Molly Tuttle

Presented by Bloomington Roots and The Bluebird

Molly Tuttle is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and virtuosic guitarist whose innovative blend of bluegrass, Americana, pop, and rock has made her one of the most dynamic artists in modern roots music. In 2025, she released her boldest statement yet, the critically acclaimed So Long Little Miss Sunshine, nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards—Best Americana Album and Best Americana Performance for the lead single “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark.” Recorded in Nashville with producer Mike Joyce (Orville Peck, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson), the album marks Tuttle’s fifth full-length release and her most ambitious reinvention to date: a vibrant, deeply personal body of work rooted in self-acceptance and transformation. 

A highly decorated artist, Tuttle has been nominated for 5 GRAMMY Awards (including in the Best New Artist category) and earned back-to-back GRAMMY wins for Best Bluegrass Album with her band Golden Highway - Crooked Tree (2022) and City of Gold (2023) - becoming the first artist in the category’s history to do so. She is also the first woman to receive the IBMA Guitar Player of the Year award, alongside multiple additional IBMA and Americana Music Awards. 

One for the Foxes

with Ella Jordan & Rob McCormac

Dave Curley, Tadhg Ó Meachair & Joanna Hyde form an exciting and dynamic transatlantic trio that presents a rousing blend of Irish and American folk music, having already won over audiences on both sides of the ocean. The group is made up of Dublin’s Tadhg Ó Meachair (Goitse), Galway’s Dave Curley (SLIDE) and Denver, Colorado’s Joanna Hyde (The Hydes), and features a mix of Irish and American folk music and song – both traditional and newly- composed – presented in an energetic and engaging manner.

Their performances strike a tasteful balance between the stories found in ballads across both sides of the Atlantic and the respective instrumental music traditions of these places. Award-winning instrumentalists each in their own right, Dave, Tadhg & Joanna take a unique twist on the diverse strengths of their individual backgrounds, weaving between traditional melodies, their own compositions, and songs from the broader folk canon.

The results are highly personalised and thrilling in their daring and forthright grasp of the material. Through a shared deep-rooted passion for Irish traditional music, this trio highlights the vital role of Irish traditional music as an origin of many American folk musics, and explores how those styles can interact with one another in a manner both eclectic and grounded.

With a new, yet-unnamed project, the duo of Ella Jordan and Rob McCormac bridge disparate musical backgrounds to traverse a sonic landscape that is at once poignant and pensive.  Remaining true both to their respective Texas and North Carolina roots, their music harmonizes with the folk, swing, and old-time legacies they venerate in performance, all while sharing stories best heard in their thoughtful, original songwriting. Following their recent relocation to America’s Heartland, the couple is, for the first time, leaning fully into a collaborative musical effort—one that seeks to capture the fragile beauty of a mutable now. 

Ella Jordan is a Berklee College of Music graduate and the 2023 winner of the FreshGrass Awards fiddle contest. In addition to performing with notable artists such as Asleep at the Wheel, Joe K. Walsh, Darol Anger, and Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, she has toured with the renowned Boston-based bluegrass band Mile Twelve since 2021. Their album Close Enough to Hear (2023) features both her distinctive fiddle stylings and her original songwriting. The band has also collaborated with California musical legend Jody Stecher on two recent releases: Mile 77 (2023) and Instant Lonesome and the Twinkle Brigade (2024). Ella is further featured on Darol Anger’s most recent album, Diary of a Fiddler, Volume II (2025), and Joe K. Walsh's record, If Not Now, Who? (2023).

Since beginning his Ph.D. studies in ethnomusicology at Indiana University, Rob McCormac’s day-to-day life has largely shifted from performing music to writing about the flows of vibrant natural materials that constitute the instruments musicians hold dear—and he wouldn’t have it any other way! Prior to this return to academia, Rob toured for five years with the North Carolina bluegrass band Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 'Momentum Band of the Year' award. A passionate educator, he has held teaching positions at Appalachian State University, where he taught courses in both Appalachian Studies and music theory, and has been invited to teach and lecture at music festivals and camps across the United States and Canada.

Jerome Collins REWIND: A Journey to Motown and Beyond w/ Small Town City (of Straight No Chaser)

Rewind: A Journey to Motown and Beyond is a captivating solo performance featuring the talented Jerome Collins of famed a cappella group Straight No Chaser. This show is a nostalgic throwback to the roots of music, paying homage to the legendary sounds of Motown and R&B. Jerome takes the audience through electrifying renditions of timeless hits from some of the world’s most iconic musicians and renowned artists. With a set list that includes songs from legends like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder, Jerome’s soulful delivery ensures an unforgettable experience.

Small Town City is the dynamic songwriting and performing duo of Mike Luginbill and Ryan Ahlwardt, celebrated for their time in the world-renowned vocal group Straight No Chaser. Drawing inspiration from artists like Steely Dan, Jonathan Splithoff, John Mayer, and LANY, their music showcases smooth harmonies, memorable choruses, and inventive arrangements that captivate listeners.

Together, they contributed to Straight No Chaser’s albums, which have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Their talents have been showcased on iconic stages such as The Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall, The Ryman Auditorium, and The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They’ve also appeared on national television, including PBS specials, The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The duo’s name, Small Town City, is inspired by a lyric from James Taylor’s Her Town Too—a tribute to one of their greatest musical influences. Their collaboration began in 2003 during their senior year at Indiana University in Bloomington, where their shared passion for music and storytelling grew into a vibrant partnership that has thrived for more than 20 years.

Over the years, Mike and Ryan have worked with an impressive roster of artists, including Barry Manilow, Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Colbie Caillat, The Beach Boys, Kristin Chenoweth, Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men, and Jon McLaughlin.

Mike resides in Nashville, TN, where he continues to be a primary soloist, vocal arranger, and songwriter for Straight No Chaser, a role he has held since their 2008 signing with Atlantic Records. Follow Mike @mikeluginbill and explore his music at SNCmusic.com.

Ryan, based in Fishers, IN, is an Emmy-nominated host of Indy Now on FOX59—the #1 lifestyle and entertainment show in Indiana—as well as a live entertainer and songwriter. Follow Ryan @RyanSongs and discover his music at RyanSongs.com.

Stay connected with Small Town City on social media at @smalltowncitymusic, and stream their music on all major platforms.

Over The Rhine: Infamous Love Songs

with Ben Sollee

BCT & Bloomington Roots present a special Valentine concert: Over the Rhine ~ INFAMOUS LOVE SONGS

"Some years ago, when Johnny Cash’s career was undergoing a resurgence during his creative collaborations with producer, Rick Rubin, someone made an attempt to organize Johnny’s songs into three categories: God, Love and Death. It occurred to me then that maybe those are the only three subjects available to the writer. I have tried to write about all three.

And yet, one night over a late night beverage, by way of confession, I admitted to a colleague (a fellow songwriter) that I was embarrassed by the possibility that every song I had ever written was essentially a love song.

Without missing a beat he responded, Well, maybe, but you don’t just write about falling in love: you write about what happens further down the road.

I was relieved and grateful to receive that perspective, because ladies and gentlemen, we are indeed further down the road. Karin and I have been writing, and making records together as Over the Rhine for 35 years. We’ve been married for 29 of those. Long live musical couples. Johnny and June might be our patron saints, but they are not the only ones. A significant swath of our favorite music over the years has been made by that rare and endangered breed of exotic zoo animal: the musical couple. (The list includes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Buddy and Julie Miller, Richard and Linda Thompson, The Innocence Mission and others.) But back to further down the road… Poet Christina Rosetti famously wrote the lines: Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end.

Few things in life get easier as the years pass. But from this vantage point, after 35 years of climbing, we can see the broader view. We can see the two songwriters who were stoned on love and words and possibility. We can see the couple who almost called it a day, and yet found their way into — and with — each other. We learned that we tend two separate gardens: the garden of our career in music, and the garden of our life together well apart from the noise of the music industry.

We know well the thrill of opening shows for Bob Dylan or Lucinda Williams, getting to play at Newport Folk Festival, or in Japan, or New Zealand. And checking those things off our dream list was indeed a thrill. Seeing the world on the backs of the songs. Watching a community coalesce around our music that crossed borders and boundaries.

And now it is also the deeper abiding joy of quietly walking two Irish Wolfhounds in the cool of the evening. At home. Being together. The fact that we can still make each other laugh. Sharing a story that’s still being written. We live together on a small farm, grow songs, host concerts in the restored barn, and curate and host Nowhere Else Festival — our very own music and arts festival, the festival that we were always looking for but never quite found until we built it ourselves. Both/and.

We have written a lifetime of love songs in all shapes and sizes. We were curious as to what an evening devoted entirely to the possibilities of love songs might feel like. And so, come Valentine’s Day, we’re going to go find a few favorite stages, and find out. We hope you’ll join us."

Linford Detweiler (w/Karin Bergquist close by)
September 2025, Martinsville, Ohio

OPENING THE SHOW — Kentucky musician and composer Ben Sollee, has been blurring boundaries with his musical style and career for nearly two decades – his latest album, Long Haul (2024) is no exception. Drawing on tonal influences from the American and global south, Sollee’s vocals and unique cello style thread through each track binding seemingly disparate chapters of his journey – the Long Haul.

After his last album in 2017, Sollee took a break from touring to grow his family and deepen community connections in Louisville, KY. Now a father of three, Sollee has leaned into his work as a composer; scoring films such as LAND from director Robin Wright, and Maggie Morre(s), a John Slattery film featuring Tina Fey and Jon Hamm. He also scored the podcast series Unreformed, which was recently nominated for a Peabody Award. Outside of music, Sollee helped launch the non-profit Canopy, which supports Kentucky businesses positively impacting their communities and planet.

Sollee works to grow togetherness through events, multi-media productions, and educational workshops that address loneliness, improve wellness, and nurture creativity.

There is an urgent need to bring humans together as the world faces a changing climate, limited food and water resources, and technological disruptions. And while data can inform governments and corporations, it is the arts that will move people to action.

Recommended: Friendship w/ Natalie Jane Hill

Presented by Better Distractions and WFHB

"Music for sleeping and waking, walking and driving, hunting and fishing, for loitering outside a roadhouse on the haunted tundra. Okay in elevators, not great for dinner. On Caveman Wakes Up Friendship’s new album and second for Merge Records, the band’s historically capacious definition of country music grows wider still. Shambolic guitars are offset by flute pads, bleary poetry is set against a Motown rhythm section, a song about Jerry Garcia and First Lady Betty Ford fades out with a drum solo, like if Talk Talk came from a dingy Philadelphia basement, and was fronted by James Tate. Songwriter Dan Wriggins’ ragged baritone cuts through eleven murky, swirling country-rock songs with profound lyrical substance and sincerity. Like an alarm clock incorporated into the edge of a dream, Caveman Wakes Up belongs equally to the conscious and subconscious mind, fraught with background, steeped in reference and experimentation, delivered casually and as a dire warning, dedicated, above all, to music’s creative soul.

Over the years, dedication has paid off. Friendship has become a kind of reverse supergroup, wherein the band itself and each individual member is located centrally in an increasingly prominent scene of young folk and country musicians and songwriters. Drummer Michael Cormier O’Leary leads the instrumental collective Hour and, along with bassist Jon Samuels, run Dear Life Records, home to friends and peers who count Friendship as a major influence, including MJ Lenderman, Florry, and Fust. (Samuels also plays lead guitar in MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Guitarist Peter Gill’s band 2nd Grade records prolifically. Wriggins began writing the songs of Caveman Wakes Up on a downtuned classical guitar of Lenderman’s, and finished on a barely-tuned piano in an apartment he shared with Sadurn’s G DeGroot.

...A droning chord calms nerves. A surreal poem moves us not because it’s familiar, but because it grows, stirs up the stagnant waters. A sizzle in the brain stem. Negative capability. Caveman Wakes Up is dreamy, luscious new growth for a band that has become an increasingly verdant oasis in the crescent of indie country civilization. Sure to excite and mystify, to continue growing, to cause new life."

May Erlewine with Packy Lundholm

Presented by BCT and Bloomington Roots

One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, May Erlewine has a gift for writing songs of substance that feel both fresh and soulfully familiar. Her ability to emotionally engage with an audience has earned her a dedicated following far beyond her Michigan roots.

This year, May is teaming up with Chicago guitar wizard Packy Lundholm. The heart-forward power duo will be offering their music in the name of love, service and rock & roll.

FREE Special Event:

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson | 2025 | USA | PG-13 | DCP

Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet, and it has to be seen to be believed! Followed by a Q&A with the film's composer, Nathan Johnson.

About Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Oscar-nominated writer-director Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig are back, bringing their version of Hercule Poirot to the screen for the third time with Craig’s Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man. Taking inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and the classic locked-room mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, this installment of the enormously entertaining series finds Blanc in a small, upstate New York town, embroiled in an impossible murder focused around the town’s local church and its small but devoted congregation. Led by Craig and Josh O’Connor, the stellar ensemble cast includes Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis, and Thomas Haden Church. [144 min; comedy, mystery; English; watch the trailer]

Get the inside scoop on the film from our friends at Netflix!

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Nathan Johnson, the film’s composer. Johnson is an award-winning composer whose work has been featured in films like Brick, Nightmare Alley, Looper, The Brothers Bloom, and Knives Out, among others.

"Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is an enticingly clever and droll, nearly pitch-perfect piece of murder-mystery fun—a whodunit that lives up to the expectations set six years ago by Knives Out, which offered its own perfect revival of the Agatha Christie spirit, with a tasty frosting of meta cheekiness." — Owen Gleiberman, Variety

"With its Gothic atmosphere and deeper themes, Wake Up Dead Man has a darker tone than the previous Knives Out films. Yet it is also the funniest and most playful so far." — Caryn James, BBC

"Everyone seems to be having a blast, and the filmmaker knows how to take both the ensemble he’s assembled and his congregation of Knives Out fans—call us Blanc-heads—to church, literally and figuratively." — David Fear, Rolling Stone

Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.

Carrie Newcomer

Carrie Newcomer is a songwriter, recording artist, performer, educator and activist. She has been described as a "prairie mystic" by the Boston Globe and one who "asks all the right questions" by Rolling Stone Magazine. Carrie has 20 nationally released albums on Available Light & Concord/Rounder Records including A Great Wild Mercy, Until Now, The Point of Arrival and The Beautiful Not Yet. Newcomer has released three books of poetry & essays, A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays, The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems and Essays & Lyrics, and Until Now: New Poems by Carrie Newcomer. Her song "I Should've Known Better" appeared on Nickel Creeks' Grammy-winning gold album This Side, and she earned an Emmy for her PBS special An Evening with Carrie Newcomer.

Recent appearances include PBS Religion and Ethics and Krista Tippett's On Being. In 2009 and 2011 Newcomer was invited by the American Embassy of India to be a cultural ambassador, resulting in her interfaith benefit album Everything is Everywhere with master of the Indian Sarod, Amjad Ali Khan. In 2013 Carrie traveled to Kenya and the Middle East, performing in schools, spiritual communities and hospitals assisting AIDS patients. In 2016 Carrie was awarded an honorary degree in Music for Social Change from Goshen College. In 2019 she received The Shalem Institutes's Contemplative Voices Award.

In recent years, Carrie has become one of Substack's most popular music writers with her weekly offerings of topical reflections, videos, poetry and songs. She has also joined with the author Parker J. Palmer on several projects, including The Growing Edge collaboration which explores growing edges, personally, vocationally and politically. Together they created live events, personal growth retreats, and the highly rated The Growing Edge Podcast that features authors, activists, poets and musicians. Spirituality and Health Magazine named Parker & Carrie in the top ten spiritual leaders for the next 20 years. She has also presented workshops with ServiceSpace.org, an international interfaith community for creating positive change through personal and collective service experiences. In addition to her busy touring schedule, which has included presentations with full choral arrangements and string quartet, Carrie has become known for her personal growth retreats and speaking engagements.

Carrie is known for her low and resonant voice as "rich as Godiva Chocolate" according to The Austin American-Statesman, for her musical depth and the progressive spiritual content of her songs, poetry and workshops, and for her continued work in justice, spiritual and interfaith communities, and health and hunger organizations. In a time of deep divisions, Carrie has become a national voice for finding how we still connect at the heart of the human story. She lives in the wooded hills of South Central Indiana with her husband and two shaggy rescue dogs.

John McCutcheon

No one remembers when the neighbors started calling the McCutcheons to complain about the loud singing from young John's bedroom. It didn't seem to do much good, though. For, after a shaky, lopsided battle between piano lessons and baseball (he was a mediocre pianist and an all-star catcher), he had "found his voice" thanks to a cheap mail-order guitar and a used book of chords.

From such inauspicious beginnings, John McCutcheon has emerged as one of our most respected and loved folksingers. As an instrumentalist, he is a master of a dozen different traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe. His thirty recordings have garnered every imaginable honor including seven Grammy nominations. He has produced over twenty albums of other artists, from traditional fiddlers to contemporary singer-songwriters to educational and documentary works. His books and instructional materials have introduced budding players to the joys of their own musicality. And his commitment to grassroots political organizations has put him on the front lines of many of the issues important to communities and workers.

Even before graduating summa cum laude from Minnesota's St. John's University, this Wisconsin native literally "headed for the hills," forgoing a college lecture hall for the classroom of the eastern Kentucky coal camps, union halls, country churches, and square dance halls. His apprenticeship to many of the legendary figures of Appalachian music imbedded a love of not only home-made music, but a sense of community and rootedness. The result is music...whether traditional or from his huge catalog of original songs...with the profound mark of place, family, and strength. It also created a storytelling style that has been compared to Will Rogers and Garrison Keillor.

The Washington Post described John as folk music's "Rustic Renaissance Man," a moniker flawed only by its understatement. "Calling John McCutcheon a 'folksinger' is like saying Deion Sanders is just a football player..." (Dallas Morning News). Besides his usual circuit of major concert halls and theaters, John is equally at home in an elementary school auditorium, a festival stage or at a farm rally. He is a whirlwind of energy packing five lifetimes into one. In the past few years alone he has headlined over a dozen different festivals in North America (including repeated performances at the National Storytelling Festival), recorded an original composition for Virginia Public Television involving over 500 musicians, toured Australia for the sixth time, toured Chile in support of a women's health initiative, appeared in a Woody Guthrie tribute concert in New York City, gave a featured concert at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, taught performance art skills at a North Carolina college, given symphony pops concerts across America, served as President of the fastest-growing Local in the Musicians Union and performed a special concert at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is all in his "spare time." His "real job," he's quick to point out, is father to two grown sons.

But it is in live performance that John feels most at home. It is what has brought his music into the lives and homes of one of the broadest audiences any folk musician has ever enjoyed. People of every generation and background seem to feel at home in a concert hall when John McCutcheon takes the stage, with what critics describe as "little feats of magic," "breathtaking in their ease and grace...," and "like a conversation with an illuminating old friend."
Whether in print, on record, or on stage, few people communicate with the versatility, charm, wit or pure talent of John McCutcheon.

Presented by BCT and Bloomington Roots

Bonny Light Horseman

w/ Special Guest Angela Autumn

Bonny Light Horseman’s new album, Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, is an ode to the blessed mess of our humanity. Confident and generous, it is an unvarnished offering that puts every feeling and supposed flaw out in the open. The themes are stacked high and staked even higher: love and loss, hope and sorrow, community and family, change and time all permeate Bonny Light Horseman’s most vulnerable and bounteous offering to date. Yet for all of its humanistic touchpoints, Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free was forged from a kind of unexplainable magic.

Written over five months in 2023, this third album began when the band’s core trio–Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman–convened in an Irish pub alongside beloved collaborators JT Bates (drums), Cameron Ralston (bass), and recording engineer Bella Blasko. Mitchell suggested the pub as their first recording location, based on her one conversation with owner Joe O’Leary. She had a feeling about the place, and was surprised by her bandmates’ enthusiasm for the idea. Stepping inside the pub’s aged confines, the trio felt an immediate connection to its palpable sense of community, and of family, forged over many decades.

The pub was Levis (pronounced: “leh-viss”) Corner House, a century-old watering hole in Ballydehob, a tiny coastal village in County Cork, and its energy became a singular source of Bonny Light Horseman’s creative engine. The pub’s upright piano, which they lubricated with olive oil to quiet its creaking, became a sort of spiritual fulcrum, a single entity that embodied all of the album’s motifs: imperfection as a badge of honor; aging, endurance and the passage of time; how the simplest of acts can heal us. The analogs–between this century-old meeting place of local folk and this trio of American folkies–were undeniable. "It has this sense of history; it’s also small, and crammed with a bunch of stuff that’s spilling all over the place,” says Kaufman. “It was like the pub version of our band." A painting that hung on a wall of the pub, which watched over the band during their time working, became the album cover. “I was making eye contact with that person for most of the recording,” Johnson said of the artwork. And there was a deeper connection. Before the band had even planned to record in the pub, the owner’s wife had named the woman in the painting Bonnie.

There’s magic in a place like Levis Corner House, yes, but it takes the right wizards to wield it. At the center of Bonny Light Horseman is, always, the singular combination of three powerful and tender artists–artists who expertly dodge superlatives but are quick to acknowledge the ways they strengthen and enrich one another, and the bond that makes each one better, braver and more vulnerable than they’d be on their own. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the force of their voices together, which work with complete trust in one another through the gentlest moments and the most ruthless wails. The result can comfort and cradle listeners, but also leaves them rattled, wrecked, and reborn.

On a practical level, the “blessed mess” of Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free shows up in its fidelity to this home, as crowd noise, laughter, coughing, and field recordings (“Think of the royalties, lads!”) convey everything from this special place in time. But philosophically, the “mess” is evidence of something deeper. It’s the imperfect, soul-nourishing fruit born of a singular communal experience, one that transforms its participants through the spirit of good company. Mitchell posits the idea of a “feast” and how dinners with friends effortlessly span courses, conversations, and hours — a meal that’s nutritious on physical and spiritual levels. “I have a friend who says you should never remove the dishes from the table, that you should sit among the wreckage,” she offers.

“There was this new level of letting it all hang out,” Mitchell said of the album’s making. In its evolution from recording to release, this meant compiling a double LP—eighteen songs across two discs. It also meant two titles, if not precisely two distinct records. Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free is sprawling and welcoming, and encompasses the group’s captivating artistic layers: its roots in the sounds and lyrical spirit of traditional folk music, its branches in a more experimental and emotionally raw version of the band.

The group tracked about half of the songs in the main room of Levis’s. They spent two days working alone. On the evening of the third, O’Leary invited some enthusiastic residents to join in. That’s not to say it’s a live album; instead, the third day of the Ireland sessions represented a serendipitous blend of energies because the audience implicitly understood the assignment. Patrons gave the band enough space to talk about arrangements and record multiple versions of songs, but they also provided an evident sense of environmental joy as they chatted over pints with friends and family. “We were doing this in the middle of their spot and they intuitively understood what was required of them,” Johnson said. “It was pretty magic.”

The band then returned to their spiritual home, upstate New York’s Dreamland Recording Studios (where they completed their first two albums), to finish the work they had started. Frequent collaborator Mike Lewis joined on bass and tenor saxophone. Annie Nero stopped by to play upright bass and sing some harmonies for an afternoon. The days were rhapsodic and restorative, filled with crying, and songs that poured out like tears.

The poignant quandary at the center of “I Know You Know” revealed itself in mere minutes. The trio attributes the speed to the fact that they’d already finished much of Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free and were able to “stand on the shoulders” of that creativity. It’s also demonstrative of the band’s ability to lace emotional devastation with a pop sensibility, which they’ve achieved throughout the album. Its feel-good, mandolin-laced arrangement and anthemic chorus belie how its refrain will wreck you. “I’m a fool if I love you and a fool if I let you go,” Johnson sings as Mitchell’s voice soars alongside him.

“Tumblin Down” is similar in its melodic tribulation. A folk-rock portrayal of an unraveling relationship, it’s like the spirit of Ingmar Bergman’s “Scenes From a Marriage” set to song—light on its surface but woven from existential crisis. “When I Was Younger,” meanwhile, is a primal scream, revolutionary for its open reckoning with motherhood, maturation and all of the things polite society doesn’t say out loud. In the song, Mitchell and Johnson’s honeyed voices meet and transform into a two-headed beast formed from pent-up emotion; its roar is necessary, beautiful, and scary.

“Old Dutch” originated as a voice memo recorded in a historical church of the same name in Kaufman’s home city. “It was timestamped ‘Old Dutch’ and that was too perfect; it sounded like a Bonny Light Horseman song,” he said. Its choral refrain echoes those origins; it also punctuates the band’s tale of shifting love with that alluring thing the heart is inevitably steered by—a lingering, often illogical, feeling.

With Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, Bonny Light Horseman offers a distinct sense of grace, and a reminder that life is most lived when things aren’t so perfect. Over the years, the band has accumulated many miles on the collective odometer of life. That’s all reflected here, in these modern folk songs, laced with glory and chaos. As Mitchell puts it: “It’s not concise. It’s not simple. It’s messy, and that’s OK.”

Erin Osmon January 2024

Sam Amidon

w/ David T. James and Alex Swartzentruber

Sam Amidon is a singer and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, fiddle) from Vermont, US, now based in London, England. His new album “Salt River” was released by River Lea / Rough Trade on 24th January 2025. He has previously released seven acclaimed albums of songs on Bedroom Community and Nonesuch Records.

RECOMMENDED: Granfalloon Main Stage Concert

Feat. Mavis Staples, Thee Sacred Souls, Murder By Death, and Tortilla Jackson

Free!

Presented by the IU Arts and Humanities Council and inspired by legendary Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Granfalloon brings together musicians, artists, thinkers, and good people from all walks of life for a celebration of art, ideas, and community.

Busman’s Holiday

Part of Granfalloon Weekend!

Free!

Busman's Holiday is a band of brothers from Bloomington, IN. After nearly two decades, their musical eras have been varied and adventurous. Recently the band has hitched their get-up to a funky rock'n'roll sound. Their sibling vocal harmony, catchy melodies, unexpected musical turns, and simple grooves will lift you higher. With an unparalleled  devotion to the craft Busman's Holiday explores songwriting and making people feel good.

Bruce Cockburn

“Time takes its toll, but in my soul I’m on a roll,” Bruce Cockburn sings on his latest studio album, O Sun O Moon. Smart and catchy, it’s the kind of memorable line—like “gotta kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight” from his classic song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”—the world has become used to hearing from Cockburn.

An inspired poet and exceptional guitarist, the award-winning artist has spent his entire career kicking at the darkness with songs that tackle topics from politics and human rights to the environment and spirituality. And he’s not letting up. While other singer-songwriters his age are slowing down, Cockburn, on the eve of his 78th birthday, has released a dozen new compositions as powerful as any he’s written. You could even say his songwriting is on a roll as well.

Exquisitely recorded in Nashville with his longtime producer, Colin Linden, O Sun O Moon exudes a newfound simplicity and clarity, as Cockburn focuses on more spiritual than topical concerns this time around, looking back and taking stock. “I think it’s a product of age to a certain extent,” he explains, “and seeing the approaching horizon.” Then, lightening the tone, he adds with a laugh: “I think these are exactly the kind of songs that an old guy writes.”

Presented by BCT and Bloomington Roots

Hayes Carll & Corb Lund: Bible on the Dash Tour

Hayes Carll:

The New York Times likened Carll’s ability to undergird humor with a weightier narrative to Bob Dylan. When Carll talks about the sounds that are in his own head, he mentions Randy Travis. That juxtaposition defines the singularity of Carll’s career: He exists in a space of his own, informed by John Prine, Tom Waits, and Dylan but also by Travis, Kenny Rogers, and Hank Williams, Jr.

Those influences may have made him hard to pigeonhole, but he’s still been embraced. Two Americana Music Awards, a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song, and multiple Austin Music Awards line his resumé́. He’s had the most-played record on Americana radio twice. His songs appear on the screen regularly and have been recorded by Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, and Brothers Osborne, to name a few.

“I like to tug at heartstrings, find commonality with others, reflect on my own life, and sometimes I do it in a lighthearted way,” says Carll. “A lot of musical styles found their way onto this record, but my first and most formative influences came from country music.”

Corb Lund:

Much like his music, Lund is decidely hard to define. The western Canadian singer-songwriter is an elusive artist — onstage, offstage and in the studio — seamlessly weaving between the outlaw country, Western, and indie-folk realms with an honest curiosity and rowdy devotion to each.

Raised on the rolling prairies of Alberta in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, and hailing from generations of ranchers and rodeo people, Lund was instilled with the tried-n-true DIY sentiment of “if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself.”

Lund has a devoted audience comprised of city dwellers, along with authentic Western music fans still living an agricultural lifestyle; both sects finding elements of their lives reflected within the themes of the music, due to the fact that he toured for years with indie-metal band the smalls, and later turned his sights to writing Western songs. This has created a unique and quirky hybrid writing style.

Ripe

with Six Foot Blonde

Ripe’s newest album Bright Blues is a collection of 12 songs full of sleek grooves and  bold melodies that the Boston quintet put together to help ride out tough times, an  anthem for better days ahead.

“The wildest thing for me is that the record simultaneously sounds like it has the scars of everything we’ve been through and also that it doesn’t — it’s joyful music, which is very exciting given that it was made in the middle of getting hit in the stomach,” says singer Robbie Wulfsohn, who came together with guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman, and trombonist Calvin Barthel while they were all studying at Berklee College of Music.

The band drew acclaim from the likes of the Boston Globe, Huffington Post and WXPN with their first full-length, Joy in the Wild Unknown. Their streams on Spotify surged past 56 million as they conquered stages at festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, SweetWater and Bottlerock, and sold tens of thousands of tickets across the US, including selling out the iconic House of Blues Boston and Brooklyn Steel. Bright Blues is their first release after signing to indie powerhouse Glassnote Records and their first release working with outside co-writers. Teaming up on production with Noah Conrad (BTS, Niall Horan) and Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Dermot Kennedy) helped bring the high-energy, freewheeling stage show to the recording studio, with the result being an album that shows the full scope of the band’s abilities as writers and performers. The live show has always been at the core of who Ripe is, and now the recorded music can stand alongside it as an all-encompassing representation of who the band is and where they are going.

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Keb’ Mo’ and Shawn Colvin

For Keb’ Mo’, the journey began nearly half a century ago, when he landed his first major gig in Papa John Creach’s band at the age of 21. Over the course of the next 20 years, Keb’ would go on to establish himself as a respected guitarist, songwriter, and arranger, and though he recorded a one-off album in 1980 under his birth name, Kevin Moore, it wasn’t until 1994 that he would introduce the world to Keb’ Mo’ with the release of his widely acclaimed self-titled debut. Critics were quick to take note of Keb’s modern, genre-bending take on old school sounds, and two years later, he garnered his first GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album with Just Like You. In the decades to come, Keb’ would take home four more GRAMMY Awards; top the Billboard Blues Chart seven times; perform everywhere from Carnegie Hall to The White House; collaborate with many including Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks, and Lyle Lovett; have compositions recorded and sampled by artists as diverse as B.B. King, Zac Brown, and BTS; release signature guitars with both Gibson and Martin; appear in and compose music for films and TV shows like The Blues, Mike and Molly, and Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl; and earn the Americana Music Association’s 2021 award for Lifetime Achievement in Performance. NPR’s Mountain Stage hailed him as “one of the most decorated living blues artists,” while The New Yorker raved that “few musicians emblematize the blues like Kevin Moore,” and The New York Times praised “the subtle twists of his songwriting” along with his knack for “facing down desolation with a grin.” 

Keb’ Mo’s most recent album, Good To Be, manages to integrate a broad range of sounds, bouncing from funky soul and gritty R&B to country twang and tender folk with deceptive ease. Written partially in Nashville and partially in the Compton house Keb’ grew up in, Good To Be is a celebration of roots and resilience, of growth and gratitude, of hope and memory. The songs here draw on country, soul, and blues to forge a sound that transcends genre and geography, weaving together past and present into a heartwarming tapestry spanning more than 40 years of sonic evolution.

“I’m happy with my success and grateful for my career,” Keb’ explains, “but I’m still breathing and I’m still hungry. I may be about to turn 70, but I’ve got no interest in slowing down. I’m out there going for it every single day.”

About Shawn Colvin
In an era when female singer-songwriters are ever more ubiquitous, Shawn Colvin stands out as a singular and enduring talent. Her songs are slow-release works of craft and catharsis that become treasured, lifetime companions for their listeners. In the 30 years since the release of her debut album, Colvin has won three GRAMMY Awards, released 13 albums, written a critically acclaimed memoir, maintained a non-stop national and international touring schedule, appeared on countless television and radio programs, had her songs featured in major motion pictures and created a remarkable canon of work.

Her first album, Steady On, won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Colvin continued to win fans and impress critics with subsequent releases, Fat City (1992) and Cover Girl (1994). In 1996 she released A Few Small Repairs, which would prove to be her breakthrough. The song “Sunny Came Home” gave Colvin a Top 10 hit, a platinum-selling album and two of GRAMMY’s biggest honors: Record of the Year and Song of the Year. 

In September 2019, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Steady On, Colvin released a newly-recorded version of her landmark debut. Colvin crafts a truly mesmerizing reinvention, performing the album with just her voice and guitar. The Steady On 30th Anniversary Acoustic Edition strips each song to the core, placing Colvin’s songwriting masterclass on full display. Colvin was most recently honored with an induction into the 2019 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, alongside legendary artists Lyle Lovett and Buddy Guy. 

Over the course of three decades, Shawn Colvin has established herself as a captivating performer and a revered storyteller, well-deserving of the commendation of her peers and the devoted audiences who have been inspired by her artistry.

Jordan Tice (of Hawktail)

w/ Patrick M’Gonigle on fiddle/mandolin & Dan Klingsberg on bass

Presenting the debut of the Bloomington Roots on Kirkwood series: intimate acoustic concerts with an NPR Tiny Desk feel! Light refreshments will be served. Please note that a very limited number of tickets are available.

On Badlettsville, acclaimed guitarist, songwriter, and member of the band Hawktail, Jordan Tice, brings together an all-star ensemble of acoustic musicians to realize his take on several of his favorite covers and originals that, while staples of his live show, never made it on to a previous release. The album begins with his acoustic treatment of Bob Dylan’s, “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven”, featuring impressionistic lyrics flowing over a trancelike backdrop of guitar, fiddle, bass and bongoes. The second track, “Mean Old World”, is an anthemic folk original reflecting on the inevitable change life brings and features lush harmonies from Aoife O’Donovan and Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse). The EP concludes with two duets with his Hawktail bandmate, bassist Paul Kowert: the jaunty instrumental, Badlettsville, and a jazzy, whimsical romp through Randy Newman’s “Dayton, Ohio- 1903”. The seamless combination of covers and originals cements Tice’s reputation as a bold and inventive voice in folk music.

Terra Lightfoot

with support from David T. James

With 2023's Healing Power, Terra Lightfoot showcases her considerable clout as a pop songsmith, guitarist and vocalist, delivering a dozen stunning tracks that together represent a career high. To describe Lightfoot's decade-plus musical evolution as astonishing is an understatement. On top of a pair of JUNO nominations and pair of long-list Polaris nods, her marathon tours have touched down in eight countries across four continents (including support slots for Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Sheepdogs, and Willie Nelson). The set captures the crackling chemistry of the core live trio and Lightfoot's artistic range is again on full display. Healing Power delivers the peerless pop-rock album that fans have long known she's always had in her - a prismatic tour de force from the charismatic rocker.

Andrew Marlin Stringband

with support from Rachel Baiman

Andrew Marlin is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based out of Chapel Hill, NC. He’s known for his captivating songwriting, presented both lyrically with his band Watchhouse, and under his own name

In 2023, Marlin joined Noam Pikelny, Chis Eldridge, Greg Garrison, and Alex Hargreaves to form Mighty Poplar, an all-star roots group formed from effortless back stage and late night bluegrass jams. The band released their self-titled debut album in spring of that year.

In 2020, Marlin recorded two dynamic, instrumental albums, Witching Hour and Fable & Fire, which followed up 2018’s Buried in a Cape.

Witching Hour, which was released February 5, 2021, is redolent of bluegrass and American roots music soundscapes; rich fiddle and mandolin weave through powerful, coursing tunes. Folk Alley said the record “showcase(s) Marlin’s ingenious ways of dwelling in a tune and turning it inside out, grounding it in tradition but carrying it out to new heights through brilliant innovation.”

Fable & Fire, which was released two short weeks after Witching Hour, draws more from the sounds of Irish roots music and is reminiscent of the melodies that came over from the Emerald Isle to early Appalachia. Red Line Roots called the album a “masterpiece” and that “Andrew’s instrumental songs have a way of speaking volumes without actually having any words within them. Rich palettes of emotion, place, space and vibe that in all my years of listening to instrumental records, I am yet to find an equal to.”

Each album was recorded in a different recording studio but largely had the same crew of instrumentalists, all of whom are close friends and trusted collaborators. Nashville guitarist Jordan Tice and fiddler Christian Sedelmyer have worked closely with Marlin before, as have guitarist Josh Oliver and bassist Clint Mullican, both of whom tour and record in Watchhouse. Award winning fiddler Brittany Haas joined up for a tune on Witching Hour, and Fable and Fire features cellist Nat Smith on every track.

Marlin has produced six albums of original works of American roots music with Watchhouse and regularly contributes instrumental performances to other artists and albums. Recent work includes playing mandolin on recordings for Tyler Childers, Waxahatchee, Dead Tongues and Phil Cook. Marlin is also an in-demand producer, and has produced albums for artists including Mipso, Kate Rhudy, Rachel Baiman and Ismay.

Over the last decade, he has toured with Watchhouse and his stringband throughout the U.S and Europe and appeared on high profile programs such CBS This Morning's Saturday Morning Sessions and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. As a band Watchhouse has headlined and sold-out notable rooms including the Ryman and Red Rocks.

Hawktail & Väsen

Hawktail is the acoustic instrumental trio of fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, and guitarist Jordan Tice. Though at first glance it looks like an acoustic super-picker side-project, their all-original music is cohesive and unique, distinguishing them as an ensemble with a sound built from the ground up. Flush with orchestral sweeps and sparse vigils, with strains of the American South and the North Atlantic, this cosmopolitan sound is not what you'd expect from a string band.

Each member of Hawktail brings a strong individuality to the project. Haas, whose 2004 self-titled release instantly became the touchstone for a generation of old-time fiddlers, has since lent her sound to Crooked Still, Live From Here, Steve Martin, and David Rawlings, where she played alongside Kowert, well known as the Grammy-winning Punch Brothers' virtuosic bass player. Tice is a rare guitar player whose music showcases his unique identity and a particular knack for song and tune-writing. However, despite each of their ability to contribute to many musical situations, something special happens when they unite as Hawktail. Together, they have fostered a reputation as a rare ensemble of composers and instrumentalists able to take the listener on a journey, without the use of words.

Väsen-Duo, Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson have, after 37 years of interaction and touring, refined their sound and their stage presence to the extent that today they are unique in their kind. With their playful and perfect interplay, they seem to defy the laws of physics in what appears to be a telepathic communication.

The music is intense and full of humour. They create their very own musical language which in its appeal is as modern as it is ancient. With the foundation firmly rooted in the traditional music of Uppland, they have always looked curiously at new musical goals.

Olov & Micke have played together since 1983 when they met at Oktoberstämman in Uppsala and discovered that they had a large common repertoire and a similar way of playing. It turned out that Micke had learned from Ivar Tallroth in Uppsala and Olov had learned from Curt Tallroth in Harbo. They had been introduced to the rich Bohlin / Tallroth tradition by the two brothers. Olov & Micke started playing intensively together and released their first recording, "Det rister i Örat," in 1985. They have played an incredible amount together over the years in Väsen. Now they go on adventures among old fine musicians, stories and trad  tunes and at the same time they continue to break new ground. They perform on a variety of stringed instruments, including a silverbasharpa, oktavharpa, three-rowed Nyckelharpa, violoncello da spalla and a blue electric viola.

Carrie Newcomer

Join Carrie Newcomer with pianist Gary Walters, Jason Wilber, and The Gathering of Spirits String Quartet for an intimate and uplifting evening of musical storytelling, humor, poetry and award-winning songwriting. Newcomer’s performances explore themes of connection, spirituality, the natural world and the human possibility. Her concerts are warm and folk-inspired, always leaving her audiences feeling encouraged and reminded of what is both gritty and beautiful in humanity.

Opening set by Jason Wilber, songwriter, recording artist, and 24-year music director/guitarist for the legendary singer-songwriter John Prine.

We hope you join for this evening of heart opening music, A Gathering of Spirits: Hope in Hard Times.

Portion of profits donated to Social Justice Work of UU Church of Bloomington

Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal

One of the country’s pre-eminent singer-songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four Grammy Awards and 12 additional nominations. Late last year, Rosanne and her husband, guitarist John Leventhal (6 Grammys), also her songwriting, producing and performing partner launched a new record label, RumbleStrip Records to reexamine and rerelease Rosanne's early period recordings originally on Columbia/Sony Music. A 30th Anniversary remastered edition of the Cash/Leventhal produced album  The Wheel was the inaugural release followed by John Leventhal's very first solo album entitled Rumble Strip in late January.

Some songs from both these releases will be featured on tour at their concerts this summer. Cash is also an author whose four books include the best-selling memoir Composed, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Oxford American, The Nation, and many more print and online publications. Her most recent book, Bird on a Blade (2018), was published by University OF Texas Press, combining images by acclaimed artist Dan Rizzie with Cash’s lyrics. In addition to regular touring, Cash has partnered in programming collaborations with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, SFJAZZ, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Library of Congress.  She served as artist-in-residence at New York University and in 2018 and 2023 she was a resident artistic director at SFJAZZ.

Along with many other honors and awards, Cash received the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal, awarded since 1960 to an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture.  She is the first woman composer to receive this prestigious honor. Last month she was elected as an Honorary American member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

‘I consider artists to be in the service industry; the premier service industry for the heart and soul. I am curious to a pathological degree and the Sword of Time hangs over me, and those two things— curiosity and the hourglass— make me feel more urgent than ever to connect, to find community, and to create. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, it only matters that what is unsaid and what is unseen is given form and has a voice.’

Thursday Night Switchyard Park Concert with Lindsay Lou & TORRES

FREE outdoor concert for everyone at Switchyard Park in Bloomington, Indiana on Thursday, July 18. Food trucks, beer garden, and more. TORRES starts the show at 7:00 PM followed by Lindsay Lou.