May 25th, 2017
Red Wanting Blue
Known for making instant fans of the uninitiated with one of the most engaging and passionate live shows on the road today, Red Wanting Blue found even bigger audiences after the release of its 2012 From The Vanishing Point album, which landed in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and at #1 for the band’s home region.
Appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live, and NPR’s Mountain Stage followed, and while the band continues to reach new and bigger career milestones, Red Wanting Blue is also staying true to its roots. This is evident on the upcoming new album "Little America," the band’s most personal and promising recording to date.
The Commonheart
With gritty vocals over rock riffs and horns, The Commonheart delivers an emotion-packed, soulful sound that lights up any stage. Frontman Clinton Clegg is a powerhouse who commands full attention with his limitless onstage energy and vocal range. The new album “Grown” is a remarkable display of each member’s talent interlacing heavy blues, soul, and gospel influence across trumpet, saxophone, keys, guitar, and singers. The Commonheart’s sound is a true testament to the past while completely holding its own as one of today’s most promising acts.
Tropidelic formed along the banks of the Cuyahoga River in murky, Kent, Ohio. Fusing energetic funk, hip-hop and reggae, the group built a following distributing over 10,000 free copies of their self-produced first EP, “Rebirth of The Dope” on campuses and street corners throughout the Great Lakes. After the release of their second EP, “Tree City Exodus” and relocating to nearby Cleveland, the group solidified their growing status in the Midwest supporting acts like Slightly Stoopid, 311, Pepper, The Dirty Heads, Sublime w/Rome, Soja, The Wailers, Flobots & many more. In addition to appearances at Warped Tour and Bamboozle Festival (NYC), the group released their third EP, “Erie Vibes & Irie Tides” in 2011. Following several member changes, including the addition of a horn section and masked percussionist, the group released their first full length album, “All Heads Unite” the following year.
June 1st, 2017
Cris Jacobs
“I’ve always just accepted and respected that evolution is part of the creative process,” the Baltimore, Maryland-based artist explains. “But I’ve made sure that throughout my work, I’ve always been honest. That’s the end goal, writing music that is meaningful to me.”
Cris Jacobs began his career fronting the acclaimed band and award-winning jam band The Bridge. The sextet released four albums in 10 years, and averaged 200 shows a year. When the band went on permanent hiatus, Cris continued on following the music. In 2012, he issued his solo debut, Songs For Cats And Dogs, a masterful album featuring poignant songwriting, honey and whiskey soaked vocals, burly riffs, dazzling guitar playing, and bucolic pedal steel guitar. Jacobs’s solo career was welcomed by fans and media alike, widening his profile as he appeared on television, on NPR’s Mountain Stage sessions, and was personally tapped by Stevie Winwood and Sturgill Simpson for national tours. Currently, Jacobs is readying his sophomore album.
Selwyn Birchwood
Birchwood, his father from Tobago, his mother from the UK, was born in 1985 in Orlando, Florida. He first grabbed a guitar at age 13 and soon became proficient at mimicking what he heard on the radio. But the popular grunge rock, hip-hop and metal of the 1990s didn’t move him, and he quickly grew bored. And then he heard Jimi Hendrix. “He was larger than life. What he did was mind-blowing. When I realized Hendrix was influenced by the blues, I found my path,” he says. By 17, he was deep into the blues, listening to Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins and especially Buddy Guy. As luck would have it, just as Birchwood was discovering Guy, the blues master had a concert scheduled in Orlando. Birchwood was there, front and center. “I was floored,” he recalls. “I completely connected with the blues. I knew I had to make this music.”
Ruth Wyand & The Tribe of One
Ruth raises the bar in the ‘guitarist with foot drums’ genre with her intricate picking style augmented by her alternating thumb bass, bottleneck slide, multiple foot drums and raw blues vocals. Ruth generates enough power to fuel a full band explosion.
She s an award winning fingerpicker, slide player, songwriter and music historian from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
Beating a path to and from Juke Joints and Jazz clubs Ruth performs at festivals, universities and clubs across the US, UK, Europe, Kuwait and New Zealand.
Her playing and writing echoes the tones of Memphis Minnie, Billie Holiday, Doc Watson and Hound Dog Taylor.
June 8th, 2017
Marco Benevento
Marco Benevento’s latest studio LP, 'The Story of Fred Short,' and its companion live release, 'The Woodstock Sessions,' is some of his finest and most adventurous work to date—a maestro making "bold indie rock" says Brooklyn Vegan, while the LA Times raves, “Benevento continues to straighten his twisted sound into the guise of an indie-rock singer-songwriter, harnessing his inventive sonic palette into rewardingly bite-size pop songs that touch on disco and soul." Honing his psych rock and late night dance party sensibilities, the recordings find the pianist citing everything from Harry Nilsson, Manu Chau and Gorillaz as inspiration.
Anybody who's seen Marco Benevento perform will attest, with eyes closed, smile wide across his face and fingers free-flowing across the keys, he's a satellite to the muse. With a devout and growing fan-base, Benevento is an artist whose story is only beginning to unfold.
Ripe
With a strong devotion to consistently creating an unforgettable live experience, Ripe has kept the groove going touring nationally from coast to coast. With a recently released sophomore EP, Hey Hello, and plans to start recording a full-length album in the coming year, Ripe is shifting into overdrive with every intention of taking this to the stratosphere. The Ripe family asks you to get loose, get down, and get ready. The party is just getting started.
Fireside Collective
Asheville, NC based newgrass band Fireside Collective is a group of folk music enthusiasts who blend elements of traditional bluegrass and American roots music with modern acoustic arrangements. With an energetic live show, the band presents finely crafted original music infused with impeccable solos and tight harmonies. Captivating listeners with songs centered around change, relationships, and being on the road, they transition smoothly between danceable bluegrass numbers and passionate folk ballads. With mandolin, fiddle, Dobro, and acoustic guitar layered eloquently on top of rock solid stand up bass, the band has quickly made a name for themselves as a must-see progressive acoustic ensemble.