The following post was also published on The Huffington Post here.
Everything about Major and The Monbacks is doubled. The eight-piece psychedelic rock band has double the number of players most bands have. That means double the sound. And there’s even a set of twins providing double the talent. Think Chicago meets the Grateful Dead meets The Band. And new album paired with a critically acclaimed producer should result in at least double the new fans.
Self-pegged as the Camel City’s premier music festival, Phuzz Phest returns April 15-16 for its sixth year with 50 bands scheduled to perform a wide-range of genres at multiple downtown venues and much more in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Festival founder and organizer Philip Pledger has done another outstanding job of attracting breakout talent such as New York indie trio Sunflower Bean, one of this year’s SXSW Music Festival darlings, and Austin-based Southern rockers White Denim, which just released a new album. Both bands are featured in recent issues of Entertainment Weekly.
If you haven’t seen a show at the historic Rives Theatre in uptown Martinsville, Virginia, you’re missing out. This former movie house is celebrating its sixth year as a live music venue and community space dedicated to arts and education. Managed by the nonprofit Arts at the Rives Theatre (ART), the theater, which dates back to 1932, is run solely by volunteers.
For the second year in a row, someone with ties to Rockingham County, North Carolina, is a finalist in MerleFest‘s famed Chris Austin Songwriting Contest.
Courtney Rorrer of Madison and Asa Gravley of Beckley, West Virginia, are finalists in the bluegrass category for their tune, “Midnight Tears,” and will perform Friday, April 29. Last year, Carri Smithey (now of Burlington, N.C., but used to live in Madison), Josh Coe (Saxapahaw, N.C.), Ryan Burgess (Burlington, N.C.) and Keith Ingalls (Burlington, N.C.) were finalists in the country category of the contest for their song “No More.” Continue reading
Mix up some Swampcandy, Annabelle’s Curse, Look Homeward and The Midatlantic in a bowl, and what you get are some of FloydFest fans’ favorite flavors.
What do you call it? Who knows, but it sure sounds good.
All were chosen as winners and runners up in the festival’s On-the-Rise (OTR) Competition in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Now, FloydFest fans have a chance to choose who takes part in the festival’s OTR 2016
competition during an eight-week roster of shows at The Phoenix, a little “cubby-of-
cool” in Roanoke, Virginia’s Old Southwest neighborhood. The competition starts April
2 and runs through the end of May, says Kris Hodges, co-founder of the festival set for
July 27-31 off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milemarker 170.5. Several of the bands are
alumni of other area festivals, including Rooster Walk Arts and Music Festival and Front
Porch Fest, among others.
Two of my favorite bands — Will Overman Band and Annabelle’s Curse — are playing at The Tin Pan, 8982 Quioccasin Road ,in Richmond, Virginia, April 1-2. If you’re in the area, you need to buy your tickets now because both shows are sure to sell out.
I discovered both bands at Rooster Walk 7. Annabelle’s Curse is returning to Rooster Walk 8 over Memorial Day and hosting The Howling Craft Beer and Music Festival May 27-28 while WOB is performing at MerleFest and Front Porch Fest.
If you haven’t heard either of these bands play live, you won’t want to miss either one of these shows!
MerleFest, slated for April 28–May 1, 2016, announced today John Oates, a legend of American music, will be joining the official 2016 festival lineup as the final headliner. Also announced, Donna the Buffalo will host the much-anticipated Midnight Jam at the Walker Center, and the Jam will be sponsored by The Bluegrass Situation.
The following post also ran on The Huffington Post Entertainment Blog here.
If you’re Scythian, a Celtic rock band known for bringing legions of MerleFest fans to their feet since 2007, St. Patrick’s Day is your Super Bowl.
And this one’s big.
Huge.
It’s not a well-paid gig at a club in Manhattan or Washington, D.C., from where they mostly hail.
It’s much bigger than that.
The band will no doubt play to an audience of adoring fans — possibly its biggest, but these fans won’t be paying a dime.
This one is on Scythian, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Black Lillies and Mipso are among the headliners at MerleFest favorite Scythian‘s second annual roots music Appaloosa Festival set for Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 3-4, in Front Royal, Virginia, which is about an hour from Washington, D.C., in the stunning Shenandoah Valley. Continue reading
The Fiddle and Bow Society has been bringing folk and acoustic music to the Triad area since 1981. On Saturday, March 5, organizers are planning a mini-festival at Muddy Creek Music Hall in the historic Bethania Mill to celebrate this milestone. The event, which is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m., will feature Low Lily, The Fretless, Mountain Birch Duo featuring WFDD’s Paul Brown and Crann Ull.
Tickets are $20 at the door, which opens at 11:30 a.m. Organizers suggest you get there early if you want a good seat. For more information, call (336) 414-1699 or visit www.fiddleandbow.org.
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