Zac Brown Band and Matt Nathanson to Headline Spring Concert this Thursday
The 2009 edition of the Converse College Spring Concert will feature three of the hottest and most talked about bands in the country. The Zac Brown Band, Matt Nathanson and Green River Ordinance are all confirmed for the April 16 event on the back campus of Converse College.
Gates will open at 7 p.m., and Green River Ordinance will open the show at 8 p.m. Audience members can enjoy a beer garden with two forms of identification. Ticket prices are $10 for all college students and $20 for general admission. All tickets sold on the day of the concert are $20. To purchase tickets, call (864) 596-9725.
The Zac Brown Band is a five-man group of solid musicians signed to Atlantic Records. With a sound that is best described as a mix of Southern Rock/Folk Rock /Country, the group plays an average of 200 dates a year. With more than 3,000 shows to their credit they have created an almost obsessive following. They have also sold more than 30,000 CDs independently.
From the group’s website, Zac Brown said, “It’s kind of crazy how we can go to a place where no one’s heard of us before and by the time we leave people are singing the songs. We’ve got a great following.”
Their latest CD, “The Foundation,” was released on November 18th, 2008 and debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Top Country Albums Chart. The first single “Chicken Fried” peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart and maintained that position for two weeks and also debuted as the second most downloaded country single on iTunes.
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson has recently released his sixth studio album (and first for the Vanguard label) called “Some Mad Hope.” The hallmark of his Rock / Acoustic / Pop sound are his lyrics which, as described in his bio, feature “deft turns of phrase that can alternately cut deep into the heart or heal it. That’s evident throughout ‘Some Mad Hope,’ a song cycle of sorts that chronicles the search for a genuine connection, touching on the sensually electric moments as well as the darker frustrations of sifting through the wreckage — in hopes of finding redemption at the end of the day.”
Nathanson explains, “I definitely think of the (‘Some Mad Hope’) as capturing the arc of a relationship. It starts out on a positive note and it goes to some really dark places. But after touching bottom, there’s a sense of optimism in the end. Maybe coming from a realization that two people can be a team, not just two individuals who happen to be together.”
Rounding out the bill is the Fort Worth, Texas-based Green River Ordinance. Comprised of brothers Geoff and Jamey Ice, Josh Jenkins, Joshua Wilkerson and Denton Hunker, Green River Ordinance recorded their first EP in the basement of their church, a CD that sold out its first pressing in just a few months. Their MySpace page declares, “They’ve packed houses across the country, were the direct support for Bon Jovi in 2006 at the sold out American Airlines Center in front of 20,000 people, have toured with the likes of Collective Soul, The Click 5, Blue October, Bowling for Soup, Flickerstick, Eisley, Simple Plan, Mutemath, Matt Wertz, Lovedrug and many other established bands.
“They were voted in the Fort Worth Weekly Music