The Avett Brothers make popular music in the purist sense.  Not the focus-grouped commercial pablum peddled by your average major label.  This is a welcoming, inclusive kind of sound, born of the folk and country traditions of the Avetts's home state of North Carolina, replete with picked-out banjo, stand-up bass and three-part harmonies, and then infused with the brash, unbridelled energy of punk and rock...and live is where they thrive.
Chuck Cannon is the son of TWO Pentecostal preachers from South Carolina and a highly regarded songwriter for country stars like Toby Keith and Wynonna Judd.  A consumate craftsman, the songs Chuck Cannon writes for himself are personal, musical and memorable...he is a fabulous performer!

The Avett Brothers.com

Chuck Cannon.com

 

 

Saturday November 17, 2007
Eliza Gilkyson
Cydney Robinson

Eliza Gilkyson doesn't pull any punches.  She delivers elegant, poetic lyrics with a folk-rocking political edge.  Her voice is lush and passionate; a dark and lonely sound filled with hope and satisfaction.  Her edgy live performance is a testament to humor,grace and honesty...and tonight, for her fourth appearance in Hell, she's bringing master guitarist John Inmon and percussionist/drummer Cisco Ryder.
Cydney Robinson is a newcomer, but she's got a big, fabulous voice and way with words that is both  soulful and soothing. "...I was completely uplifted and blown away by her stage presence, the power of her voice, the conviction of her lyrics, and her delivery. If you get a chance to see her live, do it."
--Chris Douridas, KC
RW

Eliza Gilkyson.com

Cydney Robinson.com

 

Saturday, December 8, 2007
Tom Russell
Eilen Jewell

Tom Russell.com

Eilen Jewell.com

 

Tom Russell is a noir cowboy with a voice that whispers like dust.  He's made 18 albums that wander through border town barrooms, ghost town landscapes, deserted highways and one ring circuses.  Russell has a well-deserved reputation for pushing the boundaries and his live show demands more attention and empathy from his listeners than most novels.  "Tom Russell is Johnny Cash, Jim Harrison and Charles Bukowski rolled into one.  I feel a great affinity with Tom Russell's songs, for he's writing out of the wounded heart of America." --Lawrence Ferlinghetti

 

Eilen (rhymes with feelin') Jewell conveys a plaintive world weariness that recalls Lucinda Williams and a 40's sweet swing that nods to Peggy Lee at the top of her form, but she insinuates herself into classic folk, country and blues styles in a way that makes this insistently low-key performer one of the freshest and most exciting new voices in America.

 

 

Saturday, January 19, 2008
J T and the Clouds
Anais Mitchell

J T and the Clouds.com

Anais Mitchell.com\

JT & The Clouds "take vintage gooves and filter them through scintillating instumentation...they weave some fine, lilting country tunes just as easily as they rustle up some confident blues stomp.  JT Lindsay has a bit of Willie Nelson meets Jack White in his storytelling vocals"...and they're funny!
--MilesofMusic.com
Anais Mitchell is "a songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn't know you needed until you heard it...fearlessly emotive, like Dylan, Cohen or Welch.  Mitchell weaves her stories into an effortlessly beautiful tapestry."
--Acoustic Guitar

 

Saturday February 16, 2008
Kelly Willis
Chuck Prophet
Kelly Willis.com

Chuck Prophet.com

Saturday February 16, 2008
Kelly Willis
Chuck Prophet

 

Kelly Willis is "Alternative Country's Golden Goddess" according to NPR, and her new CD, Translated From Love, produced by Chuck Prophet, finds Willis in a new and rockin' groove. After taking a few years off to raise four (4!) children with Bruce Robison, Willis reenters the fray with familiarwinsome and wounded ballads and some surprisingly greasy rockers.  Kelly Willis is the prom queen who's learned to tell the fresh guys where to stick it...laughing all the way

 

Chuck Prophet is an underground rock'n'roll virtuoso, from his old Green On Red days to his mythic solo career, he has always been good, but these days he's brilliant.  He offers redemption and soul, the heart of a lion and the scars of saints...the thorny blood of Chuck Prophet. "Lovely, incantatory and mysterious...God bless Chuck Prophet." --Stephen King

 

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Jake Armerding "straddles a curious fine line between 'new folk', singer-songwriter, contemporary bluegrass, and a swinging country-pop style that appears wholly organic in both its approach and execution. That he occupies each with such self-assurance and ease is a testament to his originality as a songwriter and his skills as a fiddler, mandolin player and guitarist.  If you're willing to back an emerging new talent, look no further."  --Cleveland Country Magazine

The Infamous Stringdusters are young, bright and intensly talented. There is no other band like this.  Youthful musicians poised at the point where energy is balanced with maturity, inspiration with discipline, creativity with experience...exactly the sweet spot where the greats of bluegrass have mad their most lasting mark.  This is a live show not to be missed!