OUTPOST: Dave Desmelik
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE- FREE SHOWDave Desmelik is a singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical focus is on original compositions. What attracts listeners to Desmelik’s tunes, old and new, is the element of authenticity incorporated in them. There is no sugar coating involved. His songs are not wrapped in false smiles, rather they are stark and open and tend to settle on the pulse of everyday life. An unclosed and evolving journal of thoughts set to music and melodies in prose and instrumental performance. If you listen to Dave Desmelik’s songs, whether lyrical or instrumental, you may become pleasantly fixed in the simplistic realness of them and if you hear Desmelik in a live setting you may realize that there are no tricks, just a genuine venture into the highs and lows of life.
Sicard Hollow
ALL AGES – STANDING ROOM ONLY SICARD HOLLOW Nashville’s psychedelic punk-grass rockers, Sicard Hollow, grew up sick of any existing institution telling them who and what to be. Now, as they navigate adulthood, they’re equally tired of the music institutions telling them what their music should sound like— so they dunked it in patchouli and a skate-and-destroy ethos that brings an enduring sound into the modern age. Before the band met in 2018, none of the members ever considered playing bluegrass. Matt Rennick (violin) was working on electronic music, Will Herrin (mandolin/vocals) was playing guitar in rock bands, and Alex King (guitar/vocals) was barely playing music at all. After a few jam sessions, the bluegrass just kind of happened. Since adding Parrish Gabriel (bass) in the Fall of 2019, the band has been on a journey of self discovery within the genre while challenging themselves to make it their own. Whether it was skateboarding or chasing jam bands, singer/guitar-player Alex King always had a fierce desire to succeed on his own terms. He spent years as an artist without an art-form, searching for a home by pouring every bit of his sweat and heart into anything he was doing. “It took years for me to land on music,” King says, referencing “This I Know” from the album, “but when I found that fire inside my heart, I found my home.It just so happened that finding that home coincided with the shutdown of live music due to the pandemic that canceled the entire release tour supporting their debut studio record, ‘Secret of the Breeze.’ During that time, the band turned inward to reflect on their identity and how they could add their generation’s voice to a timeless genre of music. The result, with the help of producer John Mailander (Billy Strings, Bruce Hornsby) and Recording/mixing engineer Dan Davis (Billy Strings, Zac Brown Band, Dierks Bentley), was a combination of pop-punk melodies, psychedelic instrumental breaks, and existential song-writing all packaged as a bluegrass quartet dressed in tattoos and tie-dyes.Tracks like Herrin’s “Escape the Unknown,” wrestle with staying true to yourself in a world seemingly fueled by mob-mentality. This positive skepticism toward the main-stream permeates the entire record. Songs like “Forecast of Life” and “Where I’m At” impress a new-American-Zen that dances through the chaos with a smile on your face. If unapologetically being yourself is the key to finding the “Brightest of Days” ahead, then you’ll hear it here first from Sicard Hollow. THE TALISMEN The Talismen formed in 2015 in Montgomery, Alabama, during the band members’ high school years. Over the past eight years, the band has evolved and progressed as a highly creative, powerful force; entertaining audiences across the country. With a combination of energy and sophistication beyond their years, The Talismen approach each performance as a totally unique experience featuring an expansive catalog of soulful, funk-filled originals, along with a constantly evolving rotation of covers. The Talismen released their debut album, Jar Full of Something, in February 2019. The album has since totaled over one million streams via Spotify. In March of 2020, the band released a four-song EP, Extra Vehicular Activity, which was recorded and produced by Kevin Scott (Gov’t Mule / Jimmy Herring). They have since released two live albums (Live From The Bunker, Live From Saturn), as well as a series of singles.
Jontavious Willis
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE JONTAVIOUS WILLISJontavious Willis is reshaping the blues scene with his own unique style. Hailing from Greenville, Georgia, his deep connection to his rural Americana and black heritage infuses his artistry with authenticity and character.Jontavious occupies a unique position as a child of the 90s whose artistic canvas, the blues, is among the most vintage of American art forms. His work provides an avenue for modern audiences to access a part of history all too often deemed inaccessible. On tour and in the studio, he is captivating audiences with his unique perspective, leaving an indelible mark on the world of music, breathing new life into one of America’s greatest contributions to music and culture.His debut album, “Blue Metamorphosis,” received critical acclaim and was honored with the Best Self-Produced CD Award by the Blues Foundation. His second album, “Spectacular Class,” produced by Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, solidi ed his status as a rising star, and earned him a Grammy nomination. Currently, Jontavious is working on his upcoming album, which will showcase his evolution as an artist. The project is a product of Jontavious’ relationship with Georgia. He is working hard in his home state, drawing inspiration from both the historical and contemporary, to produce an album that will make its’ mark on the state’s musical tradition.JODY CARROLLJody Carroll is a blues & Roots performer and songwriter who effortlessly creates bold interpretations of old Blues and American Folk music, his own songs, stories and improvisational musical journeys. He is a Finger style/slide guitar master and amazingly soulful singer blending flavors of old Blues, Folk, Mountain music, Jazz and Rock all together into a true power packed gumbo.
Evan Dando (of The Lemonheads) solo
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEEVAN DANDO (OF THE LEMONHEADS) SOLOEvan Dando is currently at work in São Paulo, Brazil on the first album of original songs from The Lemonheads since 2006. After playing anniversary tours for It’s A Shame About Ray and Come On Feel The Lemonheads, Evan is embarking on a US solo tour in Spring 2024 to play shows with an eclectic mix of Lemonheads classics, new material, and covers. A new single from The Lemonheads, “Fear Of Living”, which was co-written by the late Dan Lardner (of QTY) and Evan, was just released digitally on November 14th, 2023 via Fire Records, and will be available for sale on 7” vinyl at the upcoming February and March shows.“For most writers, it’s extraordinarily difficult to catch and hold feelings of pathos, idleness, hunger, a kind of hazy but manageable melancholy. Dando’s songs are short (many are under or around two minutes), with choruses and hooks so easygoing, so suffused with nonchalance, that it feels as though they must have arrived fully formed and without struggle.” – The New YorkerWILLY MASON
Blonde Redhead
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYBLONDE REDHEAD“Life changes fast,” Joan Didion once wrote. “Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” In the spring of 2020, Blonde Redhead singer and multi-instrumentalist Kazu Makino encountered this passage from Didion’s 2005 memoir of grief, The Year of Magical Thinking, in which the author reflected on the devastating experience of witnessing her husband’s sudden death at the dinner table. Amid the profound uncertainty of those early pandemic months, Makino was thinking of her own parents far away in Japan; the then-lost ritual of congregating for dinner with family; and the heavy, omnipresent feeling that life could change in the instant for any of us. With plainspoken language and incandescent melodies, Makino narrated these feelings on a pair of songs, “Sit Down for Dinner Pt I” and “Sit Down for Dinner Pt II,” which helped title the tenth full-length from Blonde Redhead. “Sit Down to Dinner Pt II” thematically transcends time: “It’s sort of about death, but the music is so alive and groovy,” Makino says. Yet, the title Sit Down for Dinner has a separate resonance for the Italian members of Blonde Redhead, the Milan-born twin brothers Amedeo Pace (singer / multi-instrumentalist) and Simone Pace (drummer). “Culturally, dinner is important to us,” Simone says of the nonnegotiable family ritual. “It’s a moment for us to sit down and have time with each other. We grew up that way. I know a lot of people eat and run, eat in front of their TV, or don’t care about it too much—and that’s OK—but we really do.” Dinner has long been a sacred ritual for Blonde Redhead as a band as well; when they’re on tour or rehearsing, they always share a meal, no matter what. Releasing Sit Down for Dinner in its 30th year, Blonde Redhead’s perseverance partially came in realizing that the process of making the record should necessarily be fun. “Usually I agonize and it’s painful for me to write music, but on this one, I didn’t suffer as much,” says Makino. “I wanted to put my foot down and say: we can have a nice time together. The record sounds quite optimistic.” Amedeo adds, “We do really respond to each other. We depend on each other for inspiration. Kazu completes what I start; Simone completes both with rhythm.”BIBI CLUB Like a song through an open window, it feels like we’ve been waiting a long time for Le soleil et la mer. The debut release by Bibi Club, aka real-life lovers Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque, is sun-kissed and wave-washed, shimmering and chic, a bilingual party overdue after two years that have felt (to everyone!) like winter. The pair named themselves “Bibi Club” for the discothèque in their living-room, where the couple’s bibis—their loved-ones—come and dance. With kids at home, Nico and Adèle had to sneak away to make music: five minutes here, two hours there. Accordingly, their songs imagine that a family’s everyday enchantments might be loaned to the dancefloor, to the nighttime, to a place that’s still thumping as the day breaks. Bibi Club’s debut album is out August 26 via Secret City Records.
Billy Jonas Band ‘Pre-New Year’s Eve’ Family Concert
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- EARLY SHOW BILLY JONAS BAND Fun for All Ages! Bring the family, and prepare to ring in the New Year at an afternoon show on Dec. 31. The Billy Jonas Band loves to engage and delight both young and adult audiences. Whether performing for adults, families, school groups, faith communities, or a mix, they strive for a musical excellence that inspires, entertains, and moves people literally and figuratively. With “wild winded word magic” (Dirty Linen Magazine), homemade “industrial re-percussion” instruments, exquisite 3 and 4 part vocal harmonies, plus guitar and bass, they love to create community through song and story. Their specialty: finding and pushing your “wonder” button.In 2010, the Billy Jonas Band was honored with a performance at the White House!
Chatham County Line (Album Release Show)
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCHATHAM COUNTY LINELaunched a little more than twenty years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, Chatham County Line built a devoted local following on the strength of their genre-bending live show—an intoxicating blend of bluegrass, folk, country, and rock and roll—before breaking out internationally with their 2003 self-titled debut. In the years to come, the band would go on to release eight more critically acclaimed studio albums, top the Billboard Bluegrass Chart four times, collaborate with the likes of Judy Collins, Sharon Van Etten, and Norwegian star Jonas Fjeld, earn two gold records in Norway (where they were also twice nominated for the Spellemannprisen, Norway’s equivalent of a Grammy), and share bills with everyone from Guy Clark and Lyle Lovett to Steve Martin & Martin Short and The Avett Brothers. NPR hailed the group as “a bridge between bluegrass traditions and a fresh interpretation of those influences,” while Uncut lauded their “powerful melodies and gorgeous harmonies,” and Pitchfork dubbed their music “timeless.” The band’s latest release, Hiyo, marks the band’s first release since the departure of their longtime banjo player and serves as something of a reintroduction to the roots stalwarts, complete with new sounds, new collaborators, and a whole new lease on life. Recorded at Asheville’s Echo Mountain studio with co-producer/engineer Rachael Moore (Kacey Musgraves, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss), the collection finds the trio—Dave Wilson (lead singer/guitarist), John Teer (fiddle/mandolin) and Greg Readling (bass/pedal steel), embracing change at every turn, experimenting with fresh sonic palettes and innovative approaches to their core instrumentation. The songwriting remains classic Chatham County Line here—rich, evocative tales of love and heartbreak, joy and sorrow, righteousness and revenge—but the settings have evolved to incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and more electric guitar and percussion than ever before. DARREN JESSEEDarren Jessee is a familiar presence to alternative music fans thanks to his long tenure as the drummer / backing vocalist in Ben Folds Five. (He also co-wrote that group’s biggest hit “Brick.”) Outside of that outfit, he’s logged time touring with Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger, as well as fronting the indie rock ensemble Hotel Lights. But perhaps Jessee’s most affecting work has been the three albums he has released over the past five years under his own name. On these recordings, he scales everything back to the purest pop essentials, with strings, acoustic guitar, and a smart application of vintage keyboards serving to put further emphasis on his languid vocals and plainspoken, yet elegiac lyrics. Jessee’s latest full-length Central Bridge is his best yet. A hushed understated affair recorded primarily in the artist’s North Carolina home, the album revels in the small details of life—a crumpled pack of cigarettes found in an old jacket, a pile of wet swimwear on the floor—that somehow leave a lasting impression on a person or stir up deep seated memories.
OUTPOST: The Grateful Family
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE- FREE SHOW
Holiday Liquor & Dance Party ft. DJ Marley Carroll: 17th Annual!
AGES 21+ STANDING ROOM ONLY DOORS 8PM, SHOW 9PM LIMITED EARLY BIRD TICKETS FESTIVE ATTIRE ENCOURAGED HOLIDAY LIQUOR & DANCE PARTY Featuring DJ Marley Carroll on the main stage. Holiday drink specials + more! DJ MARLEY CARROLL What started as an epic, ramshackle house party in a garage in west Asheville has become the city’s favorite holiday dance event, and local superstar DJ Marley Carroll has been at the helm for every year of its 16-year run. At the aptly-named Holiday Liquor Dance Party, DJ Marley guides costumed partygoers through a marathon holiday DJ set that is frequently surprising and always satisfying. From classic hip-hop and soul to contemporary house and disco, DJ Marley shines by combining the inclusive energy of surefire party selections with an expert level of skill in mixing, sequencing and execution.
An Evening With Jason Carter
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEJASON CARTERIn Lloyd, Kentucky, on U.S. 23, there’s a sign on the Country Music Highway dedicated to renowned fiddler Jason Carter. It was placed there because of his other accomplishments—the Grammy awards, the worldwide tours, and the many other accolades he’s earned through his music. But for Carter, joining the legendary names honored on that stretch of highway just might mean the most. “There’s a certain sound that’s up there that you just don’t hear anywhere else,” he says. “I think that played a big part in how I sound today.” True to those Kentucky roots, Carter continues to pour all he has back into bluegrass. For thirty years, he has been the fiddle player for the Del McCoury Band—the most awarded group in bluegrass history. He’s won three Grammy awards, including 2018’s “Best Bluegrass Album” with the Travelin’ McCourys, of which he is a founding member. And he’s taken home five IBMAs for “Fiddle Player of the Year,” a staggering number that isn’t quite so crazy once you realize just how many bluegrass greats have turned to Carter for collaboration. As a fiddler, Carter has been featured on albums by Steve Earle, Ricky Skaggs, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, Asleep at the Wheel, and many more, all in addition to his tireless touring and recording with Del as well as the Travelin’ McCourys. On Carter’s forthcoming solo album, Lowdown Hoedown, listeners may recognize instrumental contributions from such legends as Jerry Douglas or Sam Bush alongside vocals from young trailblazers like Sarah Jarosz or Billy Strings. This time, though, Carter is singing lead. Scattered across the album, too, are hints of the influences that have shaped Carter’s sound throughout his life. A guitar player since childhood and a fiddler since 15 (the age when he swore that someday he’d play in the Del McCoury Band), Carter inherited his love for bluegrass from his father, a musician himself, and grew up playing at jams, festivals, and campgrounds across Kentucky. After he graduated high school, he took his talent as a fiddler on the road professionally: first with the Goins Brothers, then at 19 with the Del McCoury Band, and later with the Travelin’ McCourys. In the decades since, he’s seen the bluegrass community evolve and expand. “The bluegrass fans, they’re pretty loyal,” he says, noting that he’s found a similar kinship sharing stages with jam bands like Phish and Leftover Salmon, too. “They stick behind you, they’re there for you.” Carter mirrors that loyalty with his own—loyalty to his craft, loyalty to the road, and loyalty to the career path he’s dreamt of since childhood. With Lowdown Hoedown, Carter shares the fruits of decades’ worth of on-the-road experience, spectacular musical sensibility, and genuine excitement for what bluegrass can be.
