Tonight will see rising country star Joshua Ray Walker return to the Waiting Room Lounge. There are quite a few reasons to check out this show. The first being that he has three very good country albums out in the world, and he has this kickass yodel-ish classic voice and soulful country sound. The second is that he has a new album coming out featuring cover songs of songs performed by women. The first single is a cover of Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You”, but the album will also have covers of The Cranberries, Q Lazurus (which seems to be a go to cover right now), Cher, Dolly, Whitney, Sia, Sinead, Beyonce, Leann Rimes, and Regina Spektor. Will he play some of these songs (besides Lizzo, he will probably play Lizzo)? This is what I am curious about. I don’t usually get super into covers albums, but this one has me curious. The third is that Jade Jackson is performing before Joshua goes on stage. Her 2019 album Wilderness is a favorite, and I have to assume she has some new songs in the tank she is performing right now. 7:30PM Show with Tickets available at Etix.com

The Maha Music Festival has announced a new tier or experience for this year’s festival, The Maha Membership. Maha already offers general admission and VIP tickets and experiences. The trend among major festivals is to offer even more. I just attended a festival in California that had GA, GA+, VIP, and Clubhouse. The Clubhouse would be similar to what Maha is offering. The Maha Membership is going to cost you $750 per person, and $250 of that is tax deductible as Maha is a non-profit festival. For that price, you will get complimentary drinks all weekend, catered dinner, in-suite live stream viewing, prime stage viewing area, air-conditioned restrooms, priority lane entrance, charging, lounge seating in the shade, and concierge service. Beyond that, you will get a welcome package, an exclusive sweatshirt, an invite to the Maha pre-festival reception, your name on the festival banner, video wall, and website, a lanyard, and a quarterly newsletter with info on everything happening with Maha. It sounds like a pretty good deal if that is the route you want to take. That was the price for one day at the festival I was just at, and I don’t think you got that much. I am not at the VIP level in my festival going just yet; I like to move around and get too many vantage points to do that, and I like my festival food to be very bad for me. That being said, that time will come, and I hope these prices remain until then, as I would jump at it in a heartbeat. It should also be said that I am a stage manager at Maha and have been for many, many years. This year’s Maha Festival features Big Thief, Turnstyle, Always, Peach Pit, Icky Blossoms, and many more.