May 4, 2012 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Formed in Austin, WHEELER BROTHERS have emerged as one of the most exciting bands breaking out of Texas. The five-piece act composed of Austin natives combines the gutsy indie vibe of the modern central Texas music scene with the longing strains of time-honored Texas folk. Brothers Nolan, Tyler and Patrick Wheeler met Danny Matthews at LSU where they spent their afternoons picking guitars and swapping stories in the bar rooms of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Once back in Austin, the group rounded out their sound with the addition of a lifelong friend, guitarist A.J. Molyneaux. Each member brings his own musical direction and ideas to the group, and through precise vocal harmonies and a unique cast of instruments.  Wheeler Brothers have created a sound that has put their name in the forefront of the Austin music scene.

Wheeler Brothers’ debut album “Portraits,” released in late June of 2011, was met with rave reviews on a local and national level. The release was backed by Texas swing legend Ray Benson and his label Bismeaux Records. Support from Benson, as well as a commanding presence on college radio, helped pave the way for Wheeler Brothers to roll out their first national tour in the summer of 2011. While debuting on the festival scene, Wheeler Brothers have also gained recognition supporting national acts such as Bob Schneider and Drive by Truckers. Back home in Austin, Wheeler Brothers are constantly looking for venues to accommodate their growing fan base and consistently sold out performances.

June 1, 2011 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

We are sisters. We are music lovers. We are storytellers.

Every since we were little girls, we’ve been awed by the power of a story well told: from children’s books and bedtime yarns to figments and fairytales. Before we were able to read, we hounded our parents for “more stories!” and then, when at last we could; we began hounding the bookshelves.

Now, nearly a decade later, at 21 and 22, we’re still doing the same thing.

We’re still on the search for stories, and striving to learn how to tell them well. Now, we not only hound bookshelves, but also the people surrounding us. We search for stories of human experience, of love won and love lost, and of the million mundane things that make up everyday life. Larkin Poe: the name of our great-great-great-grandfather; a man who survives in the memories and hearts of succeeding generations; a legend, a tall tale, a truly everlasting story. Just the thing that we hope to become.

Our musical journey, which began for us as children playing classical violin and piano at the ages of 5 and 6, continued through our teenage years as we toured internationally from 2005 to 2010 as The Lovell Sisters. This incarnation, which included our eldest sister, Jessica, took us from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry to wonderful summer festivals such as Bonnaroo and Telluride, and even gave us the opportunity to collaborate with the likes of Elvis Costello. In January 2010, after saying ‘farewell’ to The Lovell Sisters, the musical story of our young

adulthood has begun in the form of our new band, Larkin Poe.

Larkin Poe released its debut EP, Spring, on February 17, 2010. As a brand new band, we were looking for a way to bring our friends, family and fans along with us on our musical journey as we discovered (and continue to discover) who we are as Larkin Poe. Looking for an answer – and always looking to do things in our own way – we decided to embark upon the quest of recording and releasing four seasonally themed EPs in 2010: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. What better way to let folks be a part of our development as a band than to record and release our newest experimentations every few months? After 12 months of non-stop work, all four EPs were successfully released in 2010 (and additionally compiled into a box-set: “The Band For All Season”) and continue to garner attention and good reviews internationally.

With nationally and international dates constantly being booked, we look forward to meeting you soon.

Come join us on our journey.

July 6, 2012 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Bill Wilson is from Central Virginia. He is a professor of philosophical theology, a songwriter, an expert on southern literature, and a father of six.

His three eldest sons returned to Virginia to start a rock band in 2006 with long-time musical compadres Seth Green and Todd Wellons. As a tribute to the man who taught them how to play guitar, write songs, drive a stick-shift, and back up a trailer, the band decided to name themselves Sons of Bill.

In the summer of 2011 Sons of Bill entered Sound of Music Studios in Richmond VA, with producer David Lowery (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven) to record their latest record “SIRENS.” The band describes this record as a musical arrival point, and will be released on March 26th 2012.

August 3, 2012 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

The Honeycutters are, at the heart, the musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Amanda Anne Platt and Lead 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. Whether performing as an acoustic duo or a full fledged Honky-Tonk five piece, The Honeycutters leave smiles on the faces of the ears that they catch.

Their first full length studio release “Irene” (May ’09) 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 song, “Little Bird,” won second place in the general category of the Chris Austin Songwriting contest in 2011. 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 and Tom Petty as major 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.

Tal Taylor on mandolin, Ian Harrod on bass, and Jon Ashley on drums round out Platt’s songs and create a sound that carries just as well across the bar room as the acoustic duo does in a church or a music hall.

Since releasing “Irene,” The Honeycutters have shared the stage with such Americana giants as Tony Rice, The Seldom Scene, Donna The Buffalo, and The Steep Canyon Rangers. They have been voted Western North Carolina’s favorite local Americana act (2011 Mountain Xpress reader’s poll) and delighted audiences from upstate New York to Seattle, Washington. They are currently planning the release of their sophomore effort, “When Bitter Met Sweet,” for May of 2012.

September 7, 2012 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Nashville, Tennessee is a nexus – a point where tradition and innovation intersect, where commerce collides with art. It may be the only town around where salaried songwriters and full-time session musicians are as common as accountants and schoolteachers. Music is the product, and the factories line the street, from the swank Music Row mini-high-rises to the low-slung Sylvain Park bungalows. And only Nashville could give birth to a band like the SteelDrivers: a group of seasoned veterans – each distinguished in his or her own right, each valued in the town’s commercial community – who are seizing an opportunity to follow their hearts to their souls’ reward. In doing so, they are braiding their bluegrass roots with new threads of their own design, bringing together country, soul, and other contemporary influences to create an unapologetic hybrid that is old as the hills but fresh as the morning dew. This is new music with the old feeling. SteelDrivers fan Vince Gill describes the band’s fusion as simply “an incredible combination.”

The SteelDrivers’ brand of bluegrass – intense, dark, poetic, and inescapably human – is a refreshing reminder of the timeless power of stringband music, and is captured perfectly on The SteelDrivers. Produced by Nashville ace Luke Wooten, The SteelDrivers was recorded mostly live on the studio floor, vocals and all. Its songs grapple with classic themes of regret, love, and redemption, from the escalating prison lament of “Midnight Train to Memphis” to the chilling murderer’s plea encapsulated in “If It Hadn’t Been for Love.” “East Kentucky Home” is a timeless traditional bluegrass lament, with its strains of homesickness, loss, and abandonment, but ingeniously reinvented with off-kilter rhythmic accents and a decidedly contemporary chord progression.

The willingness to set aside the unspoken rules that ruthlessly govern bluegrass set the SteelDrivers apart from the innumerable faceless acts vying for the bluegrass spotlight.

Friday October 5, 2012
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Brooklyn-based Americana/Alt-Country band Yarn’s sound owes as much to Gram Parsons and Earl Scruggs as to Jerry Garcia and Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones. Following in a fine tradition that includes forward thinking roots bands like The Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of The Purple Sage, Yarn weaves roots music idioms into a fresh sound that turns on hipsters and fans of country music alike, with technically impressive song-crafting and universal tales from the road of life.

On Yarn’s latest release, Leftovers, Volume 1 you’ll hear vintage tracks recorded during the band’s first studio sessions back in 2006 and 2007. With this retro-collection, listeners witness the poignant emotion and emotive story-telling that has come to define the sextet’s sound, which straddles the genres of Americana and alt-country, with a dash of jam-band.

Their self-titled debut record reached No. 14 on the AMA and R&R Radio Charts, and ranked No. 79 on the AMA’s Top 100 Albums of 2007. Yarn’s 2008 follow-up, Empty Pockets, spent months in the top 5 on the AMA chart and was honored with eight first round 2009 Grammy nominations in several categories. Yarn’s third release, Come on In, held its own as the #25 record on the top 100 Americana chart of 2010.

Yarn is touring intensively and their impressive live shows continue to build the buzz and the fan base fueled by their first four records.

May 6, 2011 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Sponsored by BB&T. Food provided by Moes Southwest Grill and beverages provided by Natty Greenes. The Southern Pines Fire Deparment will have a truck there for the kids.

Leaving the 1956 Flex tour bus David Mayfield and his family called home to start his nightly shift at the tool and die along side his father it’s easy to understand why he celebrates every performance he’s afforded. David Mayfield is the “other” voice and lead guitarist, as well as a contributing songwriter for folk rock favorites Cadillac Sky, whose last album “Letters In The Deep” was produced by Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) but his role as a member of the Texas by way of Nashville quintet is just one of the many musical paths this Grammy-nominated artist has journeyed. Growing up in Kent, Ohio, David was surrounded by Bluegrass music. At the age of twelve he was playing bass for the family band, traveling from festival to festival, along with his younger sister, noted songstress, Jessica Lea Mayfield, singing and absorbing the stories and lessons taught by road hard veterans, all the while picking up tips on how to play a lick on guitar or mandolin. By the time he was a teenager, Mayfield had won several national awards for his guitar and mandolin playing and his reputation was being forged in the world of Bluegrass as a player to watch out for. Things changed however when the family parked their bus in the heart of Country Music USA. Settling in Nashville, with the hopes of finding a steady gig that would allow for some stability, struggling to survive on music alone, David’s father took a job in a machine shop working the graveyard shift, while 16-year-old David got hired to sweep its floors. Once the last day shift worker and office staffer had left the building, voices would soar over the roar of machinery. Father and son while working to keep the family afloat, would simply sing. As if they hadn’t a care in the world. Mayfield recalls it as one of his happiest memories. The family eventually moved back to their hometown in Ohio but David returned a few year later and after a stint of all night “gun-for-hire” gigs in the tourist filled honky-tonks that line downtown Nashville, Mayfield auditioned for country hit maker Andy Griggs. He got the gig and hit the road, eventually landing several appearances on the coveted Grand Ole Opry stage. In 2008 when Jessica Lea Mayfield was ready to make her debut record, Blasphemy So Heartfelt, she asked David to play bass on it. He did. And over the next year he would tour as her bassist, and as a newly minted member of Cadillac Sky all while writing and performing his own songs. That same year he produced and engineered the album “In Gods Time” for old friend Barry Scott. Much to Mayfield’s surprise and with some amusement the song went on to earn a Grammy nomination in the Southern Gospel category in 2009. His production credits continued with Among The Oak & Ash’s sophomore effort for Verve Records. But it was while on the road with Jessica that Avett Brothers, Scott and Seth took notice of Mayfield’s musicianship and the three quickly developed a friendship, leading them to invite David to sit in with them dozens of times including their 2010 Bonnaroo & Merlefest sets. After urging him more and more to make a record of his own, when he took to the studio the Avett’s were quick to lend their voices. David Mayfield Parade is the culmination of that encouragement. The album reflects the numerous influences that come from a lifetime of being immersed in American music and channeling its unique forms with sincerity and celebration from the howl of early rock-n-roll, to the low lonesome twang of folk and country with a voice that is all at once heartbreaking and inherently hopeful.

 

June 3, 2011 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Food provided byDog Nation Grill. Beverages provided by Railhouse Brewery in Aberdeen. Vide0 Games on Wheels provided for the kids.

Waters run deep in Shannon Whitworth’s soul. A daughter of South Carolina’s low country, it’s to the water that she returns when she needs respite from the wearisome world. So it’s understandable the theme of water surfaces in her songs so often; these are women who run, women who hope, women who love the wrong man, and when true love is present, women who return. They are Water Bound. The first thing that you notice about Shannon Whitworth is the voice—smoky, elegant, a bit husky, patient at all the right moments and equally adept at the phrasing of a jazz chanteuse; it’s no wonder she’s garnered comparisons to singers from Patsy Cline to Billie Holiday, as well as contemporaries like Neko Case. Then you realize what a stunning songsmith she is. In “Can’t Look In Your Eyes,” Whitworth conjures the dark heart that is at the root of much of the music of Appalachians, but her juxtaposition of the violent lyrical theme with her languid delivery, leaves the listener feeling the protagonist’s devastating resignation to her fate. The second track on Water Bound is the hopeful “Spring Is Here,” in which Whitworth writes about the rebirth of life and hope after a moribund winter. “It’s really more about an emotional state than anything. I knew someone that had Seasonal Affective Disorder, and it is a postcard of hope to them.” “Mermaid Song” explores the idea of two lovers that are failing to connect and uses the metaphor of a woman that is literally water bound (“I’m in the water/Out at sea, And you’re on a mountain/Looking for me”). This is an album that’s also about the blues—sometimes explicitly so, as on the spookily sad centerpiece, “I Got the Blues”—but elsewhere more covertly; Whitworth’s voice chrysalises the grief and naked desire of her lyrics, every bit as expressive an instrument as the mournful slide guitar in “Taking it Hard,” while several songs reference lyin’, devilish men—a reversal of the old “devil woman” trope that’s informed many a blues song. Shannon began recording in 2009 with producer Neilson Hubbard to see what might come of it. She immediately found a match, and they kept recording until Water Bound was a vision realized. “When I listen to the how the album begins,” Whitworth says in reference to the musical opening of the layered and meditative “Run To Roll On Home”, “it reminds me of a spring coming up from the ground. That was Neilson’s idea.” Shannon Whitworth was born in Virginia, but moved to South Carolina almost immediately after birth. Her father was an educator and a music lover. He and her mother filled the Whitworth house with music, and Shannon’s early years echoed with the songs of those that she considers some of the writers who framed her melodic sensibilities: Paul Simon, James Taylor, John Prine and Crosby Stills, Nash & Young. Moving back to Virginia in her teenage years, she was able to plug into the Northern Virginia music scene. She eventually found her way to North Carolina, where she was a founding member of the Biscuit Burners, the bluegrass band that brought her prodigious talents to the attention of the music world. After appearances on the BBC and PBS, Whitworth left the band to pursue a broader musical vision. She released her first solo album No Expectations in 2007. Whitworth has finally settled in North Carolina on a piece of land where three rivers meet. Water Bound carries with it the promise of heading toward something better—a promise that Shannon Whitworth and her beautiful new album deliver in spades.

July 1, 2011 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Sponsored by  Fletcher Industries. Food provided by Moes and beverages provided by Natty Greenes

Anders story (his life, his career) is not unlike those of the other great songwriters and artists that he’s been compared to by critics and roots purists Dylan, Guthrie, and Van Morrison, by the time he found New Orleans (or maybe it is the other way around) by taking the long way trekking through Africa and Egypt, working odd jobs to get to his next destination, he had the miles and music down to begin his career in his new home. “Oftentimes the most true portraits of America have been rendered by those who have come from outside its borders, yet somehow seem to understand and inhabit our culture more than those of us who have lived here all our lives.” JAMBASE Anders has spent most of career since honing his songwriting at the same time creating a solid fan-base by touring the East and West coast as a performer, while dividing time between New Orleans and Nashville as a staff writer for the Universal Music and Razor and Tie publishing companies. He’s worked his magic for other performers, writing “Watchin the Wind Blow By,” a number one hit for country superstar Tim McGraw and “I Was Wrong” and “A Better Man,” both Grammy-winning songs from Keb’ Mo’s album Slow Down. Anders has written songs for Brad Paisely, Jonny Lang, Tab Benoit and Jimmy Thackery, to name a few. “Anders Osborne artfully blends blues, rock, soul and classic R&B to create his own distinctive synthesis and original style.” ALL MUSIC GUIDE Anders hit the national scene with the 1995 release “Which Way To Here”. He and his band began to tour the country and later that year he was signed to Okeh Records, which had just been revived by Sony’s Michael Caplan. The record received rave reviews world wide and became Osborne’s first commercial break with two top-five singles on the national charts, “Favorite Son” and “Pleasin’ You.” Both were featured on movie soundracks movies, the latter later recorded by Johnny Lang. Anders also recorded a second CD for the label, titled “New Madrid”, which remains, unfortunately, unreleased. Three other independent-label releases — “Live at Tipitina’s” appeared on Shanachie in 1998 followed by “Living Room” and the next year the introspective “Ash Wednesday Blues” were issued. The following year Anders emerged as producer on the two historic recordings “Bury the Hatchet,” on which he and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux are double billed. Later Anders produced Monks “Mr. Stranger Man”, both distributed by Shanachie Music. In 2007, MC Records released Osborne’s critically acclaimed “Coming Down.” His performances have been described as equally spiritual as musical, creating the elusive connection between artist and audience. His emotive guitar complements the message and the music, enticing listeners into his heart and soul. His life is transformed via his song performances into a vehicle to take you to his destination, let you linger awhile, and bring you home a bit better than you left it to step into his world. He is able to refine and relate to the ordinary, making you feel a bit extraordinary in the process. No wonder he is in demand by perfomers of all stripes as a songwriter.

August 5, 2011 First Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Admission: Free with food donation

Food provided by Dog Nation Grill. Beverages provided by Carolina Brewing Company.

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