Here are some videos from the most recent Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival. More will be coming, but this is at least a start. Some highlights from the festival included memorable moments with Grammy-award winning fiddler Michael Cleveland performing with The Kruger Brothers, dynamic sets from the Missouri-based progressive band The Hillbenders and wonderful performances from The Seldom Scene, The Greencards, The SteelDrivers and newcomers Three Tall Pines.
The bluegrass band The Wilbas, described as bluegrass with a Boston accent, will perform at Rockland’s Blue Moon Coffeehouse on at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Wilbas have been better known for over a decade as The Harvest Band. When founding member Randy Ducharme left the band, they were briefly known as The Sue Rocha Band which then became The Wilbas around 2010.
The Wilbas were to be the season closers, but the coffeehouse just booked Chasing Blue for June 8 to end its season. The band had been scheduled in March but was snowed out. Check the website for details. read more…
There’s a sweetness and energy when April Verch plays her fiddle and sings. It’s a magical combination from an artist who melds her feelings with the instrument that has guided her through much of her life. Verch, from Canada’s Ottawa Valley, may have grown up with the music of that region and its heritage, but the sound she delivers is so much more than that. Her ballads and songs range from the traditional to country to bluegrass to folk. But they are so much more than that. read more…
Lori McKenna, a Stoughton mom and admitted “townie,” has done well for herself in music circles. While her town life is steeped in Dunkin Donuts and visiting Town Spa Pizza, her music has been fostered by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, among others. Her 6th studio CD, “Massachusetts,” produced by Boston singer-songwriter Mark Erelli, continues her themes of relationships, some dark, some light. read more…
April is a busy month in folk and bluegrass music on the South Shore of Massachusetts. From remarkable harmonies to recalling music from the folk tradition, the next few weeks offer a plethora of styles and great music. It all starts this Saturday, April 6, with the trio of Brother Sun at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse, and The Nields at Franklin’s Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, along with Michael Troy and Bill Motte, splitting the bill at Kingston’s Beal House.
Kim & Reggie Harris are indeed stalwarts of the folk music community. Their powerful music, tinged with gospel and aspects of pop, classical and other forms of music, make their performances a sheer joy. They’ll be coming this Saturday night to Brockton’s Javawocky Coffeehouse. read more…
A fan of my Folk Bluegrass Facebook page offered up a tip this weekend, with the bluegrass band Chasing Blue slated to play at Rockland’s Blue Moon Coffeehouse. held at the Channing Unitarian Universalist Church, 45 Webster St.
The latest entry from The SteelDrivers is long overdue. “Hammer Down” (Rounder Records) the band’s third CD and first since 2010, will bring fans of this whiskey-hewn band to its feet, and new fans will be born, probably when the group debuts the CD at this weekend’s Joe Val Bluegrass Festival. read more…
VIDEOS: 28th Joe Val Bluegrass Festival a premiere gathering of good friends, top bands
The peaceful hallways of the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, Mass. will soon transform into a musical paradise. People will gather. Instruments will emerge from cases. Friendships will be forged; old friendships will be renewed. Bluegrass music will burst from the Sheraton’s corridors, its lobbies, outside its elevators, in dozens of rooms, and in a huge banquet hall with a main stage.
The 28th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, Feb. 15-17, brings the hottest bluegrass gathering to the coldest part of winter. For bluegrass fans, it is an early kick-off to a phenomenal season of music. read more…
The world of blues lost one of its greats today. Ann Rabson, 67, was a powerful singer, pianist, guitarist and co-founder of the group Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women, who launched their style of satirical blues in 1984 and performed for 25 years. I remember describing their music in 1993 “[They] sing the blues from a clearly female perspective with an attitude and a touch of raunch. Their songs are about subjects that women will relate to and may make men squirm.” And Rabson’s steamy vocals were the heart of the band. Read an obituary.
Rabson died Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, after a long battle with cancer.
Boston singer-songwriter Vance Gilbert offered his personal tribute to Ann that I would like to share with you today: read more…
I’ve known Scott Alarik for many years, from his days when he was a folk music writer for The Boston Globe, to the stage where his resounding baritone brings wondrous folk ballads to life, and now as an author. His second book, “Revival,” is a far cry from his scholarly debut “Deep Community.” In fact, it is a novel, a love story, steeped in the folk music he and his characters love. The book recently won the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Popular Fiction. read more…
Pete and Maura Kennedy, taking a break from their world tour with folk icon Nanci Griffith, will perform at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19. The duo is a Rose Garden favorite, having played there numerous times over the past 15 years. read more…
Lucy Kaplansky, a dynamic singer-songwriter has released a new video to accompany her latest single, a radio-charting song called “Scavenger.” The song is featured on Kaplansky’s new CD “Reunion” on Red House Records. read more…
In light of Superstorm Sandy and then the Nor’easter that left folks in the cold, you have a chance to warm the hearts of others and yourself this Saturday night, Nov. 10, 2012. The Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, Mass., will be collecting warm clothing as part of WUMB’s campaign called “Warm Clothes, Warm Hearts” before New England bluegrass band Southern Rail takes the stage.
“These contributions make a huge difference to those who receive them. Each year, [WUMB's] Golden Key [Society] receives many heartfelt expressions of appreciation from the receiving organizations,” said the Rose Garden’s artistic director Mac McLanahan. He suggested that those planning to attend the Southern Rail show bring a used winter coat, sweater, cap, gloves, or other items.
Saturday’s show with The Mary Maguire Band at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield offered a mix of music, from bluegrass, to swing to folk to a touch of MoTown. Maguire, with her longtime singing partner Jeff Horton and group newcomer John Tibert, performed a set of original tunes mixed with songs by contemporary folk singers like David Mallett, swing from Hank Williams and 70s classics.
Maguire joked about “mowing the grass” with what they called bluegrass or acoustic versions of tunes like Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” or Diana Ross’s “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Remarkably, those songs translated well into an acoustic style, helped along by the band’s solid rhythm and harmonies. Aside from the levity that those tunes provided, the group delved into some upbeat swing in “Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?” or Hank Williams’ “I’m Satisfied With You.”
The Greencards brought an energetic, seductive set to the stage of the Me &Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Mass. on chilly, rainy Friday night, Oct. 19, 2012. The band, fronted by Australian husband-wife pair Kym Warner (mandolin) and Carol Young (bass), played to an appreciative crowd of around 80 people, including songs from their newest CD “The Brick Album.”
[Check the coffeehouse website for The Battlefield Band, who will perform there this Friday, Oct. 26, 2012.] read more…
Call it what you will — folk, bluegrass, country – there’s one thing for sure: the music of the Mary Maguire Band swings! Mary and her boys take these ingredients and add a healthy dose of western swing, both instrumentally and vocally. The sound is contemporary but still decidedly rooted in the past.
The Mary Maguire Band makes its debut performance this Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse, 17 West Street, for an 8 p.m. show with doors opening at 7:30 pm. read more…
Now that the bluegrass festival season is over, it’s a big deal when a top-notch band comes to the region. The Grammy-nominated Greencards are a progressive, so-called “newgrass” band, steeped in the bluegrass genre, but experimental and contemporary. The group will perform on Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, at the vaunted Me & Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead. If you have never seen this unique band, which bring a touch of international flavor to the stage, you owe it to yourself to check them out.
At 58, bluegrass-country artist Ricky Skaggs believes he is a keeper of a musical tradition.
The Kentucky-born multi-instrumentalist, known in bluegrass music circles for his high-reaching vocals and mandolin picking, appreciates what the forerunners did for bluegrass music. With his new CD, “Music to My Ears,” Skaggs attempts to honor them, while staying true to a variety of styles that keep the music fun.
“When I came to Nashville in the early ’80s, my heart was really to bridge country and bluegrass together,” said Skaggs, by phone, from his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. “I just felt that there was somehow that I could merge the two kinds of music together in a way that would be commercial.” read more…
Years ago, I had the pleasure of first hearing Midwesterners Neal Hagberg & Leandra Peak at the Folk Alliance Conference when it was held in downtown Boston. This husband-wife duo unveiled their love of music, and of each other, in their songs, with beautifully crafted guitar playing and finely honed harmonies. Since then, Neal & Leandra have gone on and done well for themselves, releasing several CDs. And now, for the first time, they have created a video slideshow for their signature song “Old Love.” read more…
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