Amplify Decatur Music Festival Lineup Released

DECATUR, GA -- The Amplify Decatur Music Festival returns to the downtown square Saturday, April 13, 2019, with a line-up featuring Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples and two-time Grammy award winner Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The lineup also includes Kevn Kinney of Drivin N Cryin, and the Atlanta-based jam-rock band The Bitteroots. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., and the show will close at 11 p.m.

Tickets are available at AmplifyDecatur.org and through Eventbrite.com. General admission tickets are $45. VIP tickets (quantity limited) are $149.50 and include preferred seating (behind Premium seats), a dedicated bar, four complimentary beer or wine beverages, and dedicated VIP bathrooms. And new this year, Premium seating will be $249.50, and will include seating directly in front of the stage, access to the VIP bathrooms, unlimited beer and wine, and drink service (during intermissions)—and additional benefits to be determined. Only 100 Premium tickets will be sold.

All funds raised—including ticket sales—at the fourth annual outdoor music festival will be directed to Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM) to support its efforts to prevent and alleviate homelessness in Decatur and DeKalb County. To date, Amplify Decatur has raised $190,000 for DCM.

The concert series is presented by Decatur-based marketing agency Lenz and produced in partnership with the Decatur music venue Eddie’s Attic. Christine Mahin, accounts and operations director at Lenz, will again serve as festival director.

Amplify Decatur will also feature shows at Eddie’s Attic, Friday, April 12, Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 14, with artists to be announced soon.

Mavis Staples

Staples, an incomparable R&B and gospel legend, continues forging a career that began nearly 70 years ago. Staples holds a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and her many awards include being a Kennedy Center Honoree, and a Grammy and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner. As a member of the Staple Singers, she recorded a volume of timeless tracks, including “I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself,” and “Freedom Highway,” the latter a civil rights-era anthem. Her solo career collaborations feature a who’s-who of music royalty, from Prince to Bob Dylan and George Jones to Ray Charles. Staples’ influence spans generations, and contemporary artists such as Nick Cave, Neko Case, and Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) have penned songs for her. Modern rockers Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, and Hozier have worked with Staples, and she has recorded multiple critically-acclaimed albums with Jeff Tweedy from Wilco. Staples continues performing nearly 200 nights a year, and is currently supporting her latest release, “Live in London.”

Jeff Tweedy

Jeff Tweedy is the co-founder of Uncle Tupelo, founder and leader of Wilco, and a two-time Grammy Award winner. He recently released a solo record titled “WARM” and the memoir, “Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back).” “WARM” was produced and recorded entirely by Tweedy at Chicago’s now legendary studio, The Loft (with help from some of his usual collaborators – Spencer Tweedy, Glenn Kotche, and Tom Schick). In “Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back),” Jeff writes candidly and compellingly about his past, his songs, and the people who have inspired him. It’s a portrait of an artist in his most reflective and creative state.

Kevn Kinney

Kevn Kinney is the lead singer-songwriter of the Atlanta rock band, Drivin N Cryin, which has a gold record, 10 full-length albums, and a spot in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame to its credit. Since the band's 1985 inception, he's also released several solo acoustic albums, including 1990’s “MacDougal Blues,” produced by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck for Island Records. Darius Rucker cut Kinney’s song, "Straight To Hell,” on his album "When Was The Last Time.” The Drivin N Cryin song was a major hit on their acclaimed album, “Mystery Road,” originally released in 1989. The documentary film “Scarred But Smarter: Life N Times of Drivin N Cryin” was released in 2012.

The Bitteroots

The Bitteroots are an Atlanta-based, jam-rock band that draws comparisons to the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, Melissa Etheridge, and Janis Joplin. The band has released four albums of original music, most recently, “Under The Big Sky” in 2014.

Since Amplify My Community was founded in 2010, it has raised and donated more than $300,000 to address local homelessness and poverty issues, including $190,000 to Decatur Cooperative Ministry.

“Amplify's mission is to celebrate the incredible work of DCM through the joy of live music,” said Amplify My Community board president Drew Robinson. “We are truly honored to assist in DCM's efforts to eradicate homelessness here in Decatur and DeKalb County, and we could not do this without the unwavering support of so many local businesses, the city of Decatur, and all of our sponsors, especially Lenz.”

Lenz, the presenting sponsor, is a founding partner of Amplify Decatur. “Lenz puts its efforts and funding behind nonprofits that are working hard to help the neediest in our neighborhoods and that is what Amplify does,” said Richard J. Lenz, president and CEO of Lenz. “Our corporate support goes to fight terrible diseases, promote education, further the comprehension and protection of the natural world, and foster religious tolerance, because Lenz wants to help that which makes our world a richer, more beautiful, and life-sustaining community.”

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Images Amplify Decatur