John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff

John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff play The Evening Muse on Friday, October 9, with Pressley Laton and Nathan C. Davis opening. The band hails from Chapel Hill, and they bill themselves as North Carolina's finest honky-tonk, soulful country-rockers.

Their 2025 album, The Return of... John Howie Jr. & the Rosewood Bluff, came out on Schoolkids Records. The title heralded their reappearance and gave the band its name. That same year marked the 30th anniversary of Howie's career as a band leader, singer, and songwriter — a stretch that runs from the legendary Two Dollar Pistols through to the Rosewood Bluff, with a 2018 solo album thrown in. The songs range from honky-tonk shuffles and driving country-rock numbers to deep soul ballads, carried by Howie's baritone and lyrics that follow the ups and downs of relationships in a fragmented world.

The Rosewood Bluff is a five-piece lineup. Howie is on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, with Nathan Golub on pedal steel, Tim Shearer on electric guitar, Mark Connor on bass, and Dave Hartman on drums. The set will draw from that mix of honky-tonk and country-rock, with the soul ballads sitting on the slower end of the bill. Pressley Laton and Nathan C. Davis open the night.

It's all at The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St, Charlotte, NC. The show starts at 7 PM.