It’s been more than two years since we hosted a concert at the cabin, and what better way to start out again than by bringing you a very special act. Brad Skistimas performs under the name of his music project Five Times August. If you watch television, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard one of his tracks on MTV, Fox, the CW channel, HBO, Oxygen, or ABC. Every one of Brad’s tracks on his debut album received play on national television. In a world where performing songwriters struggle to be heard, Brad has already reached a level of success that others strive for.

Five Times August has played both Evansville University and USI in the past, so he has already established a local following. We expect this show to sell out fast, and we’ll probably see some new members of the audience who are getting the “cabin concert” experience for the first time. We think that’s great, because we love to expand the music opportunities for all of the artists who stop by the cabin.

The show will start at 8PM, and you are welcome to arrive as early as 7PM. We’ll put out a few snacks and beverages, and you are welcome to bring something to contribute as well.

Please make your reservations online, and you can advance pay for those seats as well. We’ve raised the ticket price just a little to cover the higher transportation and fuel costs that are artists deal with, and to cover the convenience of online ticketing. We hope this works out better for everyone.

To reserve your seats, please register on our What’s Coming page. You will also have the option of paying for your seats in advance with PayPal.

This is a rare treat! Alan Jabbour is one of America’s foremost exponents of Appalachian fiddling. Ken Perlman is considered one of the top clawhammer players in the world. Both are folklorists, having collected tunes and oral histories of the cultures found spanning Appalachia from North Carolina to Prince Edward Island.

How is it that we are able to bring such amazingly accomplished musicians to play for you at our humble little cabin on the west edge of Evansville? Well, it’s because you are willing to come out and hear these fine musicians tell stories and share music that was born in another era. That, and our willingness to change our schedule a little bit to accommodate these stellar musicians.

This will be one of our rare Sunday evening concerts. The ticket price is set at $15 per seat in order to compensate for the limited number of seats we can offer in our little venue. In return, you will have an evening of entertainment that will stay in your memories for a very long time.

To reserve your seats, please register on our What’s Coming page. You will also have the option of paying for your seats in advance with PayPal.

The first time John Flynn played here, I was absolutely astounded. I booked the show based on the strong recommendation of a friend, and I never got around to asking for a promotional package from his booking agent. His songs are magical–it’s amazing how well written they are, how well performed… he’s got it all. Kris Kristofferson speaks very highly of John, as does Arlo Guthrie. But you don’t need Kris and Arlo to tell you that John is one heck of a songwriter and a nice guy, you can just come and see it all for yourself.

For this show, we’ll be introducing a new performer to our series, though he’s not stranger to the people who’ve played here. Dana Cooper has been traveling the globe and touring as a songwriter since the early 1970′s. His songs have been recorded by Maura O’Connel, Susan Werner, Pierce Pettis, and many others. He’s played the main stage at many of the nation’s major folk music festivals, and even performed on Austin City Limits. I’m really looking foward to this show, and I’m sure that you’ll really enjoy this one!

The last time Al and Emily Cantrell played here at the cabin, they commented that the cabin is by far the smallest venue that they play, but it is also among their favorites. That’s a high compliment from a duo who’ve graced the silver screen, played festivals across the nation and around the world, and taught at workshops and music camps alongside legendary musical artists. Emily has a fantastic voice, and plays a mean swing rhythm guitar that conjurs visions of backing Django Reinhardt. Her voice and guitar are perfectly complimented by Al on some fantastic fiddle playing and very tasteful mandolin. We’re really lucky that they live just a few hours away and are excited to share an evening with us here in Evansville.

They’re wonderful, wild, funny and full of joyful noise. The Troubs (AimMe on guitar and Renee on accordion) are two of a kind, and two in a million. They were hanging out and playing on the streets of New Orleans in years past, but now they call a piece of land on the other side of the Hoosier National Forest their home. You could say that for the Troubadours, music is their mission, and the message is all about finding joy in life. They’ll warm up your winter and make you smile the night away. I catch their show whenever I can, and it’s a real treat to be able to share them with you here at the cabin (for the record, I’ve been made an honorary troub, and I just may sit in on a tune or two.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of raving about my absolute favorite performers on the national folk music scene. They’ll have you rolling with laughter in one song and trying to hold back tears in the next–okay, maybe they’ll slip a little toe-tapper in-between, but you get the idea. Their songs have humor and heart, irony and compassion, sarcasm, intelligence, wit, and all in the right places. This is their fifth time playing at the cabin, and every show in the past has been sold out, sometimes before I’ve even had a chance to announce it. If you’ve never seen Rich Prezioso and Jacquie Manning perform before, you really won’t want to miss this one!

Buddy has one of those names that has come up so many times in music circles that I feel like I’m supposed to know him. And once I started looking into his bio, I was really surprised! Let me share just one paragraph, and you’ll see what I mean…

When Buddy made his first trip to Texas Guy Clark heard him singing one of his songs under a tree at the Kerrville Folk Festival and liked it. So Guy went back to Nashville, opened the door and said, “listen to this kid, he’s good!” A publishing deal and a U-Haul headed south soon followed. People were starting to pay attention. In 1987 he was a New Folk Award Winner at Kerrville and he released his first album called “On the Line.” David Wilcox recorded “The Kid” on his first record for A&M. Buddy did some writing with this other new kid in town named Garth Brooks (they had the same manager). Janis Ian heard him singing at the Bluebird Cafe and asked him if he’d like to write with her. Their song “Amsterdam” got recorded by Joan Baez. Nanci Griffith asked Buddy to sing on a show she was taping for Irish television. She ended up liking that song so much that she recorded “Comin’ Down In the Rain” on her Grammy Award winning collection “Other Voices, Other Rooms.” Garth became a star and “Every Now and Then” ended up on his album “The Chase.”

With a bio like that, you can imagine my surprise when Buddy’s booking agent contacted me. I thought we’d be too small a venue to even consider, but I guess our reputation as a venue with a great audience is playing in our favor once again. Thanks, everybody!!

Every once in a while, we get lucky, like when Simon Mayor had to be in Nashville for a radio show, and just happened to be free the Saturday night before that. And the result of that luck is that we get to have a performer play for us at the cabin who is simply too good for such a small venue. “Too good” definitely describes Chris Proctor, who is known among fingerstyle guitarists as a master of the craft. Chris has 10 CDs under his name, a Taylor guitar with his name on it, several books that teach his music, Homespun instructional DVDs, and probably much more that I’m forgetting at the moment. Chris is the consumate teacher, writing for many of the guitar magazines and teaching workshops wherever he travels. In Evansville, he’ll be teaching a workshop at The Guitar Lab on Thursday, October 4th at 7pm. If you’re a student of the guitar, don’t miss this great chance to learn from a master! Then, come to the cabin on Friday and catch a great Chris Proctor performance!

Hailing from Detroit where she’s cut her musical teeth on the bar scene, Jill Jack has developed a strong following and a long list of credits as an opening act for some big name stars. I fell in love with her voice, and her CD is still playing in the truck as I drive to work and back home again. Here’s a quote from Billboard Magazine– “Jill Jack has all the makings of a major talent. She’s got the stage presence, the voice, the ability to interpret songs passionately … there’s a lot of soul in what she does”. I’m really excited to bring Jill to Evansville.