A Nashville band with a very Memphis ethos and a keyboard player who has performed with The Rolling Stones, John Mayer and George Harrison are coming to the Germantown Performing Arts Center this fall.
GPAC has added four new shows to its fall lineup, in addition to the regular season performances announced previously.
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and Chuck Leavell will perform in Germantown in September; Old Crow Medicine Show and David Sedaris will be there in October.
Lead singer and fiddler for Old Crow Medicine Show, Ketch Secor, told The Daily Memphian he’s eager to head back to GPAC to perform.
The band is currently touring its seventh album, “Paint This Town,” and Secor said the secret to the album’s success is “the Memphis touch” from producer Matt Ross-Spang.
“If you’re a Nashville band with a Memphis producer, oh, man, that’s the royal flush,” he said.
Although the band is based in Nashville, Secor said that much of Old Crow’s sound is aligned with Memphis’ ethos.
“The soul of this band really has to do with the cross-section of the hillbilly and the Blues. And that junction is best in Memphis,” he said.
Another headliner with a perhaps less familiar name but an impressive performing record is Chuck Leavell. As a keyboard player, he’s worked with musicians such as Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, George Harrison and The Allman Brothers Band. For the GPAC show, Leavell will perform selections from throughout his career.
The evening will also include segments from his recent documentary, “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man,” which focuses on both his musical career and his work as an environmentalist and tree farmer in Georgia.
The evening will be moderated by Ross-Spang.
Both Skaggs and Sedaris have performed at GPAC before, but be aware: Executive director Paul Chandler said that author Sedaris has “sold out every time.”
GPAC fall additions
- Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder: Friday, Sept. 23, 8 p.m.
- An Evening with Chuck Leavell: Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m.
- Old Crow Medicine Show: Friday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m.
- David Sedaris, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.