Born in Austin and splitting his down time between Oregon and Ecuador, twenty years exploring music from around the world finally led Michael Shay back to his artistic home deep in the North American vocal and songwriting traditions. With the nuance of a classically-trained musician, the twang of a born-and-bred Texan, and a career spent collaborating with musicians in a dozen countries, Shay’s vision exists comfortably outside any “Americana” box while still evoking his earliest influences: Featuring original acoustic country-folk and roots-Americana with touches of bluegrass, world music and more, Shay’s songs are as likely to touch down in the bars and backroads of cow towns as in the graveyards and parlours of old Europe, dancing with the ghosts of William Blake, Hank Williams, or Sappho – sometimes while you dance too. Shay’s lush baritone voice and guitar plus mandolin, upright bass and 3 part vocal harmonies in the Michael Shay Trio combine for a powerfully elegant sound in the tradition of Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.
This event is free and open to the public