Cultural Crossroads Series at Rare Bird Farm

The Cultural Crossroads Series brings together a revered tradition-bearer and a bold innovator, creating a rich and dynamic musical dialogue.

*Workshop and concert tickets sold separately.*

WORKSHOP: Banjo/Fiddle/Guitar Workshops with Stuart Spence & Shebish (2:30 – 4 pm)

• Banjo with Travis Stuart- This workshop will cover techniques used for clawhammer style banjo, as well as demonstrations of 2 and 3 finger banjo. Guidance for playing along with fiddlers as well as alternative tunings for solo banjo will also be covered.
• Guitar with Micah Spence – Learn Old-Time guitar tips and tricks with Micah Spence. In this workshop you will learn to back up fiddle tunes and folk songs by using simple chord patterns and effective bass runs with an emphasis on Southern square dance rhythm.
• Fiddle with Deb Shebish – Deb will teach Old-Time fiddle tunes from the repertoire of Joe Dawson, (1928-2012), an Old-Time fiddler from South-Central Indiana who grew up deeply immersed in the traditional music of the area. She loves to share his unique style and repertoire that she learned at Joe’s weekly living room jams. All tunes will be taught by ear and chord suggestions will be provided.

CONCERT: Stuart Spence & Shebish / Nathan Bowles (Doors open at 5 pm)

Travis Stuart, Micah Spence, and Deb Shebish play hard driving Old-Time Music. Based in North Carolina and Georgia, they combine their distinctive old-time styles to create a powerful and nuanced trio of fiddle, banjo, and vocals. Stuart, Spence & Shebish headlined the 2024 Rootsinphytaa Bluegrass festival in Finland.

Travis and Deb were granted the prestigious 2023 North Carolina Folklife Apprenticeship Grant and Travis Stuart is the recipient of the 2019 South Arts Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship. This dynamic trio breathes new life into traditional Old-Time music.

Nathan Bowles is a multi-instrumentalist musician and teacher living in Durham, North Carolina. His work, both as an accomplished solo artist and as a sought-after ensemble player, explores the rugged country between the poles of Appalachian old-time traditions and ecstatic, minimalist drone. Although his recordings prominently feature his idiosyncratic approach to clawhammer banjo, Bowles is also widely recognized as a masterful and versatile drummer, and he considers himself first and foremost a percussionist, with banjo and keyboards as a natural extension of his percussive practice. His recent solo sets incorporate a mix of original and traditional banjo material with homemade-tape-loop accompaniment.

Doors 5 pm

Nathan 6 pm

Stuart Spence & Shebish 7:15 pm

Purchase tickets here. 

Note: This event has sliding scale ticket prices—choose the $15, $20, or $25 level depending on what works for you. Tickets at the door will be $25.

Grant supported by a South Arts In These Mountains grant.