The Blue Ridge Music Center presents Mipso with guest Shay Martin Lovette live in concert in our spacious outdoor amphitheater on the Blue Ridge Parkway
MIPSO
Since making their acclaimed debut with 2013’s Dark Holler Pop, North Carolina-bred four-piece Mipso have captivated audiences with their finely layered vocal harmonies, graceful fluency in the timeless musical traditions of their home state, and a near-telepathic musical connection that makes their live show especially kinetic. On their self-titled sixth album and rounder records debut, fiddle player Libby Rodenbough, Mandolinist Jacob Sharp, guitarist Joseph Terrell, and bassist Wood Robinson share their most sonically adventurous and lyrically rich work to date, each moment charged with the tension between textural effervescence and an underlying despair about the modern world.
SHAY MARTIN LOVETTE
The tale of wayfaring songwriter Shay Martin Lovette is shaped by an enduring creative pursuit, an inseparable connection with the natural world, and a deep appreciation of the nonpareil musical voices of the past. Two years after his noteworthy debut, Swift Drifter, Lovette brings forth his sophomore record Scatter & Gather, a collection of songs that signal an undeniable shift in the gravity of his writing and arranging. Written mostly from a remote, creekside cabin in the years following the tragic passing of his brother and musical collaborator, these songs solidify Lovette’s role as a versatile harmonica-wielding wordsmith, effortlessly drifting between the formulas of folk, indie, and homestyle roots music. Recorded at the famed Rubber Room Recording Studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with producer Joseph Terrell of Mipso at the helm, Scatter & Gather draws in a force of celebrated collaborators including members of Mipso, Mandolin Orange, Mount Moriah. With a polished and expanded grandeur, Scatter & Gather’s panoramic luster and attention-grabbing lyricism mark this collection as Lovette’s trophy output; confidently candid, indisputably original, and visually connected by the masterful quilted album artwork of Darryl Norsen. Lovette’s songcraft has earned him performances at major music festivals like Merlefest and Bristol Rhythm & Roots, and elicited high praise from public radio powerhouse WNCW and global music blogs such as Songpickr and New Commute