Kings of Mongrel Folk
Tickets $12 advance, $16 at the door
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Mark Graham and Orville Johnson love the magic when they play together as much as their audiences do. “People comment on that all the time,” says Orville. “They can tell we’re having a good time up there. We play on a lot of different emotions.”
Wry humor, virtuoso harmonica, soulful blues, hot pickin’ and sweet country vocals – that’s what you get when Orville and Mark combine forces as the Kings of Mongrel Folk.
Graham’s harmonica virtuosity on Irish and American fiddle tunes and his rich, woody sound on clarinet are well-known to fans of Kevin Burke’s Open House. Graham’s sardonic skewering of contemporary life, in such songs as “I Can See Your Aura and It’s Ugly” and “Zen Gospel Singing” have been cult classics for years. His songs have been recorded by many, including the Austin Lounge Lizards, Bryan Bowers, and the Limelighters.
Orville Johnson, an instrumental gunslinger whom the Seattle Times describes as “player’s player,” has a gift of finding the “secret ingredient” that makes a song sound letter-perfect, whether it’s an R & B tune from New Orleans, a country blues or a jazzy ballad. Orville’s guitar, dobro, and quavering, honeyed vocals have seasoned more than two hundred recordings, soundtracks and countless TV and radio commercials. He also produces records and teaches at events like the International Guitar Seminar and Pt. Townsend Country Blues Workshop. He has shared the stage with artists such as Doc Watson, Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker.
Between the two of them, they have played many of the most coveted gigs in North America and Europe: the Newport Folk Festival and Caffe Lena, out East; South by Southwest, in Texas; the Bay area’s Freight and Salvage and Kuumbwa; London’s Festival Hall and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival, in Europe;and on their home turf, Bumbershoot and the NW Folklife Festival. Though they were longtime acquaintances on the Northwest folk scene, it was at a Folklife Festival jam session in 1991 that they hatched their plan to expand their kingdom of mongrel folk nationwide and, yes, even worldwide. Wherever they go, their performances and recordings have inspired raves:
“Performed with taste and skill and boosted by the nuttiness of Graham’s songs” - Sing Out
“Great songwriting, singing and playing” - Dirty Linen
Cancelled – Gabrielle Louise
Please note: This concert has been cancelled due to a family emergency. Advance ticketholders will receive a full refund. We apologize for the inconvenience!
Gabrielle Louise’s music is anchored deeply in folk, but undeniably drawn to rich harmonies and melodic adventurism. Her sound has the earthy feel of early Joni Mitchell while also veering into the spirited delivery of fellow genre-hopping artist Martin Sexton. Unafraid to take a random musical escapade in the name of inspiration, Gabrielle is at one moment folkie and ethereal, the next moment a smoky jazz chanteuse. She has 100% independently released four records, Journey (2006), Around in Circles, the E.P. (2007), Cigarettes for Sentiments (2008), and Live in Coal Creek Canyon (2009).
Gabrielle’s music has been best appreciated in listening atmospheres with introspective, attentive crowds. She strives to communicate more through soul than special effect and gently entices her listener to release their grip on the status quo. In a music industry that tends to view its artists as either super-stars or failures, Gabrielle aims to break the trend by offering her creative personality as-is, a professional presentation of her private journaling.
As a performer and songwriter, Gabrielle has made a commitment towards the environment. In 2007, she released a single, “Save the Arkansas” that seeks to bring awareness to a dire environmental situation that is threatening the health and safety of the Arkansas River Watershed. Having both grown up and worked as a raft guide on the Arkansas, maintaining the purity of its waters is very important to her.
Recently, Gabrielle has been getting deeply involved in the world of alternative fueling. She tours in a Veggie Van, affectionately dubbed “Vita,” using what would be thrown out restaurant grease to fuel the tour vehicle! Gabrielle Louise and her tour manager, Chris Garre give workshops along the way, explaining to interested environmentalists how the technology works to convert and run a vehicle on used grease.
The Honeycutters
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
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The Honeycutters are singer/songwriter Amanda Anne Platt and guitarist/ producer Peter James. While their sound has drawn comparisons to such artists as Graham Parsons and Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Platt and James produce a refreshingly unique blend of Americana music that is comfortingly familiar while being entirely original. Ω
Their first full length studio release Irene (May 2009) was recorded at Asheville’s own Collapseable Studio, and mixed by Grammy Award winning sound engineer David Fergason ( Nashville TN ) . The album has garnered radio support across the USA as well as overseas, and landed them in Iaan Hughes’ (No Depression Podcast) top twenty of 2009, Fret Knot Radio Hour’s “Nine to Know from ‘09″, and as number 32 in WNCW’s listener voted top 100.
Amanda Anne Platt has been hailed as “one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days” by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson, and her voice has been described as “perfectly unadorned” and “recklessly beautiful”. Her lyrics are as catchy and heartbreaking as her melodies. Dane Smith of Asheville NC’s Mountain Xpress writes “Her songs make you sad…in a good way!” In both her simple composition and honest delivery it’s easy to hear the influence of country legends such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, or Loretta Lynn, and with this Miss Platt credits growing up listening to her Father’s extensive record collection every Saturday morning. Despite her love for classic country, she cites Bruce Springstein as one of her biggest influences and her songwriting carries a wit and an edge that plants her firmly in her generation.
Peter James is rapidly becoming one of Western North Carolina’s most sought after guitar players, known for both insightful solos and tasteful accompaniment. Having first held a guitar at age thirteen, he quickly started making up for lost time by delving completely into the instrument. His natural talent and attention to detail made him an asset to The Slant Six Cowboys, a New Hampshire based group founded by James and singer/songwriter Don Witcher out of their long time musical collaboration. In 2004 they released a self-titled album on 95 North records which reached number 14 on the AMA chart. Since moving to Asheville in 2006 James has played right-hand man to several of the region’s top acts, including Taylor Martin and Brian McGee.
Like so many of country music’s great duos, Platt and James have a musical chemistry that can be felt throughout the songs they play, from the sounds of their guitars to their vocal harmonies. Perhaps this is why they are frequently mentioned along with the movement to “Take country music back to it’s roots”. The Honeycutters are just doing what they know how to do: making music that feels as good to hear as it does to play. Their original brand of Americana has proven equally appealing to both the musician and the music lover, the country and the city, and the old and the young.
“If anyone can make this old metalhead want to whip out the cowboy boots and hat, order a couple of Budweisers and spin my woman around the dance floor, the Honeycutters can.” -Brent Fleury, Bold Life Magazine
“Old school country in the truest sense, “Irene” is free of twang and ten-gallon hats but full of real emotion, family history, quick wit and strong liquor.” -Ali Marshall, Arts and Entertainment, Mt Xpress
“Amanda Anne Platt is easily one of the best songwriters coming out of Western NC these days, and she really needs to be discovered by the national Americana world. Her moving delivery, accompanied by Pete James’ tasteful guitar work and harmonies, make The Honeycutters an act that really should not be missed. We can’t stop playing their CD “Irene” here at WNCW!” – Martin Anderson, Music Director WNCW
Sid Selvidge & Amy Speace
Tickets: $20 advance / door.
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Sid Selvidge has had a musical career as expansive as the Mississippi Delta — and as true to his roots as the bluesmen of yesteryear. Leaving his home in Greenville, Mississippi, Sid moved to Memphis at an early age, studying and performing with legendary bluesmen like Furry Lewis and Mississippi Fred McDowell at the famous Bitter Lemon Club. With a knack for the southern tradition of storytelling, Selvidge swiftly adapted their picking styles and incorporated them into his distinctive fusion of country, blues, folk, and rock.
Soon his music began to catch the attention of those outside the Bluff City, who took notice of his ability to integrate classic methods into unique singing and playing approaches. “Sid Selvidge, who comes from Mississippi by way of Memphis, is neither country nor rock,” said John Rockwell of the New York Times. “He’s pretty much everything musically in the whole Southeast.” While still in school at Washington University, Sid recorded his debut LP, Portrait, which was released by Enterprise Records, a subsidiary of Stax. Thereafter, he traveled to New York and captivated audiences from Carnegie Hall to Lincoln Center, garnering rave reviews. “His voice is an astonishing instrument,” raved New York Times writer Robert Palmer. “Cool and liquid with a range of several octaves.”
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By this time, major labels were making offers, resulting in a deal whereby Elektra released his Twice Told Tales as a part of the Nonesuch Records “American Explorer Series.” When not working on solo records, Selvidge was a member of Mudboy and the Neutrons with cofounder and close friends Jim Dickinson, Lee Baker, and Jimmy Crosthwait. Selvidge and Dickinson would collaborate on numerous projects throughout their enduring friendship, but the 3 Mudboy albums were among the most original of that partnership. Bob Dylan even referred to them as “the great band that nobody can find.”
While living in Memphis during this time, Selvidge also taught anthropology at Rhodes College and helped found Beale Street Caravan, an internationally syndicated blues radio program heard on over 500 stations around the world. Even with his performance and recording career, Selvidge still remains heavily involved at BSC, serving as executive producer since its founding. In 2002 Selvidge signed to Memphis label Archer Records, which released A Little Bit of Rain the following year. Recording was a family affair, with Selvidge’s son, Steve (The Hold Steady) joining on guitar, along with Jim Dickinson on keys and his son, Luther (North Mississippi Allstars, Black Crowes) on slide guitar, and old pal Jimmy Crosthwait on washboard. Upon hearing the record, David Fricke of Rolling Stone couldn’t hold back his praise, declaring emphatically “Sid Selvidge is a precious treasure.”
“I kind of spilled blood all over this project,” Amy Speace says of her new album The Killer In Me, which marks a quantum creative leap from the artist’s 2006 breakthrough effort Songs For Bright Street. While that release won her widespread critical acclaim and a loyal international fan base, The Killer In Me finds the New York‐based singer/songwriter forging into deeper, darker lyrical and musical terrain, borne largely out of the dissolution of her 10‐ year marriage. “This is the record that I needed to make,” Speace states. “In many ways, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And in some ways, it was the easiest. Writing the songs was emotionally difficult, deep and intense‐‐it was kind of an exorcism. But in the end, the songs flowed pretty quickly. You write the things that you’re afraid to say out loud.”
The Killer In Me’s 12 soul‐baring new songs maintain the effortless melodic appeal of her prior work, while delivering complex emotional insights that give the album startling intimacy and resonance. “The Killer In Me” chronicles a strangled co‐dependent relationship, while “Haven’t Learned A Thing” offers absolution for the continuing struggle in the attempt to connect with another and never getting it completely right. “This Love” speaks to the hope and uncertainty that comes with the onset of a new relationship. The album covers more terrain than romantic relationships, closing with “Piece By Piece,” written as a prayer to her father, wishing him peace and love after the death of his brother.
Most of the album was written in the rural isolation of a rented cabin in the Catskills after her final separation from her husband. “It was just me, some books, my journals, my guitar and the songs, with no phone and no TV,” she explains. “I spent a lot of time reading and hiking and chopping wood for the stove, and wrote the songs that form the emotional center of this album.” “The situation,” she continues, “forced me to sit with a lot of silence, fear and confusion and make a kind of peace with them by writing songs to keep from going crazy. That’s when the album started making sense to me and became a whole different thing. Something shifted when I realized what was going on in the world outside mirrored what was going on inside of me, and I wanted to write songs that bridged that divide.”
CANCELED – Ian Ethan
Please note – due to unforseen circumstances, Ian Ethan’s show for Friday, June 25th has been cancelled.
We hope to reschedule for later in the fall!
Advance ticket-holders: We apologize for the inconvenience this cancellation causes you! You will be receiving a refund on your credit card (including the service fee) through Brown Paper Tickets. Please contact me at michael@emptysea.com with any questions!
Acoustic Double-Neck Guitarist Ian Ethan’s new album “Into Open Land” is an exploration of the largely untraversed musical territory that this unique 18-string instrument provides access to.
Unveiling the true musical potential of an instrument that has previously seen little serious use as more than a stage prop, the Vermont artist employs a wide variety of highly-innovative playing techniques that take full advantage of 18 strings, two fretboards, and his experience as a drummer, bassist, pianist, and composer.
The nine-part musical whole of “Into Open Land”, more than simply validating the use of the instrument, is the beginning of an epic journey through pristine worlds that present to the alert and engaged listener countless intriguing gems of fresh insight and inspiring, expansive views of a world that is tangibly deeper and more infinite than our physical surroundings.
Solo pieces such as “Appalachia By Air” and “North By Northeast / One Straight Line” simultaneously intertwine drumset-like percussive ideas and groovy bass lines with inventive melodies and counter-melodies, always supported by a rich, colorful, three-dimensional harmonic context.
Meanwhile “band” tracks such as “Fourth Corner” and “Call of the Hill” (featuring Ethan’s overdubbed self-accompaniment on drumset, electric bass, percussion, and multiple double-necks) present an even more powerful and complete view of these highly detailed, multi-layered compositions.
Tying the whole album together is an unpretentious and consistently adventurous spirit that steers clear altogether of “The Road Less Traveled” and heads straight out into open land, where one has the freedom to explore and discover without limits, and thereby realize more of what has always been.
The Blackberry Bushes
Please note: This is an afternoon show. Bring the whole family!
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets
The Blackberry Bushes Stringband is a high energy, soulful, Americana quartet.
The “Bushes” are a band of songwriters with a strong Bluegrass and old-time bend. They have remained loyal to their Ozark, Appalachian, and Mississippi River roots and added just a twist of West coast indie-rock.
Second place winners of the 2009 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition, The Blackberry Bushes Stringband formed in Olympia, WA in 2004. They tour nationally, and feature:
quick pickin’ banjo songstress : Kendl Winter
singer-songwriter-strummer-stomper: Jes Raymond on guitar
rattlesnake fiddler : Jakob Breitbach
and lowdown songsmith : Joe Capoccia on the upright bass.
They are often noted for their sweet harmonies, darling lyrics, and near virtuosic musicianship.
KidsAcoustic: Family Sing Through The Ages w/ Emily Nelson
Tickets: $9.99 for each child or adult. Infants (not yet walking) are welcome for free. Space is limited, so please buy ahead.
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Some kinds of music are inherently age-inclusive. KidsAcoustic presents real music that parents can enjoy for its own sake, while the lively tunes and wonderful instruments draw kids in naturally.
For each concert, teacher and early string performer Shulamit Kleinerman joins forces with a duo partner from a folk or early music tradition. A personable forty-five minute program is followed by a hands-on opportunity for all the kids to try out our menagerie of instruments.
How better to wrap up the KidsAcoustic year than with a chance for everyone to sing? Attenders earlier in the season may have already enjoyed some singalong numbers. For the final concert, soprano Emily Nelson will share her mesmerizing soprano voice in a danceable set of songs from medieval troubadours, renaissance songbooks, and living folk traditions, interspersed with rounds, refrains, and harmonies for everyone. Shula brings her violin, vielle, and viola da gamba for everyone to hear and have the opportunity to try. Whether you’re an avid singer or a timid one, and whether your kids are old enough to sing or not, please come share the music with us!
Shulamit Kleinerman first added family house concerts to her offerings for children in 2007, and the audience quickly outgrew her teaching studio. The new space at Empty Sea is still welcoming, relaxed, and intimate enough for kids to scootch right upto the musicians’ feet… but now there’s also room to dance! Shula is passionate about bringing the arts of earlier ages alive for kids. From Mozart operas to baroque minuets to Shakespeare skits to medieval songs, her historical arts workshops connect kids with the sparkle of the past. More information about her performances and classes for kids and adults can be found at shulamitk.net.
Evie Ladin w/ Squirrel Butter
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 door
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Evie Ladin is a banjo player, step-dancer, singer, songwriter and square-dance caller with a lifetime of experience in traditional American cultural arts. She grew up in a trad folk scene up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the US, travels the world, and calls the rich arts scene in Oakland, California home. The new project, the Evie Ladin Band, debuts her original songs in an expansive stringband led by gutsy clawhammer banjo and rich vocals. A natural performer, Evie loves rolling the music, dance and stories up in one dynamic package, with one foot rooted in traditional forms, and one foot striding on ahead. With Dina Maccabee – violin (Real Vocal String Quartet, Japonize Elephants) Erik Pearson - guitar, Dobro (Crooked Jades, Mushroom), and Keith Terry – bass & percussion (Slammin, Crosspulse).
With The Stairwell Sisters, all-gal old-time teardown, Evie performs traditional and original material on clawhammer banjo, vocals, clogging and hambone. With Keith Terry & Crosspulse, she performs rhythm-based multi-cultural music & dance works, bringing her Appalachian skills to collaborations with a variety of other cultural arts, including other styles with roots in the African Diaspora. Evie calls rowdy community square dances, performs for extremely diverse populations of school-kids, tears it up at clubs and festivals, and slogs away in the office, keeping all the plates spinning.
Very excited to see Float Downstream break free, Evie is writing songs for the next record, choreographing rhythm dance, working on a book for banjo called “Making the Leap” and playing swing chords on the guitar. She teaches banjo, singing and dance at home in Oakland when you can find her there, or on Skype!
Appearing with Evie Ladin is Squirrel Butter, the duo of Charlie Beck and Charmaine Li-Lei Slaven. Charlie and Charmaine began performing together in 2005 after meeting at the Portland Old Time Gathering and discovering that they lived merely blocks away from each other in Seattle. The pair began busking, and soon realized that their individual styles, sense of rhythm, and tendency towards the quirky and obscure blended well together. It wasn’t long before they began performing at venues off the street.
Charlie Beck, hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana, is a highly accomplished musician. His mastery of guitar and banjo come from years of consistent study. He is well versed in jazz and swing, is an avid enthusiast of old American blues and string band music. His repertoire includes a bushel of traditional folk tunes along with many jazz numbers. A talented songwriter, Charlie’s original compositions combine modern approaches with traditional styles, giving his songs a unique sound. Charlie is an outstanding vocalist, and also plays brilliantly on fiddle.
Charmaine “Lady Li-Lei” Slaven, from Stevensville, Montana, is a gifted dancer, and her skill at traditional percussive buckdancing is phenomenal. She is also an adept rhythm guitarist, ukulele player, and vocalist. Her clear, strong singing style is reminiscent of the Carter family. She brings a fine repertoire of traditional ballads to the duet, along with several of her original works.
Elephant Revival
Tickets: $10 advance, $12 at the door.
Sorry, this show has sold out!
Elephant Revival plays a unique blend of an emerging new musical genre called Transcendental Folk. Individually and collectively the band members have performed with some of the most prolific performers of our time including Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, Michael Franti, Little Feat, Yonder Mountain String Band, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Leftover Salmon, members of String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, and State Radio, among others. The quintet can be seen delving into Scottish/Celtic fiddle tunes, original folk pieces, traditional ballads, psychedelic country, indie rock, powerful reggae grooves, 40s/50s jazz standards and an occasional hip-hop beat amongst other styles. The band consists of Bonnie Paine (vocals, washboard, djembe, musical saw), Sage Cook (electric banjo/guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, viola, vocals), Dango Rose (double-bass, mandolin, banjo, vocals), Daniel Rodriguez (acoustic guitar, electric banjo/guitar vocals) and Bridget Law (fiddle and vocals).
Following the release of Elephant Revival’s 2008 CD, Boulder Weekly entertainment writer Dave Kirby enthused, “The album brims with poised folk ballads, modern Celtic fiddle dirges, hints of blues and Appalachia… coaxing the spirit but slyly avoiding climbing fully into each form’s body.” Marquee Magazine journalist Jeffery Keith further elaborated, “Following the lead, but not the footsteps, of groups like Leftover Salmon and Yonder Mountain String Band, the five-piece Elephant Revival has created a unique and appealing modern acoustic sound simultaneously soaked in all manner of tradition.
Elephant Revival carries a fresh sense of creativity and inspiration that is felt by people of every generation. Musically and collaboratively Elephant Revival is inspired to spread a message of sustainability while nurturing an awareness of positive change through the pure light intention & creativity of their music.
For more information, please log on to www.elephantrevival.com
Shannon Stephens w/ The Marrying Type
Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door.
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Shannon Stephens was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the daughter of a hymn-singing mother who played the piano with high heels and a hootenanny-hosting father with red pants and a sonorous Roy Orbison voice. She learned to play the acoustic guitar during the particularly boring summer of 1992. She moved to Michigan shortly thereafter, and met Sufjan Stevens at a concert. She became the voice of the band Marzuki, a Celtic-inspired folk-rock ensemble comprised of Shannon, Sufjan, Matthew Haseltine and Jamie Kempkers. Marzuki played a lot of shows in Michigan, and a few ill-fated shows in New York City. They released two albums in the five years that they were together, all out of print.
Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were okay. It’s no wonder then, that blurring the line between light and dark is what he does best. After fronting a metal band (The Abodox) for over 10 years, his new acoustic project, The Marrying Type, balances the scales while making use of all that dexterity won through playing metal. ”Until Death,” The Marrying Type’s debut, marks Smurthwaite’s long-awaited re-emergence into the folk music scene.
