Past Asterales Concerts
There have been some amazing artists at Asterales over the years. Big gratitude to Folk Alliance International for fostering the house concert scene int eh folk world and to each of these artists for their time, talent, and energy. This series wouldn't be possible without the great audiences that come out each year. Thank you!
Beth Snapp
September 2025
The pandemic turned the entire musical community upside down, and Beth Snapp’s story was no different… for the most part. 2019 saw her participating in various Folk and Americana festivals and songwriting competitions (including Kerrville’s New Folk Competition, LEAF’s New Song Music, Songwriter Serenade Winner, TN Dept of Tourism’s Songwriter’s Week Winner). She had enjoyed a Folk Alliance Chart top 10 spot from her 2018 EP “Don’t Apologize.” Press and accolades were building. Then, cue 2020.
While lucky to cling to a day job as a healthcare worker in Northeast TN, Beth soon found herself working in the throes of her local COVID unit. This, she reports, took her song away for a while. Some asked if it gave her songwriting fodder. Instead, there were no words, or music, for months. Some moments are too much for words.
As the pandemic halt began to fade and music began to emerge (although in ways no one in 2019 would have imagined), she then found herself in surgery for a nerve injury in her arm that could have proven to completely revoke her of guitar playing. However, it didn’t.
Now, Beth is finishing up her full-length project with Barry Bales at the production helm (Alison Krauss and Union Station, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, cowriter with Chris Stapleton, Grammy/IBMA/CMA Song of the Year winner). Album is set to be released by end of fall to early winter. She also has released a folk-pop single “Try Them On,” a positive affirmation of identity which implores the listener to try on whoever they have dreamed of being. 2023 is gaining momentum, and she’s more than ready for it.
You can also hear Beth’s guest vocal spots with bluegrass super group Blue Highway, Grammy and IBMA winner Tim Stafford, and ‘The Voice’ Contestant Carson Peters.
Lucy Isabel
July 2025
A great deal has transpired in recent years and Lucy Isabel captures the essence of change in her profoundly touching new album, All The Light. There are the obvious factors: a global pandemic, political turmoil, wide-reaching tragedy. And on a personal level, Isabel has navigated five years of marriage, entry into motherhood, and the unexpected loss of her father. What results is a compelling and vulnerable sonic snapshot into Isabel’s life.
Following her 2019 debut album, Rambling Stranger, Isabel felt both limitless and lost. “I felt like people were aware of and interested in my career in a way they hadn’t been previously and I froze.” Unsure of what to do, she turned to her usual outlet and began touring extensively. Isabel embarked on an ambitious “31 Shows in 31 Days” tour in October 2019 and she found her footing along the way. Her confidence was short-lived, however, when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and left everyone in fearful uncertainty.
Not one to waste time, Isabel took the opportunity to grow her family, giving birth to her first child in April 2021. “I always expected that I would just continue touring but I was suddenly presented with this opportunity to be home and relax throughout my first pregnancy. We decided to take advantage of that and I couldn’t be more grateful that we did. It was a silver lining in a difficult time.”
All The Light leans more toward the folk side of Isabel’s folk/Americana identity, making use of a live band feel while also incorporating a great deal of acoustic instrumentation. The songs are both introspective and relatable, paying due respect to the fears that form us and the freedom of letting them go.
On All The Light, Isabel reunites with Rambling Stranger producer, Jared Anderson, and the result is a stunning reflection of the growth of a professional friendship. “When Jared and I worked on Rambling Stranger, we were both in our mid 20s and now on this project we’re in our early 30s. A lot has changed. It’s a special thing to return to a producer-artist dynamic at this point in our lives. Making a record requires vulnerability and understanding and a lot of time; I think that’s reflected in the way these songs have turned out.”
Colin Cutler
May 2025
An Army veteran who traded in his rifle for a banjo and guitar, Colin Cutler is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll.
While his first few albums were directly inspired by his background in oldtime music, his most recent effort was even more ambitious and electric. Tarwater was inspired by both life and the earthy characters of Georgia author Flannery O'Connor, achieving "...a juke joint energy coursing through it and a humidity that seems to sweat out the sins and the booze that these characters are often soaked in” (Paste). It was developed in part at a National Endowment of the Humanities Institute in Milledgeville, GA.
The 2022 Winner of the Susquehanna Folk Festival’s Emerging Artists Competition, the last couple years have seen Cutler playing across the Southeast, with appearances at Merlefest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, the North Carolina Folk Festival, Antlers and Acorns Songwriters Festival, and the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival.
Also a traveler and educator, Cutler has opened for Caroline Spence in England, Kerry Fearon in Ireland, and Lilly Drumeva O’Reilly in Bulgaria, while placing songs on BBC Introducing and the British zombie film Zomblogalypse and performing at the City of York Folk Festival, Greensboro Bound Literary Festival, the Romanian National Museum of Literature with the Fulbright Program, and Notre Dame University. He has also shared stages with national names like Caroline Spence, Buffalo Nichols, Dashawn Hickman, and Josh Morningstar, and regional legends like David Childers, Molly McGinn, Nikki Morgan, and Momma Molasses.
He is currently working on another album combining trad folk styles with his own songwriting, and is writing a folk opera based on Dante’s Inferno.
"Gritty, real life, traditional yet modern folk tales with depth and meaning, a tale to tell, and a righteous message to boot.”
~Daniel Lucas of Boss Caine
”A fantastic singer-songwriter.”
~Jericho Keys, BBC Introducing, Radio York
”A seasoned performer, Colin combines his worldly and traveled view with the sound of southern roots.”
~Around Town Sessions