The following acts will join those previously announced for the 2015 Rhythm N' Blooms music festival, taking place April 10-12 in Knoxville's historic Old City. Those performing include The Decemberists, The Dirty Guv'nahs, Delta Spirit, The Apache Relay, Humming House, Alanna Royale, Guthrie Brown & The Family Tree and Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes.
Review for the performers:
Drive-By Truckers
Boasting a mix of Southern pride, erudite lyrics, and a muscled three-guitar attack, Drive-By Truckers have become one of the most well-respected alternative country-rock acts performing today. Founded in 1996 by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley and featuring a rotating cast of Georgia and Alabama natives, the band celebrates the South while refusing to paint over its spotty past. History, folklore, politics, and character studies all share equal space in the Truckers’ catalog, especially their magnum opus: a double-disc concept album, The Southern Rock Opera. A two-act affair, the album explores Hood’s fascination with ‘70s Southern rock (specifically Lynyrd Skynyrd) while tackling the cultural contradictions of the region, and lays the groundwork for much of the band’s later work – including their latest release, English Oceans (2014).
The Drive-By Truckers will headline Saturday night of the 2015 Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival.
Langhorne Slim & The Law
For Langhorne Slim—Pennsylvania-born self-taught guitarist who moves to Brooklyn at 18, begins feeling out his place in a burgeoning punk-folk scene, wends his way to the West Coast, and finds himself celebrated from Newport to Portland as one of today’s most original singers and songwriters—music is about living in the moment.
Perfecting their rangy sound out on the endless grey ribbon of road, Langhorne and The Law— bassist Jeff Ratner, drummer Malachi DeLorenzo and banjo player and keyboardist David Moore—have become known for their wild, raucous shows. It’s a spirited, inspired slice of real rock ‘n’ roll—exuberance meets hard-won experience in an explosive combination. David’s banjo and Malachi’s walloping drums add up to a new kind of folk music. The music drives, but there’s no loss of subtlety.
They’re laying down the law. It’s very American, and when Langhorne Slim contemplates whether or not he fits in to any narrow-cast definition of this country’s music, he replies with a perfect, laconic joke: “I think we fit in most places that would take us.”
Count This Penny
Count This Penny (Madison, WI) was founded by Allen and Amanda Rigell as a songwriting duo in 2009. They appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and following that appearance, saw their first EP chart on iTunes’ singer-songwriter top 10. They were recently named one of Wisconsin's '10 Bands to Watch,' and closed out 2014 with a national tour in support of their latest release.
Taking place exclusively along downtown Knoxville’s historic Jackson Avenue for three days, Rhythm N’ Blooms, presented by Samuel Adams, will showcase first-timers, chart-climbers, and highly lauded acts from varied musical backgrounds April 10-12.
Tickets for the music festival, produced by Dogwood Arts & Attack Monkey Productions, are on sale now. Three-day Festival passes are $60 each and VIP passes are $125. Visit www.rhythmnbloomsfest.com to purchase passes - and to find out more about Rhythm N' Blooms.