Western AF Tour with Chris Acker, Northcote & Rachel Baiman

Chris Acker, Northcote and Rachel Baiman perform at The Cluny on 21 May 2026 at 6:30 pm. Chris Acker crafts candid songs, weaving his wit and woes into a body of work that brings the American songster into the light of day. Since leaving his childhood home of Seattle, Washington, he has called the New Orleans Americana world his purlieu. In the tradition of Guthrie and Prine, he lends a quavering voice to the romance of the unremarkable and unrefined. Whether by a backyard fire on a muggy Louisiana night or stage side in a far-flung town, when you hear Chris Acker playing, you’re hearing the result of hours of observing the masters of the craft and of repeating their mistakes. Some hard times don’t happen behind plows; they happen behind dish pits and cash registers. Some ramblers don’t feel the breath of freedom, just the smell of car exhaust and a couch for a bed. Drawing on the folk revival and the golden age of country music, and informed by punk shows and brass bands, his songwriting nods to the details that inhabit the molded corners of the bars he patronizes and the cratered streets he treads, paired with a plain honesty.

Northcote is the musical project of Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Goud. Since launching in 2008, Northcote has toured internationally, performing alongside The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner and Hot Water Music. In 2026, Northcote is set to release To Cherish, a full-length album recorded at Rain City Studios in Vancouver and produced by Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung). It features contributions from Paul Rigby (Neko Case) and long-time collaborator Stephen McGillvray. Northcote has released seven studio albums and multiple singles.

Raised in Chicago, Rachel Baiman moved to Nashville at 18 to be a professional fiddle player and has since released two solo records and an EP, alongside session and side-person work with Kacey Musgraves, Kevin Morby and Molly Tuttle. As a songwriter, she writes political and personal lyrics. “I’ve been looking for a new well of inspiration, outside of myself,” Rachel Baiman told Wide Open Country in early 2024. “Every time you work with someone you admire there’s growth from being around their creative process and how they approach a song. It brings new energy to my work when I can find a perspective I hadn’t seen before.”