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Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass

Category Archives: Concerts


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RW9 band schedule released, ticket prices increase May 1

The ninth iteration of Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 – 28, 2017, at the idyllic Pop’s Farm, overlooking a lake in the countryside of Martinsville, Virginia. Rooster Walk was named one of the Top 5 Music Festivals in Virginia by the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2016 and it’s one of my personal favorites.

Greensky Bluegrass will headline Rooster Walk 9 with a two-hour set on Saturday night. The Wailers (Reunited!), Anders Osborne, Anderson East, Mandolin Orange, The Motet, Pimps of Joytime, the Marcus King Band and many more will perform over the four-day festival.
The hourly stage schedules for RW9 are set. Check out the Band Schedule Page to see exactly when each of your favorite bands will perform. 

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Early bird tickets for MerleFest 30th anniversary celebration available through Wednesday, April 26

From the good folks over at MerleFest:

With only one week until the start of MerleFest 2017, presented by Window World, the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, is buzzing with activity. Starting next Thursday, April 27, at 2:30 p.m., and running through Sunday, April 30, an estimated 75,000 participants will gather at this year’s 30th homecoming of musicians and music lovers to celebrate the world renowned MerleFest.

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Sarah Siskind and Sunliner shine with ‘LOVE’

North Carolina native Sarah Siskind and Sunliner will release their long awaited and latest collaboration,” LOVE,” on April 14, 2017.

In a handwritten note delivered with the album, Siskind wrote, “Well after all this time, here it is!”

Trust me when I say it’s worth your time to give a listen to this sampler to get just a taste of what this fresh and funky new album has to offer. It’s a mix of rock, folk, country, jazz fusion and delta blues, that all the while somehow manages to stick to its Americana roots. It ranges from the upbeat “By You” to the heartbreaking “Not Enough.”

“This whiskey is the closest thing I have to a friend … I wake up late at night and cry; I drink the bottle til it’s dry, but it’s not enough to make me forget how you love me.”

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Rhythm N’ Blooms set for April 7-9 in Knoxville, Tennessee

Rhythm N’ Blooms set for April 7-9, 2017, is a festival that at its heart is just as much about the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, as it is about music.

Sponsored by Yee-Haw Brewing Company and produced by Dogwood Arts in partnership with Attack Monkey Productions, acts set to perform in the Old City area include John Paul White, Parker Millsap, Nikki Lane, Jon Stickley Trio, Wild Ponies and Dave Eggar.

The festival honors the identity and spirit of rich its East Tennessee history while providing a premium listening environment for top-notch musical performances, according to the festival’s Facebook page. Knoxville’s story has always been set to music. Rhythm N’ Blooms highlights that soundtrack and celebrates the crossroads of this city’s varied music history by showcasing popular national acts alongside the finest local musicians the area has to offer. Enjoy!


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15th annual Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance set for May 4-7, 2017

 The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance will hold its 15th annual spring festival from Thursday, May 4, to Sunday, May 7. The festival will feature more than 40 bands and performers on two big outdoor stages, a large Dance Tent and an intimate Cabaret Tent. The festival, hosted by Donna the Buffalo, is located at 1439 Henderson Tanyard Road, Pittsboro, on 72 beautiful farmland acres in Chatham County, North Carolina, just down the road from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Burlington and Greensboro. The festival also features local crafts, delicious food, various children’s activities, healing arts practitioners, dancing and music workshops, environmental sustainability forums and much more in a family-friendly setting. To get more details, visit Tickets & Info Page.

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MerleFest announces 2017 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest finalists

From the good folks over at MerleFest, this just in:

WILKESBORO, N.C. (April 4, 2017) – The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, hosted by MerleFest, announces the finalists for the 2017 contest. MerleFest 2017, presented by Window World, takes place from April 27-30, on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, N.C.

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Mountain Faith to perform on April 7 at Duke Energy Center in Raleigh

Mountain Faith, the 2016 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Emerging Artist of the Year, is heading back to downtown Raleigh at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 7, to perform at the Duke Energy Center.

The bluegrass, folk and gospel family band that hails from Sylva, North Carolina, has been playing its unique brand of music since 2000.

The band is made up of Summer McMahan, Brayden McMahan, Sam McMahan, Cory Piatt and Luke Dotson.

In 2015, the band made it to the semifinal round on the popular TV show “America’s Got Talent” propelled by Mountain Faith’s unique cover of the OneRepublic hit “Counting Stars.” The same year the band traveled to the Persian Gulf and performed six concerts for our men and women serving in the military.

The group’s most recent project is “Battlefield.”

 

 

 

 


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Muddy Creek Songwriters Festival features 52 performers on April 8-9

If you’re a fan of singer/songwriters or men and women and their guitars as my husband likes to call them, then you won’t want to miss the Muddy Creek Songwriters Festival set for Saturday, April 8, and Sunday, April 9, in historic Bethania, North Carolina. Tickets are a bargain and range from $12 to $22 in advance and $15 to $25 at the door.

I have had the pleasure of hearing a number of these uber talented artists perform at Muddy Creek over the past few months including Sam Tayloe, Tyler Nail, Abigail Dowd and Leah Shaw, and trust me when I say you don’t want to miss this opportunity.

If you are feeling a little cash poor, head over to the Muddy Creek Cafe where you can find more talent, including Seth Williams and Doug Davis, playing for tips or the Alpha Chapel Stage across the street for free concerts sponsored by the North Carolina Songwriters Co-op. All shows welcome all ages.

For more info, visit http://www.muddycreekcafeandmusichall.com/

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FloydFest 17 offers nine weeks of On-the-Rise competition in April, May

From the good folks over at FloydFest:

Need a FloydFest warm-up!? Get your groove on with nine straight weeks of FloydFest On-the-Rise-competing performers at The PHOENIX, our cubby-of-cool in downtown Roanoke. Click HERE for a schedule and details on our $5 battle-of-the-band Saturdays, in April and May!

While you can’t put a price on true freedom, $230 for a full 5-Day ticket to experience that freedom against the brilliant backdrop of music, magic and mountains that is FloydFest 17~FREEDOM, is a straight steal. But don’t wait, ticket prices go up on April 1, 2017!

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This is no April Fool’s: Billy Strings to bring his unique talents to the Rives Theatre on Saturday, April 1

If you haven’t heard Billy Strings perform, you haven’t been to a recent Americana music festival. This uber talented 24-year-old tore up stages last year at Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion and Appaloosa Roots Music Festival, just to name a few.

Strings became a sensation in his home state while still in his teens. “He has an almost supernatural ability on guitar, banjo and mandolin that has set the region’s bluegrass and folk scene on fire,” according to a profile published in 2012 in Northern Express, a Michigan arts weekly.

He eventually moved to Nashville to further his career. Strings released a self-titled, six-song EP in 2016, which contains an eclectic and foot-stomping mix of originals and traditional songs such as “Black Mountain Rag,” also covered by Doc Watson.

Strings, né William Apostol, will demonstrate his unique brand of bluegrass at The Rives Theatre on Saturday, April 1, in uptown Martinsville, Virginia, at a Rooster Walk 9 preview show. ShadowGrass, a group of young musicians from Western North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia , will open.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 day of show. Season passes are accepted. Tickets available online HERE and available locally at Daily Grind and Rising Sun Breads in Martinsville. Music starts 8:30 p.m. with Strings taking the stage around 9:15 p.m. NCAA basketball fans take note: The Rives will also be showing the UNC/Oregon Final Four game on the upper theatre’s movie screen beginning around 8:50.

You can also catch Strings at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 31, at the Duke Energy Center in Raleigh, North Carolina,

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