BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//NONSGML Sandhills Development\, LLC//NONSGML Sugar Calendar Fe eds v3.4.0//EN X-WR-CALNAME:Ward Hayden &\; the Outliers X-WR-CALDESC:Portland Downtown X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20211107T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20211107T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ward Hayden &\; the Outliers DESCRIPTION:7pm doors – 8pm show | $15 adv. – $20 day of\n\n"Free Co untry" Manifesto\n\nWhat first led me to country music was the honesty o f the lyrics. Truth is hard to find and here was a genre where many of t he early songs of country music had laid bare the honesty of a feeling\, of a situation or of an emotion. Really\, truth is hard to find and it s especially difficult to be honest with yourself. The truth hurts. Bu t what I’ve always appreciated about the early songwriters of the coun try genre was that they had an innocence to their songwriting. I don’t think many of these early songwriters knew any better\, and I don’t m ean that as an insult\, I mean it as a compliment. Their innocence hadn t yet been corrupted. They knew nothing different but to tell it like it is\, and some of them paid a steep cost\, look at ole Hank Williams.\ n\nYou can’t be in touch with that kind of emotion and not have it tak e some serious toll on you.\n\nQuestion: Do you know what we don’t nee d?\nAnswer: Social Media\nQuestion: Do you know how long mankind existed without social media?\nAnswer: 200\,000 years\nQuestion: Do you know wh at social media gives most people?\nAnswer: Nothing\, but anxiety.\n\nAn d that’s what led us to making this album. Freedom. We were given a gi ft\, fans pledged their money to our Kickstarter campaign\, they gave us the means to make this album. The pandemic showed up and it gave us the time to evaluate life\, purpose\, and our place in it. And then it gave us the time and the opportunity to write about observations and meaning ful experiences and to record it in this collection of songs.\n\nSo\, we ’re giving it back. Not having to stand on stage and please anyone for a stretch of nearly 16 months gave us a certain freedom. A freedom to e xist in a more innocent and honest state. It gave us the opportunity to be honest with ourselves and to put our observations and feelings into l yrics and music. It was a creative freedom I hadn't felt since I first s tarted writing songs.\n\nMy father always said to me that if he had some thing worthwhile\, that he thought would benefit other people\, then he would give it away. He would want other people to have it if he thought it could help them. I don’t know if this album will be beneficial to e veryone\, but it’s felt beneficial to us and we want to share it. If y ou want “Free Country” then we’re gonna give it to you. And it’s free to download for anyone who wants it.\n\nThis album isn’t about p olitics. Ward Hayden and The Outliers aren’t concerned with the names of the players\, firebrands that anyone holds near and dear\, whose bann er they hang their ego and identity on or whose words other people use t o speak for them. This is an album of reflection and an examination of t he socio-cultural divide\, with a desire to survive it\, surpass it and then move past it.\n\nThis is about you\, this is about me\, this is abo ut us as people. It’s also about the hope and trust that the strong em otions a lot of us are feeling will manifest into positivity. Sometimes before deciding to visit a car wash\, you have to first acknowledge that the car you’re driving is in fact dirty and in need of being cleaned up.\n\nHere’s the thing….you can’t kill an idea\, you can’t wipe out an ideology because you find it offensive or hurtful or damaging. A nd it’s fine to oppose it\, but that won’t do away with it. So\, her e’s the other thing…you can replace it with something better.\n​\n If you want to numb out and not think\, turn on the tv. But\, if you wan t to experience Free Country\, download the album\, press play\, read al ong with the lyrics and let’s see what happens.\n\nOLS Covid-19 Protoc ols:\n\nWe are very excited to begin hosting live music shows again in o ur listening room. OLS is committed to providing a safe environment for all who work\, listen\, or perform live music in our venue. Because our venue is so small\, we will require all staff\, volunteers\, performers\ , and patrons to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 when th ey attend OLS events AND to wear masks indoors unless they are actively drinking\, eating\, or performing.\n\nProof of vaccine must come directl y from the health care provider that performed the vaccination and can b e a photo or physical copy of the vaccination card or record with an acc ompanying photo ID. Full vaccination means that the date of the performa nce you are attending is:\n\n* at least 14 days after your second dose o f an FDA or WHO authorized two dose COVID-19 vaccine\, or\n\n* at least 14 days after your single dose of an FDA or WHO authorized single dose C OVID vaccine.\n\nWe hope we can ease these restrictions once further pro gress has been made reducing transmission of the virus. Until then we gr eatly appreciate your patience and cooperation.\n\nOne Longfellow Square does not assume liability\; the ticket holder will assume all risks inv olved. By purchasing a ticket to this event you agree to assume full lia bility for any risks incurred before\, during and after the event and ag ree to the current Terms of Use. URL;VALUE=URI:https://portlandmaine.com/events/ward-hayden-the-outliers/ UID:urn:uuid:8b24a42f-9033-4a21-a815-54cfed6fdf12 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20260507T120834Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220114T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220114T230000 LOCATION:181 State St.\, Portland\, Maine 04101\, US END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR