The Belleville Outfit tour to include MerleFest and Bonnaroo
The Belleville Outfit was one of my favorite bands I’d never heard of at Folk Alliance last year. There are literally hundreds (if not thousands – I never counted) of artists performing at FA during any given moment, so the fact that Belleville Outfit kept me in my seat for an entire set is notable. They play great genre-defiant music, whatever that is, pulling together some odd blend of country, jazz, and blues.
They’ll be at MerleFest, Kerrville, and Bonnaroo this year, along with, it looks like, everywhere else in the south and east. They’ve got a new album out next month, which I’ve listened to a few times now and I’d recommend checking them out. Here’s a full press release McGuckin PR just sent out about the band’s upcoming tour, etc.:
THE BELLEVILLE OUTFIT
TO TOUR SOUTHEAST BEHIND NEW RELEASE
TIME TO STAND Tour Highlights Include MerleFest & Bonnaroo
Austin, TX — The Belleville Outfit will release on May 12 TIME TO STAND, the second album of its signature Americana roots sound — a blending of swing, country, jazz, gypsy, jamgrass and blues — and will tour the Southeast in May behind the new album.
During the tour, highlights will be a return appearance April 25 at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, N.C., a place that figures prominently in the Austin band’s formation, and its first appearance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee in June.
TIME TO STAND, produced by GRAMMY Award-winner Bil VornDick, includes key cuts such as “Sunday Morning,” “Once and for All” and the title track, which is packed with Appalachian and bayou sound and imagery.
Austin Monthly magazine described songs by the “adventurous sextet” as “lively … tunes that are equal parts Django Reinhardt, David Grisman and Squirrel Nut Zippers” in its “Nine to Watch in 2009” feature in the March music issue.
Rob Teter (lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Phoebe Hunt (lead vocals, fiddle), Jeff Brown (upright and electric bass), Jonathan Konya (percussion, vocals), Connor Forsyth (keys, vocals) and Marshall Hood (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals) came together after a performance was booked at MerleFest of Teter, Hood and Brown’s former Spartanburg, S.C., band, The DesChamps Band.
The band’s debut, WANDERIN’, was #23 out of the top 100 releases for most spins in 2008 on the Americana airplay chart.
The Belleville Outfit upcoming shows include:
April 18, Old Settler’s Music Festival, Austin
April 25, MerleFest, Wilkesboro, N.C.
May 1, Threadgill’s World Headquarters, Austin
May 2, Gruene Hall, New Braunfels, Texas
May 7, Eddie’s Attic, Decatur, Ga.
May 8, Imperial Theatre, Augusta, Ga.
May 9, Double Door Inn, Charlotte, N.C.
May 14, Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall, Asheville, N.C.
May 16, The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C.
May 21, Sundown in the City, Knoxville, Tenn.
May 25, Austin Wine Festival, Austin
May 28, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, Houston
May 29, Kerrville Folk Festival, Kerrville, Texas
May 30, Momo’s, Austin
June 4, Santa Fe Brewing Co., Santa Fe, N.M.
June 5, Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque, N.M.
June 6-7, Pagosa Folk & Bluegrass Festival, Pagosa Springs, Colo.
June 12, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 20, The Music Camp, Spartanburg, S.C.
June 23, Twilight Alive, Kingsport, Tenn.
July 1, Scholz’s Garten, Austin
July 12, Snowbird Mountain Music Festival, Snowbird, Utah
July 23, Twilight Alive, Kingsport, Tenn.
July 24-26, Floydfest Fandango, Floyd, Va.
August 8, 150th Anniversary Concert, Breckenridge, Colo.
August 29, Lobrero Theatre, Santa Barbara, Calif.
September 4-5, Strawberry Music Festival, Yosemite, Calif.
September 11, Sisters Folk Fest, Sisters, Ore.
September 19, Bristol Rhythm & Roots, Bristol, Tenn.
October 16, The Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival, Greer, S.C.
November 6-7, Riverhawk Music Fest, Brooksville, Fla.