04/30/2026
Up for some boogie-woogie piano mayhem this Friday? Tom Merrigan's Hot Raccoons are a high energy, super danceable band that mixes New Orleans style boogie-woogie piano with the bizarre, the wild, the psychedelic and possibly the kitchen sink. Plus, it’s taking place in a hip barn furnished with swanky, mid-century modern furniture and a high-tech sound system. If that sounds like something that’s up your alley, check ‘em out at Sonark Farms this Friday, May 1.
Tom started out as a ferocious, infectious, boogie-woogie piano player, no electronic keyboards thank you, playing his own fabulous compositions in the style of the iconic New Orleans pianists Professor Longhair and James Booker – but on speed. He played so hard he would regularly finish shows with bloody fingers, no kidding. Along the way he put together the Hot Raccoons, a group of talented musicians (drums, horn, backing vocals) versed in the NOLA ways that could match his fiery energy. Then, in the fine tradition of the Durham music scene, the mix just got weirder and more interesting.
Sonark Farms is a beautiful space next to a pond in the countryside just south of Hillsborough. They specialize in high end Belgian beers (the owner is Belgian), and they’ll also mix you drink if that’s more your thing. They have food trucks, too, so don’t bother cooking dinner, just grab your dancing shoes and come on down!
FRIDAY, MAY 1: Tom Merrigan's Hot Raccoons live at The Bar(n) at Sonark Farms!
Tickets: $10 / $15 https://www.sonarkfarms.com/event-details/tom-merrigan-the-hot-raccoons
On Friday, May 1, the quiet countryside at The Bar(n) at Sonark Farms transforms into a fever dream of sound and spectacle as Tom Merrigan’s Hot Raccoons take over the stage.
This isn’t a concert—it’s a full-blown musical frenzy.
Picture a piano onstage with a mind of its own. A drum kit—clattering, rattling, alive. Horns slice through the dusk. A voice rises. The rhythm builds. And just when you think you’ve found the groove, the whole thing veers gloriously off the rails.
At the center of it all is Tom Merrigan—boogie-woogie virtuoso, force of nature, and ringmaster of the absurd—pounding the keys with ferocity that borders on myth. Around him, a wild collective of top-tier players threads the line between precision and chaos: Stephen Cowles on searing saxophone, Kevin Magill on a roaming, kinetic drum setup, and Dana Marks—performance artist, vocalist, and agent of delightful disruption—moving through the music with impromptu interactions that blur the line between stage and audience. One moment you’re watching the show…the next, you’re part of it.
This band doesn’t just play music—they detonate it.
6 PM | Doors open with Theflatdrum Food Truck
8 PM | Live music
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