PineCone Announced Down Home Concert Series, Featuring Taj Mahal, The Kruger Brothers and more

July 22, 2011 - PRLog -- PineCone's 2011-2012 Down Home Concert Series brings roots music of the world to Raleigh’s premier performing arts center, the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets go on sale on August 22; PineCone members can take advantage of a week-long pre-sale beginning on August 15. The complete lineup is:

-Oct. 6, 2011, 8 p.m.: The Good Lovelies, Fletcher Theater
-Oct. 9, 2011, 7 p.m.: Hot Rize, Meymandi Concert Hall
-Nov. 3, 2011, 8 p.m.: The Kruger Brothers, Fletcher Theater
-Jan. 6, 2012, 8 p.m.: Deep River Rising (David Holt, Bryan Sutton, T. Michael Coleman), Fletcher Theater
-Jan. 21, 2012, 8 p.m.: Red Horse (Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky), Fletcher Theater
-Feb. 10, 2012, 8 p.m.: The Duhks, Fletcher Theater
-Feb. 18, 2012, 8 p.m.: Taj Mahal Trio, Meymandi Concert Hall

The series begins on Oct. 6 with Canadian folk trio The Good Lovelies, who will make their North Carolina debut right here in Raleigh! Their debut album won a Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) last year for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year. Supporting a brand new release, Let the Rain Fall (2011), The Good Lovelies are mounting a world-wide tour that includes stops in Australia and the United States.  

Western North Carolina native Bryan Sutton returns to the PineCone stage with bluegrass supergroup Hot Rize, whose dynamic stage show made them stars on the festival circuit and whose powerful original songs topped many radio playlists. Sutton and bandmate Tim O’Brien sold out Fletcher Theater when they came through Raleigh as a duo. In addition to O’Brien & Sutton, Hot Rize also includes Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association last year, and Nick Forester, who Rolling Stone called "an exceptional songwriter ... unquestionably a virtuoso."

Sutton performs in a different configuration in January with Grammy winner David Holt and bass player T. Michael Coleman. Under the name Deep River Rising, this talented trio pays tribute to NC folk music legend Doc Watson. These highly decorated musicians have each been inspired by and performed with Watson over the years and honor his musical genius. “Doc has been a primary influence on all three of us and we want to follow his lead in performing a wide range of traditionally based songs and tunes that really reach out and grab a crowd.” Individually and collectively, Deep River Rising brings new creativity to an ageless tradition of swapping stories and trading tunes that honor the history and heritage of North Carolina music.

The Kruger Brothers, originally from Europe and now living in North Carolina, bring their unique take on Americana music to Fletcher Theater in November. Their original music, composed by Jens Kruger (recent Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame inductee), is unpretentious, cultivated, and delightfully fresh. Their latest CD, Appalachian Concerto, released earlier this year, celebrates Appalachia – the history, the landscape, and the culture – in a way only The Kruger Brothers can. These innovative, soulful, world-class virtuosos put on a performance that you will find breathtaking and unforgettable.

Singer-songwriters Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky share the stage as Red Horse. Last year, these three folk music icons got together and recorded a special project, backing each other up, recording new material, covering each other’s songs and reimagining some other folk tunes.This fall, they’re taking the show on the road, performing a limited number of concerts together. Gilkyson is a Grammy-nominated artist who has toured with Richard Thompson, Patty Griffin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter with 11 solo albums to his credit who has performed with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, and Mary Black. Kaplansky is an acclaimed songwriter in her own right, as well as part of the supergroup Cry Cry Cry with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell.

In February, The Duhks return to North Carolina, touring on the heels of a new release titled Fast Paced World (available August 2011) – produced by Nashville’s Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt). The band’s fusion of traditional bluegrass, folk rock, Afro-Cuban jazz, Celtic, gospel and soul makes their music accessible and yet hard to pigeonhole, giving them creative freedom to explore the full range of roots music from around the globe. The band has been a favorite at MerleFests past, and their unique sound also earned them a Grammy Award nomination in 2006 for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Group or Duo, one Juno Award, and an Americana Music Association nomination for Best Emerging Artists.

The season closes with blues music legend Taj Mahal, a self-taught musician who plays more than 20 instruments. His remarkable voice ranges from gruff and gravelly to smooth and sultry. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more. Taj ties it all together with his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the resulting global perspective is reflected in his music. The Taj Mahal Trio is: Taj on guitar, piano and banjo; Bill Rich on bass; Kester Smith on drums. Rolling Stone wrote of Taj Mahal: “One of the enduring figures in American blues.”

For more than 25 years, PineCone, the largest, most active folk performing arts organization in North Carolina, has been striving to offer a wide assortment of music programs to the Triangle community. While the majority of PineCone’s annual programs focus expressly on the music and musicians of the Piedmont region, the Down Home Concert Series showcases artists from around the state, nation, and globe whose music finds connection and expression here. With so much of today's music being influenced by the music of the past, and with so many up-and-coming artists paying tribute to those who came before, this year's series offers an assortment of old friends and new faces. PineCone is a resident company at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. PineCone members can begin reserving tickets for the 2011-2012 Down Home Series on August 15, and it's easy to join - online, by phone or by mail. Visit http://www.pinecone.org or call the office at 919-664-8302. In addition to pre-sale benefits, PineCone members enjoy discounted tickets as well.

Learn more about other PineCone programs by visiting http://www.pinecone.org.

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PineCone—the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, is a private, nonprofit, charitable membership organization dedicated to preserving, presenting and promoting traditional music, dance and other folk performing arts.