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Joe Diffie LIVE at The Bluestone on June 29th, 2018
*Opening Artist: Dillon Carmichael and David Adam Byrnes
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale Now!
Joe Diffie was regarded by many of his peers as one of the better vocalists in contemporary country, and lent his traditional sensibilities to humorous, rock-tinged novelties and plaintive ballads. Diffie was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1958 and grew up in a musical family, first performing in public at age four with his aunt’s country band. He played in a rock band during high school, and later moved on to a gospel quartet and, during college, a bluegrass band called the Special Edition. He worked on his songwriting and singing over the next few years while working in a foundry, and caught a break when his “Love on the Rocks” was recorded by Hank Thompson. When Randy Travis nearly recorded another of his songs, Diffie was convinced he had a shot in the business, and moved to Nashville in 1986. He took a job at the Gibson guitar plant while continuing to write songs, and became an in-demand demo singer as well. Holly Dunn’s 1989 recording of a Diffie collaboration, “There Goes My Heart Again,” proved a major hit, and Diffie found himself a hot commodity. He signed with Epic and released his debut album, A Thousand Winding Roads, in 1990. His first single, “Home,” went all the way to number one on the country charts, and “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)” duplicated that feat; meanwhile, two more singles from the album, “If You Want Me To” and “New Way (To Light Up an Old Flame),” reached number two.
Diffie became a regular hitmaker over the rest of the ’90s, and scored again with his sophomore LP, 1992’s Regular Joe; “Is It Cold in Here” and “Ships That Don’t Come In” both made the Top Five. Known primarily for his ballads at this point in his career, Diffie switched things up with 1993’s Honky Tonk Attitude, which emphasized his rambunctious, rocking side and sense of humor, and proved to be his biggest-selling album yet. The title track, “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die),” and “John Deere Green” all went Top Five. Sticking with engaging humor as the selling point of his hugely popular follow-up, 1994’s Third Rock from the Sun, Diffie scored two number ones with the title track and “Pickup Man,” plus a Top Five hit in “So Help Me Girl.” 1995 brought a holiday album, Mr. Christmas, as well as a proper release in Life’s So Funny, which gave Diffie his fifth number one hit in “Bigger Than the Beatles.” 1997’s Twice Upon a Time saw his commercial momentum slipping a bit, and so Epic issued a Greatest Hits compilation the following year; its new song, “Texas Sized Heartache,” returned Diffie to the Top Five. 1999’s A Night to Remember was the most straight-ahead, traditional country record Diffie had yet recorded, and it gave him two Top Ten hits in the title cut and “It’s Always Somethin’.” He returned to his more established style for 2001’s In Another World, which found him transferred to Sony’s reactivated Monument subsidiary; its title track went Top Ten early the next year. Tougher Than Nails followed in 2004, then in 2010 Diffie returned to bluegrass for Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album, which was released by Rounder Records and was greeted by warm reviews.
Diffie had a bit of an unexpected revival in early 2013, when his name provided the chorus of Jason Aldean’s party-hearty hit “1994.” Later that year, Diffie set out on the road with fellow country singers Sammy Kershaw and Aaron Tippin on a tour called All in the Same Boat; the trio released an accompanying album of the same name in May. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
David Nail will perform live at The Bluestone on Friday, July 20th, 2018!
*Opening Artist: Alan Carl
*Doors will OPEN at 7PM
*Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show
Tickets On-Sale June, 8th 2018 at 10AM!
Biography
A country artist with an agile voice, a gift for songwriting, and a passionate performing style, David Nail was born in Kennett, Missouri on May 18, 1979. Music was a major part of the Nail household — his father was a high school band director proficient on a number of instruments, and his mother sang in the church choir. His parents had an extensive and eclectic record collection, but country music wasn’t on Nail’s radar until he was 14 and attended a school talent show. One of the entrants sang a version of Travis Tritt’s “Anymore,” and Nail was so taken with the song he immediately asked his folks to buy him a copy of Tritt’s recording. In high school, Nail sang in the school’s choir, appeared in local talent shows, and began writing songs, but he was also a fine baseball player with a .385 batting average, and he was accepted at Aquinas College on a sports scholarship. However, a shoulder injury ended his baseball career during his first college season, and Nail returned home to sort out his options. He resumed his education at Arkansas State University, but when he was 20, he spent a few days in Nashville and was inspired to take another shot at a career in music. He moved to Music City, concentrated on his songwriting, and was playing a few songs at a party when, as luck would have it, he was heard by the daughter of record producer Keith Stegall. She told her father that Nail was a talent worth hearing, and before long the singer and songwriter was signed to a contract with Mercury Records.
In 2002, Nail released his first single, “Memphis,” but while the tune made it onto the Country Singles charts, Mercury opted not to release the album he recorded for them, and he was soon without a record deal. After a few years of coaching baseball, Nail took another shot at Nashville, and once again found a champion in the form of a record producer, this time Frank Liddell. Liddell helped Nail score a new deal with MCA Nashville, and in 2008, Nail’s first MCA single, “I’m About to Come Alive,” was released. It fared slightly better than “Memphis,” but it was his next release that changed the game for Nail. Released in February 2009, “Red Light” peaked at number seven on the country singles charts and earned Nail a gold record. The success of the single led to Nail cutting an album for MCA, and this time, 2009’s I’m About to Come Alive was deemed worthy of release, rising to number 19 on the country album charts. In February 2011, Nail released “Let It Rain,” which became his first tune to become a number one country single; the album The Sound of a Million Dreams followed several months later, and reached the Top Ten of the Country Albums chart. 2012 saw the release of a three-song EP, 1979, which included a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” 2013 brought Nail another massive hit single, “Whatever She’s Got,” which earned him a platinum sales award. It was the first single released from Nail’s third MCA album, 2014’s I’m a Fire, which reached number three on the country album listings.
In July 2015, Nail dropped a new single, “Nights on Fire,” which was intended to be a preview of his upcoming album. However, Nail opted to postpone the release of the LP as he added new songs to the sequence. He released a stopgap EP, Uncovered, in May 2016, which featured interpretations of songs by Elvis Presley, Phil Collins, Adele, and the Weeknd, as well as a new version of his own “Looking for a Good Time.” In July 2016, Nail finally brought out Fighter, an ambitious and personal work in which he sang of issues in his own life for the first time, including his battle with depression, his relationship with his father, and the struggles he and his wife went through to have a baby. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Drake White and The Big Fire live at The Bluestone on August 2nd, 2018!
*Opening Artist: Stevie Monce
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale Friday, May 11th at 10AM
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Born in Hokes Bluff, Alabama, country singer and songwriter Drake White’s mix of country, blues, funk, rock & roll, and reggae and his energetic, foot-stomping live shows eventually led him to Nashville and beyond. Growing up, he sang in the choir at his local church, and after getting a guitar at the age of 14 from a neighbor down the road who played bluegrass, he began writing and playing songs, continuing to do so while attending Gadsen State Community College and then Auburn University, earning a degree in building science even as he played in the local venues at night. After graduation, White took a job with a general contractor in Nashville, working by day and playing the song rounds at night, developing, with his band the Big Fire, a crackling and energetic stage presence that often found him freestyling lyrics in the middle of songs. He caught the eye of producer Jeremy Stover and was soon signed to MCA Nashville, turned his attention full-time to music, and released a debut single, “Simple Life,” on the label early in 2013. A year later, White signed with Big Machine affiliate Dot Records, resulting in a pair of 2015 singles, “It Feels Good” and “Livin’ the Dream.” In August 2016, Dot released White’s debut album, Spark. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
Dillon Carmichael LIVE at The Bluestone on August 10th, 2018!
*Opening Artist: TBA
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale July, 6th 2018 at 10AM!
REMEMBER WHEN COUNTRY SONGS USED TO SAY SOMETHING?
The lyrics of “Made To Be A Country Boy,” the debut single from Dillon Carmichael are ones that, while are simple, definitely have a lot of meaning. What is being a “Country Boy” to him? “It’s something that is in your heart and soul. It’s not something that’s not about material objects. It’s a way of life – not one that is any better than anybody else’s, but I think it’s all about being proud of where you come from – whether it be your city, state, or country.”
The heartfelt sentiments are ones that Carmichael knows all too well, as it describes his own hometown – in the heart of metropolitan Mercer County, Kentucky. “I grew up on the lake which was created as a hydro-electric energy plant in a town called Burgin, Kentucky. The population has grown over the years to a whopping one thousand.” The town – at the intersection of Kentucky State Routes 33 and 152 – lives up to his description. “It’s a lake town, and everyone there works at the power plant. The school is there all in one building – from kindergarten all the way to twelfth grade. There was a baseball team and a softball team, but not enough to field a football team,” he says with a smile.
Music was a part of his growing up experience, as his father and uncles performed in a Southern Gospel Quartet, and his mother also sang around the area. Her brothers – future Country superstars John Michael and Eddie Montgomery – also made a name for themselves performing around the Eastern Kentucky area, as well. Dillon says that as much as it was a part of his surroundings, it was sure to rub off on him. “I knew eventually that it was something I was going to want on my own at some point, and I fell in love with it too.”
In 2012, Dillon – who also cited Vern Gosdin, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard as influences – decided to roll the dice, and haul himself and his belongings down Interstate 65 to move to Nashville. He says it took some getting used to.
“It was difficult being away from home at first. I had never been anywhere outside of my hometown,” he confessed, also admitting that the deep talent pool of Davidson County was a more than a little bit intimidating. “I jumped head-first into writing songs,” he recalled. “I didn’t dabble as much into the live show and being on stage as much as I did the writing at first. I think for my age group, I was always one step ahead of the writing, and one step behind in the performance game. That’s something that I was very overwhelmed by – was how good the singers and guitar players were. In a way, I still am. It’s just about doing the best that you can.”
Over time, he began to hone his writing skills, thanks to those who he collaborated with. “Co-writing was a big turning point for me. I got offered a publishing deal when I was seventeen. They started booking me with writers who already had success before. I started to learn with each appointment, and it changed everything for me. I began to see how they put their melodies together with the lyrics, and how they generated ideas.”
“Made To Be A Country Boy” is the first single from Dillon, and one that teamed him up with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Strurgill Simpson). He says that Cobb allowed him to approach recording the old-fashioned way, which he prefers. “I prefer having a live band in the studio rather than bringing in just one instrument at a time to record a part. Sometimes, you’ll go back and you will hear something that might not be right the first time. Being in the studio is one of my favorite parts of the creative experience.
Cobb also steered the ship for Dillon’s debut full-length album, and there’s not a better producer anywhere. “Dave is great, and very authentic. He’s a musical genius. He understands so many different types of music, and is also such a great guitar player. It’s important for me to be working with people who are just good and authentic people. I think that translates into the music, as well.”
Another track from the album that Dillon Carmichael is excited for fans to hear is “It’s Simple,” which is a tribute to the little things in life – which all too often are the biggest. “I wrote that with three other guys who were from rural areas, and we were talking about how life was just so simple and how the people there like it. You go to work, come home, grill out with the family, and the lyrics are ‘Love is for making. Kids are for raising. Home is that place in your heart,’ and the concept is that no matter where you go, home is the place in your heart – which for me is always going to be Kentucky. It’s a story about the old man next door who tells you that life is simple, and you shouldn’t overthink it.”
With stardom just around the corner in 2018, just how does Dillon Carmichael quantify success? “The Opry is a big thing to me. That’s always been a goal of mine. I think that success is moving forward. I think that achieving your goals is something that is never ending. I’d like to have a number one on the charts, and, of course, sell a million records. I’d like to play Rupp Arena in Lexington, as well as the FFA National Convention. I grew up going to that, and I remember seeing acts like Craig Morgan play it.” At the end of the day, Dillon Carmichael says he just wants to aim for the stars – and keep aiming. “I think that the biggest mark of success to me, is just achieving your goals – and setting new ones. I don’t think that ever stops.”
Aaron Lewis will be performing at The Bluestone Two Nights, BACK TO BACK!
*August 23rd, 2018 and August 24th, 2018 (SOLD OUT)
*Opening Artist: Travis Marvin
*Doors for the show will open at 7pm each night
*Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 day of show
(Ticket is only valid for admission for the date printed on the ticket)
Tickets are on-sale Friday, May 4th at 10am
PURCHASE THURSDAY, AUGUST 23rd TICKET HERE
PURCHASE FRIDAY, AUGUST 24th TICKET HERE
SOLD OUT
Lewis has been performing solo acoustic shows since he was 17 and still does today. He has written and performed many songs that have never been officially released such as “Angel”, “Something Like Me”, “Bonghits for Breakfast” (originally performed with J-CAT), and “Sleeping at the Wheel”.
In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a country music EP entitled Town Line that was released March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. It features seven tracks including three versions of the first single “Country Boy” featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as the songs “Massachusetts”, “Vicious Circles”, “The Story Never Ends”, and a re-recording of “Tangled Up in You” originally from The Illusion of Progress.[5] Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer Kid Rock.[6]
Lewis performing at the House of Blues in Cleveland in 2013
Lewis released his first full solo album, The Road, in November 2012. Its debut single, “Endless Summer”, has also made the country charts. Lewis wrote every song on the 10 track collection, except for “Granddaddy’s Gun” which was penned by Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Bobby Pinson, marking the first time Lewis has recorded outside material for an album.[7] In an interview with Broadway’s Electric Barnyard, Lewis said he recorded “Granddaddy’s Gun” as both a compliment to a friend, and because he was pressed for time.[8]
Lewis wrote songs for his second solo album whilst touring in support of The Road, often performing the unreleased material in his live sets.[9][10] The album, dubbed Sinner, was mostly recorded in a single 18 hour session, with many tracks done in one take. Aaron’s daughter Zoe also provides guest vocals on one song.[11] It was released on September 16, 2016, with the lead single, “That Ain’t Country”, released on 17 June. Country artist Willie Nelson is featured on the album’s title track as well.
Muscadine Bloodline LIVE at The Bluestone on September 28th, 2018!
Opening Artist: Brandon Ray and Jordan Fletcher
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 day of show
Tickets On-Sale NOW!
Biography
Hailing from Mobile, Alabama and based in Nashville, Tennessee, the contemporary country duo Muscadine Bloodline certainly sounds southern but they don’t necessarily seem beholden to either hometown. At times, the pair of Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton can recall the plainspoken sound of Texas Red Dirt country; sometimes they kick up a bit of Southern rock, and sometimes they have the polished songcraft synonymous with the Music City. All of this is evident on their eponymous 2017 debut EP.
The EP Muscadine Bloodline followed just a year after Muncaster and Stanton formed the group. The two singer/songwriters grew up in Mobile, but they didn’t meet until they were both actively pursuing musical careers as adults. Stanton crossed Muncaster’s path when the former was looking for an opening act and they soon started jamming, then decided to form a band. They headed to Nashville and quickly released three singles in 2016 — “Southern Boy Cure,” “Porch Swing Angel,” and “Shut Your Mouth” — before cutting the Muscadine Bloodline EP with producer Luke Laird. The EP appeared early in 2017. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
Corey Smith LIVE at The Bluestone on October 4th, 2018!
*Opening Artist: TBA
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale August, 3rd 2018 at 10AM!
Corey Smith, the fan-made man, has sold over 1 million concert tickets, 1.5 million digital singles and over 220,000 albums. Corey Smith has amassed an unfailingly devout fan base, not only in his native Southeast region, but all around the nation, simply by telling it the way it is. He has released 10 albums—including 2011’s Top 20 release The Broken Record. Corey Smith has written every word on every album himself and he produced 9 out of 10 of the records. In Summer 2015, Corey Smith teamed up with producer Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band) for his album, “While the Gettin’ Is Good,” which was released on Sugar Hill Records. Smith’s concerts, which were documented on his last live record, Live in Chattanooga, regularly sell out, with audiences singing along to such fan favorites as the coming-of-age anthem “Twenty-One,” the nostalgic time warp “If I Could Do It Again” and the group hug “I Love Everyone.” Corey consistently tours, hitting around 120 dates per year and has begun releasing singles from his upcoming project, the Great Wide Underground.
Ashley McBryde live at The Bluestone on November 8th, 2018 as part of her “Girl Going Nowhere Tour” performing live at The Bluestone on November 8th, 2018!
*Opening Artist: Dee White
*Doors will OPEN at 7PM
*Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale Friday, May 25th 10AM!
Ashley McBryde Biography…
“I hear the crowd, I look around, and I can’t find one empty chair. Not bad for a girl going nowhere” sings Ashley McBryde on “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” the seminal title track from her forthcoming LP. They’re words built from experience: over the course of her life, McBryde’s been finding her own way to fill those seats and sway those hearts since the very first time her teacher told her that her dreams of writing songs in Nashville would never see the light of day. Every time she was brought down, she persevered; trusting her timeless tone and keen, unwavering eye for the truth. It paid off. In April, Eric Church brought her on stage and called her a “whiskey-drinking badass,” confessing that he’s a massive fan. The rest of the world is quickly catching on, too.
Dubbed as one of Rolling Stone’s “Artists You Need To Know,” citing she’s “an Arkansas red-clay badass, with the swagger of Hank Jr. and the songwriting of Miranda Lambert,” McBryde fearlessly lays it all on the line, and it’s that honest all-in approach that has led to NPR critic Ann Powers to ask if McBryde could be “among the first post-Stapleton country stars?” McBryde’s album will showcase an artistic vision that will prove her to be one of the genre’s keenest working storytellers, bringing unwavering honesty back into a pop-preoccupied genre. Pulling tales from every corner of her human experience, McBryde sings with fire and fury, laughing and swigging that brown stuff along the way.
McBryde was raised in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. At three, she’d secretly pluck her father’s guitar like an upright bass, and after about the 17th time being caught, her father bought her a guitar of her own. When she was twelve, she played her parents and grandparents her very first composition. It was at Arkansas State when, while a member of the marching band, McBryde finally started sharing her voice with others, and finally moved to Nashville in 2007 where steadily worked a circuit of dive bars, biker hangouts, and colorful joints fighting to have her songs heard.
Her first EP, the self-released 2016 Jalopies and Expensive Guitars was just a taste of what McBryde can do, and, on her full-length debut, she will meld her songwriting chops with the vision of producer Jay Joyce, peppering her tales with a touch of guitar-driven rock fury. McBryde isn’t afraid to tell the truth, get raw and real and use the spirits of country, folk and rock when it serves her greater purpose. And that’s to tell the stories that shake us, make us and tell us a little more about what it’s like to be human.
Midland LIVE at The Bluestone on Saturday, November 17, 2018!
*Opening Artist: Desure
*Doors for the show will open at 7PM
*Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show
Ticket On-Sale July 13th, 2018 at 10AM!
With all the chest-thumping going on in Nashville today, where bluster and swagger have replaced heart and soul, you half expect some of country music’s male stars to be sporting bruises. Which is what makes Midland, a trio of friends based in Dripping Springs, Texas, so undeniably refreshing. Made up of singer Mark Wystrach, lead guitarist Jess Carson and bass player Cameron Duddy, Midland is the embodiment of Seventies California country, all smooth Eagles harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics. Their songs are intoxicating, sung with the twang of George Strait.
And it’s impossible to resist.
Now, after endearing themselves to fans with the hit radio single “Drinkin’ Problem” and a self-titled EP, Midland unveil their full-length debut, On the Rocks (Big Machine Records).
A collection of 13 tracks all written or co-written by Midland – the guys took their name from a Dwight Yoakam song – On the Rocks excels at setting a mood, transporting the listener to another place and time. It’s an album made for wide-open skies, endless deserts and wondering where the road is going to take you next.
“Drinkin’ Problem,” written with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, who produced the album with Dann Huff, reclaims the drinking song for classic country music, making it less about an endless party and more about self-medicating. “They call it a problem, I call it a solution / just sitting here with all my grand illusions,” sings Wystrach, evoking the best booze ballads of both Gary Stewart and Merle Haggard, two of the trio’s chief influences.
“Make a Little,” a rollicking ditty, is more optimistic, soaring with the brotherly harmonies of Wystrach, Duddy and Carson and a timely message: “There’s just not enough love in the world.” The rapid-fire lyrics embody the clever wordplay that is unique to country music – “we should make a little, generate a little / maybe even make the world a better place a little” – and also nod to Alabama, another country band that helped spark a revolution in the genre.
Midland hearken back to a time when an artist’s personal style – colorful suits, tailored denim and well-worn hats – dovetailed with the music. And they tip their hats to other groundbreaking artists throughout On the Rocks.
The kick-back and get-high ode “Altitude Adjustment” name-checks John Denver, the majestic “Nothin’ New Under the Neon” sounds like vintage Eddie Rabbit, and the glorious “At Least You Cried” channels Dwight Yoakam. By album’s end, the band 2 returns to the Eagles, recalling their famous intro to “Seven Bridges Road,” with the closing “Somewhere on the Wind.”
“On the Rocks is a confluence of our musical tastes and our reverence for classic country,” says Duddy, whose wife, photographer Harper Smith, shoots all of the group’s stylish photos.
“This record is truly a nod to the time period we are influenced by,” says Carson, a Pacific Northwest native, “and is an effort to bring that sound and that pageantry back to the forefront.”
“We write with a very visual storytelling approach. We paint that big picture and go to that place,” says Wystrach. “Where is this story going? Let’s paint it.”
“Electric Rodeo,” with its plaintive piano, sweeping strings and high-in-the-saddle chorus, is a prime example of the “picture” the band talks about creating. And “Check Cashin’ Country,” a solo composition by Carson, stands as the band’s true-life road diary: the tale of a country-rock band trying to find time to sleep as they hustle from gig to gig, barely making enough money to put gas in the tank. It’s the country equivalent of Seger’s “On the Road.”
Midland first came together at Duddy’s wedding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the three members ended up jamming onstage at the rehearsal dinner.
“It was this serendipitous chain of events, and it was the best week ever,” says Wystrach, who, despite his hippie persona, was actually raised on an Arizona cattle ranch. “By the end, we knew the three of us had amazing chemistry.”
“Midland isn’t manufactured,” says Duddy, born in California. “We are three real friends who stumbled upon making music together.”
Whether they intended it or not, Midland are filling a void in country, with songs that run the gamut from lush Urban Cowboy anthems to loose campfire sing-alongs. Putting their own spin on a classic sound, they’re making something old relevant again.
“We are a band,” says Carson, declaratively. “That’s a big part of the spirit of what we do, that group experience and camaraderie.”
Says Wystrach, “We’ve poured our hearts and souls into writing and making these songs and are extremely proud of what we’ve been able to create.”
With On the Rocks, Midland have captured a sound decades in the making that is just right for today.
Devin Dawson will be performing LIVE at The Bluestone as part of his “Stray Off Course Tour” on
February 7th, 2019
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening Artist: Jillian Jacqueline
Tickets are $15 in Advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale Friday, November 9th at 10am
PURCHASE HERE
Devin Dawson is a country singer and songwriter with a keen ear for clever turns of phrase and a knack for splitting the difference between rootsy and contemporary. A native of Orangevale, California, Dawson spent his formative years soaking in the sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Alan Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Johnny Cash. In 2012, he packed his bags and headed to Nashville, where he became ensconced in the Music City songwriting machine, penning songs for other artists. After spending a few years honing his chops, he decided to strike out on his own, and enlisted the help of producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town, Brothers Osborne). He inked a deal with Warner Music Nashville and released his debut single, “All on Me,” which reached the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The track was included on his 2018 full-length debut, Dark Horse, which also included collaborations with songwriters Luke Laird, Josh Kerr, Seth Ennis, and others.
Jon Langston
March 3, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Bio: Jon Langston grew up in Loganville, GA, listening to music by his heroes Alan Jackson and the Eagles. He played football, eventually earning a Division 1 college football scholarship. Jon always thought football would a part of his life, but after his sixth concussion left him blind for fifteen minutes, his football career ended abruptly. So, he picked up his guitar which he hadn’t touched since the eighth grade and re-taught himself how to play. Playing open mic nights and working on his songwriting eventually lead to the 2013 release of self-penned, “Forever Girl,” the first song he ever wrote. That release kicked off his music career which has culminated in sold out shows across the country and over 500 million career streams. Jon opened for Luke Bryan on his Farm Tour in 2017, which was a full circle moment having attended as a spectator of the Farm Tour only a few years before in Athens, GA. He was invited to perform on the tour again in 2018 and joined Luke in support of his Sunset Repeat Tour in 2019. Jon signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV, management with KP Entertainment, and is the first artist signed under Luke Bryan’s new Label 32 Bridge Entertainment with EMI Records Nashville. Jon released his highly-anticipated EP, Now You Know, featuring six original songs all written by Jon. Jon’s debut major label single, “When It Comes To Loving You” reached No. 1 on the all-genre iTunes Chart and his single “Now You Know reached the Top 30 on the radio charts. Jon released a pair of new songs, “Happy Ever After” and “Try Missing You,” both of which highlight Langston’s songwriting and his classic country influences.
COVID-19: The Bluestone does not require COVID Vaccinations to enter our venue. We follow all local guidelines and cleaning procedures. The current Columbus “Mask Mandate” for an indoor event does not apply to anyone who is “ACTIVELY EATING OR DRINKING.” We kindly ask that you enter the building with a mask on. You can keep it on or remove it as long as you are actively EATING OR DRINKING! This will be a full capacity show, and it is an “ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK EVENT.”
Top of the World Tour
LAUREN ALAINA
Presented by maurices
March 25, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Tickets $20
Artist Biography
Lauren Alaina | Sitting Pretty on Top of the World
Ten years into her Nashville career, Lauren Alaina is in the upper echelon of country music’s most authentic voices, beloved personalities, and open hearts. She’s earned a reputation as one of the genre’s most compelling storytellers by boldly incorporating her struggles and heartache into her critically acclaimed first two albums. Lauren’s third studio collection, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, is an artful evolution of immaculately penned, unflinching reflections of the mountains and valleys on her journey.
Sitting Pretty on Top of the World opens with the telltale sound of a needle dropping down on a record, and with that, Lauren sets the tone for some of the most captivating music of her career. Lauren was inspired to lean into the tenets of classic country music for this project and on the albums lead track, “It Was Me,” she offers a timeless country ballad filled with heartsick self-reflection. Lauren’s voice emotionally soars through the aching, introspective lyrics: “It wasn’t you I didn’t love, it was me.”
“The other person isn’t always the bad guy,” Lauren concedes. “On ‘It Was Me,’ I’m taking full ownership of being in the wrong. It was really hard to admit that I was the one at fault and to realize that I didn’t love myself enough to allow someone else to love me.” But the vulnerable “It Was Me,” co-written with Hillary Lindsey, is a song Lauren considers to be one of the best she’s ever written.
Lauren takes pride in the exposed transparency of her songwriting on this project, and though most writing sessions took place via Zoom, Lauren was crafting verses and choruses alongside the likes of award-winning songwriters including Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, David Garcia, Jordan Reynolds, Ben Johnson and Kennedi Lykken. She co-wrote 14 of the album’s 15 songs, much of it inspired from recent life experiences including two impactful break-ups, the loss of her stepfather, and like much of the world, Lauren struggled with despondency as she adapted to life in the pandemic.
The album’s title track “On Top of the World” delves into the dark reality behind polished facades. Writing the song with Jordan Reynolds and Sasha Sloan after the pandemic forced her to stay home for the first time in a decade, Lauren, in a heightened emotional state, revealed how she felt enveloped in loneliness and sadness.
“I’ve been on the road and touring for 10 years and having that taken away so suddenly felt like an abrupt stop to everything I’ve been working for, and that was a really scary thing for me,” she says, “but the whole world stopped for everybody, and I needed to find new ways to connect with people.”
Lauren applies that same honest vulnerability throughout the album from the harrowing ballad “What Do You Think Of?” featuring Danish Pop Star Lukas Graham, to the pensive flow of “I’m Not Sad Anymore,” to the beautiful simplicity of “Good Ole Boy” with its scaled back production that truly allows Lauren’s vocals to shine.
“This whole thing [album] is about loving yourself and being brave and being strong,” Lauren says. “I was faced with all these trials, and I hope people feel themselves in these songs. I think we all live the same stories with different characters. And maybe people realize new beginnings can be good.”
“Getting Good,” a duet with Trisha Yearwood, is the only song Lauren didn’t write on the album. Penned by Weisband, the song is a poignant truth-telling about choosing to be happy. Drawn to the concept, Lauren says, “Life is all about perspective, and you sometimes you have to shift your perspective.”
Lauren punctuates the lovelorn with the playful yet forthright “When the Party’s Over” and with the propulsive yet nostalgic “Run.” She also teamed up with Emily Weisband and the album’s producer Paul DiGiovanni to write the lighthearted, here-for-the-fun, rebound tune, “Getting Over Him,” featuring country star Jon Pardi. Lauren rounds out the album with the beautifully hopeful “Change My Mind,” which she co-wrote with Seth Ennis and Cameron Bedell.
Then with the familiar crackle of a vinyl record nearing its end, the album comes to a close. A journey from start to finish. Lauren explores life in these unique times and Sitting Pretty on Top of the World is the salve and the soundtrack for anyone traversing their own personal quest for hope and new beginnings.
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s
with Alex Williams
April 10, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
About Whitey Morgan:
In a career spanning 15 years, Morgan has released five studio albums and a live recording from his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Additionally, he has toured relentlessly averaging over 125 shows annually. Rolling Stone has described him as a “Waylon Jennings acolyte.. modern day outlaw [with a] hard hitting blue-collar brand of music” while NPR Music hailed, “Staying close to the sound and subject matter of classic outlaw artists like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and David Allan Coe, Morgan is poised to lead this hand-worn brand of country to the next generation.” His most recent LP, Sonic Ranch (2015), was released to critical acclaim and praised by Detroit Free Press as, “a bold well-crafted album that doesn’t forsake the gritty undercurrent running through Morgan’s stuff.”
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s anticipated new album, self-produced by Morgan, was recorded in the Neve Room at famed Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas. Featured on the record are collaborations with acclaimed songwriters Travis Meadows and Ward Davis plus a cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid.” Alongside Morgan, the 78’s consist of Brett Robinson (pedal steel guitar), Joey Spina (guitar), Alex Lyon (bass) and Eric Savage (drums).
Of the recording, Morgan shares, “It’s not like my vision happened overnight. I’ve been chipping away at it forever. It’s slowly evolving and it’s going in a little bit different direction. It’s not so straightforward anymore. This record definitely has a wider path, it’s broader, but it still sounds like a Whitey Morgan record.” With grandparents from Tennessee and Kentucky and hometown roots in Flint, Michigan, Morgan’s family geography has factored into his approach to music.
Ian Munsick
with Ryan Charles
May 13, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
ABOUT IAN MUNSICK
Breathing fresh Rocky Mountain air into the Nashville music scene, Ian Munsick is pioneering a new brand of country. The Wyoming-born singer / songwriter’s upbringing was a mix of working the ranch and working crowds. Under the tutelage of their fiddle-playing father, Munsick and his two older brothers grew up playing everything from bluegrass to The Beatles. Incorporating elements across genres, he has now begun to establish himself as a progressive artist with an old soul. Captivated by traditional lyrical truth and the modern soundscape, Munsick followed his ear to Music City.
In 2017 he released a self-titled EP, winning iHeartRadio’s Rocky Mountain Song of the Year for the rootsy “Horses Are Faster” and becoming the only artist who simultaneously qualified two tracks as finalists in the NSAI/CMT songwriting competition. Since then, Munsick has signed a major label record deal with Warner Music Nashville, earned more than 100 million global streams and been named one of Spotify’s inaugural Hot Country Artists to Watch. His debut album Coyote Cry features his mile-high tenor underscoring self-penned songs that conjure equal parts epic adventure and down-to-earth wisdom. The record marks the dawn of western pop-laced country, pulling a thread straight from Chris LeDoux through Post Malone. Munsick hit the road in the fall alongside labelmate Cody Johnson and his own sold-out, headlining dates. He wrapped the year with his Grand Ole Opry debut and is starting 2022 strong as a MusicRow Next Big Thing artist. Fans are finding that with Ian Munsick, western country is reborn.
About Ryan Charles
Western rapper Ryan Charles hails from the valley of Buffalo, WY. Similar to his hometown, once referred to as the most lawless town in America, Charles brings a style all his own — meshing the cowboy lifestyle with flow of 2000’s rap. A natural-born entertainer, Charles quickly became one of the most skilled freestyle rappers on the school bus, eventually making the move to Seattle, WA to pursue his music career more seriously. As an artist, Charles has released a few singles, including the jiggy buckaroo bop “Gettin’ Western” in 2020 and most recently, “Old Dirt Fancy” in 2021. Known for his signature fashion sense, light hearted twang and high-energy live shows, Charles continues to work on new music in Nashville, TN.
Paul Cauthen
May 19, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Want to get a bead on Paul Cauthen?
Good freakin’ luck — especially on his third album, COUNTRY COMING DOWN.
Suffice to say that the singer, songwriter and proud son of Tyler, Texas — steward of a rich, resonant, bass-leaning tenor dubbed Big Velvet — covers a lot of ground and embodies a lot of characters. He’ll tell you right off the bat that he’s “Country As Fuck,” throwing down a wad of “Fuck You Money” and heading into the night to “Cut a Rug.” His “Country Clubbin'” has as much to do with swinging as his swing. But a song or two later dude’s vowing to be loving his wife “Till the Day I Die” and, in COUNTRY COMING DOWN’s title track, dreams of living in “a cabin in the country, far away from the city lights” where “life is slow and easy.”
The fact that all of that exists within the same guy, who’s full of good humor, sharp wit and a heart as big as his home state is what makes Cauthen someone who’s easy, and exciting, to spend 10 songs with.
“Y’know, you got your bangers and you got your ballads,” Cauthen acknowledges. “You got your meaningful songs where you’re opening up more of your vulnerable side, and then you’re putting on a fucking show — all in one album. And it’s all honest, I’ll tell ya that. Everything on there is something I’ve felt or thought before.”
COUNTRY COMING DOWN has been in motion awhile, actually. The title track, one of several co-writes with good Nashville pal Aaron Raitiere, has been around since before Cauthen’s dark sophomore album ROOM 41. Its sense of campfire calm and “damn near off the map” idyll set a bar, for both music and lifestyle, that Cauthen aspired to, while the rest of the new album, recorded at Modern Electric Sound Recorders in Dallas with regular collaborators Beau Bedford (Texas Gentlemen) and Jason Burt (Medicine Man Revival), shows that Cauthen was able to get there without losing any of the playful “hot dog holly golly dagnabit” good-time spirit that rolls off his tongue like a tumbleweed in the west Texas panhandle.
As he promises in “Country As Fuck,” “I ain’t gotta sell my soul. If I want it then I grab it.”
“I’m having fun,” Cauthen says. “I’ve finally figured it out. I’m more settled and comfortable. I know I’m good at making records and great at entertaining. That’s my gift more than anything, to be able to get up there and deliver these songs to people.”
That gift is part of Cauthen’s DNA, of course, from a family deeply steeped in music. Texan on both sides, his paternal grandfather went to school with Hank Williams while his maternal grandpa, who worked with Buddy Holly and the Crickets during his youth, introduced Cauthen to singing. His grandmother taught him to play piano, while his grandfather and great uncle were the song leader and preacher, respectively, of the local Christian Church of Christ.
“Yeah, I had no choice, really” Cauthen says now. “(Music) is what I call my birddog trait; You don’t have to tell a birddog to jump in the river and grab the duck and bring it back to you. And you don’t have to tell me to get up on stage and perform. That’s what I’m supposed to do. My family enjoyed watching me perform when I was a kid; I would get up in front of everybody at Christmas with my guitar and play ‘Jackson’ with my grandmother. I learned my trade, y’know?”
Cauthen pursued that trade into young adulthood, showcasing at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos and forming the duo Sons of Fathers, whose early albums were produced by Lloyd Maines. After the group ran its course, Cauthen set off on his own in 2016, recording MY GOSPEL partly in Muscle Shoals, AL.; The album made Rolling Stone’s list of Top 40 Country Records that year. 2018’s HAVE MERCY EP began his association with Bedford and featured contributions by other members of the Texas Gentlemen, and also led to Cauthen’s Grand Ole Opry debut as a solo artist on June 22, 2018.
The critically acclaimed ROOM 41, meanwhile, chronicled and exorcised a rough period in Cauthen’s life, marked by a romantic breakup, substance abuse, depression and anxiety issues. “My growing years were like going to college,” Cauthen confesses. “I just got screwed so many times by so many different people on this whole freakin’ journey. I had this void I was trying to fill in my heart, with booze or any type of, just, abuse. I made every stupid mistake you can make in the business, and in life, in order to learn ’em all.
“I don’t feel that hurt anymore. I’ve changed.”
Marriage helped, he says. So did cleaning house and restructuring the business operation that surrounded him. That allowed Cauthen to plunge into COUNTRY COMING DOWN with a lighter heart and wicked humor — one that allowed him to find the profound meaning in a “schmoozie bougie brouhaha.”
If you want to know what that sounds like, tuck into the album’s sonic array, an austere, sinewy attack that puts Cauthen’s vocals dead center in the ride. “We’ve really unleashed Big Velvet in this situation, which I love,” he says. Nowhere is that more true than “Country As Fuck,” with a taut groove and loping gait tailor made for a 21st century honky tonk. Cauthen, Bedford and Burt play with that template throughout COUNTRY COMING DOWN, punctuating “Caught Me At a Good Time” with a sharp guitar solo, “High Heels” with a tasteful Wurlitzer break and the satiristic “Country Clubbin'” with a disco beat and chorus of female backing vocals.
But just when you buy in — and happily convert — to Cauthen’s brand of unapologetic hedonism, the soul comes out. “Till The Day I Die” smoothes his raw heart with the promise of true and lasting love, while the stock-taking “Roll On Over” takes a wistful look in his rearview mirror. And “Country Coming Down” realizes a dream of calm — although not exclusive of the next sojourn with “Champagne & a Limo.”
I’m always on a quest, sonically,” Cauthen explains. “I was wanting to go at this just serving the song, more, ‘What does this call for?’ rather than worrying about genre or sonic palette or any certain sound. I had a lot of these songs brewing for a long time, and we just let them grow on their own.”
His muse fully engaged, Cauthen is looking towards doing more of that in the future, with a few conceptual ideas up his sleeve about what he might do next. No matter what direction he takes, however, he won’t be abandoning that cabin in the hills or the “Country Clubbin'” life; Cauthen will just be adding more to the mix he’s stirred together.
“It’s just about looking at yourself in the mirror and knowing that what you’ve done to this day has been in good standing, with good morals and a good compass in life, driven the right way,” he says. “Legacy is all we have — that, and try to be a good person as well. If you get all that together, then you can do whatever the fuck you want and it’ll be alright.”
American Aquarium
September 28, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
American Aquarium
“Country music was the voice of the people. It wasn’t always the prettiest voice, but it was an honest voice,” says American Aquarium founder and frontman BJ Barham. “I think that’s where country music has lost its way.” He pauses, then adds, North Carolina accent thick and voice steady: “I operate in the dark shadows of what we don’t want to talk about in the South.”
These days, those shadows are tall and wide, making it hard to recognize a neighbor, family––even yourself. On American Aquarium’s new album Lamentations, Barham shines light on dark American corners with heartbreaking conversations, long looks in the mirror, and empathetic questions, all through songwriting that is clear without sacrificing its poetry, and direct without losing its humanity. “As a songwriter, my number one job is to observe and then translate what I observe into a song, a story, a lesson,” Barham says. “I’d be doing myself and the listener a huge disservice if I didn’t talk about the things I see, which is a country, divided.”
As much as Barham appreciates an indignant protest song or one-sided anthem, he isn’t writing them. Instead, on Lamentations he’s making the political personal, reaching out to humanize folks with opposing viewpoints, and offering dignity instead of demonizing. The result is the strongest writing of Barham’s already stout career. “I’m still very much standing up for what I believe in––I don’t think anyone can question what side of the aisle I stand on,” he says. “But hopefully people listen and at least try to understand why their Sunday School teacher wears a Trump hat.”
Barham has built a fiercely devoted fanbase hundreds of thousands strong, fortified with 15 years of sold-out American Aquarium shows across the country and Europe. The band’s 2018 release Things Change strode confidently into that distinct territory where rock-and-roll and politics meet, prompting Rolling Stone to announce Barham “earns every bit of his Southern Springsteen cred.” In 2019, the American Aquarium lineup also shifted again: Shane Boeker remains on guitar, and bassist Alden Hedges, keys player Rhett Huffman, pedal steel ace Neil Jones, and drummer Ryan Van Fleet joined the group.
A beloved live band known for consistently playing at least 200-250 dates a year, American Aquarium chose to be more selective in 2019, winnowing the schedule to 92 shows. For Barham, sober for six years now, is a dad to a toddler and still happily married, the adjustment was a must. “We’re learning how to balance being in our mid-30s and being rock-and-rollers,” he says. “Being home was the most rewarding experience. It allowed me to be creative and write about things that really matter.”
Lamentations reflects that elevated focus. Barham, who is no longer religious but was raised Southern Baptist, wrote down the word “lamentations” in 2018, and knew it’d be his next album title before he’d written a single song for the record. He felt an anchoring connection to the word itself––defined as “the passionate expression of grief or sorrow”––but also to the Old Testament book in the Bible. “Lamentations is one of the few books in the Bible where there’s this doubt of God––this guy, crying out to the heavens, like, Why? If you love us so much, why did you let Jerusalem fall to Babylon?” Barham says. “I saw a direct correlation between that and a Southern man today who voted for Trump. I wanted to write about a broken America and all the things that lead a human being to doubting something. Every song on this record touches on something a little different.”
Album opener “Me and Mine (Lamentations)” is brooding and stormy, plaintive acoustic guitar undergirding Barham’s weathered vocals. Searching, frustrated, and sad, the song was written from the perspective of a conservative Southern voter who feels unseen, unheard, and short on hope. The broader message is immersive and immediate: Settle in and listen closely. Times are hard, and this record is going to talk about it. Barham, who doesn’t agree with the song’s protagonist politically, imbues him with respect and sympathetic fatigue. “There are so many people who come out nowadays and say, If you voted this way, you’re a racist. You’re a misogynist. You’re a nationalist,” he says. “But that was my teacher, my librarian, my uncle. I know they aren’t bigots. So instead of saying, You’re a bad person because you did this, I want to know why you did this. I want to talk to you about this.”
Upbeat guitar rocker “Dogwood” follows, with a tragic story wrapped up in singalong lines. Barham points to the song and “Luckier You Get,” with its Springsteen vibes and an ear-worm chorus, as two of the album’s more lighthearted moments. “Bright Leaf” is another musical moment ready for a crowd, offering a clear-eyed look at the tobacco farms and industry of Barham’s home through sharp lyrics that thousands will shout-sing right back at him.
Featuring wry pedal steel and a shuffling back beat, “Better South” is an alternative anthem, written and sung by a native Southerner who believes in change. Line after line, “Starts with You” shows off Barham’s self-deprecating wit: “They say you’re only as sick as your secrets / If that’s the truth then, friend, I’m dying / Spent a lifetime salvaging shipwrecks, / Falling so long I thought I was flying.”
Throughout the record, the only victim of Barham’s harsh tongue is himself. Heartbreaking “How Wicked I Was” pleads for narrative omissions when it comes to explaining the past to his little girl. Album highlight “Learned to Lie” cuts just as deep: Barham delivers a gut-wrenching confession over lonely piano. Raw and intimate, its look at how we hurt the ones we love evokes the unblinking candor of 60s and 70s Loretta Lynn––that extreme honesty Barham first valued in country music, and now misses. “That was one of the first songs I played for the boys in the band, and they were like, ‘Are you sure you want to record that?’” Barham says. “It’s a hard song to talk about. It’s a heavy song. For better or worse, I’m going to be real with you live. I’m probably going to make you uncomfortable. And that I think that’s a beautiful part of rock-and-roll.”
“Six Years Come September” is another heartbreaker, masquerading at first as a familiar story before a sobering plot twist. “As a songwriter, that’s the best feeling in the world––ruining someone with lyrics and a well-executed story,” Barham says. He points to album closer “Long Haul” as a frontrunner for his own favorite track. Perhaps the closest the record comes to jubilation, “Long Haul” rolls through three steadfast commitments Barham holds true and dear.
Ultimately, Lamentations is a thrilling portrait of an artist and his band reaching new levels of skill, consciousness, and potential after 20 years in the trenches. Unruly and sincere, Barham emerges as an important American voice––and an unlikely peacemaker. “I’ve had to work really hard to carry water as a songwriter,” he says. “It feels really good to be in my mid-30s, writing songs that I think matter. I think when you listen to this record, something is going to change in you. You’re going to feel something. That’s the most important part of songwriting: making someone feel.
The Cadillac Three
Hillbilly Hypnotize Tour
w/ Ben Chapman
September 30, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Spending their formative years playing music together in basements and garages laid the foundation for THE CADILLAC THREE to put their own spin on each new record. They open a time capsule of their musical history together and expand on some of the grooves from COUNTRY FUZZ release with a new offering titled TABASCO & SWEET TEA via Big Machine Records. Dropping the sonic swirl with little warning, the new album is a welcome interruption to the mundane and stress felt around the globe.
“As we finished the last record, we knew we were only tapping the surface with songs like ‘The Jam’ for where we could go next musically and found ourselves inspired to dive into these sounds that we had never explored before as a band,” explains drummer Neil Mason. “We’ve always had a lot of influences, but ultimately found ourselves thinking about what we were listening to in high school — The Meters, Stevie Wonder, Medeski Martin & Wood and John Scofield.”
Lead singer and guitarist Jaren Johnston continues, “this album is a science project … constantly moving in different directions but keeping one cohesive feel throughout. We kind of have this innate thing going after all these years so it’s cool to kind of stretch into some new musical spaces with elements of a DJ set that flows from track to track, but mixed with 80’s Funk vibes and jam-band flow over hardcore Country lyrics.”
TABASCO & SWEET TEA explores hybrid sounds throughout the 11 modern-meets-nostalgia tracks. Connecting with their fans and creating no matter the obstacles, TC3 launched this new project at $3.99 for the first week so it is more accessible during a time when many are not spending as much on music, but need it now more than ever.
“We wouldn’t be where we are without our fans,” shares bassist Kelby Ray. “We lost the ability to tour and know many of our fans have also lost their ability to work consistently this year so we wanted to find a way to provide this album as cost effectively as we could. Our hope is that everyone who wants TABASCO & SWEET TEA can get it without breaking the bank.”
Jaren’s gritty vocals explode over unexpected guitar riffs as Kelby pounds out taut yet voluptuous bass lines mixed Neil’s gnarly, syncopated rhythms. Their boisterous, yet good-natured freewheeling vibe erupts with the title track and caps off the sequence with a calling-card biography, “Sabbath On Cornbread to reinforce the electricity of their live show:
These 3 longhairs born and raised here
Gonna keep on changin’ the game
Sticks and skins, slide and steel
Guitar man 3 hippie hillbillies from Tennessee
Keepin’ it heavy, keepin’ it real
Best damn band in Country, you best believe
You ainʼt never seen nothinʼ like The Cadillac Three
Known across the globe for their unpredictable concerts – equally impressive and amped in a sweaty club or festival main stage – TC3 delivers.
Maybe it’s a sign of the times this project is released now, as playlists reflect listeners finding comfort in old favorites when times are tough. TC3 finds the common ground interweaving traditions of American popular music and proving that new can still feel classic without being derivative yet simultaneously casting a vision for good times ahead.
Black Buffalo Presents
LARRY FLEET
larryfleet.com
The Bluestone
with special guest Megan Moroney
Saturday, October 1st, 2022
Larry Fleet | About
Don’t let Larry Fleet’s humble demeanor fool you: the Chattanooga-based Country singer-songwriter is the real deal, with fans in contemporary heavy-hitters like Jake Owen and living Country legends like Willie Nelson. He’s a thoughtful songwriter with a knack for a one-liner, an ear for a good hook and a powerhouse voice that strikes the perfect balance of soul and twang.
You can hear all this and more on Fleet’s new single “Where I Find God.” Written alongside award-winning songwriter Connie Harrington, “Where I Find God” is a beautifully heartfelt ode to family, fishing and Fleet’s unyielding faith. “Sometimes, whether I’m lookin’ for him or not / That’s where I find God,” Fleet sings, with his soul-drenched twang adding an element of gospel to the track’s stripped-down Country arrangement.
“Where I Find God” has already received an immensely positive response from fans, many of whom have shared their own experiences of faith and finding God. Some fans even count hearing the song itself among their life’s religious experiences, a life-changing phenomenon that gets right at the heart of why Fleet writes songs in the first place.
“I’ve had older people tell me, ‘I found God in 1982,'” Fleet says. “They’re telling their stories. Then other people tell me they fought with addiction. They heard this song and turned their truck around and tried to mend some fences with their family and go to Alcoholics Anonymous. To me, as a songwriter, that’s about as good a compliment that you can get: a song you wrote has changed someone’s life, for the good. I’m so proud of this song.”
Lost Dog Street Band
With The Local Honeys
October 8, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
About Lost Dog Street Band
Returning to the stripped-back, string band sound of their busking years, Lost Dog Street Band’s new album Glory is a searing testament to recovery, redemption and resolve. Fronted by songwriter Benjamin Tod and his wife, fiddler Ashley Mae, the DIY band began out of desperation on the sidewalks of Nashville roughly a decade ago, but now sustains a significant national audience that’s drawn to their authentic songwriting, old-time instrumentation, and hard-won independence.
“I wanted to make an album with the specific intention of being raw but full at the same time and to get back to our roots,” Benjamin Tod says. “Everyone on this album has been a busker. Douglas Francisco, who plays slide guitar — I met him on the streets busking. Jeff Loops, our bassist, was in a busking band, too. That flavor was important to me, just getting back to the root of things.”
By centering the songs of Glory around acoustic arrangements, without the drums or steel guitar of prior albums, these harrowing personal stories become even more graphic. It’s a feeling that Benjamin Tod himself describes as “a logical glimpse of climbing out of hell.” He observes, “Something that was shocking to me was realizing that as soon as I got sober, that was really the beginning of the journey. Choosing to get sober was barely even a milestone.”
Leading the album, “Until I Recoup (Glory I)” vengefully demands justice and describes the fight for glory after it’s been unjustly taken away. The lyrics read like a mission statement of redemption.
Similar to Steve Earle’s influential Train a Comin’ album from 1999, Glory conveys the hard work that goes into getting clean, particularly in tracks like “Fighting Like Hell to Be Free,” “Beautiful Curse” and “Jalisco Bloom.” Calling to mind the skillful writing of Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt, “What Keeps Me Up Now” views that phrase from multiple angles, from sleepless nights to a suicide attempt, where “the belt was a noose when I came to on the ground.” It’s one example of the “dark country” description that the band occasionally uses to describe their sound. In contrast, “End With You” finds Benjamin Tod feeling damn glad that he’s found a relationship that’s sustained him for a decade, through the achievements as well as the obstacles.
Raised in Sumner County, just outside of Nashville, Benjamin Tod was primarily raised by his grandmother and grandfather. However, at age 7, his mother surprised him with a cheap electric guitar –then his competing father bought him a pawnshop classical guitar. With nobody to show him how to play, they were little more than toys. However, at 14, he and a friend each received a Fullerton parlor guitar from his friend’s father. The boys started getting interested in folk music and protest songs, which led Benjamin to the streets of Nashville to busk.
Meanwhile, Ashley Mae was spending more and more time in Nashville, where her mother worked the overnight shift at rock station WKDF. She’d already tapped into the small punk scene in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she grew up, but found an even deeper community in Music City. At 20, she taught herself to play fiddle, shedding as much of her classical violin training as she could. When she met Benjamin Tod at a punk show, introduced by a mutual friend, they bonded immediately.
At 17, they left Nashville together for a life of street performance, hopping trains, and scraping by on less than $300 a month. After four years of terrible gigs and almost no traction, Benjamin Tod decided in 2016 to abandon the band. “I’d been a hardly functioning drug addict and alcoholic for over a decade. I was sick of the lifestyle and it seemed like it was going nowhere,” he admits.
An invitation from the band Devil Makes Three came out of the blue in 2016. Benjamin Tod found out about it in a train-yard, about to hop a train from Asheville, North Carolina, to Knoxville, Tennessee. “Without that, Lost Dog never would have moved forward from that point,” he says.
Lost Dog Street Band gained traction through that tour, but when Benjamin Tod and Ashley Mae separated for a year and a half, the momentum evaporated. Instead of going back on the road, they filmed performance videos of songs from Benjamin Tod’s solo album, I Will Rise, and posted them to YouTube without much expectation other than promotional use. However, that decision proved to be the turning point, as curious listeners discovered the band and their ticket sales skyrocketed.
Those early fans especially will embrace the spare but spirited sound of Glory, applied to tracks like “Cost of the High,” which directly addresses the fallout of addiction, as well as “Hayden’s Lament,” where the choice is given between “getting dead or getting tough.” Right after the plaintive country ballad, “Losing Again,” Benjamin Tod brings out the banjo for “I Believe (Glory II),”which basks in the emotion of finally finding that glory.
Without touring in 2020, Benjamin Tod and Ashley Mae settled on a parcel of land in rural Kentucky that they bulldozed themselves, building a cabin with well water and solar panels. Every week, even now, Benjamin Tod says he takes account of his situation as a recovering addict.
“In society as a whole, there’s a real lack in examples of actual recovery,” he says. “There’s not a brutally honest take on how painful the process is, but how rewarding it is at the same time. Every step that you make helps encourage you to meet the next milestone. It’s like a punch in the face and the kiss on the cheek every day. It’s very personal for me, the concept of digging out of hell, because I had to do that in order to gain my own dignity back. Everything follows after that. You have to earn your own respect of yourself before you earn it from anybody else.”
David Nail
Story to Tell Tour
with Tyler Braden
October 12, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
