– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
Melissa McKinney writes songs about the 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 music in a way that makes a positive impact on the world. Melissa is the lead singer of MAMA—Melissa McKinney’s Band, a resident artist with LEAF Global Arts, the co-founder of Women to the Front Music Festival, a board member of AVLFest, and the director of The One Voice Project. Recently, she advanced to the finals of the International Blues competition in Memphis and was given the opportunity to sing at the historic Orpheum Theatre. Melissa’s biggest joy comes from performing alongside her daughter, K McKinney, who is also a musician, singer, and songwriter.
A blues and soul collective with roots in the 1990s, The Mad Dog Blues Band is made up of musicians and singers from Asheville, New York City, Washington D.C., and North Georgia. For this show, original members Mark McDaniel, Brian Harvey, David Brown, Bob Walters, and Kate Brown Walters, are joined by a gifted group of performers including Andy Hunter, John Caldemeyer, Wes Snoddy, Mary Grace Walters, Ashley Berger and others. Their goal is to pay homage to the blues, roots, and soul music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that laid the foundation for almost all popular music we have played and listened to since.
Eric Freeman, aka The Blueridge Boy, is a genuine bluesman who shares classic acoustic blues from the Delta to the Piedmont — ragtime tunes, minstrel songs, plus a healthy dose of country and other favorites. Originally from a rural north-central Virginia community known as Gid Brown Hollow, Eric has traveled America playing the blues and living the hard life of a traveling blues man, sharing authentic roots music that is getting harder and harder to find. Brendan Boyle at Folk Arts Rare Records in San Diego says this about Eric: “He has brought the house down every time he’s played at Folk Arts. Eric has an in-depth knowledge of many different pre-war blues styles, and he never stops learning. He also has a deep understanding of what the blues is really all about.”
