Cahalen Morrison and Country Hammer
Friday, Apr. 8, 7:30 pm at Lopez Center
Tickets: Adult $15, Youth $8
Country Hammer is the collaboration of three lead singers and writers, each bringing their unique take on American music, backed by a group of incredible instrumentalists. Their songs, nearly all original, touch the full range of emotions. One minute they can silence a rowdy roadside honky tonk, inducing tears in beers, and the next they can burn the place down. Drawing on the sensibilities of everything from The Band to George Jones, and from Motown to Norteño, Country Hammer knows no boundaries. They deliver lonesome heartbreak and the best two stepping around!
Cahalen Morrison (guitar, vocals, drums) hails from the high desert of northern New Mexico and has performed on Lopez before. He has been playing and singing country music since his first band at the age of 13. Pulling from musical influences such as the early country of Hank Williams and contemporary gems like Dwight Yoakam, and Flaco Jimenez, as well as from literary heavy hitters like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Cormac McCarthy, Cahalen has etched his own style of singing and writing into the foundation of American music. Morrison also records and tours worldwide with his critically acclaimed duo, Cahalen Morrison & Eli West.
Jim Miller (guitar, vocals) has been playing American traditional and country music for over 30 years. He co-founded the New York based roots rock band Donna the Buffalo and toured with them for 15 years, performing in theaters across North America and on the stages of festivals such as Bonnaroo, Merle Fest, and Telluride. He has recorded with some of the icons of Americana music – Tim O’Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Ginny Hawker, Dirk Powell, and Tara Nevins. Miller also writes books about moths and butterflies, performs in Red Dog Run, and tours with Louisiana zydeco maestro Preston Frank.
Born and raised in south Seattle, Ethan Lawton (drums, vocals, guitar) has been a major figure in the Pacific Northwest music scene for many years. Ethan is a unique force on the mandolin, has a subtle touch on the drums, and has an earthy singing voice that can melt your heart. His songwriting has been hailed as one of the most unique new influences to arrive on the country/roots scene. Ethan performs in top bluegrass bands throughout the PNW and has toured internationally with Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers.
Dan Lowinger (bass), originally from the orchard lands and wheat fields of Eastern Washington, has been touring internationally for years and making his mark locally, where he now resides in Portland, Oregon. He slings a mean country telecaster, plays blazing archtop swing, and holds the back end down on the bass with the best of them. Dan’s musical range is broad, to say the least; in addition to performing with Country Hammer, he plays in a western swing band, The Barn Door Slammers, a surf band, Audios Amigos, and a punk band, Don’t.
