Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYSAM BURCHFIELD & THE SCOUNDRELS Sam Burchfield was raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina, where he learned to play and learned to write. His youth was steeped in the mossy creeks and deep ravines of those ancient woods, and they imbued him with the gift of song. Now in his thirties, Burchfield raises a small family in the North Georgia mountains and continues to find inspiration in the rivers and ridges of Southern Appalachia. His latest album ‘Me & My Religion’ was produced with his touring band, The Scoundrels. It is the first collaboration for the group after years of paying dues to the highway. Colin Agnew (drums), Trygve Myers (bass), and Ryan Plumley (guitar) accompanied Burchfield to Muscle Shoals, Alabama along with Nashville producer, Rachael Moore, to record the album of 7 days. “It’s certainly the most upbeat record I’ve ever released,” reflects Burchfield. “We crafted many of the songs together on countless stages, and most were then tracked live in the studio, which just felt right.” This 10 track album is almost equal parts Americana, psychedelia, indie folk, and Southern rock. All these flavors combine to support the album’s main theme. As seasoned listeners will expect, Burchfield’s lyrics are far from on the nose, as the declarative title would suggest. ‘Me & My Religion’ is an exploration of mankind’s toil for meaning in a world of vapid consumerism and commercialism – one in which we have become deaf to our own harmony with nature. Despite the weight of these ideas, the album feels like a lighthearted sojourn through the backwoods of our imagination.
The Steel Wheels
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYTHE STEEL WHEELS The Steel Wheels have long been at home in the creative space between tradition and innovation, informed by the familiar sounds of the Virginia mountains where the band was formed, but always moving forward with insightful lyrics and an evolving sound. In 2005, Jay Lapp (vocals, guitars, mandolin) and Eric Brubaker (vocals, fiddle) joined lead singer Trent Wagler (guitar, banjo) in forming the band as a vehicle for Wagler’s songwriting. They released several albums under Wagler’s moniker, before officially adopting the The Steel Wheels name with the 2010 release of Red Wing. Quickly staking their claim as independent upstarts in the burgeoning Americana scene, The Steel Wheels followed up this release with three more self-produced albums in the next five years, before joining forces with producer Sam Kassirer for Wild As We Came Here (2017) and Over The Trees (2019). Kevin Garcia (drums, percussion, keys) joined in 2017, bringing a new level of sonic depth and polish to the outfit. Newest member Jeremy Darrow rounds out the rhythm section and grounds the band as they continue to explore deeply rooted yet fresh folk rock sounds. Having gained the experience of thousands of shows, festivals and many miles on the road, the stubbornly independent band has formed deep bonds with each other and the audience that sustains them. The Steel Wheels have responded to this time of isolation and loss by seeking to connect with their audience in new ways. In 2020, unable to perform their rootsy brand of Americana for crowds in live settings, the musicians turned their creative powers to crafting songs for individuals. Produced in isolation in the band’s home studios, the Everyone a Song albums are part of an ongoing project to collect the personal experiences of fans and forge them into that most enduring, yet ephemeral, format we call “song.” An accompanying podcast, We Made You a Song, explores the stories behind these songs, and the songwriting process itself. While each song was commissioned to honor a specific relationship or event—a birth, a wedding, a memory of home—the emotions evoked are universal. Nowhere is this shared humanity more evident than at the band’s own Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a weekend-long celebration of music, community, and the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Hosted by The Steel Wheels every summer, the festival provides a space for the band to shine, from their high energy Saturday night main stage set to their afternoon showcase with young Red Wing Academy students. At Sunday’s gospel hour you are as likely to hear Steel Wheels originals or Warren Zevon covers as you are traditional gospel fare. The weekend is rounded out by the beloved tribute set in which the band collaborates with a cadre of fellow artists to honor an influential figure in American music, with past tributes ranging from Dolly Parton to John Prine. Whether at a joyous summer festival, in their many shows across the country and beyond, or in the studio, The Steel Wheels continue their mission set out over a decade ago; shaking up traditions to see what sticks, telling stories, and joining communities through song.
The Last Revel
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYTHE LAST REVELThe Last Revel is a four-piece folk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Utilizing their multi-instrumental abilities, members Lee Henke, Ryan Acker, Vincenzio Donatelle and Lauren Anderson (they / them) bring a full spectrum of modern Americana to life with lush arrangements of four-part vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, upright bass, fiddle, and 5-string banjo to consistently support impassioned performances of their honest and heartfelt songwriting. Drawing influence from their salt of the earth Midwest ethos the band’s songs so naturally blend the genres of Folk, Old Time String-Band and Indie Rock to create a sound that echoes the current heartbeat of America. Their latest release, Dovetail, highlights each member’s strength as songwriters and collaborators, and further solidifies their musical foundation after a hiatus beginning in 2019. Self-produced and released under the bands own label, Sheep Sheep Records, Dovetail is the band’s fifth studio album.
Clem Snide
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYCLEM SNIDE “The last ten years have been a rollercoaster of deep despair and amazing opportunities that somehow present themselves at the last possible second,” says Eef Barzelay. “During that time, the band bottomed out, I lost my house, and I had to declare bankruptcy. The only way to survive was to try to transcend myself, to find some kind of deeper, spiritual relationship with life. Once I committed to that, all these little miracles started happening.” ‘Forever Just Beyond,’ Barzelay’s stunning new album under the Clem Snide moniker, may just be the most miraculous of them all. Produced by Scott Avett, the record is a work of exquisite beauty and profound questioning, a reckoning with faith and reality that rushes headlong into the unknown and the unknowable. The songs here grapple with hope and depression, identity and perception, God and the afterlife, humanizing thorny existential issues and delivering them with the intimate, understated air of a late-night conversation between old friends. Avett’s production is similarly warm and inviting, and the careful, spacious arrangement of gentle guitars and spare percussion carves a wide path for Barzelay’s insightful lyrics and idiosyncratic delivery. “I look up to Eef with total respect and admiration,” says Avett, “and I hope to survive like he survives: with total love for the new and the unknown. Eef’s a crooner and an indie darling by sound and a mystic sage by depth. That’s not common, but it’s beautiful.” Named for a William S. Borroughs character, Clem Snide first emerged from Boston as a three-piece in the early 1990’s, and the group would go on to become a cult and critical favorite, picking up high profile fans from Bon Iver to Ben Folds over the course of three decades and more than a dozen studio albums. NPR highlighted the Israeli-born Barzelay as “the most underrated songwriter in the business today, with a sneakily firm grasp on poignancy and humor,” while Rolling Stone hailed his songwriting as “soulful and incisive,” and The New Yorker praised his music’s “soothing melodies and candid wit.”
Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters: Album Sneak Peek Show
ALL AGESFULLY SEATED SHOWEACH TICKET PURCHASE COMES WITH A LIMITED EDITION POSTER AND DOWNLOAD CODE FOR THE UPCOMING NEW ALBUM! AMANDA ANNE PLATT & THE HONEYCUTTERSThe music of Asheville, North Carolina based outfit Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters is nuanced, bringing insight and wit to the stories Platt tells through songwriting. Lyrically driven, the band’s country roots music often inspires introspection, whether it be about life on the road, heartache or hope. There is an empathetic and charming wit ingrained in Platt’s songwriting. She has a knack for accessing a deep well of emotion and applying it to her story-telling, whether she is writing from her own experiences or immersing herself into the melody of emotions in another person’s life. Performing along with Platt, The Honeycutters are Matt Smith (pedal steel and electric guitars), Rick Cooper (bass/vocals), Evan Martin (drums/vocals), and Kevin Williams (keys/vocals).
John Paul White w/ Caleb Caudle
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWLIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILALBEJOHN PAUL WHITE With The Hurting Kind, John Paul White crafted a stunning album that draws on the lush, orchestrated music made in Nashville in the early 1960s. Yet these songs retain a modern feel, whether he’s writing about overwhelming love, unraveling relationships, or fading memory of a loved one. White grew up in tiny Loretto, Tennessee, and now lives in Florence, Alabama, not far from Muscle Shoals. He has cultivated a music career in Nashville for two decades, first as a songwriter for a major publisher, then half of The Civil Wars – a groundbreaking duo that won four Grammy Awards before disbanding in 2012. Because The Civil Wars were so hard to categorize, White has earned a fanbase among indie rock listeners, folk audiences, Americana outlets and AAA radio. So, what will happen if people hear The Hurting Kind and call it country? “Well that doesn’t scare me in the least,” he says. “As a matter of fact, it kind of thrills me.”CALEB CAUDLEForsythia, the latest studio LP offering from Caleb Caudle, is a portrait of his truest self, of the artist at his most solitary and reflective.Thematically, it meets anticipation for the unknown future with nostalgia for the past, and reconciles both with meditation in the present. The album was recorded at the legendary Cash Cabin during the pandemic, and inspired by the solitude and symbols Caudle found in nature during that time. It’s produced by John Carter Cash, and features veteran session players Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Dennis Crouch and Fred Eltringham, and the vocal talents of Carlene Carter, Elizabeth Cook and Sarah Peasall McGuffey. Simplistic arrangements– in which Caudle was the only guitarist– built a framework for space that is filled intentionally so that the songs themselves can be heard and appreciated without an overcrowding of instrumentation. On this record, outsider influences come into play nearly as much as his foundational knowledge of traditional Appalachian folk and other music history. This collection of 10 songs serves as a manifesto of Caudle’s beliefs and simplest desires. Forsythia sees Caudle as a master of his craft as a songwriter and musician.
PATIO: Kyshona
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEKYSHONA Kyshona is an artist ignited by untold stories, and the capacity of those stories to thread connection in every community. With the background of a licensed music therapist, the curiosity of a writer, the patience of a friend, the vision of a social entrepreneur, the resolve of an activist, and the voice of a singer – Kyshona is unrelenting in her pursuit for the healing power of song. She lends her voice and music to those that feel they have been lost, silenced, forgotten or alone. Through her organization Your Song, she facilitates therapeutic songwriting sessions with groups and individuals in hopes of reconnecting those who are divided. Of her past releases, one fan reviewer wrote: “Amidst these hard, divisive times this set of songs is a salve for the grief many of us are feeling about resulting loss of family, friends, and community.”Storytelling is the way we pass information – between friends, colleagues, and family. Stories are how we imprint our culture and give gifts from one generation to the next. Memory is imperfect. It is influenced by emotion, context, our state-of-mind on any given day, our health, surroundings, language, and how we have been socialized. In telling our stories, we not only enlighten one another to our truths, we also call upon our community to practice active understanding and to help us acknowledge, validate, and remember our past. In telling our stories of the past, we shape a collective future informed by all we have all we have traveled, all we have learned, and all we have been. Every family has storytellers, because we are all storytellers. In her forthcoming album LEGACY, Kyshona tells the long story of her family’s journey. Please join Kyshona in the coming months, as she shares more of that story.
Celebrating John Prine with The Knotty G’s
– ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW THE KNOTTY G’S The Knotty G’s are returning, this October 10th, to The Grey Eagle for their 3rd annual Celebration of John Prine. They’ve cultivated a familiar cast of friends with some new additions to their lineup coming soon, and one big surprise you’ll have to be there to see! Husband and wife, Chuck and Gill Knott are the core of the Soul-Soaked Americana powerhouse, The Knotty G’s. Since 2017 these two have toured the country, sometimes calling on a wide range of musical companions to form everything from intimate trio to behemoth 8-piece band performances. In the short time The Knotty G’s have been a team, they have amassed an impressive list of stages and festivals, including the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, The Blue Ridge Pride Festival, AVLFest, Strangecreek Campout, Wormtown Music Festival, and The Ladybug Festival. Seeing The Knotty G’s perform their gritty, yet funky mountain music LIVE leaves you feeling like you’ve reconnected with some old friends.
PATIO: Maya De Vitry
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEMAYA DE VITRYMaya de Vitry’s dynamic and vibrant voice seems to rise out of some necessity of bringing songs to life, embracing listeners with what Folk Alley calls a “soulful intimacy”. She grew up in a musical family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, understanding music to be a place of gathering, a way to spend a summer night around a campfire. Maya first traveled and performed as a fiddling street musician, and then in bars, theaters, and on festival stages as a founding member of The Stray Birds. When the band parted ways in 2018, Maya embarked on an ever-evolving musical path of solo work and new collaborations. Her recordings and live performances embody both sincerity and playfulness, and a compelling reverence for the power of songs to be a place of gathering – whether played on stage, or around a campfire. Maya tours in a variety of formats, each featuring a fluid lineup of inspired collaborators. She also enjoys the art of warming up the stage for other artists and she has been invited to support a variety of tours, from innovative singer-songwriters like John Craigie and Aoife O’Donovan, to bands like Mighty Poplar and The Wood Brothers.While on a tour in April 2023, Maya felt deeply moved by the musical chemistry, emotional immediacy, and joyful spontaneity of her live band. She reached out to Nashville-based engineer Lawson White to arrange a recording session for this specific ensemble. But as far as the material for the session, she felt certain of only one song. “Stacy, In Her Wedding Gown” – a captivating portrait of a deeply creative working mother, inspired by one of Maya’s former co-workers at the Nipper’s Corner Starbucks – had become a staple in her live show and could be a centerpiece of the collection. With the band booked and the session on the calendar, Maya wrote several new songs with the ensemble in mind, and chose one cover song for the collection. The resulting EP, Infinite, is performed with astonishing depth and tenderness, shimmering with a loose, human beauty from start to finish. Produced by Maya de Vitry and engineered and mixed by Lawson White, Infinite features Maya de Vitry (acoustic guitar, vocals) and members of her touring band – Joel Timmons (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Hannah Delynn (vocals), and Ethan Jodziewicz (upright bass, fretless electric bass). It is a powerful 23 minute journey that invites listeners into the space of warmth and freedom that Maya has so devotedly created.
Evan Honer: Nowhere Fast Tour
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYEVAN HONER Evan Honer is a singer-songwriter originally from Surprise, Arizona. Influenced by esteemed artists like Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, and Jim Croce, Evan has masterfully crafted a captivating blend of modern outlaw country, indie folk, and alt-pop sensibilities. Despite only being 22 years old, Evan has garnered an impressive 100 million+ streams across platforms and currently is in the midst of recording a highly anticipated new album for 2024. Announcing the launch of his own record label Cloverdale Records and a North American headline tour — Evan prides himself on his DIY attitude, educating & helping other musicians to own their masters and publishing and stay independent and building community. WELLS FERRARI
