Backstage Pass
Our stripped-back live music series that connects you with the artist in an intimate listening room space. We celebrate the rich local and regional community of singer/songwriters by making each performance a unique sonic experience for both viewer and performer.
Josh Coffey is a multi-instrumentalist that wears many hats in the music industry.
Aside from performing regularly with the band The Wheelhouse Rousters, Coffey also
composes, produces recordings, and teaches private music lessons at his music studio
Time on the String. Incredibly varied in his musical aptitude, Coffey is easily at
home in orchestral settings, string quartets, string bands, jazz ensembles and rock-based
bands. You might find him performing in theaters, at bluegrass & folk festivals, on
the country western stage, in rockabilly honky tonks or on paddlewheel riverboats.
Chloe Kimes, a singer-songwriter based in Nashville who is defining the next generation of folk-singing troubadours, will play a Backstage Pass concert at the Clemens Fine Arts Center (CFAC) at West Kentucky Community and Technical College December 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Kimes, who moved to Nashville in 2016, is known for her old-soul sensibility for storytelling in an energetic and vivacious alt-country style. At the December 9 concert, Kimes and her band are sure to capture the CFAC audience at first listen.
A midwest native, born and raised in northern Michigan, Kimes grew up with bluegrass festivals and family harmony. With over a decade of performing in various bands already under her belt, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter also graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music business from Middle Tennessee State University.
She pulls influence from the robust acoustic music community in her Nashville home, as well as from her backwoods, Michigan roots. She is unbound by genre as she consistently navigates a delicate balance between the raw emotions of sorrow and happiness with heartfelt, unwavering vocals.
Recognized by NPR’s Emerging Artist Spotlight in 2022 as one of the 10 Nashville Artists on the Rise, Kimes’s debut album, “Chloe Kimes Out Now,” is a sincere reflection of the artist, and with music as homegrown as its writer. Kimes and her band are not to be missed.
The Backstage Pass series connects the audience with artists in an intimate listening room atmosphere. The audience sits on the CFAC stage for a more up-close, personal experience.
For tickets to the Chloe Kimes concert in the CFAC, visit artsinfocus.org or call 270-534-3212. Tickets are $8 in advance; $10 at the door.
Additional information:
Chloe Kimes | Nashville Americana Artist | Chloe Kimes Music
Luke Taylor has spent a lifetime honing his craft as a multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised in southern Illinois, Taylor traveled across the river to Paducah, where he truly found his home musically as a vital part of the local music scene. Over the past 12 years, he developed his personal sound while playing with The Cuttin’ Jessies, Leonard The Band, and The Living Room, culminating in the recent release of his solo album Filbo. The album and his EP are available on all major streaming platforms.
Taylor’s intrinsic ability to express understated emotion shines through his songwriting. Backed by a full band, his arrangements and unexpected tones create a complex and compelling sound that’s fresh while simultaneously reminiscent of days gone by.
With wide-ranging influences including Tom Petty, Wilco, The Cars, Electric Light Orchestra, and The Beatles, it’s no surprise his music displays the confident, experimental sounds of 60s Rock-n-Roll with more intimate folk and indie-inspired undercurrents.
Don’t miss Luke Taylor as he takes the Clemens Fine Arts Center stage with his band live on the West Kentucky Community and Technical College campus.
Abe Partridge is a heralded musician, singer/songwriter, visual artist, and podcaster based in Mobile, Alabama. His 2018 debut, Cotton Fields and Blood For Days earned him rave reviews, with Tony Paris saying in The Bitter Southerner: "He plays guitar the same way he writes lyrics, bashing the strings with abandon until they are just about to come loose, then beautifully picking the notes until every last word falls into place. More to the point, Partridge writes to make you sit up and think. He wants to jar your reality. Sometimes, his lyrics are sly and subtle. Sometimes they come at you with a roar and thunder, as if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were approaching, and the heavens were opening up to herald a warning."
Since the release of his debut, Partridge has toured relentlessly, including several tours of the Netherlands and the U.K. developing a reputation for moving, passionate, and sometimes comedic, performances at prestigious songwriter festivals such as 30A Songwriters Festival, Frank Brown Songwriters Festival, and Americanafest. He is a regular at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. He has performed on the syndicated radio programs, Mountain Stage and Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. He has shared the stage with Morgan Wade, Paul Thorn, Steve Poltz, Dan Bern, Jerry Joseph, Glen Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket), Tommy Stinson, Shawn Mullins, John Fullbright, and more.
Most recently, Partridge and co-producer Ferrill Gibbs released the Alabama Astronaut podcast, where they explore songs previously undocumented at churches in Appalachia. The podcast finds Partridge chatting with Holiness preachers and looking into the practice of snake handling. It was in the Top Ten documentary podcasts on Apple Podcasts within days of its release and now has over 40k downloads and a 4.9-star rating.
When Partridge is not writing or touring, he is also a highly acclaimed visual artist. His paintings, primarily acrylic on tarred board and watercolors, now hang in art galleries around the southeast and in the private collections of Tyler Childers, Mike Wolfe (American Pickers), Rick Hirsch (Wet Willie), and Tommy Prine. His artwork was featured in Stephen King’s 2019 sequel to The Shining - Dr. Sleep. He painted the cover art for Charlie Parr’s, Last Of The Better Days Ahead (Smithsonian Folkways). He also created art for Tyler Childers’ 2022 release, Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?
American Songwriter Magazine said, “Abe Partridge has established himself as one of the most respected songwriters and visual folk artists in the southeast.”
In November of 2022, Partridge released the EP Alabama Skies on Baldwin Co. Public Records label which includes "Abe Partridge’s 403d Freakout". Partridge told Songfacts the story behind the song: " 'Abe Partridge's 403d Freakout' was a song I wrote in about 20 minutes. It took me two weeks to make it rhyme, and then it took me about six months to learn it. I just sat and wrote a couple of pages of thoughts as they came to me. It was my attempt at describing my thoughts chronologically as they sometimes occur in my head before I filter them. It is those thoughts that I often have if I allow myself to mentally wander."
Partridge's exhibit With Signs Following was on exhibition at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile, AL from January 13 - May 20 of 2023 and is expected to travel to other city contemporary art centers in the next few years. His full-length studio album, Love In The Dark, on BCPR label, was released on May 12, 2023.
Additional information:
ClemensFAC@kctcs.edu | (270) 534-3212
