Cat’s Cradle Back Room

This event had been cancelled. Tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase. Versus was formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups, and Edward Baluyut in New York City. The band was noted for its marriage of pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to the “loud-soft” dynamics of grunge and alternative rock. They were also noted for their proficient and disciplined musicianship and for their credo of “meat, sports, and rock.” Links: Facebook | Bandcamp

Mark Schimick – MANDOLIN Mark Schimick is one of the most unique and talented mando players and singers we’ve ever met. His style exudes soul, excitement, and danger! He has soared to the top of the progressive and jamgrass scene alongside legends Larry Keel, Vassar Clements, and Tony Rice. Sam Wharton – GUITAR Sam Wharton is a dynamic guitar player. Originally from Alabama he developed his picking chops in the music halls of Telluride, CO. He currently makes his home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He sings lead and harmony vocals. Charles R Humphrey III – BASS Charles R. Humphrey III is a bass player, songwriter, and producer. He makes his home in Asheville, NC. He is an ibma award and grammy recipient. He is also a member of the North Carolina Musical Hall Of Fame. James Schlender – FIDDLE James Schlender currently makes his home in Asheville, NC and is the nastiest fiddle player on the face of the earth! He is a 2 time National Fiddle Player Champion and great harmony singer! Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Karyn Oliver is part Joan Osborne, a touch of Janis Joplin and a bit of Emmylou Harris – effortlessly oscillating from bluesy to country and back. Her musical inspirations come primarily from the eclectic mix of music to which she was exposed while growing up in the musically diverse culture of Washington, D.C. In 2009, Karyn moved to a town called Boring, MD with a broken heart and a cheap guitar. It was from this place that she created her first solo album, Red Dress, that earned her Kerrville New Folk Finalist and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist in 2011, as well as 2010 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest winner. In 2011, Oliver moved to New York City, with a renewed heart and a better guitar. It is from this place that she created her latest solo album, Magdalene, and became a Kerrville New Folk Finalist for a second time in 2016. 2017 brought Oliver to North Carolina, where she is steeping herself in the great writers of the South, and recorded a new album, “A List Of Names”. “A List Of Names” is currently charting on both Folk (#8 in February!) and Americana radio. “The fire of a Folk musician is at the heart of the stories on ‘A List of Names.’ (The CD) shifts sounds, blending diverse styles guided by the vocal drive of Karyn Oliver.” �- The Alternate Root ___________ Barry Gray has been writing songs since he was a teenager, but only sharing them with others outside of his family for the last five years or so. His songs are deeply personal and tap into common human emotions and struggles. Making a difference in the lives of those close to you, both while you’re here and after you’re gone, is a common theme. He’s constantly in search of a way to capture the precious moments all humans share. Barry was the 2018 recipient of the NC Arts Council Songwriting Fellowship. Winning the Songwriting Fellowship allowed him to record his first record ‘Footsteps’ which he released in November2018. ‘Footsteps’ meshes his sweet songs, heartfelt vocals, and tender guitar playing with perfectly placed contributions from a very talented group of NC musicians to produce a harmonious work. You’ll hear Barry’s originals as well as covers of local and legendary artists at his shows. ___________ Wyatt Easterling A multiplatinum songwriter and producer, Wyatt Easterling is a master storyteller and nowhere is this more apparent than on his latest record, Divining Rod, the top #5 Folk album in the month following its release in 2017. Back Porch Radio has also recognized Divining Rod as one of the top 25 folk albums of the year for 2017. This collection captures Easterling’s folk roots, carving hope from heartache while spinning tales of return, redemption, and reclamation. With his smooth vocals and gritty lyrics, punctuated by intricate guitar work, Wyatt knows his way around a song and how to deliver it. Wyatt is currently in the studio recording a new album scheduled for a 2020 release.

Heart Bones is a rare thing-a new band with a long history-which heightens both expectations and standards. See, I think that when a new thing, a creative thing, clicks into place just right and does so immediately on a level that you just know and feel is true all at once, often it’s all the little ways it dares to be just a little bit off that actually makes it work. And striking this ideal ratio of The Familiar and The New is the specialist’s true skill. This is exactly how Heart Bones excels. It’s not hard to imagine that they shouldn’t exist at all: Sabrina Ellis and Sean Tillmann are obviously both tirelessly bustling and juggling and geographically separated by the entire height of the middle of the country. But put on their debut album Hot Dish and as soon as Sabrina’s first line enters, completing the inversion of Sean’s first line which has just spun your head around, the collaboration feels inevitable. Inevitable like, “Damn, right. Heart Bones. Guarding the center of vulnerabilities. Why do we have things called chest cavities instead of heart bones?” The anatomical warping of their name makes more sense given how fragile our meaty bodies actually are. Both in concept and approach, Sean and Sabrina share many commonalities: long histories of genre warping and adopting evolving personas to embody these progressions, celebrating wildness and theatricality night after night throughout grueling tour schedules. And all this expressed in the persistent tension of dark themes made melodious, a move that the true specialist knows will always make the struggle for balance feel deep and real. In hindsight, Sean’s evolution seems so linear: his earliest band Calvin Krime dared to be fun in a subculture steeped in angst. And after it disbanded, he sanded down the angular edges and stepped more clearly into a front-man role in Sean Na Na. But it was only the emergence of his alter ego Har Mar Superstar-at first pretending to be his own brother-that gave him the cover to risk fully expressing himself freely. The depths of his impulses came to play on the surface; the constant tensions of silliness and sincerity struck as immediate and true and deeply felt and always fun; stripping down to one’s skivvies isn’t only sexy, it’s sexy because of the openness and vulnerability it represents. Over the course of 20 years, it evolved from beats on a MiniDisc player to a seven-piece soul revue without the continuity of his character ever coming across as inconsistent, a testimony to the acumen of his voice and his knack for hooks. And down in Austin, Sabrina was carving their own unique path and persona. They perfected their glam snarl for a decade with the anthemic and brassy A Giant Dog, their performances cocky, provocative, and raw. Then tempered and expanded that range by fronting the epic collective Sweet Spirit, who blend party-strut disco and earnest classic rock like if you could extract whatever is London out of Queen and replace it with Texas. Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

PHANGS is the dream pop notion of Nashville’s Jake Germany. Blanketed in layers of synthesizers, steady pulsing percussion, and the memories of growing up in the early 90’s, PHANGS stirs up familiarity and innovation under an umbrella of honesty. Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud

Hi, I’m Dan. I’m a whiskey & beer drinking, fishing & hunting loving, motorcycle riding, quality food eating, hippie sympathizing, people loving, husband & father who lives in Minneapolis and shares a life with my amazing wife Megan and two adorable sons named Oak and Alder. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI, and moved to Minneapolis when I was 18 to study music. I ended up staying because I’m one of those crazy people that enjoys the snow and cold weather. Music is my trade & performing it for people is my passion. When I’m not in my studio writing songs and cutting records, or on the road playing shows, I’m usually tending to our backyard chickens, eating fresh veggies from my wife’s huge garden, making syrup from our city maples, or doing one of my many outdoor hobbies. Now here are a few things about my music career that I should probably share in a mu- sic bio: • In September 2014 Budweiser released their “Friends Are Waiting” commercial campaign featuring me singing my song When You Come Home and it premiered during the Super Bowl. • In February, 2018, I released my newest album 25 Years and is the most prolific and widely distributed album to date, featuring songs that have been placed in major ads as well as widely played Spotify playlists. • In October, 2018, Miller Lite featured my newest single “So Good” in one of their commercials that played for months during NFL games on ESPN & more. • In March, 2019, my song “You Feel Like Home” was featured in Explore Minnesota Tourism’s newest ad campaign. • Over the years I’ve had the honor of sharing the stage with some really cool artists & bands including The Civil Wars, Andy Grammer, Eric Hutchinson, Matt Nathanson, NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, Haley Reinhart, John McLaughlin, Will Hoge, Drew Holcomb, Sister Hazel, and more. Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Apple Music

As the naturalist John Muir wrote, “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” It is for this reason that musician Tyler Ramsey goes into the woods when he is writing, and why he and his wife have settled on a plot of land many miles outside of the nearest city of Asheville, North Carolina, to raise their young daughter. For Ramsey, living deliberately and with a little space, removed from distractions and the allure of needless consumption, is how he feels most creative and at ease. And while writing For the Morning, his first album since 2011’s The Valley Wind, Ramsey tapped into that insulated world where imagination flourishes and sounds for mining are plentiful to create his most realized and regal work yet. The Ramsey home is surrounded by mountains, fields, and trees, and a small river winds through it all. Wild animals live in the family’s forest, paying daily visits to sing their own songs. Ramsey’s hand-built music studio affords him a shelter from the cacophony or a chance to join the chorus, depending on whether or not he has the windows open. The things he does at home are the things he sings about in his songs-neither costumed nor fabricated-and in keeping with his deliberate existence, he clarifies that his lifestyle is not a badge to be worn but simply his preference. “Spending my time here in North Carolina, swimming in the stream and walking around in the woods, it’s part of my character as a musician,” Ramsey says. “We live out in the country, I built my own studio. Out here, you have the ability to take your time and work on things slowly and comfortably. These are reasons why the music I make sounds like it does.” For the Morning is filled with instrumentation connecting the listener to this setting: radiant acoustic piano and stark, dexterous guitar fingerpicking; lilting, poignant pedal steel and gentle, babbling beats that mosey rather than rush. We are transplanted to Ramsey’s woods even before any words can take us there. But, as he reveals, the process that brought the album to life wasn’t just one sunny stroll in the pines-a newborn baby and a professional musician’s touring schedule create their own challenges. So, it was up to Ramsey to find a balance, and he learned to take advantage of any fleeting moments of stillness whenever possible, while also using his time on the road as its own form of inspiration. For the Morning comes together seamlessly as a cohesive work from a master songwriter and musician. “Breaking A Heart” joins the aforementioned “Dream of Home” as a standout, with sublime piano chords and beautiful guitar playing urged along by upbeat drum tracks, Ramsey’s pristine vocals left hanging in the air like mist. The lament of the former tune is one not uncommon in Ramsey’s work, and he notes that many of his favorite songs-his own or by others-are dotted with sadness. “I do gravitate toward sad music, and heartbreak is a part of the songs I write,” he says. “Writing a song is this huge emotional release and it can be very intense. There’s a lot of melancholy in what I do.” Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

Sir Woman is the newest creation of Kelsey Wilson, co-founder of Wild Child and member of Glorietta. Wilson has been co-writing, singing, and arranging strings on over 15 albums and musical projects spanning all musical genres. The forthcoming album “Party City” will be her first solo release. She resides in Austin, Texas. Links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

J Roddy Walston Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | iTunes palm palm is the main thing baby! can’t be stopped… won’t be topped. cosmically put together by the organic juices of the universe. we have the coco and we use him. we have deux peaux and he has the funky foot. we have the biggest boy and he is still growing. we have the casual pink and he will bring his pontoon of followers. we have the animals and they’re printing clothes for us. let’s make a big whoopsie together. we are coming for your dreams babies and gentlethems! Links: Website | Instagram | Soundcloud

Despite its title, the second album from Knuckle Puck isn’t a reinvention; rather, Shapeshifter is the sound of the Chicago-based pop-punk band taking their best qualities and honing them to make them even sharper. The songwriting became tighter and more deliberate, the lyrics more introspective and urgent-without losing an ounce of the sweat-soaked authenticity and passion that made their debut album, Copacetic, so captivating. Above all, it’s an album that proves the band are unflinchingly unwilling to compromise when it comes to their art. That’s evident on first single “Gone,” perhaps the most fully realized Knuckle Puck song to date. It’s equal parts muscular and melodic, textured with keyboards, buzzsaw guitars and a buoyant chorus that will integrate seamlessly into the band’s raved-about live show. “When you reach early adulthood and start to see your life take shape, it’s also important to shape your identity and break yourself free from anything that might be holding you down,” guitarist Nick Casasanto explains. “I hope the album instills a little bit of hope in people. I hope people realize they should consume the things that really speak to them. Through that, I feel like it’s the most satisfying way to be who you want to be.” Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music