a crowe in the bluegrass
j.d. crowe closes the "bluegrass in the bluegrass" series.
Throughout the fall, our good pal Ron Pen at the University of Kentucky’s Niles Center has presented a golden little piggyback concert series called Bluegrass in the Bluegrass.
The idea was to book a noted string music act - be it old timey, Appalachian or, yes, even bluegrass - into the Central Library Theatre of the downtown Lexington Public Library on Thursday night and then have the same artist play the ultra-intimate Niles Center the following Friday at lunchtime. The performances, underwritten by LexArts and the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association)’s Foundation for Bluegrass Music, have been free.
The series has clearly saved its biggest act for a finale. Bluegrass in the Bluegrass concludes this week with Grammy winning Lexington/Nicholasville banjo giant J.D. Crowe. As with the rest of the series, Crowe will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Central Library Theatre and at 12 noon Friday at the Niles Center at UK’s Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library. Again, both shows are free.
We’ll spare you the history lesson this time. But if you’re one of few string music enthusiasts unfamiliar with Crowe, may I refer to these earlier posts from The Musical Box… a crowe’s tale, In performance: j.d. crowe and the new south and counting crowe.
If you are a Crowe fan, then make it to these shows early. As Crowe can command hearty festival crowds, he will fill up these two modest-sized rooms in the blink on an eye.
Call (859) 231-5549 for info on the Central Library show and (859) 257-8181 for the Niles Center performance.
I am a native Kentuckian and freelance journalist who has been writing about contemporary music for the Lexington Herald-Leader since 1980. I have not a lick of honest musical talent myself, just a pair of appreciative ears for jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, Americana, soul, Celtic, Cajun, chamber, worldbeat, nearly every form of rock 'n' roll imaginable and, when pressed, the occasional tango and polka.