Saturday, July 8
Smokin’ Grass festival
The first-ever festival features six top-notch bluegrass bands and five food trucks serving different blends of barbecue.
It runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 8, at the outdoor amphitheater at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo.
The musical lineup includes The Kitchen Dwellers, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Songs From the Road Band, Breaking Grass, Into the Fog and Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road.
While all the bands have one foot in the past with a traditional foundation built on guitar, mandolin, upright bass and banjo instrumentation and close harmonies, don’t think it’s your grandfather’s bluegrass.
There are also elements of Americana, country, rock, folk, Christian and, even, psychedelia in the mix.
Expect to hear originals and re-imagined covers (Songs from the Road Band does a killer, twangy remake of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”).
The Bozeman, Montana-based Kitchen Dwellers are probably the best-known group.
Known for their high-energy performances, the quartet plays July 15, at the legendary Red Rock Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.
When: 12:30 p.m., with gates opening at 11 a.m.
Cost: $50 in advance, $60 at the door
Where: Roanoke Island Festival Park, 1 Festival Park, Manteo
Info and tickets: smokingrassfestival.com
It’s lawn seating, so bring a chair or blanket
___
Tuesday, July 11
Fixity
The Hampton Roads-based duo – Sherri Linn (guitar, mandolin, percussion and vocals) and Bernie Lee (guitar and vocals) – plays at the outdoor Tap Shack in Duck.
On a recent night at the Shack, Lee and Linn, who bill themselves as “an Americana music machine,” put an innovative spin on tunes by, among others, Johnny Cash (“Big River”), Pure Prairie League (“Amie,” “Falling In and Out of Love”), Fleetwood Mac (“Monday Morning”), Mazzy Star (“Fade Into You”) and Melanie (“Brand New Key”).
The instrumentation was fluid and the harmonies were heavenly.
Other highlights included Linn getting in touch with her inner Dolly Parton on a sterling remake of “Jolene” and Lee conjuring up the spirit of George Harrison on a bright cover of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
They also knocked off terrific remakes of “Mr. Bojangles,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Ripple” and “Come Together.”
The duo leans heavily on The Beatles and The Grateful Dead, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Other artists on Linn and Lee’s playlist are, among dozens of others, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Patsy Cline, Bobbie Gentry (“Ode to Billy Joe”), Tom Petty and Kenny Rogers.
When: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Cost: No cover
Where: Tap Shack (behind Coastal Cravings), 1209 Duck Road, Duck
Info: Tap Shack on Facebook
