June 3-5, 2022

The lushness of the orchestration of Lydia Luce’s Garden Songs EP is striking on first listen, and fans may hear it as a return to her musical roots. The mystery of why starts to unravel when she explains that she wrote it at an artist retreat at Doe Bay on Orcas Island, a tiny destination of some 57 square miles off the coast of Washington state known for vistas of water, forest, rocks, beaches, and blue skies. It was the first writing Luce had done since her 2021 album, Dark River

In addition to her solo work, Luce works with Lockeland Strings. This community arts organization showcases local artists with a string quintet and performances of new contemporary classical pieces from local composers. They’ve been joined by Kacey Musgraves and Lucie Silvas, among others, and partners with nonprofits, including the ACLU of Tennessee, Girls Write Nashville and The Little Pantry That Could. She also plays viola as a session musician.

 

Ryan Usher (aka “Grouch Bucket”) is a Nashville-based artist and founder of Grouch Bucket Studios. Ryan moved to Nashville in 2009 to pursue music. He spent many years recording records and touring the country as a drummer. In 2019 Ryan hit rock bottom mentally and emotionally and started to come to terms with a multitude of unhealthy addictions he had succumbed to over the years. He experienced what he calls a “spiritual awakening” and decided to end his love affair with drugs and alcohol and seek help. Modeled after the teachings of Alan Watts, Ekhart Tolle, Lao Tzu, and Gautama Buddha, Ryan began to develop a new spiritual discipline and outlook on life. Simultaneously, Ryan began drawing as a way of expressing what he was experiencing. He has described this process by saying, “I realize that my art in actuality is not “my art,” but the story of the universe being told through me.” When the pandemic hit in 2020, Ryan found himself out of a job as a touring musician. As a result, he leaned even harder into his new passion for the visual arts. With the extra time on his hands, he taught himself how to animate and immediately fell in love with the process. In 2021 Ryan decided to take a break from his touring career as a musician to start his own animation and illustration company; Grouch Bucket Studios. Ryan has animated music videos and promotional material for artists like, Lydia Luce, Heavy Duty Super Ego, Charlie Treat, Brooke Stephenson, Laruen Balthrop, Raymond Joseph and Cujo Moon. He has also animated videos and created artwork for Tiktok influencers Ghosthoney and Stanzi Potenza. Ryan’s artwork could be described as modern surrealism with a twist of psychedelia.