Sam Burchfield gets back to his ‘Rock Hoppin’” roots with RailYard music festival
Inaugural Summer show brings Pierce edens, Cicada Rhythm and Kind hearted strangers to downtown Black mountain
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 27, 2023
Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels will host the inaugural Rock Hoppin’ Ruckus, Saturday, July 1, at the RailYard in Black Mountain. The one-day music festival will include appearances by Pierce Edens, Cicada Rhythm and Kind Hearted Strangers. Photo courtesy of Sam Burchfield
Long before Sam Burchfield’s music was being consumed by a growing online streaming audience, the Seneca, S.C. native would spend his summers relaxing on the banks of the creek in Montreat and trekking along the nearby trails.
“My music, spiritual life and career journey revolves around Montreat, Black Mountain and greater Asheville area,” said the singer-songwriter, who has been touring almost ceaselessly with his band since the 2022 release of their latest album, Scoundrel. “Some of the best and worst moments of my life have been in those hills.”
The familiar mountain views will provide an ideal backdrop, from 1 - 10:30 p.m., Saturday, July 1, as Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels take the stage at the RailYard to host the inaugural Rock Hoppin Ruckus music festival. The one-day family-friendly event will feature performances by Pierce Edens, Cicada Rhythm and Kind Hearted Strangers.
Named after one of his favorite activities as a regular summer visitor to the Swannanoa Valley, the show comes as Burchfield and his band ride a wave of momentum that has carried them to around 200,000 average monthly Spotify listeners and nearly 4 million plays for their top track on the streaming platform. The group headlined the Fall for Greenville Festival in 2022, while touring and making appearances in a variety of venues, including the Bristol Rhythm & Roots, Savannah Stopover, Miles of Music Festivals and others.
“I wouldn’t have imagined I could do this,” he said. “This if the first time I’ve put on a music festival, and even though it’s just a day thing, it’s part of a cool journey. I’m very blessed.”
The Rock Hoppin’ Ruckus will present a roster of “incredible performing artists,” according to Burchfield, who has traditionally played at area venues around the Fourth of July.
“We wanted to give this summer show a name, invite some bands we know, and create an annual community event,” he said. “It all came together at the RailYard, and we’re thankful to have a great lineup.”
Edens, a singer-songwriter out of Marshall, has amassed a nationwide following with his intimate and gritty sound. Athens, Georgia-based trio Cicada Rhythm will bring its chilling harmonies, and unbridled enthusiasm to the stage, while the dynamic Kind Hearted Strangers is set to deliver high-energy rock complemented by the band’s harmony-driven acoustic roots.
“It’s an interesting culmination of my connections to the area and this wild journey of music we’ve been on,” said Burchfield, who has released four albums since a debut EP in 2014.
Music has been a mainstay in the artist’s life since he saved up money to buy his first guitar at the age of 11. He was soon captivated by the songwriting process.
“That’s what really hooked me,” he said. “My mom is very creative, and she’s actually a writer, so she would come up with silly songs when I was little, and I think that fed my later love for songwriting. My dad was an engineer, and in some ways, writing songs is similar to putting things together, like a puzzle.”
By the time Burchfield became the summer “music guy'“ for the kid’s club program in Montreat, he was working on various projects and playing with a few bands, while attending the University of Georgia.
With his band, The Scoundrels, Sam Burchfield is getting back to his “Rock Hoppin’” roots this summer, as he returns to WNC to host a one-day music festival in downtown Black Mountain. Photo courtesy of Sam Burchfield
“That’s kind of when I started my professional music career,” he said. “Around that time, I did a singing competition in college and won like $5,000. I used that money to record my first EP.”
An informal house show tour around the Carolinas followed, as did another EP, but Burchfield found his identity as an artist with the 2020 album, “Graveyard Flowers.”
“I became more intentional about my body of work, and that album was really about reconnecting with nature and our mortality,” he said. “I released it in February of 2020, and we went on tour in early March, but then the world fell apart.”
Undeterred by the pandemic, Burchfield embraced the opportunity to write new music.
“When I made Scoundrel, it was really an exploration into the depths of what is good and what evil, and how that perception works,” he said. “Looking at the archetypes of different characters throughout history and folklore, I was curious where does all of that reside within me. I’ve always been a nice guy, made good grades and I’m reasonably well-behaved, so I created a character to explore this outlaw side.”
The 11 tracks on the album, including Sugarcane, Banditos and Cold Steel, gave the artist permission to step into a world where the scoundrels can take on the role of the good guys.
“We are all good and bad, and in that way we all have the capacity for forgiveness and grace,” Burchfield said. “Sometimes it takes a scoundrel to step up and say a hard truth when it’s not popular, and a lot of times they’re condemned for it.”
The success of the album prompted a nationwide BurchTour, which will include stops in Chicago, Columbus, Ohio and Austin, Texas this year. Between shows, Burchfield and The Scoundrels are working on new material.
“Things are really going well for us,” he said. “We just recorded a new album a month or two ago, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. We’re working on mixing that right now, so we definitely have the petal to the metal.”
Tickets to The Rock Hoppin’ Ruckus, hosted by Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels, are $20, and available at eventbrite.com.