July 15, 2022 - Ordinary Elephant

Please join us for a very special evening with nationally touring Berkalin Records recording artists and 2017 International Folk Music Awards Artist of the Year Ordinary Elephant. The collaboration of husband and wife Pete and Crystal Damore, Ordinary Elephant captivates audiences with emotionally powerful and vulnerable songs that resonate with kindness and remind us we are not alone in this world. The Associated Press called their 2019 full-length album, Honest, “one of the best Americana albums of the year.” We are really looking forward to this one!

Doors open at 7:30 pm and the music starts at 8:30. Admission is by donation. The amount is up to you and we suggest a minimum of $25, with 100% of the proceeds going to the artists. There will be limited quantities of food and drinks. It's definitely not required, but if you would like to bring something for all to share, we'd love that! RSVP here and we hope to see you July 15th!

We can’t wait to host Katie Knipp and her band of aces August 13, 2022! Katie is a force of nature. She’s won Sammies for best blues artist several years running. Her start-to-finish excellent 6th album, “The Well” went to #4 on the Billboard Magazine blues charts and got first ballot consideration for a Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Blues Album category. She’s from California, but her voice, songwriting, piano, dobro and bottleneck slide work had me thinking she must have grown up in Texas or Louisiana. Her music reminds me a little bit of Marcia Ball, but really, her style is all her own. She’s opened for a who’s who of artists, including Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Joan Osborne, Ruthie Foster, Joe Louis Walker, the Doobie Brothers, and many others. We’re WAY enthused about this one!

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Please join us when we welcome back, after WAY too long, Sandra D. Swanfeldt, Ruby Jaye, and Xochitl to Theater 5150 Saturday, September 10, 2022! Not only are these three performers some of my favorite artists, they’re some of my favorite people.   

Sandra was the very first artist to perform here and she reliably fills the place with audiences eager to hear her gifted songwriting, skillful guitar work, and that magnificent, sometimes soothing, sometimes soaring, soprano.   

Ruby is a skillful piano and ukulele player who delivers smartly crafted and irresistibly catchy pop/jazz compositions with a huge, elastic vocal range. When I listen to her, I think of Carole King, Norah Jones, Regina Spektor and Laura Nyro.  

Xochitl (“So-Chee”) also possesses a beautiful voice and very capable guitar technique. Her music calls to mind Carole King, Nora Jones, and Sara Bareilles. The last time I was listening to her music, I heard hints of Joni Mitchell.   Each of these three performers has captivated packed houses here in solo shows. Having them together for one night is going to be amazing!

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October 15, 2022 marks the long-awaited (too long awaited, if you ask me) return of See How They Run to Theater 5150! See How They Run is Adrian Bourgeois, Paige Lewis, and Ricky Berger, each of whom is a brilliant solo artist. Together, they form one of my favorite bands anywhere and everywhere. Adrian is a gifted songwriter whose music is informed by some of the all time greats, Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and others. He has used those influences to create a body of work that’s instantly recognizable as his and his alone. His album “Pop/Art” is among my top ten of the thousands I own. Paige’s songwriting ranges from L.A. indie pop to Texas-Arkansas country. She has recently embarked on a solo country project as “Lucy Page,” and we’re eagerly awaiting her initial release. Her voice is sublime, sounding to me like somewhere between Stevie Nicks and Allison Krause. I think Ricky is a musical genius. She routinely performs on piano, flute, guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, ukulele, glockenspiel, harp, and I might be missing some. Her songwriting can be dark and hauntingly beautiful (“Novocaine,” “My Insides”), upbeat and optimistic (“Why be Blue?”, "If") or make you think she’s Harold Arlen’s long lost great-granddaughter (“The End of the Rainbow”). These are truly three of my favorite artists anywhere.

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