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We’re teaming up with Spread Events to present a pop-up Oyster Bar for Tift Merritt & Friends @ NCMA! Doors open @ 6pm and we’ll be serving Raw NC Oysters on-the-half-shell, peel & eat Pamlico Sound Shrimp + marinated Cocktail Crab Claws.
SAT, Aug 19, 2017
6pm doors
Featuring M. C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, Eric Slick of Dr. Dog, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and The Suitcase Junket
Raleigh native Tift Merritt has performed at countless festivals, hidden corner bars, and concert halls in faraway cities. She wanted to bring the best of the goodness back to her hometown to say “thank you”—to water her roots, so to speak.
The fête is a one-time performance in the style of the Rolling Thunder Revue: a musical family singing one another’s songs and cheering each other on. Having toured for almost two decades, Merritt most laments not seeing her friends who are all on tour. And what she loves most about music is harmony. Assembling a one-time-only family band to make a great, unique noise was reason enough to make this night happen.
After nearly a decade in New York City, many trips to Marfa, Texas, and a long-time love affair with Paris, Merritt has collected a varied and wonderful set of friendships and experiences. Her close ties with the NCMA’s outdoor venue and staff (including a taped UNC-TV program) created a natural ground for further collaboration. This year’s show promises an evening to delight music lovers, cocktail drinkers, casual neighbors strolling by, and parents and children alike.
If the family fête is a love note to Merritt’s musical family, friendships, and hometown, it extends most of all to the littlest of the family. Having become a mother in 2016, Merritt wanted to make sure that children and parents alike would be at home and exploring on their night out.
The fête also features:
- Butch Anthony’s Traveling Museum of Wonder: Site-specific installations from Seale, Alabama, created for curious children of all ages
- The Commissary: Shop wares curated and presented by Raleigh Denim – Oak Moss Attic – Raleigh Vintage – The Possum Trot
- Food trucks, special libations, family play, and more
About the performers:
C. Taylor frequently performs under the moniker Hiss Golden Messenger. He and his band have released several records on Durham’s own Merge Records.
Eric Slick may be known as the drummer for Pennsylvania rock band Dr. Dog (since 2010); he is also the drummer for Adrian Belew of King Crimson and co-leader of the Philly band Lithuania. His debut solo debut Palisades, released in April on Richmond label Egghunt Records, sees the musician stepping out from behind the kit. Slick is on tour supporting Palisades throughout 2017.
Alexandra Sauser-Monnig is a singer-songwriter based in North Carolina. She is a member of the folk trio Mountain Man and has collaborated with Feist, Tift Merritt, and Hiss Golden Messenger. She is working on her debut solo album.
The Suitcase Junket is Matt Lorenz: artist, tinkerer, swamp Yankee, one-man band. His is the road-worn voice rising over the grind of a tube-amped dumpster guitar, and the wild double pitches of throat singing.