Please register if you plan on coming so that we can better accommodate you all. Thank you!

Straight to Love is our third annual community concert and potluck. We created it in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as a space to gather, heal, and reconnect through music, food, and community—and each year, people have asked us to keep it going. Please bring a dish to share if you are able.

LINEUP:

Julie Odell - Julie is a visual artist across a plethora of media and a songwriter of bone-rattling sensitivity. She lives in Madison County and is an essential part of its vibrant maker scene. From Indie is Not a Genre: “Odell’s upbringing was deeply immersed in the arts; her mother is a painter, and her father a potter. She spent much of her childhood travelling with them to art festivals and craft fairs, living out of a van for months as they pursued their livelihood. Surrounded by artists and their creations throughout her life, it was a natural progression for Odell to eventually embark on her own artistic path.”

Magdalene - the new musical project of Maggie Williams. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, she now resides in Asheville, North Carolina, where she moved to study at UNC Asheville and become part of the creative community around her. Growing up in Music City and surrounded by visual art and music throughout her family, Maggie developed an early and lasting connection to songwriting as a way of making sense of the world around her. Now rooted in Western North Carolina, she deeply appreciates the creative community and artistic roots that surround her and hopes to contribute to that world through her own music and collaborations. 

Maddy & Clarke - Maddy Mullany and Clarke Williams are traditional musicians based in Asheville, NC, with a deep love for the fiddle and banjo music of Western North Carolina. They first connected as students at Warren Wilson College, where they discovered the captivating sounds of Marcus Martin, Osey Helton, and other regional legends. Together, they’ve toured internationally with their band, Jenny and the Hog Drovers, including a collaboration with indigenous musicians in Yunnan, China. Over the years, they've performed at festivals across the country and both teach at the Junior Appalachian Musicians Programs in Buncombe, Haywood, and Madison counties. Maddy and Clarke are dedicated to sharing the rich musical heritage of the region and inspiring the next generation of musicians.