Mile of Music Presents Nashville North, featuring fresh Music City songs from King Margo, Gabe Lee and Hollier. Don’t miss this special performance from one of Mile 8’s breakthrough artists. King Margo played multiple sets along The Mile last August and was featured at First Songs on the eve of Mile 8 as well. As part of Nashville North, they’ll also be introducing us to two of their favorite Music City performers, Gabe Lee and Hollier. Gabe Lee is fresh off a tour stint opening for Jason Isbell, a run in which he featured King Margo as his backing band. Hollier continues to make a name for himself on the Nashville scene and the singer-songwriter circuit.

Who: King Margo, Gabe Lee, Hollier
When: Friday, April 22 at 7:00 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Where: Gibson Community Music Hall (211 W College Ave, Appleton)
Cost: $10 at the door

KING MARGO:

King Margo is Lucciana Costa and Rachel Coats, who grew up 40 minutes apart but didn’t meet until many years later in the middle of a Kentucky field.

In anticipation of their second record, King Margo has matured into a more evolved sound. The state of the world has us all sitting a little straighter these days. The songs are more personal. The arrangements are more intricate, featuring soaring harmonies that have captured listeners across the country. “She never boarded up the windows/Grandma likes to say/She rode out every storm/Frying chicken just the same,” opens the song “Monsters,” inspired by a conversation overheard in a New Orleans coffee shop. The girls pay homage to their upbeat roots with the open-relationship-themed country jam, “you can hang your shirt wherever you like, so long as you hang your hat with me.” There are songs of love, murder, tornados, and religion. They are songs carefully crafted after a long year of hibernation and a new awareness of how lucky it is to bring music to the world.

King Margo is ready for a beer in your town. If they’re not making music, they are rock climbing or snowboarding. They are disciples of living the good life, taking care of your people and being nicer to the planet. They want to see you somewhere out there soon.

GABE LEE:

Nashville-based songwriter Gabe Lee is becoming increasingly known for his ability to detail the intricacies of everyday life, the small distinctions that leave some on the fringe and others in the mainstream, and the particulars that stick around long after a lover leaves.

His second album in as many years, Honky Tonk Hell,  finds Gabe diving deeper into themes that aren’t far from his own life — exactly what it meant to grow up in Nashville and what it means to still be a songwriter there, how it feels to be settling into adulthood and the monotony and occasional heartbreak it can contain, as well as the pieces of a younger time that didn’t quite work out as expected. But, the way he tells these stories — these common pieces of experiences — is through narratives of men on the run, lovers who leave and vivid imagery, inspired by everything from Biblical stories to forgotten small towns and the people who inhabit them. Adorned with wailing guitars, pedal steel, a B3 organ, an occasional harmonica, dobro and lap steel, Honky Tonk Hell almost seems tailor-made for any dancehall jukebox — but with sentiments that will stick with you for much longer than its initial play.

HOLLIER:

Life leaves its imprint on us in the form of memories, scars, and lessons. Like a well-trodden and trusted highway, Hollier proudly brandishes the wisdom and experience of a fascinating personal journey in his music. The Louisiana-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist shares honest stories over a backdrop of gruff heartland rock with a twist of country soul. He’s gone from accompanying multiplatinum stars such as Carly Pearce and Cassadee Pope to generating north of 1 million streams independently and packing houses as a solo artist. Now, he formally introduces himself on his self-titled 2022 full-length debut, Hollier.

Hailing from Central Louisiana, Hollier absorbed a passion for music through his family. His uncle performed in a Cajun zydeco band, while his brothers picked up guitar and drums. He initially experienced live music through the church and honkytonks, teaching himself chords on the internet and gigging with local bands. At the same time, he listened to everyone from Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Byrds to Ozzy Osbourne. After two years at Louisiana State University, he transferred to Belmont University and settled in Nashville. He joined Levi Hummon’s band as a guitarist, hitting the road with Dwight Yoakam, Heart, Billy Currington and more. During 2018, he handled guitar duties for Cassadee Pope before serving as a touring guitarist for Carly Pearce.