Saturday June 1, 2013

8:00pm

RED MOLLY
with special guests THE COPPER PONIES

$25 ($22 for members)

Click HERE to order tickets online

Red Molly knows about optimism and joy. The band's fans, referred to as "RedHeads", have always responded to the sense that the band is a group of friends, sharing songs in their living room. That's exactly how it felt in 2004 when Laurie MacAllister (guitar, banjo, bass), Abbie Gardner (dobro, guitar) and Carolann Solebello (guitar, bass) sat around a campfire at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, singing and talking about their favorite songwriters. Knowing they had stumbled into something extraordinary, they formed Red Molly and spent the next seven years on the road.

From the start, the trio got attention with their lively, engaging stage performances. They moved quickly from NYC coffeehouses to the festival circuit in less than two years, winning notices for their performances at Merlefest, the Philadephia Folk Festival, and NPR's Mountain Stage. Between knocking out audiences from coast to coast, the trio found time to record three albums: Never Been to Vegas in 2006; 2008's Love and Other Tragedies, which spent ten weeks in the Top 15 on the Americana Chart, and 2010's James which logged four months in the Top 40 on the Americana Chart, peaking at #4, and landing at #23 in the year's Top 100.

In 2011, when founding member Carolann Solebello stepped down, MacAllister and Gardner asked Austin-based singer songwriter and guitarist Molly Venter to join the band. "Molly has a unique, edgy tone to her voice," MacAllister says. "Her sound is a bit pop-oriented, and while it hasn't changed our overall sound, I'd say it's a bit more gutsy, upbeat and modern."

"Make room, Roches and Wailin' Jennys,
Red Molly has earned a place among the elite female trios."
-John Platt, WFUV

"This trio melds their voices seamlessly to create harmonies that evoke the feel of the original Grand Ole Opry one moment and something akin to the swingy feel of the Andrews Sisters the next."

-Bluegrass Unlimited

* * *

The Copper Ponies will open the evening.  Annie Donahue is a special education teacher. Erik Balkey is a house painter. Together, Annie Donahue and Erik Balkey are "The Copper Ponies" -- a brand new singer-songwriter duo straight from their living rooms in New Jersey. With a focus on lyrics, melody and harmony, and an understated delivery, the music is simple and unadorned. They will have you leaning in and hanging on each word and note of their songs with an authentic mix of heartfelt, humorous, flirty and only slightly dangerous.

 “In a musical world cluttered with louder and faster attempts to get attention, The Copper Ponies have the confidence to stand poised,

sing softly and deliver powerfully moving song

like a calm whisper in a hectic crowded room. ” 

- Joe Crookston / singer-songwriter