NIGHT TWO: Watchhouse (Special Duo Set) at Asheville Masonic Temple
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- AT ASHEVILLE MASONIC TEMPLEWATCHHOUSE Over a year after Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Watchhouse (formerly known as Mandolin Orange) reintroduced themselves on their 2021 self-titled LP, the pair shared a special surprise release: Watchhouse (Duo), a self-produced recording of Marlin and Frantz performing the most elemental possible arrangements of all nine songs from Watchhouse. It’s a project that captures the fundamental power of Watchhouse: Two singers and musicians with profound chemistry, performing earnest yet masterfully crafted songs that encompass the unknowable mysteries, existential heartbreak, and communal joys of modern life. Starting over a decade ago playing coffee shops and local restaurants around North Carolina, Watchhouse is a grassroots success story that’s been driven by Marlin’s poignant songwriting. They’ve sold out iconic venues (Red Rocks, Ryman Auditorium) and attract hundreds of millions of streams while producing exploratory music that “redefines roots music for a younger generation” (Washington Post). 2022 was filled with many endeavors including the American Acoustic Tour with Punch Brothers, headlining shows across the US, collaborating with Planet Bluegrass on Mabon, an autumn equinox concert series, and of course Watchhouse (Duo). In 2023, Marlin and Frantz will celebrate the release of Watchhouse (Duo) with a short run of shows that will feature just the two of them, harkening back to their earliest days of performing.SAMANTHA CRAINSamantha Crain is a Choctaw singer, songwriter, poet, producer, and musician from Oklahoma. She is a two-time Native American Music Award winner and winner of an Indigenous Music Award. Her genre spanning discography has been critically acclaimed by media outlets such as Rolling Stone, SPIN, Paste, No Depression, NPR, PRI, The Guardian, NME, Uncut, and others. She has toured extensively over the past 15 yearsnationally and internationally, presenting ambitious orchestrated shows with a band and intimate folk leaning solo performances. She has toured with First Aid Kit, Neutral Milk Hotel, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Avett Brothers, The Mountain Goats, Brandi Carlile, Langhorne Slim, The Staves, and many other bands and artists. With her new album, “A Small Death”, and newer EP, “I Guess We Live Here Now”, she continues her traditionof keeping things close to the heart and the ground by leaning into the fulfillment of affinity with an audience and the satisfaction of a song with a memorable melody and an honest story.
The Heavy Heavy
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE HEAVY HEAVY The Heavy Heavy create the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and place, immediately pulling the audience into a euphoric fugue state with its own sun-soaked atmosphere. Led by lifelong musicians Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, the Brighton, UK-based band began with a shared ambition of “making records that sound like our favorite records ever,” and soon arrived at a reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop. As revealed on their gloriously hazy debut EP Life and Life Only, The Heavy Heavy breathe an incandescent new energy into sounds from decades ago, transcending eras with a hypnotic ease.SHANE GUERRETTEIt’s the old way of doing things that inspires a new sound for upstate NY based artist, Shane Guerrette. Drawing influence from classic soul and roots rock genres, Shane has only just begun to craft his own retro flavored sound. With a recent self-released debut album called “Here’s Hoping” and plans of touring in the near future, you’ll want to keep an eye out for what’s to come from this rising star.
Joshua Ray Walker w/ Vandoliers
– w/ VANDOLIERS- ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYJOSHUA RAY WALKEROn his new album See You Next Time, Texas-bred singer/songwriter Joshua Ray Walker shares an imagined yet truthful portrait of a brokedown honky-tonk and the misfits who call it home: barflies and wannabe cowboys, bleary-eyed dreamers and hopelessly lost souls. His third full-length in three years, the album marks the final installment in a trilogy that originated with Walker’s globally acclaimed 2019 debut Wish You Were Here and its equally lauded follow-up Glad You Made It (the #5 entry on Rolling Stone’s Best Country and Americana Albums of 2020 list).“The whole idea with the trilogy was to use the honky-tonk as a setting where all these different characters could interact with each other,” says Walker, who drew immense inspiration from the local dive bars he first started sneaking into and gigging at as a teenager growing up in East Dallas. “In my mind, this album’s taking place on the night before the bar closes forever—the songs are just me taking snapshots of that world, and all the moments that happen in it.”VANDOLIERSVandoliers are a uniquely Texas band, distilling the Lone Star State’s vast and diverse musical identity into a raucous, breakneck vibe that’s all their own. After spending much of the last three years furiously writing and recording music, this Dallas-Fort Worth six-piece is back with The Vandoliers, a new album that proves these rowdy, rollicking country punks are tighter, more cohesive and more sonically compelling than ever.OLD HEAVY HANDSOld Heavy Hands is a Southern Rock band from Greensboro, NC. The band name pays tribute to their roots and conception. Many of their songs started on acoustics at Legacy Irons Tattoo in downtown Greensboro where three of the members earn their living. They blend together nostalgia from the golden era of Muscle Shoals and their adolescent years of punk rock influence to create a unique brand of Rock music for the modern age. The upcoming record “Small Fires” was tracked at The Fidelitorium and Earthtones Recording studio.
An Evening With Ben Sollee + Scott Mulvahill
– ALL AGES- FULLY SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE BEN SOLLEE Over the last two decades, Kentuckian Ben Sollee has distinguished himself as multi-faceted creative, blurring the lines between music, tech, and activism. A graduate of the Univeristy of Louisville School of Music, he holds a BFA in cello performance. Since his debut record in 2008, Mr. Sollee has released 6 studio records and nearly 10 EPs garnering praise from the New York Times and NPR. His music has been featured in tv shows such as Weeds and Parenthood. In addition, Sollee has a growing career as a composer for film, tv, and interactive media earning a Emmy Award in 2018 for his score on the ABC special Base Ballet. Beyond music, Mr. Sollee is known for his social and environmental advocacy working with organizations like Oxfam America, The Nature Conservancy, and Canopy KY to protect people and the land. He currently lives in Louisville, KY with his wife and three children.SCOTT MULVAHILL Frontman. Singer-songwriter. World-renowned upright bassist. Multi-instrumentalist. Scott Mulvahill is leaving his unique mark on the intersecting worlds of Americana, bluegrass, folk, jazz, rock & roll, and roots music. Raised in Houston, Mulvahill cut his teeth as a member of Ricky Skaggs’ acclaimed band, Kentucky Thunder. The group toured internationally for five years, backed by the bottom-heavy pulse of Mulvahill’s upright bass. Along the way, he also composed music of his own, shining a light on the genre-jumping influences — Paul Simon’s sophisticated pop, James Taylor’s folk, Jaco Pastorius’ innovative jazz, and more — that would eventually inspire the material on his 2018 solo debut, Himalayas. His performances as part of Skaggs’ nightly shows laid the brickwork for Mulvahill’s transition from hotshot sideman to compelling frontman. Encouraged by musical mentor Bruce Hornsby, Mulvahill developed a unique approach to his songwriting — one that mixed his chops as an upright bassist with hook-heavy melodies and compelling narratives. A true “musician’s musician,” Mulvahill fills his solo debut with complex fingerwork and innovative progressions. At the same time, Himalayas is a song-driven record that focuses its attention not upon Mulvahill’s virtuosity, but upon the sheer listenability of his material. This is acoustic-leaning roots music of the highest caliber, shot through with elastic vocals, dobro, fiddle, and the honest, biographical lyrics of a songwriter who gave up an enviable position in Skaggs’ band to pursue his own muse. “I wanna go over where I’ve never been,” he sings during the sparsely-decorated title track, one of several tracks to deal with the universal themes of facing one’s fears, taking leaps, and chasing down new horizons. Those messages are reflected in Mulvahill’s own career, as he pioneers a sound centered upon his voice and upright bass. “As important as the bass is to the sound of my music, it’s not a crutch,” he says. “To me, the songwriting, the voice, and the message are what really matter. 2020’s “Creative Potential” and 2021’s “Surrounded” EPs have found him taking those leaps while keeping true to the core of his musicianship, songwriting, unique concept of artistry. For a lifelong musician like Scott Mulvahill, the climb is never over.
John Craigie at Asheville Masonic Temple
– w/ GRACE ROWLAND (OF THE DEER)- ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW – AT ASHEVILLE MASONIC TEMPLE – 80 BROADWAY ST (downtown AVL) JOHN CRAIGIEPortland, OR-based singer, songwriter, and producer John Craigie adapts moments of solitude into stories perfectly suited for old Americana fiction anthologies. Instead of leaving them on dog-eared pages, he projects them widescreen in flashes of simmering soul and folk eloquence. On his 2022 full-length album, Mermaid Salt, we witness revenge unfurled in flames, watch a landlocked mermaid’s escape, and fall asleep under a meteor shower. After selling out shows consistently coast-to-coast and earning acclaim from Rolling Stone, Glide Magazine, No Depression, and many more, his unflinching honesty ties these ten tracks together. The album comes from the solitude and loneliness of lockdown in the Northwest. Someone whose life was touring, traveling, and having lots of human interaction is faced with an undefinable amount of time without those things. So, he began writing new songs and envisioning an album that was different from his past records. The sound of everyone playing live in a room together was traded for the sound of song construction with an unknown amount of instruments and musicians—a quiet symphony. Rather than steal away to a cabin or hole up in a house with friends, Craigie opted to set up shop at the OK Theater in Enterprise, OR with longtime collaborator Bart Budwig behind the board as engineer. A rotating cast of musicians shuffled in and out safely, distinguishing the process from the communal recording of previous releases. The core players included Justin Landis, Cooper Trail, and Nevada Sowle. Meanwhile, Shook Twins lent their signature vocal harmonies, Bevin Foley arranged, composed, and performed strings, and Ben Walden dropped in for guitar and violin plucking parts. “Instruments were scattered around the theater and microphones placed in various spots,” he recalls. “It’s hard to say who all played what exactly.” Craigie had reached a series of watershed moments in tandem with Mermaid Salt. Beyond headlining venues such as The Fillmore and gracing the stage of Red Rocks Amphitheater, his 2020 offering Asterisk The Universe earned unanimous tastemaker applause. Rolling Stone noted, “tracks like ‘Don’t Deny’ and ‘Climb Up’ bridge a Sixties and Seventies songwriter vibe with the laid-back cool of Jack Johnson, an early supporter of Craigie,” while Glide Magazine hailed it as “one of his best records.” Perhaps, No Depression put it best, “For many weary and heavy- listeners hearted, the album might be exactly what they need.” Along the way, he generated over 40 million total streams and counting, speaking to his unassuming impact. In the end, Craigie offers a sense of peace on Mermaid Salt.
A Tribute to Roger Miller (hosted by Cyndi Lou and The Want To)
– ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW- SEATED AND STANDING ROOM ONLY TICKETS AVAILABLEA TRIBUTE TO ROGER MILLER (HOSTED BY CYNDI LOU & THE WANT TO) A proper Asheville tribute to legendary livewire Roger Miller has been a long time comin’ but we’ll be a long time hummin’ his clever catchy classics on Sunday, Jan. 29th at the Grey Eagle! Hosted by traditional country crew CyndiLou & the Want To with special guests Drayton Aldridge (Drayton & the Dreamboats), Phil Alley (Heavenly Vipers), A. Lee Edwards, Morgan Geer (Drunken Prayer), Liliana Hudgens, Brody Hunt (Brody Hunt & the Handfulls), Josh Pierce (Shake a Leg), Jake Sessoms, Jessie Smith (Jessie & the Jinx) and more!
Byrds of a Feather: A Tribute to Gene Clark and Gram Parsons
– ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW- SEATED AND STANDING ROOM ONLY TICKETS AVAILABLEBYRDS OF A FEATHER After a 2-year forced hiatus, the Byrds of a Feather tribute to Gene Clack & Gram Parsons is back at the Grey Eagle celebrating its 12th annual show! This year will spotlight the 50th anniversary of Gram’s solo debut album ‘GP’ and some of the ones we missed in ’20 and ’21 like ‘Gene Clark’ (aka White Light) and the Flying Burrito Brothers’ 2nd album ‘Burrito Deluxe’. The band will feature members of Asheville’s classic country crew CyndiLou & the Want To, Claude Coleman Jr (Ween) on drums, Marty Lewis (Sons of Ralph) on guitars, John McKinney (Carpal Tullar) on keyboards, Drayton Aldridge (Drayton & the Dreamboats) on fiddle and more! Special guests include Morgan Geer (Drunken Prayer), Liliana Hudgens, Chris Mondia (The Green Fields), Claire Whall and others.
Julia Sanders Album Release Show
– w/ K.M. FULLER- ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOWJULIA SANDERSAmericana artist Julia Sanders’ new album Morning Star—produced by John James Tourville of The Deslondes—unfolds a meticulously arranged musical landscape anchored by transfixing vocals and a compact but thoughtful narrative style that calls to mind forebearers like Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris. On Morning Star, Sanders explores the complexities of transitions: from woman to mother, partners to parents, and free-wheelin’ musician to an adult with roots and responsibilities. The album is a poetic, often dark, yet silver-lined portrait of transformation and growth. With each track, Sanders explores a different facet—a career, a partner, a child—and the range of emotions they carry with them, from joy and pleasure to struggle, loneliness and self-doubt. Unafraid to address the complexities that walk hand in hand with the bliss of having children—such as the loss of autonomy and the fracturing of identity—Morning Star provides a much-needed soundtrack to the experience of matrescence—the physical, emotional and social transition to motherhood.K.M. FULLER
Emily Scott Robinson, Alisa Amador and Violet Bell
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEEMILY SCOTT ROBINSON An evening of special performances from Emily Scott Robinson, Alisa Amador, and Violet Bell. Fans will hear music from each artist individually and the trio will come together to perform songs from Robinson’s latest release with Oh Boy Records, “Built on Bones.” “Built on Bones” is a collection of six original songs for the Witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The recordings feature Emily Scott Robinson (writer/composer), Alisa Amador (NPR Tiny Desk Contest Winner 2022) and Lizzy Ross (of duo Violet Bell) as the three witches singing through the tragedy of Macbeth in three-part harmony.Colorado songwriter Emily Scott Robinson beckons to those who are lost, lonely, or learning the hard way with American Siren, her first album for Oh Boy Records. With hints of bluegrass, country, and folk, the eloquent collection shares her gift for storytelling through her pristine soprano and the perspective of her unconventional path into music. American Siren landed her on multiple 2021 “best-of” lists – including NPR, Rolling Stone, Sterogum, and more. Robinson’s follow up, Built on Bones (October 2022 via Oh Boy Records), is a collection of six original songs for the Witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Originally commissioned as a live piece for theater by director Colin Sullivan, it features Emily Scott Robinson (writer/composer), Alisa Amador (NPR Tiny Desk Contest Winner 2022) and Lizzy Ross (of duo Violet Bell) as the three witches singing through the tragedy of Macbeth in three-part harmony.
An Evening With Martin Sexton
– ALL AGES- PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW- GUARANTEED SEATING AND STANDING ROOM TICKETS AVAILABLEMARTIN SEXTON”The real thing, people.” -BillboardMartin Sexton returns with what RollingStone calls his “soul-marinated voice,” acoustic guitar, and a suitcase full of heartfelt songs. The 2023 Tour takes Martin across North America in support of his latest ep 2020 Vision (produced by 3-time Grammy nominee John Alagia (Lukas Nelson, John Mayer, Dave Matthews) as well as reinventing his own classics for these critically-acclaimed solo performances.Still fiercely independent and headlining venues from The Fillmore to Carnegie Hall, he has influenced a generation of contemporary artists. His songs have appeared in television series such as Scrubs, Parenthood, Masters of Sex, Sprung, and in numerous films, though it’s his incendiary live show, honest lyrics, and vocal prowess that keep fans coming back for a new experience every time.
