The Mainstay

Chesapeake Arts: Courtney Adams Heads Off to UM as Mainstay Scholar

May 23, 2020 by The Spy

According to Queen Anne’s County High School senior Courtney Adams, the third recipient of The Mainstay’s annual musical scholarship grant, her $3,000 award has made an enormous difference in her life goal to become a member of a major symphony orchestra someday. In fact, the Mainstay grant made it possible for her to take her first major step in becoming a professional musician since it allowed her to enter the University of Maryland’s highly competitive music program starting this fall.

Nothing could please The Mainstay more than to hear that since that was the intent of creating the scholarship fund in the first place.

In the Spy’s ongoing efforts to celebrate regional arts and put the spotlight on the Mid-Shore’s most promising musicians, we talked to both Courtney and the Mainstay’s programming director, John Thomas, to understand how important this award can be to young people starting their careers.

This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more information about the Mainstay’s scholarship award, please go here.

The High and Wides at The Mainstay March 14

March 4, 2020 by Spy Desk

The Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series kicks off its inaugural season with a rollicking performance by local boys made good, The High and Wides Sunday Saturday March 14 at 8pm. Tickets are $20 online/advance or $25 by phone reservation and at the door.Information and advance ticket sales are available on the Mainstay’s website at www.mainstayrockhall.org.

The Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series, funded by a generous grant from the Hedgelawn Foundation, aims to present the best in bluegrass and old-time music being performed today. From traditional sounds to the freshest Newgrass, from folk to high-energy fusion, the best of this music will be on display at The Mainstay. The six concert series debuts with a not-to-be-missed performance by local heroes turned chart-topping pros The High and Wides.

The High & Wides project a big, driving sound—mountain musical traditions re-imagined for a new century. Formed on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 2015, they write music about arson and hourly motels, dystopian love songs, and ballads of violent history.

The High & Wides draw from their members’ extensive backgrounds in bluegrass and take the music to a place all their own, recalling an era when old-time, rockabilly, and proto-rock’n’roll coexisted in a murky soup of hillbilly string band music.

Following the Billboard bluegrass top-ten debut success of their 2018 recording, Lifted, in December 2019 the band released their follow-up album, Seven True Stories, which debuted at #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart.

Members include Marc Dykeman (guitar, vocals), Sam Guthridge (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Nate Grower (fiddle), and Mike Buccino (bass).

The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region and is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Information and advance ticket sales are available on the Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Upcoming Mainstay performances include:

March 14 Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series Kickoff with the High and Wides
March 16 Joe Holt welcomes Jen Friedman
March 20 Celtic Celebration Featuring the Waverly Trio and Irish Dancers
March 23 Joe Holt welcomes Meredith Davies Hadaway
March 27 The Zach Lambert Quartet
March 28 Memorial Concert for Neil Tilghman with Vince Lewis, Tommy Cecil, and Steve Abshire
March 30 Joe Holt welcomes Elisabeth Engle and Barbara Ferris
April 5 The Hedgelawn Classical Series presents Sacred Monsters
April 6 Joe Holt welcomes Eddie Sherman and Peggy Raley
April 11 The Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series presents Dirty Grass Players
April 13 Joe Holt welcomes Steve Herbeman
April 19 University of Delaware Big Band
April 20 Joe Holt welcomes Tom Palmer and James Fowler
April 27 Joe Holt welcomes Dave Schiff

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Sparky and Rhonda Folk Music at The Mainstay February 8

January 29, 2020 by Spy Desk

The Mainstay presents renowned folk and storytelling duo Sparky and Rhonda Rucker Saturday February 8 at 8pm. Tickets are $20 by phone reservation and$25 at the door and by phone reservation.Information and advance ticket sales are available on the Mainstay’s website at www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker

SPARKY AND RHONDA RUCKER perform throughout the U.S. as well as overseas, singing songs and telling stories from the American folk tradition. They are internationally recognized as leading musicians, authors, and storytellers. They accompany themselves with fingerstyle picking and bottleneck blues guitar, blues harmonica, old-time banjo, piano, spoons, and bones. Sparky and Rhonda will deliver an uplifting presentation of toe-tapping music spiced with humor, history, and tall tales. They take their audience on an educational and emotional journey that ranges from poignant stories of slavery and war to an amusing rendition of a Brer Rabbit tale or their witty commentaries on current events.

Their music includes a variety of old-time blues, Appalachian music, slave songs, Civil War music, spirituals, work songs, ballads, civil rights music, and their own original compositions. You will hear soulful blues licks, heart-rending gospel, knee-slapping good rhythms, and bottleneck guitar slide. Over fifty years of performing, Sparky and Rhonda have performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as NPR’s All Things Considered, Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition. Their recording, Treasures & Tears, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award, and their music is also included on the Grammy-nominated anthology, Singing Through the Hard Times.

Upcoming Mainstay performances include:

January 27 Joe Holt welcomes The WAC Jazz Combo
February 3 Joe Holt welcomes Van Albert
February 8 Sparky and Rhonda
February 16 Hamiltunes Community Singalong
February 10 Joe Holt welcomes Pres Harding
February 17 Joe Holt welcomes Scott Silbert, Amy Shook, Steve Abshire
February 22 The Great Guitars with Gene Bertoncini, Steve Herberman, & Steve Abshire
February 23 The Hedgelawn Classical Series presents the Ann Street Trio
February 24 Joe Holt welcomes Dave Robinson
March 8 The Hedgelawn Classical Series presents L’Abri Trio
March 14 Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series Kickoff with the High and Wides
March 20 Celtic Celebration Featuring the Waverly Trio and Irish Dancers
March 27 The Zach Lambert Quartet
March 28 Memorial Concert for Neil Tilghman with Vince Lewis, Tommy Cecil, and Steve Abshire

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

25th Anniversary Concert with Deanna Bogart at The Mainstay

December 18, 2019 by Spy Desk

Help The Mainstay kick off its 25^th anniversary season with a rockin’ concert featuring Deanna Bogart and her band on Wednesday, January 1, at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $25 online/advance and $30 by phone reservation and at the door. Advance tickets for concert plus Sparkling Start Reception featuring a meet and greet with the evening’s artist, Deanna Bogart are $50.). Information and advance ticket sales are available on the Mainstay’s website at www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Deanna Bogart

Mainstay favorite Deanna Bogart returns with her spectacular combination of boogie-woogie, rocking contemporary blues, country and jazz into a splendid blend she calls “blusion.” In defining it, she says, “…it all grows out of the blues… it just doesn’t always end there…” Her keyboards dazzle, her saxophone soulfully wails, and her smoky vocals bring out the best in her original cut-above songwriting and her covers. Her fusion of blusion — spontaneous, sophisticated, fearless and fun — has garnered her three consecutive Blues Music Awards for Horn Instrumentalist of the Year and an endorsement contract with Rico Reeds. She has won, at last count, more than 20 Wammies, the music awards for the hotly contested Washington, D.C. region. This is a rare trip to the area as she is now based on the West coast. The rest of the band is Mike Aubin on drums, Chuck Underwood on guitar and Scott Ambush on bass.

Upcoming Mainstay performances include:

January 6 Joe Holt welcomes John Thomas
January 13 Joe Holt welcomes Gerry Werner
January 20 Joe Holt welcomes Yvette Hynson
January 26 The Hedgelawn Series presents Teodora Adzharova and Orest Smovzh
January 27 Joe Holt Welcomes the WAC Jazz Combo

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve at The Mainstay December 31

December 16, 2019 by Spy Desk

Join your friends at The Mainstay for the very popular New Year’s Eve Potluck Tuesday December 31! Bring a covered dish to share with the group and ring in the new year with your friends and neighbors. This is a FREE EVENT. Information is available on the Mainstay’s website at www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Ring in the New Year in style with good friends and good food at The Mainstay. Bring your best covered dish to share. The cash bar will be open, and The Mainstay’s house pianist Joe Holt will be there to serenade the crowd during dinner. The event starts at 5 and the music begins at 6 pm.

Joe Holt

Upcoming Mainstay performances include:

January 1 New Year’s Day show and fundraiser with Deanna Bogart!
January 6 Joe Holt welcomes John Thomas
January 13 Joe Holt welcomes Gerry Werner
January 20 Joe Holt welcomes Yvette Hynson
January 26 The Hedgelawn Series presents Teodora Adzharova and Orest Smovzh
January 27 Joe Holt Welcomes the WAC Jazz Combo

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

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