Last Updated on June 1, 2025 11:13 am
BOONE, NC — Appalachian State University’s annual multi-disciplinary summer arts celebration, An Appalachian Summer, opens its 41st season with Amos Lee, Saturday, June 28 at 7:30pm at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. The soulful singer-songwriter released his gold-selling self-titled first album in 2005 and has been known for his association with a long list of collaborators and touring partners, including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Zac Brown Band, and Willie Nelson. With a laconic style, gravelly, evocative voice, and acoustic Americana sound, Lee is equally comfortable and affecting amidst a range of genres — from folk, soul, and jazz, to Americana, roots rock, and country — in his quest to connect honestly and emotionally with his audience.
The force behind such acclaimed albums as Mission Bell and Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, and his eponymous gold-selling 2005 debut, Lee’s recent years have been wildly productive. After 2022’s Dreamland album (which featured “Worry No More,” a Top 10 AAA hit and his biggest single in over a decade), he followed up with two full-length projects paying homage to musical heroes — My Ideal: A Tribute to “Chet Baker Sings” and Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams. On his 11th studio album, Transmissions, Lee continues to expand his sonic range while sharpening his closely observed lyrics that squarely address death, aging, and love.
App Summer runs June 28-July 26 and features a diverse lineup of music, dance, theatre, film and visual arts programming. This season’s artists include Amos Lee, Ranky Tanky with Ms. Lisa Fischer, Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman and Edgar Meyer, Joan Osborne and Lisa Loeb, Heather Headley with Western Piedmont Symphony, Peabo Bryson, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, The 5 Browns, as well as more music, visual arts, and international films. Visit AppSummer.org to explore the full season.
Amos Lee Tickets
$65 Tier 1, $55 Tier 2, $45 Tier 3, $25 App State students. To purchase, visit appsummer.org or call the box office at 828-262-4046.
About Amos Lee and Transmissions
For Transmissions, Lee craved a return to an old-school style of recording, working with his longtime band in a studio in rural Marlboro, New York that was built by drummer Lee Falco and his dad out of reclaimed wood from an old church. Playing live on the floor for long hours, in close quarters, they were able to capture the album’s 12 songs in less than a week.
“I really wanted us to be all in the room, making music together, listening to each other and responding to each other,” says Lee. “In this age where you can do everything at home and fly it in, there’s something really beautiful about getting in a room and starting at the top, the drummer counting in the song and everybody just playing. I would call it vulnerability.”
Despite the simplicity of the set-up, though, Lee also augmented the band’s soulful, folk-funk sound with arrangements that extend the scope of some songs. “I’ve done a lot of shows over the past few years with orchestras,” he says, “and I wanted to find a way to have miniature moments that could represent those experiences. If you listen to the end of ‘Night Light’ or ‘Built to Fall,’ there are moments that express those ideas of collaboration and orchestration.”
Fresh off some dates with Willie Nelson and heading into a co-headlining tour with the Indigo Girls, Amos Lee notes that his attitude about being embraced by his peers and his idols has transformed over the years, and that his gratitude deeply informs the emotions throughout Transmissions.
“I just appreciate everything a lot more now,” he says. “When you’re younger, you get it, but you don't really get it because you’re like ‘Oh, cool — my first tour ever and I’m opening for Bob Dylan? Cool.’ Or Norah Jones, the biggest artist in the world, bringing you out right off the street. How do you appreciate that? I was just sort of clueless, honestly. Not out of malice, but you have no context.
“So now I’m just grateful to have a career,” he continues. “I’m grateful to be asked to share the stage with folks who I respect and admire and love and want to learn from and want to support. Now it’s about really being present while it’s happening and knowing that this is not promised, none of this is destiny. It’s a lot of chance. So, I’m making sure to really enjoy and appreciate all these opportunities.”
About All Tickets for An Appalachian Summer
With ticket prices ranging from $5-$65, as well as several free events and discounts for both children, students, and App State faculty/staff, App Summer offers unique opportunities for residents and visitors to create arts experiences suited to their individual artistic tastes and budgets.Purchase in person at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts Box Office (733 Rivers St), online at AppSummer.org, or by phone at 828-262-4046.
App State Faculty/Staff: 10% off Tiers 1, 2 & 3.Contact Box Office for discount code.
Local Residents (Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga, and Wilkes counties):10% off Tiers 1, 2 & 3 for select events.Enter zip code before selecting tickets online.
About An Appalachian Summer
Presented by Appalachian State University’s Office of Arts Engagement and Cultural Resources, this annual celebration of the performing and visual arts is held every summer in venues across the university campus, and features a diverse mix of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and film programming. An Appalachian Summer began in 1984 as a chamber music series and retains strong roots in classical music, combined with a variety of other programming geared to varied artistic tastes, preferences, and price points. The series has become one of the region’s leading arts events, attracting more than 27,000 visitors to the High Country each summer. App Summer has been named one of the “Top Twenty Events in the Southeast” by the Southeast Tourism Society.
Corporate Sponsors
Bonnie and Jamie Schaefer, App State Campus Store, Broyhill Family Foundation, Appalachian Home Care LLC, Art Cellar Gallery, Explore Boone, Goodnight Brothers, Highstreet Insurance Partners, Mast General Store, SkyBest Communications, Creekside Electronics, Grandview Events & Catering, Peabody’s Wine & Beer Merchants, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Rosemyr Corporation, Courtyard by Marriott, Graystone Lodge, Hampton Inn & Suites, and Holiday Inn Express-Boone
Media Sponsors
WBTV, WCYB, PBS North Carolina, Our State Magazine, The Mountain Times, Watauga Democrat, WNC Magazine, Creative Loafing Charlotte, Yes! Weekly, Winston-Salem Journal, Greensboro News & Record, WZJS 100.7 and WATA 96.5, WHKY 1290AM and 102.3FM, WDAV 89.9FM, WFDD 88.5FM, WASU 90.5FM, and WKSK The Farm
Restaurant Sponsors
Coyote Kitchen, The Local, Lost Province, Pepper’s, and Timberlake’s Restaurant
