Joy Oladokun, Karan Casey Trio, and more on Mountain Stage

147 Warsaw Ave.,Harrisonburg VA

18 September, 2022

Description

Joy Oladokun, Karan Casey Trio, and more on Mountain StageWith Host Kathy MatteaALL AGES Joy Oladokun, Karan Casey Trio, The Heavy Heavy Presented in Partnership with WMRA  at The Forbes Center for Performing Art at James Madison University. Tickets: $45 General Tickets on Sale: Friday, July 7 at 10a.m. ET Joy OladokunWith her major label debut album, in defense of my own happiness, Joy Oladokun is forging her own path, sharing the unique perspective she's gained from living in today's world as a black, queer woman and first-generation child of Nigerian immigrants. Born in Arizona and now living in Nashville, her musical exploration began at age ten when she was inspired to learn guitar after seeing a video of Tracy Chapman -- the first time she'd ever seen a black woman play the instrument. The new record, which features collaborations with Maren Morris, Jensen McRae and Penny & Sparrow, has been named one of the "Best Albums of 2021 So Far" by Variety and Rolling Stone, who proclaims, "a serious talent with a kind of low-key, casual ease...she's always seeking out the light to point the way, making for one of the year's most uplifting listens." Additionally, NPR Music declares, "She has a remarkable ability to distill how forces at work in the world...she can make even social and political protest feel like an intimate, warmly human act." Oladokun also released a special deluxe album this summer, in defense of my own happiness (complete), which features all 14 tracks from in defense of my own happiness, ten songs from her self-released 2020 record, in defense of my own happiness (the beginnings), and new track "judas." Most recently, Oladokun has collaborated with Brandi Carlile and Lucie Silvas on new song "We Don't Know We're Living" as well as with Noah Kahan on his track, "Someone Like You." Adding to her breakout year, Oladokun was recently featured as part of NPR Music's "Tiny Desk (Home) Concert" series, performed on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "TODAY" and will make her debut on PBS' "Austin City Limits" early next year as part of the legendary program's 47th season. She has also been named a member of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Class of 2021, a NPR Music/Slingshot's 2021 Artists to Watch, a Billboard LGBTQ Artist of the Month, Spotify's RADAR US: Artists to Watch 2021 and Amazon Music's Artists to Watch 2021, was highlighted as part of HULU's "Your Attention Please: The Concert" alongside 24kGoldn, Kiana Ledé, Lil Yachty and Swae Lee, and had her music featured on CBS' "CSI: Vegas," NBC's "This Is Us," ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," ABC's "Station 19" and NBC's "America's Got Talent." After performing shows earlier this summer with Leon Bridges, Cautious Clay and Dermot Kennedy, Oladokun will continue to tour throughout the fall, including several dates supporting Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Pink Sweat$. Karan Casey TrioSinging songs charged with a sense of social responsibility in a career spanning over 25 years Karan Casey has released eleven albums as well as contributing to numerous other artists’ projects – appearing on more than 50 albums in total. She has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, Kate Ellis, Niall Vallely, Pauline Scanlon, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson, Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Tim O’Brien, Solas and Lúnasa. In 2018 Karan helped to found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk musics. Karan tours with her band Niamh Dunne, Sean Óg Graham and Niall Vallely. Karan most recent album Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale was released on the Vertical Records Label. Her song “Down in the Glen” was nominated for Best Original Folk Song at the RTE Folk Awards 2019 and she completed a PhD in music in 2019. Karan has recently performed her new show with Director Sophie Motley called I Walked into My Head which was premiered at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2021. Karan is currently working on a new stage show to be produced at the Everyman Theatre in Cork in early 2023 as well as an album of new songs about women in the Irish revolutionary period. "Karan Casey’s latest album is revelatory. She’s always been a singer of songs that tell a story and show their muscle…This is a strikingly three-dimensional work that stands the test of intensive and repeated listening with ease. A vivid and dazzling snapshot of Casey invincible, at the height of her powers.” Siobhán Long, Irish Times “Casey’s voice is among the loveliest in folk music and she’s a wonderful interpreter of both contemporary and traditional material.” BOSTON GLOBE “Karan Casey's latest solo venture is a thing of rare beauty.” SING OUT "The most soulful singer to emerge in Irish traditional music in the past decade." THE GLASGOW HERALD “If ever any doubt existed about who's the best Irish traditional woman singer today, "Exiles Return" sweeps aside all pretenders…Karan Casey has no vocal peer.” IRISH ECHO The Heavy HeavyThe Heavy Heavy are a 5 piece rock band making the music the sixties forgot, with bombastic soul and peaceful goals. From beautiful roots on the Malvern Hills and rolling Sussex Downs, the Brighton, UK based band are happiest and most creative in the countryside. Since forming in 2019, The Heavy Heavy has quickly built a reputation for soaring harmonies, soulfully classic guitar tones and a tight rhythm section drenched in reverb. Led by Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, the band presents a captivatingly expressive performance incorporating many aspects that made the late 1960s the golden era for music. Their sound draws from Jefferson Airplane, Delaney & Bonnie, The Rolling Stones, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and Father John Misty. The Heavy Heavy self-released their first EP “Life & Life Only” late in 2020.