This show is going to be a superb night of country/blues and roots music!
Drew Peterson is an independent Americana singer-songwriter who has captivated fans across the Midwest for over 20 years. Since fronting the Minnesota-based group Forty Watt Bulb, Peterson has spawned two other successful Roots projects; the twangy, upbeat Dead Pigeons and bluegrass-influenced Boxstore Bird.
Drew Peterson comes from a long line of musically inept Norwegian Farmers. Peterson was not born with an amazing musical talent. Mom bought him a guitar at a church rummage sale for five dollars and it was then he decided he wanted to become a musician. Growing up on a farm in rural Minnesota, he tackled this endeavor the way he had been taught - hard work and lots of practice. And practice is what he’s been doing for 20 years. His passion has always been crafting lyrics and songwriting.
Peterson has built a unique brand that transcends the genre. With clever, dry humor and thought-provoking lyrics, Peterson’s music is like oil over gravel. Drawing on influences from John Prine, Tom Waits, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, among others, Peterson offers the world upbeat tunes with a soft- spoken gravitas that belies his years.
With a performance style that can transform from intimate listening room to rowdy festivals and bars, Peterson always gives his heart and soul to the stage. And with each new performance, he works to connect with the audience through storytelling.
Lou Shields continues the tradition of American music with a solo-performance that pulls in styles of days-gone-by. Using his 1931 National Resonator Guitar or Banjo accompanied by a unique front porch style of foot percussion and harmonica, he uses his voice as an extension of the past. Lou carries a full sound during live performances while sharing stories, thoughts and experiences with the audience. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe for over 15 years and has released 8 full-length albums and 13 EP’s.
Sometimes the pursuit of our greater humanity involves jumping into life head first. That’s what McKain Lakey does. You can tell by her songs.
Armed with George the trusty road cat, a carful of instruments, and all the fight of a rambling, rural-raised, queer femme wanderer, McKain Lakey is one to be reckoned with. She’s the rare human who feels as comfortable wielding a chisel as she does a guitar, who can be as often spotted behind the soundboard in a crowded venue as discussing the intersections of race and gender in old time music with a classroom full of 5th graders.
Described by What’s Up Magazine as “a time capsule unearthed, fine-tuned and re-imagined”, Lakey draws creative inspiration from far corners of the American music tradition, tracing the lines of musical lineage that connect Old Time to Rockabilly, Country to Cajun to Dixieland. She’s a dedicated student of tradition, but at once unafraid to stare down convention through the modern lens of her lived experience. Her new album, Somewhere, blurs lines of old and new, referencing musical textures of past eras while unabashedly exploring topics of mental health, family separation, rural identity and queer love.
