Ex - Nashville Cats

With guest Gary Bennett

Sunday, September 21, 2025

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Meet the Band:

Gary Bennett

Gary Bennett is an award-winning traditional country-americana singer and songwriter. Gary descended on Nashville in 1993 and quickly became a nationally known performer and entertainer. With his band BR549, Bennett landed on the cover of Billboard magazine, which touted the band as having “single-handedly revived the soul of country music in Nashville, Tennessee.“ Quickly after the story was published, the band was signed to a major record label (Arista) and recorded 5 major label full-length albums (4 on Arista and 1 on the Sony label,) which sold over 800,000 copies. BR549 was nominated for 3 Grammy awards, CMA awards, ACM awards and much more. With BR549, Gary toured the world over many times, headlining and opening tours and shows with Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, George Jones, George Strait, The Black Crowes, Brian Setzer, and many more. A song from BR549’s debut album, Gary’s self-penned “Even If It’s Wrong”, climbed up the Billboard charts in 1997, eventually reaching number 67 nationwide. The band appeared multiple times on “Late Night with David Letterman”, “The Conan O’Brien Show”, “Good Morning America“, “Austin City Limits”, and much more to mention.

Since leaving BR549, Gary has continued to write, record, and release new critically acclaimed music, with 2 full-length solo albums (“Human Condition” and “My Ol’ Guitar"). In 2012, Bennett was honored with another Grammy nomination.

Gary’s original music is an energetic and stylistic mix of his musical influences and of his simple approach to living life. Gary writes songs for the working man and woman, the backbone of America.

Denny Bixby

Oregon Music Hall of Fame Denny Bixby is known in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, and far beyond as a creative, intuitive, and highly respected bassist and singer. His work with multiple Grammy and other award-winning, world-renowned artists (Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, Buddy Miller, Suzy Bogguss, Chet Atkins, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea) and with Portland's own stellar musical community (Quarterflash, Curtis Salgado, Jon Koonce, Lloyd Jones, John Bunzow, Jack McMahon, Thad Beckman, Gary Ogan and many others) is well-documented.

Upon returning to Portland in 2005 after 18 years in the Nashville, Tennessee area, Denny continued his evolution as a musician by concentrating on songwriting and playing guitar.

Denny has two solo albums to his credit. 2003's Fish Out of Water, recorded in Nashville, showcases his love of contemporary jazz and fusion with 10 original songs and features his arrangements and production.

His latest collection of songs, released in 2017, is entitled Joyride. The music falls into the Americana category and features roots, rock, folk, and country-influenced original material.

John Bunzow

John Bunzow is an inspired and innovative American roots singer/songwriter/guitarist of depth, substance, and groove.

“John destroys the boundaries between great rock, country, R&B, and soul music by owning his noteworthy sound with respect to the great artists who came before.” Ray Kennedy, five-time Grammy winner. Producer, Engineer, Musician (Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver)

Bunzow, based in Portland with regular commutes to Nashville, has built a long and storied career. Infused early with a strong love of Southern music – thanks to kin from that part of the country – John has developed his own unique fusion of roots rock and blues, seasoned with everything from reggae and country rock to pop.

He counts among his “Mt. Rushmore of influences,” as he puts it, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Tom Waits, Mike Bloomfield, Albert King, country picker Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Webb, Randy Newman, Steve Earle, and Jerry Garcia, among many.

During his early years, Bunzow performed with bands that favored original music, including the Cowboy Angels and the X-Angels, as well as working as a solo singer/songwriter and even touring in a country music tour of truck stops and county fairs. John found himself bouncing around various music scenes, including San Francisco, Seattle, and LA. But it was in Nashville that his songwriting created new opportunities, Bunzow says. “My focus was always as a songwriter, and that is what brought me to Nashville – twice.”

John is a warm and engaging performer who is adept at tailoring his performance to the room. He often plays at wineries and brewpubs.

For fans of Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and James Taylor.

Tickets: $20

All Ages | Tickets are Nonrefundable.