Coming Soon to Big River Theatre

A bass, a guitar, drums, and a vibraphone, The Neighborhood Quartet joins Big River Theatre Saturday, April 26 at 7pm. Their performance at BRT falls right around the release of their latest album, set to release April 20, 2024!

Doors: 6:30pm

Show: 7:00pm

Tickets: $15advance/$18 at the door

Meet the quartet:

Remember sitting in your living room as kid? The shag carpet tickling the back of your legs. You were chewing on your Marathon bar and sipping from a can of Rondo Soda while watching your favorite TV show… was it CHiPs or S.W.A.T.?… Doesn’t matter they both were great and so was the music in them. The Neighborhood Quartet might just take you back to those times with their groovy 70’s theme song inspired tunes, but sorry Rondo is long gone, but I’m sure you will find something from the bar to crush your thirst!

The quartet’s unique instrumentation brings a sound that is ethereal and groovy. They blend pop and soul influences with roots and jazz to bring a fresh take on tunes that fit perfectly with whatever you are drinking.

Check out their latest video:

Buffalo Nichols joins us at Big River Theatre Friday, May 3!
you’re not going to want to miss this one, folks.

Doors: 6:30

Show: 7pm

Tickets: $20/$25

On his second album, The Fatalist, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. There’s 808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples, washes of synth. There’s a consideration of the fullness of the sonic stage and the atmospherics of the music that can only come with a long engagement with electronic music. But this is no gimmicky hybrid or attempt to turn the blues into 21st century music by simply dressing it with skittering hi-hats. Nichols’ vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life in 2023, something that’s reflected not only in the choice of instrumentation, but in the complexities of the songwriting and the gray areas his lyrics explore. This is music that comes straight from the present, and as such, it’s a reminder that the same shit that drove the first blues singers to pick up a guitar is still present behind the throbs of deep bass hits today. The Fatalistsounds unlike any blues record you’re likely to hear in 2023.

Check him out:

We are celebrating World Migratory Bird Day here at Big River Theatre with the movie “Winged Migration” and will be joined by artist Kira Sabin, best known for her duck stamp entries, who will be displaying her work alongside Greyley Sabin and her twin sister Kess.

More details & more announcements to come!

More info about the artists can be found here:

https://www.kirasabinart.com/

Winged Migration Trailer:

The Rough & Tumble are a folk/Americana duo, consisting of Mallory Graham & Scott Tyler. Forming in 2011, they’ve spent the last 8 years full time in a 16ft camper with two big dogs and one hamster. At home in festival settings, listening rooms and house concerts, their commanding stage presence, engaging performances and affecting songwriting won them Listening Room Network’s Artist of the Year in 2019 and the Independent Music Awards Americana Song of the Year for their song “The Hardest Part. 2021’s We’re Only Family If You Say So, an album about what it means to be family and then to lose it, had singles debuting on American Songwriter and The Bluegrass Situation and has been embraced by fans for its stark honesty, unique storytelling and well-crafted melodies. The band now resides in New Hampshire and their new album, Only This Far, was released in May 2023 that has been described as “quality songs, well written, well played, well sung and arranged, and a pleasure from start to end.”

Friday, May 31 at 7pm
Tickets: $17 advance/$20 day of show
Doors: 6:30
Show: 7pm

Check em out:

The talented Anana Kaye and her husband Ikrali join us at Big River Theatre Saturday, August 17th at 7pm!

Doors: 6:30

Show: 7:00pm

Tickets: $13 advance/$15 day of show

Anana Kaye is a Nashville based Indie Alt-Americana Duo. Hailing from Georgia, the other one, where Argonauts sailed to steal The Golden Fleece and  where wine was invented 8000 years ago, Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel deliver a unique sound we rarely experience in such potent doses today. With influences including Kate Bush, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, and David Bowie their music is a genre bending musical experience akin to twisting kaleidoscope.

Huffington Post calls them “rich, strong, tender, translucent, and dynamic. The luminous vibrancy simply embraces the listener, enfolding you into sumptuousness.” Anana’s voice brings their ambient sound back to reality with it’s luxuriously earthy tone and husky timbre. 

Anana and Irakli currently live in Nashville TN where they also own and operate Duende Vision, a professional photo and video production company. They pride themselves on bringing a musical perspective to visual work with stylistic influences wide ranging in time period and geography. Their detailed, patient, meticulous and enthusiastic approach has been carefully bringing New York and Nashville artist’s vision to life in a unique fashion.

check em out!

Philip Daniel is BACK at BRT Saturday, September 21st at 7pm!

Doors: 6:30pm

Show: 7:00pm

Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show

Meet Philip:

Originating from Lincoln, Nebraska, Daniel is a distinguished pianist and composer, acclaimed for his ability to evoke powerful emotions through his music. He holds a graduate degree in Piano Performance from the UMKC Conservatory and an undergraduate degree in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from Hastings College.

While pursuing his education, Daniel uncovered a fervent passion for composing original music. Drawing inspiration from contemporary classical luminaries like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Philip Glass, and Max Richter, he has cultivated a unique musical voice that gracefully merges classical elements, minimalist soundscapes, and cinematic qualities. Daniel’s compositions resonate with both seasoned musicians and casual listeners, creating a profound impact on a diverse audience.

Elliott is: living in East Nashville TN, releasing music and playing shows, staying in motels and taking photos from my car, producing artists, playing on sessions, dancing and bowling, eating Italian sandwiches.

tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show

Check him out…

Not just any country ensemble, Other Country Ensemble takes us on a world tour celebrating the diversity of music from other countries around the globe. What do we mean? Just check the line-up!

This show will include a dinner option! More details to come…

Michael Ziegahn – flamenco guitar, vocals, cajon
Scott Nieman – bouzouki, mandocello
Laurie Knutson – alto clarinet, bass clarinet
Steve Clarke – soprano sax, C flute, alto flute, bass flute
Mark Black – frame drums, doumbek, nackers, misc percussion

Saturday, October 26 at 6pm

Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show

Doors: 5:00

Show: 6pm

Check out their latest work, Covivencia:

https://othercountryensemble.bandcamp.com/album/convivencia-high-definition-audio

Video:

American singer-songwriter Kelley Smith is a hopeless romantic who fancies old poetry and grandpa sweaters. All at once whimsical and haunting, Smith delivers deeply affecting lyrics with wry charm and a time traveler’s voice. Prone to melancholy and daydreaming, Kelley spent her childhood roaming the woods of Minnesota and singing to forest animals. To this day, her longing for that landscape runs deep and seems to find its way into her songs in one way or another.

Raised by musicians, Smith always had music in her bones, but it wasn’t until she was 40 and a mother of four that her first record, Moon Child (2022), came to be. As an insomniac, she wrote this first batch of songs by moonlight. They evoke a sense of belonging, juxtaposed with escapism, as she croons about long-term love, grief, and her draw to the night sky. ”Her authentic, rootsy sound, falling somewhere between country, folk, bluegrass and old-time music, is a pitch-perfect vehicle for the themes she explores…” – Adventures in Americana

Since 2022, Kelley has been lucky to share stages with the likes of Charlie Parr, Dave Simonett, Wild Horses, Drew Peterson, Erik Koskinen, Storyhill, Good Morning Bedlam, Tina Schlieske, Molly Maher, Sarah Morris, and more. Often performing solo or as a duo, Smith interprets old-time folk songs on guitar and banjo, in addition to her original music.

Saturday, November 2 at 7pm
Tickets: $13 advance/$15 day of show
Doors: 6:30
Show: 7pm

We’ve got an excellent night of music coming up December 14 at 7pm featuring La Crosse native Taylor James Donskey and the effervescent Sarah Morris. There’ll be a little Christmas, a little originals, and a whole lot of love.

Meet the artists:

Taylor James Donskey is a lover and writer of songs. Although he has become known for his work as a sideman (bass, vocals, trumpet, trombone, percussion), Donskey considers himself a songwriter and band leader ahead of all else.

Absorbing the sounds of the many bands he’s played in (I Like You, The Lowland Lakers, Lena Elizabeth, The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League, Mississippi Hot Club), Donskey has carved a unique spot for himself in the Twin Cities music scene that includes elements of pop, bluegrass, folk, and jazz.

Raised in La Crosse, Wisconsin and influenced by his time in the Driftless Region, he picked up the bass at 14 and began his life as a sideman. He played in pop-punk bands and school jazz combos. He sang in choirs and played trumpet, trombone, percussion, and most importantly, the bass. This led him to playing paid gigs in high school, sitting in with his uncle’s cover band. “I had to learn nearly two hours of rock cover songs,” Donskey says. Playing music by Bowie, Petty, Harrison, and McCartney left its mark. “A lot of that music had incredible bass lines like I’d never really heard. It really inspired me.”

Recognizing his talent, his uncle gave him a Sigma acoustic guitar. “He bought it in the seventies, and I’ve continued to play it. A relentless old companion, it has followed me wherever I go, and it is the instrument from which many of my songs have grown.” Taking that big leap into the spotlight, Taylor James Donskey emerges from his supporting role with Paper Over It, a sophisticated debut, showcasing his strong songwriting skills and prowess as an arranger and producer.

When not busy performing his own music or touring in Lena Elizabeth’s band, he teaches ukulele, piano, electric bass, upright bass, guitar, songwriting, music theory, and voice. “Teaching is my second great joy,” he says. “I’ve learned how to translate the language of music so that people may experience it in their own way.”

Sarah Morris has a habit of missing the forest. From the day the Minneapolis based singer-songwriter picked up a guitar, armed with the bone-deep memory of her parents’ well-loved record collection and rooted in the storytelling fire of a Mary Chapin Carpenter tune, she’s been too busy crafting love letters to the details of the trees. Sarah’s endearingly honest, expertly penned songs encourage audiences to pull away from the big picture and get caught up in the magic of our everyday minutia, the rainy day ache in her sunlit voice granting us permission to escape into stories at once hauntingly familiar and uniquely her own.

A graduate of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Sarah spent the first years of her career in Nashville, losing herself in the art of writing timeless Americana melodies. “Sarah Morris [is] a bright, clear, brilliant songwriter,” wrote Jon Hunt of L’Etoile Magazine. “…pure and crisp and perfect.” In the eight years since her 2011 debut album, Lonely or Free, Sarah’s career, like her songs, has been overflowing with delicious details. Her albums Ordinary Things (2015), Hearts in Need of Repair (2017), and All Mine (2020) recorded with band mates Thomas Nordlund, Andrew Foreman, and Lars-Erik Larson with producer Eric Blomquist, earned international airplay and considerable critical acclaim, reaching notable positions on both the Americana Music Association and Euro Americana charts. In 2016, Sarah was a top four finalist in the NewSong Music Contest at Lincoln Center in New York City, 2^nd place winner of the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC, and an Americana semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. In 2018, she went on to win the Kerrville New Folk Competition, collecting an honorable mention at the Telluride Troubadour contest along the way.  More recently, Sarah was named Midwest Country Music Organization’s Songwriter of the Year for the second time.

“Rootsy singer Sarah Morris offers a Norah Jones-like approach to Americana, smoothing overs its rough edges with a butter-velvety voice and an intimate songwriting style.”  Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune.

Inclined toward the intimacy of live performance, Sarah spends a remarkable amount of time on stage. Whether solo, backed by the country kick of her long-time band The Sometimes Guys (Nordlund, Foreman, and Lars-Erik Larson), as half of vintage-harmony heavy duo The Home Fires with Vicky Emerson, or hosting local and traveling musicians live online from her big green bathroom, her playful-hearted presence is both captivating and contagious. Amidst her steady performance schedule she has opened for greats like JD Souther, Suzy Bogguss, and Teddy Thompson – she’s had plenty of beautiful moments to revel in. And with a brand new album to share in 2023, she’s primed to offer us a few beautiful moments of our own.

Deeply committed to the Twin Cities’ life-giving music community, Morris hosts an online interview program called, “Hey, I Miss You,” to amplify the work of her peers, as well as collaborating with musicians for a Youtube series of under-rehearsed cover songs filmed in her laurel green bathroom. Additionally, Morris is head cheerleader for a local songwriting collective.

As a writer, lover, mother, and witness, Morris invites us to join her in missing the forest for the trees, with songs that count and celebrate the glorious details of our messy, magical, everyday lives.