PATIO: Acoustic Light Brigade

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDACOUSTIC LIGHT BRIGADEAcoustic Light Brigade (ALB) is the project of Jess Wells, Josh Batenhorst and Ginny Andino – three unique voices blending in harmony. Pulling inspiration from the high plains of Texas, las playas de Puerto Rico, and the Georgia heat, ALB is determined to spread light into the darkness…and occasionally vice versa. Bring your shades and your shiny attire – it’s gonna be a party.Jess Wells (guitar, vocals, violin) is a performing musician and theatre professional. His work as a composer has been seen on stages in Atlanta for more than 15 seasons. A multi-instrumentalist – he plays violin, mandolin and bass in addition to his unique electric-acoustic sound on the guitar. Previous bands include Jyve Tractor, Almighty Sol Shakers, and Cosmic Fire, playing stages from small venues to large festivals. In 2023 and in life, he hopes to be intelligent, brave and kind.Josh Batenhorst (aka “Capt. Josh,” aka “Capt. Happy,” aka “CEO” – vocals, guitar, percussion) has been writing songs since his teenage years on the plains of West Texas. A devotee of the Texas troubadour tradition he finds inspiration in whimsical, thoughtful, heartfelt lyrics and simple songs that seek the truth – be it light or dark. He has been a veteran of Asheville stages both on stage and behind the scenes since 2002. A prolific writer, he decided to turn his focus to music in 2022 to share all the stories in his heart.Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ginny Andino has been performing since she was 5 years old, both in PR and throughout the USA. She plays guitar, flute, recorder, accordion and piano. She is trained in opera, classical choral, ballet, jazz and modern dance, and musical theatre. She is a public school educator but she hasn’t let that break her spirit yet! With a voice that can penetrate your soul with sweet solo soprano à la Joan Baez, or disappear into a blended harmony like Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, her sound is specifically tuned to shed light on YOU!

PATIO: Leah Marlene

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDLEAH MARLENE Leah Marlene is a songwriter, artist, and producer with a deeply rooted desire to create art unlike anything you have heard before. With a unique, engaging voice and a songwriting style that combines elements of folk, rock, pop, soul, funk, jazz and more, she cannot be put into a box. Leah grew up in a house full of music and guitars as her father, Derry Grehan, is a songwriter and lead guitarist with the Canadian band, Honeymoon Suite. He passed along his knowledge and passion for writing and performing. Leah began singing and writing her own songs at a very young age and never looked back! She has been performing professionally since the age of ten and releasing music since she was thirteen. Leah has been making writing trips to Nashville since she was 13, and after graduating high school, she made the move there where she spent two years studying songwriting at Belmont University. She then returned back to the midwest to produce her latest album, “Many Colors.” Now twenty-one years old, Leah most recently came off an incredible run on season 20 of American Idol, where she released her latest original single, “Flowers” and placed second runner up of the season! Leah is a lover of people and her greatest hope is that her music may meet you exactly where you are at and help you feel whatever it is you need to feel in a given moment.

PATIO: The Scatterlings

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDTHE SCATTERLINGS The Scatterlings are a three-piece acoustic/Americana band based in Asheville, North Carolina. The members share a fondness for songs about heartbreak, whiskey, and killings, although they promise they are actually all very peaceful people. Many of their original songs offer masterful personal storytelling, while others are steeped deep in local history. The Scatterlings are: Elfy Kornfeld on lead vocals and baritone ukulele, Brad Pope on guitar and mandolin, Kevin Gary on guitar, mandolin, and harmony vocals The Scatterlings have released two albums–‘Being Human’ and ‘The Scatterlings’

PATIO: Eleanor Underhill & Friends

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDELEANOR UNDERHILL & FRIENDS Eleanor Underhill & Friends creates sonic landscapes like you’ve never heard before. Underhill is a banjo-wielding frontwoman armed with soulful vocals, launching from well-crafted original songs to fun, upbeat cover tunes. By her side are some of Asheville’s finest musicians drawing from backgrounds of jazz, rock, and soul. The result is captivating, sometimes dizzying, and always inspired. In 2014, with a desire to create a band rooted in the Asheville music scene, Eleanor Underhill (of the internationally-acclaimed Americana group, Underhill Rose) pulled together several top-notch performers to create a powerhouse side-project: Eleanor Underhill & Friends. Each member brings their own musical instincts and influences, resulting in music that is fresh and far-reaching. Featuring all of the members of “& Friends,” Underhill’s debut solo effort, Navigate the Madness, was released in 2018 to wide acclaim: Named one of the Top 10 Releases of 2018 by Bill Kopp (Musocribe) and voted in the Top 100 International Releases by WNCW radio listeners. Asheville Citizen-Times called it “…a stunning work of a gifted, visionary singer-songwriter. With her open-back banjo, soulful and luminous vocals as the common thread, there isn’t a cliched lyric anywhere among the collection of playful, sublime and deeply affecting songs.” (Jim Simpson) The group’s follow-up release in 2020, Land of the Living, digs even deeper into Underhill’s psyche and reaches even farther into new musical landscapes. The result? American Songwriter premiered the track “Strange Chemistry” and said the album was “…Tales told in motion, with dynamic harmonies.” PopMatters weighed in, saying that it was, “…An emotionally powerful collection that inspires repeated listens.” In 2021, a live performance by Eleanor Underhill & Friends was featured on PBS-syndicated Echo Sessions along with a cover story in CenterPiece Magazine. 2022 is shaping up to be another hallmark year with the release of the group’s third album Got it Covered, packed with sixteen tracks of fan-favorite cover songs.

PATIO: Griefcat + Brittany Ann Tranbaugh

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IN FIRST COME FIRST SERVEGRIEFCATGriefcat is an all-women musical comedy duo hailed as “local favorites” by Washington City Paper in their hometown of DC. Often referred to as “Tenacious Double D’s” due to their musicality and hilarious lyrics, their sequin studded shows have been referred to by attendees as “the most fun [we’ve] had since Lizzo.” They recently finished recording their 2nd studio album, “late stage capitalism,” with singles expected in Spring of 2023. A live clip of one of their upcoming singles, “Revolution (Poop at Work), ” recently garnered over 1M views on Instagram and counting. BRITTANY ANN TRANBAUGHBrittany Ann Tranbaugh is a singer songwriter hailing from Philadelphia. Her queer country song “Kiss You” won Song of the Year in the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and she regularly tours with Carsie Blanton. In October, she recorded a 5 song EP in LA with Grammy-nominated producer Tyler Chester, and will be releasing a single every 6 weeks beginning in March.

PATIO: 5j Barrow

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE5J BARROWInspiration seeped through the windows of apartment 5J on Barrow Street looking out over the Hudson River in NYC’s Greenwich Village, where singer-songwriters and Broadway performers, Eryn Murman and Jason Hite, soaked up the energy and passion of musicians, painters, poets and writers who created the Village vibe. Together, they paid tribute to those creative spirits and named their band 5j Barrow, writing music and lyrics with a unique folk/rock sound, touring as a duo, and often picking up Drew Jones on bass and Gerard Canonico on drums. The band has inspired audiences with soulful music, evocative imagery, and lyrics that touch the heart, from the historic Apollo Theater to the open air of Washington Square Park, from the streets of New Orleans to the Rocky Mountains, from California wine country to New England forests. Woody Platt of the Steep Canyon Rangers says his interest was piqued when he came across their live show at the Asheville Regional Airport of all places. “I checked out 5J Barrow and was totally impressed; killer vocals, cools songs and overall great energy, vibe.” The duo of Eryn Murman and Jason Hite who originally formed the band in 2011, forged an even stronger bond when they married in 2017. Since then, they’ve toured the country and discovered new inspiration in the mountains of Asheville, NC, a supportive artistic community that resembles the old Village vibe that sparked 5j’s values in independent artistry, community and collaboration. They still travel and tour, a favorite of Sofar Sounds in dozens of cities, and play diverse music venues, house concerts, and festivals all over North America. 5j Barrow was named “Best Band in NY” after winning The Greene Space WNYC/WQXR’s Battle of the Boroughs 2014. 5j Barrow released their debut album ‘From the Dim, Sweet Light’ in 2014, and their EP trilogy of The Journey Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were released from 2017-2019.

PATIO: Drunken Prayer

– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEDRUNKEN PRAYERDrunken Prayer transcends the bounds of Americana music. Morgan Geer, the wizard behind the curtain, writes songs that could emerge from a highly blissed-out biker bar or a swampy ashram.For the last year Morgan Geer has been working from his home studio with Paul Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Palace), building on drum tracks initially recorded in New Mexico at Empty House Studios, home of doom metal bands like OM and Sleep. The end result evokes an ominous acid Western feedback-and-driftwood aesthetic.The latest Drunken Prayer releases have been 2019’s acclaimed LP Cordelia Elsewhere mixed by Mitch Easter (Let’s Active, REM) and the ambitious 17 minute long death-raga, Electric Daddyland from 2021.Over the past two years, before the pandemic, Drunken Prayer played hundreds of shows across 18 countries and across the US at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon and San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Geer’s music has been featured on AMC, NPR, WFMU and SiriusXM.On the side Geer is the lead guitar player for alt-country goths Freakwater and writes for different artists including the Brooklyn rock and soul phenom Bette Smith. Morgan has also been touring internationally, opening for and often joining the eccentric Handsome Family.Today Morgan splits time between Portland, OR and Asheville, NC.

[POSTPONED] PATIO: Drunken Prayer

The Band of Heathens

– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE BAND OF HEATHENS With their eighth studio album, Simple Things, The Band of Heathens came home—geographically, as they returned to their longtime base of Austin for the recording; sonically, in an embrace of the rootsy, guitar-based rock with which they made their name; and thematically, with lyrics that speak to appreciating friends and family and our limited time on this planet. It’s a confident, assured statement of a group finding its place in the world amid uncertain and troubled times. “It was a return to embracing our influences, our natural instincts, the way we sound when we get on stage,” says guitarist-vocalist Gordy Quist. “Many times in the past, we’d take a song and stretch to make it into something else sonically, because that’s exciting and fun to do in the studio. This time around, we tried to use some restraint and embraced our first instincts, trusting the songs were strong enough. With the subject matter, there’s a sentiment of focusing on what’s important as we go through this journey together—don’t waste time, because this is all we’ve got.” “Gordy and I each have a natural sound when we sing, but there’s something even more special and unique when our voices blend together” says guitarist-vocalist Ed Jurdi. “So it was just about harnessing and embracing that. Good, mid-tempo rock and roll—that’s our breadbasket, and there’s not a lot of that music being made right now.” Though the members of The Band of Heathens now live scattered across the country, coming back to Austin (where they first formed in the early 2000s when Quist and Jurdi were among four songwriters playing regular weekly sets at the late, lamented club Momo’s) was crucial to the making of Simple Things. “The city has grown and undergone many changes over the years, but the intangibles that make Austin a unique place are still alive and well,” says Jurdi. “I feel like the band wouldn’t have come together anywhere else. As Austin has evolved, the band has evolved too, and now coming back feels like a very full circle moment.” They worked in a studio called the Finishing School, which was founded by the band’s close friend and sometime producer George Reiff; Quist took over the studio after Reiff passed away in 2017, and upgraded with gear including three of Freddie Mercury’s actual vocal mics, which have previously been used on recordings by David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, and AC/DC. “It’s our own communal space and we’re very comfortable there,” says Quist. In some ways, the new album is a logical extension of Remote Transmissions, the livestream series that Band of Heathens started soon after the pandemic shut down the world in 2020 (and which was documented in last year’s Remote Transmissions, Vol. 1 album). Unable to tour, the group convened every week for a year, playing covers of songs new and old, responding to a disorienting time by reconnecting with music they love.THEM COULEE BOYS Soren Staff and Beau Janke—co-founders of folk/rock/Americana outfit Them Coulee Boys—met as camp counselors in northern Wisconsin in 2011. Their weekend workshopping of Avett Brothers tunes led to original songs and adding Soren’s brother Jens on mandolin. As the years grew, the band turned into a more rollicking outfit, adding Neil Krause on electric bass and Stas Hable on drums.

Andrew Duhon + Abe Partridge

– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEANDREW DUHON It was Leo Tolstoy who said “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town,” and in the case of Andrew Duhon and his latest album Emerald Blue, both instances are true. Duhon temporarily left New Orleans, his longtime home and musical muse in 2019, finding himself inspired by the landscape of the Pacific Northwest and notably, its colors—a hue he describes as ‘emerald blue’ for which the album is named, the same shade looking back at him in his partner’s eyes. Had he overlooked the specific shade of her eyes while living below sea level? Or did the change of location open his mind more acutely? The record does just that: examine the familiar in the context of the unfamiliar. Emerald Blue is a probing appreciation of the dailiness of life; a note-taking exercise in living. ABE PARTRIDGE Abe Partridge is a heralded musician, singer/songwriter, visual artist and podcaster based in Mobile, Alabama. His 2018 debut, Cotton Fields and Blood For Days, earned him rave reviews, with Tony Paris saying in Bitter Southerner, “He plays guitar the same way he writes lyrics, bashing the strings with abandon until they’re just about to come loose, then beautifully picking the notes until every last word falls into place. More to the point, Partridge writes to make you sit up and think. He wants to jar your reality. Sometimes, his lyrics are sly and subtle. Sometimes they come at you with a roar and thunder, as if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were approaching, and the heavens were opening up to herald a warning.” Since the release of his debut, Partridge has toured relentlessly, including several tours of the Netherlands and the U.K. developing a reputation for moving, passionate, and sometimes comedic, performances at prestigious songwriter festivals including 30A Songwriters Festival and Americana Music Fest, and is a regular at Bluebird Café in Nashville and Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta. He has performed on the syndicated radio programs Mountain Stage and Woodsongs Olde Time Radio Hour and shared the stage with Morgan Wade, Paul Thorn, Steve Poltz, Dan Bern, Jerry Joseph and more. In September of 2022, Partridge released the “Alabama Astronaut” podcast, where he explores songs previously undocumented at churches in Appalachia as well as the culture around the handling of serpents. It was in the Top Ten documentary podcasts on Apple Podcasts within days of the release and now has over 30K downloads and a 4.9 star rating. Partridge will also release his 3rd full-length recording, Love In The Dark, on Baldwin County Public Records on April 14, 2023.

Genre: Americana