November 15 - GRASS ROUTES

Performing on the New England bluegrass scene for 27 years, Grass Routes has appeared on radio and television and has pleased audiences at concerts, coffeehouses, festivals and many other venues in the Northeast. The band features the traditional bluegrass instruments of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and upright bass. Grass Routes performs a broad repertoire of songs ranging from straight-ahead traditional bluegrass to more contemporary folk and country material. Skillful instrumental work and strong vocals gives them their own distinctive sound.

Tickets $14

See their web site.

DECEMBER 6 - DAN STEVENS WITH CHRIS D'AMATO

Musically, Dan honed his guitar skills taking lessons from renowned acoustic guitarist and W.C. Handy Award winner Paul Rishell, who taught him how to play slide. Later, he was blessed to study with Greenwich Village based folk/blues icon Dave Van Ronk during the last years of Van Ronk’s storied life. His tastes include delta blues “bottleneck slide” tunes, the more carefree piedmont style, and arrangements comprised of complex orchestration with plenty of chord changes. Performing with Dan will be Chris D’amato a master guitarist who has toured nationally with famed blues diva Debbie Davies and has been an important part of the New Haven music scene for many years.

Tickets $14

See his web site.

JANUARY 10 - EILEN JEWELL:  Once in a great while, you put on a CD by an artist you’ve never heard of before and time stops. The voice is new, yet timeless. The lyrics are original yet feel immediately familiar, lived-in, knowing. And the melodies — expertly performed by a first-rate band — carry an easy, memorable groove. This is the story of Eilen (rhymes with feelin’) Jewell. It started after her 2005 self-released debut, Boundary Country, made its way into club-owners’ hands, onto a handful of radio shows and around the press circles of Boston, her current home base. Reaction to Eilen’s music was swift. Many compared her talents to those of Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch and June Carter Cash. The Boston Globe said, “The slow organic sway of her melodies, and the sensual way she rubs against the low end of her register, will remind some of Gillian Welch. Also like Welch, her writing is both intimate and vivid, classically framed and closely observed.”

Tickets $15

See her web site.

JANUARY 24 - ZOË DARROW AND THE FIDDLE-HEADS:  return for a fifth engagement at NWP and always receives a standing ovation after a spirited, very impressive performance,  The Fiddleheads are a traditional Celtic group from Blandford, Massachusetts. Zoë Darrow, born in 1989, began fiddling when she was 4 years old and now leads her trio in Scottish, Irish, and Cape Breton fiddle tunes. Backed up by her dad Phillip on guitar and Tom Coburn on piano, Zoë has been performing publicly since 1999. Zoë's debut recording, Please Don't Eat the Fiddleheads!, includes both traditional and contemporary fiddle tunes. Their performance featured favorites from that recording plus new inspirations from her trips to Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, Canada. Zoë's fiddling, step dancing, and charming persona add up to a show that thrilled the Nature Center's capacity sell-out crowd.

Tickets $15

See her web site.

FEBRUARY 7 - BOB FRANKE. Bob Franke is at the peak of his considerable craft; brimming with the wise and spiritually generous songs for which he is best known, along with wrenchingly convincing topical songs and sugared with the hilarious. Bob's songs are considered classics, fueled by his deep faith and the real-life lessons taught him by his 30-odd years of playing everywhere from concert halls to street corners. Bob has appeared in concert at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, bars, streets, homes and churches in 33 states, four Canadian provinces and England. His concerts have appeared in lists of the top five musical events of the year chosen by critics in the Boston and San Francisco Bay areas.

Tickets $14

See his web site.

FEBRUARY 21 - SONNY AND PERLEY: “April in Paris” Springtime and Romance. Great american songbook standards and International love songs performed with the heartbeat of aesthetic jazz. This concert is lovely with added upright bass, and really swings with drums and woodwinds. the music of Cole Porter, Johnny Mandel, Jerome Kern, Edith Piaf and notable others are presented with arrangements as refreshing as springtime itself. Premiered at the world renown cabaret room “The Duplex” in NYC resulting in a standing ovation and calls for encore! Includes songs I Love Paris, Night and Day, A Time for Love, All The Things You Are, If I Were a Bell, and a fabulous new arrangement of April in Paris!

Tickets $14

See their web site.

MARCH 7 - THE GNOMES (CELTIC & WORLD MUSIC):

The Gnomes play a lively blend of Celtic and World Music. Their music features a wide range of styles - Irish, Scandinavian, eastern European, Caribbean, and original.. Instrumentation includes accordion, fiddle, whistles, guitar, bass, percussion, bass, and vocals. They are R. I. music icons that have become acoustic favorites across Rhode Island and beyond. Band members are Cathy Clasper Torch, Phil Edmonds, Peter Breen, Ron Schmitt, and Otis Read. Guaranteed to get you moving and grooving.

TICKETS $15

MARCH 21 - DON WHITE

If you laugh and cry within the same ten minutes, you either need a vacation or you are sitting in the audience at a Don White show. This working class family man from Lynn, Massachusetts has emerged as the thoughtful songwriter of the decade whose relevance to our lives is evidenced by the powerful reaction he evokes at every concert. Radio audiences, too, are not safe from the Don White experience. Valerie Adams of WNCS Radio, Vermont said, "I've never seen anything like it. Every time I play I Know What Love Is the phones light up like a Christmas tree. Stereo Review Magazine called it "...A candidate for song of the year."

Tickets $15

See his web site.

APRIL 4 - COSY SHERIDAN: Mythic songwriter Cosy Sheridan and her wryly insightful songs have been showcased everywhere from Carnegie Hall to The Dr Demento Show. In her new CD on Waterbug Records, Live At CedarHouse, listeners can sample a taste of Sheridan's live performances and see why she's been called "one of the era's finest and most thoughtful singer-songwriters" and why Acoustic Guitar Magazine wrote, "If I were going to throw an all-girl dinner party at which I wanted to laugh and cry from the hors d'oeuvres to the chocolate pudding, Cosy Sheridan is the first woman I'd invite." Sheridan is one of the pre-eminent songwriters on the folk scene documenting the lives of modern women. She places the fast-paced culture of 21st century America into a mythic context with insightful, energetic and at times comic effect.

Tickets $14

See her web site.

APRIL 18 - RANI ARBO AND DAISY MAYHEM

So, what's a daisy mayhem? If you don't know, you've missed one of the most popular concerts at the park for the past few years. A daisy mayhem is wicked percussion, sublime lead singing, great harmonies, sparkling original songs and a deep repertoire. Four people who share an irresistible chemistry on stage. A young, hip, crackerjack string band in love with American music. What does it sound like? Start with a fiddle, a guitar, and a standup bass. Add a cardboard box with a suitcase bass drum and tin can cymbals, played by an ex-rock and zydeco drummer. Over that fine groove, hang Rani Arbo's expressive alto, seamless four-part harmonies, and a splash of banjo and ukulele, and you have it. Don't miss them this year.

Tickets $17

See their web site.

MAY 2 - SOUTHERN RAIL:

Southern Rail’s music is high-energy exuberant fun, with riveting harmonies, irreverent humor and sparkling banjo and mandolin solo work. Their songs have graced Bluegrass Unlimited's Top Thirty Singles Chart for a combined total of 32 months, receiving heavy national airplay. Southern Rail’s reputation for strong original material, heart-stopping harmonies, and infectious good humor has spread to both coasts, spurred on by a heavy touring schedule and 8 successful recordings. Southern Rail celebrated their first quarter century with the release of their eagerly awaited 8th recording, “Coal Tattoo”, featuring the group’s prodigious harmonies. The CD has been getting rave reviews across the country.

Tickets $15

See their web site.

Join us for some of all of these great concerts this season!

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