Upcoming Bluegrass Related Events

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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 »

Farmington Valley Acoustic Festival

Winding Trails 50 Winding Trails Dr, Farmington, CT

Farmington Valley Acoustic Festival Returns on October 21 The 8th Annual Farmington Valley Acoustic Festival is returning on Saturday, October 21st from 11:00am – 6:00pm at Winding Trails in Farmington.  Set amongst the beautiful 380 acres of forest and fall foliage on Dunning Lake, there will be music on two stages, with a beer garden at the beach featuring free samples from local breweries. The festival headliner is Enter the Haggis. For the better part of two decades, Toronto’s Enter The Haggis has combined bagpipes and fiddles with a rock rhythm section to create a distinctively eclectic sound, praised by The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and Canada’s Globe and Mail.  Their songs offer singalong melodies and deep, meaningful lyrics which tell the stories of everyday hard-working people, often faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.  Signature songs like “One Last Drink”, “Gasoline”, “Down With The Ship” and “Lancaster Gate” have had hundreds of thousands of plays on social media, appeared in Hollywood movies, and have been performed and recorded by artists around the world. The Festival also features Damn Tall Buildings. If you like your bluegrass served with a little punch, attitude, grit and gravy, with that busking spirit that was so present and palpable in the early incarnations of Old Crow Medicine Show and made you realize that string band music could be so much more than fuddy-duddy reenactments by crusty ol’ relics, then the Damn Tall Buildings will slide in nice as a welcome addition to your listening rotation. Bluegrass at heart, but pulling from a wide range of influences including swing, ragtime, jazz, and even a hint of contemporary perspective in the songwriting, they offer virtually unmatched energy and enthusiasm, underpinned by intelligent … Read More »

$30

Goldenrod Bluegrass Festival

Golden Rod Bluegrass Festival 625 Old Homestead Highway, Swanzey, NH

Join Southern Rail for a wonderful autumn bluegrass festival. This is a fundraiser for the Goldenrod Grange restoration project. Free chicken BBQ with festival ticket! Music runs 11 am-5 pm.  BBQ will be served 4-5  pm. Children 7 and under are free.

Joe Walsh/Grant Gordy Duo

Cafe Amici 1640 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT

GuitartownCT presents bluegrass greats Joe Walsh and Grant Gordy in concert on Saturday, October 21 at 7:30 PM. The show is at Café Amici, 1640 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT. Tickets are $35 at guitartownct.com. Joe and Grant are at the top of their game. They bring tons of talent and years of experience at the highest levels of contemporary acoustic music, playing with David Grisman, The Gibson Brothers, and everyone in between. Joe Walsh continues to be the glue that holds New England’s young acoustic musicians together, and Grant has a similar role in Brooklyn. Café Amici features a full menu of delicious Italian food. Come early for dinner, make a dinner reservation at 203-848-1682.

$35

Wrentham’s OCC Coffeehouse presents Southern Rail

OCC Coffeehouse Original Congregational Church, 1 East St, Wrentham, MA

Celebrate fall with Bluegrass and the world’s best home baked blueberry buckle! What could be better? Southern Rail brings their upbeat brand of Bluegrass and happy mayhem to Wrentham's popular OCC Coffeehouse on Saturday October 28 from 7-9 pm. This promises to be a packed house, featuring high-energy exuberant bluegrass with lush harmonies, irrepressible good humor, and sparkling banjo, guitar and mandolin.

$20

Black Opry Revue

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

“Black Opry has grown beyond its blog origins to be a force of change and a leader in the movement to bring racial equity to country music.” —Rolling Stone Black Opry is a showcase for Black artists and fans of country, blues, folk, and Americana music. One of the most valuable aspects of traditional music is its versatility and diversity in sound, and these remarkable young artists explore all of the intersections of these genres and beyond. According to founder Holly G: “No matter what it’s for or where we are, there’s an intense feeling of home, created simply by us being in the same room and celebrating this music that we all love. That feeling resonates throughout whatever space we are in, and it never fails to feel like a healing experience.” The concert will feature three writers performing in the round.

The Bull Run presents Southern Rail

The Bull Run Restaurant 215 Great Road, Shirley, MA

Celebrate the season with Bluegrass and an amazing fall menu and open bar. What could be better? Southern Rail brings their upbeat brand of Bluegrass and happy mayhem to Shirley's renowned Bull Run Restaurant on Saturday Nov. 4 from 8-10 pm. This promises to be another packed house, featuring high-energy exuberant bluegrass with lush harmonies, irrepressible good humor, and sparkling banjo, guitar and mandolin. The concert will be held in the upstairs Ballroom.  Last year's concert was a sell-out, so reserve your tickets now!  

$25
Recurring

Wernick Method Jam Class!

Union Music 142 Southbridge Street, Worcester, MA

Weekly Jam Class (Tue) November 7, 2023 – November 28, 2023 (message me for individual weeks) Taught by Jordan Richmond using the Wernick Method Worcester, MA Union Music, 142 Southbridge St, Worcester, MA 01608 4-6pm each Tuesday Tuition: $95 for 4 sessions Sign up HERE: https://wernickmethod.org/event/jr-2023-11-worcester

$95

Damn Tall Buildings

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

“If you like your bluegrass served with a little punch, attitude, grit and gravy … Damn Tall Buildings will slide in nice as a welcome edition to your listening rotation. Bluegrass at heart, but pulling from a wide range of influences including swing, ragtime, jazz, and even a hint of contemporary perspective in the songwriting, they offer virtually unmatched energy and enthusiasm, underpinned by intelligent songs that don’t skimp on the infectiousness…” – Savingcountrymusic.com Witty & engaging, Damn Tall Buildings’ energizing music finds beauty and glory in the mundane workaday struggle of everyday life: time keeps passing and the seasons come and go, you scroll too much, you smoke too much, you lose yourself, only to sit with yourself & find yourself again, you laugh with your friends, and you look out the window & dream about what else might be out there. It all keeps coming around. You carry on, intent on flourishing and thriving. This is what Damn Tall Buildings sings about, what they seek to share with their audience.