Nanci Griffith has called “this generation’s Loretta Lynn,” it takes a certain tenacity to meld smart attitude with classic tradition, the credibility of a life lived with genuine hillbilly passion, and the integrity to write an acclaimed cache of uncommonly cool songs.
Gary Jules (Singer-Songwriter) Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 8 P.M., $22
In 2001 Jules’ original independent release of “Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets,” which included a cover of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” that Jules recorded with friend and producer Michael Andrews for the film “Donnie Darko,” arrived to even more critical acclaim. The Village Voice called it “the best album to be released this year, anywhere. Period.” Rolling Stone Magazine said “Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets is at once beautiful and haunting, depressing and inspiring, lonely and welcoming — delicately crafted folk music of the highest order.” In October 2001, Richard Kelly’s film “Donnie Darko” came out in theaters and quickly became a cult phenomenon. Not bad for an album created in a basement for less than $100.
In 2002 “Snakeoil” was championed by Nic Harcourt, host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” at KCRW-FM in Los Angeles, and by Bruce Warren at WXPN-FM in Philadelphia. With these giants of listener-supported radio spreading the word, Jules toured constantly as an independent artist, sharing the stage with Jack Johnson, Damien Rice, Sheryl Crow, Beck, Mason Jennings, Jewel, Jason Mraz, The Polyphonic Spree, Liz Phair, and Todd Rundgren. His year-long residency at the then anonymous Hotel Cafe in Hollywood has become the stuff of legend in the new LA underground.
Chris Merritt (Indie/Piano-Rock) Saturday, June 16th, 2012 8 P.M., $12
One of our favorites, Chris returns to NightCat for the first time in way too long.
If you aren't familiar with Chris, all you have to do is take one listen to his songs and you'll be hooked; all of his songs sound like pop hits that have already been on the radio for years. The fact that they aren't probably means they will be - you'll just get to hear them here first.
Swampcandy (Blues/Americana) Saturday, June 23rd, 2012 8:00 pm, $10
Swampcandy’s aggressive Stomping-Mississippi-Blues and cross-genre sets create an eclectic mix of honestly-crafted songs that will take you on a journey of raw emotion and refined sensation. From venues, festivals and coffee houses around the U.S. and U.K., Ruben Dobbs has teamed up with an incredible upright bass player / kick drummer, Joey Mitchell, to become a duo that has no lack of rhythm or stage presence.
Swampcandy has shared there music locally, nationally and internationally — from the Baltimore & Annapolis, Wash. D.C. & Virginia areas, to NYC, Philly, Colorado, Minnesota, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area ...and even the U.K..
Jason Myles Goss (Singer-Songwriter) Sunday, June 24, 2012 7:30 P.M., $12
Recommended if you like: Milk Carton Kids, Brett Dennen, Mark Erelli
A Hopedale, MA native, Jason has been writing and recording since 2003 when he released his first full length album "Long Way Down." Since then, he's spent his time touring and releasing subsequent albums before settling down long enough to make "Radio Dial," in which he enlisted the help of friends Austin Nevins (guitars) and Sam Kassirer (keys), both members of Josh Ritter's Royal City Band, as well as David Dawda (bass) and Joel Arnow (drums).
Self-produced at Vanity Sound in Brooklyn, NY, Jason and engineer Myles Turney began by recording live to analog tape, giving the foundation of the album a scrappy, raw quality, evocative of roots-based albums like Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road," or, the more modern day, Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky.” Yet, the songs also contained big, melody-driven, pop ambitions in the vein of records like Counting Crows’ “August and Everything After,” or The Wallflowers’ “Bringing Down The Horse”— song-centric 90’s rock records that occupied Jason’s world when he was a teenager growing up in a small mill town. However, rather than grapple with these two divergent influences, Jason strove at the outset to make a record where they both could sit side by side at the same musical table. It was in that spirit that “Radio Dial,” Jason’s fourth album, was born.
" . . .Goss's musical performance was enticing; his combination of storytelling and singing lured in listeners and brought them to his own level, as if they were living the songs themselves. . ." - The Ithacan, Ithaca NY -
Jim Boggia
w/ Cliff Hillis (Pop/Singer-Songwriter) Saturday, June 29th, 2012 8:00 P.M., $15
Recommended if you like: The Beatles, The Kinks, Great Pop Music Misadventures In Stereo, the third album by widely lauded singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Boggia, is unmistakably the work of a true believer and pop craftsman who's closely acquainted with music's capacity for transcendent uplift. His confessional, deeply personal lyrics tap into the deepest and most universal of human emotions.
Born blind in one eye and with limited vision in the other, Boggia grew up an only child with an acutely developed ear for music. His early fascination for such iconoclastic pop classics as the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, Nilsson Sings Newman and Stevie Wonder's Innervisons helped to inform an aesthetic sensibility that would push him to create album-length listening “experiences” on his own releases.
Dave Majerowicz (Folk) Saturday, June 30th, 2012 8:00 P.M., $12
Dave Majerowicz won the 1st Annual Night Acoustic Slam Competition and is a member of the popular Annapolis-based group Pilgrim and Trout. He has impressed audiences here with his charm, wit and great songs opening for the likes of Chris Knight and The Vespers.
Recommended if you like: Ray Wylie Hubbard, The SteelDrivers, Kasey Chambers
"Telisha’s vocals carry the twang of Steve Earle and Nanci Griffith, while Doug’s bluesy, country guitar conveys both rhythm and harmony.." --Performing Songwriter
Doug and Telisha Williams hail from Martinsville, Virginia, where boarded up factories stand as monuments to how fast the world can change. When they write and sing songs about dying small towns, they know what they’re talking about. The unemployment rate where they live is 20.2 %. When you hear them sing songs about a couple of hard luck kids who made some bad decisions and wound up in jail, you’ve got to remember that Doug & Telisha are still good friends with those kid’s family. The songs for their latest record, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl, weren’t written by people who like to imagine what it’s like “out there,” instead they came from stories told across kitchen tables or between friends after a couple of pitchers at the Ten Pin.
“Seems like everybody we know is living what you read about in the papers,” says Doug. “The unemployment is 20.2%, and we’re all feeling a little desperate and pushed against the wall. This record couldn’t help but echo what we’re seeing and hearing. ”
Adrian Legg is a guitarist's guitarist and a musician's musician winning even Joe Satriani's praise and supporting him on tour. Adrian's solo performances are marked by their technical brilliance, evocative melodies and adventurous spirit. Adrian has won a lion's share of awards including "Guitarist of the Decade" by Guitarist magazine (UK). Furthermore, Adrian is a master clinician having taught at Musician's Institute and the National Guitar Workshop recently, and with numerous instructional books and DVDs to his credit. In 2012 he will be releasing his new CD "It's Fingerstyle Jim....".
Mickey Cucchiella of 98 Rock NightCat | 5 Goldsborough St | Easton, Md (Comedy) TWO NIGHT STAND!!!! July 13th and 14th, 2012 $20, 8 P.M each night
Anyone who has seen any of Mickey’s shows here know that he isn’t just a morning DJ trying his hand at stand-up; on the contrary he is one of the region’s BEST comedians. His sometimes angry, stream of consciousness delivery, superimposed over his Catholic schoolboy persona, is winning over every audience he faces. Mickey's unique style is hard to pinpoint, although some have said he's an interesting cross between Sam Kinison, Dennis Leary, and Billy Idol. We just think he’s funny as s#%*!
What Comes After. It’s not clear if Adam Levy, frontman and creative force behind The Honeydogs, meant the title of their 10th studio release (and first full-length effort since 2006) as a statement or a question. The album’s songs merge simpler lyrical content of early works with the deceptively sophisticated music making of The Honeydogs more recent offerings.
Written in a short spell and recorded in just 5 ½ days, these lilting, memorable tunes lent themselves to a bare-bones recording approach. With shades of Leonard Cohen, Nilsson, Nick Drake, and Tony Joe White the band has created a soul folk and country record tracked as an ensemble with minimal overdubs.
Despite it’s sense of ease, the album still brings moments of unabashed rock, including the impassioned title track and the psychadelic prog number "Devil We Do". On What Comes After, the band truly marries it’s original roots sensibility with complex orchestral pop and soul arrangements.
After 16 years together, the band has weathered successes and missteps, raised children, seen loves come and go, and throughout, thrived as an ensemble even when it seemed that no one was noticing. Yet with their maturity and experience, Levy never lets the band assert conceit—instead of answers, What Comes After asks questions, ponders the little things, and carries the listener along with gently lingering melodies and poetics. Sometimes it is the simplest of things that stay with you—and this collection of songs will surely cling to your heart.
David Wax Museum (Indie/Americana) Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 8:00 pm, $15
Recently anointed as Boston’s Americana Artist of the Year (2010 Boston Music Awards), the David Wax Museum has been called “pure, irresistible joy” (Bob Boilen, NPR) and hailed by TIME.com for its “virtuosic musical skill and virtuous harmonies.” It is no surprise that its acclaimed performance at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival was hailed as one of highlights of the entire weekend by NPR. The Museum fuses traditional Mexican folk with American roots and indie rock to create an utterly unique Mexo-Americana aesthetic. Combining Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering, and donkey jawbone rattling, they have electrified audiences across the country and are “kicking up a cloud of excitement with their high-energy border-crossing sensibility” (The New Yorker).
The band’s new album, Everything Is Saved, produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter), has been drawing rave reviews from all corners and has propelled the band into the national spotlight. With an illustration in The New Yorker, a feature in Paste Magazine, a Daytrotter session, a nod from TIME magazine as one of the top ten acts of this year’s South by Southwest, and an appearance on NPR’s World Café, the band has quickly become “one of the hottest new indie bands around” (Better TV).
Kat Parsons (Pop/Singer-Songwriter) CD RELEASE SHOW Friday, July 27th, 2012 8:00 pm, $15
Recommended if you like: Carole King, Norah Jones, Aimee Mann
Kat Parsons is a fearless performer who walks the line between innocence and exuberance. Equally funny and effortlessly sexy, her acute self-awareness allows her to be both excitable (she’s a “hugger”) and self-deprecating. With the release of three upcoming EPs, each showcasing a distinct image and sound, Kat Parsons brings her multifaceted personality – and talent—to the forefront.
Born in Vienna to opera singer Darrell Parsons and recording artist Julie Parsons, she grew up immersed in music, studying piano and later majoring in theatre at Northwestern University. And since the 2005 release of her fan funded (to the tune of $18,000) album No Will Power — which was distributed nationally by Cleopatra/Navarre — Parsons’ career has been on overdrive.
From the cover of Music Connection magazine, to winner of the Acoustic Live competition (beating out more than 600 musicians), Parsons’ talent and pure passion has helped make her sophomore album No Will Power runner-up for Album of the Year at the 2005 DIY Music Festival, nabbed her coverage in Billboard, Boston Globe, Washington Post (“a fiery spirit…confident, dynamic songs…”), The Onion, and more.
The now Los Angeles based singer/songwriter has opened for or shared bills with heavy hitters like Billy Corgan, Jim White, Spin Doctors, and Sara Bareilles. And she’s performed across the U.S., Japan, Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.
In late 2010, Parsons created a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the manufacturing, art and promotion of her next recordings. Her legions of dedicated fans contributed $19,560. Now, beginning in April, Parsons will release three EPs, each distinct bodies of work: Talk To Me, OH!, and It Matters to Me. “Sometimes I think of a song as a naked body, and there are so many ways you can dress it.,” she said. “I had a lot of curiosity about different approaches — I wanted to try on different clothes.”
Recommended if you like: Guggenheim Grotto, Spoon, The Weepies
With an emphasis on three-part harmony and a variety of instrumental switching, The Spring Standards are an energetic force of three-part harmony circling over a rock n' roll sound with an old country aftertaste.
They take a drum kit and break it up among the three of them, and then they set up along the front of the stage. Whoever's playing bass is also stepping on a kick drum. whoever's playing guitar is also stepping on the high hat...in the middle stands Heather, switching between melodica, keys, glockenspiel and snare drum. Yet even with all this going on, their harmonies are astounding.
Their range and energy make each live show a unique event.
Jim Avett (Americana/Classic Country) Friday, September 14, 2012 8:00 P.M., $12
Recommended if you like: Hank Williams, George Jones
Jim Avett is the son of a Methodist minister and a classical pianist who grew up in a home full of love and music, a home where he learned the importance of hard work and honest living. He and his wife instilled these same values in their children, tempered with a lot of fun, and of course, music. Jim's guitar was an ever present instrument, and there was always singing.
As much as he enjoyed writing and performing his music, Jim put his family first and spent 35 years runniing his welding company, building bridges along much of the east coast in order to provide for them. After retiring from welding, he returned to music and recorded Jim Avett and Family, a collection of gospel music, with his children, Bonnie, Scott and Seth, in 2008. Soon after, in 2010, he released Tribes, a collection of original tunes ranging from soulful love ballads like the title track to the more lighthearted, "Fight with a Bottle of Booze".
In Second Chance, Jim's latest offering, the influences of classic country and early rock and roll are apparent. Once again, he draws on life experiences to write songs about love ("Pictures in the Attic"), boyhood memories ("Willard"), and loss ("Holy Ground").
One comes away from a Jim Avett performance with the feeling that this is an honest man sharing his life and his love of music. It's like spending the evening on the front porch singing and talking with a good friend.
Despite his relatively young age Glier is a seasoned troubadour, traveling all over the United States and performing over 200 dates a year. In 2010 he opened for Edwin McCain and The Verve Pipe, appeared with his idol James Taylor and performed on main stages of the prestigious Falcon Ridge and Kerrville Folk Festivals, with rave reviews and a constantly-expanding fan base following him every step of the way.
“I’m an ambassador,” Glier explains. “I travel from place to place carrying my songs and stories with me, and I want people to leave my show changed. Some people won’t remember the songs I sing, but they will remember how they felt while hearing them. That’s what I want to do – to remind people, including myself, why we’re here: to connect!”
Peter Mulvey (Folk) Saturday, October 6th, 2012 8 P.M., $15
Recommended if you like: Josh Ritter, Willy Porter, Jackie Greene
A house favorite.
Over the past 20 years, Mulvey has pursued a restless, eclectic path as a writer and musician - immersing himself in Tin Pan Alley jazz, modern acoustic, poetry, narrative, and Americana stylings.
Relentlessly touring as a headliner – his attitude is, "When you love what you do, you can work all the time," – he has also shared the stage with luminaries such as Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls, and Greg Brown, and has attracted an audience that stretches from Anchorage to Amsterdam.
Recommended if you like: Old Crow Medicine Show, Avett Brothers, Adrienne Young
The Steel Wheels are truly an Americana band, rooted in musical styles that explore the territories between blues and bluegrass, old-time sing-alongs and foot-stompin’ fiddle tunes. They are subtle innovators who respect the past but whistle their own tunes, layering in rich textures and decidedly modern energy to forge a new sound.
They share much with new Americana favorites like the Avett Brothers or Old Crow Medicine Show, with charisma that causes toes to tap and heads to nod, audiences hanging on their every word. Like those bands, The Steel Wheels have broad appeal. And they count among their fans former Statler Brother Jimmy Fortune and indie folk darlings Over the Rhine.
