Ring in the new year with PineCone at First Night Raleigh once again this year! The Church of the Good Shepherd will host the Traditional Stage for you once again, and we have two great bands for you to hear this year! Mike Compton and Joe Newberry will perform sets at 7, 8, and 10 p.m.; and ShadowGrass will perform a special set at 9 p.m. We look forward to celebrating with you this year before the acorn drops us into 2017!
Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, masters of old-time mandolin and banjo/guitar, dig deep into early country music and blues. Their duet-singing, two-man string band ranges between traditional songs, instrumentals, “mother” ballads and original tunes. It’s not about the number of notes with Compton and Newberry, but telling the truth and respecting the song.
Compton is a GRAMMY award winner, IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year nominee, a steady sideman for John Hartford from 1994 until Hartford’s death in 2001, and mandolinist for the Nashville Bluegrass Band. He is inarguably the world expert on Bill Monroe-style bluegrass mandolin, and he is also steeped in old-time fiddle tunes, early string band music and Delta blues. He has entertained from Carnegie Hall and the White House to house concerts, and beyond.
Known far and wide for his powerful banjo playing, Newberry is a prizewinning guitarist, songwriter, and singer to boot. In addition to his work with Compton, Newberry plays with old-time music legends Bill Hicks, Jim Watson, and Mike Craver, performs with guitarist Jon Shain, and is a frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion. He won the songwriting prize for “Gospel Recorded Performance” at the 2012 IBMA Awards for his song “Singing As We Rise,” and he was co-writer, with Eric Gibson, of the 2013 IBMA Song of the Year for “They Called It Music.”
ShadowGrass is comprised of five young players whose paths have crossed to form a love for playing bluegrass music. They performed on The Today Show in September when Al Roker came through Raleigh as part of PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass. The band includes Kitty Amaral (14), fiddle; Presley Barker (12), guitar; Kyser George (11), bass; Luke Morris (16), mandolin and Clay Russell (15), banjo. All of the members are award winning youth musicians. ShadowGrass is proud to represent JAM and its commitment to teaching the next generation the music and heritage of the Appalachian area.
