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“One of the best duos working in Americana today.” – No Depression

Curated and Hosted by Stone Room Concerts Founder David Holiday

Hill Center is thrilled to launch its new concert series in partnership with Stone Room Concerts and its
founder, David Holiday. First up is duo Violet Bell’s original Americana drawn from folk, soul, and
bluegrass music. Based out of Chapel Hill NC, Lizzy Ross and Omar Ruiz-Lopez draw inspiration from
the natural world, ancient mythology and the Piedmont’s green hills. The duo honed their strong onstage
chemistry playing hundreds of shows from Montreal to Miami since forming in 2016.

Most recently they supported Valerie June and Aoife O’Donovan on tour and announced sets at Kerrville Folk Festival, Tønder Festival, and a US tour co-billing with Emily Scott Robinson and NPR Tiny Desk Winner Alisa Amador. They were featured guests at the Nov 2022 Power Outage Party shows hosted by Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne), featured artists on Emily Scott Robinson’s Built on Bones (Oh Boy Records, Oct 2022), and were selected for official showcases at Americanafest UK, OAPN, SWRFA, SERFA, and IBMA in 2022-23.

With deft emotional balance and startlingly bright musical agility, Violet Bell tells a story of
deliverance on their sophomore album Shapeshifter. Lizzy Ross’s voice simmers and soars, while Omar
Ruiz-Lopez showcases dynamic musicianship and a warm, organic palette on fiddle, guitar, and banjo.
Weaving cinematic storytelling with spellbinding melodies and luscious harmonies, they subtly but
purposefully push the boundaries of the folk tradition.

Produced with the Grammy-nominated Jason Richmond (Avett Brothers), Shapeshifter boasts
contributions from Joseph Terrell & Libby Rodenbough (Mipso), Tatiana Hargreaves, and Joe Troop
(Che Appalache). The album is getting praise from No Depression, CMT, The Boot, and more, and has
been featured on editorial playlists from every major DSP, including the cover of Spotify’s Indie
Bluegrass playlist.

About David Holiday: David Holiday — a lifelong music aficionado who in his youth performed with
the Grammy-winning Texas Boys Choir and numerous youth orchestras and ensembles — founded Stone Room Concerts together with his wife in 2012 to bring  intimate, high-quality performances by local, national and international independent musicians to the DMV area.

He has hosted more than 200 shows over the past decade in homes, churches and other eclectic venues, including for several years at Bikenetic , a full service bicycle shop in Falls Church. Stone Room Concerts also serves as the fiscal agent for  Niñas Arriba , a charitable project of Latin Grammy-nominee Gina Chavez and their wife Jodi
Granado, which they set up to support the college education of young women in El Salvador and Central
America.  In keeping with his long standing professional involvement with Central America, Holiday is part of a team supporting the Maya Kaqchikel musician Sara Curruchich.  In 2023, he had the privilege of serving as tour manager for Curruchich’s first-ever US tour, including major venues and festivals in New York, California, Colorado and Illinois.