January Jams returns to Abingdon’s Barter Theatre for an eighth year of world-class concerts

January Jams returns to Abingdon’s Barter Theatre for an eighth year of world-class concerts

Abingdon, VA – Abingdon Music Experience and presenting sponsor Blue Ridge Beverage are pleased to announce the 2020 lineup for January Jams at Barter Theatre.  Six performers will take the stage at the intimate Barter Theatre, performing Fridays and Saturdays, January 10-25, 2020.  Over the past six years, January Jams has showcased the best of bluegrass, Americana, soul, country and blues, bringing music legends and rising stars to downtown Abingdon, VA.

The series is funded by the Town of Abingdon, in partnership with the region’s leading businesses: Blue Ridge Beverage (Presenting Sponsor), Eastman Credit Union, First Community Bank, Food City, Bank of Marion, Express AV and JJ's Restaurant and Sports Bar, as well as media sponsor, Birthplace of Country Music’s Radio Bristol.

The series has made Abingdon a music destination, drawing visitors from across the southeast and beyond. One particular draw is the chance to see these performers at Barter Theatre, an intimate, 500-seat venue with a unique history rooted in the Great Depression.  A full-service concessions stand is available for adults 21 and up.

New in 2020: Lodging & dining packages available with Comfort Suites Abingdon, the official hotel partner of Abingdon Music Experience, and discounted student tickets are available with a valid student ID; prices will vary by show. 

All concerts are at 8:00pm, and doors open at 7:15pm.

For a full listing of musical acts and dates, visit www.abingdonmusicexperience.com. For tickets, call Barter Theatre at (276) 628-3991 or visit www.bartertheatre.com.

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January Jams 2020 Lineup

Del McCoury with The Travelin’ McCourys

January 10, 2020

For Fans of: Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Grateful Dead, Del McCoury!

Genre: Bluegrass

Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link. On primetime and late-night television talk shows, there is Del. From headlining sold-out concerts to music festivals of all genres, including one carrying his namesake, there is Del. Where audiences number in the tens of thousands, and admirers as diverse as country-rock icon Steve Earle and jamband royalty Phish count as two among hundreds, there is Del. The Travelin’ McCourys join Del for a double headliner of pure bluegrass royalty!

Sierra Hull

January 11, 2020

For Fans of: Alison Krauss, Balsam Range, Ricky Skaggs, Infamous Stringdusters

Genre: Bluegrass/Country Folk

Sierra Hull has been recognized from age 11 as a virtuoso mandolin-player, astonishing audiences and fellow-musicians alike. Now a seasoned touring musician nearing her mid-20s, Hull has delivered her most inspired, accomplished, and mature recorded work to date; no small feat. Weighted Mind is a landmark achievement, not just in Sierra Hull's career, but in the world of folk-pop, bluegrass, and acoustic music overall. With instrumentation comprised largely of mandolin, bass, and vocals, this is genre-transcending music at its best, with production by Béla Fleck and special harmony vocal guests Alison Krauss, Abigail Washburn, and Rhiannon Giddens adding to the luster. Hull speaks eloquently, in her challenging and sensitive originals, her heartfelt vocals, and once again breaks new ground on the mandolin. Béla Fleck special guests on banjo on two tracks and duo partner, Ethan Jodziewicz, not only anchors the record on bass, but introduces us to a major new instrumental voice.

The Collection

January 17, 2020

For fans of: Death Cab For Cutie, Drew Holcomb, Penny & Sparrow, Oh Hellos

Genre: Indie Folk, Alternative

“If you love an uplifting band, The Collection is for you”-Bob Boilen, NPR Music

Over the four years since the release of their chamber pop, 25-piece ensemble debut, ‘Ars Moriendi,’ the band shed enough weight to become an efficient touring band, garnered praise from NPR and American Songwriter, toured nationally with The Oh Hellos and Lowland Hum, and performed dynamic sets as an official “Top 100 Artists On The Verge” at CMJ and New Music Seminar.

The trimming-of-the-excess was soon mirrored in vocalist David Wimbish’s spirituality, resulting in the band’s 2017 follow-up, ‘Listen To The River,’ The Collection’s first member-arranged group of songs. Inspired by Herman Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha,’ and the poetry of Rumi, the album took a step off of the fence walked between faith and doubt on Ars Moriendi, landing distinctly on the side of doubt. The constitutive single, Sing Of The Moon, received over 3 million streams between Youtube and Spotify, the release tour brought hundreds of people to venues across the country, and The Collection was featured at Wild Goose Festival, and Switchpoint Conference alongside PRI’s Marco Werman.

Even Entropy’s debut single Beautiful Life, which PopMatters called, “symphonic, poetic wonderment,” seems to be about finding order by watching the natural world. The result was the most focused, honest, and intimate batch of songs the 27 year old songwriter had written, lyrically and musically. As the writing progressed, and the band had to stare it’s impending death in the eyes, a solid and enduring core emerged. Members Hayden Cooke (Bass), Joshua Ling (Harmonium/Guitar/Vocals), and Graham Dickey (Horns/Bells) lent their performances to David Wimbish’s (Vocals/Guitar/Keys/Strings) fleshed out songs, birthing The Collection’s 3rd full-length record from the ashes of the unfinished solo project. With the addition of husband-and-wife Joshua Linhart (Drums) and Sarah McCoy (Keys/Synth/Vocals), the band finally found its firm footing.

And that is where the story of Entropy is revealed: Though meant to document David’s life’s gradual decline into, and subsequent recovery from, disorder, the album became a living testimony to The Collection’s own experience of entropy. Now, with the wisdom of hindsight, the band is back and focused, with a passion for sharing what they’ve learned: that on the other side of disorder lies a new sense of beauty.”

Penny & Sparrow

January 18, 2020

For Fans of: Johnnyswim, Drew & Ellie Holcomb, Josh Garrels, Milk Carton Kids

Genre: Indie Folk

“Almost everything changed for us in these last two years,” says Andy Baxter, one half of the acclaimed duo Penny & Sparrow. “It was a painful experience in a lot of ways, but it was also a joyful one.”

Joy and pain walk hand in hand on ‘Finch,’ Penny & Sparrow’s magnificent sixth album. Written during their first major break from the road in years, the record finds the band reckoning with a prolonged period of intense personal transformation, a profound awakening that altered their perceptions of masculinity, sex, religion, divorce, friendship, vanity, purpose, and, perhaps most importantly, self. Deeply vulnerable and boldly cinematic, the resulting songs blur the lines between indie-folk and alt-pop, with dense string arrangements and atmospheric production underpinning soaring melodies and airtight harmonies from Baxter and his longtime musical partner, Kyle Jahnke.

Texas natives, Baxter and Jahnke first crossed paths at UT Austin, where they developed both a fast friendship and a deeply symbiotic musical connection. Jahnke was a gifted guitarist with an ear for melody, Baxter an erudite lyricist with a mesmerizing voice and crystalline falsetto, and the duo quickly found that their vocals blended together as if they’d been singing in harmony their whole lives. Beginning with 2013’s ‘Tenboom,’ the staunchly DIY pair released a series of critically lauded records that garnered comparisons to the hushed intimacy of Iron & Wine and the adventurous beauty of James Blake, building up a devoted fanbase along the way through relentless touring and word-of-mouth buzz. NPR praised the band’s songwriting as a “delicate dance between heartache and resolve,” while The World Café raved that they’ve “steadily built a sound as attentive to detail as Simon & Garfunkel and as open to the present day as Bon Iver,” and Rolling Stone hailed their catalog as “folk music for Sunday mornings, quiet evenings, and all the fragile moments in between.” In addition to the mountain of glowing reviews, the band also earned high profile fans—including The Civil Wars’ John Paul White, who produced 2015’s ‘Let A Lover Drown You’—and extensive tour dates with everyone from Josh Ritter and Johnnyswim to Drew Holcomb and Delta Rae.

Charley Crockett

January 24, 2020

For Fans Of: Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Paul Cauthen

Genre: Country, Honky Tonk, Blues

Charley Crockett’s been running nearly his entire life, but with the title track to his sixth album, the Texas songwriter looks back at where he came from. “The Valley” chronicles his hard upbringing on the south Texas border in San Benito and his single mom’s move to Dallas, but it also distills the essence of Crockett’s fierce and restless independence.

Recorded just a week before the songwriter went under the knife for life-saving open-heart surgery in January, the album stirs with an introspection and urgency to tell his story. It’s a story of an artist searching for his place in the world, absorbing the sounds of the country as he attempts to make sense of the struggles of America and life on the road. It’s a story of exile and promise, as Crockett now runs those same highways playing for thousands of fans.

With a pawn shop guitar that his mom bought for him when he was 17, Crockett taught himself to play. Summers in New Orleans with his uncle sparked his ear, while the Dallas blues and Valley’s Tex-Mex slipped into his bloodstream.

Across six albums in the past five years, the Texan has defined his own distinct roots style. Even on his platters of deep-cut blues and country covers like Lil’ G.L.’s Honky Tonk Jubilee (2017) and Lil G.L.’s Blue Bonanza (2018), Crockett pushes a suave and soulful classic Americana that melds genres and is as restless as the artist himself.

His delivery hinges with New Orleans clip, and voice slides with slight lisp that melts around his phrasing like oil skirting the surface of a pond. His ear tunes an amalgam of East Texas blues, border Tex-Mex, classic honky tonk, and Louisiana soul, swerving effortlessly between weeping George Jones-worthy country ballads and hot smoked Lazy Lester-swaddled blues. And Crockett’s own songwriting, showcased on 2016’s In the Night and 2018 breakout Lonesome as a Shadow, cuts with an equally timeless quality.

No surprise then that Crockett has found a home base in Austin, with a deep history and appreciation for stylistic dexterity and transformational takes on traditional sounds. Like Doug Sahm’s cosmic roots blender or Gary Clark Jr’s blues shredder, or even Willie Nelson’s signature jazz country phrasing, Crockett effortlessly spins his influences into his own unique mix, let loose live with shimmying stage charisma worthy of Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis.

Independence remains essential to Crockett. Although courted by major labels and big name producers, Crockett is determined to continue forging his own path. Along the way, he’s begun to garner critical praise from national outlets like Rolling Stone, Billboard, and NPR, and made his mark at major festivals ranging from Stagecoach and Pickathon to ACL and Newport Folk. This winter, Blue Bonanza hit #10 on Billboard Blues Chart and the Americana radio album chart.

Lilly Hiatt

January 25, 2020

For Fans Of: Jason Isbell, John Moreland, Drive By Truckers

Genre: Country, Folk, Americana

John Hiatt’s daughter debuts the Barter Stage with a new album set to launch in January 2020. Fans can be the first to hear it. Lilly Hiatt’s last record was Trinity Land, in 2017. The 12-song set was produced by Michael Trent of Shovels & Rope and engineered by Andy Dixon at Trent’s Studio Bees in Johns Island, SC. It is the follow up to her acclaimed sophomore album Royal Blue, which Paste Magazine described as “a glorious tumble of influences – surf rock, Smiths vibes, Laurel Canyon twang and jangle, Sonic Youth flatline, Britpop flourishes, Seattle grunge and Joy Division meets Human League synthery.” In addition to her backing band, Trent is featured as a musician throughout, and is joined by his wife and Shovels & Rope partner Cary Ann Hearst for backing vocals on “Everything I Had.” Lilly’s love of the ‘90s alt-rock she was raised on continues to shine through on Trinity Lane in the distressed guitars and urgent backbeats. She cites the Pixies, Breeders, Dinosaur Jr., and her favorite, Pearl Jam as influences, but there is also something distinctly Americana lurking in the songs. Rolling Stone Country premiered the Michael Carter-directed video for the album’s title track HERE, stating, “The daughter of John Hiatt, she keeps the family tradition alive, mixing Southern influences – Americana, folk and left-of-center country – with a raw approach that’s better suited to the garage than the saloon. The album’s title track is no exception…the song finds Hiatt making peace with her old demons, while guitars crash and pianos chime in the background.” They continued, “‘Trinity Lane’ is an empowerment anthem stocked with details from Hiatt’s everyday life, from the name of her street to the smell of her neighbor’s cooking.”

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