Rising Appalachia in Concert at The Colonial Theatre

Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. Whether playing at Red Rocks or in rail cars, at Italian street fairs or to Bulgarian herbalists, this fiercely independent band has blazed a unique and colorful path across the globe. 11 years into their movement, Rising Appalachia believes that the roots of all these old songs are vital to our ever evolving soundscape.

Led by the collective voice of sisters Leah and Chloe, and joined by their beloved band – percussionist Biko Casini and bassist/guitarist David Brown – Rising Appalachia is a melting pot of folk music simplicity, textured songwriting, and those bloodline harmonies that only siblings can pull off. Listen for a tapestry of song, clawhammer banjo tunes, fiddle, double bass, acoustic guitar, djembe, barra, bodhran, spoken word, and a wealth of musical layering that will leave you called to action and lulled into rhythmic dance simultaneously. It is both genre bending and familiar at the same time. Proudly born and raised in the concrete jungle of Atlanta, Georgia, sharpening their instincts in the mountains of Appalachia, and fine tuning their soul on the streets of New Orleans they have crafted a 6-album career from the dusts of their passion.

Lonesome Ace Stringband’s Old-Timey Music at Rialto Theatre

Modern old-time sounds for those who love bluegrass and folk, that’s how the Lonesome Ace Stringband describes their music. The Great North Woods Committee for the Arts is hosting the band at a concert on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at the Rialto Theatre, starting at 7 p.m.

The Lonesome Ace Stringband is an old-time band with Bluegrass chops that play some righteous folk and country music. There’s a depth of groove and sense of space not often heard in bluegrass today, a level of instrumental interplay and vocal blend uncommon in old-time, and an on-stage rapport that transcends all of this.

Three Canadians lost in the weird and wonderful traditional Country music of the American South, the band members Chris Coole (on banjo), John Showman (on fiddle) and Max Heineman (on bass) are each journeyman musicians and veterans of some of Canada’s top roots music acts (New Country Rehab, The David Francey Band, The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Fiver).

The band has toured internationally, been engaged at some of the largest festivals in North America and Europe (including Merlefest, Rockygrass, Wintergrass, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Gooikorts, John Hartford Memorial), and recorded four albums. On the first two albums, “Old Time” (2014), and “Gone For Evermore” (2016) the band leaned heavily on the traditional old-time cannon to express what it needed to say musically. In 2018, with the release of “When the Sun Comes Up,” the band showcased its songwriting and studio savvy, offering up a more progressive interpretation of old-time music, and taking its sound to new places. All three albums have been embraced by both fans and critics alike.

The fourth album, “Modern Old-Time Sounds for the Bluegrass and Folksong Jamboree,” showcases the band’s musical range, interpretive skills, and instrumental/vocal “chops blended with maturity.”

Tickets for the Lancaster show are $18 per person will be available at the Rialto Theatre, online at www.gnwca.org, or at Fiddleheads on Main St. in Colebrook. For more information on this and other GNWCA events, call 246-8998, visit www.gnwca.org or find the GNWCA on Facebook.

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn at The Colonial Theatre

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, “the king and queen of the banjo” (Paste Magazine), have a musical partnership like no other. Béla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. The two met at a square dance, began collaborating musically and eventually fell in love. Over the years, they played together most visibly in the Sparrow Quartet alongside Ben Sollee and Casey Driessen and informally at a pickin’ party here, a benefit there, or occasionally popping up in each other’s solo shows. Fans of tradition-tweaking acoustic fare eagerly anticipated that Béla & Abigail would begin making music together as a duo.

Fleck has the virtuosic, jazz-to-classical ingenuity of an iconic instrumentalist and composer with bluegrass roots. His collaborations range from his ground-breaking standard-setting ensemble Béla Fleck and the Flecktones to a staggeringly broad array of musical experiments. From writing concertos for full symphony orchestra, exploring the banjo’s African roots, to jazz duos with Chick Corea, many tout that Béla Fleck is the world’s premier banjo player.  Washburn has the earthy sophistication of a postmodern, old-time singer-songwriter who has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums. She has done fascinating work in folk musical diplomacy in China, presented an original theatrical production, and has contributed to singular side groups Uncle Earl and The Wu-Force. In addition to being named a TED Fellow in 2012, Abigail was recently named the first US-China Fellow at Vanderbilt University, in addition to Carolina Performing Arts/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s DisTil Fellow for 2018-2020

With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America’s rich heritage and the other pulling the noble instrument from its most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Bela & Abigail meet in the mean, head-on, to present music that feels wildly innovative and familiar at the same time. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their deep bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership unlike any other on the planet.

St. Kieran Arts Presents: Ken Kolodner Trio

Three top-of-the-list instrumentalists on Hammered Dulcimer, Fiddle & Banjo – the Ken Kolodner Trio is Ken & Brad Kolodner, with Rachel Eddy.

The dynamic father-son duo Ken & Brad Kolodner weave together a captivating soundscape on hammered dulcimer, banjo and fiddles, pushing the boundaries of the Old-Time tradition into uncharted territory. Regarded as one of the most influential hammered dulcimer players and Old-Time fiddlers in North America, Baltimore’s Ken Kolodner has joined forces with his son Brad Kolodner, a rising star in the claw hammer banjo world. Together, they infuse their own brand of driving, innovative, tasteful and unique interpretations of traditional and original fiddle tunes and songs. They perform tight musical arrangements of original and traditional old-time music with a “creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation.” They perform on occasion with multi-instrumentalist Rachel Eddy (fiddle, banjo, guitar and vocals), a former member of the Old-Time supergroup Uncle Earl.

Tickets: $15.00 (adults) and $10.00 (under 18)