Homage Nation is a time-honored tradition at The Kessler Theater, featuring a gathering of esteemed North Texas-based musicians and vocalists coming together for one evening to pay tribute to the transformative recording artists who have influenced their own music and creative projects.
 
Part I: Keyboardist and Musical Director Adam Pickrell (Nelly Furtado/Decadent Dub Team) has once again assembled an all-star line-up of first-call musicians and vocalists. The evening will begin with an start-to-finish rendition of the acclaimed 1994 album "Wildflowers", featuring David Monsey (bassist for Fiona Apple), JJ Johnson (drummer for Gary Clark, Jr.), Chris Holt (guitarist for The Eagles), and Michael Smith (guitarist for The Speaker Wars.)
 
Part II: Following that, this core ensemble will present a number of classic songs from Tom Petty's catalog, along with the addition of many guest musicians: featuring guitarist Andy Timmons, guitarist Kenny Withrow (New Bohemians), bassist Mark Pirro (Tripping Daisy/Polyphonic Spree), drummer Bryan Wakeland (Tripping Daisy), drummer Tony Barsotti (Hagfish), vocalists Patrice Pike and Will Kniffen, and guitarist Hunter Hendrickson,  Additional vocalists will include Chris and Carrie Norwood, Bob Watson (Shallow Reign), Clate Bowen, Amy Curnow, Jacob Metcalf and his father Jim Metcalf, with back vocals by Bann Crooks, Sarah Kasperzyk, and Jason Corcoran. Guitarists Cameron Ray and Marc Solomon will also participate, as well as bassists Emsy Robisnon, Linda Garner, and Mike Daane. Drummers John Solis, Tom Bridwell, and Joe James, along with keyboardists Paul Slavens (Ten Hands) and Jay Terleski, will round out the roster of players. 
 
Like our previous Homage Nation events celebrating the music of Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Daniel Johnston, Sparklehorse, and Harry Nilsson, these gatherings are about honoring profound musical influence and celebrating this extraordinary North Texas music community. Visual artist Sarah Kasperzyk will once again provide live video projections and imagery.
 
Executive produced by Kessler Presents Artistic Director Jeffrey Liles and Adam Pickrell. Doors open at six o'clock, performance kicks off at seven PM.
Jacob Metcalf

Dallas, Texas songwriter Jacob Metcalf returns to The Kessler Theater stage after releasing his 9 song sophomore album Monitors (2024).

While Metcalf’s debut album Fjord (2016) was tracked in half a dozen recording studios and completed with the help of 36 musician friends, Monitors was, by necessity, conceived and recorded primarily in isolation from the small bedroom studio where Metcalf rehearses his songs.

Metcalf invited a few friends to lend their talents but kept the decorations minimal. To fill out the arrangements Metcalf for the first time played trumpet, plucked violins and bowed cellos, even picking up vibraphone and contributing pedal steel guitar to round out the record.

The nonet batch of songs also features well-placed electric guitars patched through fuzz pedals, and overdrive slide breaks doused in canyon reverb and slapback delay. A few vintage synthesizers make appearances too. It’s all new terrain for the artist. “Anything is possible,” laughs Metcalf. And indeed it is.

Metcalf and band will play favorites from Fjord and Monitors and more.

Jackson Scribner

Raised in rural Melissa, Texas, Jackson Scribner grew up obsessed with music from an early age. He learned guitar when he was only nine and spent countless hours playing alongside his Dad and brothers at family gatherings. Being that the virtuosic player is only twenty four years old, that doesn’t feel all that long ago. Only in the last three to four years has Jackson put lyrics to his skillful instrumentals, making their timeless appeal all the more prodigious.

Jackson’s precocity — melodic and poetic — pierces sparse folk-rock arrangements, and in turn, a listener’s heart. With emotional precision, he roars and rattles out familiar tales of life so beautifully unspecial: “Me and you left when you were sixteen / Hair so wild when you look at me / Take your wheels across the county line / Thousand miles away to that downtown diner / Watch you rise…”

Jackson along with his brother Levi Scribner (also a critically acclaimed singer songwriter in his own right) perform mostly as a duo, entwining their harmonious voices and intricate guitar playing. Notably, Jackson has supported acts like Dan Layus (Augustana,) Abraham Alexander, and Israel Nash.in and around the States as well as in Europe, where’s they’ve played twice at Sweden’s Rootsy Fest and the duo just returned home from their third trip across the pond, playing in France alongside Dylan Leblanc at The Eldorado Festival outside Paris.

Jackson Scribner’s debut album Jackson Scribner was released in 2021 on State Fair Records.  His much anticipated sophomore record is set to be released in early 2025 along with a track co-written with Dan Layus.

With the release of his award-winning debut album Fjord (2016), Jacob Metcalf hinted that you could travel all the continents and discover that you never left your one true home.

Now, with the full-length follow up Monitors (2022), Metcalf capably demonstrates that the journey within is just as rewarding, and may be just as perilous.

Born from the quiet, alone and wandering the confines of the mind, Monitors unfolds like an unhurried, developing conversation with self.

In an age of misdirection, what is and isn’t real has never been less obvious. Metcalf further invites the listener to blur the lines with him.

Hosted by the historic Kessler Theater, expect a full-band concert spring-loaded with surprises. All attendees will enjoy a complimentary digital-format version of Monitors to take home.

Special Guest Doug Burr opens the show.

The Kessler is proud to host alternative musicians from Austin and Dallas coming together to pay tribute to the late iconic musician/artist Daniel Johnston.

Perfomances by:
Kathy McCarty
Jad Fair of Half Japanese
Tim DeLaughter of The Polyphonic Spree
John Dufilho of The Deathray Davies
The Sutcliffes
Paul Slavens
Jacob Metcalf
Artwork by Daniel Johnston and Jeff F. Wheeler

Dallas native, nationally-touring artist Cameron Matthew Ray is a lyrical martyr. Cameron’s lyrics boast a melancholy, brutally and simple truth that pierces your musical skin. Ray is a seasoned vet when it comes to the singer/songwriter and folk genres opening up for veterans like Griffin House, Andrew Belle, Gungor, Sean McConnell, and Foreigner. Rays newest project “Love & Space”, produced by Taylor Tatsch (Maren Morris, Garret Owen) will leave you hurting and wanting more music at the same time.

Ray’s new project is a collection of Singles for each season, Starting with Winter.  On 11/30/2018 Ray released “Here for You”  The song is about the joys and struggles of spending winther with his wife in their current home of Dallas, TX and this wife’s past home in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.  Each song from the project will detail the season it is about in different parts of the country. 

Ray’s boisterous live shows range from anywhere from a striped down warm acoustic guitar to a energetic rock show back to to a classical interpretation with Clarinets and many more classical instruments.  Each time He takes the stage the audience is in for Ray pouring out his heart for all to hear.

 

Jacob Metcalf is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Dallas, Texas.  Metcalf’s debut album Fjord (2016) received pleasant responses from the international press community and music lovers alike for its art-folk compositions. The eleven song collection ranges from wistful, unhurried ballads to swirling, majestic orchestrations, sometimes within the same song, and all set to Metcalf’s inviting vocals and non-linear story-telling. Highlighting eastern sounds and western orchestra, Fjord reads like a love letter to humanity, for all splintered people living in a fractured age.

D and Chi are a Dallas Indie pop duo that’s taking what they learned on the streets of the Bishop Arts District to the world. Either backed by a full band or playing acoustic, this duo can showcase what’s sure to be hit songs that’ll be stuck in your head until the next show.

Since the release of This Is Where We Are, Seryn has undergone a lot of changes, most recently a move from Denton to Nashville. The band has over the past seven years seen a few lineup changes, several management changes, and transitioned from label to independent. Ultimately, the struggle to keep their heads above water strengthened the core focus and direction of Seryn.

Founded in Denton, Texas and based out of Nashville, Tennessee, spirited indie folk-pop ensemble Seryn crafts emotionally charged, harmony-laden Americana-kissed pop confections. Formed in 2010 they employ an instrumental arsenal that includes guitar, ukulele, accordion, bass, violin, and banjo, as well as some inventive percussion. Their albums have received nearly unanimous regional acclaim, as do the group’s rousing live shows.