Cory Waller & The Wicked Things w/ Molly Brandt

Thurs 5/21 7pm – $9/$12 all ages

Grown from the black dirt that Iowa is known for, Cory Waller and The Wicked Things are a band of hard-working friends, sons and daughters of farmers and small-town folks. The band has traversed the Midwest, sharing their brand of black dirt country music; sometimes, the shows The Wicked Things play have more people than those of their hometowns. The band’s namesake, Cory Waller, started playing music with bass player Ethridge Netz when they were in middle school and honed his country craft with lead electric guitar player Ronley King in dives and bars across Iowa in his 20s—joined by fierce vocalist and acoustic guitar player Emilee Johnson, newest edition Joshua Rex on fiddle, and the backbone of the band, drummer Kaleb Ferry. They write music and perform for the people they grew up around.

“The Golden Buckle On The Corn Belt” is what the sign says as you drive into Rockwell City, Iowa, a quintessential small Iowa town that exemplifies the people, places, and topics the band writes songs about with their “Black Dirt” country sound. Their latest EP, “Golden Buckle,” is a step into what they consider to be the most country they’ve ever sounded. In a beer cooler in Minnesota, Garage Beer’s packaging declares “Beer Flavored Beer,” and the band considers their new sound to be “Country Flavored Country.” In the era of bro country and Nickelback country tribute bands, “Golden Buckle” offers a refreshing look into an authentic modern country sound. “Golden Buckle” is out everywhere on October 31st.

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Molly Brandt found her current path in 2020 the way a lot of people took unexpected turns in their life journeys: looking for something to do during the pandemic lockdown. In her case, she picked up a guitar and started writing. She quickly discovered that she had a multitude of tales to tell—and a natural instinct of how to tell them. Like the storyteller himself, Tom T. Hall, Brandt knows just what to tell and what to hold back to fire up the listener’s imagination.

With a musical gift sharpened by years of training and experience—classical piano education from age five, show choirs in high school and college, performing lead vocals for her own jazz band after college—she was poised to take her pandemic project to the next level. When she applied those talents to roots music, everything clicked.

Brandt released her first singles in 2022 and played her debut Minneapolis show at the legendary West Bank bar Palmer’s. Since then she’s performed across the Midwest and beyond, at festivals including Blue Ox, Big Turn, Rochester Thaw, Boogiedown, and Boats & Bluegrass. In 2023 and 2024 she was named Americana Artist of the Year at the Midwest Country Music Awards.

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Limited seating available, if you need ADA accommodation contact us.

Advance tickets available in the taproom!

Alluvial is a listening room, please keep conversation low during the performance so everyone can enjoy, thanks!