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Nelsonville Music Festival: Your Guide to Friday Night



Assuming you’ve had a chance to get some shuteye after Thursday’s stellar lineup, you can start Friday bright-and-early with a morning yoga session in front of the Porch Stage. But don’t worry about fueling up afterward, as you can hit up the Donkey Coffee tent for a cold brew and a pastry and sit in their makeshift cafe.

Check out Thursday and Saturday's preview!

Bill Mackay Bill Mackay steps up on the free Boxcar Stage early in the afternoon in order to no-doubt ease the audience into the day with his sublime acoustic guitar compositions. Chicago’s Mackay is a frequent collaborator with Nelsonville-alum Ryley Walker and fans of both Walker and William Tyler will feel right at home with Mackay's laid-back vibe.

Hayley Heynderickx NMF-goers will have two chances to catch Inhailer-fave Hayley Heynderickx, but her appearance in the No-Fi Cabin on Friday afternoon is a can’t miss. The cabin has a way of bringing out the best from the performers that play in its tiny confines and one can only imagine what it will extract from the honest and sometimes off-kilter folk that Heynderickx crafts with her wit, voice, and guitar. For fans of Regina Spektor and the softer side of Angel Olsen.

Counterfeit Madison Columbus-based Counterfeit Madison is led by one-time Cincinnatian, Sharon Udoh, and the project is the perfect outlet for her effervescent personality, not to mention vocal and piano chops. The band returns to NMF for the second year in a row to perform their deeply personal yet totally relatable - and danceable - songs from their 2017 album, Opposable Thumbs.

Shannon Lay L.A’s Shannon Lay (say that three times fast) is a killer singer-songwriter whose compositions are reminiscent of American and British folk from the 60’s. She’ll likely be playing tracks off of her Living Water album, which was released on Kevin Morby’s label, Woodsist Records, and was a highlight of 2017.

Middle Kids Contrary to what their name might imply, Australia’s Middle Kids aren’t yearning for attention these days and are sure to be a crowd favorite once they take the Main Stage on Friday. Their brand of catch indie-pop with a slight twang here and there is just something you can’t ignore, as Inhailer-fans can attest.

Caroline Rose Loser, Rose’s sophomore effort, drops some of the country feel from the first album and replaces it with more dancey beats. It’s no doubt that Rose is a versatile songwriter who can craft meaningful and fun tunes. Catch her now before she either makes it big or dabbles in another genre or both!

Combo Chimbita Hailing from Brooklyn, but steeped in Columbia’s cumbia, Cape Verde’s funana, and a mess of other musical styles from around the world, Combo Chimbita delivers a sound that is totally unique to them. Their pan-global rhythms, which the band dubs Tropical Futurism, will have you dancing and sweating for their entire set. Folks that want to bring the party home are encouraged to pick up their 2017 release, Abya Yala.

Wooden Shjips Coming to Nelsonville all the way from San Francisco, Thrill Jockey artists Wooden Shjips will be bringing their psychedelic drone rock to Ohio for the first time maybe ever. They’ve also just released their first album in years, simply titled V, so who knows when or where you’ll be able to catch them again.

The Decemberists Portland’s indie icons, The Decemberists, recently released their eighth studio album, I’ll Be Your Girl and much ballyhoo was made of the first single “Severed,” due to its use of synthesizers. To some, the move seemed to come out of left field, considering that the band was known more for their more organic, folky instrumentation. While not quite the breakthrough of Dylan-plugs-in, the addition certainly opens avenues the band can travel down on future releases.

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