Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWLIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLELAURA CORTESE & THE DANCE CARDS“Everything is so heavy in the world right now,” Cortese says, who’s been living in Belgium the past two years. “When someone comes to our show, listens to this album, or hears one of the songs, I want it to feel like relief and release.” So how does one begin to chip away at walls of self-preservation and shame that create social confinement? For Cortese and company, one word came to mind: dancing. “When you dance, you let it all go,” she says. With that in mind, Cortese set off on a personal creative journey like none before — no rules, no restrictions, just the desire to create music that makes you move. Kassirer helped her sift through her cache of over 40 songs and encouraged her to form songs from her snippets, riffs, and ideas. For the first time, Cortese opened up the songwriting process to The Dance Cards collective. She exchanged ideas and songs with her bandmates remotely, and then enticed a few with the promise of Belgian delicacies to cross the ocean and flesh out arrangements. From recordings of the players beating on all sides of their instruments, Kassirer fashioned loops and created bass lines with members of the band. Lyrics were honed through group examination, with the goal of framing each story in the most impactful way possible to inspire empathy in the listener. The work was quick, but it was deep. Cortese explains that the song that inspired the album title, “Treat You Better,” is about the complexities of long-term love, obligation and healthy versus unhealthy dynamics. “I started writing this a few years after I got divorced and was pretty disillusioned about finding a partner. I was asking some older friends — couples that from the outside seemed to have healthy and lovely long-term relationships — questions about their relationships. I found this coincidental link between many of the couples. The morning person gets up and makes the other one coffee and brings it to them in bed. Ultimately the song is about examining personal barriers to treating your partner better—how critical and cynical we get, juxtaposed against images of your partner doing nice things for you.” “Belgium, my new home, is #1 for suicide in Western Europe. They keep a lot of distance socially,” she says. “People meet up with friends in bars instead of their homes. It takes a long time to make real friendships. Trying to integrate gave me new perspective on what it feels like to be an outsider”. CAROLINE COTTER Caroline’s Cotter’s sunlit songs honor the countless ways of being human. With her honeyed voice and disarmingly honest lyrics, Cotter sings about connection, nostalgia, gratitude, loss and wanderlust. Lyrics like, “Find me somewhere out on the road / Take me into your heart and into your home,” make perfect sense from a touring artist who has played over 1000 shows in 45 states and 16 countries. Cotter has released three records, Dreaming as I Do (2015), Home on the River (2018) and Gently as I Go (2023). Under the Radar magazine says her music, “brings forth an abiding sense of warmth and welcome, offering an uplifting reminder to make the most of every moment.” Everywhere she goes, her oracular songs elicit emotion and spark insight—medicine for our collective longing.
Erik Koskinen Band
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWLIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEERIK KOSKINEN BAND He’s a lights-out guitar (player) and his band is as good as any band in the country. But he’s also a top-shelf writer, with a blade-sharp wit and love songs so real and tender they seem to transcend the form. I know of few writers whose relationship to their own landscape, in this case the rural north, is so elemental, and so integral. His songs feel like weather. People know him in Minnesota, where most bar bands seem to cover at least one of his songs, but otherwise he’s still one of the best kept secrets in the country. He sings about an America that doesn’t get much play anymore, the one where the people at the bottom can’t quite get ahead, and where working people aren’t cartoon props in a culture war, but shrewd human beings living hard lives, and hard loves. His songs have the diamond-hard clarity and simplicity of Tom Petty, and like Petty, Koskinen can sing a literal statement without metaphor or ornament, and make it move like poetry. The spiritual hunger in rock ‘n’ roll that came from blues and gospel is still a hunger in these songs, and if you listen hard, you can hear that lean coyote voice – wary, feral, full of fierce delight – lighting up the wee hours from somewhere out on the prairie. ~J Foucault CAROMIA AND RAHMRahm & CaroMia had a close musical friendship for many years through the lens of R&B, Funk and Neo-Soul before discovering a shared deep love of singer/songwriter music. This is a side of them seldom seen outside late nights on front porches. Over the last handful of years, they have crafted their own homage to their roots- Lush harmonies carried across dreamy soundscapes, songwriting that shines in this simplicity.
Vincent Neil Emerson
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYVINCENT NEIL EMERSON Vincent Neil Emerson has become a staple among folk and country music fans nationwide, celebrated for his honest tales of life on the road, heartbreak, and struggles of all sorts. His first LP, Fried Chicken & Evil Women, from 2019, established him as a refreshing voice in the modern country music landscape. The songs from that first album were charming and playful songs, but didn’t reveal the entirety of Emerson’s story. On his brilliant new album, The Golden Crystal Kingdom, Emerson transcends the role of a honky-tonk country singer and becomes a chronicler of his history. The album is a bold continuation of the story he tells on Vincent Neil Emerson, with songs like the title track exploring the feelings he was left with after his days spent playing in Texas honky-tonks and dancehalls, and the track “The Time of The Rambler,” inspired by the early days of living in his car and busking on the streets. He was born and partly raised in East Texas, around his Choctaw-Apache family, and spent most of his life moving around the state. Raised by a single mother, he lost his father to suicide when he was nine. Emerson dealt with those feelings of abandonment and loss on his self-titled album, with the track “Learning to Drown” in particular. His grandmother and grandfather brought the family to Texas when Emerson’s mother was a child, leaving their ancestral Choctaw-Apache homelands in Louisiana behind to try and build a better life for themselves and their children. Emerson always identified with his Native American roots, but it wasn’t until 2021’s self-titled album that he examined and tried to shed light on the devastating history of his tribe with the song “Ballad of the Choctaw Apache.” As a kid who grew up in a trailer with a single mother, went through bouts of homelessness as a young man, and grinded through countless shows to get where he’s at, Vincent Neil Emerson is never quick to praise his own work ethic. He always refers to the friends, family members, and collaborators who have shown their faith in his vision. But humility doesn’t mean Emerson isn’t one of the hardest working, most talented songwriters to emerge from the alt-country underground in years. His style is one of a kind, and his ability to blend tales of the everyman with tributes to his past, present, and future make him a peerless songwriter. On The Golden Crystal Kingdom, Vincent Neil Emerson carries on the torch of his singer-songwriter forebears while infusing the legacy with his unique and thrilling point of view. NAT MYERS A poet with a staggering and true voice, Korean-American troubadour Nat Myers’ folksy blues and remarkable pickin’ are authentic, timeless, and enduring. The Kenton County, KY native’s delivery harkens to traditional blues giants, but it’s his unique blend of modern roots and Americana that continues to make crowds drop their jaws. Recorded live at the 100-year-old-plus home of producer Dan Auerbach, Yellow Peril is haunted with the ghosts of the rich history of the blues.
PATIO: The Waymores
LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEALL AGESTHE WAYMORESThe Waymores are a critically acclaimed Honky Tonk group hailing from Atlanta, GA USA. The Husband and wife front have been touring throughout the US and in UK and EU since 2018. Their third studio album, produced by the legendary Shel Talmy, who worked with the Kinks, The Who and David Bowie amongst other large names was released in August of 2023. Kira Annalise and Willie Heath Neal ( formerly of Willie Heath Neal and The Damned Ol Opry) have played with Dale Watson, Wayne Hancock, Kelley Willis, Summer Dean and Scott H Biram to name a few. Their new album saw songs charting on the Alt-Country Specialty Chart in the top 20 for three weeks in a row and in the top 10 for one week along-side names like Tyler Childers, Colter Wall and Lucinda Williams.
Billy Jonas Band ‘Welcome Autumn!’ Family Concert
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWEARLY SHOW BILLY JONAS BAND Fun for All Ages! Bring the family, and welcome Autumn at a 2:30pm afternoon show on September 29th. 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!
Hans Williams
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYHANS WILLIAMSBorn and raised in Vermont, independent singer-songwriter Hans Williams grew up listening to the likes of Al Green, Tracy Chapman, Steely Dan and James Brown – all favorites of his parents. After moving to New Orleans for school, he now calls the city home, continually finding inspiration from its deep-rooted musical scene. Crafting music as a form of personal catharsis, Hans channels his emotions into each composition, aiming to provide solace and resonance for others who connect with his work. With his signature raspy vocals that cut deep and a guitar always at the core of his production, his DIY-approach to indie-folk music has connected with audiences worldwide.Amassing over 65 million streams to date, Hans Williams has found success with singles like “All Is Well,” “Checklist” and “Willows,” all racking up millions of streams and propelling the rising artist’s career. His sound has garnered attention from the likes of Billboard and Ones to Watch, while landing editorial support across streaming platforms.Now with the arrival of his More Than One Way Home EP, Williams presents the full picture into his world with five new tracks, sharing with listeners the chronicles of leaning into the unfamiliar aspects of life and finding peace through that process.Following the release of the EP, Williams and his band hit the road for his debut headline 26-date North American ‘More Than One Way Home’ tour. Kicked off on March 15th, the tour started in New Orleans – where Hans currently lives – before making its way across North America, stopping in major cities like Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, as well as his home state of Vermont. With 26 dates in total, The ‘More Than One Way Home’ tour was a successful debut headliner, with 90% of tickets sold out.
Theo Lawrence
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYTHEO LAWRENCE For the past 10 years, Theo Lawrence has been making a name for himself as France’s favorite songbird. A truly one-of-a-kind Country singer and genuine keeper of the flame, Lawrence came into his own on his Austin-made 2023 LP release, Cherie, and on his latest all acoustic album, Pickin’ & Singin’. Lawrence pens classic love songs, and delivers with a croon straight out of the Charlie Rich and Ray Price golden years. In recent years, he has played a pivotal role in reviving an interest for Country Music in Europe, and with his recent move to Austin, TX, Theo Lawrence is bringing his honed craft back to its American cradle. LESLIE MENDELSON With her enchanted voice and evocative songwriting, Leslie Mendelson has won the hearts and minds of both an adoring fanbase and fellow artists alike. No less than Jackson Browne has declared, “Leslie’s melodies are timeless. They reach me way back in my youth somewhere. I hear traces of Burt Bacharach and Carole King, and hooks and passages that remind me of the pop songs I grew up hearing on the radio,” while The Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan shares: “Voices like Leslie’s can get away with almost anything. Along with being a great songwriter, this leaves her with few if any peers.” A Grammy Award-nominated artist, Mendelson returns this summer with her fourth studio album, After The Party. For this latest effort, she collaborates with not one, but three producers: the legendary Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt), the young, in-demand Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Sara Bareilles, Sara Watkins) and her longtime songwriting partner, three-time Grammy Award-winner, Steve McEwan. Recorded at Jackson Browne’s studio Grove Masters in Santa Monica, CA, she was joined by an ace band featuring guitarists Waddy Wachtel and John Jorgenson, bassists Leland Sklar and Derrick Anderson, and drummers Jim Keltner and Abe Rounds. “Collaboration was so important to me with these songs. My previous album, If You Can’t Say Anything Nice… looked inward and was often colored by the dark socio-political climate circa 2018 and 2019 when it was written. Throw in the pandemic during which it was released, and it just became really clear that I needed to have fun making music again,” explains Mendelson. “When the opportunity presented itself to have both Tyler and Peter produce me, along with Steve who’s been with me since the very beginning of my career, it felt as if the stars had aligned and were demanding that I indulge in the joy of creating with all of these musical geniuses who wanted to work together.”
PATIO: Dawn and Hawkes
LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEALL AGESDAWN & HAWKESMiranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes first met when he crossed an Austin barroom floor and asked her to dance. The first time they sang together they found a sound Texas Monthly calls “undeniably intimate”. Their initial duo effort, Golden Heart, climbed to No. 25 in Billboard’s Folk chart and landed at No. 2 in iTunes singer-songwriter albums and kicked off a whirlwind of cross-country touring and co-writing. Dawn and Hawkes recorded their second album, Yours and Mine, in between tour dates with influential artists Alison Krauss & Dan Tyminski, Patty Griffin, Old 97s, Robert Earl Keen and showcasing at festivals like Austin City Limits, Folk Alliance, AmericanaFest, South By Southwest and TEDx on tours in the US and abroad in Denmark, Germany and Australia. “We’d tour, come home inspired, record a song, tour, rinse and repeat” explains Dawn. Acoustic Guitar hails the musicality of Yours and Mine, as “Impeccable vocal harmonies and instrumentation” Huffington Post summarizes “Transcendent alternative-folk — you will find yourself craving more from this amazing, dynamic duo.” While touring, the duo stored their possessions and lived on the road, drawing a lyrical soundtrack from American deserts and mountains, to the South Australian coast while navigating a shared journey through mortality, grief and compassion for differing perspectives. Upon returning to Austin, they finished self-producing their second full-length album, The Other Side. The Austin American Statesman calls it “10 new tracks of sweet folk-rock — instantly appealing tunes — rooted in the singer songwriter heyday of the early 1970’s, they also fit well into the modern-day indie-folk revival.” In a time when the world seems more divided than ever, Dawn and Hawkes celebrates hope and finding our common humanity – in the words of Performer Magazine with “songs of introspective bliss, this singer-songwriter team genuinely helps the listener feel the spirit of life”
Sam Lewis w/ Elana Brody
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWLIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE (guaranteed seating in first 3 rows)SAM LEWIS Sam Lewis has collaborated with everyone from Leon Russell to The Wood Brothers. Chris Stapleton dubbed him “a modern Townes Van Zandt”. He’s often labeled with some form of the word ‘soulful’ (some comparing his voice to molasses), Lewis’ style meets at a juncture of many different genres however he’s discovered what most musicians spend lifetimes working for; the place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary. A decade worth of touring his studio efforts (mostly solo) he has captivated audiences all around the world with his songs and stories that are glued together with a unique stage banter he’s developed from performing in numerous music halls, clubs, theaters, festivals, music cruises and the occasional living room. SOLO (2020) is a solo-acoustic album featuring new songs as well as reimagining previously released songs. Recorded at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville in front of a live audience SOLO is an intimate snapshot that captures Lewis in his element and is certain to be a fan favorite for years to come. ELANA BRODY Atop the West Allegheny mountains, in the least populated county east of the Mississippi, Elana Brody grew up on a farm surrounded by untamed forests as far as the eye could see. Every season, she’d see new plants and animals appear. Rhododendrons, mountain laurel and wild orchid lady slippers. Beavers in the pond and barred owls in the spruce forests. Brody’s family kept a reverential practice of going on quiet walks where she learned to keep her eyes and ears wide open, like a tracker. She brings this kind of attunement to her music—listening for the new, noticing the earthly details and staying agile in every moment. On her forthcoming album, The Garden, Brody brings us back to her childhood homestead, with its fireside harmonies and songs to celebrate the earth’s glory. With no sonic stimulation outside of the winds and wild animals, Brody began making music early. She sang folk songs with her sisters and strung together lines of ecstatic poetry at age four. With the nearest grocery store an hour and a half away, they would listen to, memorize and re-enact musicals on the long drives over the mountains in their gold Ford Explorer. When her family moved to the small town of Staunton, Virginia, she went to the local performing arts high school where she honed her piano skills and learned to catch the wild melodies that flew through her imagination. Brody has remained a prolific songwriter with her honeyed vocals at the center of songs that bloom in a musical ecosystem full of pop, folk, cabaret and gospel sounds.
PATIO: Stephen Evans & the True Grits
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVESTEPHEN EVANS & THE TRUE GRITS After many years of vacillating between being a professional musician and building a nest in Asheville, NC, Stephen Evans finally asked his friends, Brian Shoemaker (bass), Sam Hess (drums), and Woodstock (mandolin), to form the True Grits and make some music together in 2014. The very next year, Stephen Evans & the True Grits released their first LP “Something to Bleed”. Inspired to release more music, they followed two years later with their EP “Under the Bridge.” Both records received local and regional praise for their passion and creativity. Stephen’s strong melodic songwriting style is a blend of vivid imagery, darkness, and hopeful optimism. There’s no denying the feeling that shines through with his evocative vocals and lyrics. Songs like ‘Ghost Among the Trees’, ‘The Garden’, ‘Cherokee Hills’, ‘Shining Star’, and ‘Buzz of Bees’ are beacons of his folk rock song craft. With radio play on Western North Carolina radio stations, as well as shows around the region, Stephen Evans & the True Grits are becoming a local favorite. “Buzz of Bees” is their latest album, released in December of 2022, of folk rock with some songs dipping their toes into other styles like Americana, Latin Folk, and Vaudeville. Singles from the LP, ‘Ghost Among the Trees’, ‘Winning the Day’, and ‘Estefania’, are already receiving radioplay on local stations as well as national online radio and music podcasts. Look for Stephen Evans & the True Grits playing fun live shows all around the area to support this beautiful album. “…overall, I highly recommend this album for those who enjoy folk rock, poetic lyricism, and an engaging sense of fun. The album is a journey through different stages of life, confusion, heartbreak, revelation, and acceptance.” – Alison Price of WNC Original Music Podcast
