Dispatch kicks off their new album “Yellow Jacket” with a concert in Charlotte on June 6.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When indie folk band Dispatch takes the stage in Charlotte on Friday, June 6, the Queen City will host more than just another tour stop — it will serve as the official launch pad for the band’s highly anticipated new album, Yellow Jacket.
In an interview for the “Charlotte Sounds” segment on WCNC Charlotte’s Live Impact News, Dispatch vocalist, guitarist, and drummer Brad Corrigan revealed his anticipation for the new album, the upcoming tour, and “Ileana’s Smile,” a documentary he worked on that was released this month.
“That’s release day in Charlotte,” Corrigan said. “There’s something really special about imagining what your new songs are gonna sound like live and rehearsing for that. You kind of release them like birds. You just don’t know where they’re gonna fly or how they will and how fans will react to them.”
Dispatch will perform at the Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre. The Charlotte show is part of a 40-date national tour that features an impressive lineup of supporting acts, including John Butler, G Love and Special Sauce, and Illiterate Light.
“We think we’ve put together an incredible bill of artists that just live for the stage,” Corrigan said. “We love to sing. We love to have the crowd sing along with us, and we love the live improv every night.”
Charlotte fans will be among the first to hear new material from “Yellow Jacket,” including the already-released single “Whisk Me Away,” which features a guitar-driven sound inspired by The Allman Brothers Band. Corrigan also highlighted two additional tracks he’s particularly excited to debut live: “Knight Young,” featuring trumpet work by Rashawn Ross of the Dave Matthews Band, and “Hush Money,” which he described as having a “Black Sabbath-inspired 70s riff.”
North Carolina holds special significance for the Vermont-based band. Corrigan fondly recalled that Dispatch’s first-ever out-of-state performance was at Duke University in the 1990s.
“We played the Cosmic Cantina, and they paid us with burritos,” Corrigan laughed. “There’s something special about North Carolina music fans. We have four shows in North Carolina — that’s more than any other state.”
Beyond music, Corrigan discussed his recently released documentary “Ileana’s Smile,” which chronicles his 11-year journey to tell the story of a young girl he met in a trash dump community in Nicaragua.
“I felt like Ileana and [her sister] welcomed me into their family as if I was a brother or an uncle,” Corrigan said. “When they died, I was so heartbroken and so angry. It didn’t need it, it shouldn’t have gone that way. No child should ever be unsafe to that degree.”
The film, available on Apple TV, s, supports the “Ileana School of Hope,” built to provide education and safety for children in similar circumstances.
“All the funds from that particular film will go to paying for Iliana School of Hope and expanding it and sustaining it into the future,” Corrigan said.
Tickets for Dispatch’s June 6th Charlotte concert are currently on sale, with the band promising a night of strong harmonies, extended jams, and positive energy as they introduce local fans to their new material.
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