From the good folks over at the Blue Ridge Music Center, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Galax, Virgnia:

The Steep Canyon Rangers are perennial favorites at the Blue Ridge Music Center and fans look forward to their annual show. Playing together since 2000, the the group has developed a sound all their own. Combining original songs, traditional tunes, and a whole lot of fun in their shows, they received IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award in 2011 as well as a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2013. Their dynamic live performances include a great deal of humor and playfulness.  With tight harmonies and instrumental dexterity, the band plays bluegrass and beyond, incorporating elements of folk, country, Americana and pop music to create a unique take on their “traditional plus” sound. As they approach their second decade, the Steep Canyon Rangers are still moving forward, searching for new horizons and musical vistas.

With their hard-driving old-time rhythm, the New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters are a favorite among flatfoot dancers and mountain fiddle music fans. The group takes its name from the original Ballards Branch Bogtrotters, a popular Galax string band during the 1930s that was a frequent winner in the early years of the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention.

Musical guest Steep Canyon Rangers performs “Out in the Open” for the Tonight Show audience.

With  Out In The Open, the Steep Canyon Rangers latest release, the band affirms their place as one of the most versatile bands in contemporary American music. The Grammy® Award-winning sextet has spent nearly two decades bending and shaping the bluegrass aesthetic, wedding it to elements of pop, country, and folk rock to create something original.

Out In The Open is the Rangers bravest excursion thus far, transcending bluegrass while also getting closest to the genre’s true form thanks to three-time Grammy Award-winning producer Joe Henry’s traditional approach toward recording. The band soon discovered that their producer – along with engineer/mixer Jason Richmond – intended to record all six members singing and playing in a room with no overdubs. The organic process allowed SCR to work fast, tracking a dozen songs in just three-and-a-half days. Out In The Open is an undeniable milestone on the Rangers ongoing creative journey.

Since Steep Canyon Rangers came together in 2000, they have developed a remarkable catalog of original music that links them to the past while also demonstrating their ambitious intent to bring string-based music into contemporary relevance.  As they approach their second decade, Steep Canyon Rangers are still moving forward, searching for new horizons and musical vistas.

Learn more at steepcanyon.com

The Revelers, from Lafayette, Louisiana, dig deep into the swamp-pop dancehall traditions of Southwest Louisiana. Swamp pop grew out of the R&B and rock ‘n roll that emerged from New Orleans, Memphis, and Detroit in the 1950s. Cajun and zydeco musicians added their own spin to it, often singing in French and trading in their fiddles and accordions for horns and electric guitars. The Revelers have blurred the lines between traditional and original, incorporating Cajun, country, zydeco, and the blues to create their own brand

of swamp-pop.

The Mountain Park Old Time Band will open the show with traditional mountain dance music that gets folks out of their seats to flat foot dance and clog.

This concert is designated as “A Show for Joe” in honor of the late Joe Wilson, who was

instrumental in founding the Blue Ridge Music Center. The concert is supported in part by Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities.