Luke Callen, Ryan Koenig and the Goldenrods and McKain Lakey at Palmer’s
An evening of old time - new time and good times with a cast of vagabonds and vagrants - presenting what critics describe as an Americana.
About this event
At the intersection of Harry Smith’s Old Weird America – the songs of heartworn highways – and the tumult of today you can find the music of Luke Callen. The songs – equal parts tragic comedy and hopeless reverie – paint a picture of the places and people that make up his earthly home. A poet – a player – a folk singer – Luke has traversed his country unraveling tall tales – short tunes and all that’s hidden underneath.
Skilled multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, Ryan Koenig spends much of his time touring, performing and recording with a variety of internationally recognized musical acts. He is a proud native of Saint Louis, MO, and his career as a professional musician has brought him throughout the continental United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Ryan has recorded and/or performed live on diatonic harmonica, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tenor guitar, baritone guitar, 12 string guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, guit-jo, 5-string banjo, plectrum banjo, tenor banjo, banjolin, dobro, lap steel, button accordion, fiddle, electric bass, jug, washboard, drums, bones, and even a trashcan. His ability to change instruments at a moment's notice thrills audiences wherever he goes. In addition to his skill as an instrumentalist, the ever-stylish cowboy clad singer belts out tunes in a highly distinctive tenor voice, and is a prolific songwriter. His career as a traveling musician began in 2004 playing guitar and singing for spirited St. Louis rock 'n' roll trio, The Vultures. In 2006, he co-founded an original string band blues group, The Rum Drum Ramblers, with long-time creative conspirators Mat Wilson and Joey Glynn. Ryan joined Americana and roots act Pokey LaFarge in 2008, a project which took him to bar rooms, clubs, festivals, and theaters all over the globe, in addition to several radio and late night television appearances and film work.
Sometimes the pursuit of our greater humanity involves jumping into life head first. That’s what McKain Lakey does. You can tell by her songs. Armed with George the trusty road cat, a carful of instruments, and all the fight of a rambling, rural-raised, queer femme wanderer, McKain Lakey is one to be reckoned with. She’s the rare human who feels as comfortable wielding a chisel as she does a guitar, who can be as often spotted behind the soundboard in a crowded venue as discussing the intersections of race and gender in old time music with a classroom full of 5th graders. Described by What’s Up Magazine as “a time capsule unearthed, fine-tuned and re-imagined”, Lakey draws creative inspiration from far corners of the American music tradition, tracing the lines of musical lineage that connect Old Time to Rockabilly, Country to Cajun to Dixieland. She’s a dedicated student of tradition, but at once unafraid to stare down convention through the modern lens of her lived experience. Her new album, Somewhere, blurs lines of old and new, referencing musical textures of past eras while unabashedly exploring topics of mental health, family separation, rural identity and queer love.
PROOF OF VACCINATION OR 72-COVID TEST REQUIRED FOR ENTRY.
SEE COVID POLICY ABOVE BEFORE PURCHASING A TICKET.