Tickets ($15)

door @ 6 pm / show @ 7 pm

This will be a great evening with two women of unique talent.

Tickets: $25

KELLY HUNT & KELLEY SMITH  Two great songwriters team up for this show. Hunt-Uncanny is Hunt’s innate ability to summon the same vigorous energy of classic folk players, all while pushing forward to modernize the instrument’s role in contemporary songwriting... Smith-...armed only with her guitar and a spine-tingling voice, you couldn’t tell she’s only been at this a couple years. Smith transported the room into a realm of enchantment both beautiful and sorrowful. With deeply affecting lyrics and haunting melodies, Smith shared stories we could all relate to. 

Doors: 6pm | Show: 7pm

~ Advance Admission:
General Admission - $20

~ Day of Show: $25 at door

⭐ Crys Matthews⭐

Already being hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie,” Nashville resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. A powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls "the poster child for intersectionality," Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation called Matthews’s gift "a reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." She is made for these times and, with the release of her new, hope-fueled, love-filled social justice album Changemakers, Matthews hopes to take her place alongside some of her heroes in the world of social-justice music like Sweet Honey in the Rock and Holly Near. Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.”

Matthews began performing in 2010 but cemented her acclaim at Lincoln Center as the 2017 NewSong Music and Performance Competition grand prize winner. That year she also released two new projects — her album of thoughtful songs on love and life called The Imagineers, and her EP called Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers, which tackles social justice themes. Matthews also won the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs contest at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance. Loyal fans quickly followed as Matthews racked up performances at large music festivals and prestigious venues across the country including the Sundance Film Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, and locally at venues like The Birchmere, The Hamilton, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, and Jammin' Java. In her TedTalk about difficult conversations called "Sing, Don't Shout — An Alternative Approach" Matthews spoke about being born and raised in a small town in southeastern North Carolina by an A.M.E. preacher, and how she witnessed the power of music from an early age. A former drum major and classically trained clarinetist turned folk singer, Matthews is using her voice to answer Dr. Martin Luther King's call to be "a drum major for justice." “I believe in hope,” Matthews said. “As a social-justice songwriter, it is my duty to keep breathing that hope and encouragement into the people who listen to my music.” And, from the title track to the last track, Changemakers does just that all while tackling some heavy topics like immigration, the opioid crisis, Black Lives Matter, and gun safety to name a few. “Ani DiFranco said, “People used to make records as in a record of an event,"” said Matthews, “so I hope that these songs will serve as a time capsule, a record of the events of the last four years and what it was like to live through them.” Crys Matthews's thoughtful, realistic, and emotional songs speak to the voice of our generation and remind us why music indeed soothes the soul.

⭐ Kelly Hunt⭐

Memphis native, Kelly Hunt, sings with what Rolling Stone Country describes as “the lilting cadence of a folksinger born somewhere far away, sometime long ago.” Deeply rooted in traditions of folk and old-time, Hunt’s music reimagines these forms with contemporary vigor, hovering beyond the constraints of genre and exploring the tension between past and present, old world and new. Self-taught on banjo and guitar, Hunt’s nuanced instrumental style melds finger-picking with pulsing rhythms, creating a dynamic backdrop for her soulful lyrics. A 2019 finalist for the International Folk Music Awards “Album of the Year," Kelly is currently on tour in support of her new album, Requiem for a Sleepless Night (Sept 2026), produced by Dirk Powell and released on Compass Records.

The Venue is brought to you by Fox Valley Music Foundation, dedicated to local music awareness, education and preservation. themusicvenue.org

We strongly recommend that you avoid buying tickets for our shows from any third parties. We will be unable to honor tickets purchased anywhere other than our website through Eventbrite or at our Box Office.

Tickets $10/15

Suggested donation of $20 each with 100% going to the artists.

BYOB format

To reserve your seat, email dave@luckydog.band

Seating is limited so please do reserve your spot to ensure a place!

Joint album release show for Kelly Hunt & Kelley Smith w/ special guest Simon Cropp!

Tickets

Intimate concert in the historic Elkader Opera House. Proceeds support music workshops and music lessons for people in the region.

OPERA HOUSE DOORS OPEN at 6:30 PM | Music starts at 7:00 PM

$20 Advance tickets | $25 At the door

Proceeds to benefit music lessons for people in the region.

Kelly Hunt is a compelling musician from Memphis, Tennessee, whose deep style deftly combines Country with the rich tones of Americana. She leads listeners to a world where dusty roads meet the sounds of the heartland with her passionate lyrics and emotive voice. Hunt's music, which draws influence from the masters of the genre, is honest and full of unfiltered emotion. Her strong vocals and deft banjo playing combine to produce a spellbinding, simultaneously familiar and new, experience.

Minnesota songwriter Kelley Smith is a wallflower who fancies old poetry and grandpa sweaters. All at once whimsical and haunting, Smith delivers deeply affecting lyrics with wry charm and a time traveler's voice. Prone to melancholy and daydreaming, Kelley spent her childhood roaming the woods of the north country. To this day, her longing for that landscape runs deep and seems to find its way into her songs in one way or another.

Simon Cropp is a flatpick guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and country and bluegrass songwriter. His performance is equal parts dive bar bravado and fireside introspection.

Simon’s songwriting style is plainspoken storytelling, channeling classic country themes of love, heartbreak, and the landscapes he travels through. Both as a solo act and with his band Slapdash Bluegrass, Simon has shared stage with songwriting inspirations in The Last Revel, Possessed by Paul James, Margo Cilker, Clay Street Unit, and Joseph Huber.

Joint album release show for Kelly Hunt & Kelley Smith w/ special guest Nicole Upchurch

Doors: 5pm | Show: 6pm

Tickets

All Ages

Mostly seated + limited standing room -- Limited seating available on a first come, first served basis. If you require ADA accommodations please reach out to info@xbklive.com*

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•• KELLY HUNT ••

Memphis native, Kelly Hunt, sings with what Rolling Stone Country describes as “the lilting cadence of a folksinger born somewhere far away, sometime long ago.” Deeply rooted in traditions of folk and old-time, Hunt’s music reimagines these forms with contemporary vigor, hovering beyond the constraints of genre and exploring the tension between past and present, old world and new. Self-taught on banjo and guitar, Hunt’s nuanced instrumental style melds finger-picking with pulsing rhythms, creating a dynamic backdrop for her soulful lyrics. Hunt’s 2019 debut, Even The Sparrow (a finalist for the International Folk Music Awards “Album of the Year”) is succeeded by Ozark Symphony (2023) and her newest release, Requiem for a Sleepless Night (2026), both of which were produced by Dirk Powell and released on Compass Records.

•• KELLEY SMITH ••

Minnesota songwriter Kelley Smith is a wallflower who fancies old poetry and grandpa sweaters. All at once whimsical and haunting, Smith delivers deeply affecting lyrics with wry charm and a time traveler's voice. Prone to melancholy and daydreaming, Kelley spent her childhood roaming the woods of the north country. To this day, her longing for that landscape runs deep and seems to find its way into her songs in one way or another.

Raised by musicians, Smith always had music in her bones, but it wasn't until she was 40 and a mother of four that her first record, Moon Child (2022), came to be. Since then, she has collaborated with artists such as Charlie Parr, Kelly Hunt, Wild Horses, Sarah Morris, Dave Simonett, and more. Though still a homebody and in the thick of family life, she occasionally tootles around the Midwest to perform in listening rooms, living rooms, haunted hotels, and at community-oriented festivals. Every once in a while she tucks into dive bars with her banjo to play folk songs.

With her much-anticipated sophomore release, “Flowers,” Kelley Smith leans into her exploration of songwriting as a means of disentangling herself. Smith is as gifted an instrumentalist as she is a singer, and her lyrics stand alone as poetry. With “Flowers,” Smith is the vessel of both the stories of her elders and those of her children, singing of universal sorrows and love that "puts on skin and bones." She wraps sparse instrumentation around her expressive guitar work - by way of counter-melodies, a lonely living room piano, and a few special guest players. “Flowers” is out on Nov. 6, 2026 on Liatris Records.

“These organic and unvarnished songs reflect life experiences that could as easily come from past lives as they could from Kelley’s soul.” - Rieder Homestead Concerts.

•• NICOLE UPCHURCH ••

Nicole Upchurch is deeply rooted in the Iowa music scene with a long and celebrated career making music with Awful Purdies and The Feralings. She is a dedicated forest school educator as well as the children’s programming instructor for Family Folk Machine. Nicole’s involvement in these projects presents meaningful ties to her community through activism, educational outreach and live performance.

Over the span of her musical career she has toured Europe and the U.S. playing music halls, festivals, protests and backyard bonfires sharing stages with a variety of artists like Del McCoury, Andy Statman, Pert Near Sandstone, Iris Dement, Taylor Mac and William Elliot Whitmore. She has released six albums and is an award recipient of the Iowa Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. Her song “Something in the Water” - recorded by Awful Purdies - brings awareness about water quality and climate issues in Iowa and was awarded “Best Song By a Local Artist” in 2021. Last fall, Nicole participated in the Iowa City Songwriter’s Festival as a panelist and scholar and will return to the festival this fall as a performer and panelist. 2026/2027 brings new recorded music with the release of 20 songs to celebrate 20 years of Awful Purdies as well as The Feralings first full length album.

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ADD ON OPTIONS:

(does not include tickets for the show)

A limited amount of reserved tables are offered for this event if you'd like to ensure that you have seats. Reserved tables can comfortably accommodate up to a party of four individuals. Please note that the Reserved Table Add-On does not include a general admission ticket; each person must have their own general admission ticket for entry. For example, a party of three people would want to purchase THREE general admission tickets and ONE table. For all remaining tables, seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Option #1: Premium Floor Table : $50 (+ Fees)

Option #2: Premium Balcony Table: $50 (+ Fees)

Tickets

Sara Swenson is a Kansas City-based singer-songwriter known for her emotionally-resonant and lyrically-rich songs that live in the tension of humanity. With a voice that invites and disarms, she crafts music that feels both incredibly personal and universally understood.

Her recently released album, Taller (2026, produced by Greg LaFollette), is a masterclass in emotional range and narrative depth, where Sara continues toward and bravely expands beyond the complexities of love, loss and longing - and into the lifeline found in community, the hauntings of manipulative and preying characters of the past, and the freedom, hope, and regret we all both cling to and release. Drawing from folk, Americana and acoustic pop influences in her sound, themes of transformation, nostalgia, and quiet rebellion are sewn into every song.

Sara’s songs have been featured on ABC’s Private Practice, CW’s Reign, CBC’s Hello Goodbye, and in PBS’s 2023 national series Girl Unscripted. Her track “I Won’t Let You Feel Alone” was the centerpiece of Children’s Mercy Hospital’s 2023–2025 regional campaign. With several albums, EPs and singles to her name, she’s performed alongside artists like Gregory Alan Isakov, Jakob Dylan, Matthew Perryman Jones and Katie Herzig, and has twice been named Singer-Songwriter of the Year in Kansas City.

Of A Feather:

After more than a decade of flying solo, Kelly Hunt, the poetic folk singer from Memphis, TN, and Sara Morgan, the brazen singer-songwriter from McGehee, AR, have finally taken flight together. After ten years of friendship and solo careers, life had other plans for them both. Neither thought they could co-write with anyone else, and they had always considered their music to be "too different" to collaborate with each other. After a spontaneous three-week tour that included seemingly infinite hours on the road, Of a Feather was accidentally - or rather, serendipitously - born. What else are two songwriters to do in the car other than write songs? With haunting harmonies, clever lyrics, and a sound that soars high enough to earn the band's name, what began as a side project between buddies has morphed into one of the most dynamic duos to come out of Nashville in years. Classic Southern rock meets a rich blend of country and Americana on their first co-written singles, "Wild Cotton" and "No Man's Land."

Apart, they are Kelly Hunt and Sara Morgan. Together, they are Of a Feather.