Dwayne Haggins & Ayla Brown

Dwayne has been described as “the love child of Hank Williams and Sam Cooke.” “The John Legend of rockabilly.” And even, “the ‘what-took-you-so-long?’ fusion of Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye.” Notably, Dwayne Haggins has shared the stage with acts such as Keb Mo, Joe Bonamassa, George Thorogood, Eric Gales, Chris Lane, Fitz & The Tantrums, and Suzanne Santo.

At every performance, whether in a venerable metropolitan concert hall or a grimy dive in an anonymous strip mall, Dwayne is always at work. Adding new subtleties to an obvious melody line. Reinterpreting a time-worn lyrical cliché to imbue it anew with genuine feeling. Unleashing a gentle cascade of vocal acrobatics when least expected (and hence most effective) — never for show alone, but always to express a likewise unanticipated nuance of feeling: a whisper of love, a curse of anger, a groan of pain, a whoop of joy that feels, paradoxically, both surprising and inevitable at the same moment.

Special Guest Ayla Brown

Up until three years ago. Ayla had always been on the other side of the microphone, singing and performing all around the country and overseas for the American Troops. In 2006, she was an American Idol finalist, then played college basketball in the ACC for Boston College, and in 2012, she had her Grand Ole Opry debut, and most recently in 2018, she sang at the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Country music is in Ayla Brown’s soul. Not only does she sing about it, but she gets to talk about it every day on “Country Mornings with Ayla Brown” on Country 102.5!