BIRDTALKER
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYBIRDTALKERBirdtalker released their debut album One in 2018 which met critical acclaim, featuring their breakout single “Heavy,” which has now amassed over 90 million streams on Spotify alone. With their self-titled sophomore album in 2021 andsubsequent releases, they have come into their own with their most confident and unrestrained songs to date. Fronted by Zack and Dani Green along with Brian Seligman (guitar) and Chris Wilson (drums/percussion), Birdtalker explore how to navigate the unknown, embrace uncertainty, and learn to let go.In 2024, Birdtalker will be releasing an EP and their 3rd full length record, touring the country to support the new music.
Cole Chaney: Legends and Verses Tour 2024
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCOLE CHANEY “Originally from Boyd County, KY, Chaney has since relocated to Lexington and is sure to be the next big thing coming out of Kentucky. At only 21 years old, Chaney’s catalog may be small, but he already boasts an absolute masterpiece of an album in which he proves wise beyond his years. Mercy, his debut album released in 2021, is a 12-song showcase of Eastern Kentucky, blue collar anthems highlighted by Chaney’s deft lyricism and storytelling. An unknown musician prior to the album’s release, Chaney has since experienced a meteoric rise in popularity and has quickly amassed a growing and dedicated fan base, already thirsty for new music.” -Whiskey Riff
Alexa Rose
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEALEXA ROSE Headwaters are the source of a river. The furthest point from where water merges with something else. They are not mighty. Just a network of small tributaries, like a creek, not necessarily picturesque, but they’re the most important part of the river. Water is fluid and inconsistent and sacred and indifferent. You can be miles down a river, but you’re still at the origin. And in that way, water feels like it has transcended time. That’s how these songs found me—the way memories find you, in that slivering, elusive water. As quickly as you come across them, you bend in another direction. Headwaters is the sophomore album from Virginian indie folk singer Alexa Rose. A series of minutely-observed vignettes that feel intimate and expansive at the same time. It captures the sweetness of life without avoiding any of the pain, with songs about time and its constraints, peppered with precise details pulled from Rose’s own life that make universal themes seem personal, inviting the listener to make each song their own. A series of rivers, Headwaters is centered on the fluidity of time. After a year where time has seemed to ebb and flow inconsistently and all routine has been dismantled, I found myself writing in the medium of water, says Rose. When I was sitting alone in my room in the southern summer heat, windows open, humidity fuming, a song called Human poured out of me. It was August, and all summer there had been such a tremendous sense of humanity, revolution, justice coming up against division, misinformation, fear. Like most regular, feeling people, I had such a strange mixture of emotions: grief, excitement; solidarity with the ways people across the world were showing up to love and support one another. I wanted so badly to run outside and be a part of it all, right then and there in that moment. But I was stuck at home. And in that strange swelling of simultaneous loss and the richness of witnessing so much kindness, I remember laying on the bed with the guitar, staring at the ceiling, and just singing “I wanna go downtown and look some stranger in the face.” I would be happy to see anyone. I just really want to hug someone. To jump into some icy swimming hole. To feel the surge of aliveness. And I felt so imperfect and raw, but I knew so did everyone else. I feel like this record is the first time I’ve ever let my whole self into the room, says Rose. The parts of me that are angry and wanting to stand up and the parts that want to be quiet. The parts that remember being a kid. Letting myself release all of that in the studio and having all these people back me up and make it work was a tremendous gift. When I turned 27 and felt the weight of a decade in a conversation, I envisioned my present and past self in the form of a frenetic, uneasy current slapping up against a steady boat. I imagined my great grandparents in their garden in the golden embers of some evening and the timeless sensation of change, the colorful sunsets I’ve seen through their own eyes, decades later. And in the same way I found the songs, waves breaking against my own roughness, only visitors, I’m passing them on to you now. May all of your rivers come back headwaters.
On Tour With Kolton Moore & The Clever Few
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYKOLTON MOORE & THE CLEVER FEW Kolton Moore & the Clever Few have been paying tribute to country rock’s timeless traditions since 2012, lending rootsy textures to songs about love and hard living. Their songs have collected more than 50 million streams on Spotify since 2016, “What Brings Life Also Kills” was introduced to the world by 2021 American Idol winner Chayce Beckham, and “Peace in the Pines” was featured as the closing song in the season 4 finale of the hit TV show Yellowstone.
Sunny Sweeney
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYSUNNY SWEENEY Sunny Sweeney, a genre-bending, songwriting spitfire who has spent equal time in the rich musical traditions of Texas and Tennessee, returns with Married Alone, the celebrated singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album and the follow-up to 2017’s critically acclaimed Trophy. Co-produced by beloved Texas musician and larger-than-life personality Paul Cauthen and the Texas Gentlemen’s multi-hyphenate Beau Bedford, Married Alone is Sweeney’s finest work yet, bringing together confessional songwriting, image-rich narratives and no shortage of sonic surprises for a loosely conceptual album about loss and healing. Married Alone began as most of Sweeney’s projects do: with a visit to her deep vault of unreleased songs. Since debuting with Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame in 2006, Sweeney has been a prolific writer, writing whatever is on her heart rather than with a particular project in mind. That habit afforded her a rich well of material for Married Alone, some of which is over a decade old. Cauthen joins Sweeney on “A Song Can’t Fix Everything,” one of the album’s rawer moments. “That song can’t bring my mother back to life,” Sweeney sings at the song’s start, before recounting the many ways that music may be able to transport us to the past but can never fix it. “Want You to Miss Me” is an honest take on the complexities of a difficult breakup, with Sweeney’s nimble vocal wavering between defiance and doubt. “Easy as Hello” is Sweeney’s writing at its finest, channeling the heartache that comes with the end of a treasured relationship, for a track that recalls — vocally and lyrically — the work of Stevie Nicks. The full potential of the album really revealed itself, though, when a friend sent Sweeney a demo of what would become its title track, “Married Alone.” Though she wasn’t a co-writer on the track, Sweeney felt her own story reflected in its lyrics. The song, which features a particularly emotional guest vocal from living country legend Vince Gill, charts the painful moments sometimes experienced in marriages that have run their course. “There may be rings on our fingers, but we’re married alone,” she and Gill sing, over weeping pedal steel and reverbed guitar. “My jaw hit the floor when I heard that song, because I had just gone through my second divorce, which is also cliche of a country singer,” Sweeney says, with a laugh. “I was still pretty raw about my divorce, but also very candid and trying to find levity in the situation. You have to be able to laugh at yourself at some point and not let it just totally get you down.” A few months after securing the song and mining her own vault for a track list, Sweeney traveled to Dallas, TX, to record — alongside Cauthen and Bedford — what would become Married Alone. In addition to releasing Married Alone, Sweeney is marking a new chapter in her professional life with a brand-new team by her side, most of whom are women. While it wasn’t a conscious choice, Sweeney says, she feels like she’s surrounded by the right group of people, who just happen to be “badass women.” Like the narrator of “Someday You’ll Call My Name,” Sweeney is not the kind of artist you come across then forget. With Married Alone, she further cements her status as one of country music’s finest storytellers.
Tanner Usrey: The Crossing Lines Tour w/ JD Clayton
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTANNER USREY Guitar in hand and mic turned up loud, the tunes do the talking for Tanner Usrey. The Texas-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist pairs straight shooting storytelling with country grit, rock ‘n’ roll energy, and Americana eloquence. As such, he channels a classic spirit from a personal perspective. After piling up tens of millions of streams, packing hundreds of shows, and landing syncs on the likes of Yellowstone, he bares it all on a series of 2023 singles for Atlantic Records and much more to come. “I let the songs be what they’re going to be, and I pride myself on that,” he notes. “Musically, it ranges from southern rock to country to Americana. When it comes to songwriting, I want to focus on what’s real – I don’t shy away from saying the hard things.” Growing up in the small town of Prosper, TX, he gravitated towards music as a little kid. By five-years-old, he constantly belted out Alan Jackson songs around the house much to his family’s chagrin. “Everyone used to tell me to shut up,” he laughs. “I was the kid who sang all the time.” Inspired by everyone from George Strait, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Rolling Stones to his favorite band Whiskey Myers, he wrote countless songs and cut his teeth at gigs anywhere with a stage. In between holding down a job as a skip tracer, he carefully honed his signature style. Quitting his job in 2019, he unveiled the Medicine Man EP. “Come Back Down” generated 19.1 million Spotify streams followed by “Beautiful Lies” with 18 million Spotify streams. During 2021, he tirelessly gigged in between releasing the SÕL Sessions EP. “The Light” also notably soundtracked the finale of Yellowstone Season 4. Along the way, he cemented himself as an electrifying and energetic live presence with over 180 shows in 2022. “When we’re on stage, our goal is to have the audience clinging to the edge of their seats,” he shares. “I get to play with a bunch of badasses, and I don’t take it for granted. We pounded the pavement and put at least 100K miles on the van in a year-and-a-half.” Signing to Atlantic Records, he kickstarted 2023 with “Take Me Home,” cracking 10 million streams and counting. On its heels, the single “Give It Some Time” threads together dusty acoustic guitar and unfiltered lyrics as he pleads, “Give me something to believe in, baby, because I’ve been losing my mind.” Against an organ-laden beat, it builds towards an emotionally charged guitar solo that’s as scorching as his delivery is. Ultimately, Tanner’s music might just say everything you need. “I hope you hear what you want to hear, enjoy it, resonate with it, and know it’s real,” he leaves off. “It’s been a wild ride. I’ve busted my ass. I started off doing all of this on my own, so it’s crazy to see how this and the team around me have grown. People are going after real music right now, and that’s great. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes next.” JD CLAYTON
OUTPOST: Dave Desmelik
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE- FREE SHOWDave Desmelik is a singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical focus is on original compositions. What attracts listeners to Desmelik’s tunes, old and new, is the element of authenticity incorporated in them. There is no sugar coating involved. His songs are not wrapped in false smiles, rather they are stark and open and tend to settle on the pulse of everyday life. An unclosed and evolving journal of thoughts set to music and melodies in prose and instrumental performance. If you listen to Dave Desmelik’s songs, whether lyrical or instrumental, you may become pleasantly fixed in the simplistic realness of them and if you hear Desmelik in a live setting you may realize that there are no tricks, just a genuine venture into the highs and lows of life.
Billy Jonas Band ‘Pre-New Year’s Eve’ Family Concert
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- EARLY SHOW BILLY JONAS BAND Fun for All Ages! Bring the family, and prepare to ring in the New Year at an afternoon show on Dec. 31. The Billy Jonas Band loves to engage and delight both young and adult audiences. Whether performing for adults, families, school groups, faith communities, or a mix, they strive for a musical excellence that inspires, entertains, and moves people literally and figuratively. With “wild winded word magic” (Dirty Linen Magazine), homemade “industrial re-percussion” instruments, exquisite 3 and 4 part vocal harmonies, plus guitar and bass, they love to create community through song and story. Their specialty: finding and pushing your “wonder” button.In 2010, the Billy Jonas Band was honored with a performance at the White House!
Chatham County Line (Album Release Show)
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCHATHAM COUNTY LINELaunched a little more than twenty years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, Chatham County Line built a devoted local following on the strength of their genre-bending live show—an intoxicating blend of bluegrass, folk, country, and rock and roll—before breaking out internationally with their 2003 self-titled debut. In the years to come, the band would go on to release eight more critically acclaimed studio albums, top the Billboard Bluegrass Chart four times, collaborate with the likes of Judy Collins, Sharon Van Etten, and Norwegian star Jonas Fjeld, earn two gold records in Norway (where they were also twice nominated for the Spellemannprisen, Norway’s equivalent of a Grammy), and share bills with everyone from Guy Clark and Lyle Lovett to Steve Martin & Martin Short and The Avett Brothers. NPR hailed the group as “a bridge between bluegrass traditions and a fresh interpretation of those influences,” while Uncut lauded their “powerful melodies and gorgeous harmonies,” and Pitchfork dubbed their music “timeless.” The band’s latest release, Hiyo, marks the band’s first release since the departure of their longtime banjo player and serves as something of a reintroduction to the roots stalwarts, complete with new sounds, new collaborators, and a whole new lease on life. Recorded at Asheville’s Echo Mountain studio with co-producer/engineer Rachael Moore (Kacey Musgraves, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss), the collection finds the trio—Dave Wilson (lead singer/guitarist), John Teer (fiddle/mandolin) and Greg Readling (bass/pedal steel), embracing change at every turn, experimenting with fresh sonic palettes and innovative approaches to their core instrumentation. The songwriting remains classic Chatham County Line here—rich, evocative tales of love and heartbreak, joy and sorrow, righteousness and revenge—but the settings have evolved to incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and more electric guitar and percussion than ever before. Given the group’s string band roots and decades spent singing around a single microphone, the results are nothing short of revelatory, taking an enduring sound and injecting it with a thrilling new spirit of discovery and vitality.
Eric Hutchinson Solo: “Sounds Like This” 15th Anniversary Tour
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEERIC HUTCHINSON Singer/songwriter Eric Hutchinson is feeling nostalgic as he prepares to spend 2023 celebrating the 15th anniversary of his debut album, Sounds Like This. “It’s a special record for me – one that changed my life, my career, and introduced my music to a new audience I could only have dreamt of,” the Takoma Park, MD native reflects. To commemorate the anniversary, Eric has announced that he will be playing shows all year long, performing the album in its entirety. He’s also revealed that Sounds Like This will finally be available on vinyl for the first time ever. Furthering the deep-dive into his past, Eric also released a new single, “Sad Songs”, a forgotten pop tune he wrote and performed regularly on tour in 2008 but never got the chance to record until now. Sounds Like This ended up being a chart-topping album released by Warner Bros. Records, but it almost never happened. Just before Eric recorded those songs, he says he was a frustrated kid who was seriously considering quitting music. “I had spent several years toiling away on the road, playing tragically low-attended shows, and recording several failed albums that were not ready for prime time,” Eric remembers. But as discouraged as he was at the time, Eric says he hated the idea of telling his friends and family that he had quit music. “I decided to dig down deep and make one last-ditch attempt to record a professional debut that lived up to the legacies of my musical heroes like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Michael Jackson,” Eric recalls. “I went for broke, literally, to capture the music that I was hearing in my head – the songs that represented me at that time. I could never have imagined where those songs would take me.” Today, Eric is a seasoned musician and touring artist who’s released eight albums, performed in all 50 states and experimented with diverse kinds of musical genres like pop, folk, reggae, alternative rock, and jazz. Still, more often than not, Eric says if people are familiar with his music, they know the songs from Sounds Like This. “I love getting to hear stories from so many people who remember growing up with the music,” Eric says. “I’ll meet people and they’ll tell me about watching the music video for “Rock & Roll” on VH1 while getting ready for school, or listening to “Food Chain” on a burned mix CD that an older sister made to celebrate getting her driver’s license, or singing “Ok, It’s Alright With Me” in their college a capella group. I’m proud of this album I made many years ago, but I’m even more gratified by the part my music got to play in so many other people’s lives. I’m hoping I get to celebrate Sounds Like This with all those people in 2023.”
