Sona Jobarteh
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYLEAF Global Arts and Outer Ear Projects PresentSONA JOBARTEH“Sona Jobarteh is Africa’s first female griot kora virtuoso, and also a fine singer and composer, blending traditional music, blues and Afropop to impressive effect” – Robin Denselow, The Guardian Preserving her musical past, Sona Jobarteh innovates to support a more humanitarian future. The spirit of Sona Jobarteh’s musical work stands on the mighty shoulders of The West African Griot Tradition; she is a living archive of the Gambian people. With one ear on the family’s historic reputation, one on the all-important future legacy and her heart in both places, she is preparing a place today for the next generation. Her singing and Kora playing while fronting her band, spring directly from this tradition. The extent of her recognition today is evidenced by more than 23 million+ viewers on YouTube and considerable numbers on other digital platforms. Sona Jobarteh has performed to crowds from the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to Symphony Space in New York, and she’s sold out the Barbican in London, Cologne’s Philharmonie, and the Seine Musicale in Paris. These performances are under-pinned by her skills as a composer arising from early days at London’s RCM and Purcell School of Music. Sona Jobarteh scored the film Motherland in 2010 & in 2022 the Hollywood blockbuster Beast, starring Idris Elba. She co-wrote a track on LL Cool J’s latest with Q Tip, and filmed several of her live shows for CBS’ 60 MINUTES. Sona’s dedication to spreading powerful humanitarian messages through her songs and her stage performances makes her much more than a musician; she is active in social change and leads by her own example. Sona single handedly set up The Gambia Academy, a pioneering institution dedicated to achieving educational reform across the continent of Africa. This Academy is the first of its kind to deliver a mainstream academic curriculum at a high level, whilst also bringing the culture, traditions and history that belong to its students, to the front and centre of their everyday education. These efforts have gained her invitations to deliver speeches at high profile events around the world – including summits for the UN, the World Trade Organization and UNICEF.
OUTPOST: Wallflower Makers’ Market
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE- 10 AM – 2 PM A locally run, BIPOC owned makers’ market focused on supporting artists, growers, and makers in the WNC area. Featuring vintage clothing, handmade jewelry, house plants, fruits & veggies, and so much more!
John R. Miller with special guest Erika Lewis
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY JOHN R. MILLERJohn R Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker. Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, Depreciated, is lush with intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, as well as being backed by a band that is on fire. One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favorite Tyler Childers, who says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honkytonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions. Miller’s own guitar-playing is on fine display here along with vocals that evoke the white-waters of the Potomac River rumbling below the high ridges of his native Shenandoah Valley. Depreciated is a collection of eleven gems that take us to his homeplace even while exploring the way we can’t go home again, no matter how much we might ache for it. On the album, Miller says he was eager to combine elements of country, folk, blues, and rock to make his own sound. Recently lost heroes like Prine, Walker, and Shaver served as guideposts for the songcrafting but Miller has completely achieved his own sound. The album is almost novelistic in its journey, not only to the complicated relationship Miller has with the Shenandoah Valley but also into the mind of someone going through transitions. “I wrote most of these songs after finding myself single and without a band for the first time in a long while,” Miller says. “I stumbled to Nashville and started to figure things out, so a lot of these have the feel of closing a chapter.” Miller grew up in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia near the Potomac River. “There are three or four little towns I know well that make up the region,” he says, name-checking places like Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Hedgesville, and Keyes Gap. “It’s a haunted place. In some ways it’s frozen in time. So much old stuff has lingered there, and its history is still very present.” As much as Miller loves where he’s from, he’s always had a complicated relationship with home and never could figure out what to do with himself there. “I just wanted to make music, and there’s no real infrastructure for that there. We had to travel to play regularly and as teenagers most of our gigs were spent playing in old church halls or Ruritan Clubs.” He was raised “kinda sorta Catholic” and although he gave up on that as a teenager, he says “it follows me everywhere, still.”ERIKA LEWISKnown for her lengthy tenure touring and busking with beloved New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny, prolific songwriter and singer Erika Lewis has been churning out American originals all her own for the past several years. From classic country to cosmic Americana to dreamy indie folk, Lewis continues to dip her toes more deeply into an ever-expanding pool of roots music styles. Her new record A Walk Around the Sun is a testament to Lewis’ songwriting prowess and exceptional vocal ability. Produced by John James Tourville (The Deslondes), A Walk Around the Sun features 11 all-original songs exploring the gray areas between love and loss, joy and grief, longing and contentment. Though her songwriting shines brightly, it’s never at the cost of melody or arrangement; complete with sweeping strings, pedal steel, and even the occasional fuzz of a psych-rock guitar solo, Lewis’ voice soars with emotion and texture throughout.
Mountain Grass Unit: Summer Tour
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYMOUNTAIN GRASS UNITThe Mountain Grass Unit consists of three Birmingham pickers: Drury Anderson (mandolin and vocals), Luke Black (acoustic guitar and banjo), and Sam Wilson (upright bass). The Mountain Grass Unit has played music festivals, private functions and multiple music venues, playing bluegrass tunes and adding a bluegrass touch to country, jazz, funk, rock, and even metal. With the addition of Luke Black and Sam Wilson on harmonies, The Mountain Grass Unit has established the firm foundation to take on not only the vocal harmonies of traditional bluegrass tunes, but also the freedom to adapt songs from various genres to an all-acoustic format. Aside from their original songs, all three are equally comfortable restyling a Tony Rice number, a classic Grateful Dead tune, or covering contemporary acoustic masters like Billy Strings. The youthful exuberance and energy they bring to the stage is always remarkable. Their competency at what they do was best described by Birmingham music promoter Steve Masterson when the boys performed at his Acoustic Café festival: “They don’t just play good for their age, they play good. Period”. Sam, Luke, and Drury are excited to share with their audiences this new and exciting musical chapter.
The Grateful Brothers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE GRATEFUL BROTHERS The Grateful Brothers pay tribute to two of the richest catalogs of music in American history: The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band. Formed in early 2016, The Grateful Brothers combine the catalogs of The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead. Often intertwining songs through segues and transitions, they carry out the improvisational spirit of the two groups in their own space. They use the songs as more of a template rather than adhering to strict album-style covers, creating a unique, high-energy, and genuine crowd experience at every performance. The seven musicians making up the band have known each other and played in various outfits with one another for upwards of twenty years. The camaraderie between them is obvious and the familiarity leads to the ease of musical exploration.FERN
OUTPOST: Kevin Daniel & The Bottom Line
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Kevin Daniel & The Bottom LineHas been described as “radio and TV ready with enough darkness creeping in around the edges to appeal to fans of Jason Isbell & Langhorne Slim.” Daniel showcases a masterful ability as a songwriter to seamlessly incorporate bits of rock, soul, country, blues, roots and Appalachia into thoughtful examination of pain and awakenings, visceral and spiritual. A big-voiced crooner with a heart of gold, Kevin strikes a chord with “his raw and soulful, Chris Stapleton-esque timbre.”Melissa McKinney writes songs about the trauma and pain that every person inevitably experiences in their lives. She sings these songs as a cry for hope, healing, and inspiration. She is passionate about creating community and hopes to create Joy through music in a way that makes a positive impact on the world.
OUTPOST: Dirty Dead
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEDirty Dead Began in the fall of 2016 as a Grateful Dead tribute band based in Asheville NC. Since they have earned a large local and regional fan-base for their live performances of unique, grungy, and up-tempo versions of the Dead & JGB catalog. In the years following, they have expanded from Asheville NC, and regularly appear in Knoxville TN, Greenville SC, and other cities and mountain towns surrounding their home base.
OUTPOST: Dirty Dead
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEDirty Dead Began in the fall of 2016 as a Grateful Dead tribute band based in Asheville NC. Since they have earned a large local and regional fan-base for their live performances of unique, grungy, and up-tempo versions of the Dead & JGB catalog. In the years following, they have expanded from Asheville NC, and regularly appear in Knoxville TN, Greenville SC, and other cities and mountain towns surrounding their home base.
OUTPOST: Dirty Dead
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEDirty Dead Began in the fall of 2016 as a Grateful Dead tribute band based in Asheville NC. Since they have earned a large local and regional fan-base for their live performances of unique, grungy, and up-tempo versions of the Dead & JGB catalog. In the years following, they have expanded from Asheville NC, and regularly appear in Knoxville TN, Greenville SC, and other cities and mountain towns surrounding their home base.
OUTPOST: Dirty Dead
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEDirty Dead Began in the fall of 2016 as a Grateful Dead tribute band based in Asheville NC. Since they have earned a large local and regional fan-base for their live performances of unique, grungy, and up-tempo versions of the Dead & JGB catalog. In the years following, they have expanded from Asheville NC, and regularly appear in Knoxville TN, Greenville SC, and other cities and mountain towns surrounding their home base.
