Carnegie Hall’s final Ivy Terrace Concert is Thursday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. and features Grammy Award Winner Chance McCoy and his band. The concert will take place outside on Carnegie Hall’s Ivy Terrace as attendees watch from the expansive lawn in front of New River Community and Technical College. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket and pack a picnic to enjoy live music. All Ivy Terrace concerts are free, open to the public, and alcohol free.
Chance McCoy is a Grammy Award winning Indie Folk musician, music producer and film composer from Harpers Ferry, WV. Chance grew up in a musical family, and as a baby he spent hours strapped to his father’s back while his father recorded synth music in the family’s home studio. As a young man he took an unlikely musical direction, studying the obscure traditional folk music of Appalachia with old master musicians from West Virginia under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. After many years steeping himself in the lost traditions of American string band music he went on to win Fiddle, Banjo and Dulcimer championships as well as first place honors in the International String Band contest known as “Clifftop.” In 2008, he released “Chance McCoy and The Appalachian Stringband” a collection of traditional music recorded live around one mic that slowly gained a cult following among old time music enthusiasts.
His commitment to folk music and deep love for the traditional ways of the mountaineer soon landed him in an unintentional situation though – abject poverty. McCoy was living with his young son in a rundown cabin near Floyd, VA, teaching local fiddle lessons, when a cold call from Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) landed him an invite to join the legendary Americana band of “Wagon Wheel” fame. He moved to Nashville to join the band in 2012 and toured extensively with OCMS, recording multiple albums with the band before parting ways in 2019 to pursue new musical projects and return to his farm in West Virginia. His first album with OCMS, where he debuted his talents as songwriter, singer and instrumentalist, earned the band a Grammy for best folk album in 2014.
Chance has worked with artists such as Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson, Sturgil Simpson, Margo Price, Yelawolf, Kesha and many others. He is currently on tour with The Dead South.
During Chance’s time in Nashville, he built up a reputation as a session player and music producer. In 2018 Chance began developing his rural farm in an idyllic valley in Appalachia into a destination recording studio experience while focusing his creative talents on producing new artists, scoring for films and releasing singles as an independent artist. His first projects from the rural studio were writing music for the film “The Peanut Butter Falcon” starring Shia Labeouf and The Showtime series “The Good Lord Bird” starring Ethan Hawke.
Carnegie Hall will provide hot beverages and popcorn for donations during the performance. Carnegie Hall and Chance McCoy merchandise will also be available. The concert will move inside if weather dictates. So mark your calendars for the last Ivy Terrace show. The 2021 Carnegie Hall Ivy Terrace Concert Series is a “must do” for visitors and locals alike and is sponsored by City National Bank. For more information, please visit www.carnegiehallwv.org or call 304-645-7917.
Chance McCoy
