Evansville-area residents have back-to-back opportunities to see Nashville, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter Gabe Lee in concerts this weekend, starting with a Nov. 1 performance at The Cattle Baron’s Ball, a fundraiser put on by the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. The following night, he takes the stage at Angel Mounds State Historic Site’s new overlook performance space for an intimate gathering.
Lee’s songs evoke emotion, his lyrics are full of imagery, and his picking patterns are complex, yet as comfortable as a well-worn sweater on a fall day. His material ranges from folky personal reflections, to rowdy rockers, to country ballads. He has entertained audiences from the U.S. to Europe, opened for Jason Isbell, played alongside Sierra Hull, warmed up the crowd for the band Kansas, and headlined his own tour.
While his setlist includes selections from his soon-to-be-released album, Lee tells Evansville Living that “most of what I’ll play will be from my latest record, ‘Drink The River,’” which Lee performed live last year during a house concert in Evansville. He also plans to perform songs from his previous three releases.
According to Lee, “‘Drink the River’ is a collection of stories I found while on the road, set to music.” On the song “Merigold,” he is thinking about a friend from Mississippi who had recently passed away:
“Her cancer gave no warnin’, dug its roots into her ground.
Wild as the kudzu on the highways of the south.”
Angel Mounds’ new performance space inside its visitors center provides ascending, theater-style seating and features large, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the sacred mounds. Indiana Museum and State Historic Sites Southwest Regional Director Mike Linderman notes that “we are looking forward to utilizing the remodeled space for a variety of new programs and performances, and hope the community will embrace and use Angel Mounds for private events and corporate functions.”
The Nov. 2 show starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening an hour prior so early arrivers can claim seats and visit the museum’s exhibits. (Museum admission must be purchased separately.) Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis. Angel Mounds’ museum boasts interactive displays of the Native Americans who lived in those earthen mounds during the Mississippian period, before mysteriously disappearing. A January/February 2025 article by Evansville Living Staff Writer Maggie Valenti offers fresh insight into the renovated exhibits and visitors center.
Art Woodward, also known as Art the Dude, is a writer and lifelong lover of music — skill sets that serve him well when reviewing Evansville’s concert and events scene.
