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.
PATIO: Electric Blue Yonder
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEELECTRIC BLUE YONDERElectric Blue Yonder is a musical group like no other, featuring Beth Hataway and Johnny Veres as its core members. Their music takes the listener on a journey through space and time, blending influences from folk, rock, and ambient music into a unique sound that is both familiar and alien.Beth’s haunting vocals and Johnny’s intricate guitar work are the perfect match, creating a sonic landscape that captivates audiences and leaves them spellbound. Their music touches on themes of love, loss, and the search for meaning in an ever-changing world, conveying heartfelt emotions and genuine experiences.Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Electric Blue Yonder continued to showcase their music through virtual performances and interviews, captivating audiences with their otherworldly sounds and unique blend of space-folk. Their debut album, “B/TST Between Space and Time,” was released just two weeks before the pandemic began, but the band’s unwavering commitment to their craft enabled them to overcome adversity and continue to create and perform.Their sophomore album, “Mourning Sounds,” takes listeners on a metaphorical journey through the process of loss and grieving, highlighting the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and find a way forward. The album’s message of friendship, perseverance, and radical acceptance resonates deeply, garnering critical acclaim from prestigious outlets such as American Songwriter, Americana UK, and V13.With their innovative blend of musical styles and themes, Electric Blue Yonder has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the world of indie music. Their continued growth and evolution as artists, while staying true to their unique sound and vision, is a testament to their talent and commitment to their craft.Their highly anticipated album, “MicroPARTY,” promises to be a celebration of life’s small moments, with catchy hooks and danceable beats that will have listeners grooving along in no time. The album’s production is said to be top-notch, with expertly crafted layers of synths, guitar riffs, and vocals that create a sonic landscape that is both immersive and exhilarating. Electric Blue Yonder’s music is a beacon of hope in a world that is ever more complex and uncertain, reminding listeners that the human spirit is capable of reaching for the stars. Their unique sound and commitment to their craft are sure to inspire and captivate audiences for years to come.
PATIO: Drunken Prayer
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEDRUNKEN PRAYER Drunken Prayer transcends the bounds of Americana music. Whether a big country soul band, gospel power trio or just a voice and guitar, Drunken Prayer is always Morgan Geer. Morgan writes songs that could emerge from a highly blissed-out biker bar or a swampy ashram. For his most recent release, 2023’s The Name Of The Ghost Is Home, Geer worked from his backyard studio in North Carolina with Paul Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Royal Trux), building on drum tracks initially recorded in New Mexico at Empty House, home of doom metal bands like OM and Sleep. The end result evokes an ominous Acid Western feedback-and-driftwood aesthetic. Preceding the last record was the acclaimed LP Cordelia Elsewhere, mixed by Mitch Easter (Let’s Active, REM). Drunken Prayer is currently finishing up an album of gospel covers, recording at the original Fat Possum studio in North Mississippi, with members of Drive-by Truckers and Squirrel Nut Zippers. Morgan Geer and his Drunken Prayer have played hundreds of shows across 18 countries and across the US at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon Music Festival and San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Drunken Prayer’s music has been featured on NPR, AMC, WFMU and Little Steven’s Garage on SiriusXM. On the side Morgan is the lead guitar player for alt-country goths Freakwater, writes for a diversity of artists and plays bass in local honky-tonk and soul bands. He’s also been touring internationally; opening for and often joining The Handsome Family. Morgan Geer lives in the mountains of southern Appalachia.
The Dirty French Broads: Kate’s 30th Birthday Boondoggle!
ALL AGES STANDING ROOM ONLY Come celebrate Kate’s big Dirty 30 with The Dirty Frenchies and their swamp grass friends The Shoaldiggers! (no pressure but the more costumes and glitter, the happier Kate will be) THE DIRTY FRENCH BROADS This rowdy grass band from Asheville, NC brings sultry ballads and boot-stomping cut-a-rugs with the energy of a thousand golden retriever puppies seeing their first snowfall. Leading lady Kate Thomas captivates you with her smoky Tyler Childers timbre, endearing songwriting, and sharp Donkey-from-Shrek wit, then steals your heart with her crooked smile and spirited storytelling. She and her lively crew have a warm authenticity and contagious energy that wears holes in shoes and fills them in hearts. Toss a handful of groovy Newgrass, a sprinkle of Jeannie’s magic fairy dust, and whatever Americana is into a blender, and you’ve got The Dirty French Broads. THE SHOALDIGGERS The Shoaldiggers’ nine pieces produce a one of a kind sound that is completely unique, yet familiar enough to embrace. From rolling seascapes to the hollers of the smokey mountains,Shoaldiggers shows are a swamp grass blast!
[CANCELED] PATIO: 5J Barrow
ALL AGES LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE 5J BARROW From the historic Apollo Theater to the open air of Washington Square Park, 5j Barrow has inspired audiences with soulful music, evocative imagery, and lyrics that tug at the heart. Founded by Broadway performers and newlyweds, Eryn Murman and Jason Hite in the fall of 2011 in NYC, 5j Barrow was named “Best Band in NY” after winning The Greene Space WNYC/WQXR’s ‘Battle of the Boroughs 2014’. They’ve built a loyal following on the streets of the city and just completed a year-long tour of North America with performances that are both intimate and rousing. 5j Barrow released their debut album From the Dim Sweet Light in 2014, and their first two installments of three upcoming EPs produced by Grammy nominated David Mayfield, were released in October 2017 titled The Journey, Vol. 1 and May 2018 The Journey, Vol. 2. Volume 3 was released in May 2019. While they continue to tour extensively, they are now based out of Asheville, NC.
