Singer-songwriter Beth McKee returns to Western North Carolina Friday, Oct. 23, for a show at White Horse Black Mountain. Winston-Salem guitarist Colin Allured joins the lineup as McKee’s special guest. The show begins at 8 p.m., tickets are $10.
From McKee’s bio:
On Sugarcane Revival, (May, 2015) singer-songwriter Beth McKee offers fiery-sweet songs full of tenacity and promise, sung to a deep southern groove all her own, a composite of regional impulses from places she’s called home; Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina.
Downbeat Magazine gave a four star review, saying “McKee’s voice has spirit and clarity, projecting a compellingly personal point of view, while her compositions never lack for melodic appeal and thoughtful lyrics.”The allure of her honest vocals and roots-y piano style was evident on McKee’s previous albums, Next to Nowhere (2012) and I’m That Way, the 2010 tribute to New Orleans songwriting legend Bobby Charles. “Bobby Charles mastered simplicity and universal truth in his songs; Beth was his favorite interpreter of the bared-soul truth his songs communicated,” says Jim Bateman, Charles’ longtime manager. “Everything she does taps into that universal thread that everyone understands without thinking.” In her adopted hometown of Orlando, McKee used the albums to establish a solo career, after her 1990s success with New Orleans-based MCA Records act Evangeline.
As her indie career burgeoned, McKee embraced the sense of community she enjoyed while living in New Orleans, establishing her legion of Swamp Sistas, 2,500 strong on Facebook. She leads the group in a rally against hunger by organizing a roving music festival called the “Swamp Sistas La La,” a re-vamp on the traditional Creole house party to benefit communal causes.
McKee also regularly hosts songwriter showcases in Orlando, FL and Winston-Salem, NC to support local talent and road test her own new material.
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