WDVX Summer Nights – 6/17 – Redd & The Paper Flowers / Ettore Buzzini
June 17 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
WDVX Summer Nights
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Doors 6:00 PM | Show 7:00 PM
Yee-Haw Brewing, Knoxville, TN
FREE | All Ages
WDVX is proud to present another night of free live music on the big stage at Yee-Haw Brewing for the 2026 Summer Nights concert series!
Katie Adams and Colleen d’Alelio were first introduced to Redd and Gavin at the Open Chord Open Mic in Knoxville, TN, as they were building community in a new city. They completed their bachelors at Ithaca University and moved to Knoxville during Katie’s master’s degree completion at The University of Tennessee.
The group hit a rough patch in February of 2023 after the tragic murder of Redd’s dear friend, Jason Cooper, by his roommate. Coop left Rush’s Music, a local band instrument rental store that services 90 schools and roughly 3,000 students, to Redd without her knowledge. Redd began working at Rush’s in 2011 through her bachelor’s and master’s degrees before ultimately quitting to teach high school English at L&N STEM Academy–a local, public magnet school in Knoxville. It was at Rush’s Music where she met and befriended Coop, and they remained dear friends until his untimely death.
Their debut album, Appalachian Bell Jar, which they began tracking in January of 2023, was put on hold–as well as touring–until Redd could address the needs of Rush’s Music and the greater, Knoxville music community, which relied on Rush’s.
Members Katie and Gavin were able to quit their previous jobs to help at the music store. Redd credits Katie, Colleen, and Gavin for giving her direction, meaning, and purpose during an intense time of grief and overwhelm, and they credit this tragedy in strengthening their bond as a band and group of best friends.
After so much change and loss, it became very clear to the band that each other and their music was the most important priority.
Their debut album, Appalachian Bell Jar, released on May 12th 2025.
Others have described Redd & The Paper Flowers’ music as Appalachian Jazz, Appalachian Folk, and Folk-grass.
While they truly enjoy all of those genre descriptors, the band self identifies as “Living Room Folk.” Their superpower is the energy and joy each band mate pulls from playing music together, and those feelings are often transferred to sweet listeners–making them feel cozy, as if they were receiving a concert in their living room.
The band is currently in the studio for their sophomore album, Dead Little Thing, that highlights the struggles of 2023 – 2024, which will release in the fall of 2026.
The group is based in Redd’s hometown of Knoxville, TN.
When you think about bluegrass music, you don’t think about grand emotional and spiritual journeys that pierce your soul; yet that is exactly what Swiss-American songwriting and banjo prodigy Ettore Buzzini is creating with his innovative, classical-infused but deeply traditional bluegrass music. Imagine Earl Scruggs had been influenced by Led Zeppelin and Chopin and you’ll get an idea of Ettore’s sound.
Ettore(pronounced like “Letter-A”) has a decidedly youthful take on traditional bluegrass, rooted in tradition, but with an innovative, distinctive picking style, and a unique gift of songwriting . To the casual listener, Ettore’s sound is simply hard-driving bluegrass. But anyone who listens a little more closely will quickly notice that Ettore’s unique music weaves together the iconic acoustic sounds of bluegrass, the youthful energy and hard drive of pop-rock, and the emotional journeys of classical romantic music.
His unique, fresh style is a product of his roots on both sides. He was imbued with the classical tradition while living with his family in Italian-speaking Switzerland, as a toddler. At age 6, his East Tennessee grandfather introduced him to Flatt & Scruggs, and he was hit by bluegrass like a lightning bolt. He begged his parents for a banjo for nearly 3 years until, at age 9, they relented. Ettore’s love for banjo expanded as he devoured the traditional bluegrass classics, while also becoming enthralled by the power of classical music, inspired by his Swiss grandparents’ sacred choir. Ettore made a name for himself at youth competitions in the Blue Ridge Mountains with his prodigious banjo picking style as well as his mastery of flatpicking guitar. He then cemented his reputation as a prodigy when, at just 11 years old, he won the Kruger Brothers’ Young Songwriter’s Contest, with an original banjo and lyrical composition about the Norse mythology of Ragnarok. By age 14, he had released his first album, after being approached by legendary bluegrass record label Patuxent Records.
Ettore has collaborated and performed with bluegrass legends Pete Wernick, Danny Paisley, Mark Schatz, Patrick MacAvinue, Christopher Henry, and many others. He has been featured at celebrated festivals such as Merlefest and FloydFest, PBS’s Woodsongs, and more. At age 16, competing against industry professionals, he won the prestigious Fresh Grass Competition with his original composition, “The Birth of Eros”, a hard-driving banjo instrumental with a classical romantic theme of a lost soul’s hope of redemption and love.
Ettore’s young star is soaring in the bluegrass scene, where his unique, virtuosic sound is garnering Between his prodigious musical talent, unique songwriting, and an infectious love of the music, he may just succeed in turning GenAlpha into GenBlue.
Thanks to our sponsors: Yee-Haw Brewing, ORNL Federal Credit Union, and Garza Law.
