Southern Songbirds: Ask Me Anything: Love + Life

5 East Edenton Street,Raleigh NC 27601

17 February, 2023

Description

5 p.m. - exhibit viewing 5:45 p.m. - poetry 7 p.m. - concert Performance by: Skylar Gudasz, Kate Rhudy, and Libby Rodenbough (vocals, guitar, fiddle) Emceed by: NC native and legend Jim Lauderdale Concert tickets includes exhibition tickets and bar. Join us as we celebrate the month of love with this special edition of Southern Songbirds. The evening begins with extended hours for The Power of Women in Country Music exhibition from 5–7 p.m. Be sure to visit the Poetry Fox from 5:45–7 p.m. for special odes to your Valentine. At 7 p.m., Rodenbough, Rhudy, and Gudasz share an evening "in the round" of songs and offer advice on any questions you might have about matters of the heart. Audience members are invited to write a question and leave it in the “Ask Me Anything” box. The songwriters then take turns answering and singing their original songs. Jim Lauderdale will emcee. Enjoy an open bar with beer and wine provided by the North Carolina Museum of History Foundation, plus Valentine’s Day-themed treats and shopping in the Museum Shop! Artist Bios: With her luminous voice and captivating songcraft, Skylar Gudasz has won the admiration of some of the most distinguished artists in music. In the past few years alone, the Durham-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has shared stages with the likes of Ray Davies, Cat Power, and Sharon Van Etten as part of the Big Star’s Third tribute concerts, opened for the band Television and toured the US with Teenage Fanclub and Europe with the Mountain Goats. Gudasz appeared as a background vocalist on albums by Superchunk and Hiss Golden Messenger, making her TV debut with the latter on Late Night with Seth Meyers. On the eve of pandemic lockdown in 2020, Gudasz delivered the celebrated album, Cinema, which MOJO called "a career-making star turn." It was recorded between the famed April Base in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and in secret studios across the lush forests of the rich North Carolina music scene. This sophomore album, lauded by Pitchfork and premiering on NPR's “All Songs Considered,” is the follow-up to her much-praised full-length debut Oleander (a 2016 release, produced by Chris Stamey, that prompted The Bitter Southerner to praise her as “the Joni Mitchell the South never had”). Amid rumors of a new full-length dropping summer of 2023, Gudasz's single "Femme Fatale" was sampled prominently on the 2022 release "Blue Chills" by French Montana. Growing up with a musical family in rural Ashland, Virginia, Gudasz first found her affinity for music by learning to play flute at age five and soon started writing songs of her own. She later taught herself to play piano and guitar, drawing inspiration from the use of alternate tunings in developing her own distinct style. Although she spent time in folk and rock bands after heading to North Carolina for college—where she studied acting, mythology, and creative writing—Gudasz has continued to strike off on her own with her lushly textured, sculpted singular sound. Libby Rodenbough grew up in Greensboro going to Friendly Shopping Centre to hang out with friends at the Gap and drinking “smoothies” that were more like thick Kool-Aid. When she was 19, Rodenbough went to Chicago to take classes at Old Town School of Folk Music, where Pete Seeger and John Prine had played. She went back to college in North Carolina and joined a folky band called Mipso. Rodenbough got tired of going to bars and moved to the country. Then she got tired of the county and moved closer to the bars. She has traveled all over the US and a few other parts of the world, playing songs for people. They were the type of songs people can sing along to, and it felt uncanny when they sang along. Eventually Rodenbough recorded her own music with the help of her magical friends. Half the time, Rodenbough feels silly to be making music. But some of the time it feels like a well-worn path. She says it’s a strange time to publish something you’ve made and so much of it feels like a spectacle, but what’s the point if you’re not doing a little dancing around? Raleigh-based songwriter Kate Rhudy worked alongside collaborator and producer Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange to create her 2017 debut, Rock N’ Roll Ain’t for Me, which earned Rhudy nods from WUNC and INDY Week as “one of the Triangle’s sharpest young songwriters.” Rhudy released her sophomore album, Dream Rooms, April 8, 2022, again with producer Marlin. INDY Week says the album is “a bittersweet slant toward the sweetness that romance can offer, even when fraught. It sounds, in other words, a lot like love.” Rhudy’s plainspoken lyrics garnered recognition from She Shreds, which said “Kate Rhudy is changing the name of country by doing things her own way,” and The Strangers Almanac, writing “for those tired of Americana music from the male perspective, give Kate Rhudy's debut a shot.” At any given time, you’re likely to find Jim Lauderdale making music, whether he’s laying down a new track in the studio or working through a spontaneous melody at his home in Nashville. And if he’s not actively crafting new music, he’s certainly thinking about it. He is a two-time Grammy Award winner, has released 35 full-length albums, and has taken home the Americana Music Association’s coveted Wagonmaster Lifetime Achievement Award. His new album, Game Changer, is convincing evidence that this North Carolina native is only continuing to hone his craft. Lauderdale has been a vital part of the country music ecosystem since 1991, when he released his debut album and began penning songs for an impressively long roster of country music greats. He has worked with Ralph Stanley, Robert Hunter, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, and John Oates, among many others. He is truly legendary across multiple genres, including Americana, country, and bluegrass.