It’s not every day a Bluegrass Hall of Famer comes to town. So Peter Rowan’s 2026 Down Home Concert on Feb. 27, 2026, had the air of a celebration.
Performing solo, Rowan treated the audience to songs and stories from across his six-decade career. He talked a lot about Bill Monroe, Rowan’s boss when he was in the Blue Grass Boys in the early ’60s. Rowan was also Monroe’s driver, booking agent, and right-hand man during those years. He told a lot of wild stories, but none of them involved a tuner. “If we’d had tuners back then,” he quipped onstage, “the ’60s would never have happened!”
Rowan wrote “Walls of Time” with Bill Monroe, and played it during his concert. But bluegrass, of course, is only part of Rowan’s musical story. He’s never been afraid to branch out — wayyyy out — in the course of his career. He’s beloved by Grateful Dead fans for his work in Old & In the Way with Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Vassar Clements. He’s played psychedelic rock with Earth Opera, roots fusion with Seatrain, folk, Tex-Mex, conjunto, reggae, and more.
He mostly stuck with traditional fare for his Down Home Concert, though, including beloved favorites like “Panama Red” — to which he added a bit of Libba Cotten’s “Freight Train” — “Land of the Navajo,” and “Midnight Moonlight.” But he also played a new song that he said came to him in a dream the night the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir died last January. “Remember That I Love You” was a touching goodbye to (and from) a friend, and a dose of encouragement that Rowan said he really needed to continue his songwriting.
Adding to the warm community feel of the evening was an informal performance in from members of UNC’s Carolina Bluegrass Band in the lobby before the show. And Rowan invited a few local pickers — Jan Johannson, Russell Johnson, Hank Smith, and David Tate — to join him onstage to close out the concert for a few bluegrass favorites.
Rowan was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2022, and he’s won a Grammy and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. But he’s just as beloved for his peaceful, loving charm as he is for his music, and both were on full display to a grateful audience at this Down Home Concert.
Photos by Willa Stein
