The Big Cahoot with Yarn and Old Habits!
We couldn't be more excited about the Big Cahoot, coming up in just over a week. We've got two amazing bands - Yarn and Old Habits - bringing a mix of Americana and Bluegrass to our fundraising music show.
Get your CAHOOT tickets NOW!
We're really impressed with Yarn, their rise in recent years, and with their front man, Blake Christiana. Blake was generous enough in November 2013 to serve as one of our celebrity bartenders at our event at Zinda, helping Band Together raise vital funds to achieve our mission.We "borrowed' the content below - a little more about Yarn and Old Habits - from their websites. And, there's a great interview/podcast with Blake Christiana, here.
Since starting in 2007, Yarn’s original Americana sound has developed into music that seekers-of-the-unique see as the soundtrack to their lives. Yarn’s albums were recognized by the AMA’s and R&R radio charts, spending time in the top 5 at their highest point. Yarn has become one of the hardest-working and harder-touring bands for this generation’s digital natives and new music followers.
Yarn’s devoted followers, affectionately called the “Yarmy”, answered the band’s request for aid when they funded their new record through Kickstarter. Raising more than $5,000 of the $15,000 needed, the “Yarmy” proved their allegiance to Yarn and their music being heard in 2012.
On Sept 10th 2013, Yarn released their new album, Shine the Light On, that featured tracks co-written with John Oates of Hall and Oates fame. “Some of the best songs we’ve written live on this record,” said lead singer Blake Christiana. “It’s a pretty dark collection, but we are confident you can find the light shining through.”
Yarn’s devoted fans follow in the fine tradition of The Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic, whose fans will go to any length to see them live, and this year Yarn’s fans will see them plenty. Their rigorous tour schedule has them out on the road for more than 170 dates per year since 2007 and they are not slowing down.
They also make sure that all their live shows are recorded and online for fans freely. “We have been doing that for a few years, and the fans love it,” says Christiana, “whatever it takes, we want to do for anybody that comes out to our shows.”
Old Habits will be opening the show... a couple of local guys who are preserving music tradition in our state and having a good time doing it. Old Habits is Chad Johnson (Acoustic Guitar, Vocals), Lin Peterson (Banjo, Electric Guitar, Vocals), Craig Thompson (Upright Bass, Vocals) and Evans Nicholson (Drums, Kazoo). You gotta love Kazoo.
Old Habits got their start back in 2003 one night when Craig Thompson, Lin Peterson, Bennett Thompson and Brian English got together to pick a little bluegrass. A duplex across the street from Raleigh, NC landmark, The Players Retreat, served as both home to roommates Lin and Craig, and the original practice space for the band. Soon after, Chad Johnson joined the group and the rest is history.
Over the next few years, Old Habits would gain momentum playing in small bars, and occasional parties. In 2007, they recorded their first self-titled album at The Rubberroom in Chapel Hill, NC. Eventually drums were added to the line up, and the band moved from old-school bluegrass to their current sound – a mixture of Americana, Country and Southern Roots music.