CLOSED due to impending weather. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Common Center is a 7-piece ensemble of 12-string guitar, violin, saxophone, keyboards, bass, and drums. Their compositions intermingle soft, mellifluous tones with punchy, driving rhythms—a balance between meditativeness and ferocity. The goal is transcendence. The band writes and records in Covington, Kentucky (across the river from Cincinnati). Their influences range from progressive rock and folk roots to classical music, gypsy grooves, and avant-garde groups from around the world. The lyrics explore themes of consciousness, friendship, and inter-dimensional travel. Poetry intertwines with operatic swells and occasional, dream-like overtones. Multi-part vocal and instrumental harmonies have the power to both lull and invigorate listeners. Currently, they are working on a second release for Spring, 2018. They are bonded by their collective ambition to create original music and share it with audiences everywhere. 

Morgan Wade exploded onto the Southwest Virginia music scene two years ago playing a blend of country, folk and high-energy Americana and jamming with a rotating group of musicians. She was immediately noticed for her tremendous song writing and powerful voice. Bassist Ed McGee and mandolin player Joe Link have been with Morgan from the beginning and added veteran rockers Drew Sprinkle on guitar and Bengy Wagner on drums to form the Morgan Wade and The Stepbrothers. The formation of the Stepbrothers allowed Morgan to front a harder-edged, yet professional stage show. Although Morgan still plays to her Americana roots, the music is driven by sensitive and penetrating lyrics and a tight, electrifying rock band. Morgan Wade and the Stepbrothers deliver an intersection of rock, country, and folk that reflects the beauty, anger, hunger, and hope of coming of age in modern Appalachia.  

18 Strings is an acoustic string trio based out of Morgantown, WV. The three members come from different musical backgrounds spanning everything from jazz to folk, and rock to classical. The result is a seamless fusion of styles that incorporates smart songwriting, tight harmonies, refined instrumental technique, and an airtight groove. They released their eponymous debut album in mid-2016 and have since signed with Mon Hills Records, with whom they are currently working on their sophomore full-length. Appalachia is a culturally rich region that 18 Strings is proud to call home. Their aesthetic draws from the people of the mountains and their stories. The organic sound of voices, a guitar, mandolin, and upright bass matches the miles and miles of rolling hills that hide centuries of musical tradition.

Erin & The Wildfire is a Charlottesville-based band that has been steadily carving out a reputation for themselves in recent years as one of the most captivating live acts to come out of Central Virginia since their formation in 2012. Fronted by powerhouse vocalist and Fincastle native Erin Lunsford, the band has been making waves throughout Virginia stirring up their unique sonic melting pot of soul, funk, and r&b. The group’s striking sound, goofy charm, and relentless work ethic has propelled them to some of the Commonwealth’s biggest stages, including a main stage spot at 2014’s Lockn Festival, three appearances at Floydfest 2015, and back-to-back performances at the 2014 and 2015 Festy Experience.

Formed in 2014 in Boone, NC, Metaphonia is the Prog-Funk brainchild of bassist/vocalist Alex Golden and keyboardist Mike Runyon. What started as a trio betweenGolden, Runyon, and drummer Jason Burch, swiftly turned into a head-spinning chamber orchestra of math-dance-madness. With a current lineup also featuring Blake Bostain (trumpet), John Portela (saxophone), and Erik Brandt (guitar), Metaphonia boasts some of the finest and most diverse talents in the high country. So, if funky, complex, and seldom-apologetic, satirical lyrical content sound up your crooked alley, Metaphonia is just the nonsense for you!

Dirk Quinn

…is the guitarist for a high energy funk/jazz band based out of Philadelphia that travels extensively throughout the US and Canada. Utilizing over a decade of steady performing, Quinn has developed a unique and progressive style – one that appeals to a wide variety of music listeners with fans ranging from the jam band hippies to the jazz snobs.

Initially attracted to the guitar as a teenager after being introduced to classic rock giants such as Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, Quinn’s thirst for the unique and bizarre soon had him jamming along to the more radical and daring Mahavishnu Orchestra and the humorous, bass-laden noise of Primus. Playing virtually non-stop with countless musical projects afforded him ample opportunity to hone his chops. It wouldn’t be long before the refining of his own artistic message coupled with a fresh, new outlook and a deeper musical/life philosophy opened up to him the world of jazz. Miles, Coltrane, Monk and Brubeck along with the more contemporary sounds of Bela Fleck, John Scofield, Ahmad Jamal and Jaco Pastorius began heavily influencing his musical direction. Liberated by the idea of free improvisation, he was finally able to realize and focus his musical vision.

In 2007 Quinn made his long-awaited recording debut releasing his self-titled CD – “Dirk Quinn”. Working the club and coffee house circuit, Quinn became increasingly in demand, play­ing as many as three gigs a day while getting the occasional call to share a bill with musical legends such as Soulive, Lettuce, The New Mastersounds, Umphrey’s McGee, Steve Kimock, Bernie Worrell, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Keller Williams, Garaj Mahal, Booker T, Jimmy Bruno, Dumpstaphunk, Kofi Burbridge (Derek Trucks Band), Marco Benevento, and Zach Deputy – each performance steadily garnering more recognition for Quinn, who believes in winning fans one by one on the merit of the music.

“QuinnTet”, his sophomore CD release, features “thoughtful, original melodies flowing seamlessly over groove-heavy rhythms; intricate song structures giving way to strongly expressive, organic improvisations.” Drawing inspiration from every musical genre, his solo acoustic sound has been compared to the guitar “pyrotechnics” of Keller Williams and Michael Hedges, while his full band compositions bear resemblances that range from the honest, urban funk of Soulive to the brave experimentation of Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Surrounding himself with a group of extremely talented and like-minded musicians, Quinn has been playing shows across North America while receiving an ever increasing amount of media attention. His music has now been featured on over 100+ radio stations worldwide and gets daily internet airplay on sites such as Spotify and Pandora. Notable spins include the “Pick of the Day” on WXPN in Philadelphia as well as on the nationally syndicated “Keller’s Cellar” broadcast hosted by Keller Williams.

The Dirk Quinn Band released “Live at Home” in January of 2012. Featuring tracks recorded over 5 different shows in and around their hometown of Philadelphia, the new CD runs the gamut, from beautiful and delicate movements to evil dissonance, from intricate and thought provoking melodies to hard driving funk, and is a fantastic representation of the group’s live show experience.

The band’s infectious energy and musical interplay routinely attract listeners that are admittedly more accustomed to lyric-based music. With great melodic sensibilities, rhythmic experimentation and an accessible modern edge, the Dirk Quinn Band is jazz/funk improvisation at its most exciting!

Nestled between the rolling farmland of Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the impossibly tall trees further south, the gold and timber town of Cottage Grove has always drawn an eclectic mix of dreamers, drifters and prophets to its downtown Main Street.

For about a decade now, many of these frontier misfits have gathered to carouse and quench their thirst at the Axe & Fiddle Pub, and if the Harmed Brothers owe the path they’ve forged these past few years to any particular beer-soaked barroom along the way, it’s got to be the Fiddle.

It’s more than likely the place where, in early 2009, singer/songwriter Ray Vietti — already the veteran of one ambitious but ill-fated musical dream — first encountered Alex Salcido, and it’s probably where the two musicians first decided to jam. Soon enough, Vietti would come to recognize Salcido as a kindred spirit in both vision and song, and the young tunesmith would help write the Harmed Brothers saga with an insightful, often wistful lyrical and instrumental voice that offers a fitting complement to Vietti’s gritty baritone and powerful chords.

The fledgling duo paused in the Grove for a moment, gathering steam, trading tunes and talking possibilities, performing for crowds there and in nearby Eugene before striking out for the open road — their second home ever since and the undeniable inspiration for many of the songs and stories to follow.

Soon after their first meeting, Vietti and Salcido quickly recorded and released their independent debut, “All The Lies You Wanna Hear,” and began to tell the tales of love, loss, hard-drinking and redemption that have since endeared them to legions of fans and fellow musicians.

In 2011, the Harmed Brothers’ evolution as songwriters and as a touring act showed through with their sophomore effort, “Come Morning,” a release from Oklahoma-based Lackpro Records that sways with the rhythms of the road and the forlorn waltzes of a nation’s dive bars and dance halls.

These days, they call it “indiegrass,” the rustic American musical blend that celebrates and chronicles the physical and emotional gauntlet the Harmed Brothers have always ridden, zigzagging endlessly in vans across the nation. It’s an inclusive sound, the melding of two unique voices adorned each night with the contributions of the many pickers, singers and songwriters the Brothers have encountered in their travels.

It’s known as the “Harmed Family Roadshow,” and it’s as much a nightly happening as a sound in constant flux — from a jangly acoustic three-piece one night to a manic mariachi string band the next, a wall of rock-and-roll bombast at times giving way to the whispered incantations of two folk troubadours, often within the span of a single song.

Two years more on the road brought a European tour and a host of new fans, and by 2013, Salcido and Vietti stood poised to offer their most ambitious album to date. “Better Days,” recorded in a St. Louis studio and released by Portland, Oregon-based Fluff and Gravy Records, draws inspiration from themes of personal growth and redemption as well as the hurdles, heartbreaks and mishaps that have always accompanied the traveler’s search for enlightenment. Praised as “honest and inspired, devoid of posturing and pretense,” “Better Days” features some of the Harmed Brothers’ deepest grooves and their most plaintive and enduring tunes to date.

In the winter of 2015, the “Harmed Family Roadshow” gathered together in all its tattered glory in Portland, Oregon, the Brothers’ adopted home and headquarters, to begin amassing the riffs and recollections that will become their definitive recorded work. Due from Fluff and Gravy in early 2016, the album draws from the tales and talents of many of the duo’s closest collaborators and dearest friends. It promises textures never before captured on a Harmed Brothers release, brought together by the two visions and voices that propel the band toward an inspired and undeniable future.