King Margo

King Margo is a magnetic alt-country/Americana act based in Nashville, TN. Their album Waters Rise is filled with what Saving Country Music proclaims as interesting and curious textures throughout, unique and unexpected approaches to songs, and inspired songwriting graced by soaring performances. The heart of the group is duo Lucciana Costa and Rachel Coats, though they often bring their friends along for a full band experience. They can be found playing bass, dobro, keys and mandolin on the road with Gabe Lee, Susan Werner and Jason Eady, among others. King Margo is a road-tested band through and through, and they are known for putting on a high-energy show complimented by thoughtful songwriting.

Gabe Lee

Equal parts classic songwriter and modern-day storyteller, Gabe Lee has built his own bridge between country, folk and rock. Lee has been collecting stories for years, both onstage and off. "I used to bartend," says the Nashville-based songwriter, "which means I was also a cheap therapist for whomever happened to be sitting on the barstool. Whether they were there to celebrate or drink away their problems, I heard about whatever they were going through. It was my job to have that face-to-face interaction — that connection. Being a full-time musician isn't much different."

With critically-acclaimed albums like 2019's farmland, 2020's Honky-Tonk Hell, and 2022's The Hometown Kid, Lee created that connection by delivering his own stories to an ever-growing audience. His fourth record, Drink the River, takes a different approach. This time, Lee isn't offering listeners a peek into his internal world; he's holding up a mirror to reflect their own.

Storytelling has been an anchor of Lee's music since the very beginning. Raised by Taiwanese parents in Nashville, TN, he left home during his teenage years and headed to Indiana, where he obtained college degrees in literature and journalism. Lee launched his career as a genre-bending musician after returning to Tennessee, quickly progressing from dive bar gigs to high-profile opening slots (including shows with Jason Isbell, Los Lobos, Molly Tuttle, and other artists who, like him, blurred the lines between roots-rock, country, and other forms of American folk music) to his own headlining shows. Throughout it all, he drew upon the narrative skills he'd sharpened as a student. If albums like Honky-Tonk Hell and The Hometown Kid often unfolded like autobiographical entries from his road journal, then Drink the River shows an even broader range of his storytelling abilities. Lee isn't just writing songs about himself; he's writing songs about all of us. And maybe, in doing so, he can bring us a little closer together.

The only thing as good as the show? The drink you have after

GRAB A BITE, BEFORE OR AFTER

A few short steps from Midtown is One Twenty Three—our neighborly New American Tavern, serving hearty dishes with modern flare.