Mark your calendars now for the ninth season to begin in August. This series will celebrate American Roots Music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American music. The music is considered American either because it is native to the United States or because it developed there, out of foreign origins, to such a degree that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new. It is considered “roots music” because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
All August and September concerts begin at 6 p.m.
Saturday, August 13: Sugar Blue, A True Harp Hero
Considered to be one of “the foremost harmonica players of our time” by Rolling Stone, this Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso is not your typical bluesman. Sugar Blue bends, shakes, spills flurries of notes with simultaneous precision and abandon, combining dazzling technique with smoldering expressiveness and gives off enough energy to light up several city square blocks and he sings too.
Saturday, August 27: Lost In Holland
“An awesome fusion of sound … Josh’s brilliant folk twinged guitar runs being complemented by Michael’s wonderful, soaring cello.” — Scott Sandie, Broken Arrow Magazine. Iraq war veteran Josh Hisle pairs with Michael Ronstadt to create the sounds and lyrics of undeniable depth (as commented by Neil Young at Sundance.) Michael’s extreme cello style and extensive knowledge of songwriting and performance bring a blazing fire of skill, emotion and delivery that will leave you amazed, among other things. This duo, this revolution, is nothing short of brilliance.
Saturday, September 10: Elise Witt
Georgia-based Elise Witt sings her Global, Local & Handmade Songs in a dozen languages, including sign. Elise has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, China, Italy, Nicaragua, and Switzerland, and she has crisscrossed the United States from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Minneapolis’ Gingko Coffeehouse to Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe to the Kennedy Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. During her performance in Port Royal, she will be joined by students from Lady’s Island Elementary School, after spending classtime together crafting a new anthem for their arts-infused school.
Saturday, September 24: Boulder Acoustic Society
Boulder Acoustic Society’s music is haunted by the past and focused on the future. It’s indie-folk that draws from Appalachian roots, gritty gospel and the contemporary urban soundscape. BAS’s mission to merge tradition with innovation produces a unique sound and an unforgettable live entertainment experience. “Punchline,” the band’s current release on Austin’s Nine Mile Records has been hailed at home and abroad for forging “a new wave of American roots music.”
