A mesmerizing evening of songs and stories performed by two artists with roots deep in acoustic country music while also stretching beyond the boundaries of traditional Americana.

Ric Robertson crafts the kind of music that doesn’t beg for your attention — it quietly earns it. One note, one image, one breath at a time. He’s a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist — but mostly, he’s just trying to make sense of the absurd beauty in being alive. These days, Robertson is mostly out on the road solo, carving out his own odd little orbit, hauling a real upright piano from town to town — a heavy, creaky companion that makes every show a little less predictable and a lot more alive. It’s an old-school, seat-of-the-pants kind of operation: no playback, no safety net, just songs, stories, and a whole-hearted belief that the good stuff doesn’t need a middleman.

Raised in the American South but never easy to pin down, the music floats somewhere between timeless folk wisdom and psychedelic backroom vaudeville. A strange, beautiful blend , he has a gift for turning personal detours into universal truths, and turning heartbreak, hilarity, and hallucination into something you can hum along to. Quietly radical, unabashedly grassroots, and fiercely human, you may find Ric Robertson somewhere past the edge of the map — alone on a small stage, an upright piano, a spellbound crowd, and a kind of music that cuts through the noise and reminds you why any of this matters at all. There’s a tenderness here, and a little madness too. But mostly there’s honesty — the kind you don’t come across every day, and the kind that sticks with you long after the music fades out.

Robertson has lent his voice, songs, and musical curiosity to projects with artists like Lucius, The Wood Brothers, and Sierra Ferrell, but it’s in his solo work where his vision comes fully alive and his voice shines most true. His latest album, Choices and Chains, is a crooked little odyssey of transformation- following the technicolor psychamericana on his breakout album “Carolina Child”.

Dori Freeman’s inimitable signature sound is in peak form on her fourth studio album, Ten Thousand Roses. Raised among a family of musicians in the Blue Ridge Mountains and hailed by Rolling Stone as “one of the most authentic vocalists to emerge from the hills of southwestern Virginia in recent years,” she’s a bonafide Appalachian artist, while simultaneously shattering the archetype by empowering the characters in her songs with personal strength and homegrown wisdom. Through this process, she both defies and expands notions of what it means to be from the region.

Ten Thousand Roses follows three widely acclaimed records produced by Teddy Thompson, one of which produced “You Say,” which continues to find fans, steadily climbing toward six million streams on Spotify, largely by word of mouth. Freeman has been praised by outlets such as NPR, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, but has chosen to remain outside of Nashville literally and figuratively. She lives in Galax, Virginia, where she says she’s been better able to develop her music in a truer way to her personally. “I’ve never been drawn to living in the city as much as I love visiting them. I prefer a rural, small town life,” says Freeman. She also believes that living apart from the industry frees her from the pressure to fit current ideas of what a genre should sound like. “I just make music I like and hope other people will like it, too.”

Dori’s newest album celebrates ten years of singing and songwriting. It spans sixteen songs - fourteen favorites carefully chosen from her five studio albums, and two new tracks from her forthcoming album slated for 2026. This anniversary album celebrates not only the many talented musicians she has collaborated with over the decade, but the evolution of both her voice and songwriting.

The Center for Cultural Vibrancy is a nonprofit based in Charlottesville, Virginia that creates and cultivates opportunities for cultural connections that support living traditions and energize communities. The CCV is working to create a more empathetic world where people respect, understand and celebrate one another’s culture. Learn more at www.culturalvibrancy.org

With only 107 seats, shows at Révéler are intimate and immersive. A romantic venue with exquisite sound and dreamy vibes, Révéler offers a unique selection of cocktails, wines, beers, bubbles, and non-alcoholic beverages. Our kitchen delivers small plates crafted with care.

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