Concerts

Bluegrass and the world’s best Carrot Cake!  What could be better? Southern Rail brings their upbeat brand of Bluegrass and happy mayhem to the Homegrown Coffeehouse on Saturday April 6. This promises to be another packed house, featuring high-energy exuberant bluegrass with lush harmonies, irrepressible good humor, and sparkling banjo, guitar and mandolin. Come early before the Carrot Cake runs out!

Luke Bulla Presented by notloB Parlour Concerts at the old Harvard library, 7 Fairbank Street, Harvard MA 01451 Friday, April 19, 2024, 7:30pm   Luke Bulla has been singing and playing music most of his life, touring with and singing in his family band from age four, Luke took up the fiddle at seven. Over the course of the next few years, he won the National Fiddle Contest (in Weiser, Idaho) six times in his respective age categories. His seventh win came in the Grand Champion division at age sixteen, making him the youngest to have earned the title at the time. In the spring of 1999, Luke moved to Nashville to establish himself as a full time musician. He spent his early years in Tennessee playing fiddle in Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, which earned him his first Grammy Award. Luke was a member of the John Cowan Band. Luke has also performed and/or recorded with Brandi Carlile, Jim Lauderdale, Darrell Scott, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Bryan Sutton, Kevin Costner & Modern West, Russ Barenberg Trio, Shawn Colvin, Tony Rice, Chris Thile, Peter Rowan, Patty Griffin, Glen Phillips, Rodney Crowell, and Earl Scruggs, to name a few. In 2009, Luke released a solo EP featuring Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Aoife O’Donovan and more. Since 2009, Luke has been touring with Lyle Lovett. Luke released an LP, Who Loves You Better, produced by Bryan Sutton in May 2016. After many years as a sideman, Luke is currently touring the country playing solo performances. ARTIST’S WEBSITE: lukebulla.com ARTIST’S VIDEO: https://youtu.be/mgKqxoWbkQI?si=E5Zkt7QWKfPdoDxQ ADMISSION: by free-will offering, suggested amounts: Adults $20+, teens and seniors $15, children $10. RESERVATIONS REQUESTED: notloB Parlour … Read More »

Southern Rail welcomes spring with their exuberant blend of upbeat bluegrass and riveting vocals to the acclaimed Sanford Springvale Historical Museum. This promises to be another packed house, featuring lush harmonies, irrepressible good humor, and sparkling banjo, guitar, mandolin and bass. Come early to browse the wonderful exhibits! Doors open 6:45.  concert is at 7:30.

“Once again, Tony has set the world afire with his banjo and his storytelling skills…”— Bluegrass Today Tony Trischka is considered the consummate banjo artist and perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. For more than 50 years, his stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians with the many voices he has brought to the instrument. His show honors the music of Earl Scruggs, pioneer of the three-finger banjo style and one of the most important musicians in bluegrass, or, in Trischka’s opinion, in any genre. Trischka recently came into possession of extremely rare recordings of jam sessions with Scruggs and John Hartford, and he transcribed and recorded Scruggs’s note-for-note solos from a number of these, including many songs that were never recorded. Together with his ace band — Michael Daves on vocals and guitar, fiddler Alex Hargreaves and bassist Jared Engel — Trischka will trace the story of Scruggs from his childhood to his final years. “The depth of his genius becomes ever more apparent when I transcribe his solos, which I’ve been doing my entire musical life and with renewed vigor,” says Trischka. “Discovering new twists and turns in his playing is pure joy and, in fact, the inspiration for this tribute show and album.” The show debuted at Joe’s Pub in New York City which drew lots of interest, including an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, a rarity for a banjo player these days. “Earl is my North Star, a lifetime pathway. And I’m not alone,” says Trischka, a banjo innovator and educator who has influenced everyone from Béla Fleck to Steve Martin. “Through his music, this shy kid from Flint Hill, North Carolina went on … Read More »

Aoife O’Donovan and Hawktail join together for a night of joyous music. Hawktail opens the evening with their signature songs and cosmopolitan sound. Aoife O’Donovan will then take the stage with Hawktail as her band, performing songs from the Grammy-award winning musician’s 4th studio album All My Friends (out March 22, 2024). O’Donovan continues to enchant audiences worldwide with her soul-stirring music and unwavering passion for storytelling through song. Deemed “a vocalist of unerring instinct” by the New York Times, she has released three critically-acclaimed and boundary-blurring solo albums including literarily crafted Age Of Apathy, which received three Grammy nominations. Her newest album, All My Friends is based around a collection of songs Aoife O’Donovan wrote, inspired by women’s suffrage and the passage of the 19th amendment. The album is a deep dive into the reimagining of the life of Carrie Chapman Catt – one of the movement’s leaders and founder of the League of Women Voters – juxtaposed with Aoife’s own experiences as a woman and mother. Hawktail is the acoustic instrumental trio of fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, and guitarist Jordan Tice. Though at first glance it looks like an acoustic super-picker side-project, their all-original music is cohesive and unique, distinguishing them as an ensemble with a sound built from the ground up. Flush with orchestral sweeps and sparse vigils, with strains of the American South and the North Atlantic. Together, they have fostered a reputation as a rare ensemble of composers and instrumentalists able to take the listener on a journey, without the use of words.