Sometimes a song just hits you differently when you hear it in concert—and since 2018 has already been a landmark year for Southern albums, our calendar of must-see shows is filling up fast.
Amanda Shires on the cover of Garden & Gun‘s August/September issue.
We’ll be at Charleston Music Hall on November 9, when G&G is proud to host Amanda Shires and Aaron Lee Tasjan for a not-to-be-missed show. (You can still get tickets here.) But they’re not the only artists we’re eager to see this autumn. The Watson Twins will be playing tunes from their upcoming album, Duo, on stages in Nashville, Richmond, Atlanta, and more. Rising Gullah group Ranky Tanky will wow listeners far beyond their Lowcountry home, with dates throughout Florida and the Carolinas. And up-and-coming Appalachian songwriter Tyler Childers has sold out venues across the country; get tickets for his December 29 show in Louisville now before they’re gone, too.
Learn more about each of these artists—plus five more—below, or listen to the playlist on Spotify. And don’t forget to let us know on Twitter what shows we missed—we’re always looking for new Southern voices.
ARTIST: Amanda Shires
LATEST ALBUM: To the Sunset
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “White Feather”
WHERE TO SEE HER: Charleston Music Hall and more.
ARTIST: The War and Treaty
LATEST ALBUM: Healing Tide
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Healing Tide”
WHERE TO SEE THEM: The Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee, and more.
ARTIST: Pistol Annies
LATEST ALBUM: Interstate Gospel
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Got My Name Changed Back”
WHERE TO SEE THEM: The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and (only a couple) more.
ARTIST: Ranky Tanky
LATEST ALBUM: Ranky Tanky
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “That’s Alright”
WHERE TO SEE THEM: The Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina, and more.
ARTIST: Aaron Lee Tasjan
LATEST ALBUM: Karma for Cheap
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “The Rest Is Yet to Come”
WHERE TO SEE HIM: Charleston Music Hall and more.
ARTIST: Ashley McBryde
LATEST ALBUM: Girl Going Nowhere
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Livin’ Next to Leroy”
WHERE TO SEE HER: The Lyric Oxford in Oxford, Mississippi, and more
ARTIST: Natalie Prass
LATEST ALBUM: The Future and the Past
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Shot Court Style”
WHERE TO SEE HER: Mercy Lounge in Nashville, and more
ARTIST: The Watson Twins
LATEST ALBUM: Duo (Out Oct. 12)
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Hustle and Shake”
WHERE TO SEE THEM: City Winery in Atlanta, and more.
ARTIST: Tyler Childers
LATEST ALBUM: Purgatory
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Feathered Indians”
WHERE TO SEE HIM: The Louisville Palace in Louisville, Kentucky, and more
ARTIST: boygenius
LATEST ALBUM: boygenius
ESSENTIAL TRACK: “Me & My Dog”
WHERE TO SEE THEM: The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and more.
