The Voice Finalist, Grace Askew, To Appear At KASU Coffee House Concert
JONESBORO —Grace Askew, a singer-songwriter best known for competing on season four in 2013 of NBC television’s “The Voice,” under the guidance of country music singer Blake Shelton, will perform in the Coffee House Concert Series, Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. The concert, hosted by KASU-FM, the public radio service of Arkansas State University, is at the Arts @ 311, located at 311 S. Church.
Askew is a 27-year-old Memphian known for a style she calls “Bluntry” (blues/country). After exiting during the knockout rounds of the “The Voice” competition,Rolling Stone magazine deemed her the “most robbed contestant” of the season.
After returning home, Askew began working on her album, “Scaredy Cat,” which was released in August of this year. She recorded all but one song of the album in one day at Memphis’s Sun Studios.
She later returned to the legendary Union Avenue location to film an episode of the PBS television series, “Sun Studio Sessions,” set to air in January 2015. She has appeared on the radio programs “Wood Songs Old Time Radio Hour” and “Beale Street Caravan” — both broadcast regularly on KASU.
Askew performed an opening set for Jesse Winchester’s last Memphis concert at Rhodes College in 2010. Over the last five years, she has also opened for or toured with Marty Stuart, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard and James McMurtry.
KASU Station Manager Mike Doyle noted, “Grace Askew, while endowed with movie-star good looks, has transcended the shallowness of today’s typical country songs and country stars. Drawing on the blues tradition of her home town, she writes and performs with a raw-edged realism that makes her an ideal performer for our Coffee House series.”
Bruce Sylvester wrote in Sing Out magazine, "If Tom Waits had a singer/writer daughter in Memphis, it would be Askew with her gallery of lost souls on the graveyard shift. Gutsy, bluesy, and a bit boozy, she quietly sings with jagged languor . . . a skewed spirituality . . . (and) rough-hewn sophistication."
Askew’s Coffee House concert will be the last stop on the way home from a tour through Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. She will accompany herself on rhythm and slide resonator guitar, backed by Logan Hanna on lead guitar.
The Coffee House Concert series is made possible through the sponsorship of Dr. Richard Stevenson, Gregg-Langford-Bookout Funeral Home, and Dr. Yeoman’s Dermatology Office in partnership with KASU Radio, The Arts@311 and Dr. Carl Abraham.
Tickets for Grace Askew are on sale in limited supply for $10 each at the Arts @311 box office, adjacent to Dr. Carl Abraham’s practice, at 311 S. Church in Jonesboro. The box office is open from 1-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.
For more information, contact Mike Doyle, KASU-FM Station Manager, at (870) 972-3486.
