Nick Shoulders and The Okay Crawdad: “All Empires Fall Tour”
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY NICK SHOULDERS AND THE OKAY CRAWDAD All Bad, the latest album from Nick Shoulders, ultimately encapsulates everything that makes Shoulders’ inimitable form of country music so vital: a heady balance of dazzling musicianship and punk defiance, coupled with gritty eccentricity and a generational connection to the roots of the genre. With a singing style inherited from his family’s vocal lineage, Nick’s songs achieve the rare feat of imparting difficult truths while inciting a certain joyful abandon, balancing a sound forged by years of hard travel with a heartfelt reverence for the origins of country music. In the spirit of Hazel Dickens and Jimmy Driftwood, the incisive yet wildly jubilant All Bad vocally objects to the reckless destruction of the natural landscape and development run rampant, while still offering plenty of joy and dance-ready rhythms. Spanning a variety of early country styles, the album’s infectious harmonies shine alongside everything from jangling cajun waltzes to surf-rock infused bluesy ballads–all tied together by a voice seemingly out of place in this century, yet ever ready to speak up about its problems. Released via Gar Hole Records (a label founded and co-owned by Shoulders), All Bad marks the first LP made with his longtime band, the Okay Crawdad, since 2019’s premier full-length Okay, Crawdad and their subsequent pandemic-imposed hiatus. After writing most of the album from the front seat of a tour van, the Fayetteville, AR-based musician and bandmates Grant D’Aubin (harmonies/bass), Cheech Moosekian (drums) and Jack Studer (lead guitar) recorded the album in a home studio on the banks of the Mississippi River with New Orleans collaborators Ross Farbe and Sam Doores. JACK STUDER Jack Studer is your neighbor. He’s your buddy sitting on the porch picking tunes with a smile on his face, flipping over an old bucket for you to pull up a seat. Jack’s music is as welcoming as the man himself, but don’t let its easy-going nature fool you. He has been honing his singular voice for over a decade, and after traveling endless miles and countless stages, he still makes time to sing a song all his own. Jack’s prowess as a guitar player has earned him a place as the newest member of Nick Shoulders and The Okay Crawdad and he continues touring with his long time friends the West King String Band. HEARTS GONE SOUTH Hearts Gone South plays original, old style country and honky tonk full of heart and soul, laced with wit and woe. Bringing fire and feeling to the age old stories of love, loss, heartache, and victory for the underdog. Entertaining audiences from Asheville to Alaska, Hearts Gone South has a “vintage sound with modern production values” Their catalog is a range of barn burners with smoking leads, to tear soaked ballads, and everything in between.Hearts Gone South is JP Parsons – tele, acoustic guitar, and harmonies, Ian Wade – electric bass, upright bass, and harmonies, Scott Thomas- Drums, Silas Hamilton – pedal steel, Tricia Tripp – lead vocalist and song writer. The band is based in Asheville, with members living in Asheville, Bristol and Shelby. They ride back and forth across the mountain range to bring their absolute best to the stage.
JD Clayton
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY JD CLAYTON The Fort Smith Arkansas native, JD Clayton, released his debut album Long Way From Home, early last year which has received overwhelming critical acclaim. There’s no artifice surrounding the Arkansas-born singer and songwriter. No glitz. No pretension or mythology. JD Clayton’s sound, and where he chooses to make it—Arkansas, the most western of the southern states—is a bridge between the southern rock on which he was raised, and the truth telling tradition from the 70s era of country music that he most favors. As a result, the songs on his thrilling new album Blue Sky Sundays, feel both lived in and completely free. Like any great songwriter, Clayton is both leader and follower, telling his own story but reveling in how it unfolds in live time and relates to listeners individually. “The album is about clarity. It’s about leaving the things that let us down behind,” Clayton says. “It’s about love and family and joy. It took me about four months of being sober to have a clear enough head to process this. I think I finally understand that piece of the puzzle at least.” LEON MAJCEN Leon Majcen is a musician whose story is one of resilience and determination. He grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the son of Bosnian war refugees who had fled their homeland in search of a better life for their children. From a young age, Leon was drawn to the power of storytelling through music, particularly the work of artists like Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Bob Dylan, and Guy Clark. Leon began playing in local bars while still in high school, honing his craft and building a loyal following. After graduating, he decided to pursue his passion for music in New York City, while attending college at New York University and playing shows around town. After a while, Leon came to the realization that the hustle and bustle of the city wasn’t where his heart was at. He returned home to Florida and took a job at a commercial fishing dock, filleting and packing fish while he planned his next move. And that move was to Nashville, where Leon hoped to make his mark as a singer-songwriter. Since arriving in Nashville, Leon has continued to develop his unique blend of Americana, folk, and country music, drawing on his experiences and his love of the outdoors to craft songs that are both poignant and powerful. With his heartfelt lyrics, soulful voice, and deft guitar work, Leon has built a strong following in Music City and beyond. He is currently set to release three new singles starting on June 2nd, leading up to a full-length album in the Fall, as well as embark on a tour across the United States, playing shows and searching for the next great fishing spot along the way.
OUTPOST: Erika Lewis & Liliana Hudgens
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Erika Lewis: Known for her lengthy tenure touring and busking with beloved New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny, prolific songwriter and singer Erika Lewis has been churning out American originals all her own for the past several years and now makes her home in the mountains of WNC. From classic country to cosmic Americana to dreamy indie folk, Lewis continues to dip her toes more deeply into an ever-expanding pool of roots music styles. Her latest album, A Walk Around the Sun brings Lewis’ solo work out from the wings to center stage, beneath a spotlight nearly impossible to ignore. Liliana Hudgens: The Appalachian region is spilling over with terrific up-and-coming musicians these days, many clustered around the beautiful artists’ haven of Asheville, North Carolina. That includes Liliana Hudgens, a singer-songwriter whose new seven-song EP Last Line explores the blurry boundaries between country, folk and a retro brand of pop rock descended from The Everly Brothers whose “So Sad” is covered here. Meanwhile, Hudgens’s originals demonstrate both her knack for writing memorable melodies and her considerable vocal capabilities. Few can flutter around a prolonged note like her.
Josh Joplin Group
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY JOSH JOLPIN GROUP Josh Joplin, is not given to reminiscing much about the glory days of chasing a song around the world. Camera One notched up the charts making it the first independently released song to land #1 at Triple A Top 40 on legendary showbiz titan’s, Daniel Glass and Danny Goldberg, storied label, Artemis Records, (J. Mascis, Steve Earle, The Pretenders, Kittie, AND infamous hit makers, The BaHa Men)… Though Josh never quite “let the dogs out” with his only hit, it is featured on the cult classic, Scrubs. He followed it up in 2002 with The Future That Was produced by Rob Gal (Magnapop, Rock-a-Teens) and later the critically praised albums, Jaywalker, Among The Oak & Ash, and Devil Ship. Recently, Joplin has returned to recording music with his friends and collaborators. Their latest effort is Figure Drawing. Joplin will also soon be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his album Useful Music (featuring “Camera One”). Figure Drawing is the eleventh full-length album of new songs that Joplin has releasedAll of Joplin’s experiences, from his early days as a Dylanesque troubadour to his mid- career success as an indierocker, are reflected in this new recording, the broadest, deepest and most balanced of his career. -Geoffrey Himes (Washington Post)
Fruition: How To Make Mistakes Tour
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY FRUITION Three songwriters. Five bandmates. More than 15 years together, building a grassroots audience with a combination of stacked vocal harmonies and collaborative, song-driven Americana. Fruition is proof that there’s strength in numbers. How To Make Mistakes, the band’s first studio album in four years, showcases a reinvigorated group at the peak of its powers. This is American roots music at its broadest and boldest — a melting pot of rock, soul, folk, and pop. What began as a busking string band has evolved into something more eclectic, rooted not only in the unique delivery of three different singers, but also the cohesion of five friends who prefer their music to be homegrown and honest… mistakes and all. “This is the first studio album that we’ve recorded entirely live,” says Jay Cobb Anderson, who shares frontperson duties with fellow multi-instrumentalists Mimi Naja and Kellen Asebroek. “We recorded 17 songs in 7 days, with everybody playing together in real time, and we didn’t overdub anything. The songs sound honest and real. They sound like us.” Co-produced by the bandmates themselves, How To Make Mistakes restores the momentum that Fruition nearly lost in 2020, back when Covid-19 forced them off the road and into quarantine. At the time, they’d been playing some of the biggest shows of their lives, crisscrossing the country in support of their most recent release, Broken At The Break Of Day. The album’s lead single, “Dawn,” had even become a hit on Americana radio. Years of relentless work had taken a toll on Fruition’s mental health, though, and cracks were starting to show in the band’s foundation. “We were so deep into the tour hustle that a lot of our cohesive vision might’ve gotten lost,” Naja admits. “Like anybody in any work force, we’d all learned to put our heads down and keep moving forward, even if that wasn’t the best thing for us.” When they reunited one year later for a long-overdue band practice, they took stock of everything that had changed during those 12 months apart. Some members had started families. Others had gotten sober. All of them had made the conscious decision to return to music. Fruition funneled that growth and maturity back into their new songs, which doubled as rallying cries for a band eager to chase down success once again. “We all had the time to ask ourselves some big questions like ‘Do we want to keep doing this?'” Naja adds. “The fact that we reunited in such a reinforced way after all that time apart… I think it says a lot about who this band truly is.” JOELTON MAYFIELD Raised in small town central Texas and based in Nashville, Tennessee, Joelton Mayfield crafts hard-hitting alt-country that’s at home in dive bars and DIY venues alike. Mayfield’s distinct take on the genre blends Wilco-esque musicality with the dynamics and melodic edge of fourth-wave emo to create a sound all his own. This musical innovation underscores Mayfield’s deft lyricism, which draws a Southern Gothic literary sensibility and deals intimately with the tensions embedded in family, religion, masculinity, and love in the American South.
JD McPherson with special guest Kate Clover
ALL AGES STANDING ROOM ONLY JD MCPHERSON Over the course of 12 years, four studio albums and two EPs, JD McPherson has blazed a singular musical trail, one steeped in a deep affinity for foundational rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly and r&b (among other mid-century American-made sounds), and filtered through a unique and alluringly idiosyncratic songwriting sensibility. While the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native testifies that he “really loves those classic styles, and the driving force of those old songs,” he also affirms that he doesn’t approach his music like a museum piece. Rather, McPherson says, “I think about it like, ‘Why not throw some of those rhythms and sounds into a blender and see what comes out?’ ” Why not, indeed. And to be sure, what has emerged from JD’s musical blender this time out is something unlike anything in his catalog. The new Nite Owls, his fifth studio full-length, shows McPherson further sharpening his songcraft in the service of ten tight, dynamic and hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll tunes. At the same time, he also reached deeper into his stylistic toolbox to incorporate elements of glam, new wave, post-punk, surf rock and other sounds into the mix. “To me, the thread between Duane Eddy and Depeche Mode is that single-note, reverb-y guitar style,” McPherson says about connecting some of these sonic dots. “So it felt natural to blend that kind of big-string guitar thing with the classic stuff and a dash of surf. It made sense.” To make the version of Nite Owls that we have before us, McPherson retreated to familiar environs, Reliable Recorders in Chicago, with a core group of musicians that have been in his orbit for years – guitarist and “auxiliary” player Douglas Corcoran, bassist and “good friend” Beau Sample, and drummer (and Reliable proprietor) Alex Hall. “I went back to where I made my first record, and it was a wonderful experience,” JD says. “We pretty much did everything in-house, and we recorded the thing quick and fast and live.” That electricity and immediacy is baked into every groove of Nite Owls. “I’m just trying to share an infectious enthusiasm,” JD says about his musical intentions. “That’s something that’s missing in a lot of bands. Like, everybody’s so sullen and serious! But me, I want to enjoy myself and make the music I want to make, and I’m so full of gratitude that I get to make it for a living.” He pauses. “I guess you could say I’m kind of a professional enthusiast, you know?” KATE CLOVER Kate Clover is a songwriter and musician from Los Angeles, California. From the local lineage of bands like X, Germs, and The Gun Club, to the glamorous destitution of the downtown streets, Clover is inspired by the city that raised her, exploring the intricacies of self-discovery, self-creation, and self-preservation in the place where dreams are born to die. With the live-wire energy and crackling force of defiant fists raised in the air, Clover’s music is the rallying cry of a natural born killer. Leading an ace band of rangy, rowdy boys, Clover cuts an electric figure–a next-gen underground hero for the would-be believers.
Cristina Vane w/ Holler Choir
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY CRISTINA VANE Born in Italy, raised in Paris and London, and educated at Princeton, Cristina’s music blends blues, country, indie rock, and more into a unique Americana sound. With a background in punk, classic rock, metal, and indie rock scenes across Europe, Cristina’s sound is a reflection of her journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Now based in Nashville, her years in the USA led her to uncover her passion for delta blues and old time music, as well as hone her playing and fingerstyle into a scintillating live act topped with arresting lyricism and powerful vocals. Cristina has an extensive touring history both solo and with her band, and has provided direct support for: Molly Tuttle, Bob Weir, Jerry Douglas, Wynonna Judd, Nikki Lane, Town Mountain, Duane Betts Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Arlo McKinley, and Willi Carlisle. Support from Rolling Stone Country and NPR, was featured in the Bank of America ad for Ken Burns’ “Country Music” documentary, and was an invited guest for Billy Strings’ String the Halls 3, as well as Travis Book’s (Infamous Stringdusters) Happy Hour. Vane’s latest album ‘Hear My Call’ is set for release early ’25 , first single ‘You Ain’t Special’ out June 7th 2024. Her debut release, “Nowhere Sounds Lovely” was produced by Grammy-award winning drummer and producer, Cactus Moser (Wynonna Judd). Vane’s last album, “Make Myself Me Again” was released April 2022, and was co-produced by Brook Sutton, Jano Rix (of the Wood Brothers) and Cristina herself, and charted the AMA as well as a few Alternative Country charts. HOLLER CHOIR
The Arcadian Wild
ALL AGES PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW THE ARCADIAN WILD The Arcadian Wild is a four-piece indie folk/pop group from Nashville, TN. Led by songwriters Isaac Horn and Lincoln Mick and Bailey Warren on fiddle, The Arcadian Wild confidently inhabits and explores an intersection of genre, blending the traditional with the contemporary. Combining elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, and formal vocal music, The Arcadian Wild offer up songs of invitation; calls to come and see, to find refuge and rest, to journey and wonder, to laugh and cry, to share joy and community and sing along. The band’s 2023 album Welcome marks the start of a captivating new chapter for the genre-bending trio, who returned to the studio with renewed purpose and insight after devoting the last few years to a series of critically acclaimed singles and EPs. Like much of the band’s catalog, the album blurs the lines between chamber folk and progressive bluegrass, drawing on everything from country and classical to pop and choral music with lush harmonies and dazzling fretwork, but this time around there’s a rawness to the writing, an embrace of candor and simplicity that cuts straight to the heart of things like never before. The result is perhaps the most arresting collection yet from a band known for its ability to stop listeners dead in their tracks, an exquisitely beautiful celebration of community, connection, and the power of belonging that feels tailor-made for these challenging times. OH JEREMIAH Mississippi and Alabama got married and moved to Nashville to make music. Husband and wife team, Jeremiah and Erin Stricklin go by the moniker OH JEREMIAH to help them turn their talent and formal training into timeless stories set to the tune of life. The couple blends their folk and acoustic roots with indie-pop and americana threads that have led to several eye-catching and quirky music videos. Oh Jeremiah travels the country in the footsteps of greats like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, adding their voices and melodies to the American tradition of musical storytelling.
Michigander
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY MICHIGANDER Michigander, who delivers elevated and eloquent songcraft, uplifting instrumentation, and plainspoken heartland storytelling punctuated by alternative flare, has racked up over 60 million career streams globally and garnered the acclaim of NPR, Paste, Consequence, SPIN, Forbes, BrooklynVegan, Guitar World, Ones To Watch, and more. In 2016, the now Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist’s independent debut single “Nineties” achieved viral success, claiming real estate on multiple major Spotify playlists. Michigander’s first two EPs, Midland [2018] and Where Do We Go From Here [2019], have become fan favorites, with the latter’s standout single “Misery” eclipsing 10 million streams and earning Michigander his first Triple A radio hit. 2021’s critically lauded EP Everything Will Be Ok Eventually (C3 Records) elevated his career via the Top 5 Triple A radio hit “Let Down” and Top 10 Triple A radio hit “Better.” On the road, Michigander has shared the stage with Manchester Orchestra, Band of Horses, The Lumineers, Hippo Campus, Mt. Joy, and graced the stages of such marquee festivals as Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, Summerfest, Shaky Knees and more as well as SXSW. In 2023, Michigander was back, breaking personal records, charting at radio again, and on the road with a new set of songs and a re-energized passion for his craft. Listen to the latest EP It Will Never Be The Same everywhere, out now via C3 Records and look out for a new project coming from Singer in ’24. SYDNEY SPRAGUE “Sydney Sprague channels her sadness, anxiety, and existential dread through driving guitars, shimmering melodies, and the deceptively sweet weapons of indie pop-rock and keen observation. Self-aware with a knowing injection of dark humor, her songs summon the best of 90s alt-rock and classic power-pop without sacrificing a melancholy befitting of the end times. Her music is intimate, vulnerable, confrontational, autobiographical, and strangely uplifting. Her sophomore record, somebody in hell loves you, is as devilishly saccharine as the title implies, boldly accessible and smart. The positive press, word-of-mouth, and a stellar tour with Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional helped make organic streaming hits out of songs like “steve,” “quitter,” and “i refuse to die”; “object permanence” boasts nearly 1 million streams on Spotify alone. “As a smaller artist, it’s almost impossible financially,” Sydney says of her relentless schedule. “But I love it so much.” Sydney wrote most of somebody in hell loves you during the pandemic lockdowns, and yet, it’s decidedly less angsty than its predecessor. “And not because I’m a less angsty person,” she clarifies. “Obviously, none of us were in a good place in 2020. It was a depressing time. But I didn’t want to wallow in that. I wrote more as an exercise to distract myself from my woes.” A lot of the songs became observational storytelling, exploring the drama of people around her and revisiting her past.”
River & Rail w/ Thomas Kozak and Liliana Hudgens
ALL AGES SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE RIVER & RAIL Grace and Alex wedded in 2021, moving to Nashville, TN and establishing themselves as an up and coming Folk/Americana duo, River & Rail. Grace’s enchanting lyricism, storytelling, and dynamic vocals lend themselves to Alex’s bed of melancholy acoustic instruments and intentional production. In 2023, the duo released their debut EP “Trees and other Relatives” written by Grace, a collection of rich stories recalled from her own family line, and produced by Alex. LILIANA HUDGENS The Appalachian region is spilling over with terrific up-and-coming musicians these days, many clustered around the beautiful artists’ haven of Asheville, North Carolina. That includes Liliana Hudgens, a singer-songwriter whose new seven-song EP Last Line explores the blurry boundaries between country, folk and a retro brand of pop rock descended from The Everly Brothers whose “So Sad” is covered here. Meanwhile, Hudgens’s originals demonstrate both her knack for writing memorable melodies and her considerable vocal capabilities. Few can flutter around a prolonged note like her. THOMAS KOZAK Thomas Kozak is a singer-songwriter based in Asheville, NC. With a focus on lyricism and structure that stretches convention, he looks to bend an ear beyond the expected. His blend of intricate picking patterns and soft, dark vocals has led his music to be described as meditative and intimate. A poet as well, Kozak places considerable emphasis on his lyrics, which move beyond the classic narrative progression. In 2019, Kozak linked up with the critically-acclaimed Americana artist Jim White (“Wrong-Eyed Jesus”/“No Such Place”) who would produce his first full-length album, “The Rubicon.” Engineered by John Keane and released on June 3rd, 2022, “The Rubicon” is an exploration of the ongoing life of the decisions one makes, traced through to a culminating acceptance, all against the wildly diverse soundscape Jim White is known for. Kozak’s new EP, “Our Lady of Embers,”(released April 20th) plays with the concept of divine intercession and the desire to construct externalizations of interior struggles in order to face them more clearly. All six songs were engineered by Mike Johnson (of Slowpacker) at Citizen Studios and Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville.
