abe partridge
lonnie holley
walter parks and the unlawful assembly
john calvin abney
brother ben music stage
brother ben music stage schedule
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11
9:30-10:30am – McKenzie Lockhart
11:00am-12:00pm – Kierston White
12:30-1:45pm – John Calvin Abney
2:15-3:30pm – Local Brand
3:45-5:00pm – Walter Parks and The Unlawful Assembly
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12
10:00-11:00am – Jacob Kynard
11:30am-12:30pm – Lee Bains
1:00-2:15pm – Abe Partridge
2:45-4:00pm – Lonnie Holley
about the artists
artists listed in order of appearance
McKenzie Lockhart is a singer songwriter from Florence, Alabama. Her debut EP, Interlaced, released in 2016 after a brief pilgrimage to try on Nashville for a year. The years that followed brought her back home to the Shoals where she found her best songs were lived stories in the place and alongside the people she loves most. In 2022, Lockhart released her first full length album featuring the single, “Easy” with Shoals legend John Paul White as well as a feature from friend and Penny & Sparrow member, Andy Baxter. Lockhart now enjoys creating music in her hometown, collaborating with local friends and leveraging music for good. That mindset has lead to her latest release, “What Can Be Done” - a single recorded live to tape at Portside Sound and produced in 7” FlexiDisc vinyl to support the work of Alabama Appleseed in their efforts to bring justice and dignity to all Alabamians. You can stream it anywhere you stream music!
Kierston White is an Americana artist residing in Norman, OK. First inspired to pick up the guitar by brother Bryon White (of the Damn Quails), Kierston has grown into a matured songwriter and performer in her own right. Cutting her teeth at legendary venues like OKC’s Blue Door and Norman’s Deli, Kierston has absorbed the quality songwriting surrounding her. Her most recent EP, Give The People What They Paid For, quickly reached #63 on the Americana radio charts after an independent release.
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Kierston will be joined by multi instrumentalist and songwriter Camille Harp (OK) on percussion and Americanas favorite tour rider John Calvin Abney (OK) for a well-oiled power trio experience that only old friends can produce.
John Calvin Abney was born in Reno, Nevada, but found his musical footing in Oklahoma, where he grew up learning guitar and piano in Tulsa. He became a fixture in the state’s vibrant music scene, performing in bars and DIY spaces from Norman to Stillwater, and cultivating a deep connection to the land and community that shaped his sound.
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Over the years, Abney has toured extensively across the country, both as a solo artist and as a trusted collaborator. He’s backed up renowned acts like John Moreland, Wild Child, Ben Kweller, and S.G. Goodman, bringing his signature style to stages large and small. Whether playing intimate venues or supporting national tours, Abney’s presence is marked by heartfelt performances and a deep-rooted authenticity that reflects his Oklahoma upbringing.
Local Brand is an indie-alternative band based out of Florence, Al. The 5-piece consists of Logan Clark on Rhythm guitar/vocals, Taylor Edwards on Drums, Kyle Bragwell on Lead Guitar, Damyon Jolley on Bass, and Grayson Wright on Keyboards. They showcase a groove-based foundation, powerful melodic components, and chill-inducing vocals. Local Brand delivers massive energy and passion, indiscriminately to every performance and their love of the craft is evident across their catalogue.
Walter Parks and The Unlawful Assembly
Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly reimagines and tributes historic spirituals and hymns which universally inspire, empower and unite. Leader/guitarist/singer Walter Parks, longtime sideman to Woodstock legend Richie Havens, is joined by featured artists drummer/producer Steven Williams and Ada Dyer on vocals who just wrapped up a worldwide tour with Bruce Springsteen.
In one live-concert experience, The Unlawful Assembly entertains and informs while successfully melding roots music of divergent origins. The soundtrack to American black history – old-school spirituals, gospel, blues, and prison work chants intertwine with swamp hollers, shaped-note hymns and Appalachian reels of white homesteader origin. Parks' native northeast Florida swampy feel borrows from southern rock, jazz, early 70’s soul and few gospel interpretations that rest joyfully upon a foundation of modern electronic loops. Reimagined covers and traditionals include: “Wade In The Water”, “Follow The Drinking Gourd”, “Down By The Riverside”, “Steal Away”, “Old Blind Barnabas”, “Amazing Grace”, “Higher Ground” and “Early In The Mornin’”. Walter contributes to “Georgia Rice” and is a cowriter with Stan Lynch of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers on “Shoulder It”.
Jacob Kynard is a songwriter from Pine Hill, AL. Since starting at Druid City Brewing Company’s Sunday night open mics, Kynard has spent the last two and a half years touring primarily in Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. His upcoming debut album, If You Want My Spot I’m Leaving, was recorded at Dial Back Sound and features Matt Patton (Drive By Truckers, Dexateens) and John Smith (Dexateens).
Lee Bains is a Rolling Stone-acclaimed songwriter and New Yorker-published poet whose work is steeped in the American South. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and living in Atlanta for over a decade, Bains’s songs are hopeful, but far from naive.
On 2022’s Old-Time Folks (Don Giovanni), his fourth album with The Glory Fires, he delivers songs that mix sounds of the South — rock and roll, gospel, punk, soul, country, hip-hop — to deliver stories of resistance and love.
Challenging revisionist histories that would prefer to forget the worst parts of our collective past as much as the present neoliberal logic that reduces people to numbers, they celebrate the messiness of humanity and the power of solidarity and love.
Abe Partridge is a heralded musician, singer/songwriter, visual artist, storyteller and documentarian based in Mobile, Alabama. Since the release of his debut album Cotton Fields and Blood for Days in 2018, Partridge has toured relentlessly, including several tours throughout Europe. He is a regular at several great music festivals such as the 30a Songwriters Fest, and the Laurel Cove Music Fest as well as listening rooms across the country including the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Eddies Attic in Atlanta, and Duke's in Indianapolis. Recently, he toured extensively with Matthew Sweet, Drivin' N Cryin', and Dar Williams in support of his latest release Love in the Dark. He has performed on several syndicated NPR radio programs including, Mountain Stage and Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour.
Lonnie Holley (b. Birmingham, AL, 1950) is a multidisciplinary visual artist and improvisational musician, whose work explores themes of personal and collective history, racial inequality, environmental catastrophe ,and American identity. Born into the harsh reality of Jim-Crow era Alabama, Holley’s early life was defined by transience, cruelty, and economic hardship. Separated from his family as a young boy, Holley spent three years at The Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, a brutal state institution that has been called a modern-day slave plantation. Growing up impoverished, Holley made do with what he could find, often the broken and discarded objects of human consumption–materials he refers to as, “trash, garbage, and debris. ”His ability to combine these objects into beautiful and socially resonant works of art made Holley a leading figure in the long-over looked movement of Black Southern visual artists. Holley’s work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in major museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, and many others.
why 'brother ben'?
The Brother Ben Music Stage is named in honor of folk artist B.F. Perkins.
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About BF:
Alabama farm boy, underage Merchant Marine, U.S. Marine and Presidential bodyguard, FBI agent, revival tent minister, celebrated folk artist from Fayette, Alabama. All are chapters in the remarkable life of Benjamin Franklin Perkins who, like his namesake, followed his curiosities, ambitions, and higher callings to explore the world, serve his country and free his soul. He attended the Kentuck Festival of the Arts for many years and his artwork is in many private collections and museum collections around the world.