Cereus Bright w/ Should’ve Been Cowboys & The Collection (The Dirty Guv’nahs CANCELLED)

Due to unforeseen circumstances, The Guv’s regret they have to cancel several dates including ours here in Bryan. We are working with them on a time to come back and make it up to everyone. Ticket buyers will receive an email from us soon regarding refunds. This show will still take place with Cereus Bright & Should’ve Been Cowboys + one more band TBA though.

CEREUS BRIGHT

Cereus Bright finds its muse—and its name—from the Cereus: a white desert flower that blooms only at night. This flower, blossoming in the most desolate of places, is a symbol of art and story, which draw their beauty from brokenness and heartache. In their lyrics and melodies, Cereus Bright aims to embrace life as both messy and beautiful.

Their songs showcase strong, passionate harmonies singing stories of real life—hope and heartbreak, adventure and stillness. Tyler Anthony plays guitar, piano, and sings, Evan Ford layers harmonies while playing mandolin and lead guitar. Bassist Matt Nelson and drummer Luke Bowers provide driving rhythm and nuanced texture. On special occasions, they are joined by violinist Kaitlyn Ferry and cellist Gideon Klein.

Ideologically, Cereus Bright makes a strong case for Folk music. Recently the genre of folk has come to mean “acoustic pop”, blending together into a sea of kick drums, hand claps, and escalating banjo riffs. In its roots, Folk music is meant to communicate; to use simple, melodic music to communicate stories of success and heartbreak, to transport and convict listeners. This is Cereus Bright’s goal—drawing you in with beautiful melodies so they can move you with poetic yet direct lyrics. Connections with bands like the Avett Brothers, Fleet Foxes, and the Head and the Heart are apt comparisons and major compliments.

Cereus Bright self-released their second recording, the five song EP, Happier Than Me, on November 12, 2013; exactly a year after the release of their first EP recording, Goldmine. This year has seen the band in near constant motion, crisscrossing the country in support of Jackie Green, Philip Philips, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Count This Penny. Currently, Cereus Bright continues to lay their roots around the country, with dates supporting Sturgill Simpson, The Dirty Guv’nahs, and Judah And The Lion on the books for fall 2014.

Cereus Bright on Facebook | Cereus Bright on Twitter | Official Website

Should’ve Been Cowboys

Should’ve Been Cowboys is a modern southern rock band hailing from Bryan, Texas. Formed over a year ago, they have been performing throughout Texas ever since. Consisting of Clayton Tumlinson’s smooth vocal melody, Taylor Stewman’s searing lead, Nathan Garcia’s dynamic drumming, and Brenton Kim’s solid bass foundation, Should’ve Been Cowboys is a fun, high-energy band bound to leave you asking for more.

Should’ve Been Cowboys has been working the scene and playing music since the original group was formed around two years ago. They have roughly sixty shows under their belt, including playing for several disease awareness benefits, The Brazos Valley Earth Day Festival in College Station, as well as The Grand Prix of Houston. They found themselves in a position to be a great supporting band and have opened for bands such as Sol Cat, Leopold and His Fiction, Least of These, Page 9, Hounds of Jezebel, and The Docs. Should’ve Been Cowboys crave nothing more than putting on an incredible show and they love leaving the crowd wanting one more song. Only two things are certain: Should’ve Been Cowboys SHOULD NOT have been cowboys, and nothing but great things are in store for this band.

Should’ve Been Cowboys on Facebook | Should’ve Been Cowboys on Twitter | Official Website

The Collection

“Every once in a while, an event will occur in one’s life which crushes like a wave and destroys whatever the norm has been until then. This is “Ars Moriendi,” the first full length record from David Wimbish and his NC based band ‘the Collection.’ In the early stages of writing this new album, and on the heels of their second cross-country tour, the band lost a dear friend to suicide, and their experience in the wake became the undeniable mold in which “Ars Moriendi” would be cast. As such, the album itself enfolds its listeners and brings them into a ground-shaking world where they are forced to ask the same questions the members of the Collection bore through the difficult process.

“I realized, when it happened, I’ve never worked through or questioned death that much,” says Wimbish. “It’s felt far away, and this time it slammed me in the face.”

Questions arise from song to song, wrestling unapologetically with life, death, hope, and the point of it all. Married with these themes is an overarching tone of redemption, both in lyric and musicality.

Wimbish, a film composer and recording engineer, brings to the table a thread of stories and ideas which hold together this multi-sensory experiment. His words, simple and hard-hitting, are embedded deep within a full symphony of endless texture. Though he is responsible for these compositions, David takes his helm behind acoustic guitar and lead vocals, entrusting his musical vision to some of Carolina’s most versatile musicians.

David’s wife, Mira-Joy, shares lead vocals and harmonies while also providing the appropriately ominous hum of accordion. Long-time bandmates introduce not just a solid rhythmic spine, but one of character to accent a unique cleverness in the songwriting, utilizing instruments anywhere from drum and bass to phin and didgeridoo. Surrounding all of this are vast sections of wind, brass, and strings, sifting cinematically through each piece with an ebb and flow that feels as natural to the listener as their own breathing.

However, the Collection is not just a bunch of musicians playing music, but a community of artists, nurses, farmers, students, and everyone in between doing life together. The majority of the members live in the heart of Greensboro, North Carolina, and invest intentionally in relationships with their neighbors in hopes of bettering the area as a family.
“We don’t want fans, we want family,” admits Wimbish, passionately. “It’s incredible to us that people would even listen to our music, and it’s so much more important for us to connect with those people than to figure out how to get fans.”

With this at the core of the band’s values, it’s no wonder that the 15+ member dynamic is constantly shifting and reshaping itself as folks come and go. It is also no wonder that, as they grew ready for production, David Wimbish and his friends decided to travel their wide state to record this album in various locations, from beach homes to mountain cabins, from farm house living rooms to old church sanctuaries.

“Our music, and these songs especially, were written in community,” Wimbish points out, “And we felt like something of that would be lost if we were to lock ourselves away in a cold studio for six months to record them. Instead, we wanted to record in places of aesthetic inspiration and have our friends and family around for the experience.”

Committed wholeheartedly to this endeavor, Edd Kerr (The Fair and the Foul, Farewell Friend) shared the engineering chair with David every step of the way. He set up and tore down a more-or-less “portable” studio from location to location, improvising at each new turn, day in and day out for the entire six-month process. Once tracking and editing were complete, the record was handed over to Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Typhoon, Deer Tick) for mixing and Dave Mcnair (Bob Dylan, David Bowie) for mastering.

The final product of “Ars Moriendi” may be described as a pure expression of the Collection, a sound and message that embodies the band’s character through and through. David and his team have poured their all into this project, and the outcome of their hearts on the line is more than a sellable product – it is beauty. ” – Kevan Chandler

The Collection on Facebook | The Collection on Twitter | Official Website