Magnolia Boulevard

Like a caterpillar going through metamorphosis and becoming a butterfly, Magnolia Boulevard experiences a transformational process of growth on its latest EP, Things Are Gonna Change. The five song project out July 7 sees the Lexington, Kentucky based band embrace the change in their lives, both good and bad, from pandemic related isolation to motherhood and the sudden passing of founding drummer Todd Copeland in 2021, in the process proving how through all life’s hurdles you can still endure. Throughout the EP, the soul-stirring vocals of Maggie Noelle and catchy keyboard arrangements of Ryan Allen are joined by bassist and Eastern Kentucky mainstay Chris Justice and drummer Chad Gravitt. Both are natural fits for the group who’ve helped to push the band’s fusion of rock, blues, soul and jam into new territory, especially Gravitt, a straight up rock’n roll drummer who was good friends with Copeland going all the way back to being on the drumline together in their high school marching band. Over the course of Things Are Gonna Change’s five songs the band lays out the story of their lives over the past few years and how they’re collectively grown from it beginning with the frenetic, anxiety ridden “Grip”. Slowly the paranoia present in the lyrics of the song evolve, eventually yielding the happy, loving and nurturing “More” that concludes with Noelle triumphantly belting out how becoming a mother has given her a new perspective on life, singing “And I’ll break down the walls that I built once before, ‘Cause you build me up and you make me more.” In many ways, the band has thrived in part of how they’ve built and lifted each other up since forming in 2017. At the time Noelle was playing in a bluegrass band, although she’d been yearning for a creative outlet where she could let loose like her idols Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi. Bar opens at 5 PM and happy hour from open to 7 PM. (21+) The Velvet Elk Lounge does not allow minors - No Exceptions. Tickets are available here: bit.ly/VELtickets