The Slambovian Circus of Dreams

Friday, November 22, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Eric Gales

Friday, November 15, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

Andy Falco & Travis Book play Jerry Garcia

Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 7:30pm at The Bull Run

Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience

Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Robert Ellis

Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Adam Ezra Group

Friday, October 4, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Larry McCray

Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 7:30 at Bull Run

Rust belt blues shouter and guitar slinger Larry McCray's eight blues albums have blended reverence for tradition with his own soulful spin on the form. And those achievements have been noted with a Gibson "Blues Guitarist of the Year" Award as well as the Top Guitarist prize in International Blues Matters' 2014 writer's poll.

Most recently, his album 'Blues Without You' made #1 on Blues Rock Review's "Top 20 Albums of 2022" list.

Over the past three decades of nonstop touring and recording, Larry has played & shared the stage with such blues and rock greats as BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Keb Mo, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Albert Collins and Joe Bonamassa. He has also toured with The Allman Brothers Band, Warren Haynes, Gov't Mule, Phil Lesh, Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) and countless others.

"In the Spirit of B.B. King, Luther Allison, and Little Milton, Larry is among the Greats!" - Joe Bonamassa

“Blues Without You is a damn near perfect blues record,” - Blues Rock Review

“McCray’s blues are fresh and contemporary with nods to the past. He’s the kind of player who allows for space in between the notes. There aren’t many current guitarists who put that kind of emotion into their playing,” - Rock & Blues Muse

Catie Curtis

Saturday, July 13, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

For over 25 years, Catie Curtis has toured full-time in the US and Europe, releasing 14 recordings and selling over 250,000 CDs (not to mention streaming and downloads). She has recorded for major (EMI Guardian) and independent (Rykodisc, Vanguard and Compass) labels, collaborating with some of the finest musicians and producers in the country. Before the pandemic, she continued to play shows for a legion of fans who shared stories with her at the merch table night after night. Her songs have been featured in films and tv shows, and she performed several times at the White House during the Obama administration. She’s intensely grateful for those years and honored to know that her music has been an integral part of so many people's lives.

A veteran of the singer/songwriter folk scene, her credits include touring with Lilith Fair, and winning Grand Prize in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition (with co-writer Mark Erelli) and recording a duet with Kris Kristofferson. Her songs appear in numerous films and tv shows. She has been called a "folk-rock goddess" by the New Yorker, and has performed at the White House several times.

“Have you ever been to a show where you feel an invisible wall between you and the performer? Catie Curtis pulls the walls down.” - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Ellis Paul

Friday, June 7, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

Some artists document their lives through their music. Others chronicle their times. It’s a rare artist who can do both, telling their own story through songs that also encapsulate the essence of people and places who have helped define their era overall. Woody Guthrie comes to mind, and so does Bob Dylan. Bruce Springsteen certainly as well. Yet few others, for whatever genius they may possess, can relate their own history to the history experienced by those who find that common bond, be it in a coming of age, living through the same realities or sharing similar experiences.

Quintessential New England singer-songwriter Ellis Paul helped to revitalize both the Boston/Cambridge and the national Folk scene in the 1990's. His urban, literate, folk rock style has the rare ability to take dead aim at a subject while avoiding the in-your-face approach of many of his contemporaries. The newest album, "The Storyteller's Suitcase" is a melding of personal reflections and social commentary. "Paul sits in the long tradition of troubadours and storytellers such as Paxton and Prine, offering intimate insights and biting observations on the life and world around him. There’s a definite Prine lyrical sensibility to the first track, ‘I Ain’t No Jesus’, a kind of celebration of your average blue collar stiff who can’t work miracles but does the best he can with the life he has." And the album ends on a political note, with a bluesy cover of Michal K Brown’s ‘Election Day’ and its commentary on the current administration who’ve “been taking money from the oilmen/Money from the NRA”, talking the talk but not walking the walk, a hopeful note that, next time America goes to the polls, that particular party might be over.

On the lyric book inside the fold out case, he’s handwritten written “Every story needs someone who will listen”. Be one of them.

"Despite his success and sense of history, Mr. Paul remains an artist with his eye on the future and an interest in discovering the transformative potential in his music." - The New York Times

Vienna Tang

Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

“I was in a long-distance relationship with music for many years,” jokes songwriter Vienna Teng. “Now we’re finally moving back in together.”

Long-distance, perhaps, but long-running. In 2002, Vienna released her debut album "Waking Hour," landing her on NPR’s Weekend Edition, The Late Show with David Letterman, and the top of Amazon’s music charts. Four more albums followed, most recently "Aims" in 2013, which became the first album to win four Independent Music Awards. She also composed the music for "The Fourth Messenger" by playwright Tanya Shaffer, which premiered in 2013 and was a featured production in the 2017 New York Musical Theater Festival. Together with Vienna’s captivating live performances and thoughtful online presence, her work has built a devoted following across generations and continents.

Still, other pursuits have always beckoned. A computer science major before she was a recording artist, Vienna is a nerd at heart, as comfortable in spreadsheets as the spotlight. She returned to academia in 2010 to study environmental sustainability, which led to a new career working on climate change, energy and waste issues. She also became a bonus parent to her partner’s two kids, and in early 2020 welcomed a newborn addition to the family - just in time for pandemic lockdown. “I learned a lot about what it means to hold two truths in your head at the same time, as the saying goes,” Vienna says of that period. “The situation can be dire and full of possibility. Both kindness and fierceness are so very necessary.”

She wondered: what if two songs, with seemingly contradictory perspectives, were written so they would “mash up” into a duet? The result is her song-pair “We’ve Got You”: one about serving as a beacon for one’s community, the other about leaning on that community in one’s darkest hour. It’s some of the most intricate and impassioned songwriting she’s ever done. When she performs it on stage - solo, live-looping her voice, keyboards and percussion to layer the two songs together - the audience response is electric. “And there are so many ways for songs to be in dialogue with each other,” she notes. “I’d love to keep exploring that idea…hopefully in dialogue with other creators, too.”

Fittingly for a piece about reinvigoration and connection, “We’ve Got You” marks the start of a new chapter for Vienna, where her environmental and musical vocations converge. In 2022, she launched a “music x climate action” community on Patreon, combining monthly livestream shows and recording studio updates with Zoom climate action sessions, as well as working one-on-one with patrons on their own climate projects. On the road, she’s started hosting workshops between concerts, bringing members of her audience together to share knowledge and take real steps for climate - events that participants have described as “life-changing,” “rocket fuel,” and “the perfect antidote to despair.”

The long-distance phase is over. Now it’s time for communion - and moving forward.

Sophie B. Hawkins

Friday, May 17, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Sophie B. Hawkins is a Grammy nominated, American singer-songwriter and accomplished musician with more than thirty years in the music industry. 

Since the start of her musical journey, Sophie has shown an uncompromising devotion to her singular truth, endlessly transcending boundaries and offering up new ways of experiencing the world around us. Rooted in Hawkins’ raw yet poetic lyrics and effortlessly captivating vocals, her new single “Love Yourself” - a soul-stirring piece of symphonic pop threaded with Hawkins’s true-to-life storytelling - is an undeniable anthem for rising above negativity of all kinds and embracing absolute self-love.

She defied categorization and embraced her individuality by embodying a daring fluidity as a musician, working with some of the most creative jazz musicians of the era on her debut album. She also challenged the norms of gender expression and sexual orientation at a time when political, social, and sexual labels were more rigid. Her ever-evolving career has included releasing six widely beloved albums, breaking chart records with her smash hit “As I Lay Me Down,” four worldwide singles from Whaler, songs in cultural touchstone TV shows and films (from recent hits Stranger Things, Euphoria, Ozark, and PEN15, to landmark series Beverly Hills, 90210, Dawson’s Creek, The L Word and more), and a starring role as Janis Joplin in the critically acclaimed musical Room105. 

A dynamic creative force known for a spellbinding live show that all but erases the divide between audience and performer, Hawkins is currently on the road celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Tongues and Tails and will be touring through late next year. “I’ve never enjoyed performing more - it’s incredibly freeing to me now,” she notes. Hawkins cherishes the opportunity to deepen her bond with her ardently devoted fanbase. “One thing I’ve heard from people is that my songs have been like teachers to them, and helped them along on their journey,” she says. “With this new album and with all of my music, I hope it helps people to feel more connected to their own heart. I hope it brings them closer to whatever makes them feel so special and valuable, and makes them feel like they’re here on this planet for a reason. That’s what the music I love most has always done for me.” 

Antje Duvekot

Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

Ruthie Foster

Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7:30pm at Bull Run

Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet

Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Richard Thompson: Ship to Shore Tour 2024

Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 7:30pm at Bull Run

In 2017, Ivor Novello Award-winning and GRAMMY® Award-nominated legend Richard Thompson began composing ideas for what would become "13 Rivers" at his California home. Off the road, he focused on writing. As a result of the defined time period, the music possessed a distinct cohesion. “I wrote the songs as a group to hang together,” he elaborates. “They belong together in some way and seem to possess a commonality since they were written in the same time and space. I never really think about what songs mean,” he admits. “I just write them. Some of them reflect on what happened a few months ago or even a year ago. It’s a process of surveying my life and where I was at.”

13 Rivers commences on the tribal percussion and guitar rustle of “The Storm Won’t Come” as the artist bellows, “I’m looking for a storm to blow through town.” The energy mounts before climaxing on a lyrical electric lead rife with airy bends and succinct shredding.

“Obviously it's been a stressful couple of years,” he sighs. “The song references wanting to change your life - but it’s a difficult undertaking. You have to wait for it to happen naturally. You can’t force it. The are 13 songs on the record, and each one is like a river,” he explains. “Some flow faster than others. Some follow a slow and winding current. They all culminate on this one body of work.”

In many ways, his career has pointed towards such a statement. Powered by evocative songcraft, jaw-dropping guitar playing and indefinable spirit, this venerable icon holds a coveted spot on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and counts a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association in Nashville, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC Awards among his many accolades. 2011 saw Thompson garner an OBE (Order of the British Empire) personally bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Moreover, Time touted his anthem, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” on its “100 Greatest Songs Since 1923” list.

Thompson’s influence can’t be overstated. Everybody from Robert Plant, Don Henley, and Elvis Costello to REM, Sleater-Kinney and David Byrne have covered his music. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy jumped at the chance to produce 2015’s "Still" - which earned plaudits from Pitchfork, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and more. Meanwhile, Werner Herzog tapped him for the soundtrack to Grizzly Man. He launched his career by co-founding trailblazing rock outfit Fairport Convention, responsible for igniting a British Folk Rock movement.

However, 13 Rivers represents another high watermark. “The songs are a surprise in a good way,” he leaves off. “They came to me as a surprise in a dark time. They reflected my emotions in an oblique manner that I’ll never truly understand. It’s as if they’d been channeled from somewhere else. You find deeper meaning in the best records as time goes on. The reward comes later.”

Leahy’s St. Patricks Day Show

Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 8pm at Bull Run

Pure Prairie League

Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 7:30pm at The Bull Run

Pure Prairie League's biggest hits include “Aimee," “Two Lane Highway," "Falling in and out of Love," "Early Morning Riser" and the musically less-representative pop song, “Let Me Love You Tonight.” In the '70s and '80s they rode the same country-tinged rock wave that carried the Eagles, Buffalo Springfield, Poco and The Band to popularity. Vince Gill, later to become one of Nashville’s biggest solo stars, sang and played guitar with the band in the early 1980s and recorded an updated version of “Aimee” for their greatest hits album.

Influenced by bluesy drive of the Byrds and the seamless fusing of country and rock first introduced by bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers, PPL benefits from tight slide guitar, dueling solos and plenty of jammy Americana, mixing country rock, southern boogie, bluegrass and blues. Whether they are “Pickin To Beat The Devil” or taking you for a ride down a “Two Lane Highway,” PPL is a sure fire good time. As one reviewer recently wrote: “Their vocals are as strong as Kentucky moonshine and the musicianship and performance skills are as sharp as a straight-razor.”

The current long-time lineup is: Founding member/innovative pedal steel guitarist John David Call, propulsive drummer/vocalist Scott Thompson, keyboard master/vocalist Randy Harper, Jared Camic on bass and vocals and Jeff Zona on guitar & vocals.

As crisp and clean as mountain spring water and as comfortable as a well-worn cowboy shirt, Pure Prairie League continues to bring us all back home.

“PPL does what it's always done: they remain true to themselves, creating a sound that doesn't compromise their vision, yet manages to capture the ears of their adoring faithful "prairiedog" fans, as well as a new legion of listeners. If there is a formula to PPL's longevity and success that may very well be it.” - Country Music Online

Cheryl Wheeler

w/s/g Kenny White

Friday, December 15, 2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Cherish the Ladies - Celtic Christmas

Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 7:30pm at Bull Run

One of the most engaging and successful ensembles in the history of Celtic music, Cherish The Ladies have shared timeless Irish traditions with audiences worldwide for over thirty years. In their Celtic Christmas program, the Ladies put their signature mark on classic carols such as “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night,” in arrangements that highlight the group’s unique Celtic instrumentation, beautiful harmonies, and spectacular step dancing. Hailed by The New York Times as “passionate, tender and rambunctious,” Cherish The Ladies have released three critically acclaimed holiday albums, "On Christmas Night," "A Star In The East" and 2015’s "Christmas In Ireland."

‘It is simply impossible to imagine an audience that wouldn’t enjoy what they do,’ says The Boston Globe of Cherish The Ladies, Grammy Award nominated Irish-American supergroup that formed in 1985 to celebrate the rise of extraordinary women in what had been a male-dominated Celtic music scene.

Celebrating their 35th anniversary, Cherish The Ladies has shared timeless Irish traditions and good cheer with audiences worldwide. They’ve brought their signature blend of virtuosic instrumental talents, beautiful vocals and stunning step dancing to the White House, the Olympics, and to PBS with their television special, "An Irish Homecoming," which recently received an Emmy Award.

The Washington Post praises the ‘astonishing array of virtuosity’ that Cherish The Ladies bring to the stage on a regular basis. Their new album, Heart of the Home, embraces the gift of music passed down from generations. ‘It was the greatest gift they could give us,’ says bandleader Joanie Madden. ‘We’re carrying on the music of our fathers.’ As their reputation and admiration from both fans and critics alike continues to grow, Cherish The Ladies blazes forward into another decade of music making.

"The five women who form the Celtic band delivered a thoroughly engaging performance brimming with spirit, wit and soul
." - The Washington Post

"Expands the annals of Irish music in America…the music is passionate, tender, and rambunctious." - The New York Times

Zoso; The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience

Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 7:30pm at Bull Run

Over the 28 years and over 4500 shows since ZOSO came together as a group in the mid-‘90s, the seemingly tireless quartet has continued to earn its well-deserved reputation as being, in the words of The L.A. Times, “head and shoulders above all other Led Zeppelin tributes.”
ZOSO doesn’t cut corners on either the look or sound of Led Zeppelin. Instead, the band draws liberally and meticulously from Led Zeppelin’s recorded live and studio output to present a vivid performance picture of the classic live Zeppelin of 1968-1977. No wonder the St. Petersburg Times noted that, in addition to their virtuosity and spot-on visual presentation, ZOSO is also “the most exacting of all the Led Zeppelin tributes.” The Chicago Sun-Times put it even more succinctly: “[ZOSO is] the closest to the original of any Led Zeppelin tribute.”

Still, while the players’ provenance, and the band’s deep history, speak for themselves, it’s that high-wire musicianship combined with ZOSO’s spot-on recreation of the mythic presence of Led Zeppelin onstage that keeps their dedicated longtime fans coming back for more year after year. And what’s more, new generations of ZOSO devotees in their teens and Twenties are likewise lining up to experience for themselves the power and majesty and yes, the alluring combination of danger, spontaneity, skill and sexuality that define a world-class Led Zeppelin concert.

Slambovian Circus of Dreams

Friday, November 24,2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Vance Gilbert

Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 7:30pm at The Bull Run

Vance Gilbert:  “If Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens had a love child, with Rodney Dangerfield as the midwife, the results might be something close to the great Vance Gilbert", says Richmond Magazine.

Vance's new album, "The Mother Of Trouble”, features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient and Bonnie Raitt Grammy hit song co-writer Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana-Roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh. With 4 bullies, 4 deaths (3 of them murders), 3 moms, 2 accidents, 2 Black people, 2 dogs, 1 dog ball, 1 gay kid, and 1 missed flight thanks to gas station sushi, this album benefits from the gifts of time and experience honing songwriting skills that put this most vital of acoustic storytellers at the top of the game.

Oh, and Management wants to make sure to tell you that this is the 14th release for this acoustic stalwart.

30 years into his career, the songwriter’s influence can be felt all over the contemporary Folk and Americana realm as he has helped pave the way for many of the BIPOC artists who have followed.

Vance was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. Starting out hoping to be an R&B and jazz singer once at college, there he discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter thing. Word spread like wildfire about Gilbert's stage-owning singing and playing, and Shawn Colvin invited him to be special guest on her 1992 Fat City tour where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god..” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"He is that rare performer for whom people lean forward in their seats as eagerly between songs as they do during them..." - Boston Globe

Pam Tillis Trio

Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Pam Tillis is the daughter of Country Music legend Mel Tillis and multi-media artist Doris Tillis. She has sold more than 7 million albums and has six No. 1 radio hits. She has 2 Grammy Awards, 7 ACM Nominations and 11 CMA Nominations. In 1994 she was crowned the Country Music Association’s Female Vocallist of the Year. She’s a singer/songwriter whose compositions have been recorded by artists as varied as Chaka Khan, Martina McBride, Highway 101, Juice Newton and Conway Twitty.

Pam was one of the first women in Nashville to produce her own album, “All of This Love,” which yielded 2 top 5 hits and is nearing Platinum status. Her 1991 debut country album, Put Yourself In My Place, went gold and yielded two No. 1 and two Top 5 singles. Her next three albums – Homeward Looking Angel, Sweetheart’s Dance and Greatest Hits, were all certified platinum. She achieved six No. 1 songs during the ‘90s Country explosion, including “Shake the Sugar Tree,” “Mi Vida Loca,” “When You Walk In The Room,” “In Between Dances,” “Don’t Tell Me What To Do,” and her signature song, “Maybe It Was Memphis.” In 1999, she became the first female country entertainer to star on Broadway in the musical Lieber & Stoller’s “Smokey Joe Café”

She’s an accomplished actor with an impressive list of credits, including the films The Thing Called Love and The Neon Highway; the Broadway production of Smokey Joe’s Café; and TV shows LA Law, Diagnosis: Murder, Promised Land, Drag Race, Nashville, and Fairwood.

There is just so much more it’s impossible to list here.

And after more than three decades of doing what she loves, Tillis jokes, “I guess I’m safely past the ‘flash-in-the-pan’ stage of my career. What keeps me going is learning new things, wearing new hats and trying to stay relevant. I’m still standing, and I’m still grateful.”

The Outlaws

Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas

Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

The music of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas is the expression of a remarkable South Louisiana family. Growing up in a Creole-speaking home in St. Martinville, Nathan Williams eagerly sought out the music of Zydeco originators such as Clifton Chenier. Later, while recovering from a serious illness, Nathan decided to dedicate himself to learning the accordion. That dedication blossomed into an illustrious career, which now spans three decades. Zydeco is the fast and furious accordian-driven dance music of the Creole people of South Louisiana, a relatively modern style that emerged after the Second World War. With it’s trademark rubboard percussion, electric guitars and R&B influences, Zydeco is distinct from the fiddle-driven music of neighboring Cajuns. 

Dennis Paul Williams, Nathan’s brother, brings his jazz-influenced guitar chops to the band. He’s also a well-known painter whose work has been shown throughout the country, and has recently published a collection of his work. The eldest Williams brother, Sid ‘El Sid O’ Williams, is a Lafayette legend unto himself, and Zydeco would never have survived into the new millenium without him. Nathan’s cousin, Allen Williams, plays a 7 string bass! Nathan calls him “one bad dude!” Djuan Francis on rubboard and accordian is Nathan’s nephew and God Child. He has been traveling with the band since he was about 10 years old. And Clifford Alexander is the best rubboard player in the business. He was the original player with Nathan when the Zydeco cha chas were formed and after 23 years with C.J. Chenier Clifford has come home to play with Nathan again.

Nathan formed The Cha-Chas back in 1985 and since then has brought his unique take on this regional South Louisiana music to all corners of the globe. From Lincoln Center in New York to The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Nathan’s music has crossed all barriers to speak to the very heart of his audience.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2005, he was honored last year with the Zydeco Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Cha-Chas have been voted the top Festival Band in the country, and have won the coveted Big Easy award for Best Zydeco Band for several years running.

Nathan and his band have been featured in the New York Times, Essence and People magazines, and on the cover of USA Today. They’ve appeared in films like In The Electric Mist and The Kingdom of Zydeco, and worked with artists as diverse as Cindy Lauper, Michael Doucet and Buddy Guy.

Keepers of the Zydeco Flame, they are committed to keeping their Creole Heritage alive… - C’est Si Bon!

“Nathan Williams is still traveling on the same journey he’s always been on, motoring along in the finest vehicle in the fleet, putting out the best Zydeco in the business.” - No Depression

Bring your dancing shoes. Tables will be removed to make a dance space.

The James Hunter Six

Friday, June 17, 2023 at 8pm at The Bull Run

It takes you by surprise just how good James Hunter is. Van Morrison called him "one of the best voices and best kept secrets in British R&B and soul.” In the early Nineties, Van Morrison caught Hunter at a gig in Wales and subsequently hired him as a backup singer for several years of touring and recording. James appeared on Morrison’s live album, "A Night in San Francisco," and on the studio set, "Days Like This."

James Hunter has certainly paid his dues. Over the span of 30 years, he’s worked on the railway, busked in the streets of London, provided backup vocals and guitar for Van Morrison, played clubs and theatres all over the world, written scores of original songs, and recorded some of the most original and honest rhythm & soul albums of the last two decades. At age 16, Hunter left school in Colchester, Essex and began working for the railway, while honing his blues guitar and singing skills. Six years later, he played his first paid gig at the Colchester Labour club (as “Howlin’ Wilf and the Vee-Jays”). In the decades since, James Hunter has gone from singer/songwriter to labourer and back again. His gritty, soulful voice has matured well along with his musicianship and songwriting. With widespread critical acclaim for his recordings plus a Grammy nomination, it's still the live performances that reveal Hunter at his best.

Over the last decade, he's toured extensively around the world on the club, theatre, and festival circuits, steadily growing a dedicated audience comprised of hardened gig-goers, old-school baby boomers, and young hipsters alike. His follow-ups "The Hard Way" and "Minute By Minute" (GO/Fantasy), further cemented Hunter's reputation as a soul powerhouse, heralded for his talents both as a live performer and perhaps even more so as a songwriter, with The New Yorker describing his "tight, taut compositions" as "rooted in American soul music without being bound to it."

When Hunter burst onto the scene with his U.S. debut "People Gonna Talk,” he topped the Billboard Blues chart, earning a Grammy-nomination, and attracting universal acclaim from critics and his fans - including Van Morrison, Sharon Jones, and Allen Toussaint. With its affectionate echoes of Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, that disc became an airplay staple on some of the nation’s most influential radio stations. The Los Angeles Times praised James Hunter’s “extraordi­nary soul voice.” Rolling Stone called his album “a treat not to miss.” By the year’s end, "People Gonna Talk" was among the Top Ten “Best Albums of 2006” as cited by Mojo, USA Today and the WFUV listeners’ poll, to name a few. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Tradi­tional Blues Album and James himself was nominated as Best New/Emerging Artist in the annual Americana Music Awards.

Jackie Venson

Sunday, June 18, 2023 at 7:30pm at The Bull Run

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Jackie has traveled the world playing to massive crowds both as a headliner and as support for major acts such as Gary Clark Jr, Melissa Etheridge, Aloe Blacc, Citizen Cope to name a few. With the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancellation of her entire tour schedule, and the wave of social change sweeping across the country in 2020, Jackie committed herself to releasing more music than ever before, connecting with her fans directly and speaking up about the change she wanted to see in her city and country.

Since then, Jackie has released 2 studio albums, 2 live albums under her name and several electronic albums under her side project titled Jackie the robot. During the pandemic, Jackie Venson also made her National TV Performance Debut on Austin City Limits 46th season, a huge honor for the native Austinite. Venson’s most recent release, “Love Transcends”, Venson firmly established herself as a sonic force to be reckoned with out of Austin, Texas.

“Jackie Venson is truly an Austin legend in the making.” - Forbes

Ellis Paul

Friday, May 12, 2023 at 8pm at Bull Run