Jake Xerxes Fussell

This is a partially seated show. Reared in Georgia and now settled in North Carolina, Jake Xerxes Fussell has established himself as a devoted listener and contemplative interpreter of a vast array of so-called folk songs, lovingly sourced from a personal store of favorites. On his latest album, When I’m Called—his first LP for Fat Possum, and his first as a parent—Fussell returns to a well of music that holds lifelong sentimental meaning, loosely contemplating the passage of time and the procession of life’s unexpected offerings. The album was produced by James Elkington and mixed by Tucker Martine. In addition to Elkington, it features the playing of Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), Joe Westerlund (Bon Iver, Califone), and others. Blake Mills contributes guitars on several tracks. Joan Shelley and Robin Holcomb provide backing vocals. “…Fussell is the rare contemporary to approach folk in its pure form, shunning self-penned compositions about bummer relationships to concentrate on material handed down from bygone, hardened times.” – The New Yorker “(Fussell) is one of the great magpies of American song, collecting forgotten, tarnished gems with a folklorist’s zeal… his renditions aren’t so much cover versions as composites…” – The Guardian “…maybe the leading interpreter of American folk music right now.” – Ann Powers, NPR Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | Tidal

Hege V, Secret Monkey Weekend

Hege V Facebook Secret Monkey Weekend Website | Spotify

Carolina Waves Showcase & Open Mic

Hosted by Mir.I.am ALL AGES. FREE TO PERFORM. FLASHDRIVES ONLY. $15 ENTRY.INSTRUMENTS WELCOME WHERE / EARLY ARRIVAL HIGHLY SUGGESTED. Email [email protected] with questions

¡Tumbao! It’s A Hot One Summer Tour 2024

Coming off from a record-setting international tour for the nine person Psychedelic Latin Fusion ensemble, – having shared the stage with Grammy Award winning acts like Kabaka Pyramid, Proyecto Uno, and legend Mavis Staples, with performances at stages such as the Grassroots Festival Circuit, The Smithsonian, a featured artist at Jazz in the Garden in Washington, DC and CocoJazz Fest in Lima, Peru – the band has reached a new height of popularity, expanding its fanbase beyond its original Latin American and East Coast roots. Website | Instagram | Facebook

Dr. Bacon, Hustle Souls, The Up and Up

Bats & Mice

In 2012, two of the founding members of the seminal punk trio Bats & Mice stepped into the studio to start work on their follow-up to 2010’s “Back In Bat” EP. Then, between babies and careers, life happened, and the project went dark for almost a decade. Bats & Mice is a band that has quietly crept through the music world. Three members of Sleepytime Trio originally formed the band: Jonathan Fuller (Engine Down, Denali), Dave NeSmith (Rah Bras, Committees) and Ben Davis (MileMarker, Committees). They began writing songs together in a new style that pursued their hardcore roots coupled with a more dark and winding sense of melody. However, the music still maintained the energy and drive of their previous efforts. This line-up produced Bats & Mice’s first work, a self-titled EP released on Lovitt Records in the fall of 2000, to critical acclaim. Friends Daron Hollowel and Ash Bruce from the band 400 Years joined for a stint in which ‘Bats’ wrote and released the full-length album entitled, “Believe It Mammals”, on Lovitt in the spring of 2002. That line-up toured to support the LP across the US, playing with Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 90 Day Men, Denali, and Gregor Samsa. In 2004, Luke Herbst joined the band on drums, and the band toured Europe in support of a new EP titled “A Person Carrying a Handmade Paper Bag is Considered as a Royal Person”. Jonathan Fuller rejoined the group and helped write and record the “Back In Bat” EP, released in 2010. Soon after, Mark Oates (from Wailin Storms) took over the drums for Jonathan and helped write new songs as the band headed into the studio to record the basic tracks for an LP in 2012. In early 2023, the band reconvened in Chapel Hill’s Warrior Sound to rework the original tracking and finish a 10-song full-length record. Named “PS: Seriously.” the finished LP is finally coming to light in 2024 to be released on Lovitt. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Fruition: How To Make Mistakes Tour

How To Make Mistakes, Fruition’s first studio album in four years, showcases a reinvigorated group at the peak of its powers. This is American roots music at its broadest and boldest: a melting pot of rock, soul, folk, and pop, co-produced by the bandmates themselves and tracked entirely live in the recording studio. What began as a busking string band has evolved into something more eclectic, rooted not only in the unique delivery of three different singers, but also the cohesion of five friends who prefer their music to be homegrown and honest… mistakes and all. From folk-rock anthems to campfire ballads, How To Make Mistakes embraces the full spread of the band’s past and present, mixing unplugged instruments with electrified arrangements. The result is an all-encompassing sound suitable for arenas one minute and front-porch picking parties the next — the sound of a band rededicating itself to the long haul, one song at a time. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Evan Bartels

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Kate Bollinger

On Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. “When I’m recording a song,” the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, “my indication of whether it’s worth pursuing is if I’m seeing a movie in my head to go along with it.” Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision that’s instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rock—like early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandoval—the resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friend’s record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery. In order to summon this majestic blend of styles, Bollinger spent years cultivating material, challenging herself to work with new collaborators while moving across the country from her native Virginia to California. Evolving the hermetic approach of her early EPs and solo performances, she arrived at a fuller sound based on intuitive responses and in-the-moment energy. “I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room,” she observes. Armed with endless hooks and wildly shifting textures, Bollinger can seem as much like a songwriter as an art-house auteur, crafting the soundtrack and scenery for a non-existent movie. (Fittingly, Bollinger studied film in college, and she also directed the striking music video for Jessica Pratt’s recent single “World on a String.”) Several highlights from the record were co-written with Spacebomb Records mastermind Matthew E. White, such as the jangle-pop gem “Any Day Now” and the theatrical “I See It Now.” After months of writing in Richmond and Los Angeles, Bollinger traveled to upstate New York to record with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief, Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs), with whom she developed a similar kinship. Alongside her longtime friend and drummer Jacob Grissom, she formed a group of tight-knit collaborators able to match her wide-ranging inspiration, spanning from ’60s icons like Françoise Hardy and the Velvet Underground to ’90s touchpoints like No Doubt and Pavement. “In some way, this album feels like my musical debut. I feel that I’ve finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record.” For Bollinger, the connective tissue between this disparate material is often unspoken but always deeply felt. “Songwriting is kind of like dreaming,” she explains. “They both tend to reveal to me what I don’t yet consciously know. I thought of the album title before most of the songs were written, but it became a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way that tends to happen in a lot of my music.” As a lyricist, Bollinger expresses herself through subtle imagery and surrealist stream-of-conscious narratives, allowing listeners to arrive at their own interpretation. When she touches on the rise and fall of romantic relationships, there is an almost therapeutic quality to her writing.Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Dogpark – Breaking in America Tour

Dogpark got their start performing at University of Richmond (their alma-mater), before launching into sell-out shows across the country. The band consists of Eamon Moore (lead vocals), Chris Conte (drums), Declan Harris (lead guitar), Billy Apostolou (bass/guitar), and Will Harford (vocals/bass/guitar). Infectious stage presence and an homage to the indie-rock of the 90s have kick-started their career from a backyard band to a mainstage group. The band’s EP, ‘Breaking in Brooklyn,’ proves that they are here to make a mark, and with the release of their upcoming full-length album, this is only the beginning. Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

Genre: Concerts