ROBIN & LINDA WILLIAMS

Thursday, September10 -- 8:00 PM

Favorites of fans and promoters alike, they have crisscrossed the continent (and beyond) for more than three decades, performing the tunes they love & a hearty blend of bluegrass, folk, old-time and acoustic country. From The Grand Ole Opry to Austin City Limits, Music City Tonight to Mountain Stage, clubs, festivals and countless other venues, Robin and Linda never cease to wow audiences wherever they go.

Their chops don't stop at singing. They are first-class instrumentalists and superb songwriters, able to, as The Washington Post put it, "sum up a life in a few details with moving completeness." It's why their compositions have been recorded by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom T. Hall, Kathy Mattea, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, George Hamilton IV and The Seldom Scene. Irish singer Mary Black included their haunting "Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger" on her CD Full Tide.

Their first album came out on a small Minnesota-based record label in 1975, the same year they debuted on A Prairie Home Companion. Their association with the popular public radio program has landed them on major stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. As half of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet, they have collaborated on several CDs with the show's host, Garrison Keillor, and were prominently featured in the 2006 film "A Prairie Home Companion," directed by master filmmaker Robert Altman.

Robin & Linda Williams' Website

Reserved tickets: $15.00       
Day of Show: $20.00

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LEON RUSSELL

Friday, September 11 -- 8:00 PM

Leon Russell is one of the most gifted songwriters of his generation. He played on, produced, arranged, and wrote some of rock and roll's most successful and important records. George Benson's cover of "This Masquerade" written by Leon was the first song in music history to occupy the number one spot on the jazz, pop, and R&B charts. "This Masquerade also "Record of the Year" and a Grammy in 1976. He released four Gold Albums and had a hand in many other chart hits including "Superstar," and a "A Song For You.".

Leon was instrumental in some of Joe Cocker's biggest hits, including, perhaps, the defining song of Joe Cocker's career, "Delta Lady," written by Leon.

The Carpenters struck gold with Leon's song "Superstar," Ray Charles covered "A Song For You," and B.B. King covered "Hummingbird." Leon Russell is pop music's most anonymous big shot."

Current members of Leon's band include: Leon's daughters, Tina Rose and Sugaree Noel on Vocals and Percussion; Jackie Wessel, Bassist/Backing Vocals; Cody Chesterfield, Drums/Percussion; J. "Curly" Speegle, Guitarist/Backing Vocals; Grant Whitman, Drums/Percussion.

Leon Russell's Website

Reserved tickets: $20.00       
Day of Show: $25.00

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MICHELLE SHOCKED

Friday, September 19 -- 8:00 PM

Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston) is a U.S. singer-songwriter whose music and performances are influenced by her Texas roots, her political activism, and a self-assured style that her first major-label producer likened to troubadours such as Joni Mitchell, Spider John Koerner, and Dave Van Ronk.

In 1977, she moved to live with her father, who introduced her to country bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly, as well as contemporary songwriters Guy Clark and Randy Newman. She spent the next several years exploring the folk underground, spending the early '80s in Austin, where she began honing her own songwriting skills.

Shocked is a traveler and a troubadour; a “picker-poet,” as they say in Texas. As a young feminist, she left Texas to travel, Kerouac-style, a musical vagabond caught up in Reagan-era grassroots politics.

ToHeavenYouRide spotlights Shocked where she’s always shone brightest—live onstage, delivering for an audience. The album captures her at her most soulful—in the original spiritual sense of the term. So continues the journey of a true American original.

Michelle Shocked Website

Reserved tickets: $20.00       
Day of Show: $25.00

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CAROLINA
CHOCOLATE DROPS

Wednesday, September 30 -- 8:00 PM

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a group of young African-American stringband musicians that have come to together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music in Carolinas’ piedmont. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson both hail from the green hills of the North Carolina Piedmont while Dom Flemons is native to sunny Arizona.

They draw our musical heritage from the foothills of the North and South Carolina. The trio has been under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, said to be the last black traditional string band player, of Mebane, NC and they strive to carry on the long standing traditional music of the black and white communities.

The Chocolate Drops have been getting a lot of attention lately and are featured on the major motion picture soundtrack of The Great Debaters. You do not want to miss the opportunity to see this trio live!

Carolina Chocolate Drops' Website

Reserved tickets: $15.00       
Day of Show: $20.00

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