Fifteen dollars at the door on a Wednesday night in Rochester. That is the entire pitch for this one — and honestly, that is enough. A Different Thread rolls into Abilene Bar & Lounge on July 8 for what the venue is billing as a “Special Low-Dough Show,” with doors at 4 PM and music kicking off at 7. If you are not familiar with this transatlantic folk/Americana duo yet, $15 is a very low price to fix that.
Alicia Best (Durham, NC) and Robert Jackson (Lichfield, UK) met busking in Galway, Ireland, and spent years figuring out how to keep playing music across an ocean. Their sound lands between Best’s North Carolina alt-country roots and Jackson’s British folk-rock instincts — electric guitars, Appalachian dulcimer, honky-tonk fiddle, and harmonies that call to mind Gillian Welch. Folk Radio UK called them “warm, deep songwriters that have drank from the well of 20th century tradition.” BBC 6 Music took notice too.
The centerpiece of this tour is Over Again, their third album, crowdfunded by a global fanbase and recorded at Betty’s studio in Chapel Hill — the same room The Mountain Goats and Watchhouse have used — and Alma Vale Studio in Bristol, UK. The title track won the Folk/Americana category at the International Acoustic Music Awards. These are working musicians mid-stride on an international run: they have shared stages with the Milk Carton Kids and Jody Stephens of Big Star, and they have played MerleFest. This is not a band passing through — it is a band on the way up, playing a room you can actually afford.
Opening the night are The Grievous Angels, a Rochester-based duo formed in 2025 whose members come out of local projects Archimedes and Los Pajaritos. They describe their sound as a blend of American Roots, Flamenco, Jazz, Indie, Psychedelic, and Cosmic Country. In a 200-capacity room on Liberty Pole Way, you will have a close enough look to form your own opinion.
Abilene Bar & Lounge is at 153 Liberty Pole Way in downtown Rochester — a tight, 200-cap bar and music venue where there is not a bad spot in the room. Doors open at 4 PM; music starts at 7 PM.
Tickets: $15 at the door. Details at abilenebarandlounge.com.