Our New England tour was a wonderland of beautiful scenery, soulful music, and kind souls. We flew in to Boston and immediately entered the heart & soul of Boston’s bluegrass scene: the weekly Bluegrass Concert at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge.

                                Wednesday brought us to Vermont, where we were invited to a family camp on Lake Champlain for swimming, paddle boarding, and pickin.’ Thanks, Mahoney clan, for your hospitality!!

We traveled on to the happenin’ scene of downtown Burlington, where we played at the infamous Nectar’s! Amazing things have happened at this venue, as many Phish fans know, and we were proud to be on the stage.

We got to jam and hang with Doug Perkins of Smokin’ Grass, a long lost friend from my rambling days around this country picking bluegrass. It’s hard to get that cat out of the hills and into the town!

The weekend’s grand finale was Ossipee Valley Music Festival in scenic rural Maine. We were inspired by the music, which was varied, eclectic, soulful and of highest caliber. The campfire picking is top notch! What an honor to return after 9 years! Thanks so much to Bill Johnson for founding this glorious fest. We love you, and we love your passion!

Ruthy + Mike were a favorite. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver absolutely crushed their Friday night set. It was a joy to get to josh around with these DLQS characters for a while. Great folks!

Guitar workshop on Saturday was inspiring. Tony Watt always makes me smile, and new friend Mark Mazengarb is a nasty finger picker (AND flatpicker! No fair!) Fun to see Nate Leath hop up Saturday with Travelin’ McCourys alongside Bridget Law, Jason Carter and Bronwyne Keith for four fiddle madness.

‘Til next time, beautiful New England!! Thank you!

Another summer of fantastic Western scenery & amazing mountain folks in WY, UT, & CO! We’d really like to thank the festivals and concert series who hosted us this year.

The fun began at Arts in the Park in Thermopolis, WY where we took advantage of the “largest mineral spring” in the country & enjoyed a summer eve of ‘grass. Travelin’ on towards Evanston, WY, we experienced our first Beer, Brats, & Bluegrass.

In Utah, we drew a ‘grass-loving crowd at the popular Park Silly Sunday Market, presented by Mountain Town Music. We drove many a mile down to Crested Butte, CO, where we had the pleasure of being greeted by happy, happy music lovers at the packed Alpenglow Concert Series. We know it’s been a long rainy spring for Coloradoans, and they were happy for some sunshine and music!

Del Norte was our next Colorado stop. Wildwood Sounds is a fantastic listening room that deserves lots more notoriety!! Thanks so much to the Crawfords for hosting us!

In Lakewood, we were THIS CLOSE to being rained out again at Bonfils Ampitheater for Sounds Exciting Summer Concert Series, but we stuck it out through the storms. 600 tickets were sold for our show…but even through thunderstorms, a couple hundred people showed up in rain gear. We LOVE YOU, Coloradoans. You are tough.

Armed with instruments post-show, we took over the Vine Street Pub in Denver for Nate’s birthday cake and beer! Next, we headed back into the heart of the Rockies, we were Western Slope bound and performed the first ever Gunnison Block Party. Thanks Bryan Wickenhauser and iBar Ranch for inviting us! The grande finale of our tour was Wallsburg, UT, for the 2nd annual Wallsburg Music Festival, and it was…magic! Thank you to the Shupe family. We look forward to seeing you again next year, Westerners. <3

Psyched for some shredding fiddle this week and in New England in July. Joining us in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado is my old pal Nate Leath! Raised on ‘grass in NC, Nate’s been busy as adjunct professor of music at prestigious Washington & Lee University in Virginia these days. So glad he’ll be with us!

Welcome, bassist Erik Alvar to our traveling feast! Erik is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in commercial music. He’s toured with the Roys and Grant Peeples, among others, and he’s studied with Mike Marshall, David Grisman, Jerry Douglas, Darol Anger, Julian Lage, jazz bassist Rodney Jordan, and classical bassist, Melanie Punter. He’s got the chops and the sense of adventure that make him an awesome fit for this crew of multi-faceted musicians, and we so enjoyed his inaugural weekend at Pagosa Folk n’ Bluegrass last week! www.erikalvar.com

I’m excited for Royal Masat’s new adventures with his new venture ChessBoxer with Cadillac Sky alums, Ross Holmes & Matt Menefee! But I’m so sad to say ‘bye for now. It’s been real, ‘Royale!’ Thanks for almost two years of your amazing singing & playing–bass, Dobro, fiddle–anything you touch turns to gold. Thanks for the laughs, the jokes, and the words of wisdom. Thanks for the stories about all things Texas. Happy trails!

It was our first time there on June 6, and WOW! Amazing music, fantastic scenery, nicest folks on earth…THANK YOU Folkwest for including us amongst the world’s best musicians & scenery (and audience!)

Congrats to the FARM School and thank you to Annie Savage for hosting us in Lafayette, Colorado! What a wonderful afternoon and evening with the Steel Pennies! 

Festival season is underway and we were pleased to kick off the summer with a trip to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Thanks for hosting us in Abingdon, Doug Beatty, at Bone Fire Smokehouse!

Friday brought us to the renowned Graves Mountain Festival of Music in Syria, VA. It was such a treat to hear some of our favorite bands crushing some ‘grass and see old & new pals again like Balsam Range and Randy Cook (and my mom, Dixie!)

Saturday we experienced the glory of Mountain Lake Lodge, where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed. We stayed in a woodsy cabin and headlined the BrewRidge Music Festival which featured our favorite regional craft beers (Devil’s Backbone–my personal fave!) This was incredible afternoon of sunshine, scenery, tasty beer, and warm vibes all around. See you next time, Virginia! 

‘Born in East Virginia’ has been out of print now for 10 years. When a few folks showed up at shows across the country recently with old copies for me to sign, I was amazed that the music had lived on. This record, originally released in 2001, features ‘grass & jazz classics as played and sung by 23-year-old me and masters like Todd Phillips (bass), Darol Anger (fiddle), Joe Craven (percussion), Bill Evans (banjo). We are expecting a re-release date of June 2.

This weekend in Virginia, we’ll be joined by old friend and fiddle virtuoso John Mailander who hails from San Diego, CA. I met him in California 4 years ago, and he helped me debut my new guitar tune, Clifftop! John has been busy touring with Alison Brown Quartet, Christopher Guest, Victor Wooten, Tim O’Brien, and for Steve Martin & Edie Brickell’s musical, as well as his duo with Molly Tuttle. Thanks for taking the time to play with us, John! www.johnmailander.com