All ages show - First Come / First Serve Seating $20 Advance / $25 Door

Some things are just meant to be. Alicia Best (US) and Robert Jackson (UK) met while busking on the cobbled streets of Ireland and discovered both a musical and personal harmony that was serendipitous. In the decade since forming A Different Thread, Best and Jackson have taken their act on the road, touring over a dozen countries, supporting artists such as Milk Carton Kids and Jody Stephens (Big Star), and garnering critical praise from the likes of Folk Radio UK, which hailed the duo as “warm, deep songwriters that have drank from the well of 20th century tradition.”
Their new album, Over Again (out May 26’), was written during a period of transition, marked by their arrival stateside and a solar eclipse. Recording began in their tiny home studio, continued in Sylvan Esso's Betty's (The Mountain Goats, Watchhouse), and finished at Alma Vale Studio (Phantom Limb/Yola, Elles Bailey) in the UK. Their sound is transcontinental, blending Jackson's British folk rock background with Best's North Carolina-bred alt-country melodies. Informed by their life experiences (navigating visas, vanlife, love across oceans) and liberal commentary on both environmental and social justice topics, the album mixes electric guitars with Appalachian dulcimer, gospel-tinged vocals with honky-tonk fiddle. While inspired by artists like Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, and John Prine, A Different Thread maintain a distinct sound that is all their own. Alicia and Robert see the creation of Over Again as a testament to the power that music has to heal and transform: “For us, this album marks a new beginning—like a rebirth—as we shed negative cycles to work towards a brighter future.”
https://www.adifferentthread.com/

A.T. and Lauren Cason are lifetime musicians who perform original American folk and blues songs that harken back to the roots music of the American South as well as the 1960s Folk Revival artists of NYC’s Greenwich Village. It’s Simon & Garfunkel mixed with early Dylan, with a touch of Leonard Cohen and a helping of true Piedmont blues fingerstyle guitar from North Carolina. The sound of Songs of the Folk is aptly described by Folk and Honey, one of the UK’s leading folk music publications:

“Their original songs have a slick, contemporary musicianship underlying them..their tasteful instrumentation always helping to bring their rootsy subject matters to life.”

Having performed for years throughout the Eastern US, the Casons moved to England where they spent several years touring extensively in the UK, making a name for themselves within the music circuit of England by playing in a variety of venues from historic folk clubs in Cambridge, Colchester, and Norwich to internationally-recognized venues such as the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead and the Queen’s Hall Theatre in Kent. They have also achieved international acclaim for their song, A Feeling I Get, a semi-finalist in the 2024 International Songwriting Competition.

After releasing numerous singles, an EP titled Songs of the Folk, and their first full-length album, Sun-Scorched Land, A.T. and Lauren are set to release their second LP entitled In the Old Kingdom, all of it recorded in a centuries-old converted barn in Maldon, Essex and the first Church of England parish chapel, St. Michael’s in Woodham Walter, built in the 1500s.

The Casons moved back to their mountain home in Western North Carolina and continue to perform both domestically and abroad. They are also passionate about taking their music to those in distressed situations, such as at homeless shelters, rehab centers, and prisons through their non-profit organization, For the Folk (www.forthefolknc.org).

The Casons are certainly at their best when performing live. Their musical bond is gripping and palpable and as they tell stories alongside the tunes this connection transmits to audiences, creating a truly engaging experience. A concert of Songs of the Folk is a concert of well-crafted music and lyrics, pleasant harmonies, intricate instrumentation, and original storytelling. Audience members leave impressed by the songwriting and fingerstyle guitar-playing, entranced by the refined vocal harmonies, and enamored with the exceptional lyricism, but most importantly, each person leaves feeling like an old friend of the Casons and a part of the Songs of the Folk.
https://songsofthefolk.com/home