Black Opry

7Dec

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Show Times

December 7, 2024 7:30 pm

Ticket Prices

$25 plus applicable fees

About The Show

Black Opry is home for Black Artists, fans and industry professionals in country, Americana, blues, folk and roots music. It celebrates and amplifies Black Americana musicians working to reclaim their place in the American musical cannon.

Your artist for the evening:

GRACE GIVERTZ hails from the sunshine state of Florida. She captivates audiences with her indie folk compositions, blending earworm melodies with heartfelt storytelling. As a multi-instrumentalist, she infuses her music with a diverse array of sounds, weaving folk, Americana, and indie rock into a tapestry uniquely her own.

Grace Givertz showcases her multi-instrumentalism on her debut album, Year of the Horse, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica in addition to vocals. Year of the Horse showcases Grace’s ability to turn lemons in to lemonade through song. “…The only real option is to smile at how much she packs into a tiny punch of a song,” Nina Corcoran writes in digboston.

She has also been heavily involved with the Black Opry, which lead to her participating in WXPN’s Black Opry Residency in Philadelphia.

SUG DANIELS is a Delaware born, Philadelphia based, singer-songwriter, story teller, and producer who is using the tools around her to capture the emotions of an era. Daniels’ work is as colorful, vulnerable, and charismatic as her personality. She thoughtfully combines elements of folk, rock, and soul alternatives to create personal and tender music interlaced with messages of truth and positive change.

Daniels’ electric ukulele inspired music has been featured on WXPN, NPR, and Good Morning America on ABC. After a successful release with author and singer songwriter John Faye (Lighting In A Bottle, 2022) and a single release on Don Giovanni Records (When I’m Gone, 2023) Daniel is back in the studio recording an EP of the catchy and joyful music she’s been playing while on touring solo and with The Black Opry Revue. Daniels plans to release several singles from her forthcoming collection of music and continue touring in 2024.

ROBERTA LEA is a singer/songwriter, producer and artist from Virginia who, after the pandemic, decided to take a chance on her dream and pursue music full time. Although it’s only been a short time, Lea has been featured in the Nashville Scene’s Country Music Almanac 2022’s “Artists To Watch” list and started the 2022 New Year with 6 nominations (including Best E.P.) at the local Veer Music Awards; winning Song Of The Year for her single “Sweet Baby Ray”.

She also became a member of a collective called “The Black Opry”. It’s an organization dedicated to creating safe spaces and support for black artists and fans of country music after the founder, Holly G, found herself feeling unsafe attending country music concerts as a queer, black woman.

Roberta Lea joined Holly at the Americana Fest in Nashville along with other “unknown” black country artists and not long afterwards began touring with the other artists in what’s now known as the Black Opry Revue. They hit major cities in the first leg of the tour such as New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Philly and more and graced the stage of historic venues like Rockwood Music Hall, Exit/In, and Dollywood theme park, the Arden Gild, and a classic run with the City Winery just to name a few.

JEIRIS COOK is a soul, R&B and folk artist from Oak Ridge, NJ. He volunteers with Musicians On Call, an organization that brings the healing power of music therapy to people who need it most. He is an ardent believer in the healing properties of music and considers his continued service with Musicians On Call one of his greatest contributions to music.

In 2021 he released “Date Night”, and in 2022 he released his latest single “Drunk” which was recorded at Hybrid Studios in Nazareth, PA and produced by Kevin Soffera.

He also released an EP that same year with Vern Miller entitled “The Vern Miller/Jeiris Cook Project”. It’s a collection of 5 songs that was recorded mostly during the 2020 pandemic year. The record was produced by Vern Miller and done entirely via email, text messages and phone calls.

In 2020 Jeiris was recognized as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. The following year he was listed as a semi-finalist in the Unsigned Only songwriting competition.

Woodbridge Township presents Black Opry at The Avenel Performing Arts Center with support from Woodbridge Arts.