OUTPOST: The Tillers with The Montvales, Clara Blyth, and Frances Eliza

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
– RAIN OR SHINE

The Tillers:

 

The Tillers got their start in August 2007 when they started thumping around with some banjos and guitars and a big wooden bass. Their earliest gigs were for coins and burritos on the city’s famous Ludlow Street in the district of Clifton. The songs they picked were mostly older than their grandparents. Some came from Woody Guthrie, some were southern blues laments, and many were anonymous relics of Appalachian woods, churches, riverboats, railroads, prairies, and coal mines.

Their look didn’t fit the stereotype. They were clearly recovering punk rockers with roots in city’s west side punk rock and hardcore scene. The punk influence gave their sound a distinctive bite, setting them apart from most other folk acts- a hard-driving percussive strum and stomp that brought new pulse and vinegar to some very old songs. But their musical range soon proved itself as they floated from hard-tackle thumping to tender graceful melody, all the while topped by Oberst and Geil’s clear tenor harmonies.
 

They began picking up weekly gigs around the city’s bar scene. It didn’t take long before their signature treatment of classic folk songs became the preferred versions of Cincinnati locals. Their audiences swelled, growing into an assortment of grey-haired mechanics, neo-hippies, farmers, punkers, professors, and random strays all stomping, clapping, singing, and belting outbursts of “John Henry!” “Darlin’ Corey!” Ever since, the band has come to each show with the same energy. They are magnetic showmen, mature musicians, and colorful storytellers.

Opening sets by The Montvales, Clara Blyth, and Frances Eliza

Clara Blyth:

Clara Blyth is a vocalist, cellist, guitarist and alternative folk singer/songwriter based in Asheville, NC. Clara’s music is driven by crippling sentimentality and lyrical imagery, and she is currently working to release her debut EP later this year.

 Frances Eliza:

Asheville-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Frances Eliza blends her love of songwriting with her passion for jazz, folk, and pop music. Performing around NC and SC for over a decade, Frances has been described as “An intimate storyteller who invites the listener into her private life as she shares and explores experiences of love, loss, and pain.” Influenced by artists like Joni Mitchell, The Cranberries and Taylor Swift, Frances has performed solo and with many talented musicians at hundreds of venues over the past decade, and has released 2 original EPs thus far.