Harvester Adds Three New Shows to Spring Lineup

ROCKY MOUNT, Virginia — Three additional acts have joined the Harvester Performance Center Spring schedule. 

Singer-songwriter Pokey LaFarge, whose style includes jazz, blues, swing, and more, will appear Thursday, March 31 at 8 p.m. 

When LaFarge found his plans dashed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, he did what he did best: He got to work. LaFarge used the sudden change in plans to his advantage, having perhaps his greatest period of personal growth in the midst of this crippling pandemic.

The songs instantly began to pour out of him, resulting in his 2021 album, “In the Blossom of Their Shade,” one of LaFarge’s strongest and most mature lyrical efforts to date. 

Thematically, LaFarge, in a way only he can, tackles a wide gamut of emotions. On “Rotterdam,” it’s easy to hear how the dreamy song encapsulates a notion of a Shangri-La even in the most unusual of places. Look no further than album closer, the twangy “Goodnight, Goodbye (Hope Not Forever).” The song neatly ties the past year along with a universal longing that brighter days are on the horizon, even if it doesn’t seem so right now.

On Thursday, May 5, the Harvester will welcome five-time Grammy Award winner bassist Victor Wooten along with fretless-bass pioneer Steve Bailey. 

Together, the two formed Bass Extremes in 1992, releasing their self-titled debut album, which remains one of the top-selling musical/instructional bass products of all time. 

Wooten and Bailey will be joined by drummer Gregg Bissonette, who is a member of Ring Starr’s All Star Band, has recorded extensively for commercial projects in Los Angeles and gives drum clinics all over the world. This is his second stint as the drummer for Bass Extremes.

The Petty Hearts, a nationally touring Tom Petty tribute band, will bring their faithful renditions of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ extensive catalog to the Harvester on Thursday, June 2. 

The Petty Hearts have performed across the country before thousands of music fans at festivals, performing arts theaters, amphitheaters and nightclubs. The band plays dozens of Petty’s best-known Top 40 hits along with some deeper album cuts he rarely played live. 

Tickets for Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey and Gregg Bisonette are on sale now. Tickets for Pokey LaFarge and The Petty Hearts go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.