Jake Xerxes Fussell

Jake Xerxes Fussell is a singer and guitarist based in Durham, NC. He is, according to Ann Powers of NPR, “maybe the leading interpreter of American folk music right now…” Fussell’s album Good and Green Again was released to critical acclaim in January of 2022. The album was produced by James Elkington and featured some formidable musicians, including Casey Toll on upright bass, Libby Rodenbough on strings, Joe Westerlund on drums, Joseph Decosimo on fiddle, and others. Bonnie “Prince” Billy contributed additional vocals.

“…Fussell is the rare contemporary to approach folk in its pure form, shunning self-penned compositions about bummer relationships to concentrate on material handed down from bygone, hardened times.” –The New Yorker

“(Fussell) is one of the great magpies of American song, collecting forgotten, tarnished gems with a folklorist’s zeal… his renditions aren’t so much cover versions as composites…” –The Guardian

This incredible night will be opened with a performance from local fiddle player, Nokosee Fields. The great nephew of celebrated Cherokee fiddler Sam O’Fields, Nokosee carries a longstanding Cherokee fiddling tradition into the present. Through powerful live and recorded performances, he lovingly and playfully re-imagines his tradition with immense skills and sensitivity as a performer of traditional fiddle music. His prowess has not gone unnoticed: He’s won some of the most prestigious contests in the United States and has performed and taught at flagship festivals and workshops.