Songwriting showcase at Southern Fried
It is hoped that crowds will flock to Perth city centre again for this year’s Southern Fried Americana festival Southern Fried have announced their line-up for 2018.
Steve Earle and the Dukes, Rodney Crowell, Iris DeMent, Graham Nash, Darrell Scott and Gretchen Peters will all be performing in Perth this summer.
Now in its eleventh year, Perth’s festival of American roots music takes place in Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre and other city centre venues from Thursday, July 26, to Sunday, July 29. Tickets went on sale on Monday, April 16, with 25 per cent discount for anyone booking five shows or more.
In addition to this ticketed programme, the Southern Fried Festival will feature smaller gigs in city centre venues, open mic sessions, a free outdoor stage, a daytime acoustic stage and various fringe events plus a generous serving of the famous Southern Fried soul food. These further acts are still to be announced.
Festival director Andy Shearer said: “I’ve said many times before that the song is the currency of the music that we present at Southern Fried, and this year’s line-up of incredible songwriting talent is without question our best to date, and that’s really saying something!
“Our headline sextet Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Iris DeMent, Graham Nash, Darrell Scott and Gretchen Peters - would all figure in any comprehensive list of the greatest songwriters alive and we’re very proud to host them in Perth this summer.
“We always try to ensure our headline shows at Southern Fried are Scottish exclusives and that’s the case once again this year but we’ve gone one better in several cases with our Rodney Crowell/ Iris DeMent double bill, Darrell Scott’s afternoon concert at Perth Theatre and Gretchen Peter’s closing show of two halves all being one-off European shows.
“Perth’s own Red Pine Timber Company and Løngstay, who launch their debut album at the festival.
“As always, there’s an opportunity for local people to perform with Southern Fried Voices open to all-comers (18+) to join Blue Rose Code and The Bevvy Sisters in a performance at Perth Theatre.”