Ruby Jewel Productions Presents
Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band at Washoe Theater in Anaconda, MT at 7:30 on Friday, June 16.
About the Show
Who: Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band in Concert
What: In concert at the Historic Washoe Theater
Where: Washoe Theater, Anaconda, MT
Date: Friday, June 16, 2017
Time: 7:30 – 10:00pm
Price: $15 advance $18 door $25 VIP
VIP includes a pre-show reception, balcony seating – LIMITED 100 seats
We’re offering a special community $10 hardship ticket price for for those in the community who can’t afford the $15 price but love live music.
About the Band
This band is the new “Nashville 2.0” sound at it’s finest. If you’re following the evolution of the Nashville sound and would like to experience some of it live and in person right here in Montana, this is the perfect concert for you in an amazing listening venue.
The Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band brings five genre-busting artists together to bring joyful music infused with folk, bluegrass, americana, roots, swing, jazz, and the blues. Alt-Roots, Folkbilly – whatever you call it – it’s original, well done, and a pleasure to hear. Featuring Pete Grant on pedal steel, Jim Kerwin on bass fiddle and Jon Arkin on percussion. This is truly an all-star band.
The Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band released their new EP West in Berkeley CA on April 30th.
West is the first of a four-part, five-song EP series named after one of the four cardinal points on a compass – North, South, East, and West. When placed together, the back covers of the four releases will form one piece of art. Physical copies will be available for purchase for only $5 at all live shows, and digital versions will be available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon in early 2017.
“We are excited about releasing a series of eclectic new works with a super talented band,” said Jim Nunally. “We pay homage to great artists like George Jones, Buck Owens, Tammy Wynette, while our original songs like ‘Mirror’ take folk music in an entirely new direction. We aren’t just following a path; we are paving a new one.”
“Hey, five is the magic number this year, it’s a number that signifies change and grace,” added Nell Robinson. “Five songs per album for $5, five jazzed musicians … and I turn 55 this spring!”
Nell Robinson has been described as a “modern day Patsy Cline” and “one of the freshest voices in roots music.” Her side-projects, from the poignancy of Soldier Stories to the whimsy of The Henriettas, further attest to the breadth and ambition of the youthful musical passions she let flower. Robinson’s 2014 release “The Rose of No-Man’s Land became a PBS Special with it’s own episode in the Music Gone Public series. The abum, produced by Joe Henry, featured Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kris Kristofferson, John Doe and Maxine Hong Kingston.
“Music is the ultimate communication tool and Nell’s songs, performance and album moved the WoodSongs audience deeply! A fine person and a fine artist, ’nuff said.”- Michael Johnathon, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour.
Jim Nunally is a San Francisco Bay Area-native, a musician, composer, record producer, and teacher. As a guitarist and vocalist with the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience for over 13 years, Jim joins master American guitarists Doc Watson and Tony Rice as one of the finest interpreters and performers of bluegrass and traditional music. He is a recipient of two Grammy and IBMA Awards and is a two-time Western Open Flatpicking Guitar champion. His work is featured on soundtracks for The Beverly Hillbillies Movie, Snoopy’s Reunion, The Sims, Streets of SimCity and more. His third-generation traditional music roots began in Arkansas with his guitar-playing grandfather who taught Jim’s father, who in turn taught Jim. This pedigree contributes to his unmistakably traditional sound.
Pete Grant’s resume looks like a who’s who of music! He started playing banjo, guitar, and dobro in the early sixties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sharing musical adventures with his friends Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Pat Simmons, and others, he has performed solo, in duos, and his own groups. The Grateful Dead album Aoxomoxoa was his first studio recording, from there he went on to become one of the most sought after steel players on the West Coast. Touring in Japan with Guy Clark, he played on Clark’s second release, Texas Cookin’. Grant is a two-time nominee for Best Steel Guitarist by the Academy of Country Music.
Jim Kerwin is considered simply one of the best string bass players in the country. He has played with David Grisman for over 30 years and is featured on all of Grisman’s Jerry Garcia recordings, all of which boast a unique acoustic setting, encompassing a myriad of musical genres. A San Francisco State University graduate with a performance degree in solo double bass, he spent several years touring Europe with an avant-garde jazz trio led by vibist Larry Blackshere. He has performed with bluegrass greats Red Allen and Del McCoury and has played at Carnegie Hall with Stephane Grappelli and YoYo Ma. Kerwin is featured on numerous recordings – including six Grammy nominees – from big band and bluegrass to jazz and latin.
Jon Arkin is a versatile, gifted drummer/percussionist who is known for his performances & recorded work in a wide variety of musical contexts. In addition to leading his own groups, he has performed with jazz greats such as Lee Konitz, Gene Perla, and Ira Sullivan, with singer-songwriters including Stew and Meklit Hadero, Afrobeat bands Albino and Soji Odukogbe, a multitude of collaborators in the experimental music world, and countless other artists. He has just released an album of original experimental jazz with the Schimscheimer Family Trio entitled “Broken Home”, and has developed a unique repertoire as a solo electro-acoustic percussionist. Could his bluegrass groove have come from his father? Steve Arkin played banjo with Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys!
Credit Nell Robinson and Jim Nunally for offering up a take on traditional Americana that rings with authenticity and even though the mostly songs come from their own pens.
The Venue
The Washoe Theater with it’s near perfect acoustics is a music aficionado’s dream. Every nuance of the music is available to consume when enjoying a show at this beautiful historic theater.
The Washoe Theater in Anaconda, Montana was the last theater constructed in the United States in the Nuevo Deco (a form of Art Deco) style. The theater was designed in 1930 by Seattle architect B. Marcus Priteca. It was almost entirely finished by 1931, but its opening was delayed until Thursday, September 24,[2] 1936 because of the Great Depression. In 1936 dollars, its construction cost was a grand $200,000. The Smithsonian rates the Washoe as a national treasure due to the lavish interior. In 1982, the Washoe was listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places for architectural significance.
The interior design and furnishings were done by Hollywood theater designer Nat Smythe. The exterior doors are etched glass. Each joint and trim work is carved in complicated relief patterns with much use of ornamental ironwork. Use of copper is especially prevalent, as Anaconda was a company town for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Silver and gold leaf supplement the accent work. Carved rams heads line the walls. Every flat surface, including the domed ceiling, is a painted mural done by Colville Smythe.
The silk curtain is a piece of art in itself, though seldom seen. Its age presents a problem for curators who are afraid that taking it down, even to try and restore it, would cause it to fall apart. It has a painting of deer stags.
The theater was also designed to have near perfect acoustics. The delay in opening allowed the sound system to be re-designed as a showcase for Western Electric’s newest innovation “Mirrophonic Sound”. Recorded sound with films was itself a relatively new innovation, so the creation of a high-fidelity audio system was quite remarkable for 1936.
The site of the Washoe Theater was the site of two previous theaters in Anaconda. The Margaret Theater existed on the site since near the founding of the town. It was re-modeled in 1927 at a cost of $60,000 and renamed the Sundial Theater only to burn down in 1929.
The first movie to play in the Washoe was a Western, The Texas Rangers starring Fred MacMurray as a Texas Ranger. The Washoe still operates as a movie theater today.
More about the band’s sound
Here’s a nice video documenting the Rise of Americana – Nashville 2.0 genre
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