RADish FEST
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY RADish FEST RADish Fest is a one-day, 12 hour celebration rooted in the River Arts District put on by local creatives, for locals and open to every neighbor, visitor, and friend who wants to be part of something…pretty RADish. From 11am to 11pm, the heart of RAD comes alive with live music on the Grey Eagle stages, live painting, immersive art installations, One Village WNC workshops, comedy, puppets and the kind of unexpected magic that only happens when a creative community cuts loose. RADish Fest is hyper-local by design. A place for old friends to reconnect, for strangers to become neighbors, and for the artists who call this district home to be seen, celebrated, and supported. Bites from Grey Eagle Taqueria, local vendors, local beer and sustainably run operations round out a day built to leave footprints and memories behind. HEADLINERS: Tuba Skinny The Local Honeys Idle County Rooster WHAT TO EXPECT: Live music all day on the Grey Eagle stages. (Indoor/Outdoor) Comedy/Performances between bands Immersive Art installations & Live painting by local RAD artists Local vendors & workshops Grey Eagle Taqueria & Local food vendors Local craft beer, full bar & beverages Zero-waste, sustainability-forward event
Adama Dembele & Les Amis
ALL AGESLIMITED SEATING ADAMA & LES AMIS Adama Dembele is Bambara and was born in Ivory Coast, West Africa. He is a master djembefola that has performed for communities all over the world. Adama is a 33rd generation musician from his family and teaches the music and culture of West African djembe and balafon in Asheville. Adama formed Les Amis to perform his traditional West African songs in a modern format with electric guitar, electric bass, drum kit and saxophone. The fusion of these instruments with his traditional djembe and balafon produced a high-energy dance band that offers audiences a one of a kind world music experience. Les Amis features Steve Campbell on drums, JP Furnas on electric bass, Michael Jaffe on electric guitar, Ben Colvin on Saxophone and Adama Dembele on djembe, balafon and vocals.
AJ Lee & Blue Summit w/ The Cody Sisters
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY AJ LEE & BLUE SUMMIT AJ Lee & Blue Summit are an award-winning energetic, charming, and technically jaw-dropping band quickly rising on the national roots music scene. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the group met as teenagers, picking and jamming together as kids at local music festivals and jams until one day, they decided they would be a band. “Our roots go really deep,” explains de facto band leader Lee. “We met when we were young kids… We definitely decided to choose each other as a chosen family band later on in life, but in a lot of ways it was naturally just like that in the beginning.” “It was like one of those late at night things,” she continued. “We were sitting on a trailer at Grass Valley” at the annual Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival held in the Sierra Nevada foothills – “Someone said, ‘All of us right here, we’re a band now.’ We kind of didn’t take it seriously, but we were like, okay, we’ll be a band!” THE CODY SISTERS The Cody Sisters band is the very heart of contemporary acoustic Folk and Bluegrass in Colorado, the United States, and the UK. Their propulsive instrumental solos and warm harmonies combine to grip the listener. Along with bass player Will Pavilonis, sisters Megan (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Maddie (guitar, banjo, vocals) have forged a new sound that has no equivalent match in the acoustic world today. In May of 2023, The Cody Sisters released their self-titled EP marking a new beginning for the band. It is their first release since parting ways with their former image of “young girls in a family band” and it portrays a sense of maturity and musical understanding that reveals a new dimension to their artistic expression. They set out to explore new sounds and styles while still holding true to their Bluegrass roots, and they have done just that. This new music is an invitation to connect, to feel, and to journey together through original lyrics and captivating instrumental arrangements. With their brand-new Archipelago, The Cody Sisters contineu to refine and explore a sound that is original, exhilarating, and heartwarming all at the same time. With strong ties to traditional American acoustic music, they continue to stun their audiences both in the U.S. and abroad.
Damien Jurado: ‘All hits & no misses tour’ w/ St. Yuma
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY DAMIEN JURADO “Play on, there’s no such thing as better days,” Damien Jurado sings on “Roger,” the sweeping wash of a song that opens Reggae Film Star, his 18th full length album and second release from Jurado’s own Maraqopa Records label. But as he enters his 25th year as a recording artist, it’s clear these are, at the least, very good days for Jurado on the creative front. In these 12 songs, which evoke half-recalled dreams and overheard conversations, the cosmic rushes headlong into the autobiographical and specific moments on the clock fade from past to future to scenes set only in the eternal now. Playing out like a backlot documentary filmed on the location of an unnamed TV or film set—maybe a sitcom taping, or perhaps it’s a low budget science fiction B-movie, or could it be a talk show?—the album is populated by performers awaiting call times, camera operators praying for their shot, and studio audiences rapt with anticipation. The stars here eschew glitz and glamor. Instead, they wander grocery stores and parking lots in the verdant Pacific Northwest and the desert Southwest, looking for payphones and a sense of purpose. Produced by Jurado with multi-instrumentalist Josh Gordon and recording engineer Alex Bush at Sonikwire studio in Irvine,CA, Jurado’s home away from home and musical headquarters, the record’s compositions are among the most musically rich in his vast discography, encompassing romantic AM gold, ‘60s psychedelia, driving rock & roll, Latin shuffles, and left of the dial ambiance. Strings swell, melodic bass bubbles, and piano sparkles, undergirding Jurado’s unmistakable voice, at once intimately present and ghostly, grounded in the here and now but capable, at any moment, of drifting off into the divinatory. Following threads established by 2021’s The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, the album sees Jurado embracing his auteur era, penning vignettes that arrive with little fanfare and depart quicker than you might suspect, only to linger long after they wrap. Seeking a skeleton key to decipher the action is beside the point—Jurado’s songs are worlds meant to be lived in, not picked apart—but on the beatific single “What Happened To The Class Of ‘65?” the singer imagines himself as both the viewer and the viewed, the eye behind the camera and its subject. This emotional and spiritual transference animates Reggae Film Star. Like a masterful director, Jurado offers motivation to the listener, staring unblinkingly from the mise-en-scène in your mind. “Look into the camera,” he commands on “The Day Of The Robot,” “One more time with anger/And sadness/I believe you.” A quarter-century in, Jurado remains gripped by his visions and driven by an unmatched creative drive. Reggae Film Star is one of Damien Jurado’s finest works to date, a stunning new feature from one of indie rock’s most cinematic figures. Here on this sound stage, you are the camera, you are the scene, you are the setting, and you are the viewer. Please try not to blink. -Jason P. Woodbury ST. YUMA
Cole Chaney w/ Logan Halstead
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY COLE CHANEY When it comes to his latest album, In the Shadow of the Mountain, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Cole Chaney is pretty candid and blunt about who he is and what kind of music he wants to make — the result of which, this stunning offering from an artist wise beyond his age. “There’s a yin to every yang,” Chaney says. “I want nothing more than for people to be creatively fulfilled, and to do what they want. But, for me to preach that? I have to practice it.” That attitude resides at the core of the record, where the trajectory of the songs seemingly — more so purposely — shoot off in the opposite direction of many of his contemporaries in the Americana, country and folk music scenes. In truth? Chaney is summoning his rock roots. Pointing to his lifelong admiration for 1990s rock — specifically Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots — as a vital influence on the sonic landscape of the album, Chaney aimed to find a melodic balance between that raw and real rock sound and the bluegrass and folk music of his native Kentucky. “I wanted to make something that sounded like Ralph Stanley went in and got backed up by Soundgarden,” Chaney jokes. “I write what I listen to. And whatever I listen to is going to come out in my music.” In the Shadow of the Mountain was captured by famed producer Duane Lundy at his legendary studio in Lexington, Kentucky. While talking at-length about the possible collaboration, Lundy spoke of his love for Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. LOGAN HALSTEAD “Logan has that mystic quality that every songwriter seeks to harness each time they put pen to paper, and he’s just getting started. ‘Dark Black Coal’ is a striking lamentation on growing up in coal country, and he takes you there.” – Hippies and Cowboys Podcast “There’s a starkness and a wisdom in this guy’s voice that is way beyond his years. ” – Grady Smith
Sonido Gallo Negro
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY SONIDO GALLO NEGRO Sonido Gallo Negro is a band from Mexico City going back to the roots of psychedelic tropical music with guitars, eccentric organs, analog synthesizers, theremin… they mix exotic rarity and esoterism which will alter your perception and force you to dance until you get exhausted. Add to it visual hypnotics and live performance by Dr. Alderete. Since 2010, they have had multiple tours around Europe and America, visited 20 countries and more than 50 cities. Five studio albums later, they became one of the most recognized bands of Mexico City. DJ MTN VIBEZ Latino | Urbano | Party Bangers
LIVE! ON STAGE: JONATHAN RICHMAN featuring TOMMY LARKINS on the drums!
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY LIVE! ON STAGE: JONATHAN RICHMAN featuring TOMMY LARKINS on the drums! “Richman is one of America’s most unique and dynamic songwriters…” – Nashville Scene “Richman didn’t need much else besides a beat to work his magic.” – New York Daily News “Buy tickets early. Buy tickets often. This is just good general life advice, but even more so when you’re talking about Jonathan Richman. Don’t get denied at the door, don’t leave things up to chance: You will regret it.” – Nashville Scene “Rhymes worthy of Ogden Nash.” – The New York Times “Richman has spent decades removing barriers between himself and his audience, cultivating an intimacy that is almost extinct in modern music.”- Nashville Scene “As of a few years ago, I was going to just play theaters, cabarets and such, but we ended up by mistake at the Zebulon in Los Angeles and had such a fine time that those kind of shows have to happen too. So, you might see us nowadays in theaters, cabaret-style places, or the right club or bar. The theaters have the best sound, usually, and under-21s can get in, but in the clubs people can dance and get close in to ya, like we like. We’ll keep trying things.”
DANCE WITH THE DEAD + MAGIC SWORD: The Face Off Tour 2026
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY DANCE WITH THE DEAD Drawing inspiration from the dystopian and chilling worlds of cult classic horror and science-fiction films, duo Justin Pointer and Tony Kim have spent over a decade crafting a signature fusion of dark electronic music and metal-fueled synth anthems. Hailing from Irvine, California (USA), DANCE WITH THE DEAD continue to push the boundaries of retro-futuristic soundscapes and cinematic storytelling. The project first emerged on Halloween night in 2013 with their debut release, setting the tone for a career defined by innovation and an ever-evolving sonic identity. Their early work—spanning atmospheric orchestral-leaning pieces and aggressive synth metal—solidified their presence with fan-favorite releases such as Into the Abyss (EP), Near Dark, and crossover hits like “Andromeda” and “Invader.” Their influence within the synthwave world earned them a featured appearance in the acclaimed documentary The Rise of the Synths, narrated by filmmaker John Carpenter. DANCE WITH THE DEAD’s distinctive sound merges analog synth textures with the raw grit of early heavy metal guitars—a combination shaped by influences such as Hans Zimmer, Justice, Daft Punk, The Misfits, White Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Kavinsky, Metallica, and John Carpenter. Their catalog has featured notable collaborations as well, including guest contributions from John Carpenter and Cody Carpenter (Driven to Madness), as well as Nick Hipa and professional skateboarder Elliot Sloan (Loved to Death). MAGIC SWORD Magic Sword is an ageless tale of good and evil told through an ever expanding graphic novel with each volume accompanied by an original, synth-heavy soundtrack as well as immersive live performances. With the three mediums intertwined from conception, together they create an epic experience for those bold enough to bear witness and come away with a deeper understanding of the ultimate hero’s journey. Armed with a musical and visual aesthetic that has its roots unabashedly buried deep in the golden era of ‘70s and ‘80s fantasy and sci-fi, Magic Sword’s followers are called to another plane of existence where the struggle between light and shadow becomes all too real. The multiverse has aligned to bring the people of the land together for the birth of their album Endless, followed by a tour of the realm searching for the greater good. MEGAN MCDUFFEE Megan McDuffee is a Seattle-based award-winning music producer, composer, and recording artist. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, and always had something musical going on, from taking private lessons to 11 years of participating in world-traveling choirs. Megan graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Scoring and a minor in Electronic Music. With a desire to further her education, she went on to the Berklee College of Music, earning a Master’s Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV. By day Megan scores video games, TV shows, and movie trailers, and by night she produces dark, moody, edgy electronica and rock that rides the line between dreams and nightmares.
LowDown Brass Band w/ Rebekah Todd
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY LOWDOWN BRASS BAND Embodying the vibrant Chicago music culture, LowDown Brass Band is a one-of-a-kind horn ensemble weaving the rhythm of the streets with conscious hip hop, reggae, and soul. Rigorously touring, LowDown has performed on the most unique stages, from the Montreal Jazz Fest to the Cotai Jazz Fest. Despite the last four years, LowDown has stayed busy, releasing Three albums, “The Reel Sessions, LowDown Nights and $itizens of the World”, which showcase their unique sound and further push the boundaries of their genre. Leaning on their talent and unconventional style, LowDown Brass Band continues to carve out a path, defying convention and charting their own course in the ever-evolving landscape of music. REBEKAH TODD Rebekah Todd’s brand of “Cosmic Soul Rock” is a force to be reckoned with! Based out of North Carolina, Rebekah brings a fresh energy to each performance, which carries fans to a place that can only be described as unforgettable. Pulling from a wide range of influences from Hiatus Kaiyote to Tedeschi Trucks Band, Todd focuses on the art of expression, above all else. Todd currently has four releases under her belt; an EP, and three LP’s, “Realign” being the most recent. Todd has received countless awards and recognitions including 2013 Carolina Music Awards “Best Female Musician,” 2016 winner of Floyd Fest “On The Rise” Competition, 2017 Wilma Magazine’s “Woman to Watch,” 2018 Encore Magazine’s “Best Female Musician” and much more. The band is adored at festivals and Rebekah is known for exhilarating performances with acts such as Jeff Sipe, Felix Pastorius, George Porter Jr., Keller Williams, Big Something, Vince Herman, Andy Frasco, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, The Fritz and has been billed alongside acts such as Karl Denson, Mavis Staples, Dr Dog, Dumpstaphunk, Shovels & Rope, Hiss Golden Messenger, Citizen Cope, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and Rusted Root. In addition to having her own podcast (Rebekah Toddcast), she has been featured on Michael Franti’s podcast “Stay Human.” Keep your eyes peeled for this rising star, as she aims towards the sky with no limits!
Datrian Johnson & The Family Tree’s Annual Soulful Christmas
ALL AGESSEATED SHOW Datrian Johnson & The Family Tree’s Annual Soulful Christmas feat Sasha Brown, Daniela Risquez, Doug McElvy, Melissa McKinney + Special Guests Join us on December 21 at The Grey Eagle for Datrian Johnson & The Family Tree’s 4th Annual Soulful Christmas. This year’s celebration will feature Sasha Brown (formerly of Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds), Daniela Risquez, Doug McElvy (of Red Clay Revival), Melissa McKinney + Special Guests! As always, the show will feature holiday favorites and soul classics for the whole family to enjoy. DATRIAN JOHNSON Prepare to be captivated by the unstoppable force of Datrian’s innate talent and boundless energy. From his earliest days, he commanded attention with his soul-stirring vocals resonating through the halls of the church. By the tender age of 12, he had already made his mark, gracing the stage of BET’s prestigious Bobby Jones Gospel.Hailing from North Carolina, Datrian has become one of the most sought-after vocalists, his magnetic presence transcending boundaries. He has commanded stages alongside musical luminaries such as the North Mississippi Allstars, The Word, and the electrifying Funk You. Collaborating extensively with icons like Luther Dickinson and John Medeski, Datrian’s artistry knows no bounds.His ventures with Saint Disruption, including a breathtaking rendition of “Imagine” featuring Warren Haynes, showcase his ability to breathe new life into classics. Datrian effortlessly steals the spotlight when sharing the stage with heavyweights like Steve Kimock, Oteil Burbridge, Vernon Reid, DJ Logic, and Brian Jackson.Not content with resting on his laurels, Datrian has embarked on his own journey with the launch of Datrian Johnson & The Family Tree.As he prepares to unveil his debut album, Datrian Johnson is poised to redefine the musical landscape, leaving an indelible mark on the world stage. Get ready to be swept away by the sheer brilliance of his artistry.