Blackberry Smoke

Blackberry Smoke with support by Sam Barber Thursday, June 22 at 8 pm in the Oneglia Auditorium

ABOUT BLACKBERRY SMOKE: American rock band Blackberry Smoke - Made up of Charlie Starr (vocals, guitar), Paul Jackson (guitar, vocals), Richard Turner (bass, vocals), Brit Turner (drums) and Brandon Still (keyboards) - has become known for a singular sound indebted to classic rock, blues, country and folk. Since their debut in 2004, the Atlanta-based band has independently released six full-length albums and toured relentlessly, building a strong and loyal community of fans. The band has also had unparalleled success with sales of each of their last albums. In 2015 they released Holding All the Roses, which was the first independently-released record to hit #1 on the Billboard Country album charts in modern history. Like An Arrow followed in 2016, again putting them at #1. 2018 saw the band outsell all other releases with their self-produced Find A Light plus the acoustic accompaniment, The Southern Ground Sessions. Most recently, in 2019 Blackberry Smoke released Homecoming: Live in Atlanta, a recorded performance from their annual show in the band's home town. It also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Americana/Folk sales charts. This became the 4th consecutive album for Blackberry Smoke to be atop the charts. In addition to their success domestically, the band has also had #1 Rock, #1 Independent, and #1 U.K. Americana album chart releases in the United Kingdom and Europe.

ABOUT SAM BARBER: Sam Barber was raised on a farm in a small town in Southeast Missouri surrounded by a supportive family and an abundance of friends. Most of his childhood was devoted to athletics where he learned many lessons such as the importance of a team, practice, discipline, respect and hard work. Music has not always been his passion and as a child, he never participated in music class or music performances. Sam's music journey has been completely unplanned and his success continues to astound him. When he was 16, Sam picked up his great grandfather's Gibson, out of tune with 5 strings and fell in love with the art of playing. He soon learned that he also had the God-given talent to sing along. Sam's vision is to continue to grow and become stronger as a vocalist and songwriter. He wants to deliver songs that people feel in their soul. Above all, he wants to stay true to his faith, the man he truly is, and the type of music he wants to make without boundaries or conforming.

Since releasing Drowning in March Sam's social reach has soared past half a million followers and garnered over 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Sam has hit the Global viral charts and reached #1 in UK, Aus, Ire and more.