First Avenue Club

Upcoming Events at First Avenue Club

• Mark Chesnutt Live at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City

  <p>The First Avenue Club welcomes Mark Chesnutt with special guest Boot Jack Duo on Friday, Sep. 9, 2022. TABLE OPTIONS: Reserved Table for 4 with tickets $185. Reserved Table for 6 with tickets $270. Reserved Table for 8 with Tickets $350. General Admission Ticket with Seat at a Table (seated with other patrons) $40. Reserved table patrons must have at least one person check in at 7:00 to get their table assignment. Standing General Admission Tickets: $25. Doors are 7pm. The show starts at 8pm. This is an all-ages show.</p><p>Tickets: <a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/mark-chesnutt/297?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/mark-chesnutt/297?cs=true&amp;cst=custom</a></p><p>Critics have hailed him as a classic Country singer of the first order, and some of Country music’s most elite entertainers from George Jones to George Strait echo this sentiment. Mark Chesnutt’s stature is easily gauged; he has 14 No. 1 hits, 23 top ten singles, four platinum albums and five gold records. Country music critics and fans alike need look no further when it comes to Country music basics. If you ask Mark Chesnutt, he’ll tell you, it’s the music that has kept me around this long. In a world that sometimes confuses style with substance, Mark Chesnutt possesses both. Remaining true to himself as a traditional Country artist while still keeping up with the ever-changing Country landscape, Mark has a knack for picking great songs; delivering them with his world-class vocals; and with real heart-felt emotion. Mark has set the bar for his generation not just for his being a consistent hit maker, but because of his love of genuine Country music. Mark Chesnutt’s personal integrity as well as his principle to record a genuine Country song has made him a fixture on radio and in the honky-tonks. Chesnutt got his start in the honky-tonks of Beaumont, Texas, learning from his father, Bob Chesnutt, a singer, record collector, and major fan of classic Country music. Playing alongside his dad, one set at a time, Mark embraced his father’s influence and began making a name for himself. Mark sang covers by Lefty, Merle, George, and Waylon to develop his unmatched crowd-pleasing rapport and his authentic country style.</p> 2022-02-01 23:00:00 -0600

  9/09

  7:00 p.m.

  First Avenue Club

  Iowa City
  25

• Chris Knight Live at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City

  <p>The First Avenue Club welcomes back Chris Knight for an intimate acoustic performance on Saturday, October 8th. General Admission tickets (seats at a table with other guests) are $25. Reserved Tables are available. BBQ dinner (Pulled Pork or Pulled Chicken with Potato Salad and Cole Slaw) is available for $13/person and must be ordered with tickets. Doors for Dinner: 6:30pm. Doors for Non-Dinner guests: 7pm. Show is at 8pm.</p><p>Front Row Tables: SOLD OUT</p><p>Table for 4 with tickets: $100</p><p>Table for 6 with tickets: $150</p><p>Table for 8 with tickets: $200</p><p>General Admission (will be seated at table with other guests) : $25</p><p>BBQ Dinner: $13 &nbsp;(must be purchased at same time as tickets)</p><p>https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/chris-knight/313?cs=true&amp;cst=custom</p><p>“It’s hard to know how people are gonna react,” Chris Knight says of Almost Daylight, his ninth album and first new recording in over seven years. “I’ve written songs about a lot of different things going all the way back to my first record, and some folks still think ‘somebody kills somebody’ is all I write about. Maybe that’s why I was bound and determined to get these particular songs on this album. If people like them, then we’ll be fine. But I wasn’t gonna do it any other way.”</p><p>For the past 20 years, Chris Knight has only made music his own way. He’s released eight acclaimed albums, played thousands of electrifying live shows and built generations of fervent fans from Texas honky-tonks to Manhattan rock clubs. He’s been hailed as “the last of a dying breed…a taciturn loner with an acoustic guitar and a college degree” (The New York Times) and “a storyteller in the best traditions of Mellencamp and Springsteen” (USA Today). Bottom line, he’s hard-earned his reputation as one of America’s most uncompromising and respected singer/songwriters. And now with Almost Daylight, Knight delivers the most powerful – and unexpected – music of his career.</p><p>Almost Daylight is very much a Chris Knight album, familiarly featuring vivid pictures of rural characters, desperate men and hardscrabble survivors. At the same time it’s unlike anything Knight has done before, with formidable testaments to compassion, redemption and even straight-up love. It’s an album both tough and tender, as bare-knuckled as it is open-hearted. “I do think there’s a cohesiveness to this album,” Knight explains in his thick Kentucky rasp. “The title is key, I suppose. Through all these songs, you could find a theme about seeking shelter.”</p><p>Produced, mixed and mastered by Grammy-winner Ray Kennedy – best-known for his 30+ year creative partnership with Steve Earle as well as producing Chris’ Enough Rope (2006), Trailer II (2009) and Little Victories (2012) albums – Almost Daylight also sounds like no other Knight record, with scorching guitars by Georgia Satellites founder and two-time Knight album producer Dan Baird, rich background vocals by Chris Clark, Siobhan Kennedy and Lee Ann Womack, and deeper instrumentation than ever before. “Chris had been playing some of these songs on the road and started developing ideas before we got to the studio,” Kennedy says. “He and I talked about keeping the Appalachian factor with banjo, fiddle, harmonica and mandolin where it felt right. It was significant that Dan was involved, as he’s the man who can play guitar with the right feeling for Chris. The background vocals really brought the fire, and this lead to ideas for piano, Hammond B-3, accordion and Wurlitzer electric piano. Everything evolved from the performance of each song and I let the songs dictate what they needed in order to evolve into an album.”</p><p>“I was determined not to do any acoustic songs on this album,” Chris explains. “I wanted it all to sound edgy and raw, but to feel big at the same time. We kept trying different approaches until I felt we landed on what worked. The thing is, some of my songs might take a year of writing before I even think they’re ready for recording and I fretted about every one of these. I’ve never put a cover song on any of my records before, but there are two covers on this one. And I think it all fits together pretty good.”</p><p>The album opens with “I’m William Callahan”, a defiant roar fueled by equal parts pride, memories and searing guitar. “Crooked Mile” is classic Knight, a piercing take on outsiders bound by love, while the poignant “Send It On Down” is a plaintive plea for salvation. There are tales of small-town despair (“I Won’t Look Back”), ominous rural menace (“Trouble Up Ahead”) and melancholic break-ups (“Everybody’s Lonely Now”). Chris’ cover of Johnny Cash’s “Flesh And Blood” – which originally appeared on the Dualtone 2002 tribute album Dressed In Black – is a poignant interpretation of Cash’s ode to devotion. The plainspoken positivity of “Go On” is one of Knight’s most life-affirming songs, while “The Damn Truth” is a ferociously clear-eyed look at our current cultural divide. The title track might be the most unexpected Knight song of all, an unapologetic paean to the power of love. “That’s probably my favorite song on the album,” Chris says, “because it’s closest to the truth.” He then quickly adds with a laugh, “I’m killin’ people with love now.” The album closes with yet another surprise; a joyfully raucous duet between Knight and longtime fan John Prine on Prine’s 1973 classic “Mexican Home”. “I love that song, but it took me 15 years to find a way to do it,” Knight says. “I kept playing around, changing the vocal key and finally landed on the spot. I’ve been singing it my kitchen table for the last few years, and when we were down to the last song, I knew this should be it.”</p><p>With the release of Almost Daylight, this native son of Slaughters, Kentucky (population 238) is eager to get back on the road and perform these songs for the faithful. Meanwhile, the singer/songwriter who was originally inspired by the likes of Prine and Earle now finds himself influencing a new generation of artists who revere Knight’s idiosyncratic talent and attitude. “There’s all kinds of different ways to make music, but this is the way I chose to do it,” Chris says. “If I don’t have something worth saying I’m not opening my mouth, which is probably why I took seven years to make this album.” And for an artist who has always defied expectations, Chris Knight’s next chapter indeed feels like the dawn of a new day. “I haven’t suited everybody, but every time I get a new fan it tells me I’m doing something right,” he says. “I think my previous records have set a precedent, if only for me at the very least. I just want people to think this one stands up to everything else I’ve done.”</p><p><br></p> 2022-05-06 23:00:00 -0500

  10/08

  7:00 p.m.

  First Avenue Club

  Iowa City
  25

• The Bellamy Brothers Live at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City

  <p>The First Avenue Club welcomes back the Bellamy Brothers with special guests Boot Jack Duo on Saturday, October 22, 2022. TABLE OPTIONS: Reserved Table for 4 with tickets $185. Reserved Table for 6 with tickets $270. Reserved Table for 8 with Tickets $350. General Admission Ticket with Seat at a Table (seated with other patrons) $40. Reserved table patrons must have at least one person check in at 7pm to get their table assignment. Standing General Admission Tickets: $25. Doors are 7pm. The show starts at 8pm. This is an all-ages show,</p><p>Tickets: <a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-bellamy-brothers/190?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-bellamy-brothers/190?cs=true&amp;cst=custom</a></p><p>Howard and David continue to prove that the trail they’ve ridden to fame has been as unique as their music itself—music that is now celebrating over 40 years of success. The road that started on the pop music charts in the ‘70’s, took a winding turn into country music in the ‘80’s, paving the way for duos to come, such as Brooks &amp; Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Big &amp; Rich and previously—The Judds. But before the road forked into country, the musical odyssey of brothers Bellamy started creatively smoldering in their home state of Florida, before exploding nationally amidst the ’70’s pop music culture of L.A. The brothers first official gig was in 1968, playing a free show with their father at the Rattlesnake Roundup in San Antonio, Florida. They honed their early skills playing Black clubs throughout the south, and singing backup for artists such as Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd and Little Anthony &amp; The Imperials. Within a few months, the brothers moved north, immersing themselves and their rock/country sound in the Atlanta market, where the Allman Brothers were the emerging kings of the music world. With the dawning of the Age of Aquarius on the horizon, and America embroiled in a smoke haze of drugs, civil unrest and an unpopular war, The Bellamy’s music picked-up the hard driving edge that bespoke the times. Songwriting had become David Bellamy’s drug of choice during the long road gigs he and Howard were regularly pulling bodies and equipment to and from. It was his songwriting that was posed to soon provide the duo a national breakout. The break came in the form of the hit, “Spiders &amp; Snakes,” written by David and recorded by Jim Stafford. The song became a smash, eventually selling more than three million units worldwide. It became the catapult that rocketed the brothers onto the L.A. music scene. Young and impressionable, Howard and David fell into the musical circle of the greats of the day: Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Van Morrison, as well as West Coast based country rockers like Poco and the Byrds. It was a creative shoe that fit. Now known by their music and the company they were keeping, The Bellamy’s officially lifted off the launch pad in 1976 when their single, “Let Your Love Flow,” became an instant smash in both the U.S. and Europe. It stayed on the international charts long enough to build a huge international fan base for the hip young brothers that endures to this day. In Germany alone it perched at No. 1 for more than two months. The love was indeed flowing as The Bellamy’s jammed for audiences on their sold-out concerts and shared stages with the likes of Loggins &amp; Messina, the Doobie Brothers and the Beach Boys with their patented blend of rock/country music. True to their musical roots, their style and their songwriting was moving steadily more towards their raising. By the late ‘70’s The Bellamy’s were emerging on the country charts with another bona fide smash. “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me),” originally scrawled on a dinner napkin by David, rocketed them to the top of the country charts the way “Let Your Love Flow,” had done in the pop market just a few years earlier. It proved to be the first of a string of fourteen No. 1 singles in the U.S. alone. Success followed success: “Dancing Cowboys,” “Sugar Daddy,” “You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie,” “Lovers Live Longer,” “Do You Love As Good As You Look,” “Redneck Girl,” “For All The Wrong Reasons,” “I Love Her Mind,” “I Need More Of You,” “Old Hippie,” “Too Much Is Not Enough,” “Kids Of The Baby Boom,” “Reggae Cowboy” and “Crazy From The Heart,”…all have lined the corridors of the Bellamy’s musical history and their walls with platinum and gold. Along the way, Howard and David created a patent on the newly cool “duo” category in country music. In the era of the 2000’s, The Bellamy Brothers hold the record in both the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and the Country Music Association Awards (CMA) for the most duo nominations. Numerous GRAMMY nods have also been directed toward the brothers. Internationally, the story has been the same—though the titles may be different. The Bellamy’s have released more than two-dozen hit songs outside the U.S. that were never released here. With a sharp eye on the songwriting skills that have been the bedrock of their success, Howard and David concur that their career is unique in their international finesse for matching their songs to the market. “For the international releases, you have to have a strong melody,” notes David. “The lyric is very important, but internationally the melody is something fans can lock into, even if they can’t understand the lyrics.” Howard and David continue to perform and film TV specials in Europe and around the world. These days when the subject turns to touring, The Bellamy’s are showing a new generation of country music how it’s done. Country superstar Blake Shelton has helped introduce a new era of fans to the hits of The Bellamy Brothers during his annual Friends and Heroes Tour, where they continue to captivate arena audiences around the country. “We’re old road dogs,” grins Howard when asked about the motivation behind the brothers 200 plus concert dates each year. Adds David: “Our live draw is bigger than it was in the ‘80’s. I think the same people that grew up with us and with our music in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s obviously have raised a whole new generation of Bellamy fans who started toddling to our music. Now they’re turning up at our concerts as college kids, who are really turned on and tuned in to us and our music...it’s a great feeling.” On the infrequent off days from the road, Howard and David head the bus back to their 150-acre family ranch in Darby, Florida just north of Tampa. A working ranch, the spread consists of Purebred Brahman Cattle and quarter horses. The Bellamy’s are opening up their lives to television audiences with their hit reality show “Honky Tonk Ranch.” Each episode of “Honky Tonk Ranch” enthralls viewers with the unpredictable misadventures of the Bellamy’s attempting to balance their globe-trotting touring schedule while also running their sprawling family ranch in south Florida. The show was originally broadcast on “The Cowboy Channel” (a subsidy of RFD-TV) and streamed around the world. Season two of “Honky Tonk Ranch” airs now on Thursday evenings at 8:30 p.m. ET on the Circle Network and will also be available for worldwide streaming in the very near future. The Bellamy Brothers celebrated their 40th anniversary with the release of a two-CD collection, 40 years, an ambitious project containing 20 of their biggest hits and 20 brand-new songs. In 2019, the Bellamy’s released Over the Moon as well as their first book Let Your Love Flow – the Life and Times of The Bellamy Brothers. The book is about two Florida cowboys who journeyed from country poverty to worldwide musical stardom because they had the talent and because it never occurred to them, they couldn’t make it. Their most recent project, Bucket List, debuted in July of 2020 with “Rednecks (Lookin’ for Paychecks),” a timely take on the current situation, leading the EP. Bucket List also includes “No Country Music For Old Men,” a collaboration with longtime friend John Anderson inspired by the loss of Kenny Rogers, and more light-hearted songs like “Lay Low, Stay High,” which ties into Howard and David’s recent partnership with the Florida-based medical marijuana company, Trulieve, on their flower product line Old Hippie Stash.</p> 2022-02-01 23:00:00 -0600

  10/22

  7:00 p.m.

  First Avenue Club

  Iowa City
  25

• David Nail Live at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City

  <p>The First Avenue Club welcomes David Nail live in concert on Friday, November 4th. VIP Package: $40 (plus $5 service fee). Package includes General Admission Ticket with early admission, meet and greet including photo with David. VIP Package with table for 4: $200 ( $40 x 4 tickets + $30 for table + $10 service fee). VIP table package includes early admission with table for 4, 4 tickets, and 4 meet and greets including photo with David. Standard table for 4 with 4 tickets: $120 (4 tickets x $20 + $30 for table+ $10 service fee). General Admission Tickets are $20 (plus $3 service fee). Doors for VIP only open at 6:15pm. Doors for all others open at 7pm. Show begins at 8pm.</p><p><a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/david-nail/272?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/david-nail/272?cs=true&amp;cst=custom</a></p><p>David Nail’s candor cuts like a laser through star-making propriety, a ritual of predictable answers to predictable questions, recited by artists averse to the controversy that truth can bring.</p><p>True, he is respected up and down and beyond Music Row. He’s written or co-written multiple hits. Critics laud his singing too: The late, revered Chuck Dauphin, for one, marveled at Nail’s ability to turn an “ordinary lyric and arrangement” into a “tour de force,” adding, “simply put… he is not one of us.”</p><p>So he’s got rock-solid credentials. And he earned them despite a refusal to present himself in a false light. His songs pull no punches in evoking the demons with which he has wrestled through much of his life. As Nail explains, it’s not so much an act of courage to write about depression and its effects. Rather, it is simply who he is; he says, in conversation and through music, what he must say.</p><p>The practical and the personal: These are the poles that mark the path Nail continues to follow. It began in Kennett, Missouri, Nail’s hometown, and led to Nashville. At the time, he recalls, “I’d written songs about a lot of things I had not lived or experienced. So it was like I’d gotten onto this train and I had to just sit there and hope that the train kept moving. I was so young and naive and ignorant. I started trying to figure things out but I really needed somebody to tell me I wasn’t a moron. First and foremost, I credit Frank Liddell with helping me find where I should live musically. He’s always told me it’s alright to experiment.”</p><p>The celebrated producer helmed Nail’s album debut, I’m About To Come Alive, and the three that followed: The Sound Of A Million Dreams, I’m A Fire and Fighter. These releases ignited his reputation as an innovator and creative risk-taker.</p><p>In Nail’s own words, “My philosophy has always been, I just hope to have a good enough year that I can have a next year while staying as true to myself as I possibly can.”</p> 2022-07-14 23:00:00 -0500

  11/04

  7:00 p.m.

  First Avenue Club

  Iowa City
  23