Photo by Samantha Everette.
Saturday, June 22, 2024 @ 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm | Hanes House
Join us at the historic Hanes House for a special full-band performance and evening with Sonny Miles, celebrating the release of his new album Gamma! Special guest Kenny Wavinson will open the show. Urban Street Grill will be on-site serving dinner. Doors and dinner start at 6pm, with music starting shortly after.
Tickets available now
$12 for Members | $15 in advance | $18 at the door
This concert is co-sponsored by Fader Real Estate
ABOUT SONNY MILES
"This Winston-Salem native and NC State grad creates catchy music that draws from genres like soul, jazz, pop, rock and hip-hop... At the end of 2019, Winston-Salem native Sonny Miles had just turned 24 and was making music in and out of groups around the Triangle. His hip-hop group, Dotwav Media, had put out an album that year, but it was Miles' extracurricular solo work that drew breakthrough attention — specifically "Raleighwood Hills," a lilting ballad featuring Miles with fellow locals LesTheGenius and Jaxson Free.
Miles played the song's gentle guitar riff and rapped the middle verse, and they put together a video at Dorothea Dix Park. No one thought much about the song's prospects.
But shortly after noon on Dec. 30, 2019, former President Barack Obama sent out his "Favorite Music of 2019" playlist to his 133 million Twitter followers. Alongside songs by Lizzo, Bruce Springsteen, J. Cole, Beyoncé and other titans, there was "Raleighwood Hills."
"To this day, we're still trying to figure out how it happened," says Miles. "We didn't have any marketing money, the guy who shot the video had never made one before and I don't think we were even on any playlists. But somehow, he heard it.
It felt validating, even if you don't want to get caught up in external validation. Still, something like that gives you a leg up on respect and being taken seriously. It helped keep me moving."
Miles has since moved back to Winston-Salem and continues putting out a steady stream of music online through Bandcamp, YouTube and SoundCloud — all of it excellent, if stylistically hard to pin down. Equal parts Stevie Wonder and Kendrick Lamar, Miles draws from soul, jazz, pop, rock and hip-hop, all grounded in the gospel he grew up with.
As catchy as he is rhythmic, Miles is musically versatile enough to be an ideal opening act for the likes of Maxwell or Lauryn Hill" - David Menconi for Walter Magazine
SOUTHERN IDIOM
Originally launched as an exhibition series for local visual artists, Southern Idiom has grown into a concert series celebrating the diverse artistry of Winston-Salem musicians, past and present. This show marks the fourth concert in the series, whose alumni includes Victoria Victoria, Withdrew, and Jonathan Kirby.