Dusty Roads
Performing May 1, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Dusty Roads is a high-energy Georgia-grown Americana band, formed by Atlanta based musician, John Mickelson. When you’re at a Dusty Roads show, expect to hear influences of the legends of country and bluegrass music, such as Merle Haggard, Flatt & Scruggs, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, and Bill Monroe. You can also expect sprinklings of songs and sounds of the great writers and musicians from across the globe and halls of time, like Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, and Irving Berlin. “Come take a trip, down that long, dusty road”.
Comprised of some of the Southeast regions finest pickers and singers, the band is ever evolving and growing. “We’re all Georgia boys” says Mickelson of the band members, which features Jared Lanham on mandolin and tabla – the traditional Indian hand-drum. “Colt Bowen has one of the lightest touches of any drummer in town” says Mickelson of the Dusty Roads drummer. Fiddlin’ phenom Danny Bermel joined the group in late 2016, and adds an agile musical flare that pushes their musical crescendos to another level of fever-pitch. Dusty Roads is constantly searching for that sound, that lick, that twangy hook that sinks deep into the listener’s soul and pulls them into the unfolding story of each song. The group cherishes the purity of silvery strings ringing together harmoniously. The band champions comradery, respect for the craft of their instruments, and finely constructed songs that feel as if they soar down from the mountaintop to resonate the listener’s heart-strings.
“We came here with one purpose, to have a blast playing and performing live acoustic music”– says Mickelson, singer/songwriter for Dusty Roads. Growing up in Atlanta, he was surrounded by a diverse world of cultures and music his whole life. “My great-grandfather was a mandolin player from Germany, so I guess it just runs in the blood”, says Mickelson of his musical lineage. Like a rear-view mirror in a pick-up truck, Dusty Roads looks back through the history of written and recorded music, studying fervently to decipher just what made each of these classic songs so special and unique. Just like ‘looking backwards to go forwards’, Mickelson applies this approach to writing original material for the band.
During the Winter of 2017, Dusty Roads went into the studio to begin recording its debut self-titled album. The album will feature music inspired by life, love, and heartache. “Life is heavy, but music can make your bags a little lighter”
Smokey’s Farmland Band
Performing May 8, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Smokey’s Farmland Band blends musical influences ranging from bluegrass to gypsy jazz to Cajun, creating a progressive sound they like to call “Goodtime Eclectic Bluegrass”. While they enjoy venturing outside the realm of the traditional, they still respect the roots of bluegrass, and retain the energy and twang of mountain music. A typical set features original tunes, good ol’ pickin numbers, and some unexpected covers too. It all comes together in an exciting genre-bending style that keeps listeners on their toes, and on the dance floor!
Among many accomplishments, SFB has opened for Willie Nelson at a sold out House Of Blues New Orleans, Sam Bush at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, and recently shared the bill for Del Yeah! with The Del McCoury Band and others. They have also opened for the Emmitt-Nershi Band and The Freight Hoppers, and shared the stage with numerous Atlanta and touring bluegrass bands. The band has traveled to Colorado, DC, NYC, and even St. Croix for performances, winning new fans at stops along the way. Their music is dedicated to the festival experience, camping and dancing in community, out of the way places that retain their beauty, live performance, and people who appreciate getting back to the farm from time to time.
Smokey’s Farmland Band is :
Trey Gibbs – Vocals, Mandolin
Ian Newberry – Vocals, Guitar
Rurik Nunan – Vocals, Fiddle
Justin Roberts – Vocals, Upright Bass
Jared Womack – Resophonic Guitar
Brian Revels
Performing May 15, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Brian Revels is probably most recognized as the brazen voice behind Atlanta, Georgia’s City Mouse, a bourbon-barreled version of a folk band with an ear for clever turns of phrase. If you’re a City Mouse fan, you would be forgiven for calling him a banjo player. But, long before the birth of this rowdy roots trio, he has been scribbling lyrics on scrap paper – restaurant order pads, receipts, check stubs – and picking a well-loved 6-string confidante.
At 16, Revels dusted off a neglected Silvertone Stratocaster that was begged off of his single mother and chopped his way through Johnny Cash’s rendition of the Nine Inch Nails song, “Hurt”. The effect was immediate and it anchored deep. A summer’s worth of work later earned him the Takamine that now has a hole in the front that would make Willie Nelson do a double-take.
As a budding musician, Revels gravitated to the agsty art of the era – Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, and, most influentially, Bright Eyes but soon after found his way to more timeless heroes in The Band, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Woody Guthrie coaxed by his friends’ southern-born fathers. Growing up a few minutes away from the intimate music mecca that is Athens, Ga, live music became an increasingly prevalent part of life. He was soon immersed in the music local legends like Drive-By Truckers or Ponderosa. His music now boasts a compelling mix of such influences, taking mournful but witty stabs at reality in a tone reminiscent of Conor Oberst’s work or journeying through an outlaw’s murder ballad in a way the Patterson Hood might appreciate.
As a performer, he tends to reimagine his songs constantly. Not like the Dead, completely reforming or endlessly improvising, but delivering the words with an earnestness that is completely true in the moment and therefore never a re-enactment of something tirelessly rehearsed – whether or not it is.
“I swear it comes from somewhere else. I definitely catch myself forcing parts of it, but some of the inspiration I just can’t claim. As far as the show goes, it’s like trying to keep a bird in a cage that won’t latch. I try to stick to melodies, try to be still but it never seems come out as tame as I’d like. I guess that became part of the charm to some folks. I’ve learned to appreciate it.” Says Brian.
Greenwood Rye
Performing May 22, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
After fronting the band Seven Handle Circus for several years, being featured on Conan, People, Paste & GuitarWorld, climbing the Americana Radio Charts, and supporting bands Mumford and Sons, Better than Ezra, and Zack Brown Band, Shawn Spencer ventures into alternative rock, with his new project.
“7HC was a beautiful thing that just kind of happened… we were a bunch of guys who started jamming and ended up with what was quickly becoming a very successful touring career. But in the end it was more than some had bargained for and they wanted to settle down. Me… I’m just not prepared to settle”.
The first move was hitting the studio and making a record with producer Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling producer Billy Hume (Ludacris, Ying-Yang Twins, Infamous Stringdusters).
With Spencer’s knack for big choruses with powerful lyrics and Hume’s history of hard-hitting mixes, the album, entitled Empty Seas, comes out edgy but with that sing-ability that pop music craves.
Jailhouse Gypsies
Performing May 29, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Bluegrass Flash Mob
Performing June 5, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Bluegrass Flashmob is the brainchild of Trey Gibbs, Mandolin & Vocals of Smokey’s Farmland Band, and he is joined by the top bluegrass talent available. Not your Grandpappy’s bluegrass, but a darker-haired variety with way more fashion sense. Plenty of harmony and musicianship that you might expect, but with a crowd that knows a little somethin’ and has better dance moves. We’re gonna have fun dammit!
Battlefield Collective
Performing June 19, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Battlefield Collective is the combined musical talents and efforts of Stephanie Caron and Evan Hart. A unique blend of bluegrass, Americana, roots, and rockabilly give the group an unmistakable and unique sound that is as full of energy as it is passion.
Touring the East Coast, Battlefield Collective performs original material as well as their own arrangements of cover songs selected from top hits from the past sixty years. Energy, creativity, flexibility and versatility set Battlefield Collective apart from other bands.
Stephanie and Evan often perform as a duo, but also frequently hire local musicians to create a fuller sound to match the needs for any venue or private event, thusly: Battlefield Collective.
Battlefield Collective
Performing June 19, 2019 at Canoe
7:00 — 10:00PM
Battlefield Collective is the combined musical talents and efforts of Stephanie Caron and Evan Hart. A unique blend of bluegrass, Americana, roots, and rockabilly give the group an unmistakable and unique sound that is as full of energy as it is passion.
Touring the East Coast, Battlefield Collective performs original material as well as their own arrangements of cover songs selected from top hits from the past sixty years. Energy, creativity, flexibility and versatility set Battlefield Collective apart from other bands.
Stephanie and Evan often perform as a duo, but also frequently hire local musicians to create a fuller sound to match the needs for any venue or private event, thusly: Battlefield Collective.
