Chris Simmons Bio:
After being invited on another string of shows with Passenger, Chris was invited to tour the UK with Supergrass legend Gaz Coombes, before embarking on his own sold run of headline shows, taking in his favourite parts of the UK and Europe, to great acclaim.


"Simmons’ voice can climb to Cat Stevens heights or dive down deep into Nick Drake darkness, but no matter where he’s singing from, he employs the kind of heart-stopping finesse that could transform a crowded room into a reverent hush in seconds....his songs are redolent with heart, grace and the kind of phrasing that evokes everyone from Neil Finn to David Gray"
- STEREO EMBERS

"Superb!"
- BBC SCOTLAND


In the summer of 2021, Chris was invited on tour by none other than the great Sir Tom Jones after impressing in a one-off show, standing in last minute for another act. Simmons went on to play and captivate a string of stadiums opening for Sir Tom, just one man and an acoustic guitar.

Chris returned with the huge summer single 'Home' in 2022, a driving and powerful dedication to love and sanctuary, wherever we can find it. He hit the road again through the summer opening for Paloma Faith, Badly Drawn Boy and was tour support for the legendary Simply Red.

2023 is jam packed full of releases and shows for Chris. A spring tour of India and the UK tour is the prelude for a very busy year, one that will see Simmons star shine brighter than ever.

THE CURRYS in Concert
​FRI SEPT 22, 2023
Doors 7pm/ Show 730pm
opening act Chris Simmons
$20 ADVANCE/$25 DOOR
​​Rain or Shine


​
The Currys have been staking their claim within the Americana music scene since 2013, when vocalist/guitarist Tommy Curry quit his teaching job and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to join the harmony-based folk-rock outfit newly formed by brother Jimmy Curry (vocals, guitar) and cousin Galen Curry (vocals, bass). The band, who cut their teeth playing the oyster bars and listening rooms of the Florida Panhandle, have since written and released three full-length albums: their studio debut Follow (2014), called “eye-opening, but warmly familiar” by Earmilk, and whose title track is “one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard” (Todd Moe of NCPR); sophomore effort West of Here (2016), with its “tight-as-a-rubber-band” harmonies and “infectious” songwriting (PopMatters); and This Side of the Glass (2019).
​
In 2020, The Currys began releasing a weekly podcast, This Side of the Mic,  to showcase new song ideas and remain engaged in the creative process during the pandemic-induced downtimes. The podcast allowed The Currys to expand their writing and production palettes and this evolution resulted in genre-hopping single releases such as “Man on the Side” and “Last Night.2023 will see the release of Keepers, the 4th studio album from The Currys in which the band explores new sonic territories beyond the folk-rock world and into an indie-rock sphere. The common thread throughout all of this evolution is the thoughtful songwriting, attention to detail, and three part harmonies.
"Stirring vocals...from a promising new band." - C-Ville Weekly
​“...toothsome and satisfying…” - Popshifter on West of Here"It’s is almost impossible not to be moved, physically and metaphorically, by the gorgeously composed tracks on this album." - Wordkrapht on Follow

​VICTOR WAINWRIGHT AND FRIENDS
SAT SEPT, 23, 2023
Doors 7pm/Show 730pm
$35 ADVANCE/$40 DOOR
​Rain or Shine
​Though his career began over a decade ago with genuine rock n' roll honky-tonk, Wainwright has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the blues. His dedication to musical discovery, sheer love for entertaining and insatiable curiosity have led him all around the world. The resulting perspective is a reflection of his passion for creating progressive roots music in an effort to move the art-form forward. Composer, producer, vocalist, entertainer and award winning piano player; Wainwright is an award winning raucous high-octane, dynamic performer and crowd pleaser with soul to spare. This is Blues, Roots Rock and Soul, featuring the boogie piano and soulful vocals of Victor Wainwright, backed by one of the most gifted bands on the scene: the WildRoots. 
 SELWYN BIRCHWOOD in Concert
SAT OCT 7, 2023 
Doors 7pm/Show 730pm
$25 ADVANCE /$30 DOOR
​​Rain or Shine
A remarkable, contemporary bluesman…a powerhouse young guitarist and soulful vocalist. A major player…highly recommended” –Rolling Stone
“Rising blues star Selwyn Birchwood is the real deal. Birchwood puts his own fresh spin on the blues, taking the tradition and making it into something new.” –Guitar World
“A skilled, energetic and original artist…His songwriting is observant, clever and pointed. His voice is smooth; his singing on target. His guitar fluency generates new licks and rhythmic surprises. Expectations have been high for Mr. Birchwood—and he lives up to them.” –Wall Street Journal
Groundbreaking young blues visionary Selwyn Birchwood will release his highly anticipated third Alligator album, 
Living In A Burning House, on Friday, January 29, 2021. The rising guitar and lap steel player calls his original music “electric swamp funkin’ blues,” defined by raw and soulful musicianship played with fire-and-brimstone fervor. His gritty, unvarnished vocals draw his audience deep inside his unforgettable tales of love, passion, pain and pleasure. No other band on the current blues scene is built quite like Birchwood’s. In addition to Selwyn’s electrifying guitar and lap steel playing, the other featured instrument is Regi Oliver’s driving baritone sax. The group is rounded out by bass, drums and, for the first time, keyboards.
Wanting to capture the power of the now larger band, Birchwood wrote and arranged 13 new songs, and brought in famed Grammy Award-winning musician Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Susan Tedeschi) to produce. From the rocking opener I’d Climb Mountains to the sweet soul of She’s A Dime and One More Time to the hair-raising Revelation, Living In A Burning House features some of the most vividly striking writing on today’s blues scene. Birchwood’s voice and vision are clear, his sound is edgy and compelling, and his stories are memorable and lasting.
According to Birchwood, “I tell my stories in my own way, with my own voice. You won’t ever hear me on stage telling someone else’s story. Muddy Waters, B.B. King and John Lee Hooker all told their own stories. That’s what I’m doing.”
Since the 2014 release of his Alligator Records debut, Don’t Call No Ambulance, Birchwood’s meteoric rise from playing small Florida clubs to headlining international festival stages is nothing short of phenomenal. The album received the Blues Music Award and Living Blues Critics’ Award for Best Debut Album Of 2014, and he won the 2015 Blues Blast Rising Star Award. Rave reviews ran in publications from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal, from The Chicago Tribune to The San Francisco Chronicle. He followed in 2016 with Pick Your Poison. DownBeat said, “There’s a deep-seated power about Birchwood’s singing and six string/lap steel guitar work…and there’s an unmistakab le emotion and honesty linking him to forebears like Muddy Waters. Thoughtful, persuasive and rugged.”
Birchwood and his band have crisscrossed the U.S. and Europe repeatedly, delivering unforgettable live performances. They have appeared domestically at festivals including The Chicago Blues Festival, Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The North Atlantic Blues Festival, The King Biscuit Blues Festival as well as on The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise and Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea. Internationally, they have performed at The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Jazz a Vienne in France, the Rawa Blues Festival in Poland, the Moulin Blues Festival in the Netherlands, the Ottawa Blues Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, as well as playing concerts in Spain, Norway, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium and Mexico.
“I write and sing what I know,” says Birchwood, whose musical innovations are as expansive as his influences are deep. With Living In A Burning House, Selwyn Birchwood is looking forward to winning over thousands of new fans. “They say everything is better when it’s made with love,” says Birchwood. “That’s how we play our music and that’s how we made the new album. I want my audience to say, ‘I know exactly what that feels like,’ when a song hits them. Because that’s when it stops just being music and starts being medicine. After all, we are all stricken with the condition of being human.”
GARETH ASHER in Concert
SUN OCT 8, 2023 
$20 in Advance /​ $25 Door
Doors 5:00/Show 5:30
Rain or Shine

Gareth Asher is a Georgia-born singer-songwriter and guitarist with a style identified as Southern Soul. Gareth’s expressive voice cuts straight into the core of his listener’s emotions.  The passion in his singing, along with the relatable lyrics have brought fans along with him on an extraordinary musical journey.  Through Asher’s music he brings together a community to make this world a better place.
Asher, son of musical parents, latched onto rock and roll before he turned five. He grew up in the Appalachian foothills of West Georgia, listening to his parents' rock and roll band and singing along with the records of great artists like Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Bob Seager, and Bruce Springsteen. The day he picked up a guitar and strummed it, he knew he'd found his instrument. Passionate about singing, he wrote his first song at age 15 and was jamming with local performers as soon as they would let him in the clubs to play. He continued working on his songwriting and guitar playing while a student at the local university and soon became the featured entertainer in local venues, where his passionate voice delivering original lyrics—the kind that makes you want to sit up and listen–quickly developed a loyal audience.
Gareth began his professional musical career in 2002 as the lead singer in the four-piece guitar-driven alternative rock band, Illbreak.  Illbreak’s debut album on Imprint Records, The Flood was released in 2005.  It was around that time that Asher put out his first solo record, No Reality.  In addition to releasing multiple records over the years, Asher has several collaborations including Get It Right featuring Nappy Roots in 2011, and One Day featuring Niko Moon in 2014. 
One of Asher’s greatest collaborations began in 2011 when he crossed paths with Nicki Thrailkill.  These kindred spirits then went on to perform as Gareth Asher + the Earthlings and then in 2017 as Ink + Ash. They released Defend the Flame in 2019. Now in 2022, Gareth has returned to his roots as a solo artist and is anticipating recording a new album very soon. 
As a touring artist, Asher has shared the stage with Shawn Mullins, Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Emerson Hart (Tonic), Angie Aparo, Corey Smith, Sister Hazel, Collective Soul, 3 Doors Down, Steve Cropper and many more. 
Ask fans what they like best about Gareth Asher and they have a simple reply: the passion in his voice, and the lyrics they connect with.
"Gareth has the most soulful voice I have ever heard. The first time I heard his music I just had to stop and take it in. I imagine that is what it was like for those who heard Ray Charles or John Lennon for the first time." - Holly Firfer (92.9 Dave FM On-Air, Atlanta & Company) 
In comments likening Asher's voice to that of famed tenors such as Jeff Buckley, Ray Lamontagne, and even Cat Stevens, record and session producer Charlie Peacock describes Gareth Asher and the Earthlings as "solid in all the ways we need a decidedly American singer-songwriter to be. What do you get? To begin with there’s loopy grooves, big wide tambourines, and a by- the-book folky, rock mix. All the usual Americana instruments are up front and in the shadows: Acoustic guitars, B3, Wurlitzer electric piano, drums, bass, and electrics."
Discography
No Reality - 2004
I'm the Earth – 2007
Between the Smile and Tears – 2010
Eyes on the Horizon – 2013
Here We Are – 2015
Defend the Flame - 2019
DAMON FOWLER in Concert
FRI OCT 13, 2023
Doors 7pm/Show 730pm
​$20 ADVANCE/$25 DOOR
Florida’s Gulf Coast has produced a plethora of distinctive musicians, from the blues of Tampa Red to jazz greats Cannonball and Nat Adderley to former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts to The Outlaws. Tampa’s Damon Fowler, a masterful singer, guitar player and songwriter, has absorbed the best of and furthered the work of the region’s definitive artists. A hard driving troubadour, his music is steeped with soul and representative of the many styles that make up the roots of American music. He has gained the respect of his peers given his featured slot in Butch Truck’s Freight Train band and his side gig as guitarist in the Dickey Betts Band. Critics have compared Fowler’s guitar work to Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar is reminiscent of the late Duane Allman. Fowler can play fiery guitar runs with the best of them, and his lyrical work on lap steel and dobro makes him a stand out performer among the legions of guitar heroes. His new release, ALAFIA MOON, was produced by Fowler and George Harris (Cheap Trick, Rick Derringer, Brian Johnson—AC/DC), ALAFIA MOON, represents Fowler’s 8th solo release. combines all the influences that have shaped his distinctive blues career. On the strength of Fowler’s hybrid of roots rock, blues, and sacred steel, the Florida native started wowing audiences with his musical exploits as a teenager, building a reputation as one of the hottest young players on the scene. Adding songwriting and vocal skills to his repertoire over the years has brought him many accolades, with music journalists extolling his originality and maturity as well as his technical guitar expertise. All of these attributes have helped further define Damon Fowler as one of the great Southern artists of his time.
CHARLIE MARS in Concert
​Doors 7pm/Show 730pm
MON OCT 23, 2023 
$25 ADVANCE/ $30 DOOR
Charlie Mars lives on a gravel paved County Road in the hill country of Yalobusha County, Mississippi. Why? He used to live in a college town with all the college town stuff that musicians like. He fell in love with these Cane Corso Mastiff puppies on Instagram that a guy in Brazil was breeding, and Charlie had recently made some money on a crypto coin called Shiba Inu, that was enough to pay for the dog and shipping. The puppy from Brazil that Charlie picked up in Arkansas would grow to be 130 lbs, and quite a handful. After the dog bit a friend in the little town Charlie was living in, his brother found some clear cut land in the middle of nowhere with a weird house on it, and Charlie decided to buy it and move there. His dog needed some space and he was burned out on the whole “modern thing”. His Grandfather was a cattle farmer and a lot of the people he respected did things close to the land he purchased. He got rid of a television and learned how to harvest vegetables. He introduced himself to his neighbors and started writing about what was around him in his new country home.
Growing up in Mississippi, he was a kid who listened to the radio a lot. WNSL played 80’s pop radio hits, and he also got into classic singer-songwriters like Neil Young and Jackson Browne.
When he was in high school, he formed his first band that played a mix of covers and originals. They would play at the local VFW and Charlie remembers his mother would often need to drive the band members home in her station wagon when they drank too much at gigs.
Charlie would start to write his own songs with the intent of never squeezing himself into a single genre. He tried to keep his initial songs “classic”, and he always liked Country music (the less popular kind). He then got into Jam Bands and Alt-Country music, especially Uncle Tupelo. He majored in English while attending college at SMU in Dallas, and always liked being a wordsmith. A friend introduced Charlie to Daniel Lanois’ music, which inspired him to start experimenting more with atmospheric sounds. Like any songwriter worth his salt, Mars employs his art as a channel towards personal discovery, candidly exploring all the human limitations – from pride and fear to cynicism self-doubt – that stand in the way of his attaining true happiness.
He has released 7 studio albums, a series of EPs, and several singles over the past 20 years. He’s shared the stage with the likes of REM, KT Tunstall and Steve Earle, and has been profiled in Forbes, USA Today, American Songwriter and many major media outlets. If you ask him, Charlie says he’s made a living playing in small clubs and backyards. But he still wants to have a tour bus and play in front of big crowds. “It’s fun to have a dream. It keeps me going” he says. “I can’t believe I made it this far in music. I figure while I had the chance, I should try to represent the people and the culture that shaped me.”
Albert Cummings in Concert
SUN Nov 5, 2023
Doors 5pm/Show 530pm
$25 in Adv/$30 door
Rain or Shine
In the trajectory of watching great musicians develop, there is no set timetable. Some appear full-blown right from the start, and others can take a whole career to get to that elevated place. Albert Cummings arrived strong right at the beginning and has kept growing over a course of endless tours and ten albums. This is a singer and guitarist who has played with many of the greatest players of the modern era, and received the kind of awards and recognition that few others do. Raised in Massachusetts and self-taught on the banjo, it was a 1987 concert by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble that opened Cummings to a new world of modern blues and inspired him to take up the guitar. It didn't take long from there for him to find his way to the front of the pack. 
From that first album, the burgeoning blues world of the 2000s opened its doors for Albert Cummings. He recorded several albums for Blind Pig Records, and on 2012's NO REGRETS, the guitarist extended the boundaries outside the blues world to include country and rock influences.
The Southern Gothic in Concert
Album Release
Sunday Nov 12,2023
$20 in Adv/$25 door
Doors 6pm/Show 630pm
Rain or Shine
We're releasing a brand new album, "One More For the Road" on October 20. The single "Dreaming Big In a Small Town" (Witten by Connor and Nashville superstar Elvie Shane) releases on Sep 29, to get you ready. Connor has written songs with #1 songwriters Russell Sutton (Whiskey on You, My Boy), Ketch Secor (Wagon Wheel) and more. This album is 10 of our favorite tunes from the past few years, and we're REALLY proud to share it with ya. We'll have pre-saves and pre-orders REALLY soon.
John Paul White in Concert
Friday Dec 15, 2023
Doors 7pm/Show 730pm
$35 in advance /$40 Door
Rain or Shine


With The Hurting Kind, John Paul White has crafted a stunning album that draws on the lush, orchestrated music made in Nashville in the early 1960s. Yet these songs retain a modern feel, whether he’s writing about overwhelming love, unraveling relationships, or the fading memory of a loved one.
White grew up in tiny Loretto, Tennessee, and now lives in Florence, Alabama, not far from Muscle Shoals. He has cultivated his career in Nashville for two decades, first as a songwriter for a major publisher, then as half of The Civil Wars – a groundbreaking duo that won four Grammy Awards before disbanding in 2012.
Because The Civil Wars were so hard to categorize, White has earned a fan base among indie rock listeners, folk audiences, Americana outlets, and AAA radio. So, what will happen if people hear The Hurting Kind and call it country? “Well, that doesn’t scare me in the least,” he says. “As a matter of fact, it kind of thrills me.
What was on your mind leading up to the sessions for The Hurting Kind.
I wanted The Hurting Kind to be a much more complex record than I’ve made before. I wanted it to be a more thought-about, arranged record. I had been burying my head in ‘countrypolitan’ stuff like Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline and early Roy Orbison, and a lot of Chet Atkins and Bill Porter records. I think I was doing that because I was looking for that style of music in today’s world, and for any artist doing that type of thing. Then I decided to make the kind of record that I wanted to sit down and listen to – one that I’ve been looking for and can’t find.

​
Where did you record it?
I have a little studio next to my house called Sun Drop Sound, and this is one of the first things we recorded in it. We converted an old, turn-of-the-century home next to mine in the historic district of Florence, Alabama. It has high ceilings and big rooms. We were able to cater the space to what we wanted this record to sound like, and then captured it the way we heard it in our heads. It was a lot of work and a lot of head-scratching at times, too, because of the complexity of the songs.
What makes the songwriting on The Hurting Kind different from your past work?
I approached this album differently on the songwriting side before I ever got into the studio. I really wanted there to be a torch song quality to it, the classic, timeless quality. To not be afraid of the big note, and not be afraid of the drama. A lot of times, without even thinking about it, I pull back the reins, especially when the lyric is pretty sad. When the lyric is pretty heavy, I’m a little more careful about taking it too far. After conversations with people I’ve met on the road – talking to them about songs that I’ve written and how they say my songs have helped them – I felt like I could say what I wanted to say on this record. And not worry that it was too maudlin or too heavy-handed. I thought, “I’m just going to go there.”
So I had this idea. My publisher, BMG, had been very kind and patient waiting for songs from me. I knew I wanted to write some new songs and I thought, “You know what? I’m going to use their Rolodex and find my heroes and see what they’re doing. See if they’re still writing songs – and see if they’re willing to write songs with me.” One of the first phone numbers I got was for Whisperin’ Bill Anderson. He’s a huge hero of mine. He has this boundless energy, this excitement! It was inspiring to see his eyes light up when a great line would come out or a melody would happen. I just ate it up and fed off it.
Why was it important for you to seek out those classic writers?
It played into the type of record I wanted to make. Bill is definitely from that era – writing and recording songs like “The Tips of My Fingers” and “Still” – and for me it’s canon. I thought, “Well, if he’ll answer the phone, let’s see who else will.” So I called Bobby Braddock and he was up for it. He told me a million amazing stories about writing songs like “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and “Golden Ring,” but also his time playing piano with Marty Robbins. It was the best! We wrote a song in maybe an hour.
It was so rewarding in other ways, too, because I got immediate feedback from them on whether I was writing country classic songs or not. I told them right off the bat, I really want to make a record that isn’t dated. I don’t want it to be retro. I don’t want to make it sound sonically like those classic records, but I do want it to have that same aesthetic. I do want it to have that same thought process and to be as deliberate as those records were. Coming out of each and every one of these situations, I got a resounding thumbs-up that I was on that right track. I didn’t need anybody else’s approval after that.
You built a sizable international audience with The Civil Wars. What do you hope those fans will hear in The Hurting Kind?
I’ve always had the same mentality with everything I’ve been a part of – just writing something that moves me. If it moves me, then I think it will move others. Then we’ll try to get the subject matter down to a specific moment in time and really dissect that moment instead of trying to write an epic. To get at the heart of something that’s bothering me, or makes me happy, or confuses me – I feel like I’m still doing that same thing. At the heart of all this, it’s me and a guitar. There are other things going on, but at the heart of it, it’s really about the song, more than anything else. That’s always been the case, with my solo stuff, or with the Civil Wars, or with anything that I’ve written for the Nashville market. The core is always the most important part.
What made you choose “The Hurting Kind” as the title track for this album?
I titled this album The Hurting Kind because these are typically the types of emotions and ideas and songs that I deal in. The things that consistently come to the front of my brain every time I sit down to write a song. Every time that I listen to records, the songs that I gravitate toward are the hurting kind. Those are the emotions that I think are the most powerful. They’re the ones that are the most lasting. They cut deeper and they stay with us.

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
fall 2023
Tickets coming soon
SAT NOV 18, 2023 POPA CHUBBY
SUN NOV 19, 2023. HONEY WHAT (free show)

SAT DEC 2, 2023. ANNE HARRIS AND J.P. SOARS 
SAT DEC 9, 2023  ALBERT CASTIGLIA
SUN DEC 17,2023 SELWYN BIRCHWOOD SOLO/DAMON FOWLER SOLO
​DEC 22, 2023  MIKE ZITO

WINTER 2024​
Sun JAN 28, 2024  SETH WALKER
SUN MAR 3, 2024 VANESSA COLLIER

#SHAMcMobileMusic
#SHAMcARTreach took the shape of our mobile concert series on our flatbed stage- when times are tough the tough get creative!
All Donations are appreciated -donate button on our homepage if you support what we are doing for the community or look under each youtube box for the musicians donate links :)
​
We had some of our regular patrons invite small groups of our supporters and new supporter and we visited their private parties and a few local businesses that are all Socially Distancing until we can get back to hosting music at SHAMc......Shawn Hopper and Chris Barbosa was the first one, Ari and the Alibis DUO known at Ariella was the second one and Betty Fox Duo was the third one.
Donations to ShaunHopper/ChrisBarbosa     paypal.me/shaunhopper
https://venmo.com/ShaunHopper         Cash app-$Shaunhopper      Zelle-229-251-1045

AND  Paypal.me/shamc706   OR the homepage of this website thru the little yellow donation button
Donations Appreciated and they really do help these bands eat during Covid19
Ari and the Alibis DUO   Paypal.me/ariandthealibis
venmo.com/ARIELLAMUSIC             Cash app: $Alibis           Zelle: (941)879-6606
And SHAMc  Paypal.me/shamc706  or on the homepage of this website thru the little yellow donation button
Donations To Betty Fox Duo help these musicians eat during this Covid19 time
paypal.me/BettyFox210      Venmo: @Betty-Fox      Cash app: $bettyfoxband
SHAMc at Paypal.me/shamc706   or on the homepage of this website thru the lil yellow donate button
Donations to The Hummingbirds help feed these musicians during these Covid times.....thank you for any kind donations you give.
🎶Thanks for watching the concert-For contributions & merch:
❤️www.thehummingbirds.com/support
❤️www.paypal.me/thehummingbirds
❤️Venmo : @thehbirds