Chris Pureka
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLECHRIS PUREKA It’s rare for an artist to bridge the divide between critical acclaim and dedicated fan engagement. Chris Pureka is a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose body of work has resonated deeply with these seemingly disparate milieus. Her music has straddled the folk, americana and indie rock genres over the course of her 20 year career, and over that time, her bold vulnerability in processing the intimacies of life in song has struck a chord with those listeners who crave authenticity and depth. Chris’s elegant emotionality as a vocalist and her flair as a lyricist have garnered her favorable comparisons to Chan Marshall, Bruce Springsteen, and Patty Griffin. Over many years of touring on both sides of the Atlantic, she has shared the stage with such diverse and esteemed artists as The Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Cowboy Junkies, Haley Heynderickx, and Ani DiFranco. She has had her songs featured on such television shows as Brothers and Sisters, Covert Affairs and Shameless and well as a song featured in the Sundance featured indie film, The Royal Road. Along the way, Chris has remained truly independent, selling nearly 50,000 albums through her own label, Sad Rabbit Records.KYM REGISTER (OF MELTDOWN RODEO) Sometimes the process of mining for melody in words eviscerates the raconteur, gutting them like a tornado through a trailer park. Sometimes, “the truth” is a revival of shit rather forgotten, igniting a coward’s desire to look away. With “Meltdown Rodeo,” Kym Register foregoes such consolatory diversions for visceral scrutiny and unbroken stares. The result is a body of tunes that forages the American south, dislodging its ducked bullets from pearly white sand. According to Register, “Scottsboro,” the album’s opener, was years in the making. It recounts the little known history of “The Scottsboro Boys,” nine Black men falsely accused of raping a pair of white women in hyperpyrexic 1930’s Alabama. One accuser eventually admitted the allegations were bullshit, but, for Black men in the Jim Crow south (as it is now), any assumptions of guilt are soon proven a permanent brand. Register wails against America’s foremost refrains –jury and peers and whole truths– in lyrics hefty with reconciliation and metaphor. “A blind eye, A blind eye is all justice knows/ Of the truth of what happened in Scottsboro/ Come on now, this story’s not that old.” Contrary to Register’s demand for account, the American south knows no shame.Whether grappling with the constrictions of gender expressions on dating apps (“How Do You See Me”), evoking the semi-autobiographical loneliness of Dorothy Allison’s Carolina bastards (“Maureen”), or daring white folks to “get right with their history of compliance in racial capitalism” (“Loamlands”), Register affirms that songwriting, at its best, is a gross but necessary confrontation.Ultimately Register and Meltdown Rodeo (both the newly named band and album) have achieved in eleven songs something the south has only half-heartedly attempted – undoing generational curses by retiring “bless your heart” lip service.Damn if we can’t all benefit from a little melting down.
An Evening with Ivy Eld + Friends: Remembering Our Roots
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEIVY ELD & FRIENDS This evening with Ivy Eld, her band, and other special musical guests is sure to be a heart-expanding and soul-nourishing show for listeners. It will be a cross-cultural musical experience that invites us all to get curious about our own ancestral roots. At this show, Ivy and her band will play some folk rock tunes from her debut album. She is also delighted to host and perform with some wonderful guest artists who hail from a variety of cultural identities and heritages–Eastern Band Cherokee, Mexican/Aztec, African American, Scandinavian, Celtic, and more. This evening will be about celebrating our diversity, cherishing our shared humanity and commonalities, and experiencing the healing that can come from music, stories, and honest reflection and connection. Ivy Eld’s music dances in the land of paradox. Her voice is simultaneously angelic and rawly human, fiery and red-wine smooth. Her evocative and tender songwriting invites listeners to dive in quickly and deeply, piercing weary hearts and enshrouding them with the fierce love and witnessing they desire and deserve. Her vulnerable, heartfelt lyrics soar through the air on the wings of her transcendent, soulful voice. A psychotherapist for over a decade and a half, Ivy has been privy to the sacred inner worlds of thousands of souls (while navigating her own inner hallways, dark attics, and sun-lit living rooms). This rich interpersonal and intrapersonal experience and her curiosity about the internal landscape saturates her indie folk pop music. Her artist moniker is a part of her remembering, her reconnecting to her own ancestry (“Ivy” based on her Scandinavian great grandmother’s name, “Eld” being the Swedish word for “fire”). And her self-titled 2022 debut EP album follows suit with that remembering. It documents her journey of coming home to her inner artist, her voice, her wildness, her power, her roots. The songs dance with mystical, nature-filled language through themes such as love (of self and others), speaking up, setting boundaries, grief, generational healing, and the transformative power of art. The album was specifically dedicated to her beloved little brother (also a musician) who passed away just a few months prior to her entering Drop of Sun studio in West Asheville, NC, to record. Ivy longs for her music to be an oasis of healing and beauty, a call to deeper respect and compassion for ourselves and for humanity. She considers her music to be another facet of how she shows up in the world in authentic and passionate service— as a singer-songwriter, a therapist, a mom, a partner, an advocate, a friend, a human. She hopes her thoughtful, earthy, poetic songs will inspire others to look inside – light, shadows, and all – and come home to their deeply worthy selves.
PATIO: Sara Jean Kelley
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDSARA JEAN KELLEYA lover of wild things— plants, animals, people, and music— Nashville native Sara Jean Kelley crafts songs that combine upbeat, pop-inspired country hooks with thoughtful, often philosophical lyrical themes that explore our human connection to the natural world. Due to her dark sensibility and slightly melancholic sense of humor, Kelley’s particular brand of alternative country is multidimensional, with one foot firmly rooted in her Nashville Country/Americana background, another foot exploring the realms of alternative rock, rock and roll, pop, and even hip hop influences. Her voice, at times husky, dark and sultry, at times floating light-as-a-feather, has been compared to celebrated female country stars Brandi Carlisle, Patti Griffin, and Lucinda Williams. She’s opened for country music icons Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, and her songwriting reveals a clear, intuitive understanding of what makes a song work. Her latest EP Black Snake, is about life and death, transformation and rebirth, strength and resilience; all the things you experience in your early thirties that you wish you had known a decade earlier.
Foy Vance – Regarding The Joy Of Nothing Tour
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEFOY VANCEFoy Vance is a singer and songwriter hailing from the land of Bangor, Northern Ireland. Deeply rooted in the rich musical history and aesthetic of the Southern United States, Foy independently released his debut album Hope in 2007, quickly garnering acclaim from fans and fellow musicians alike. Foy released his second full-length album, Joy of Nothing, in 2013 on Glassnote Records which led to further critical praise and star-studded invites on tours worldwide from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Bonnie Raitt, Marcus Foster, Snow Patrol and Sir Elton John.Foy was only the second artist signing to Gingerbread Man Records, Ed Sheeran’s label division within Atlantic Records. Foy’s debut recording on Gingerbread Man Records, The Wild Swan, was Executive Produced by Sir Elton John and released in 2016. His music video for the lead single “She Burns” featured “Pretty Little Liars” and People’s Choice Award winner Lucy Hale. His music video for “Coco” featured the inspiration for the song title, Coco Arquette, the daughter of Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and was directed by Cox as well.Foy’s recent collaborations include “Moonshine” with Kacey Musgraves, the end credits track from Ben Affleck’s film “Live By Night,” four tracks including “Galway Girl” on Ed Sheeran’s latest album ÷, as well as cuts on recent releases by Miranda Lambert, Plan B and Rudimental.Foy has headlined globally to sell-out crowds and splits his time between London and the hills of Aberfeldy, Scotland with his family.BONNIE BISHOP The first thing that registers about Bonnie Bishop’s stirring album The Walk is that the seasoned Grammy winner is no longer trying to outrun herself; she owns whatever has come her way, good wind or ill. It’s an uplifting confessional that she dedicates ‘to all who wander’ – laying down searing, emotionally-charged variations to award-winning producer Steve Jordan’s (Robert Cray, John Mayer, Buddy Guy) powerhouse production. She does so in a voice that aches and arches and grabs and never lets go. Blessed with an authentically resounding range, a blistering lyrical gift, and OK – she admits it – a couple of inherent vices that any God-fearing Americana/country/soul artist must wrestle with after years of bringing it live and in-color, Bishop has now broken free from the bust-boom mentality of Nashville to walk a line of her own making. The recipe may sound oversimplified, but it’s a frank, funny, ferocious, insightful Bonnie Bishop we encounter on this path; a recharged singer/songwriter full of grace. Her determination to put one foot in front of the other and find the road to reclamation shifted into overdrive when she left Nashville for her native Texas in 2017. Since then, she’s never looked back. The Walk soars as her most honest effort to date. It’s a groove-laden, lyrical lightning bolt from which the tonic of self-revelation pours forth on songs such as the grateful “Every Happiness Under The Sun” and the gut-wrenching “I Don’t Like To Be Alone.” The album’s euphoric closer, “Song Don’t Fail Me Now,” is Bonnie’s most heartfelt testament to date that music absolutely can still heal the spirit.
PATIO: Brittany Ann Tranbaugh (EP Release Show) w/ Liv Greene
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDBRITTANY ANN TRANBAUGHBrittany Ann Tranbaugh (pronounced TRAN-baw) is a Philadelphia-based songwriter whose queer Americana heartbreaker “Kiss You” won Song of the Year in the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Tranbaugh has been writing songs and playing shows as a side gig since she was a teenager, but in February 2023, at 31 years old, she finally quit her office job to pursue a full-time career in music. Listeners can expect a self-titled EP produced by Grammy-winner Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham) in the fall.LIV GREENEUnassumingly charming with a velvety voice… she envelops a forlorn loneliness that’s at once poignant and crushing.” – American Songwriter. Queer americana artist Liv Greene has been processing the world around her through writing songs since teaching herself her first guitar chords at 12. In school, Greene honed her skills at Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan and New England Conservatory in Boston, studying songwriting and contemporary improvisation. Now Nashville-based, Greene just finished up work on her second album, due out in the next year, collaborating with engineer Matt Andrews (Gillian Welch), and employing the help of talented friends like Jordan Tice, and Sarah Jarosz.
PATIO: Dissimilar South
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDDISSIMILAR SOUTHBased in Durham, North Carolina, Dissimilar South has been likened to both Indigo Girls and Boygenius, locating them in the abundant space between folk and indie rock. Their refreshing sound is characterized by honest lyrics, luscious harmonies and exciting instrumental ideas. Though the full band is a four piece, Dissimilar South’s core is the musical relationship between Carter Hodge and Maddie Fisher, now a six year affair. Following their debut EP in 2019, the band enjoyed a successful release of Tricky Things (full album) in 2022, produced by the Grammy nominated Jason Richmond. Fisher and Hodge bring their songs to life with robust support from some of the best instrumentalists in North Carolina, including Joseph Terrell (Mipso), Alex Bingham (Hiss Golden Messenger), Joe Westerlund (Sylvan Esso, Watchhouse) and Joe McPhail.
PATIO: Kim Smith
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDKIM SMITHKim Smith is a singer-songwriter/collaborator based out of Asheville, North Carolina. “Songwriting is not just a passion, it’s an expression and extension of myself in the most vulnerable and strongest times.” Kim continues to record and release songs produced by Asheville-based Chris Rosser as well as Nashville-based Dean Miller.
PATIO: Taylor Knighton
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDTAYLOR KNIGHTONSinger-songwriter Taylor Knighton grew up on the Gulf Coast but now calls the mountains of Western North Carolina home. Her musical stylings reflect her southern roots, with plenty of twang, a big heartfelt voice, and a sweet pop influence. She likes to incorporate her love of mythology and folk tales into her songwriting, telling timeless stories with a fresh, fun spin.
PATIO: Paul Edelman
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDPAUL EDELMAN Nearly born on the airplane from Columbus to Philly, The Jangling Sparrow has cultivated a passionate, loyal following with provocative lyrics and moving performances. To date, Paul has shared bills with Scott Miller, Robert Earl Kean, James McMurtry, Neko Case, Big Sandy, Langhorne Slim, Patty Larkin, Drive-by Truckers, The Sadies, Slim Cessna, Bottle Rockets, Grayson Capps, among many others. Paul Edelman has worked with some of the industries greatest names, he has recorded with Jimmy Johnson (founder Muscle Shoals Studio), Nashville session staple drummer, Martin Parker (Ricky Scaggs, Alison Krauss, Patti Loveless) and keyboardist Steve Fordham (Mavis Staples). Paul relocated to Asheville, N.C. In 2008 where he quickly grabbed winner of the Flat Rock Music Festival songwriter competition
OUTPOST: Frances Eliza
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEFrances ElizaOriginally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Asheville-based singer-songwriter Frances Eliza blends her love of songwriting with her passion for jazz, indie-folk, and pop music. Her jarring, unexpected lyrics and intricate melodies delve into the challenges of human relationships from the perspective of an independent-minded young woman and musician. Jammerzine Magazine describes Frances as “A storyteller who invites the listener into her private life as she shares and explores experiences of love, loss, and pain in the hopes that sharing in these experiences will bring some measure of comfort to those listeners.” Frances’ bittersweet music and raw vocal timbre first came to life in her debut EP “Sleepwalking,” released in late 2019 (currently only available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud). Her most recent seven-track project, “No Longer Mine” was released in January 2022. Kathryn O’Shea Recognized as that Asheville-native vocalist with the banjo and all the feelings, Kathryn O’Shea can’t seem to figure out how to write a song that doesn’t make anybody cry. Since releasing her solo LP January 9th, a vulnerable portrait of grief, she has now assembled a band and begun leaning into bolder, broader soundscapes. With masterful vocal play and poignant lyricism riding on dynamic and delicate arrangements, Kathryn O’Shea’s music feels like the light at the end of the tunnel, aiming to remind listeners of the imperative necessity of liberating ourselves from the prison of our own shame.Kassidy BlountKassidy Blount is a singer-songwriter currently based in Asheville, NC. She combines her love for jazz, pop and acoustic-folk to create music with an emphasis on lyricism and storytelling. When she isn’t performing by herself or with local band Serotina, Kassidy teaches music to elementary students in WNC. Kassidy is passionate about connecting with her audience through the shared emotions and experiences her music brings into view.
