Claire Lynch is at the forefront of women who have pushed the bluegrass boundaries. She has garnered two Grammy nominations and recorded with artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt to Ralph Stanley. Her band includes veteran bass player and IBMA award winner Mark Schatz, Florida fiddle and mandolin champion Jason Thomas, and from the hot, new generation of players, Matt Wingate on guitar, mandolin, and dobro. This stellar ensemble delivers a personable and high energy performance including tender country ballads, hard driving bluegrass, swing, and even some Southern Appalachian clog dancing.

Click Here To Enter!

Rules: To enter to you must submit your full name, telephone number, AND email address. Only one entry per person is permitted. Giveaway ends September 3 at exactly 11:59 pm ET. Winners will be notified by WAMU by email when the winners are drawn. Tickets will be available at Will Call at the box office. The winning entry is subject to verification of eligibility to win. Good Luck! All participants who submit their information during the specified time will automatically be entered in the contest. Employees of American University and their families are ineligible to win. Winners must be 18 years of age or older and proof of identification is necessary to claim the tickets at the box office. Cash may not be substituted for the tickets. If for any reason the prize can not be awarded to the first participant whose name is drawn, a second name will be drawn, and so forth until the tickets are awarded. The decision of WAMU management on the drawing of this prize is final and binding. WAMU is solely responsible for contacting winners. If participants do not wish to hear from WAMU, do not register. WAMU will not retain the participants’ information for future solicitations.

These 5 Events will each feature 5 bands and take place from Monday, September 27th to Saturday, October 2nd on-site at the Nashville Convention Center attached to The Renaissance Hotel.

Participation is free both for bands and guests of the concerts who are attendees of the IBMA World of Bluegrass 2010.

The Mast Farm Inn is a Lifetime Organization Member of The IBMA. For more information, visit The Mast Farm Inn’s website.

This seven piece band hails from Tennessee and Georgia and plays traditional old time. See them in action.

Pickin’ in the Panhandle, the WV State BBQ & Bluegrass Festival, celebrates the best of barbecue, bluegrass and family fun so close to home but so far away from the ordinary!

This year’s event will be held September 10-12, 2010 at the Lazy A Campground in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Lazy A Campground is approximately one hour from the DC and Baltimore Beltway, making it easy to come and enjoy the best countryside views that Berkeley County, West Virginia has to offer.

Click Here To Enter!

Rules: To enter to you must submit your full name, telephone number, AND email address. Only one entry per person is permitted. Giveaway ends September 1 at exactly 11:59 pm ET. Winners will be notified by WAMU by email when the winners are drawn. Tickets will be available at Will Call at the box office. The winning entry is subject to verification of eligibility to win. Good Luck! All participants who submit their information during the specified time will automatically be entered in the contest. Employees of American University and their families are ineligible to win. Winners must be 18 years of age or older and proof of identification is necessary to claim the tickets at the box office. Cash may not be substituted for the tickets. If for any reason the prize can not be awarded to the first participant whose name is drawn, a second name will be drawn, and so forth until the tickets are awarded. The decision of WAMU management on the drawing of this prize is final and binding. WAMU is solely responsible for contacting winners. If participants do not wish to hear from WAMU, do not register. WAMU will not retain the participants’ information for future solicitations.

*denotes part of our Roots and Branches series

*American Routes – Five Years After the Storm
It has been five years since Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the Federal levee system in New Orleans, and we speak with local activists, musicians and residents to gauge the progress of recovery in the city and region. Rebirth Brass Band’s Derrick Tabb talks about his after-school program “The Roots of Music;” we visit the Musician’s Village in the 9th Ward to meet drummer Smokey Johnson; then head out into the bayous with blues guitarist Tab Benoit to talk about his work to save the wetlands. Also, conversation with Eric Overmyer and Lolis Eric Elie from HBO’s “Treme,” and commentary from New Orleanian James Carville on the importance of the culture of the city.

Bluegrass Breakdown – Dollars And Cents, Part 2
Our walk on the wild financial side of BluegrassLand continues as we turn our attention from coins to the almighty dollar. From top dollars to bottom dollars, David Parmley, the Dappled Grays, the Lonesome River Band and Charlie Sizemore will have the subject covered.

Bluegrass Master Class – Banks of the Ohio #97
A tribute to the late Kentucky fiddler Art Stamper includes four of his cuts spanning 1961 to 1990, with the Stanley Brothers, Bill Clifton, Larry Sparks, and a solo project. There’s interesting trivia (during a 26-year hiatus in his bluegrass career, Stamper was a successful Louisville hairdresser; Fincastle, VA, site of the first multi-day bluegrass festival, was once capital of the entire Kentucky and Ohio territories) and controversy (about nasal singing, poor grammar, and the Osborne Brothers’ bluegrass/hip-hop version of “Rocky Top” — which made some listeners madder than hornets). A production of the International Bluegrass Music Museum.

Bluegrass Review – #1036
It’s the last broadcast of this Summer with guests Adam Granger and Lyle Lofgren. This time, we cover a type of song that is slowly rising in prominence, the cover song. A cover song is one that has been a hit in another idiom. Why songs from other idioms enter bluegrass is a question we attempt to answer. On the Gem of Bluegrass, we study the importance of the Beatles to bluegrass. The Beatles was an iconic pop group a generation ago. The playlist is located at www.bluegrassreview.com. Join the Bluegrass Review discussion on Facebook. Just do a Facebook search for Bluegrass Review.

Bluegrass Signal – Previews Of the Good Old Fashioned BG Festival
Musical previews of the 17th Annual Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, which showcases emerging and non-touring California bands. Included: traditional bluegrass from the David Thom Band, Dark Hollow, and Highway One; old time music by The Wronglers and Luke Abbott; progressive bluegrass from 49 Special, Savannah Blue, and Houston Jones; the party grass of Belle Monroe & Her Brewglass Boys and Sidesaddle & Co.; and, yes, more.

*Capital Americana – Wed. 8 p.m. ET, Sat. 2 p.m. ET

*The Dick Spottswood Show – #303

Editor’s Picks – 2010 IBMA Nominations
We’ll review the 2010 nominees, criteria, and some of the voting process for the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. The Awards ceremony takes place on September 30th in Nashville, Tenn. at the Ryman Auditorium.

*etown – Loudon Wainwright III & Bettye LaVette
This week we bring you a rebroadcast of a fantastic eTown road show taped in Colorado Springs. Our old friend, ultimate singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, returns to eTown. Loudon shares a set of both hilarious and touching songs, as only he can do, with Nick & Helen Forster and the eTones backing him up here and there. Then, it’s legendary soul singer Bettye LaVette in her return to the eTown stage. A force to be reckoned with, Bettye sings, teases and taunts the audience into tapping their feet to her dynamic set of tunes, all backed up in top-notch style by the eTones.

The Free for All – Monday-Thursday, 6-8 p.m. LIVE, Friday 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

The Gary Henderson Show – Saturday 8-11 a.m. LIVE, Monday 12 p.m., Friday 12 a.m.

*Irish Heartbeat with Dervish – Saturday 6 p.m. ET

The Katy Daley Show - Monday- Friday LIVE, 7-10 a.m. ET

The Lee Michael Demsey Show – Saturday 11a.m.-2p.m., Monday- Friday LIVE, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. ET

Lonesome Pine RFD with Carol Beaugard – Mon. 12 a.m., Wed. 9 p.m., Thurs. 12 p.m.

*Mountain Stage
Featuring Squirrel Nut Zippers, Southern Culture on the Skids, These United States, The Coal Men, Grace Pettis- NewSong Contest Winner. View Playlist.

Music from Foggy Hollow – #201034
In Mike Kear’s Music from Foggy Hollow this week he’s featuring a new CD from a young fella who’s already a legend in bluegrass. Darrell Webb has a new band and a new CD called Bloodline and Mike’s playing some of it for you in this show. And this week, for the first time, Mitch Harrell, some old music he just found from the Forbes Family and music from a couple of the best Australian acoustic musicians, Ian Simpson and John Kane. Also Mike hasn’t forgotten his regular segment from Erio Meili in Brazil and he looks back 5 years to see what was in the show back then. There’s lots lots more of the best new bluegrass around too. It’s only for fun, so don’t miss it!

Old Time Jam – #131 (Chickens)
Your host returned from Clifftop with some new CDs to introduce from Rachel Eddy, Kristian Herner, Jason and Pharis Romero (and nineteen different fiddlers), Jake Krack, the Tallboys, Rhys Jones, Kellie Allen and Pete Peterson, The Contra Rebels and Chris Via. We’ll hear selections from all of these plus other recent releases by the Albemarle Ramblers and the Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin duo.

Open Mic – Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown
Lee Michael Demsey hosts the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown for the month of September.

The Ray Davis Show – Monday- Friday LIVE, 3-6p.m., Sunday 10am-1p

Rotating Shows
The Tom “Cat” Reeder Show – Sunday 3 a.m. (Aug 29)
The Old Home Place with Lisa Kay Howard – Tuesday 12 p.m., Thursday 12 a.m., Sunday 3 a.m. (Sept 5)

Stained Glass Bluegrass hosted by Bob Webster – Sunday LIVE 6-10 a.m., Tues. 9 p.m.
Rick Lang in New Hampshire has recently written fourteen gospel songs recorded by the likes of Russell Moore (IIIrd Tyme Out), Dale Ann Bradley (reigning IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year for the last 3 years), Junior Sisk (who heads Ramblers Choice), and Jeff Parker (from the Dailey & Vincent band) as well as several others on the project titled “Look To The Light.” Tune in for part one of an interview with Rick to learn more about his background and the inspiration for these wonderful and meaningful songs. Don’t forget your songbook so you can sing the old hymns at the start of the third hour as usual.

LIVE *Traditions with Mary Cliff – Saturday 3-6 p.m.

Uptown Bluegrass with George McKnight – Memories of John (rebroadcast)
Something special this week, with our show “John”. We feature a tribute to John Hartford and several tunes from a great new CD “Memories of John” by the Hartford String Band, a terrific group of musicians (Red Clay Records). As well, we’ve included several tunes from some of the different bands and groups John made with music over the many years of his career. John’s love for the music and fun he had with it shines through with many of his recordings.

Listen to Rebecca’s performance

Capital Americana is an hour-long Americana program highlighting new acoustic American roots music, hosted by Jen Hitt.

In addition to Capital Americana, we’ve  added the new program Bluegrass Gospel USA hosted by Bill Miller. Also the The Free For All has expanded its hours to Monday-Friday 6-8 p.m. ET, and Old Time Jam has moved to Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.

To see the updated schedule with all program changes, go here.

Musical instrument workshops will be offered in traditional Irish fiddling from world-class fiddler Willie Kelly; button-accordion virtuoso Mary Rafferty Clancy and others. The Irish dance schools performing at the festival will explain the nature of the various dances they perform and, space permitting, will have audience participation.  In the crafts area, there will be a presentation on Irish genealogy search methods and documents by Ballycastle Enterprises focusing on retrieving Irish birth, baptism, and marriage certificates.  Danny Costello, author of the novel The Rag Tree will be present to discuss and sign copies of his book.  And a children’s stage will feature young performers in a family-friendly atmosphere.

For more information and schedules, visit the CCE Irish Folk Festival Website.

They performed songs from their brand new album Hot Off The Press.

If you missed the live show, hear the rebroadcast Thursday, Aug. 26 at 2 a.m. ET or Sunday, Aug. 29 at 5 a.m. on The Tom Cat Reeder Show.

Listen to this feature

The Bluegrass Beat is your source for bluegrass events in the D.C. metropolitan area.

For more bluegrass events in the D.C. metropolitan area, please visit the DCBU Calendar.

*denotes part of our Roots and Branches series

*American Routes – Bustin’ Loose: Go-Go and Zydeco with Chuck Brown and Jeffrey Broussard
Come meet us at the club as we jump into two distinct American musics: go-go and zydeco. From the nation’s capital, we’ll visit with the “Godfather of Go-Go,” funk and jazz guitarist Chuck Brown, who’ll explain the finer points of jamming and showing the audience some love. Then we’re back in Louisiana getting down to the Creole sounds of zydeco with the Creole cowboy Jeffrey Broussard, whose fiddle and accordion playing brings the music back its source. The son of the late accordion legend Delton Broussard, Jeffery knows the deep roots of d’vrais zarico (real zydeco), but also the appeal of tradition in a modern sound.

Bluegrass Breakdown – Dollars And Cents, Part 1
We’ll be embarking on the first of an ambitious two part excursion into the many peculiarities and vagaries of the high lonesome monetary system which has left financial experts scratching their heads and hollering for more Xanax. Lynn Morris, Lost Highway, David Davis, Chris Stuart, The Freight Hoppers and Ricky Skaggs will giving us the scoop on coinage—this penny pinching, nickel plugged, dime dropping, no quarter given or asked edition of The Breakdown.

Bluegrass Master Class – Banks of the Ohio #97

Bluegrass Review – #1035
Guests Adam Granger and Lyle Lofgren, with host Phil Nusbaum, give their views on the evolution of bluegrass. The Gem of Bluegrass gives special attention to evolution of the progressive edge of bluegrass music. What else? Bluegrass songs sing the poverty blues, and we slip in a little summer fluff. (It meets most folks’ weekly minimum requirement.) The playlist is located at www.bluegrassreview.com. Join the Bluegrass Review discussion on Facebook. Just do a Facebook search for Bluegrass Review.

Bluegrass Signal – Happy Birthday, Dave Evans!
Originally broadcast on Dave Evans’s 60th birthday, this too-brief tribute features his music from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but also includes a couple recent songs and a couple when he was in Larry Sparks’ band. County Sales’ Dave Freeman, in several reviews, summarizes the birthday celebrant: “Dave Evans’ recordings have been consistently good, showcasing a vocal talent that is one of the most distinctive and soulful in bluegrass music. He is no slouch as a banjo player, but his voice is one of the treasures of modern day bluegrass. If any one artist captures the essence of bluegrass as it used to be, it could be Dave Evans. Steeped in tradition, but highly individualistic, Evans has always gone his own way, and, in the process, has left us some memorable music.”

*Capital Americana – Wed. 8 p.m. ET, Sat. 2 p.m. ET

*The Dick Spottswood Show – #302
A Jim & Jesse suite starts things off, a Gold Rush suite keeps them going and, even though it’s August, we follow little footprints in the snow. Obsolete friends this week include Hank Snow, Bill Monroe, Barbecue Bob, John Lee Hooker, the Blue Sky Boys, Cliff Carlisle, Johnnie & Jack, and lots more. To a man, they’re all Obsolete, but they mean well.

Editor’s Picks – The Desert Rose Band
Our pick of the week is the Desert Rose band. They were in town for a reunion concert at the Birchmere on August 7th and Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen and John Jorgensen visited with Katy Daley and Lee Michael Demsey and performed live in our Washington, DC studios.

*etown – Lila Downs & Gregory Alan Isakov
This week’s show, when originally broadcast in 2008, happens to be the eTown debut of two talented musical guests. First, multi-cultural singer-songwriter Lila Downs joins us along with her amazing band. Lila was raised in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico and in Minnesota, and her music reflects her diverse roots. We also welcome emerging artist Gregory Alan Isakov, a fantastic singer and songwriter who shares some of his original tunes.

The Free for All – Monday-Thursday, 6-8 p.m. LIVE, Friday 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

The Gary Henderson Show – Saturday 8-11 a.m. LIVE, Monday 12 p.m., Friday 12 a.m.

*Irish Heartbeat with Dervish – Saturday 6 p.m. ET

The Katy Daley Show - Monday- Friday LIVE, 7-10 a.m. ET

The Lee Michael Demsey Show – Saturday 11a.m.-2p.m., Monday- Friday LIVE, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. ET

Lonesome Pine RFD with Carol Beaugard – Mon. 12 a.m., Wed. 9 p.m., Thurs. 12 p.m.

*Mountain Stage
Featuring Regina Spektor, Yo La Tengo, Sonny Landreth, Will Hoge, Great Lake Swimmers. View Playlist.

Music from Foggy Hollow – #201033
In Mike Kear’s Music from Foggy Hollow this week he’s featuring a new CD a lot of people have been waiting for for a long time – “Still Learning” – the new one from the Lonesome River Band. Mike’s playing some of it for you in this show. Also this week, for the first time, music from a band called No One You Know, Marty Marrone & Tangled Roots, Thunder Creek, Darrell Webb Band, A tribute to regional legend Cullen Galyean, Lou Reid and Carolina’s new gospel project, and more. Also there’s the regular Portuguese segment from Erio Meili in Brazil and Mike prys open the heavy doors of the vaule to look back 5 years to see what was happening on the show way back then. It’s only for fun, it’s not too serious, so don’t miss it!

Old Time Jam – #130
Your host returned from Clifftop with some new CDs to introduce from Rachel Eddy, Kristian Herner, Jason and Pharis Romero (and nineteen different fiddlers), Jake Krack, the Tallboys, Rhys Jones, Kellie Allen and Pete Peterson, The Contra Rebels and Chris Via. We’ll hear selections from all of these plus other recent releases by the Albemarle Ramblers and the Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin duo.

Open Mic – FestivaLink.net MerleFest Review
This week we Open the Mic for LIVE performances from MerleFest. The folks at FestivaLink.net gave us their favorite bluegrass picks from MerleFest 2010, including Dehlia Low, Anne & Pete Sibley, The Tony Williamson Band, and of course Doc Watson.

The Ray Davis Show – Monday- Friday LIVE, 3-6p.m., Sunday 10am-1p

Rotating Shows
The Bill Miller Show – Sunday 3 a.m. (Aug 22)
The Tom “Cat” Reeder Show – Tuesday 12 p.m., Thursday 12 a.m., Sunday 3 a.m. (Aug 29)

Stained Glass Bluegrass hosted by Bob Webster – Sunday LIVE 6-10 a.m., Tues. 9 p.m.
New Found Road has contributed remarkably to our enjoyment for several years since forming as a bluegrass gospel band in July of 2001. Tim Shelton remains as an original member of the band and we’ll enjoy several of the band’s songs on this edition. The group sings “Rock of Ages” as part of our old hymns portion of the program at the start of the third hour.

LIVE *Traditions with Mary Cliff – Saturday 3-6 p.m.

Uptown Bluegrass with George McKnight – Late Summer
Gosh, it goes by fast! This week’s show features music to be heard in the latter part of summer, with CD releases, festivals and special events.  This week we have a strong international flavor to the show, with bands and artists from Europe, USA, Canada and Toronto (Editor’s note: Is this a Canadian inside joke?).