Past Bluegrass Related Events

Dervish have been bringing Irish traditional music to the world for more than 25 years. Described by the BBC as “an icon of Irish music”, the band have played at festivals from Rock in Rio to Glastonbury, toured with the Irish President and struck up tunes on the Great Wall of China. Dervish have a line-up which includes some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians, fronted by one of the country’s best-known singers, Cathy Jordan.

Nobody really knows who J.P. Cormier is for sure. That’s to be expected, believe me. 36 years later after stepping on stage as professional union musician for the first time at the tender age of 13, JP is still going, and frighteningly, still getting better. 16 albums followed the success of Another Morning, winning 12 more ECMA’s, another Juno nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award and 5 Music Nova Scotia Awards. Each album was a snapshot of each thing that he can do. There are fiddle albums, Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar, tribute records, songwriting collections, a purely astounding spectrum of talent and musical vision. His catalogue of recordin...

Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee JD Souther is "one of the most celebrated songwriters of his generation" writes Interview Magazine. Souther has penned countless hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, Don Henley, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks and Dunn, and others; while establishing a cult following as a performer with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and as a solo artist.

A music legend with over 50 years of thrilling audiences here and abroad with hits like “No Regrets,” “Circle Game,” “Remember Song,” “Urge for Going,” and “Merrimack County.” Tom Rush’s impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the ’60s and the renaissance of the ’80s and ’90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists.

After winning a Grammyfor his soulful ballad “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters, combining the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul man. Rooted in the rich ground of American rhythm and blues, soul and gospel and possessed of a deft storyteller’s pen, he weaves vivid, detailed, often drawn-from-life tales that evoke some of our most universal human feelings: love, hope, faith, joy, heartbreak.

Hayley Reardon opens the show. Lula Wiles is a band deeply rooted in traditional folk music, but equally deep is their devotion to modern songcraft. They deliver love songs that are at once defiant and heartsick, as well as new contributions to the folk ballad canon and timely explorations of what it means to live in America today. Drawing from the deep wells of traditional old-time and bluegrass, classic country, and contemporary indie-folk-rock, Lula Wiles melds diverse influences to create a sound all their own. The three band members – Ellie Buckland (vocals/acoustic guitar/fiddle), Isa Burke (vocals/acoustic and electric guitars/fiddle), and Mali O...

From New Jersey, John Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who got his start at a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania. Many well known artists have recorded and/or performed John Gorka songs, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O’Connell. John has graced the stage of Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, etown and has appeared on CNN. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe. Though small, Godfrey Daniels was and is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions and has long been a hangout for music lovers and aspiring musicians. In the late 1970’s, John was was one of these aspiring musicians. Although his academic coursework at Moravian College lay in Philosophy and History, music began to offer paramount enticements. Soon he found himself living in the club’s basement and acting as resident MC and sound man, encountering legendary folk troubadours like Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt. Their brand of folk-inspired acoustic music inspired him, and before long he was performing his own songs – mostly as an opener for visiting acts. Soon he started traveling to New York City, where Jack Hardy’s legendary Fast Folk circle (a breeding ground for many a major singer-songwriter) became a powerful source of education and encouragement. Folk meccas like Texas’ Kerrville Folk Festival (where he won the New Folk Award in 1984) and Boston followed, and his stunningly soulful baritone voice and original songwriting began turning heads. Those who had at one time inspired him – Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin – had become his peers.In 1987, the young Minnesota-based Red House Records caught wind … Read More »

With Mick & Oisin McAuley. The Lindsays open the show. Name many of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it's a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them. Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher's Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle) - a veritable who's who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle's signature guitar sound, singing or songwriting is essential.From a musical family in Dublin, John’s influences include well known English folk singers Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, and The Watersons; Scottish singers Dick Gaughan and John Martin; and fellow Irishmen Paul Brady and Al O’Donnell as well as his father, Sean Doyle - probably the biggest influence of all. John went on the road as a pro at 16 with the group Chanting House which he formed with Susan McKeown and which eventually included such great players as Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, & Donogh Hennessy.  John went on to form the highly acclaimed super group, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey and Winifred Horan which took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements. As a member of Solas, John performed to sold out audiences nationally and internationally as well as appearing on many national TV and radio programs: NBC’s The Today Show, various programs for National Public Radio and Public Radio International, A Prairie Home … Read More »

Now in their twelfth year, the Forever Young Band was originally conceived after Mark Cutler, John Fuzek and Dan Lilley performed the Neil Young classic “Powderfinger” as a group set closer for a show at Stone Soup Coffeehouse in Pawtucket, RI (March 2006). Forever Young is a group of performers that pay tribute to the SONGS of Neil Young. No one in the band tries to imitate Neil Young.

More than four decades have passed since Steve Forbert made his way to New York City from his Meridian, Mississippi birthplace in quest of a career in music. It was the most unlikely time and place for a folk singer to leap into the fray in a burgeoning scene where new wave and punk were emerging while he took the stage as a the archetypal folkie, armed with just an acoustic guitar and sheaf of very personal songs.