Co-Bill: Vance Gilbert and Eliot Bronson
“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” (Richmond Magazine)… with “the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). This consummate songwriter’s influence can be felt all over the folk and Americana realm, with 14 albums to his credit and appearances from the Newport Folk Festival to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to Boston’s Symphony Hall. Vance toured with Shawn Colvin and has been the opener of choice for artists as varied as Arlo Guthrie, Anita Baker, The Milk Carton Kids, Paul Reiser, and George Carlin.
Over six albums, indie folksinger Eliot Bronson has forged a distinctive blend of atmospheric American roots music, earning awards and an international following on both sides of the Atlantic. Bronson is a diverse songwriter, bouncing between poetic turns-of-phrase and direct narratives, and he’s as compelling as a vocalist. Whether leaping into his falsetto or singing in a woozy croon, he wrings every ounce of feeling from his lyrics, bringing those emotions to vivid life.
The Baltimore native began writing songs as a teenager, inspired by his father’s record collection, which included Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and blues pioneers Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Raised in a working-class family shaped by both Pentecostal faith and 1960s counterculture, Bronson developed a musical voice all his own.He later moved to Atlanta, where he built an audience as a member of the folk-rock duo The Brilliant Inventions. His solo career took off after he won first place in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. His swooning, expressive voice and evocative songwriting have drawn widespread acclaim, including early praise from The Baltimore Sun, which called him “a folk singing wunderkind.” His album Talking to Myself, recorded outside Atlanta, is an album that balances mood and melody, intimacy and atmosphere, grounded songwriting and astral, ambient arrangements.