Y’all, it’s been a while—we missed you. The end of 2022 has been a wild ride, and herein is its final Paradisiacal dispatch. ‘Tis the season to give records to beloved friends and family (and to yourself too). In lieu of the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we prefer to observe Krampus Day (honoring the Central European folkloric anti-Santa critter).
We are heartbroken to confirm that Patrick Haggerty, the visionary songwriter, dauntless activist, and irrepressible raconteur of Lavender Country, passed away at home early yesterday morning, October 31, 2022, surrounded by family and friends.
Our friends at the Secretly Group are assembling a durational 100-track compilation to benefit a variety of worthy organizations involved in the resistance against the current oppressive political regime in the U.S. Today, for Day 37, Lavender Country has premiered “Red Dress,” their first new recording to emerge in years. Patrick Haggerty has been on the front lines of civil rights battles for decades. His righteousness is our compass.
Your guide to Hopscotch and other performances this weekend by PoB artists Lavender Country, Promised Land Sound, Gun Outfit, and Nathan Bowles, including events at the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke, and Slim’s and Fletcher Theater in Raleigh.
Today, just in time for the first stirrings of autumn, Nathan Bowles’ radiant new album is finally among us, in stores, on turntables, in the humid air. According to Pitchfork, Bowles is “a crucial force in folk music … with the power to transform the sound of a banjo into something transcendental, often bringing the spirit of Americana to new heights … An album that reshapes folk music into something boundless and new.”
News about the release show for Nathan Bowles’ Whole & Cloven at the Center for the Study of the American South, as well as PoB artists at the Hopscotch Music Festival, the Southern Accent exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art, and tour date updates from Hiss Golden Messenger, Itasca, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Nap Eyes, Promised Land Sound, Steve Gunn, and Terry Allen.
As we bask in the new Spring and look ahead to the oncoming Summer, we’d like call your attention to the many chances you’ll have to see some of our artist’s road-dogging it through a town near you. We’d also like to take a moment to extend our warmest thanks to The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) for nominating us as 2016 Label of the Year. We’re blushing.
The behemoth known as SXSW is almost upon us, and several PoB artists will be joining the melee, including rare appearances by Lavender Country, both live onstage (with some special guests sitting in) and at festival world premiere screenings of the new documentary short These C*cksucking Tears. The Weather Station and Nap Eyes will also each be playing several shows.
2015 (Year of the Goat) in all its splendor and magnificence is out the door, and 2016 (Year of the Monkey) is right around the corner. Seems only appropriate to reflect on things that were, round-up some additional year end list recognition, and propel us into this next age with some upcoming tour dates.
In addition to the already announced dates (St. Louis, Grinnell, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle), Lavender Country’s historic Fall/Winter 2014 tour will now visit Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York, and Boston. Come out, come out, y’all!
