An Evening With John Fullbright
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEJOHN FULLBRIGHT“If you can’t say it, you don’t have to,” sings John Fullbright on “Bearden 1645,” the opening track to his new record “The Liar.”The song details the GRAMMY-nominated songwriter finding refuge in playing the piano, starting as a child and still today. For fans, it may feel like a bit of a rebuttal to “Happy,” the opener from 2014’s “Songs,” one of several in his repertoire that speak explicitly about mining one’s angst in order to make music. In that way, “Bearden 1645” is also a firm nod to the fourth wall: Fullbright knows you’re thinking about his songwriting. He is, too…but not quite the way he was before.The public at-large hasn’t heard much from the him since the critically lauded “Songs,” a chasm of eight years that seemed unthinkable for someone with so much hype—including a GRAMMY nod, an Americana Music Association Emerging Artist nomination and awards from ASCAP and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame—surrounding his early career. Why did it take so long?“It’s been a process of learning how to be in a community of musicians and less focusing on the lone, depressed songwriter…just playing something that has a beat and is really fun,” Fullbright said. “That’s not to say there are no songs on this record where I depart from that, because there are, but there’s also a band with an opinion. And that part is new to me.”He recorded the album, an exploration of the highs and lows of emotion, the good times and the aftermath, with his band of “usual suspects,” all of them key players in Tulsa’s vibrant music community.Also in the title track of “The Liar,” we find Fullbright talking to God, again. It’s the soft landing of his lifelong struggle with the concept of God, of accepting tenets of Christianity without believing in its central figure.He explored this notably in 2012’s “Gawd Above,” where the vengeful title character exacts terror and salvation in equal measure. “Give ‘em wine and song, fire and lust / When it all goes wrong, I’m the man to trust,” Fullbright sang.In “The Liar,” the power dynamic has shifted. “God, grant me whiskey,” Fullbright sings, “and I promise I’ll be good.” It’s all done with a wink and a nod, less like a prayer and more like a request of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”The sentiment is real, but the words are false. He’s still telling essential truths, which was always his gift, but this time they’re a little more slant. Maybe lying to tell the truth was always the songwriting target. Maybe throwing out some of the rules is what got him there. So is Fullbright, as a songwriter, a liar in his own estimation?“What I love about songwriting is you’re the hero in your own story, most of the time, and I think that’s very human,” he said. “But short answer: yes.”
OUTPOST: The Scatterlings
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEThe Scatterlings are a three-piece acoustic/Americana band based inAsheville, North Carolina. The members share a fondness for songs aboutheartbreak, whiskey, and killings, although they promise they are actually allvery peaceful people. Many of their original songs offer masterful personalstorytelling, while others are steeped deep in local history.The Scatterlings are:Elfy Kornfeld on lead vocals and baritone ukuleleBrad Pope on guitar and mandolinKevin Gary on guitar, mandolin, and harmony vocalsThe Scatterlings have released two albums–‘Being Human’ and’The Scatterlings’
Kat Hasty
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEKAT HASTY As a child, before she knew how to put words on paper, Kat Hasty was singing and writing music. Born and raised in West Texas, her upbringing pours through her songwriting in tales of desert highways and the hustle and bustle of oil towns. Laced with heartache, joy, loss and female angst, her songs are ingenious and uniquely her own. The songwriter has released three EPs, a live session collection with OurVinyl, and two singles as of 2023, which has garnered support from all over the world. Talented and motivated, she is set to begin a long career sharing her stories and growing into the performer that she is fated to be.HARPER O’NEILL“Maybe it’s the wrong glass ceiling to break, but I’m telling stories about the whole human experience of being a woman.”That’s Harper O’Neill, sharing insight into the creation of her debut project, Dark Bar Daisy. It’s a gutsy assertion. But then again, O’Neill is an artist who’s always favored her intuition over trends. The Dallas-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter with the powerhouse voice and versatile musical chops found her way onto Music Row’s radar by trusting her gut and letting her considerable talent guide her, an increasingly rare path to success in a field crowded with hopefuls trying to recreate the sound of the moment.After putting down roots in Nashville, O’Neill began finding ways into the local music scene, trying out co-writes and finding gigs to play around town. After posting a performance video to TikTok in 2022— far from being a regular TikToker, O’Neill had only dabbled with the platform — O’Neill got a text claiming to be from Jody Williams, the renowned publishing executive and former head of BMI known for working with everyone from Maren Morris to Carrie Underwood. Williams texted O’Neill on April 1st, so she couldn’t help but think it was a prank. They arranged a meeting for the following week and Williams signed O’Neill to his Jody Williams Songs on the spot.While she had a stockpile of songs she’d written over the years, O’Neill didn’t feel strongly enough about the material to use it for her first project, so she started from scratch. That decision led to the gradual birth of Dark Bar Daisy. While her demos veered more closely to traditional acoustic instrumentation, O’Neill was adamant that she wanted horns on the record, which Gear made happen with the help of arranger Jordan Lehning. The addition of Lehning’s arrangements helped O’Neill fully realize the colorful, orchestral sonic vision she had for Dark Bar Daisy. “I was really excited to paint with all the brushes in the studio musically,” O’Neill says. “They’re really hip arrangements that Jordan did. We gave him tons of references, like Khraungbin, Silk Sonic, Lake Street Dive and some old soul references. That was the melting pot mix of sounds that I was that I was chasing.”Dark Bar Daisy opens with “No Longer Mine,” the sole song O’Neill pulled from earlier material while making the LP. Instantly groovy thanks to a prominent, swaggering bass line, the track soon gives way to O’Neill’s dusky vocal, which lands somewhere between Ashley McBryde and Amy Winehouse. The title track is a subtle nod to Miranda Lambert’s Wildcard cut “Dark Bars,” with O’Neill’s own unique take on time spent in dives.
Shinyribs w/ Patrick Sweany
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYSHINYRIBSShinyribs defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas Blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horndriven Memphis Soul, country twang, border music, big band swing, and roots-rock. The Austin based nine-piece (sometimes 10-piece) supergroup is led by Kevin Russell, the charismatic frontman with colorful suits and extravagant shoes who continuously swaps out an electric guitar for a ukulele and never falls short of creating a cinematic experience with on-stage antics that often include him donning a light-up cloak or leading a conga line through the crowd. Shinyribs’ new record – Transit Damage (July 2023 on Blue Elan / Hardcharger Records) is, in Russell’s words, “the record I’ve been trying to make for most of my career. This is a collection of songs that relate to each other in a myriad of ways: musically, lyrically, emotionally. It’s a real throwback to the era of complete albums, and draws from songs I’ve written throughout my life. I hope listeners can take the time to fully immerse themselves in the whole thing.”To help him flesh this collection out, Russell picked producer and longtime friend Steve Berlin (from Los Lobos) to help him arrange and record Transit Damage. Together they chose to work at another auspicious location, The Finishing School studios in Austin. The Finishing School is housed in the former home of Austin legend George Reiff (The Chicks, Bruce Robison, Ray Wylie Hubbard) who engineered and produced Shinyribs’ debut Well After Awhile back in 2010. Reiff, a close personal friend of Russell’s, tragically passed away from cancer in 2017, yet his legacy lives on. His home studio was refurbished by Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist, and reopened a couple years ago with acclaimed engineer Jim Vollentine. Berlin helped source a number of auxiliary players around town to help expand the Shinyribs sound, and realize Russell’s bigger vision. Shinyribs’ bassist Mason Hankamer also lent some producing skills, helping arrange many of the songs.Shinyribs was named Best Austin Band at the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Music Awards (2017, 2018), awarded Album of the Year for I Got Your Medicine (2017), and Best 2020-Themed Song for “Stay Home” (2020). Russell’s Shinyribs have recorded seven previous albums: 2010’s Well After Awhile; Gulf Coast Museum (2013); Okra Candy (2015); 2017’s award-winning I Got Your Medicine; a compilation of holiday standards and new compositionsThe Kringle Tingle (2018); and the group’s latest soulful release, Fog & Bling (2019); and Late Night TV Gold, (2021). PATRICK SWEANY Patrick Sweany lives for the Grooves. Whether it’s the ones he records on his albums, the ones he lays down with his band on the stage, or the ones that define his days writing songs and living life in his E. Nashville neighborhood, the Grooves are what have propelled Sweany through 20+ years of performing and recording across 8 studio albums and dozens of countries around the world. Being in the Groove is Sweany’s recipe for success.To say 2020 has disrupted these Grooves, is a severe understatement. The cancellation of live music in the U.S. for the past several months initially ground Sweany’s Groove to a halt. However, it hasn’t all been bad. The time away from the road and away from the studio has forced some introspection and reflection.
Pierce Edens Album Release Show
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYPIERCE EDENS A Life In Trade, the fifth studio album from Asheville-based Pierce Edens, is due September 15, 2023. Come help us celebrate with his Album Release Party, here at the Grey Eagle! Edens’ artistic nature spans multiple disciplines. A veteran touring musician, he has alternated seamlessly between a breakneck life on the road and long stints at his idyllic family homestead for the better part of a decade. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic halted almost all aspects of daily life, Edens embraced solitary living on his multi-acre property, tending religiously to the land before an enthusiastic digital audience. For months on end, Edens would share raw, unprompted videos of solo porch-picking sessions, farm tours, and heartfelt sit-down conversations with his social media fans. Through his relatability, he colored beautifully those things that were difficult to find at the time – a sense of belonging and purpose, humor, and normalcy. Despite the abysmal nature of the time, creative inspiration was in generous supply. The therapeutic act of shepherding his land not only rewarded Edens in harvest, it uncovered a rich garden bed of imagination, sprouting seeds for new song ideas and rogue lyrics that would eventually make up A Life In Trade. Honoring the magic of collaboration, the title A Life in Trade harkens back to a business deal that Edens made with Mike Savino of the bands Tall Tall Trees and Kishi Bashi. Savino, in search of a carpenter to help him build a recording studio, called on Edens, whom he knew had the skills and experience to bring his vision to life. In lieu of payment, the musicians traded time for time: building for recording; trim for tracking; flooring for mixing; soundproofing for sound making. The byproducts of such an agreement reached further than either one of them could predict. Memorializing a unique chapter of uncertainty and estrangement in our global fabric, the 40-minute listen underwrites the beauty and long-lasting impact of connection in spite of the hurdles such an era presents. With acceptance and appreciation for the cards dealt before him, Edens offers his contribution to the tapestry of today, sewing heirloom seeds to be enjoyed by future generations. A Life in Trade will be available for streaming, download, and purchase on September 15, 2023. Listen to the first single, “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” now wherever you hear music. For more information on Pierce Edens, visit pierceedens.com/. MOSES ATWOOD
PATIO: Will Overman (solo)
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDWILL OVERMAN Making a living in music isn’t easy, especially when it seems like listeners’ tastes change with the wind and algorithms are updated constantly, teasing artists with catching the elusive dollar. Central VA based singer-songwriter Will Overman however; has found a way to thrive in a seemingly constant state of transition. Will Overman’s music can be best described as Country-Americana, but it’s not your typical Country-Americana sound. Sonically it is restless by nature, always searching for something new, and with Will’s heart-worn lyrics and dynamic vocal delivery, it makes for a memorable mixture that is hard to place but easy to love. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Will began writing songs after picking up the guitar in high school. He quickly built a regional following, and despite taking time to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and move to Vermont for a semester of college, he capitalized on his move back to Virginia the following spring by forming the Will Overman Band. The Southern Rock ‘n Roll influenced Americana project released two EPs and an LP, playing bar gigs and festival slots (Merlefest, Appaloosa Music Festival, Rooster Walk) up and down the East Coast until in the spring of 2017, when Will graduated from UVA and the band decided to go their separate ways.Although he was unsure what to do next, Will began working on his first solo release – 2017’s Crossroads EP with a studio band of some nationally known musicians (Johnny Stubblefield – Parachute, Sam Wilson – Sons of Bill) and good friends from the central VA music scene. Though proud of the final product, following its release, Will took a step back from music for over a year as he re-evaluated whether he could build a sustainable career as a writer and touring musician. Even while putting distance between himself and music, Will couldn’t keep himselffrom writing new songs, and following a return to Virginia in mid-2019, Will went back into the studio to record the songs that would form his debut LP The Winemaker’s Daughter.Following the successful and well-received release of the debut single “Something to Hold” from The Winemaker’s Daughter on February 14, 2020, Will hit the road on his first major solo tour two weeks later – just as the pandemic started shutting down the world. Canceled and indefinitely postponed gigs quickly piled up, but rather than stop making or releasing music Will continued on, dropping singles from the album while garnering international media attention and radio play. Since breaking the ice on his own return to live shows in April 2021 to celebrate the release of The Winemaker’s Daughter in February 2021 (almost a year to the day after the release of the initial single), Will has put tens of thousands of miles on his van while traveling from shows anywhere from Savannah to Minneapolis to Boston and everywhere in between. Armed with a powerful voice and powerful convictions, Will Overman is slowly but surely building a name for himself performing throughout the east coast at venues and festivals such as (The Jefferson Theater, Fall for Greenville, The Basement) and supporting artists like (Joe Pug, Christian Lopez, Dead Horses, Grady Spencer & the Work, etc.). Regardless of whether you get a first listen of Will at the next show or song on shuffle, you can be sure that it won’t be long before you know his songs by heart.
OUTPOST: Rooster
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEAsheville band Rooster is Annie Myers and Erin Kinard and was formed in 2016 around a campfire, but the two had performed separately for many years prior. Since then, they have performed throughout Western North Carolina, creating new songs and arrangements of beloved Americana. They perform an energetic combination of folk-country and classic Americana, driven by their powerful vocal harmony and soulful drum/guitar instrumentation. Rooster’s debut album ‘Bloodroot’ was recorded in Swannanoa in 2019, released in March of 2020 and made it on WNCW’s top 100 albums of that year. Their orchestrations are clean and uncluttered but with a raw, gritty edge. They seem right at home in a coffee house, wine bar, brew pub, honky-tonk or at a backyard barbecue.
Tyler Ramsey at Asheville Masonic Temple
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- AT ASHEVILLE MASONIC TEMPLE (80 BROADWAY ST) TYLER RAMSEY Praised by NPR, Stereogum, WNYC and The Huffington Post, Tyler Ramsey is a multi-instrumentalist equally at home playing guitar, piano, keyboards, bass and percussion, but is best known as a talented finger-style guitarist and singer-songwriter. In addition to having released three acclaimed solo albums, Ramsey is perhaps most immediately recognizable, until his recent departure, as the guitarist and a co-writer in Band Of Horses, having played with them since 2007, prior to the release of their breakthrough album, “Cease To Begin.” A well-established and acclaimed guitar player and singer in the burgeoning western North Carolina music scene, where he calls home, he first learned to play music on piano before moving to the guitar. Ramsey grew up listening to and studying country-blues guitar players like Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt, and American finger pickers like John Fahey and Leo Kottke, absorbing their sound and making it all his own.
Cole Ritter & The Night Owls + Vaden Landers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCOLE RITTER AND THE NIGHT OWLSFounded in 2019, Cole Ritter and The Night Owls have since been pioneering new sonic spaces and finding their very own home-grown sound that is completely new, yet nostalgic. This award-winning band is helmed by Cole Ritter, a Nashville Native who has devoted his life to music. Cole was featured on Season 20 of American Idol and was chosen as Hunter Girl’s duet partner. Ritter’s songwriting draws inspiration from many genres including country, rock, folk, and the blues.The Allstar backing band, The Night Owls, features a lineup of some of Nashville’s best and brightest up-and-coming instrumentalists and musicians. The Night Owls are made up of Alex Barcic on Pedal Steel Guitar, Tom Davis on Upright Bass, Christian Starrett on Guitar, and Matt Martirano on drums. Cole Ritter and The Night Owls were chosen as the winner of Belmont’s University’s “Country Showcase” in 2020. Cole Ritter and The Night Owls are quickly rising and can’t wait to share their music with the world!VADEN LANDERSVaden Landers is a 27 year old multi-instrumentalist from Eastern TN. As a teen he set out traveling the American highways and railways, learning the ways of a travelermusician, and gaining hard-won life experience along the way. Vaden continued to hone his songwriting, singing, yodeling and picking skills while busking and touring from Alaska to Florida, turning heads as an exciting new player in the revival of the traditional country music scene and finetuning his original songs, which harken back to the golden days of country music. Blending influences from honky tonk, rockabilly, folk, blues, ragtime, jazz, western swing and old-time Appalachian, Vaden Landers brings new fire to a classic sound!
Buffalo Nichols
– ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW (please note – guaranteed seating OR standing room ticket options)BUFFALO NICHOLSOn his second album, The Fatalist, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. There’s 808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples, washes of synth. There’s a consideration of the fullness of the sonic stage and the atmospherics of the music that can only come with a long engagement with electronic music. But this is no gimmicky hybrid or attempt to turn the blues into 21st century music by simply dressing it with skittering hi-hats. Nichols’ vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life in 2023, something that’s reflected not only in the choice of instrumentation, but in the complexities of the songwriting and the gray areas his lyrics explore. This is music that comes straight from the present, and as such, it’s a reminder that the same shit that drove the first blues singers to pick up a guitar is still present behind the throbs of deep bass hits today. The Fatalist sounds unlike any blues record you’re likely to hear in 2023.Of course, Nichols’ songwriting has always been firmly rooted in the present. He proved he could succeed on the music industry’s own blues terms on his self-titled 2021 debut, whose songs, Bandcamp Daily said, “seem to flow from some great repository of emotion and insight.” The Fatalist finds him digging deeper in search of answers to ever-more-complicated questions around responsibility and self-definition, his plainspoken lyrics both cutting and refreshing in their sincerity and refusal to accept pat solutions. Over a guitar line that blisters and pops with bright sunshine, he holds forth on the simple everyday power of love in “Love is All,” and when he shades his optimism with a clear-eyed view of “bad behavior in the canon of good men,” as he sings, his guitar line goes cloudy with the thought. He slowly walks around a broken relationship in “The Difference,” trying to find the faults. It’s a decidedly modern breakup song, one steeped in moral ambiguity. “I just don’t know the difference between love and sympathy,” he sings, before hoping his once-beloved “won’t forget the one who kept your ego fed.”Still, Nichols rarely sounds like a blues singer. Like Leonard Cohen, he dominates these songs with his voice. His low, guttural baritone is high in the mix, and he sounds coiled, clenched tight. The slow drip of his songwriting lends The Fatalist an incredible amount of drama, which the production—at times dark and dewy and claustrophobic, at times zippy with light—further emphasizes. Nichols produced the album himself at home, having recently returned to Milwaukee following a few years in Austin.“Being back in Milwaukee reminded me of why I started making music in the first place. It got me away from the ‘industry-town’ mentality,” he says. “There’s definitely a certain work ethic that comes from being in a city like Milwaukee. There are no clear paths to success and not many examples of ‘making it,’ so people end up creating their own path and developing a broad skill set to sustain a career as an artist.”CROW BILLIKEN
