Rachel Kate, Christian Lee Hutson and Frek and the Elixir @ Meadowlark

Friday, July 25, 7pm

Rachel Kate: Feisty soul folk from Nashville, TN/Charleston, SC. Rachel Kate was born and will continue to be raised. No one thinks she will ever grow up, and she probably won’t because it’s not real. She is a rainbow circus ninja dream catcher, soul kite flying, smiling river flower and a lover of all things people, music, and arts. Rachel Kate creates honest creations from the soul. Interested in harmony and eeri-ness-sunshine and daydreams. Rachel Kate is a way of life. Step into her world.

To merely call Christian Lee Hutson an old soul would be to deny the vibrancy of his sound. Championed by LA Record as “sparse and graceful,” Hutson writes songs that the SF Bay Guardian describes as, ”… Foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia.” Despite the maturity and commitment to tradition found in the 22-year-old singer-songwriter’s songs, they vibrate with a youthful energy as if a drunk and sedentary George Jones was being channeled through a drunk and animated Conor Oberst.

Hutson’s debut solo E.P. Will Never Break Up marked his stylistic shift away from the dustbowl-era sound of the recently defunct Driftwood Singers in favor of a more recent tradition of country songwriting in the vein of Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam. This lean towards the modern continues with Hutson’s full-length debut The Hell With It, out on Trailer Fire Records in March. The Hell With It finds Hutson working once again alongside Grammy-nominated producer David Mayfield, who also produced the Driftwood Singers’ debut.

Christian Lee Hutson still maintains the same rigorous touring schedule that took the Driftwood Singers across the U.S. and back any number of tread-wearing times, so come out and join him for a sour drink of some sort and some newborn songs that retain a feel so well-worn, weathered, and welcoming that they whimper and creak as they pull a stool out for you at the bar.