Sheridan Opera House: 2 Nights of Rising Appalachia, 9/20 & 9/21!

10 Sep Sheridan Opera House: 2 Nights of Rising Appalachia, 9/20 & 9/21!

The Sheridan Arts Foundation presents two nights of Rising Appalachia live at Telluride’s Sheridan Opera House: Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21, 2019. Doors open at 8 p.m.; show time is 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission on the floor; $35 reserved seats in the balcony. (A $5 ticketing fee is charged at all ticket outlets.) Tickets and additional event information are available at sheridanoperahouse.com or 970.728.6363 x5.

A VIP meet-and-greet package can be added on to tickets for an additional $45. The VIP package includes a signed poster, early entry to the Sheridan Opera House, an intimate pre-show set of two songs, first access to merchandise shopping, and a special conversation with Leah and Chloe.

Scroll down for a preview of the show.

As world travelers for nearly two decades, Rising Appalachia have merged multiple global music influences with their own southern roots to create the inviting new folk album, Leylines. Remarkably the band has built its legion of listeners independently — a self-made success story that has led to major festival appearances and sold-out shows at venues across the country.

Founded by sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, the band established an international fan base due to relentless touring, tireless activism, and no small degree of stubborn independence. However, for the first time, they opted to bring in a producer for the new album, Leylines. teaming up with the legendary Joe Henry on the sessions:

“As far as recording goes, we were open creatively, but we’ve often preferred elements of live recording. I mean, we’re folk musicians at our core,” Leah explains. “The experience of playing music together in one room, looking at each other, is the bedrock of what we do and how we’ve grown up with music. I think Joe very much felt that way as well. He was very clear at the beginning that he was going to encourage us to include as many elements of a live recording as possible.”

Although Leah and Chloe Smith consider their voices their primary instrument, Leah also plays banjo and bodhran on the album; Chloe plays guitar, fiddle, and banjo. They are joined on Leylines by longtime members David Brown (stand-up bass, baritone guitar) and Biko Casini (world percussion, n’goni), as well as two new members: West African musician Arouna Diarra (n’goni, talking drum) and Irish musician Duncan Wickel (fiddle, cello). The sonic textures of these two cultures are woven into Leylines, enhancing the stunning blend of folk, world, and urban music that has become Rising Appalachia’s calling card.

Leah and Chloe grew up in urban Atlanta as the city’s hip-hop scene began to flourish. They absorbed those rhythms through the music they heard at school, then traveled with their family to fiddle camps all across the Southeast on the weekends. The young girls weren’t all that interested in the old-time playing, but their parents were incredibly devout in their study and practice of Appalachian music.

After mulling over a career as full-time musicians, the two women realized that performing could be just one component of a greater overall vision, one that includes advocating for social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, and indigenous rights.

Special guests on Leylines include folk hero Ani DiFranco, soulful songwriter Trevor Hall, and jazz trumpeter Maurice Turner. The album title alludes to the concept of invisible lines believed to stretch around the world between sacred spaces, bonded by a spiritual and magnetic presence. That deep sense of connection is key to understanding Rising Appalachia as a whole.

“Rising Appalachia has come out of this idea that we can take these traditions of southern music – the one  we were been born and raised with – and we can rise out of them, creating all these different bridges between cultures and stories to make them feel alive.” Leah says. “Our music has its foundation in heritage and tradition, but we’re creating a sound that also feels reflective of the times right now. That’s always been our work.”

The Sheridan Arts Foundation was founded in 1991 as a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization to preserve the historic Sheridan Opera House as an arts and cultural resource for the Telluride community, to bring quality arts and cultural events to Telluride and to provide local and national youth with access and exposure to the arts through education. The Sheridan Arts Foundation is sponsored in part by grants from the Telluride Foundation, CCAASE and Colorado Creative Industries.