G.E. Smith's 'Portraits' Returns to Guild Hall, Featuring Yola, Valerie June and Lola Kirke

Guild Hall announces the return of G.E. Smith’s “Portraits.” The series fosters raw conversations and stripped-down performances by exclusive artists, and guests will immerse themselves in the soul of music where every note resonates with emotion.

“Portraits” will premiere on Thursday, July 18 at 7 p.m., featuring special guest, six-time Grammy-nominated artist YOLA. On Thursday, August 15, at 7 p.m., G.E. Smith will bring Nashville to East Hampton with guests Valerie June and Lola Kirke.

G.E. Smith was bandleader and Musical Director for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) band from 1985 to 1995. During this time, he also toured with Bob Dylan. He was bassist on “The Wall Live Tour” for Roger Waters from 2010 to 2016 and sideman to Jagger, Bowie and guitarist for Hall & Oates. He also helped Mike Myers write a song for Aerosmith, “Wayne’s World” which went multi-platinum when they performed on SNL.

Yolanda Quartey, better known by her stage name, Yola, is a Grammy-nominated country-soul singer-songwriter from Bristol, England. She has also gone by the name Yola Carter.

She became the lead singer of the band Phantom Limb, who released their first album in 2010. She has sung backing vocals for numerous artists including Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and Iggy Azalea. Yola released her first solo EP, “Orphan Offering,” in 2016.

In February 2019, she released her debut album “Walk Through Fire” on Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label. The album title references both a fire that damaged Yola’s home and an abusive relationship from which she escaped. Yola received four nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards, including the all-genre Best New Artist category, and joined the Broadway cast of “Hadestown” in 2024.

Valerie June Hockett is a Grammy-nominated artist from Tennessee. A musician, poet, certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor and author, she honorably served as a Turnaround artist working with students for the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities and continues serving through The Kennedy Center. She has recorded three critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. She’s been featured on The Tonight Show, CBS, PBS, Austin City Limits, BBC and many more. When she’s not touring, she splits her time between Tennessee and New York.

Lola Kirke has played many roles as an actress (“Mozart in the Jungle,” “Gone Girl,” “Winning Time”), but as a musician her sights have always been set squarely on country. After relocating from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2020, Kirke devoted herself to honing the craft she’d come to admire so deeply. Kirke’s commitment and talent were to hitmakers like Aaron Ratiere (Miranda Lambert), Mary Kutter (Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith) and Jason Nix (Lainey Wilson), with whom she wrote the bulk of her latest EP “Country Curious.” To achieve the more contemporary sound Kirke envisioned, she enlisted the Grammy-nominated, chart-topping Elle King.

Tickets range from $60 to $125 for nonmembers and $54 to $112 for members. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. For more details, and to purchase tickets, visit guildhall.org. Guild Hall is at 158 Main St, East Hampton.