“Just the fact Yellow Cab continues to let us do this and to do it for this long is a miracle as well,” Hensley continued. “It’s humbling that people keep coming out every year. They trust my judgement on throwing this group of artists together. I feel very accomplished because a lot of these things don’t last. The longevity is not there.”
With January being a historically slow time for shows, Winterfest is an early-in-the-year anchor for Yellow Cab.
“The way I’ve always looked at it, this seems like this is the weekend when people start coming out of the house again,” Hensley said. “No offense here but everybody is sick of being crammed in the house with family. They have the fever to get out, have a beer and see some music and zone out for a minute. You’re running out of turkey sandwiches and you’re like, ‘I can’t just abandon my life. I should probably go down to Yellow Cab and see these songwriters.’ This year we have a bunch of new blood, so it’ll be a good time.”
Hensley, formerly of the Repeating Arms, will be joined by his band, Still Life Drive featuring Dan Spaugy, Matt Spaugy, David Payne and Dan Stahl.
“We’re the only full band and we’ll be doing my solo stuff,” Hensley said. “I’m looking at this Winterfest as going back to the roots of the Dayton folk scene, the singer-songwriter scene or whatever you want to call it. I grabbed some folks who have really inspired me lately. We’ve got some great singer-songwriters and a lot of them will be joined by special guests.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.
How to go
What: The 9th annual Winterfolk featuring Harold Hensley & Still Life Drive, Daniel Dye, Derek Gooley, Sarah Asher and Khrys Blank
Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. Fourth St., Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $9 in advance, $12 day of show; cover begins at 7 p.m.
More info: (937) 424-3870 or yellowcabtavern.com
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