Upcoming Bluegrass Related Events

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Music Worcester Presents: Sam Bush

The Hanover Theatre 2 Southbridge St, Worcester, MA

There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels, and the next gen devotees, for bluegrass music’s ultimate inside outsider (or is it outside insider?). There is only one Sam Bush. The mandolin/fiddle/guitar-playing icon has taken the genre to new heights over a 50+ year career having worked with such legends as Leon Russell, Emmylou Harris, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, and Lyle Lovett. In 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist. Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass are just a few present-day bluegrass vanguards among so many musicians he’s influenced. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush’s joyous perennial appearances at the town’s famed bluegrass fest earning him the title, “King of Telluride.” “With this band I have now I am free to try anything. Looking back at the last 50 years of playing newgrass, with the elements of jazz improvisation and rock-&-roll, jamming, playing with New Grass Revival, Leon, and Emmylou; it’s a culmination of all of that,” says Bush. “I can unapologetically stand onstage and feel I’m representing those songs well.” Experience the legendary instrumentalist in live performance with his band in Worcester, MA on Friday, June 9, 2023.

$25 – $28

Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus & Southern Rail in a Joyous Collaboration

Wellesley Hills Congregational Church 207 Washington St., Wellesley Hills, MA

The renowned Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus is joined by Southern Rail for a joyous and uplifting program of bluegrass and song. Not to be missed! "Southern Rail is one of the most significant groups in contemporary bluegrass...on the cutting edge of creativity". - Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine

$30

Danny Paisley and Southern Grass

GuitartownCT 166 Mather Street, Hamden, CT

Hard driving traditional bluegrass by 3-time IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year. Outdoor concert, bring chair, refreshments and sun hat.

$40

The Earls of Leicester feat. Jerry Douglas

The Cabot 286 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA

Shawn Camp (guitar, lead vocals) – Charlie Cushman (banjo, guitars) – Jerry Douglas (Dobro, vocals) – Johnny Warren (fiddle, bass vocals) – Jeff White (mandolin, vocals) When the Earls of Leicester formed in 2013, their mission was ambitious but exact: to preserve and promote the legacy of bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, in hopes of reviving the duo’s music for longtime admirers and introducing a new generation to their genre-defining sound. Within a year of releasing their self-titled debut, the Nashville-based six-piece far surpassed their own expectations, winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album and earning six awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association. Now, with their first live album, Earls of Leicester offer up a selection of songs that fully capture the pure joy and supreme musicianship that propel their every performance. Recorded over two nights at Nashville’s CMA Theater, The Earls of Leicester Live at The CMA Theater in The Country Music Hall of Fame bears a boundless vitality that makes songs from over a half-century ago feel irresistibly fresh. Despite the band’s painstaking precision in recreating the catalog of Flatt and Scruggs’s Foggy Mountain Boys, the album unfolds with an easy warmth that honors the essence of traditional bluegrass, which Douglas describes as “music that was meant to be played on back porches.” Earls of Leicester Live is also accompanied by a DVD that shows the complete splendor of their live set: the throwback attire, the off-the-cuff but illuminating between-song banter, the relentless hotfooting required of their stage setup. “Our goal is to go out and reacquaint everybody with the music of Flatt and Scruggs just the way they did it, which means fewer microphones and a good amount … Read More »

$29.50 – $59.50

Fiddlers Three Concert in Tuftonboro, Sunday, August 6

Old White Church of Center Tuftonboro 149 Middle Road (Route 109A),, CENTER TUFTONBORO, NH

The well-known fiddlers, Ellen Carlson, Melissa Caron and Kathy Sommer, will perform a concert at The Old White Church in Center Tuftonboro, on Sunday, August 6 at 7:00 pm.  The Church is located at 149 Middle Road (Route 109A), across from the Tuftonboro General Store & Post Office.  Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12.  Pay at the door, cash or check. Fiddlers Three, accompanied by Shana Aisenberg on guitar and Brendan Dowd on bass. feature spectacular high energy and sweet-sounding fiddles along with resonant heartfelt vocals. The trio has been fiddling together for years with a fun approach to many styles of music and to hear them perform is a joy. The historic Old White Church of Center Tuftonboro located on Route 109A, just across from the Tuftonboro General Store & Post Office, is an intimate, cozy setting that regularly hosts weekly Country & Bluegrass jam sessions and other music concerts. The doors will open at 6:00 pm, and the concert begins at 7:00 pm.  Seating is limited to 100, so be sure to come early to avoid disappointment.  For more information about this concert or to reserve tickets, call Joe Ewing at 603-569-3861.

$10 – $20

Missy Raines & Allegheny

Cafe Amici 1640 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT

11-time IBMA bluegrass bass player of the year Missy Raines is touring with her new bluegrass band, Missy Raines & Allegheny. This band is a significant nod, and return, to her deep bluegrass roots. The music is traditional and hard-driving at its core, but energized with Raines’ well-known penchant for originality and innovation.   Missy Raines & Allegheny features some of the brightest young stars in bluegrass today with Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Ellie Hakanson on fiddle, Ben Garnett on guitar, and Eli Gilbert on banjo. Their new album, Highlander, produced by Alison Brown, is scheduled for release on Compass Records in 2023.  

$35

Darin and Brooke Aldridge

The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN) 14 Summer Street, Natick, MA

Darin and Brooke Aldridge are excited. And why not? With two new band members, a new record label, and five original songs on their latest album, the bluegrass and Americana duo are back with This Life We’re Livin,’ their ninth recorded project together and first release on Billy Blue Records. This Life We’re Livin’ celebrates the space the husband-and-wife team now occupies - the top of bluegrass music. Armed with the talents of the proverbial Triple Threat of uniquely distinctive singing, commanding instrumental skills, and accomplished songwriting, Darin and Brooke continue to ascend to new heights in the industry while maintaining their easy-going, down-to-earth connection with audiences everywhere. Brooke, a former runner-up on TV’s Nashville Star, is a four-time consecutive winner and reigning Female Vocalist of the Year for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). She is nominated for a fifth time in 2021. Once a six-year member of The Country Gentlemen with the late Charlie Waller, Darin is a former IBMA Mentor of the Year and a truly gifted singer and multi-instrumentalist. Together with their band - Billy Gee on bass, Samantha Snyder on fiddle, and Jacob Metz on banjo and resonator guitar - Darin and Brooke have been recognized with the IBMA’s nomination for 2021 Vocal Group of the Year. They have had multiple nominations over the years from the IBMA, the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA), and the Inspirational Country Music Association. They have enjoyed top spots on the Billboard, SiriusXM, Bluegrass Today, Bluegrass Unlimited, Americana/Roots, and Gospel charts. Their music videos have been featured on Country Music Television (CMT), CMT Edge, Great American Country (GAC), Bluegrass Ridge TV, and The Bluegrass Situation. Their television appearances include … Read More »

$30

Bluegrass Jam Camp at Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival

Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival 29 Meadow Rd, Brunswick, ME

Check out this Pre-Festival Jam Camp on Monday- Wednesday before the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival! Join teaching artist Austin Scelzo for Wernick Method Classes teach real bluegrass jamming! Take the classes, miss none of the stage show! Austin plays with Rock Hearts and On The Trail and is a seasoned musician and trained Wernick Method instructor. * Hands-on learning in large and small groups * No jamming experience necessary * You will be jamming the first hour! * All bluegrass instruments welcome * Intermediates welcome, and given added challenges * Friendly, encouraging, knowledgeable teaching * Gentle tempos! Mistakes expected! * Music/tab reading not needed or used Learn many bluegrass standards How to lead songs and how to follow new songs How to find melodies, fake solos, sing harmony Group and individualized instruction on backup skills Understanding, low-pressure, time-tested teaching Register at: https://wernickmethod.org/event/as-2023-08-brunswick

$195

Alison Brown

Groton Hill Music Center 122 Old Ayer Road, Groton, MA

Grammy-winning banjo phenom with her band “Like James Taylor’s voice or B.B. King’s guitar, Alison Brown’s banjo is an instrument possessed of a unique sonic signature and an inescapable beauty…. an artist who never ceases to delight.” — Billboard Magazine One of the most multi-faceted minds in roots music, Alison Brown is a Grammy-winning musician, Grammy-nominated producer, former investment banker (with an A.B. from Harvard and an M.B.A. from UCLA), and co-founder of The Compass Records Group which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023. Alison and her band have toured extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad with stops at some of music’s most prestigious venues, including Newport Folk Festival, The Kennedy Center, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival (England), Celtic Connections (Scotland), Dublin National Concert Hall (Ireland), Galway Arts Festival (Ireland) and Verbier Music Festival (Switzerland).  Although Alison began her musical career as a teenager in the Southern California bluegrass scene, she has built a reputation as one of today’s most forward thinking and innovative banjo players. She is known for taking the instrument far beyond its Appalachian roots by blending bluegrass and jazz influences into a sonic tapestry that has earned praise and recognition from a variety of national tastemakers including The Wall Street Journal, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, and USA Today. On her new release, aptly titled On Banjo, Alison continues her musical explorations on a set of original compositions that explore the range of the banjo.  The album features an eclectic cast of collaborators including Steve Martin, Kronos Quartet, Sharon Isbin, Anat Cohen, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan and members of the Alison Brown Quintet.  Alison is the recipient of the USA Artists Fellowship in Music and the Distinguished Achievement Award … Read More »