$10 presale, $15 Door
Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
Athens, Georgia native turned New Orleans Folk Rock Diva Lilli Lewis is a powerhouse composer and performing artist with “storytelling with transformative empathy and classically trained poise.” Jewly Hight, NPR.org. Lewis is a voice for the voiceless in Americana, her third full album for Louisiana Red Hot Records, lauded by NPR, Rolling Stone, Offbeat Magazine and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “One of the most powerful records of 2021, Lilli Lewis' Americana offers up 13 tracks of raw, unfiltered talent…jaw-dropping vocal stylings, sharp lyricism, irresistible hooks and a needed perspective that's often overlooked…” Lorie Leibig, TheBoot.com
Actor and Vocalist Andrew Sa has earned the title of Chicago’s premiere queer country crooner. Sa’s career has always been rooted in songwriting that highlights his easy and elegant voice, but when he met mentor and pioneer Patrick Hagerty of Lavender Country, “Lonesome Andrew” was born. Diving headfirst into the catalogs of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and other classic songwriters that defined his childhood, Sa easily slipped into this new but familiar persona. It wasn’t long before all of Chicago was seeking out his voice.
Active since 2013, Paisley Fields is a singer, songwriter, and bandleader splitting time between Brooklyn, New York and Nashville, Tennessee.
A touring member of the newly reformed Lavender Country, Paisley also played keyboard on their album “Blackberry Rose”. On his new album, "Limp Wrist", he draws inspiration from queer icon Andy Warhol and the myriad drag artists with whom he’s collaborated. His years of experience in Manhattan piano bars did not diminish his love for country music, and he released two albums that pay homage to the music of his youth.
“Limp Wrist” is an exploration of where rural queerness intersects religion. Paisley’s family were devout Catholics, and he served as the official church pianist in his parish throughout his teens, playing every Sunday.
The songs on the album are deeply personal, and often touch on what it was like to grow up closeted and queer in rural Iowa in the 90s. “Black Hawk County Line” tells the story of Paisley being outed by a former friend his senior year in high school, “Dial Up Lover” is about logging on to gay AOL chat rooms to find other queers in the area, and “Plastic Rosary” recounts the experience of being told he’ll never get into heaven while praying the rosary.
The most personal and biographical moment comes during “Iowa”, which recounts the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, and the visceral fear he had to wrestle with since he was already aware of how different he was.
The album ends on an uplifting note, sharing a message of friendship and hope with "Tomorrow Finds a Way".
The stories are his, but the feelings they convey – love, loneliness, lust, fear – are still universal.