Oxford, Miss. (SAA) – The Student Activities Association and the Ole Miss Student Union will welcome Thomas Rhett, along with solo act Iron and Wine and the duo Love and Theft, to the Grove on Sunday, April 26, 2015 for an afternoon of country music.
The 4 pm concert, which is free and open to the public, will wrap up Oxford’s Double Decker Festival weekend and follow the Ole Miss baseball game against the University of Alabama.
“The goal of the SAA spring concert is to host a fun and exciting event on campus,” said Nathan Darce, coordinator of student activities. “SAA has a long history of hosting many well-known musical acts on campus. Students should use this concert as an opportunity to support musical acts that come to campus. It is a great opportunity to spend time with the extended University of Mississippi and Oxford communities.”
All the performers have been recognized at the Country Music Awards. Spaces in the Grove are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Thomas Rhett
Headliner Thomas Rhett, son of country star Rhett Atkins, began playing drums as a child and by junior high school was part of a punk rock band called the High Heeled Flip Flops. He began playing at fraternity parties while a student at David Lipscomb University, but it wasn’t until he played a one-time gig with his dad that he attracted industry attention, as a songwriter.
After Jason Aldean recorded Rhett’s “I Ain’t Ready to Quit,” Rhett landed a deal with Big Machine Record Group and cut his debut album, “It Goes Like This,” which includes the chart singles “Get Me Some of That,” “Beer with Jesus,” “Would Ya,” “Something to Do with My Hands” and the title track. His next single, “Crash and Burn,” is set to be released Monday (April 27).
Iron and Wine
Sam Beam, better known as Iron and Wine, is no stranger to Oxford, having performed here several times, including the 2012 Double Decker Arts Festival. He recently released “Archive Series Volume One,” a compilation of unreleased tunes recorded over several years. His five studio albums include “The Creek Drank the Cradle” (2002), “Our Endless Numbered Days” (2004), and “The Shepherd’s Dog“ (2007), all on the Sub Pop label.
Stripped down and exposed, Archive Series Volume No. 1 epitomizes the dual nature of Sam Beam’s songwriting, both before and after he adopted the moniker Iron & Wine. Furnished with only his guitar and his voice, the collection of 16 tracks spotlights his affinity for wistful lyrics and tender chords.
In the song, “Everyone’s Summer of ’95,” Sam sings of old friends with an air of nostalgia that’s lightly buried beneath beautiful guitar picking. Now, the song has a new video that adds yet another layer to one of Sam’s home recordings. Paying homage to the world created within Sam’s lyrics, directors Erin Elders and Jeff Tomcho elected to tell their own story about a man, played by David Dastmalchian (Dark Knight, Ant-Man, & Animals), attending a wrestling match.
As told to Indiewire, “We wanted to create a unique environment that was as genuine as his song but also with a bit of mystery. The idea was to create a character who could perhaps exist in an Iron & Wine song and follow them around for a night, seeing what unfolds.”
Love and Theft
The acclaimed duo Love and Theft includes Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson, both of whom sing lead vocals and play guitar. They have established themselves as one of country’s hottest young acts with such memorable hits as the No. 1 country smash “Angel Eyes” and the Top 10 hit “Runaway.” They were nominated for Vocal Duo of The Year for the third consecutive year at the 2014 CMA awards, and last month, they released their boundary-pushing new album, “Whiskey on My Breath.” 
