Welcome to Bowstring
Raleigh's Premier Live Music Venue, Event Space, and Neighborhood Bar
At Bowstring, we bring together a community of people that love live music and great vibes in a beautifully-restored historic building in downtown Raleigh, NC
Bowstring: A Neighborhood Bar & Music Venue
Bowstring was founded in Raleigh in 2020 and quickly became one of the most popular bar and venues in the Raleigh area. With four unique gathering spaces and three full bars, including a 10,000 sq ft turfed yard area, dubbed The Yard, Bowstring routinely hosts live music concerts with local and nationally-touring, private parties, watch parties, and more! Featuring in-house PA, lighting, and a 28’x20’x4′ covered stage, Bowstring is uniquely situated to host high-quality concerts and event.
Live Music & Events
Date
august
21aug7:00 pm10:00 pmZoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience
Event Details
Get your tickets here! Celebrating their 31 years of touring in 2026, Zoso has become one of the most iconic and respected Led Zeppelin tribute experiences in the world, having played
Event Details
Celebrating their 31 years of touring in 2026, Zoso has become one of the most iconic and respected Led Zeppelin tribute experiences in the world, having played over 4,900 shows across the globe. Known for their unparalleled dedication to faithfully recreating the legendary band’s live performances, Zoso has earned accolades from both critics and fans alike.
Zoso’s live performances focus on the raw energy and intricate musicality of Led Zeppelin’s best-known hits and deeper tracks, with a particular emphasis on recreating their live show experience. The band’s commitment to authenticity has earned them praise from major outlets, with the LA Times calling them “head and shoulders above all other Led Zeppelin tributes,” and the St. Petersburg Times describing them as “the most exacting of all the Led Zeppelin tributes.”
Doors at 6pm. No lawn chairs. Event Rain or Shine. No refunds.
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Time
August 21, 2026 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
Tickets Available Here! Afroman's musical career began in the eighth grade, when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates. "The first tape I made was about my
Event Details
Afroman’s musical career began in the eighth grade, when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates. “The first tape I made was about my eighth-grade teacher,” he once recalled. “She got me kicked out of school for sagging my pants, which was a big deal back then. So I wrote this song about her and it sold about 400 copies: it was selling to teachers, students, just about everybody. And I realized that, even though I wasn’t at school, my song was at school, so in a way I was still there. All these people would come by my house just to give me comments about how cool they thought the song was.” Foreman also performed in his church at a young age, playing both the drums and guitar.
In 1998, Afroman released his first album, My Fro-losophy and later relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he met drummer Jody Stallone, keyboardist/bassist Darrell Havard and producer Tim Ramenofsky (a.k.a. Headfridge).
Ramenofsky produced and released Afroman’s album Because I Got High in 2000 on T Bones Records; it was distributed primarily through concerts and the file-sharing service Napster before its title track was played on The Howard Stern Show. Afroman was inspired to write the song’s lyrical content by his unwillingness to clean his room, and he ran with the idea of everyday tasks being derailed by drug use. In late 2001, the song became a hit and was featured in the films Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Perfect Score, and Disturbia later in the 2000s. “Because I Got High” was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002.
After the single’s success, Afroman joined the lineup of Cypress Hill’s fall festival “Smoke Out” with the Deftones, Method Man, and others. After this, Universal Records signed Afroman to a six-album deal, and Universal released The Good Times in 2001. The Good Times was a compilation of Afroman’s first two albums and some new tracks.
Afroman started releasing his music independently and mostly through the Internet in 2004, and that year, he recorded Jobe Bells, which satirized traditional Christmas songs.
Afroman was part of the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos lineup.
In October 2014, Afroman released a remix of his hit song “Because I Got High” in order to highlight the usefulness of marijuana as part of the effort to legalize its sale across the United States.
In January of 2021 Afroman Signed with Revolutionary Record Label, Cosmic Wire. Owned and Operated by Artist/Producer BLAZAR (Jerad Finck), and growth hacking expert BJ Klock, their first single “WHOLEthing” was released as a precursor to his upcoming album release.
No lawn chairs. Event is outdoors, rain or shine. No refunds.
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Time
August 22, 2026 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
29aug7:00 pm10:00 pmSteep Canyon Rangers
Event Details
Grab your tickets here! Steep Canyon Rangers arrive at a moment of renewal and reaffirmation with Next Act, their 15th studio album set to be released May 22, 2026. The
Event Details
Steep Canyon Rangers arrive at a moment of renewal and reaffirmation with Next Act, their 15th studio album set to be released May 22, 2026. The record represents a conscious tightening of focus: a return to the bluegrass foundations that first bound the band together, approached with the confidence and emotional range earned through years of collective evolution. It is an affirmation that bluegrass still contains endless expressive possibility. Next Act finds the Rangers sounding deeply at home in their own musical language, drawing strength from tradition while continuing to write new chapters within it.
Formed in North Carolina and shaped equally by the Appalachian Mountains and the Piedmont, Steep Canyon Rangers have long occupied a singular space in American roots music. From their earliest recordings, the band demonstrated an unusual ability to honor traditional bluegrass forms while allowing contemporary songwriting, literary influence, and regional storytelling to seep naturally into the music. Over time, this balance earned them both bluegrass credibility and broader Americana acclaim, culminating in a Best Bluegrass Album GRAMMY Award for 2013’s Nobody Knows You, additional nominations for Rare Bird Alert (2012) and North Carolina Songbook (2020), and an induction into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
In recent years, as their audience expanded and their songwriting reach grew wider, the Rangers began to feel a pull back toward the elemental forces that shaped them: acoustic instruments speaking clearly, songs built for ensemble interplay, and stories grounded in lived experience and regional memory. Next Act emerges from that impulse.
Steep Canyon Rangers is made up of Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums, dobro, percussion and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar, and vocals.
Doors at 6pm. Event is rain or shine, no refunds. No lawn chairs or dogs.
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Time
August 29, 2026 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Full Bar
20+ Rotating Taps including Beer, Cider, and N/A
Options w/ Seasonably-Fresh Hand-Crafted Cocktails
Bowstring Pizza Bus
Private Events
- We are happy to host your private group, corporate event, wedding event, birthday celebration, watch party, charity event - you name it!
- Featuring state-of-the-art PA system, multi-feature house lighting setup, an 8,000 square foot turfed yard area with tents optional, a 2,500 garage bar, and two private covered patio spaces with heaters.
Bowstring Pizza Bus
Craft Cocktails and Beer
Party Reservations & Events
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