Recently Lime Kiln Theater‘s Executive Director Spencer McElroy joined WNRN’s Patrick Coman to preview the upcoming summer season at Lime Kiln, which kicks off Saturday May 21st with a performance from singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan. Scroll down to hear the conversation and Spencer’s pick from each headlining artist. Conversation has been edited lightly for length and clarity. 

“We’re very excited to have Aoife back, she’s played with I’m With Her there before, and this is the first time we’ve had her band there, which I think is great. She really has such a Joni Mitchell vibe, and that song definitely brings that out with her phrasing and her vocals and songwriting, it’s gonna be a fabulous show for Lime Kiln.”

“She’s been shredding from a young age, I don’t know when she first was on video playing on stage but she was probably five years old, or something. And has played with all the greats, Alison Krauss, she was in My Bluegrass Heart last year, Béla Fleck’s thing, and has been playing recently with Cory Wong.”

On Lime Kiln’s artist selection process:

“I think there’s an incredible amount of accessible talent in the roots music scene. And what we go for is the highest artistic quality that we can inside that genre. And it’s been a blast, seeing how the audience has responded to that and the trust that we’ve built, and usually operated at about 95 to 100% capacity, and have a great built-in audience that trusts us and allows us to take some chances on some interesting bands, and those have been some of the most fun, actually.”

“When he got his start, it was just a one man band. And he could make a lot of noise with one man. I mean he’d have the two pedals going, one with the bass drum, one with the tambourine, and a lot of dynamic out of the guitar. And hat’s cool about the June 17th show is he’s gonna have a six-piece band with him, so he can do a lot with that, that’s gonna be incredible.”

“She’s mostly been opening for much larger bands, she did Harry Styles at Madison Square Garden, and then she’s got a number of other big support slots throughout the summer, so not really many headlining shows, we’re one of the few. And I think Lime Kiln is such a great stage for her to be on, as sort of a mixture of a listening room and a medium-sized venue outdoors, it’s the perfect spot to showcase her, but she’s just one of the most incredible up and coming talents.”

“He’s one of the greatest storytellers and songwriters out there, John Prine was a huge fan of his. He’s been at it for a long time and written some incredible songs and hasn’t played in this area very much, and so we’ve gotten a lot of interest in this show.”

“I took over in 2014, and he hasn’t been there since then, which is shocking cause it’s right in the wheelhouse, we’ve wanted to do it. We were gonna have Tim O’Brien and Darryl Scott together that first year, and it didn’t work out. He’s gonna have a fabulous band with him, he always does.”

“Incredible guitar player, incredible songwriter and voice, of course, and gained a lot of notoriety with O Brother, Where Art Thou?, as a member of the Soggy Bottom Boys. George Clooney did a damn good job of making it look like he was singing it, but folks, it was Dan Tyminski.”

“You asked me earlier in the show how I choose the bands, and what I would buy a ticket to. And cover bands are typically not on that list, I’ve gotta say. Love Cannon is the exception. These guys are heavy, heavy hitters in the bluegrass world, Adam Larrabee, who plays banjo, is a heavy hitter in the jazz world, as well as bluegrass, I mean they’re all incredible, and were all members of Old School Freight Train, which was a fabulous Charlottesville band, and they bring it and our audience loves it. And they don’t play that much anymore, so this is somewhat of a reunion show.”

“It’s another perfect Lime Kiln show, with the show they bring as a duo, and the listening room that Lime Kiln can be for the right band. Like when Gillian Welch played there, you could hear a pin drop with 700 people outside. And I don’t know if you’ve ever seen them live, but their stage banter is also hilarious. It’s sort of like a stand-up comedy.”

“The Steel Wheels have made a huge impact on the region, Harrisonburg guys, co-founders of Red Wing Roots music festival, which WNRN’s heavily involved in, and Lime Kiln is huge fans of what they do. And they bring similar roots music to the area and it’s really helped build a scene that we’re all behind.”