Oliver Bates Craven Steps Into Court Square Theater’s Living Room 3/29

HARRISONBURG, VA – Tickets are now on sale for the Saturday, Mar 29 performance by Oliver Bates Craven at Court Square Theater (CST). Part of CST’s Living Room Series, the 7:30 pm event is part concert, part live interview, and part tiny art show, hosted by The Steel Wheels Frontman, Trent Wagler.

Ruby Hostetler will be the evening’s featured visual artist.

Doors open at 7 pm for the 7:30 pm show. Tickets ($30 advance; $35 at door) are available online at courtsquaretheater.org.

Originally from Lancaster, PA, Oliver Bates Craven is a Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. The oldest son of a folk-singing preacher, his diverse musical upbringing included a family band, a decade of classical violin lessons, and the decision to skip football practice to teach himself the guitar. Oliver has spent the last 10 years as a professional musician, and from intimately crowded folk clubs to sold-out festivals, has found himself on North American and European stages more than a thousand times.

A founding member of the revered Americana band The Stray Birds, he has collaborated with such artists as The Wood Brothers, Keller Williams and Mandolin Orange, and worked in studios with producers such as Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Rodney Crowell) and Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Levon Helm). Stepping out of the band dynamic squarely to the center of the stage, he finds a voice and a style more uniquely his own. A poignant writer with soulful and powerful vocal and instrumental deliveries, accompanied by a dynamic sense of performance that honors nuance and originality, his musicality is one of a seemingly effortless focus, and a clearly impassioned and tangible joy.

Host and interviewer for the evening, Trent Wagler is lead singer and primary songwriter for The Steel Wheels. He penned many of the band's songs in response to loss and the uncertainty that comes with facing what we can’t control.

Located at 41-F Court Square in downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, Court Square Theater is operated by Arts Council of the Valley (ACV). Programs are supported in part by ACV 25th Anniversary Presenting Sponsor Kathy Moran Wealth Group, and 25th Anniversary Visionary Sponsor Riner Rentals. Living room furniture on the stage is courtesy of Harrisonburg’s Rent-A-Center.
Arts Council of the Valley (ACV) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to cultivating the arts, creating experiences, and connecting communities throughout the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Since it was established in 2000, ACV has grown into a multi-faceted community organization that fosters innovative partnerships among area businesses, civic organizations, schools, and artists. Today, ACV manages Court Square Theater and Smith House Galleries, funds local art projects through its Advancing the Arts grant program (awarding more than $510,200 since 2001), supports public art initiatives, and coordinates monthly First Fridays of the Valley community gatherings.

CST is supported in part by the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the City of Harrisonburg and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. To learn more, visit valleyarts.org.

This press release was provided by Ann Leatherwood at Arts Council of the Valley