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Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass


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Annual Apex Music Festival promises live music, local craft beers on Saturday, Sept. 16

If you are in the Triangle area of North Carolina this weekend and you are interested in taking in some live music and local craft brews, head over to downtown Apex from 3 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Sept. 16. In exchange for an Alexander Hamilton (that’s $10) you can catch nearly 20 acts and taste even more beers (the beers are extra). Just make sure you have a DD or a rideshare app on your phone and enjoy! Continue reading


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Gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel to perform at Pop’s Farm in Axton, Virginia, on Saturday, Sept. 23

From the good folks at Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival:

Rooster Walk and Deschutes Brewery are joining forces to present world-renowned gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel & His Band at Pop’s Farm on Saturday, Sept. 23. Amazing local jazz group 5 Brothers (featuring David Oakes) will kick off the evening. Tickets cost $12 in advance and $15 day of show and are available here.

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Don’t miss Billy Strings, Whiskey Shivers perform free on the American Tobacco Campus on Thursday, Sept. 14

Want to catch two of the hottest Americana/roots musical acts of 2017? For free? Head over from 6 to 9 p.m on Thursday, Sept. 14, to the American Tobacco Amphitheater on Durham, North Carolina’s American Tobacco Campus for WUNC’s latest installment of Back Porch Music.

Featuring wunderkind Billy Strings and Austin’s alt country rockers Whiskey Shivers, the show is free and open to the public. Parking is $6 per car and children, dogs and picnic baskets are welcome. Continue reading


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17 reasons to attend the 2017 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion on Sept. 15-17

If you are a fan of roots, rock, country, bluegrass, blues, old-time, folk and Americana music, then you are already a fan of the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion held on State Street in Historic Downtown Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia, that celebrates the twin cities’ history as the birthplace of country music. This year’s  17th annual three-day music cornucopia that features 100 live acts across 20 stages is set for Friday, Sept. 15, through Sunday, Sept. 17. 

Headliners include Dwight Yoakam, Judah & the Lion, Jerry Douglas Presents: Earls of Leicester, Son Volt, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Deer Tick and The Infamous Stringdusters.
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Catch Nashville’s Forlorn Strangers at Appaloosa Roots Music Festival, IBMA’s Wide Open Bluegrass, Front Porch Fest

I had the pleasure of catching the Forlorn Strangers, a foot-stomping, Nashville-based string quintet, at the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, a few weeks ago when they opened for Celtic rockers Scythian at an International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)  Wide Open Bluegrass preview show for its upcoming festival Sept. 29-30.

It also turned out to be a preview show for Scythian’s Appaloosa Roots Music Festival set for Sept. 1-3 in Front Royal, Virginia, at which both Scythian and Forlorn Strangers are set to perform. And Front Porch Fest fans will be happy to know they can catch Forlorn Strangers at the festival on Sept. 3 in Stuart, Virginia.

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George Hage of Jack the Radio to perform free, acoustic set at Muddy Creek Cafe on Friday, Aug. 18

George Hage, of Raleigh-based indie rockers Jack the Radio fame, will make a slight departure from the band’s bigger sound by performing a solo, acoustic set from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, at the Muddy Creek Cafe, 5455 Bethania Road, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The event is free and open to the public.

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Cris Jacobs Band heading out to Pop’s Farm on Friday, Aug. 18

Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival and Deschutes Brewery will present the Southern rockers Cris Jacobs Band at 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, on the Pine Grove Stage at Pop’s Farm in Axton, Virginia.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the gate, which opens at 7:30. Tickets are available at the Daily Grind and Rising Sun Breads in Martinsville. Buy tickets online here. Rives Theatre season pass holders get in free.

Deschutes Brewery beers will be available on tap and a food truck will be onsite. Learn more at  http://bit.ly/2tYeoQT.

 


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Wild Ponies get back to their roots with ‘Galax’

What happens when you throw a group of Nashville and Galax, Virginia, musicians who have never played together in a barn behind a farmhouse nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains? Musical magic.

That’s exactly what happened a year ago this month when the Wild Ponies – otherwise known as Doug and Telisha Williams – decided to get back to their musical and geographic roots.

“I had spent a lot time playing on my grandfather’s farm and it’s just a beautiful place to spend some time,” Doug said in a recent phone interview. “We wanted to play with people who played with my grandfather and then get some people from Nashville to play as well. It just felt like something we needed to do.” Continue reading


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Brewster Walk 2017 to feature Yarn, Josh Shilling, Mission in the Rain and Jason Springs Band on Saturday, Sept. 9

The third annual Brewster Walk Craft Beer Festival & Concerts will take place Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, in uptown Martinsville, Virginia, in front of the historic Rives Theatre, on the 200 block of East Church Street.

The event will feature live performances from Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival perennial fan favorite Yarn, Mission in the Rain (a Jerry Garcia Band tribute set) and the Jason Springs Band of Danville as well as more than 60 craft beers. Special guest and Bassett-native Josh Shilling of Mountain Heart fame will sit-in with Yarn as well as Mission in the Rain. Continue reading


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Time Sawyer hosts Reevestock on Aug. 4-5 in downtown Elkin, North Carolina

In what has become a trend for many bands, Charlotte-based folk-rock band Time Sawyer is once again hosting the Reevestock Music Festival in its hometown of Elkin, North Carolina, on Aug. 4-5, 2017, featuring none other than Time Sawyer, the Marcus King Band, Town Mountain, David Childers, William Wild and the Corey Hunt Band.

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