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.