This Weekend at The Nazareth Center for the Arts

The will host Angela Easterling, an Americana Roots singer-songwriter based in Greenville, S.C. The doors open Friday night at 7, with Erin Kelly as the opening act at 7:30, followed by Easterling at 8:15. The cost of admission is $10.

Easterling’s music captures political and social issues, but crafted in Southern charm -- beguiling like her band, The Beguilers. She tours both solo and with the band that includes Brandon Turner and Jeff Hook.

According to Craig Havighurst, a writer for Music City Roots, “Angela Easterling has a golden glowing voice and she writes observant songs about contemporary life. She can weave urban sprawl and cultural shifts into songs as gingerly as love and relationships.”

A native daughter of the South, Easterling grew up on a farm along the South Carolina foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The land had been owned by her family since 1791.

Today, that same land is threatened by land developers, Easterling said. She captures this experience in her new song “Manifest Destiny,” where she talks about how the land was taken from the Cherokees and sold to her family. Now, it’s being taken away to be sold to developers.

"I wouldn't call myself a political songwriter, but I'm a curious person,” Easterling said. “But I don't want to sound preachy or trite. So I try to do this by telling a story that will hopefully be compelling enough to get the point across."

Easterling said she doesn’t like albums where all of the songs are about one topic. She said it’s boring.

“I want to sing about things that are important to me," Easterling said.

Vintage Guitar Magazine said Easterling’s song “Manifest Destiny” and "Group Self-Deception (It's Alright)” illustrate why the magazine said, “If Steve Earle (a political/contemporary folk artist) was reborn a girl, he’d very likely be Angela Easterling.”

“This singer-songwriter’s latest [album], 'Beguiler,' ranks as her best effort to date,” Vintage Guitar Magazine wrote. “Some of her original songs have an epic scope while others are tiny, elegantly illuminated vignettes. Her disarmingly non-histrionic soprano heightens her performances' emotional impact.”  

“Beguiler” was recorded with her band with special guest artists Byron House from the Band of Joy and Fats Kaplin, Easterling said. The album was released July 19 and is currently on Alternate Root’s top playlist chart.  

Her debut album, "Earning Her Wings," was chosen as the “Americana Pick of the Year" by Smart Choice Music. In July 2009, Easterling released her second album, “Black Top Road,” which debuted on the Americana top 40 chart.

Roger McGuinn, founder of The Byrds, called Easterling “a bright shining star on the horizon. Her gift is so special. Brought me back to the time The Byrds recorded "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" -- tradition meets youthful exuberance."  

Easterling has built up an impressive list of accolades: 

• Named a 2009 and 2010 Kerrville New Folk Finalist and a 2011 Telluride Troubadour.
• Performed her entire set live on the WSM Nashville stage at the 2010 CMA Music Festival/Fan Fair.
• Won “Best Political Country Song” for her song “The Picture” in The Boston Herald’s best music picks category.
• Her music has been featured in commercials for Southwestern Bell and in the television series “Horsepower” on Animal Planet.
• Performed as the opener for The Oak Ridge Boys, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and several others.
• Recently invited to perform at the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibit “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “Dynamite honky-tonk singer Angela Easterling brings a tough traditionalist sound to ballads and ravers alike on her fine new CD Black Top Road.”  

And the DailyPress.com said, “Easterling’s smart tunes and spunky delivery put her in a category with Americana songbirds such as Tift Merritt and Shelby Lynne."

For more info on Angela Easterling, visit www.angelaeasterling.com.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through the Nazareth Center for the Arts online Box Office.