Olivia Ellen Lloyd

Olivia Ellen Lloyd will try anything once. From flight attendant school in Dallas to producing theater in New York and teaching in Guatemala, Lloyd sought adventure but struggled to find a greater sense of purpose - until she found her way back to music. Channeling that restless spirit, she writes songs that dig deep for hope in the face of hardship.

Her debut album, Loose Cannon, has been streamed over 1 million times while she has been crossing the country playing shows, winning songwriting contests (like Kerrville in 2023) and generally eating life down to the rind. She also works as an in-demand side woman, singing backing vocals for the likes of Lizzie No, Emily Scott Robinson, and Renee Rapp during her 2024 performance at the All Things Go Festival in Forest Hills, Queens.

Lloyd has spent the past three years doubling down on her efforts to build community within the Alt-Country and Americana scene while deepening  her working partnership with Mike Robinson, an in-demand sideman known for touring and recording with the likes of Sarah Jarosz, Railroad Earth, Teddy Thompson, Iris Dement, Lindsay Lou, Bella White, Zach Bryan, Jobi Riccio and Ryan Beatty. Mike served as her producer and primary instrumentalist on this project.

Together they crafted an album that refuses to be placed in a narrow genre definition, focusing instead on building songs that paint a picture of liberation from oppressive patriarchal and paternalistic forces.

She is also a newly inaugurated member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of more than 60 women, and non-binary singers, who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices.

Learn more at https://olivialloydmusic.com/

Soul-R-Fusion

Soul-R Fusion is Tim Koehler (acoustic guitar / vocals) and Alex Goodell (fretless bass). They started collaborating as a duo in 2015 and developed an original sound by blending diverse musical influences and unique approaches to their instruments and to songwriting. Perhaps best described as modern bluesy-folk with a touch of singer-songwriter storytelling, Soul-R Fusion’s music highlights ethereal fretless basslines and rhythmic acoustic guitar, that together complement intelligent, heartfelt lyrics.

Based in Wilmington N.C., the duo are focused on writing and performing their own original music. Soul-R Fusion’s music is optimistic and highlights the common experiences and connections people share. Their songs and live performances are uplifting, positive experiences that will draw you in and make you feel good.

Soul-R Fusion’s large repertoire of original music ranges from the humorous Slack Cat Blues to the elegant Simple. The duo has three studio album recordings, all recorded in Wilmington, NC: their eponymous debut Soul-R Fusion, (2016) with drummer Roger Manning, a double CD Like a Circle ‘Round the Sun, (2019), and their newest release, Everybody Knows, (2023). And they have a whole new batch of songs that they are currently recording!

The duo performs regularly at their local listening room, Live at Ted’s, and at the Beale Street Barber Shop, Wilmington NC's Elvis themed barber shop / original music venue. They have been featured in local original music showcases and festivals, including Voice and the Pen Songwriters Showcase, the Hope Concert Series, Alt-Zalea Fest, and local NPR radio station WHQR's Soup to Nuts Live! program. They also play regionally at festivals around North Carolina, including Flush Fest in Hillsborough, NC and Little Big City Festival in Greensboro, NC, and have been featured on Hillsborough radio station WHUP's Pass the Hat live radio show. Soul-R Fusion also performs in original-music friendly venues beyond North Carolina, and has recently played for audiences in Delaware, South Carolina, and Tennessee.​ They look forward to continuing to share their music and connect with audiences everywhere!

Learn more at https://soulrfusion.wixsite.com/website-2

Evan Blackerby

Evan’s first concert was Paul McCartney on his ninth birthday. He leans on influences from cassette tapes of Otis Redding and CDs of Stevie Ray Vaughan to downloads of The Avett Brothers and vinyls of The Beatles. His voice and songs are described as if Ray LaMontagne and Jack Johnson could have a child.

He began crafting songs as his own unintentional version of self-care therapy in a particular seventh-grade literature and creative writing class. That year, he found an old Yamaha three-fourth size guitar (that he named Junior) at his grandparents’ house and began learning a few chords. He has, over the years, developed a sound that is uniquely him, while his goals to bring people together have never changed.

Writing in bathrooms, bedrooms, stairwells, parks, and cars for over three decades, Blackerby had never fully invested himself entirely in his music. In 2022, after losing his job, he declared himself to be a full-time musician and sought to fill his entire schedule with gigs and opportunities to grow in his musicianship.

His debut full-length, full-band album "Hop on the Bandwagon" —recorded in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by Doug Williams at Electro Magnetic Recorders (Avett Brothers) with Thompson, Estes, and Butcher — and mastered by Grant Livesay at 68 Sound — is set to be released in January 2025. On these unpredictable tracks he explores the intersections of living a full-life, the passage of time, digital distractions, conformity, beauty in the midst of pain, hope in the midst of upheaval, and the freedom found in pursuing truth.

Blackerby relentlessly seeks out true fans of his music, while trying to keep a balance with family time, and will begin recording his sophomore album in 2025.

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/EvanBlackerby/