Caitlin Rose on Saturday, April 14, 7 p.m.
The Wild Reeds, Monday, April 16, 7 p.m.
Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel, 304 East Third Street, Davenport IA
Four extraordinary female musicians will enjoy sets as Moeller Nights headliners on April 14 and 16, the former date bringing with it an initimate concert boasting alternative-country sensation Caitlin Rose, and the latter showcasing the acclaimed indie-folk talents of Mackenzie Howe, Kinsey Lee, and Sharon Silva in the singing trio's five-piece outfit The Wild Reeds.
The daughter of songwriter Liz Rose, whose numerous hits for Taylor Swift include “Teardrops on My Guitar,” Caitlin Rose was previously the lead singer of the Nashville-based indie band Save Macaulay, and signed to BMI in 2008 for the reserve of her seven-track EP Dead Flowers. With The Guardian writing that “Rose's bright, bold trill is irresistibly reminiscent of early Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson,” the artist's fast success led to the release of her first LP in Own Side Now – named one of the Top 10 Albums of 2011 by Time magazine – and 2013's follow-up The Stand-In. Rolling Stone stated that Rose “brings muscle and a clear disdain for bullshit to songs rooted equally in honky-tonk and rock,” and named The Stand-In the eighth best country album of 2013.
Rolling Stone was also an early proponent of The Wild Reeds, the magazine citing the band as one of last spring's “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know” and comparing their sound to “Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris' seminal Trio album mixed with Tom Waits' kitchen-sink instrumental aesthetic.” Starting as a female trio in 2014, Howe, Lee, and Silva made their full-length debut with Blind & Brave, an album, according to MindEqualsBlown.net, of “such poise and delicacy that you can't help but close your eyes and simply soak in the music.” A self-released EP followed in 2016's Best Wishes, along with the female trio's addition of bandmates Nick Jones and Nick Phakpiseth. The Wild Reeds' sophomore album The World We Built, meanwhile, landed in 2017, prompting SavingCountryMusic.com to call it “sweeping, bold, expansive, and explorative” with “an emotional roller coaster presents in the lyrics.”
Caitlin Rose performs her April 14 concert alongside guest artists The Kernal and The Michigan Rattlers, while The Wild Reeds' engagement on April 16 features an opening set by The Lonely Biscuits. Both shows take place at Davenport's Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel at 7 p.m., and more information is available by visiting MoellerNights.com.
