There are numerous live music festivals and venues throughout North Carolina, Virginia and beyond on tap to help you celebrate the official kick off of summer over the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend. Following are a few highlights. If I’ve missed one, let me know! Continue reading
Category Archives: Concerts
The Honeycutters poised to catch on with fourth studio album release
The Honeycutters may just be the best rock, country roots band out there that you aren’t listening to. That should change with this weekend’s release of the group’s fourth studio album, “On the Ropes,” on Organic Records.
MerleFest fans may remember frontwoman and principal songwriter Amanda Anne Platt from her stint as a finalist in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in 2011.
The native of the New York village Hastings on the Hudson moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in January 2007 with the intention of literally making music – in the form of becoming a guitar builder – rather than writing and performing songs. Instead, she found a community of like-minded musicians and the music, well, it just stuck. Like, uhm, honey.
And we’re all better for it. But don’t take my word for it. Listen for yourself.
Find out if the band is coming to a town near you here.
On Huffington Post: Eight reasons not to miss Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival over Memorial Day Weekend
Rooster Walk 8 Music and Arts Festival set for May 26-29 near Martinsville, Virginia, is a week away and just in case you haven’t purchased a pass, I’m giving you eight reasons you don’t want to miss it. This also appeared on The Huffington Post entertainment blog here. Continue reading
On Huffington Post: Watch Exclusive Premiere of Yarn’s New Video ‘Love/Hate’
Rooster Walk, Red Wing, FloydFest make Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine’s best Southern festivals list
Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival, Red Wing Roots Music Festival and FloydFest are three of my favorites. It seems Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine agrees naming two of the Virginia festivals as well as Black Mountain, North Carolina’s LEAF among 2016’s top family-friendly festivals to attend in the South. And FloydFest was named among the most adventurous. What are your favorites? Continue reading
MerleFest’s 29th year wraps on a high note
MerleFest 2016 ended its four-day run today on a high note with the unique musical stylings of Jason Isbell on the Watson Stage. I have so many stories to tell from this year’s festival, but you’ll have to wait a few days for me to process my interview notes. In the meantime, here’s the press release that gives a great synopsis of the weekend from the good folks at MerleFest to tide you over.
Will Overman Band premieres first single off debut album at MerleFest 2016
If you haven’t heard Will Overman Band (WOB), just wait. You will. And you can hear the first single, which is being released on Friday, April 29, at MerleFest exclusively here. From the band’s debut album, the self-titled “Will Overman Band,” the single, “All I Say,” showcases the band’s myriad talents and combines an upbeat tempo that belies the regret-tinged lyrics.
The album is set to be released June 4 at The Southern Cafe and Music Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The band is composed of Will Overman, on guitar and vocals; Daniel McCarthy, guitar; Brittney Wagner on guitar and vocals; J Wilkerson on bass; and Christopher Helms, drums.
Fresh off WOB’s first Northeast tour, you can to hear the band perform live at MerleFest, where it will make its festival debut at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 30, on the Plaza Stage as part of the second annual MerleFest Band Contest. The band also intends to play a lot in the Pickin’ Place, Overman says.According to the website, the music of WOB — call it “amped-up folk rock” — is as energetic as it is passionate. It can be haunting and evocative yet sincere, sweet. Musically and lyrically, the band draws from its Virginia roots, producing a rare combination of enticing harmony and straight-ahead, hard-charging rhythm and riffs.
Fresh off WOB’s first Northeast tour, you can to hear the band perform live at MerleFest, where it will make its festival debut at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 30, on the Plaza Stage as part of the second annual MerleFest Band Contest. The band also intends to play a lot in the Pickin’ Place, Overman says.According to the website, the music of WOB — call it “amped-up folk rock” — is as energetic as it is passionate. It can be haunting and evocative yet sincere, sweet. Musically and lyrically, the band draws from its Virginia roots, producing a rare combination of enticing harmony and straight-ahead, hard-charging rhythm and riffs.
Drawing comparisons to The Avetts and Jason Isbell, the band carries an unwavering commitment to its music — and to its fans. That music and those lyrics, as the Huffington Post wrote, seems to draw “ … from the experiences of someone much older.” Soulful and unforgettable. Addictive and sometimes playful. Meaningful and real. Those factors, plus a transcendent passion and unyielding commitment to craft, are what truly define this rising, must-see group of talented young musicians.
Wild Ponies ride full circle with hometown album release
Mark your calendar for May 13 because that’s when you can purchase your very own copy of Wild Ponies new album, “Radiant” out on No Evil Records. While I found the whole album to be brilliant, buy it for the single, “Love Is Not A Sin,” alone. Trust me on this one.
Here’s a snippet of a verse: “It doesn’t matter who you love, when two lovers find each other, I’d say it’s sanctioned from above …”
The tune was written long before North Carolina’s H.B.2 and similar legislation was recently enacted, but it addresses the issue head on in the Wild Ponies unique rootsy, rock and oh-so eloquent way.
Natives Doug and Telisha Williams came full circle on Saturday night for the album’s release party at The Rives Theatre in downtown Martinsville, Virginia. If you missed them, you can hear them perform at Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival set for May 26-29 in nearby Axton, Virginia. Continue reading
FloydFest announces 20 new bands to make your Earth Day rock
This just in from the good folks over at FloydFest:
Join us in a celebration of abundance, with the 16th edition of
FloydFest: Dreamweavin’— July 27-31, 2016.
The soundtrack to our spring is the hundreds of submissions we receive for FloydFest’s anticipated On-The-Rise Competition! Some of these are chosen by our in-house jury of talent scouts, and this year include: Dalton Dash, The Devyl Nellys, Grand Ole’ Ditch, Moonshine District, Of Company, The Wildmans, and Zoe Ravenwood. Continue reading
On Huffington Post: MerleFest Band Competition features possible future festival headliners
The following piece also ran on The Huffington Post here.
Headliners such as John Prine, Jason Isbell and John Oates have drawn nearly 80,000 Americana music fans annually to the hills of MerleFest on the campus of Wilkes Community College each April for the past 28 years. But it is the young musicians trying to make their mark who can provide some of the freshest and transcendent moments at this festival founded by the legendary Doc Watson, who called it “traditional-plus” music.
musicreporterblog 