We are excited to announce Rising Appalachia at the Historic Ashland Armory on November 7th! Grab your tickets now!
16+ / Full bar for 21+ with valid ID
Doors 7pm / Music 8 pm
Presale Tickets available HERE $40
In 2007, Leah and Chloe Smith decamped to New Orleans from their hometown in downtown Atlanta. The mission was to deliver art in service to the rebirth of a city, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The sisters sought to assist in the process of healing and rebuilding, collaborating on restoration education and post-storm artistic offerings with the organization Alternate Roots.
Seduced by the royalty of NOLA culture— adiant even in the midst of such unimaginable loss, struggle and trauma—the young women put down their own roots and swiftly got to work. Nestled in the bosom of New Orleans' vibrant musical village, they saw themselves as street-culture apprentices, discovering kindred souls while steadily finding their way as Rising Appalachia.
Rising Appalachia’s soulful folk-roots sound traces back to parents who prioritized culture and diversity, and to the grassroots music communities that dot the hills and valleys of the Deep South. Countless weekends spent at fiddle camps like the Swannanoa Gathering, immersed in what they affectionately call “Appalachian trance music.” Through thunderstorms and hot summer nights, firefly-chasing and bullfrog belting, they developed an affinity for the forests, groves and hidden treasures of rural Appalachia.
Rising Appalachia places a laser focus on pertinent social justice issues. Both women identified as activists well before professional artisans. They consistently use their platform to activate, organize and support frontline justice work and community organizations. The messaging highlights local food issues, educates fans on feminism, the climate crisis, and prison industrial complex, among other crucial causes.
Eschewing established industry norms, Leah and Chloe Smith have followed invitation and intuition to independently forge their own path. Fifteen years and seven studio albums into an ambitious adventure that has already taken these medicine women around the world, Rising Appalachia continues spreading musical catharsis with an iridescent elixir of global soul.
www.RisingAppalachia.com
