The Beltway Opry

Calling all country fans!

The Beltway Opry is a moonshine-tinged evening out for fans of country, americana, western swing, and roots music, featuring performers as real as they come. If you like a little twang in your singer’s voice, a little bourbon in your glass, and have an inclination toward steel guitar and fiddle, this event is for you – so pull on your boots, dust off that stetson, and get on down to the Opry!

Featuring:

Christopher Colletta & the State Secrets

A born and raised Florida man, Christopher Colletta is destined to make headlines. Though a lifelong musician, it was only when he went off to Nashville to do his book learnin’ that he found the honky tonks and heard real country music for the first time. It helps to get kicked around a little before singing sad songs yourself, however, so Uncle Sam obliged—the next four-and-a-half years were spent based outside of Austin in the Army. After a couple trips around the world and running over things with tanks, he wound up in Paris for for two more years of book learnin’. Only there did he start performing, actually putting together a country band and spreading Johnny Cash/Willie Nelson awareness dans les rues, bars, and even the U.S. Embassy when March 2020 rolled around and, well, you know what happened next. Christopher moved to D.C. to pick up the pieces and get this dang road back on the dang show. Yeehaw. “Ouiii!” ~ unknown French spectator

Rebecca Porter & the Rhinestone Roses

A singer-songwriter born in Guam and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Rebecca Porter continues to forge her way in country music with songs that are heartfelt and honest. Porter transformed her pandemic loneliness into two EPs – “Prime Rainbow Conditions” and 2023’s “Queen of the Local”, the latter of which was successfully crowdfunded based on Porter’s formidable regional power. Porter tours extensively around her home state of Virginia, and steadily increasing forays outside the state, commanding stages up and down the East Coast. With completely independent legwork, her EP is making rounds nationally and internationally. Audiences react wonderfully to the fusion of Porter’s honky-tonk infused singer-songwriter sounds.

Michelle Swan and Cherith Yuly

Introduced to the guitar at age nine by her father, himself a former singer/songwriter, Michelle Swan has pursued a musical path ever since. After studying classical musical and clarinet performance at Towson State University, Michelle entered the Baltimore-Washington music scene in 1990, performing at local open-mics and coffeehouses. Self-reflective and acutely observant, Michelle deftly weaves lyric and note together to create intensely personal songs that tell of sentiments and circumstances nonetheless familiar to everyone.

Cherith Yuly is a singer/songwriter based out of Waldorf, MD who dabbles in a variety of music projects. She lends her vocal talents to the Honky Tonk Casanovas, a dance band that plays an infectious variety of retro honky-tonk country, surf, and southern soul music.  When she’s not with the band, she can be found touring the DC/MD/VA area performing covers and originals, often with her friend and local singer/songwriter, Michelle Swan. Cherith’s voice has range and a flexibility that allows for her to cover a large variety of genres, including country, soul, folk, and rock.