Pert Near Sandstone + The Way Down Wanderers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYPERT NEAR STANDSTONE Hailing from Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota and founded by childhood friends within the vibrant Minneapolis music scene, Pert Near’s chemistry hearkens back to the family bands of yesteryear. They cut straight to the heart across the musical landscape of the Great North and beyond. Formed soon after the turn of the millennium, they have been tireless stewards of the midwestern roots music community ever since. Privileged with co-founding, curating and hosting the prestigious Blue Ox Music Festival, Pert Near performs with infectious energy and an undeniable joy. Strong songcraft melds with old-time sensibilities in a unique brand of modern string band music delivered to fans around the world. Their new album, ‘Rising Tide’, reaches a new height in their songwriting, addressing issues directly relating to our modern times and not holding back commentary on politics and society. Touring from the Great North on the regular, they bring their performances Northwest across to Southeast and often to central Europe.THE WAY DOWN WANDERERSThe Way Down Wanderers sing like angels but write songs with guts that are unmistakably earthbound: a soon-to-be dad, excited but scared, fighting for self-growth; someone recovering from alcohol dependency, devoted to healing but with a confession to make––there are no fairytales here. And yet, the music begs an unapologetically Pollyanna question, like a big-hearted dare: Can a song help save you? “I think when we strive to be the best versions of ourselves, and to accept other people that we don’t understand, that all works toward creating a culture we strive for,” says Collin Krause, one of The Way Down Wanderers’ two lead songwriters and vocalists. “Part of that process really is working on yourself––and self-forgiveness. At the end of the day, we’re not going to be perfect. The idea is to recognize that, and to try to forgive yourself if you can––and to try to move on and make progress.” “Right,” adds Austin Krause-Thompson, the band’s other frontman and core writer. “And this record does lend itself to some of those messages.” Austin and Collin are discussing More Like Tomorrow, the Way Down Wanderers’ third full-length release. The project is the anticipated follow-up to their 2019 breakthrough album Illusions, which earned praise from Rolling Stone Country, No Depression, Relix, and more. The band’s gorgeous harmonies and string-band virtuosity still anchor the new album, but the sonic borders the Way Down Wanderers once flirted with crossing have been beautifully breached. Their lyricism has also evolved, giving way to true stories that cut deep. “I think more so on this record than ever, the songs are just more direct, with acute meanings in our own situations,” says Austin. “Each’s song’s story is less broad. I think, at least for me, writing is definitely growing more and more personal.”
Kassi Valazza
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEKASSI VALAZZAThere is a cult-like fascination growing around Kassi Valazza following the self-release of her 2019 debut album Dear Dead Days and her surprise 2022 EP Highway Sounds. She is seated squarely at the vanguard of new American songwriters strengthening and broadening the sound of country music as she tours with celebrated acts such as Melissa Carper and Riddy Arman. The Southwestern native resides in Portland, a hotbed of songwriters producing albums that both bear the torch and bend the arc of American roots music, where she recently signed with Fluff & Gravy Records — a label known for launching Anna Tivel and Margo Cilker.Valazza’s forthcoming new album Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing is a spellbinding collection of songs that dangle like protective magic talismans, catching dreams and glinting light. She hypnotizes listeners with a sturdy, yet gentle, voice and painterly songwriting imbued with an independent spirit. Though her music plays country cousin to British folk, calling to mind greats like Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) and Karen Dalton, a Southwestern American streak carves its way through these solemn, sweetly sung melodies like a canyon.On the upcoming 10-song set, multi-instrumentalists from Portland’s TK & the Holy Know-Nothings appear in varying roles as Valazza’s backing band: Taylor Kingman (guitars, bass, vocals), Jay Cobb Anderson (harmonica, guitars, pedal steel, bass), Lewi Longmire (pedal steel, piano, bass, trumpet), Sydney Nash (organ, Farfisa, cornet, Wurlitzer), and Tyler Thompson (drums). The group’s swirling psychedelia combines with Valazza’s gutsy and graceful vocal poetry for a singular sound that washes over the listener like a flash flood, heavy and without warning.Album opener “Room In The City” introduces Valazza’s high-lonesome, but never lonely world with sharp harmonica and reeling organ. She sings of a touring musician’s longing for home, and a distant lover, with lyrical imagery of open skies, whistling winds, and sepia-toned rock formations: “Did you think I’d be out here feeling lonely? / If I said I thought so too it’d be a lie / When I talk to you it’s hard to be withholding / And I was born to chase this blue out of my eyes. / In the still, I often wonder about your breathing / I rise and fall to its rhythm late at night / Clay canyons turn to plaster in my grieving / And our ceiling overtakes the sky.”Using the physical world around her to paint metaphors from the soul, Valazza carries us through her mind and heart, ever the effortless narrator. “Watching Planes Go By” spins a cautionary tale about the dangers of standing still in life and accepting one’s own fate. The song sets a curious and cosmic atmosphere of psychedelic folk-rock as Valazza reflects on the struggles of moving on, “Autumn leaves turn to yellow / and green turns to jealousy / Watching days go by.”Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing captures the romanticism of country crooners with the intuition of a realist poet. Exploring themes of love and longing through metaphors from the natural world, Valazza manages to cut straight to the heart of the human experience, her lucid songs full of delightfully languid characters that haunt the hallucinatory soundscapes her band creates.CAMILLE WIND WEATHERFORD (OF THE LOSTINES)
The Bright Light Social Hour
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR “Their expansive sound, penchant for experimentation and incredible shows combine a psychedelic southern blues-rock aesthetic with danceable electronics… Continually exhilarating.” –David Dye, NPR’s World Cafe Austin-based indie psychedelic band The Bright Light Social Hour kick off spring with new single “Not New” announced alongside news of tour dates and a new album, Emergency Leisure, coming August 2 via Escondido Sound. Founded by Jackie O’Brien (bass/vocals) and Curtis Roush (guitar/vocals) – and newly joined by Mia Carruthers (keys/vocals), Zac Catanzaro (drums) and Juan Alfredo Ríos (percussion) – the band’s latest single showcases the sound of the forthcoming project, melding Texas trippiness with irresistible disco-punk groove. There’s an equally lysergic music video accompanying the track, in vintage Bright Light Social Hour style. “In 2019 we did a tour we didn’t realize would be our last. At least for TBLSH as we knew it. Emergency Leisure is a fictional autobiography from this period, centered on a seminal, hedonistic night at Bar L’Escogriffe in Montreal – our own Tropic of Cancer of sorts. “Not New” kicks off the odyssey, a new beginning in our Fool’s Journey. ” –Jackie O’Brien The band’s sound is iconoclastic and ever-evolving, with four studio albums to date including the critically acclaimed Space Is Still the Place and Jude I & II. In addition to composing original soundtracks for HBO, MTV, and Nintendo, they also wrote and recorded the award-winning theme for Amazon’s “Sneaky Pete” at the request of Bryan Cranston. The band is widely known for their explosive live performances, including festivals such as Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza, as well as opening for Aerosmith, Osees, and The Flaming Lips. Their inventive sound has garnered critical acclaim with support from the likes of CLASH, NPR, The Wild Honey Pie, Earmilk and plenty more. The new single showcases a band reaching peak song-writing prowess, a tight yet bewildering journey with groove-rich drums, psychedelic synths and a dirty dancefloor payoff that would make Nile Rodgers blush. With further singles, a new album, and much touring on the horizon, 2023 is looking like an incredible year for the Austin-based outfit.CHOSES SAUVAGES
PATIO: Taylor Ashton
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDTAYLOR ASHTON Taylor Ashton is a Canadian singer and songwriter living in Brooklyn. He spent the first half of his twenties on the road across Canada as frontman of the band Fish & Bird before moving to New York to work on a new set of songs and a new chapter of life. His music takes influence from the cosmic emotionality of Joni Mitchell, the sage vulnerability of Bill Withers, the humour and heartbreak of Randy Newman, and old-time and Celtic folk music. Alternately accompanying himself on clawhammer banjo and electric guitar, Taylor croons poignantly clever lyrical insights while effortlessly gliding between a Bill Callahan-esque baritone to a Thom Yorke-like falsetto. His full-length debut album “The Romantic” was released in early 2020, followed by a companion EP “Romanticize” featuring remixes, reimaginings, and new songs. His songwriting appears on albums by Watkins Family Hour, the Brother Brothers, Benjamin Lazar Davis and others, and he has released singles with Aoife O’Donovan, The Fretless, and Aerialists, as well as a moody acoustic duo record in 2018 with songwriter & guitarist Courtney Hartman. Much is in store for 2022, including at least one new album and more fruitful collaborations.
The Grateful Brothers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE GRATEFUL BROTHERS The Grateful Brothers pay tribute to two of the richest catalogs of music in American history: The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band. Formed in early 2016, The Grateful Brothers combine the catalogs of The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead. Often intertwining songs through segues and transitions, they carry out the improvisational spirit of the two groups in their own space. They use the songs as more of a template rather than adhering to strict album-style covers, creating a unique, high-energy, and genuine crowd experience at every performance. The seven musicians making up the band have known each other and played in various outfits with one another for upwards of twenty years. The camaraderie between them is obvious and the familiarity leads to the ease of musical exploration.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
