MELISSA CARPER & BONNIE MONTGOMERY
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https://www.melissacarper.com/
https://www.bonniemontgomerymusic.com/
THE OLD QUARTER IS A LISTENING ROOM. LOUD CONVERSATION DURING ARTIST'S PERFORMANCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS WHEN PURCHASING TICKETS TO SHOWS.
Celebrated for her profoundly observational lyrics, her “homespun sensibility,” and a voice that curls like a croon from a gramophone, Melissa Carper plays old school country music that resonates across time and place. Carper’s repertoire weaves together the threads of old-time, bluegrass, western swing, jazz, and blues that all intertwined to form American country music, back in the days before the recording industry drew artificial lines and slapped on race-based genre labels. Veteran Nashville musician Chris Scruggs highlighted Carper’s versatile traditionalism when he dubbed her “HillBillie Holiday,” declaring, “She’s as good as it gets. She has a quality that really transcends time and fashion.”
Melissa Carper’s childhood in North Platte, Nebraska, was filled with country music. She has fond memories of lying on the living room carpet with her head under the family stereo console, listening to her parents’ beloved Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn albums. From an early age, the Carper siblings sang gospel music together at churches and retirement homes, and when the kids were old enough for instruments, their mother organized them into a country band. Having taken up upright bass in 4th grade, 12-year-old Melissa naturally became the electric bassist. A childhood playing country music until midnight on the circuit of Nebraska’s rural Elks, Eagles, and American Legion halls may have been out of the ordinary, but she reflects that “my parents were dreamers and they believed in all of us and our musical abilities.” Her high school band director, himself a bassist, was another mentor, and with his encouragement, she attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln on a classical music scholarship.
Bonnie Montgomery has always had a big voice. Raised on southern gospel, Texas swing, Delta blues, and Ozark bluegrass, she trained as an opera singer before launching her award-winning career in outlaw country. Paste Magazine praises her
"timeless songwriting. Dale Watson calls her "a sophisticated badass who was born to sing." Even so, she's never sung quite as compellingly as she does on the eclectic, electrifying River.
"This is the most straight-from-the heart album I've ever cut", says the Arkansas native, who headed to Texas to record River with co-producer Kevin Skrla. "I've always been a multi-genre artist. I have a classical background, but I'm a big fan of soul music and
rock, too. Country music was the soundtrack of my childhood. All of that went into River. Making that album felt like the first time I could be me, sing my heart out, and not worry about fitting into any specific box. It was pure. It was freeing."
Before a global pandemic brought her touring schedule to a halt, Montgomery spent an entire decade on the road, playing 200 gigs per year. From arena shows opening for indie-rock band The Gossip to dancehall dates with Ray Wylie Hubbard and Billy Jo
Shaver, she sharpened her music onstage, carving out a blend of parlor songs, contemporary roots music, and timeless country twang. She stayed busy offstage, too. Billy Blythe, her original opera about Bill Clinton's childhood in Arkansas, received
praise from The New Yorker and The Economist in 2016, while albums like 2018's Forever found her bridging the gap between modern-day Americana and old-school country western music. The hard work paid off. A perennial winner at the annual
Arkansas Country Music Awards, Montgomery was named "Entertainer of the Year" in 2020, "Americana/Roots Artist of the Year" in 2019, and both "Best Americana Artist" and "Best Female Vocalist" in 2018. She also won big at the Ameripolitan Awards, being crowned "Outlaw Female" in 2016.
https://www.bonniemontgomerymusic.com/
THE OLD QUARTER IS A LISTENING ROOM. LOUD CONVERSATION DURING ARTIST'S PERFORMANCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS WHEN PURCHASING TICKETS TO SHOWS.
Celebrated for her profoundly observational lyrics, her “homespun sensibility,” and a voice that curls like a croon from a gramophone, Melissa Carper plays old school country music that resonates across time and place. Carper’s repertoire weaves together the threads of old-time, bluegrass, western swing, jazz, and blues that all intertwined to form American country music, back in the days before the recording industry drew artificial lines and slapped on race-based genre labels. Veteran Nashville musician Chris Scruggs highlighted Carper’s versatile traditionalism when he dubbed her “HillBillie Holiday,” declaring, “She’s as good as it gets. She has a quality that really transcends time and fashion.”
Melissa Carper’s childhood in North Platte, Nebraska, was filled with country music. She has fond memories of lying on the living room carpet with her head under the family stereo console, listening to her parents’ beloved Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn albums. From an early age, the Carper siblings sang gospel music together at churches and retirement homes, and when the kids were old enough for instruments, their mother organized them into a country band. Having taken up upright bass in 4th grade, 12-year-old Melissa naturally became the electric bassist. A childhood playing country music until midnight on the circuit of Nebraska’s rural Elks, Eagles, and American Legion halls may have been out of the ordinary, but she reflects that “my parents were dreamers and they believed in all of us and our musical abilities.” Her high school band director, himself a bassist, was another mentor, and with his encouragement, she attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln on a classical music scholarship.
Bonnie Montgomery has always had a big voice. Raised on southern gospel, Texas swing, Delta blues, and Ozark bluegrass, she trained as an opera singer before launching her award-winning career in outlaw country. Paste Magazine praises her
"timeless songwriting. Dale Watson calls her "a sophisticated badass who was born to sing." Even so, she's never sung quite as compellingly as she does on the eclectic, electrifying River.
"This is the most straight-from-the heart album I've ever cut", says the Arkansas native, who headed to Texas to record River with co-producer Kevin Skrla. "I've always been a multi-genre artist. I have a classical background, but I'm a big fan of soul music and
rock, too. Country music was the soundtrack of my childhood. All of that went into River. Making that album felt like the first time I could be me, sing my heart out, and not worry about fitting into any specific box. It was pure. It was freeing."
Before a global pandemic brought her touring schedule to a halt, Montgomery spent an entire decade on the road, playing 200 gigs per year. From arena shows opening for indie-rock band The Gossip to dancehall dates with Ray Wylie Hubbard and Billy Jo
Shaver, she sharpened her music onstage, carving out a blend of parlor songs, contemporary roots music, and timeless country twang. She stayed busy offstage, too. Billy Blythe, her original opera about Bill Clinton's childhood in Arkansas, received
praise from The New Yorker and The Economist in 2016, while albums like 2018's Forever found her bridging the gap between modern-day Americana and old-school country western music. The hard work paid off. A perennial winner at the annual
Arkansas Country Music Awards, Montgomery was named "Entertainer of the Year" in 2020, "Americana/Roots Artist of the Year" in 2019, and both "Best Americana Artist" and "Best Female Vocalist" in 2018. She also won big at the Ameripolitan Awards, being crowned "Outlaw Female" in 2016.
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