By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Bryce Fox
It’s been eight years since Bryce Fox released his debut album, “Heaven on Hold.”
He just released his third album, “The Butterfly and The Bomb,” earlier this year. His sophomore LP, “Strength,” was released in 2022.
By harnessing a mix of inspirations and diverse sonic pathways while embracing the regional touchstones and personal details of his own melting-pot All-American story, Fox has arrived in a major way.
With two previous albums under his belt, Fox has received millions of streams, including an RIAA Gold certified record with “Horns” off “Heaven on Hold” (2017), and radio support from stations such as KCRW, KROQ, KTCL and more.
With his latest album about destruction and rebirth, Fox has shown up in a major way — deeply personal and completely unrestrained.
Amazingly, Fox has never played a gig in the Philadelphia area.
That will change on April 18 when Fox is the opening act on the “AWOLNATION – The Phantom Five Tour” at the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, http://www.lnphilly.com).
“Surprisingly, this will be my first show ever in Philadelphia,” said Fox, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from a tour stop in Washington, D.C.
Fox has been living in Nashville, Tennessee for the last four years.
“I recorded the new album over the last year-and-a-half in Nashville and L.A.,” said Fox, a native of Bloomington, Indiana.
“I did some in Nashville and most of it in L.A. with my producer David Pramik at his studio. And we did some by remote.”
Pramik is a Grammy-nominated music producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles.
Pramik was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Nothing More’s single “Go To War,” which hit #1 at US Rock Radio, #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart and was nominated for three Grammys (Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance).
Pramik also co-wrote and co-produced multiple songs on the Grammy-Nominated I Prevail album, “Trauma.”
“The new album is more produced than my earlier stuff,” said Fox, who graduated from Indiana University with a degree in tele-communications.
“There’s a ton of synths and sound keys. I’ve done stuff in a lot of genres, but I like the rock lane that I’m in right now.
“I’ve been into music ever since I can remember. I used to go to country shows with my dad. We also listened a lot to Queen and Pink Floyd.
“Then, I got into hip hop when I was in high school. I also started singing and dabbling with recording music with my friends when I was in high school. People told me that I sang well so I pursued it.
“I also started playing baseball when I was in high school and fell in love with it, I put a lot of time and energy into it. Then, I stopped baseball when I was in college because drinking was the cool thing to do.”
Fox’s time at IU featured a shift from athletics to entertainment.
“In college, I started playing live,” said Fox. “I frequently played at The Bluebird, which is a popular venue in Bloomington that is related to The Bluebird in Nashville.
“I played The Bluebird with all the different bands I was in. The next step was moving to L.A.
“When I got to California, I was in survival mode. I did things like promoting night clubs. But I knew I wanted to be a singer and songwriter. I was in L.A. for eight years and then moved to Nashville.”
This tour will be in support of “The Butterfly and The Bomb.”
“In my live set, I’m playing three or four songs from the new album,” said Fox. “That will take up half the set.
“The rest will be songs from my first two albums. I’m the opening act so I only have a 30-minute set. I have the basic four-piece – guitar, bass, drums and vocals.”
Video link for Bryce Fox – https://youtu.be/biLrzvTIv44.
The show at the Theatre of the Living Arts on Friday will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $58.
On April 19, it will be a bit of a family affair at The Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 202-730-3331, www.thequeenwilmington.com).
The Jimmies
The headline act is The Jimmies, a band founded and fronted by Jimmie Marsilii. The opening act will be Caitlin Marsilii, Jimmie Marsillii’s daughter.
The Jimmies are a covers band – a tribute act of sorts to the hit songs of the 1980s.
The band’s set list might include songs by acts such as Flock of Seagulls, Tom Petty, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Black Crowes, Billy Idol, Tears for Fears and Modern English.
“The current focus started with music of the ’80’s,” said Jimmie Marsilii, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from his home in Newark, Delaware.
“Now, when we hit the stage, people are dancing. The dance floor is packed. We play what you would have heard on the radio in the ’80’s – The Ramones, The Cure, Bon Jovi, Journey, John Cougar, Devo.”
Marsilii has been making music for a long time.
“I’ve been doing music since I was seven and started playing guitar,” said Marsilii.
“I also played mandolin in a Wilmington string band. I already knew how to play guitar, so I picked up bass when I was 16 or 17.
“I went to the University of Delaware and graduated with a degree in agricultural business management in 1991.
“I was in a band called Life Groove. We toured a lot in central Pennsylvania, Delaware and Philadelphia. We had a couple albums and were together for about eight years.
“My next band was Hyjinx. We were a covers band that played the Carolinas, Virginia, lower Delaware and the New Jersey casinos. “That lasted until 2009 and then I was in a country and western/bluegrass band called Runaway Train. We were the opening act for a lot of country bands.”
Eventually, Marsilii put together his current band – The Jimmies.
“We’re a six-piece band and we’ve been together with this line-up for 11 years,” said Marsilii. “We all have different jobs now but, at some point, everyone was a professional musician.
“The line-up features Dave Mohr on lead vocals, Edward Moore on keys, Chris Fullerton on drums and lead vocals, Roger Holcomb on lead guitar and vocals, Matt Malischewski on guitar and vocals and me on bass.”
Caitlin Marsilii is a singer/songwriter/rocker from Newark who has released one album and several singles.
Her album is called “California.” Her four singles are “Red Light,” “Evil Things in the Sky,” “Highway Dysfunctional” and “Paddle Along.”
The show at the Queen on April 19 will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $15.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will present The Four C Notes on April 18 and Jeffrey Gaines on April 19.
On April 19, Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will present Antar Goodwin & The Faithful Sinner with Jac Conner and Elise as the opening acts.
Goodwin is a Philadelphia-based roots and blues artist whose music fuses the grit of classic blues with the soul of Americana. Before stepping into the spotlight with his band Antar Goodwin & The Faithful Sinners, he spent 15 years as a bassist in New York City’s vibrant music scene, serving as a musical director and co-writer for several national touring artists.
His raw honesty and emotion are a powerful invitation. With a deep well of storytelling and masterful guitar work, Goodwin carries audiences on a journey of truth, and transformation through a timeless sound.
Conner is a product of Chester County.
He is a singer/songwriter and live looper from Nottingham.
Conner enjoys music of various styles and performs an eclectic mix of classic and contemporary covers as well as original compositions.
He credits artists such as Ed Sheeran, Hozier, Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Kahan, and Elliot Smith as some of his main inspirations.
Elise is a local singer/songwriter who performs acoustic soul and indie rock.
Set times are 7 p.m. for Elise, 7:45 p.m. for Jac Conner and 8:30 p.m. for Antar Goodwin.
This is a “Member Spotlight Show.”
General admission tickets are $20 while Member Spotlight tickets are $15. There is a $5 BYOB charge.
It’s time for the old idiom – “If you snooze, you lose.”
If you want to see “Bright Star” at the Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, 302- 475-2313, candlelighttheatredelaware.org), this weekend is your final opportunity.
“Bright Star,” which is a musical written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell,” will run through April 19.
The play is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 1945–46 with flashbacks to 1923. The musical is inspired by their Grammy-winning collaboration on the 2013 bluegrass album “Love Has Come for You” and, in turn, the folk tale of the “Iron Mountain Baby.”
The show began previews at the Cort Theatre on Broadway on February 25, 2016, before officially opening on March 24.
Despite financial support from Steve Martin and Edie Brickell and occasional appearances by Martin, the musical closed on June 26, 2016, after 30 previews and 109 regular performances. The cast recording was nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
“Bright Star” is the story of one woman at two different points in her life: the first, when she is a wild young thing growing up barefoot and carefree in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina; the second, when she is a well-to-do magazine editor in Asheville, 22 years later.
Her story is inevitably woven with that of an idealistic young man named Billy, with whom she shares a mysterious connection.
As a young teen in Zebulon, North Carolina, Alice Murphy is hopelessly in love with small town heartthrob Jimmy Ray, the mayor’s son. Although their love was pure, it falls victim to the interference of ambitious parents, and their infant son is whisked away before their happy ending could ever begin.
More than two decades later, Alice is the successful editor of The Asheville Southern Journal, and meets a promising young writer named Billy.
Eventually they realize that they share a hometown, and when Alice sees the handmade sweater she knitted for her baby 20 years before in his personal belongings, she realizes that he is the son she lost so long ago.
Their happiness is compounded at the end of the story with a Shakespeare-esque double wedding.
“Bright Star” is billed as “an uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp – as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.”
The cast at the Candlelight features Victoria Healy (Alice Murphy), Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Max Redman), Billy Cail (Galen Graham), Paul
Weagraff (Mayor Dobbs) Madison Luckey (Margo Crawford) and Anthony Connell (Daryl Ames).
“I actually did this show in 2019 at the University of New Hampshire,” said Graham, during a phone interview Tuesday night from his apartment in Center City Philadelphia.
“I hadn’t heard of it before that. The end – the ending caught me by surprise. I also didn’t know how much of a banjo guy Steve Martin was.”
Graham is a Boston native who found his way to Philly a few years ago.
“After I graduated, I came to Philadelphia to be an apprentice at the Walnut Street Theatre,” said Graham.
Graham did a few shows there including ‘Beautiful,’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ and “Escape to Margaritaville.”
Ironically, “Escape to Margaritaville” will be the Candlelight’s next production after the theater closes for six weeks of renovation. It will run from July 12-August 24.
“‘Bright Star’ is a show that hits you with how deep it is – how really personal it is,” said Graham.
“I’m a young guy all the way. My character Billy gets back from the war. He just keeps writing – trying to get his work published.
“Then, things are different 20 years later. Alice finds out that Billy is her son. When he finds out, he takes off. It’s a full month until he comes back.
“Then, there is a happy ending. It’s so cool the way things work out. It’s a story about a woman who loves something dearly and rediscovers it later in life.”
Performances are Friday and Saturday evening at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which include dinner and show, are $73.50 for adults and $35 for children (ages 4-12).
Video link for “Bright Star” — https://youtu.be/z619PUgnc8w.
The Candlelight Theatre will host the latest installment of its Comedy Club on April 17 with Jay Black and Leigh Ann Lord as co-headliners and Justin Gonzalez as the MC.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will present Stargazer Lily and Tony Baldini and the Bastards on April 18, Khadijah Renee on April 19, and Steve Shanahan’s the Blues Muthas on April 20.
