Party at Pine Creek with tons of upcoming shows 
The beautifully situated Pine Creek Lodge in Paradise Valley offers an extensive slate of live music to keep guests and others entertained through the summer.
Christy Hays will play for Pine Creek on Wednesday, July 19th at 7pm. Hays’ latest EPs, O’ Montana and Caliche, reflect both the singer/songwriter’s complicated, dual nature and the sounds of the many places she’s called home. The former is a gorgeous folk and country flavored solo collection and a natural progression from Hays’ 2012 album Drought. Despite the difference in approach and musical styles, both EPs capture Hays’ distinctive artistic voice. Her songs resonate with a vulnerable rawness that exposes her emotional baggage and scar tissue, but never veer into self-pity. There is a sense of underlying optimism in her music and resiliency in her voice. Fans of artists like Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Joe Pug, the Old 97’s, and Neil Young will find much to love in the music of Christy Hays.
Brad Parsons follows with a performance on Thursday, July 20th with help from Slomo Joe at 7pm. Portland-based singer/songwriter Parsons has been enrapturing audiences across the country with his almost unreal powerhouse voice and his genre-bending blend of psychedelic rock and Americana. His songs and style aim to hit you right in your chest and his big voice goes for your gut. He begs you to sing, shout, dance, laugh and cry with him with songs that sound like standards but are wholly unique to his own style. It’s not just his steadily growing fan base that knows that he’s got something special going on. His album Hold True released in February. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate.
Enjoy the Montana return of The Black Lillies on Friday, July 21st. Local bands Band of Drifters and The Memphis Strange will open for the Knoxville-based group beginning at 7pm. The Lillies are a band for the ages: rich, rootsy tunes performed with as much heart as technical virtuosity. If you ask them, they’ll tell you they play “Tennessee music” — combining strains of swampy Memphis soul and blues with Nashville’s classic country and East Tennessee’s traditional Appalachian style — while Rolling Stone describes it as “country music with a soul-rock infusion, supported by bandleader Cruz Contreras’ smart songwriting and tight musicianship.” Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate.
Pine Creek will host a very special Keith Scott Blues Brunch on Sunday, July 23rd from 11am–1pm. Remarkably versatile, the Chicago-based blues/rock guitarist has been working his way methodically up through the blues’ ranks since his parents bought him his first guitar at age 14 and his young ears heard Muddy Waters in 1980. Scott is one of Chicago’s most vibrant musicians who has built his reputation as a sizzling blues guitarist, dynamic performer, noteworthy songwriter and bandleader. Scott has toured the United States and Europe, both with his band and blues great Jimmy Dawkins.
Enjoy the musical stylings of Billy Strings on Wednesday, July 26th. Local musician Jason Wickens will get the evening started at 7pm. Strings brings two genres together often thought impossible: punk and bluegrass. Take his popular song, “Dust in a Baggie,” a cleverly written mountain song about a destructive substance that he translates into bluegrass vernacular. Strings’ songs, his articulation, his entire approach, sound so authentic and steeped in tradition. Consider him the next in line of an Americana thread, not some upstart or bandwagon jumper. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate.
Mandy Rowden performs with local assistance from Quenby Iandiorio on Thursday, July 27th at 7pm. Rowden is an Austin-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s been compared to Lucinda Williams, Kim Richey, and Stevie Nicks, to name a few. Her latest album, 1000 Miles, was released in 2016. In review of the album, The Austin Chronicle suggested, “An Americana Sheryl Crow? Mandy Rowden has the talent, chops, and charisma to go there.”
The Young Dubliners will provide the live entertainment on Friday, July 28th with Doublewide Dreams opening at 7pm. Although the Dubliners’ sound is most commonly referred to as ‘Celtic Rock,’ that label, as labels often can be, is misleading. The Irish influence is there, certainly, but it’s not the only influence rearing its head on their albums, or in live shows. After all, several of the band members have no Irish roots of any kind. The Los Angeles-based group has toured extensively with the likes of Collective Soul, Jethro Tull, Johnny Lang, and many more. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate.
Two Story Ranch are set to close out the month on Sunday, July 30th with help from Monica Rizzio at 7pm. Put Buddy Holly in a blender with serious literature, all-night sex on a first date (with a side of ice cream), a ‘79 flatbed Ford with a fifth behind the seat and a handful of psychedelic mushrooms. Some things get better with age, and ten years on, Two Story Ranch is writing, recording and performing with more passion than ever, delivering the goods with their characteristic off-hand abandon and in-the-moment presence. Singer/songwriters Sean Devine and Kevin Toll, joined by cellist Kyle Brenner, create a unique chemistry that defies category. You simply have to be here to get it, and once you’ve been here you’re on your way back to feel it again. Tickets are $5.
Please visit www.pinecreeklodgemontana.com for ticketing information, to reserve your cabin, and learn more about other upcoming events. Pine Creek Lodge is located at 2496 E. River Rd., just outside of Livingston. Call (406) 222-3628 for further information. •
