Since we held our album-release show on the Square in June, Ponderosa Grove has been on the move. Quickly following the release we signed on with top music agency Paladin Artists, based out of New York and Los Angeles, and with the help of enthusiastic audiences we’ve been steadily moving up the music-business ladder, one step at a time.
After some sold-out shows at the Highlands Center here in Prescott, we played the Wonderland Festival in Mesa, and in September followed that up with our show at Music Prize 2021, a national annual music competition in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was a massive win — we took first place unanimously among the judging panel of music-industry experts! We were also excited to learn that as a result the Recording Academy accepted our album The Debut for consideration for a Grammy award!
We've packed a lot in under six months. Most recently we opened for five-time Grammy-winners The Tedeschi Trucks Band in West Palm Beach FL and Birmingham AL in front of sold-out audiences, with a 40-minuteset of original music.
Working the Kravis Center in Florida and The BJCC in Alabama has been incredible. Both venues are prominent and beautiful in their communities, each holding roughly 3,000 live-music enthusiasts, helping Ponderosa Grove reach new fans across the country.
While PG performs as up to a nine-piece ensemble, for these recent opening spots we played as an acoustic trio featuring Candace Devine on vocals, Drew Hall on guitar and vocals and Josh Taylor on guitar and vocals. This stripped-down acoustic set greatly highlights and showcases our strong three-part harmonies and catchy melodic sensibilities as musicians.
It was also a perk to be able to enjoy the Tedeschi Trucks performances from the wings and spend time with them after the performances. The whole Tedeschi Trucks Band and crew were incredibly welcoming to us Prescott locals, and treated us like part of their musical family.
On the road we all enjoy seeking out the best local places to eat. Drivers, hotel staff and locals on the street all take pride in showing off their cities. Our foodie travel experiences always add a fun bonus to the adventure and the music. So far we've been loving the South and all the flavors that come with it.
Home for the Holidays
After being out of state quite a bit, Ponderosa Grove is coming back home to be with the Prescott community and share in the wonder of Arizona's Christmas City. We will be doing a Christmas Sing-Along to give back to the home town that's helped support and push our growth. As exciting as it is to get on the road and play to thousands of people, there's no place like home and the people of Prescott.
For that show you can expect to see us with Prescott locals Cosimo Bohrman, Nick Canuel, Zack Domingues, Gigi Gonaway, Stephy Leigh Griffin, Vince Porter and Paul Ruffner. We’ll encourage you to singalong to familiar Christmas songs, and an additional special guest or two will make it a night you won’t want to miss.
We hope you’ll join us at Hendrix Auditorium at Mile High Middle School on Thursday December 16, 6:30pm. Tickets are $10-30, available on Eventbrite.com (just search ‘Ponderosa Grove’ on the site) or on our website, ponderosagrove.com.
We will donate a portion of proceeds from this show to the Prescott Unified School District Education Foundation to help support youth arts and education. A ticket to this show will not only give you that good old-fashioned feeling and spirit of Christmas, it will also allow you to give that same spirit back to our kids! This will be a very family-friendly show, so bring all your loved ones!
We will also be performing our new holiday single, “Christmas Spirit,” set for release on all digital platforms on December 3. You can preorder on ponderosagrove.com to get it in your music library the moment it's released.
We have a number of big shows and festivals slated for next year that we’ll be announcing in the weeks and months to come. Follow us on your favorite platform.
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Twitter: @ponderosagrove
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YouTube: PonderosaGrove
