Freedy Johnston
ALL AGES SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE FREEDY JOHNSTON Freedy Johnston is one of those rare singer-songwriters who counts critics among his biggest fans — and whose heroes consider him a peer. Not bad for a self-proclaimed “geek in glasses who never left his room.” On September 9th, Forty Below Records will release Johnston’s 9th album, Back on the Road to You. It’s a record steeped in wit, humor, pathos, love, and friendship drenched with memorable, infectious melodies. Johnston recorded the album in Los Angeles with producer Eric Corne after setting up house in nearby Joshua Tree. The new surroundings have imbued the album’s mood and instrumentation with echoes of The Byrds, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young. Joining Johnston in the studio were Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, and long time collaborator, Susan Cowsill, along with an all-star roots music band, including Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams), Dusty Wakeman (Jim Lauderdale), Dave Raven (Shelby Lynn) and Sasha Smith (Priscilla Ahn). In 1994 Rolling Stone named Johnston the ‘Songwriter of the Year’, describing him as “A master storyteller, (who) sketches out full-blown tragedies in a few taut poetic lines.” Adding, “He joins that elite cadre of songwriters—Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Elvis Costello—whose brilliant pop compositions turn magical with the addition of a defiantly idiosyncratic singing voice.” Freedy Johnston has taken an unpredictable path throughout his 30-year career. It’s a true underdog story. He has a wicked gift for turning a melodic phrase with equal parts’ heart on his sleeve’ troubadour and weaver of mysteries. The Kansas native released his first two records with the widely respected indie label Bar/None. Can You Fly made many ‘Best of the Year’ lists, including, The New York Times, Billboard, and Spin Magazine, to name a few. Robert Christgau for The Village Voice called it “a perfect album,” and Playboy declared it “the best album by a new male singer-songwriter in at least a decade.” Can You Fly was also cited in music critic Tom Moon’s book, 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. Back on the Road to You is a return to grace for this gifted songwriter. It embodies the sound of an American original, reminding us that he is still considered one of the best songwriters of his generation. TIN ROOF ECHO Since his 2014 debut, The Original Plan, six studio albums have been released under the Tin Roof Echo moniker-each demonstrating the DIY recording style that ultimately allows his uniquely introspective songwriting & production to be highlighted along with his varied influences. In 2021 he released Mornings Are For Singing an exceptionally unique live album captured in various stairwells at his day job. Hooten has recently released his seventh studio album, Flowers Falling.
Mike Farris
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE MIKE FARRIS Grammy winner Mike Farris is an artist’s artist, a musician’s musician, celebrated and revered by his fellow performers. It’s no wonder. He’s the one who brings everything to his music and to every live performance, every time. An amalgamation of the spiritual and the earthly, of gospel and rock ‘n’ roll, of faith and fire, Mike Farris will bring what Rolling Stone Country describes as a “supersized voice filled with the electricity of Saturday night and the godly grace of Sunday mornings.”
The Dancing Fleas
ALL AGES SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE THE DANCING FLEAS The Dancing Fleas, aka America’s Premier Ukulele Party Band, are a ten piece combo, heavy on the ukes but light on the attitude. Their uplifting originals and covers have been known to make even the most jaded hipsters smile unselfconsciously. The Fleas bring their high energy, big fun approach to a genre-bending set of tunes with styles ranging from classic country to sassy funky. Expect dueling ukuleles, blistering pedal steel licks, and big harmonies from the band’s six vocalists. The band’s debut album, The Dancing Fleas Play the Music of Don Gibson, is now available on all streaming platforms along with a handful of original singles. Once you’ve seen them live, you’ll join the ranks of the #fleabitten!
Bill Kirchen’s Honky Tonk Holiday Show
ALL AGES SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE Honky Tonk Holiday Show! Bill Kirchen and his Turtle Doves will make a stop on their annual Honky Tonk Holiday Tour at The Grey Eagle on Tue 12/17. Featured is a sleigh-full of rarely heard holiday numbers from the blues, rock ‘n’ roll and honky tonk bags: “Silent Surfin’ Night,” “Truckin’ Trees for Christmas,” “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin,” and more. But be ye not afraid, there’ll be so much more than holiday songs of questionable taste; you can count on a truckload of dieselbilly classics, rockers, and country weepers to take the edge off the holiday fuss. So mark your calendars and check ’em twice – Santa Claus is back in town! Kirchen is touring with his all-star Texas guys – Jack Saunders on bass and Rick Richards on drums. BILL KIRCHEN Bill Kirchen is one of the fortunate few who can step on any stage, play those trademark guitar licks which he created for the seminal Commander Cody classic, “Hot Rod Lincoln,” and elicit immediate recognition. As a founding father of the proto-Americana group Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Kirchen wrought a diesel-fueled guitar hook that drove their Hot Rod Lincoln into the Top 10 nationwide. Kirchen went on to the Grammys where he was nominated for Best Country Instrumental in 2001. He has recorded with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur, Hoyt Axton, Hazel Dickens, Gene Vincent and Link Wray, and has toured the world as guitarist with Cody, Nick Lowe, Hoyt Axton and Emmylou Harris. Bill Kirchen was inducted into the Hall Of Fame of the Washington DC Wammie Music Awards in 2001, alongside Dave Grohl and John Phillip Sousa. He joined a remarkable list of prior inductees including Bo Diddly, Duke Ellington, Ruth Brown, Marvin Gaye, Patsy Cline, Shirley Horn, Emmylou Harris, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. His recent disc, Transatlanticana, entered the Americana Radio Chart Top 10 in 2018, joining his extensive catalogue of over 2 dozen albums, from the Commander Cody discs on through his current 12 releases on the Proper and Last Music Company labels. Bill’s latest releases are Back from the Ozone, a Lost Planet Airmen reunion CD out in October 2023 and, from 2021, the LPs Waxworks and Tombstone Every Mile, along with The Proper Years and Tombstone on CD and in all digital formats, all on the Last Music Company label. Washington Post: “Seldom has traveling across the rock and country landscape been this much fun” Guitar Player Magazine: “The Titan of the Telecaster…cuts loose with some of the fattest, gnarliest low-down twang imaginable”
Grayson Capps w/ special guest Corky Hughes
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE GRAYSON CAPPS Heartbreak, Misery & Death is the seventh studio album by beloved Alabama-based troubadour Grayson Capps. For this latest effort, Capps turned his attention to 16 long-lost folk songs and traditionals performed by artists ranging from Doc Watson and Jerry Jeff Walker to Randy Newman and Gordon Lightfoot. Introduced to these timeless touchstones as a child by his father, they’d catalyze Capps’ love for music at a young age, while informing the Southern Gothic vernacular that he’s gone onto so eloquently explore and reimagine in his own body of work. As Capps explains in his own words: I grew up with music, whether hearing Fred Stokes, Bobby Long and my dad, Ronnie Capps, singing around the house on Fridays and Saturdays, or listening to vinyl records in the den, my youth seemed to always be surrounded with music. One of the first artists I gravitated toward was Doc Watson. I first found my own voice by emulating him singing “Wake Up Little Maggie.” We had The Essential Doc Watson and Doc Watson Memories, and I wore those records out. “Columbus Stockade Blues” was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar.
Buffalo Rose
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE BUFFALO ROSE Buffalo Rose is a charismatic six-piece modern folk/Americana band from Pittsburgh, PA. They take the singer-songwriter tradition to a new level by crafting original songs which are emotive, meticulously arranged, and inspired by a world of idiosyncratic influences that never let a dull or predictable moment creep in. This combination of artistry and enthusiasm makes Buffalo Rose one of the most vital and important groups working today. Rather than play the folk music of the past, the band gleefully combines genres and ideas together to move acoustic music forward to a new, contemporary place without ever losing sight of its roots. Fans of Lake Street Dive, Nickel Creek, and Punch Brothers will find much to like in this crew. Anyone seeking compelling new acoustic music needs to join Buffalo Rose in the future right now.
SWEET RELIEF CONCERT SERIES (PATIO): Magenta Sunshine
FREE SHOW!! DONATIONS ENCOURAGED!! ALL AGES PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED 1pm – 4pm DAILY The Grey Eagle is proud to be the new home of the Sweet Relief Concert Series offering FREE MUSIC for the people of Asheville on our outdoor patio stage EVERYDAY from 1-4pm. The Grey Eagle Taqueria and bar will be open, and the full schedule for the upcoming week is below. MON 10/28: The Brian Felix Quartet + BoogiTherapi TUE 10/29: Mike Martinez + East Coast Dirt WED 10/30: LEAF Artists THU 10/31: Magenta Sunshine
SWEET RELIEF CONCERT SERIES (PATIO): LEAF Artists
FREE SHOW!! DONATIONS ENCOURAGED!! ALL AGES PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED 1pm – 4pm DAILY The Grey Eagle is proud to be the new home of the Sweet Relief Concert Series offering FREE MUSIC for the people of Asheville on our outdoor patio stage EVERYDAY from 1-4pm. The Grey Eagle Taqueria and bar will be open, and the full schedule for the upcoming week is below. MON 10/28: The Brian Felix Quartet + BoogiTherapi TUE 10/29: Mike Martinez + East Coast Dirt WED 10/30: LEAF Artists THU 10/31: Magenta Sunshine
SWEET RELIEF CONCERT SERIES (PATIO): Mike Martinez + East Coast Dirt
FREE SHOW!! DONATIONS ENCOURAGED!! ALL AGES PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED 1pm – 4pm DAILY The Grey Eagle is proud to be the new home of the Sweet Relief Concert Series offering FREE MUSIC for the people of Asheville on our outdoor patio stage EVERYDAY from 1-4pm. The Grey Eagle Taqueria and bar will be open, and the full schedule for the upcoming week is below. MON 10/28: The Brian Felix Quartet + BoogiTherapi TUE 10/29: Mike Martinez + East Coast Dirt WED 10/30: LEAF Artists THU 10/31: Magenta Sunshine
[FREE SHOW]: Brody Hunt & The Handfulls w/ Planefolk
ALL AGES STANDING/DANCING ROOM ONLY FREE SHOW! DONATIONS ENCOURAGED BRODY HUNT AND THE HANDFULLS Asheville, NC’s finest honky tonk band, playing a mixture of songs written by Brody Hunt, some classics, and many obscure country covers from mostly the 1960’s. PLANEFOLK Planefolk is the solo project of Asheville native Kevin Smith. Influences begin with the Appalachian sounds of bluegrass and old time. Then travels on with the rawness of rock and roll infused with heavy doses of classic country. All original songs inspired by songwriters such as Prine, Nelson, Springsteen and Cash.
