Sing Me Back Home, a regional songwriter series, hosts its second installment this week at The New Vintage with performances from Miner, Matt Kinman (formerly of Old Crow Medicine Show), Jake Book and The Local Honeys. Get tickets here.
This powerful lineup is just a preview of what promises to be a dynamic series to showcase songwriting talent both regionally and nationally. “After putting on a thousand-plus shows and hosting a few thousand acts over the past several years, I've been able to see/hear tons of great songwriters locally and from around the country (sometimes the world). There's no shortage and it allowed me to help out with booking and spreading the word about the new series,” said co-owner Hunter Embry who, with John Clay Burchett, is heading up the series.
“Sing Me Back Home was Clay's idea - the name was a nod to [Merle Haggard]. Clay is a pretty fantastic songwriter in his own right and has toured all over the region, as of late with Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters, for whom he plays drums.”
“I have connected to so many amazing artists over the last few years,” says Burchett. “And living in this city, there is just never a consistent venue/listening room for the ‘singer/songwriters’ to come through. Realizing that not everyone wants to sit and listen to people play acoustic guitars, still I think it's important that the option be there for our city.“
“I'm a huge fan of the Texas songwriting scene that blew through in the 60's-70's. People like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, EmmyLou Harris, Blaze Foley. Each of them are individual heroes of mine and have each taught me something about myself as a fan and as a writer. So I would say that being exposed to that era was the biggest inspiration for this idea.“
The New Vintage stage has hosted a wide range of talent since opening in 2013. As the venue has grown, it’s been pulling in higher profile acts - including a few who have played Seven Sense Festival - and is drawing on those relationships to create a great lineup.
“We are in talks with folks from just about everywhere about performing,” says Embry. “The series was meant to be "regional," but we've gotten a good response from all over the country. For instance, the upcoming installment of the series, features folks from LA, Nashville, Idaho and Eastern KY. The idea is to have several solo/duo performers and occasionally a full band to round out the night. If all goes well, I think this could end up being a pretty special event for our city.”
In addition to Sing Me Back Home, The New Vintage is hosting other big events and series. Highway 61 Revisited is a 10-part tribute to Bob Dylan - you can catch it this Friday, May 20. The night after, May 21, you can see Louisville Plays Petty, a tribute to all things Tom Petty.
