Sunday, August 12, 2018 – 7:00 pm

– annual pot luck dinner at 6 pm –

An Evening with Mari Black & the World Fiddle Ensemble

Multistyle violinist and champion fiddler Mari Black is rapidly building a reputation as one of the most dynamic young artists of her generation. Her energetic playing, engaging stage presence, and commitment to bringing people together through music have made her a favorite with audiences across the country and around the world. Equally at home in a wide variety of musical traditions, Mari is the 2015/2013 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, 2014 Glenfiddich Scottish Fiddle Champion, 2014/2012 Canadian Maritime Fiddle Champion, 2011 Canadian Novelty Fiddle Champion, 1st Prize Winner at the 2010 American Protégé International String Competition, and 2-time laureate at the American String Teachers’ Association Alternative Styles Awards. On stage, she creates shows that draw on elements from many different styles including jazz, tango, folk, Western classical, as well as Celtic, American, and Canadian fiddling. Her performances take listeners on a musical journey exploring the diversity and celebrating commonalities in the dance-driven folk music of the world. She is currently touring nationally with her World Fiddle Ensemble and Celtic Band, performing and celebrating diverse styles of traditional and modern dance music.

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Saturday, September 22, 2018 – 7:30 pm

An Evening with The Durham County Poets

Durham County Poets are a lively and soulful five-piece folk and roots band from Southwest Quebec’s Chateauquay Valley that performs an eclectic blend of blues, folk and rock with tinges of country, gospel and swing tossed in for good measure.  Although together only since 2011, Durham County Poets are seasoned musicians. Its members collectively have more than a century of diverse musical experience – having previously played in blues, rock, country, Cajun and vaudeville outfits.  Fronted by Kevin Harvey, a bluesy crooner, on lead vocals and harmonica, Durham County Poets feature David Whyte (electric and acoustic guitars), Neil Elsmore (acoustic guitar), Carl Rufh (double bass) and Rob Couture (drums/percussion).  All of the Durham County Poets are songwriters. Either individually or collaboratively, they compose a musical potpourri of ballads, gospel, blues and country-rock songs – making for varied sets while performing in concert. The obvious joie de vivre they feel playing together is reflected in the good-time feel the Durham County Poets share with concert audiences and listeners.

$25 Suggested Donation

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Saturday, October 13, 2018 – 7:30 pm

An Evening with The Black Feathers

The Black Feathers are an award-winning duo from Gloucestershire in England. The perfectly paired voices of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler intertwine effortlessly to create a sound combining elements of folk, roots, alt-country and Americana. They married in 2012, which also marked the beginning of their musical adventure as The Black Feathers. They designed the band logo on honeymoon and the music soon followed. This close collaboration became the backbone of their sound. Whether playing to an audience of 1500 strong at the Colston Hall in Bristol, or to 80 crammed in to the Green Note in London they give an intimate performance that draws the listener in to a special, strong and unique bond between two people. Within their first year they were awarded the ‘5 Valleys Folk award’ and the following year also picked up the ‘Folkstock Arts Foundation’ award for best live performance. They have toured in Germany, Holland and in the USA including a sold out show at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee. 2014 saw the release of Strangers We Meet, the duo’s debut 5 track EP. It gained national airplay on BBC Radio2, as well as warm reviews from national music press, including an interview in The Sunday Times. The Telegraph also listed it as one of the best albums of 2014. They released their impressive and critically acclaimed debut album ‘Soaked to the Bone’ in 2016.

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Friday, November 16, 2018 – 8:00 pm

An Evening with Scott Cook

A roots balladeer with a rare personal warmth, Canada’s Scott Cook has managed to distill the stories collected over a decade of near-incessant touring across Canada, the USA, the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. He brings humor, a disarming honesty, years of roads, and a deep love of humanity to his songcraft and storytelling. He is equally at home alone on stage, accompanying himself with fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo, or backed by his acoustic trio the Second Chances. Cook’s songs are true stories set to music, drawing on influences from folk, roots, country, soul, and blues. He has made his living playing music full-time since 2007, and despite all the hard miles, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.

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Sunday, December 9, 2018 – 4:00 pm

An Afternoon with The Early Mays

Emily Pinkerton, Ellen Gozion, and newest member, Rachel Eddy, share songs based in a love of American tradition, while also exploring their own creative voices. All three are celebrated solo artists who bring their rich, and carefully honed craft to The Early Mays. Emily weaves folk, classical and world music traditions together in her songwriting. She recently won a New Music USA award for the commission of a piece for old time banjo and chamber ensemble, “Rounder Songs,”released in November 2017 on New Amsterdam Records. Ellen is an accomplished ballad singer and visual artist who has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center, and was an American Music Abroad finalist with the US State Department. Rachel is a prolific old-time fiddler and multi-instrumentalist, with a long touring history, who has shared the stage with Tim O’Brien, Uncle Early, Bruce Molsky and others.  There is an unsurpassed magic that springs from entwined and entrancing vocal harmonies. The Early Mays love the camaraderie of the studio, the road and rehearsals, and you can feel the gratitude radiate from whatever stage they are on. You’ll always leave a show carrying a little bit of that warmth away with you.

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Friday, January 11, 2019 – 8:00 pm

An Evening with The Honey Dewdrops & The Bumper Jacksons Duo

Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish are celebrating their 9th year of touring full time as The Honey Dewdrops, having played stages and festivals far and wide in North America and Europe. With tight harmonies and an musical ensemble that includes claw-hammer banjo, mandolin and guitars, the effect is to leave listeners with only what matters: the heart of the song and clarity over ornamentation.
After leaving their home base of Virginia and living on the road for 2 years, Laura and Kagey now call Baltimore, Maryland home and it’s where they wrote and recorded their fourth full-length album, Tangled Country, released May 2015. Acoustic Guitar Magazine describes the set of songs as “a handcrafted sound centered on swarming harmonies and acoustic guitars that churn like a paddlewheel and shimmer like heat waves on the highway.” And like their stage performance, these songs rock and reel, and then they console you when you come back down.

Bumper Jacksons are hot and sweet, painting America’s story from the streets of New Orleans to Appalachian hollers. Unafraid to scrap together new sounds from forgotten 78’s, the Bumper Jacksons elegantly balance paying homage to the traditions while fashioning their own unique, playful style. The group began as a duo, a city-meets-country experiment between songstress Jess Eliot Myhre and banjo and guitar player Chris Ousley. They hopped on bicycles, touring the country, instruments on their backs, seeking to reimagine roots music. In five short years, the Bumper Jacksons grew to a brassy seven-piece, with horns and pedal steel. They’ve been honored multiple times as the Mid-Atlantic’s “Artist of the Year” & “Best Traditional Band” at the Washington Area Music Awards. Bursting at the seams with some of the richest threads of old America, Bumper Jacksons bring you into the center of a party where everyone’s invited.

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Friday, February 1, 2019 – 8:00 pm

An Evening with Joe Crookston

Joe Crookston – Songwriter, guitarist, painter, fiddler, slide player, eco-village member and believer in all things possible. Named 2016 Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Residence. He’ll surprise you and awaken the cynics. He’s plumbing for lyrical gold like a social archeologist. His songs are universal, his rhythm infectious and in concert, he is funny as hell one moment and transcendent the next. Whether he’s picking his 48 Gibson, weaving through lap slide songs or looping his fiddle, he will draw you in. It happens every time. Watch a YouTube video. It’s good, but it’s not the same. You gotta come to a show. With unwavering courage to be himself, he is literate, poignant and funny as hell. He lives in Ithaca NY, and tours regularly in the US, Ireland and Canada.

Best quote: “I hate folk music, but I absolutely LOVE Joe Crookston’s music.!”

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Saturday, May 4, 2019 – 7:30 pm

An Evening with Lloyd-Martin-Vox

With the huge success of that show in Baltimore (and another after that) … Lloyd Martin and Vox was born. Marrying Vox’s renowned mouth trumpet and ukulele prowess, Martin’s flawless folk songwriting and vocals and Lloyd’s powerhouse percussion makes this trio a little bit funky, a little bit folky and definitely fierce. Three of the most signature, polished voices on the folk/acoustic scene also make for rich harmony throughout the group’s re-imagined covers and original tunes. With Vox now calling California home, their shows together in the MD/DC area are rare and special – Don’t miss this one!

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Friday, September 13, 2019 – 8:00 pm

An Evening with Jon Shain

Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style – combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime.  Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style – combining improvised piedmont blues with jazz, swing, bluegrass, and ragtime. He grew up in Haverhill, Massachusetts – a mill-town that had seen its better days by the time he was a child. It was here that he began to discover his love of American roots music and songwriting, specifically drawn to the narratives about regular people and themes of social justice. He continued his musical journey while attending college at Duke University. In addition to studying jazz, he also had the good fortune to learn the piedmont blues tradition firsthand by playing in Big Boy Henry’s backing band. It was at this time that Shain also got to meet and play with a number of the great older NC blues players.

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