From Open Mics to National Tours: Live Music in Grants Pass

Ask around and you’ll hear some version of the same thing: in Grants Pass, you could see live music every single night of the week if you wanted to. Thursday open mics, Friday and Saturday bands, the occasional national touring act rolling through a room that seats just a couple hundred people. This September, treat yourself to a double-feature: nationally touring talent, two nights, back to back.

Two Nights, Two Rooms, National Talent

On Wednesday, September 23, The Hivve hosts Cristina Vane and Madeline Hawthorne. Vane is a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist whose sound pulls from pre-war blues, old-time banjo, and bluegrass. Between busking on the Venice Beach boardwalk and years on the road, she’s opened for Molly Tuttle, Bob Weir, Sam Bush, and Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, picked up coverage from NPR and Rolling Stone Country, and joined Billy Strings on stage for his String the Halls series. Hawthorne, based in Bozeman, Montana, writes the kind of road-worn songwriting that comes from actually logging the miles; her 2024 record, “Tales From Late Nights & Long Drives,” she calls “the perfect road trip record,” written mostly on tour. A dollar from every pre-sale ticket goes to A Greater Applegate, the community-building nonprofit for the Applegate Valley.

The very next night, Thursday, September 24, at the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, the Grants Pass Museum of Art presents a double bill of The Rough & Tumble and Flagship Romance, two established touring folk duos known for close harmonies, storytelling, and, in The Rough & Tumble’s case, an accordion doing more emotional work than you’d expect. It’s also a fundraiser for the Museum. “The two musical duos have been at the museum in the past and were greeted with wildly enthusiastic audiences,” says Museum Executive Director Hyla Lipson. “With their combined entertainment, we know this concert will be an evening to be remembered. It’s really all about joyful music and very fun musicians.”

Why Here?

It’s a fair question: why would touring artists route through a town of around 40,000 people? According to Crash & C-Mac Productions, the promoters behind the Hivve show and a regular slate of touring acts across Grants Pass venues, the answer has a lot to do with geography and what’s still, for now, an open door. “Grants Pass offers touring musicians something increasingly rare: a strategic stop that still feels genuinely welcoming,” they say. “Positioned between Portland and Bend to the north and Sacramento and San Francisco to the south, it gives artists an opportunity to add a new market to their tour, reach new listeners and grow their fan base in a largely untapped region.”

There’s also the matter of what happens when the set ends. “Add in the hospitality of our river-town community, affordable stays, and abundant outdoor adventure for those coveted layover days, and Grants Pass becomes more than a convenient stop along the route,” Crash & C-Mac add. “For us, it’s about giving artists a reason to put Grants Pass on the map, and a reason to come back.”

A Local’s View

Ask a Grants Pass musician what the scene feels like, and you’ll get a feel for what makes a GP audience special. “The live music scene in Grants Pass is super diverse,” says local singer-songwriter Trevor Hanks, whose music has landed in national TV shows including “Tulsa King” and “The Rookie”. “There are punk shows, bluegrass shows, country, rock, reggae. Tons of flavor.” He’s watched the scene shift over the years, too. “It’s had its phases,” he says. “Before cell phones, it was a place for people to connect and enjoy art. Then because of devices, the connection part seemed to lack, but people were made for connection, and I think we realize that, so we’re getting back to the basics of connecting at shows and enjoying the art again.”

Beyond September: A Scene That Doesn’t Take a Night Off

These two nights are a highlight reel, not the whole story. The Historic Rogue Theatre, downtown’s grand old performance hall, regularly pulls in national touring acts of its own, from tribute bands to genuine legends; Judy Collins brings her farewell tour through on October 2, just over a week after this run of shows. Across town, the Sound Lounge has built a reputation, by its own description, as home to “the most live music in Southern Oregon,” pairing bands and DJs with a full bar most nights of the week. At the Cedarwood Saloon, a saloon in the literal sense since 1984, Thursdays mean an open jam and weekends mean a full band, the kind of low-key, no-cover-charge night where you might wander in for fish tacos and stay for three sets. And on October 9, Weekend Beer Company hosts the first Local Legends Music Fest, Trevor Hanks’ new mini festival spotlighting a handful of Southern Oregon acts.

Add it up, and the original claim starts to look less like local boosterism and more like simple math: on any given night in Grants Pass, something is probably playing somewhere.

Plan Your Night

Tickets for Cristina Vane and Madeline Hawthorne at The Hivve are available here, with more upcoming Crash & C-Mac Productions shows listed on their website. Tickets for The Rough & Tumble and Flagship Romance are available through the Grants Pass Museum of Art here. Find a place to rest after a great night of live music at visitgrantspass.com/stay.