We are so excited about our special guest lineup for our 7th Annual Homecoming & 31st Anniversary on Sunday, December 29th at Charleston Music Hall. If you don't have your tickets yet, you'll want to get them soon now that this incredible lineup has been announced! Learn more about our guests below.
JERRY DOUGLAS
Dobro master and 14-time GRAMMY winner Jerry Douglas is to the resonator guitar what Jimi Hendrix was to the electric guitar, elevating, transforming, and reinventing the instrument in countless ways. Additionally, Douglas is a freewheeling, forward-thinking recording and touring artist whose output incorporates elements of country, bluegrass, rock, jazz, blues, and Celtic into his distinctive musical vision.
Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master" by The New York Times, three-time CMA Musician of the Year award recipient Jerry Douglas is one of the most innovative recording artists in music as a solo artist, band leader for The Jerry Douglas Band and his GRAMMY winning bluegrass band The Earls of Leicester, as well as a member of groundbreaking ensembles including Alison Krauss & Union Station, J.D. Crowe & the New South, The Country Gentlemen, Boone Creek, and Strength In Numbers. Douglas shines and soars. His distinctive sound graces more than 1500 albums with artists such as Garth Brooks, George Jones, Paul Simon, Little Big Town, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Earl Scruggs, Ray Charles, Dierks Bentley, and Tommy Emmanuel, among many others.
As Jerry Douglas continues his incalculable influence on country, Americana, bluegrass and their many related genres, he forges ahead as a true pioneer in American music.
GREG HUMPHREYS
Dillon Fence and Hobex frontman and singer-songwriter solo artist Greg Humphreys stepped away from his trusty acoustic for the Greg Humphreys Electric Trio debut Lucky Guy.
The album finds the critically acclaimed artist creatively invigorated. His accomplished and artistically intuitive bandmates simmer through a collection of sweetly soulful Americana and raucous roots rock that showcases Humphreys' elegant virtuosity and his heartfelt songwriting.
Music fans are familiar with Humphreys’ songs, voice and guitar from his years leading North Carolina faves Dillon Fence and Hobex. With songs influenced by the best in pop, funk, soul, R&B, and rock n' roll, you might find Greg Humphreys Electric Trio in the same idiosyncratic corner of the big Americana tent where you'd find Alabama Shakes, Chris Stapleton, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, or the North Mississippi Allstars.
The Electric Trio formed in 2014 in New York City. Drummer Keith Robinson brings Texas flavor, having toured and recorded with Marcia Ball and Charlie Robison. In demand bassist Matt Brandau has backed up Elvis Costello and Joan Osborne, among others. These seasoned southern transplants played over 130 live dates in their first two years, but they took their time to make a debut studio album.
DAVID EZELL
Every town has “that one” influential songwriter that all the locals admire yet scratch their heads as to why only they've had the opportunity to hear. David Ezell is “that one” in upstate South Carolina. Spartanburg is a town rich in music history and David is without a doubt at the top of the contributor's list. Representing the quintessential thinking man’s songwriter, his music is composed with the same intelligence of our folk heroes and delivered with a soulful and honest attitude! Blessed with a unique gift of melody, David’s been compared to the likes of Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits. His catalog dating back to the early 1970’s will hook you even in today’s world of sub genre groups, writers, and styles.
FAYSSOUX STARLING MCLEAN
Fayssoux thinks she sings songs, but she sings invitations.
Invitations to a kind and lovely south that I’ve not found when her voice is out of earshot. Invitations to transformational emotions, to empathy and caring, to good humor and helpfulness. Invitations to feel something, to hear stories and smile together. Invitations to grace.
Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Linda Ronstadt, Tom T. Hall and many others have accepted her invitations. Harris, who calls Fayssoux’s “one of my favorite voices,” featured Fayssoux on classic albums including Pieces of the Sky, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town and Blue Kentucky Girl.
That’s Fayssoux, duetting with Harris on 1978’s “Green Rolling Hills” and harmonizing on 2005’s Grammy-winning “The Connection.” Crowell adores her, and likens her voice to “charm, elegance, whippoorwills and Magnolia dewdrops.” Ronstadt writes glowingly about Fayssoux in her Simple Dreams memoir. Hall contributed vocals to Fayssoux’s version of his and wife Dixie Hall’s “I Made a Friend of a Flower Today,” which originally appeared on the Grammy-nominated Red Beet Records album, I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow.
In the early 1980s, Fayssoux stopped singing her invitations, closeting that marvelous instrument for more than a decade. But in 2008, she made her recorded debut as a solo artist on Red Beet with the exquisite Early. Now she’s back with I Can’t Wait, a gorgeous set of songs, five of which Fayssoux wrote and all of which are elevated by her singular, dusk-shaded invitation of a voice.
SEAN KELLY
Sean Kelly is a member of the popular alternative/powerpop band A Fragile Tomorrow, alongside guitarist Brendan Kelly, bassist Shaun Rhoades, and drummer-turned-synth player Dominic Kelly. From Charleston, SC, they are often compared to Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, R.E.M., Elvis Costello, Sloan, and Jellyfish, among others.
A Fragile Tomorrow has toured with the likes of Indigo Girls, Matthew Sweet, The Bangles, K's Choice, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Antigone Rising, The Cowsills, and more. The band's single, "Dig Me Out," leans heavily on krautrock, art rock and hip hop influences and puts more emphasis than ever on groove - marking a bold new beginning for the traditionally guitar-driven band.
Drawing from more experimental influences and a more imaginative approach to pop songcraft, A Fragile Tomorrow is set to re-emerge in 2019 as an evolved and well-seasoned unit - more refreshed and energized than ever before.
MITCHELL LEE
This South Carolina singer/songwriter has come a long way since the days of sneaking in his guitar to the barracks
at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Just before graduation, Mitchell’s mother unexpectedly
passed away, drastically altering Mitchell’s plans. Mitchell decided to put his dreams of dental school on hold and
explore his new-found passion as a performing musician. Mitchell began playing around the Charleston area as a solo acoustic artist, but eventually built a band with other local musicians. Quickly, 'Southwood' became one of the most sought-after bands in the southeast. After good regional success, Mitchell approached the band about his desires to take their music to the next level... it was evident that Mitchell's dreams were bigger. Mitchell made the move to Nashville a few years back and quickly garnered the attention of some of the industry’s biggest songwriters.