BLUE HIGHWAY
& THE DIXIE
BEE-LINERS

Friday, July 11 -- 8:00 PM

At the 14-year mark, Blue Highway is indisputably one of the most esteemed and influential groups in contemporary bluegrass. The band's eight exceptional albums and compelling live performances give proof to the stellar reviews, Grammy nominations, and numerous awards earned by the band since it first took the stage on December 31, 1994. With a deep bench of virtuosic songwriters, vocalists and instrumentalists, Blue Highway's hallmark is an unwavering commitment to the ensemble, the “democracy of the band” that makes Blue Highway a powerhouse.

With eight highly-acclaimed albums to its credit, Blue Highway has garnered two Grammy nominations, a Dove Award, topped the Bluegrass Unlimited radio charts, and won numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards. Refusing to coast on past glories, Blue Highway continues to push its music to new levels of accomplishment. Artfully balanced between tradition and innovation, it remains in the forefront of contemporary bluegrass music.

Official Blue Highway Website

With a new album that has achieved three #1's to date, PINECASTLE recording artists THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS are creating quite a buzz. Known for their high-octane harmonies and stunningly beautiful original songs, the band has appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland, NPR, the Food Network, and radio playlists across the country and world-wide, including regular rotation on Sirius and XM satellite radio. Their critically acclaimed new album, RIPE, currently sits atop the Bluegrass Now Fan's Choice Top 20 chart, and it recently achieved simultaneous #1's on Bluegrass Music Profiles' Top 20 Hot Singles and the Roots Music Report Bluegrass Chart. The Bee-Liners spent nine consecutive weeks atop the RMR Bluegrass chart.

Official Dixie Bee-Liners Website

Advance discount tickets: $20.00
Day of Show: $24.00

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AUSTIN LOUNGE
LIZARDS with special guest
THE SMOKIN'
FEZ MONKEYS

Saturday, July 12 -- 8:00 PM

The Austin Lounge Lizards have delighted audiences from Texas to California, from Canada to the U.K., with their inventive style of satirical folk, country and bluegrass. Based in Austin, Texas, since they formed in 1980, the Lizards have honed their music into a knife-sharp art form.

Trademarks of a Lizards song are highly literate, sharply pointed lyrics that poke fun at politics, love, religion and the culture in general. For example, among the songs on their latest CD, "The Drugs I Need", are the title song and four others commissioned by Consumers Union and other advocacy groups. The Lizards tackle the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance, big media and big oil, and excessive credit card debt (a touching duet entitled "Xmas Time for Visa" with guest vocalist Tish Hinojosa). "The Drugs I Need" is the Lizards most topical album yet.

The Lizard musical style features precise four- and five-part vocal harmonies and instrumental mastery, particularly from Conrad Deisler on guitar, Korey Simeone on fiddle and mandolin, and Tom Pittman on banjo, dobro, and pedal steel guitar. Rounding out the group are Hank Card on rhythm guitar and Boo Resnick on bass. Lizard arrangements often include harmonies and instrumental parts that are themselves a spoof of the conventions of bluegrass, country, rock, and pop music. So it's no surprise that the group counts among its influences Frank Zappa, George Jones, Spike Jones, Flatt & Scruggs, Tom Lehrer, and Steve Goodman.

Official Austin Lounge Lizards Website

Armed with jugs, ukuleles, kazoos, slide whistles, a washboard, spoons and a jaw harp, the Smokin Fez Monkeys are attempting to make music out of, well, nothing at all. "We are technically a jug band, but we're not a jug band in a technical sense because we cheat a little," said 1982 Brunswick High School graduate Mark Sherepita (guitar, harmonica, vocals). "We do have an upright bass and a couple of real musicians. We just get together to have fun and play some fun music. I've always enjoyed that sort of thrown-together feel. One of my biggest influences is Fat Albert and his Junkyard Band. Not because it sounded great, just because I love the idea of taking something and building an instrument out of it." Among the band's cache of homemade instruments are the jinglestick and "aufenspiel." The quintet will have its brand-new concert album "Live at the Folkatorium" available

Advance discount tickets: $15.00
Day of Show: $18.00

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DARK STAR
ORCHESTRA
Rare Acoustic Performance

Monday, July 14 -- 8:00 PM

Using entire shows from the Grateful Dead's 30 years of extensive touring as a launching pad, Dark Star Orchestra recreates the original song for song performance set list for an entirely new generation of, as well as old school, Deadheads. Dark Star Orchestra presents its critically acclaimed live show at esteemed venues from coast to coast and internationally.

Dark Star Orchestra performs Grateful Dead classics in the same way that an orchestra interprets music of classical composers. The composer spirit is derived and channeled as the players capture the excitement and innovation of the original performances and compositions. Touring nationwide for nine years to the tune of nearly 1500 shows since forming, the band's determined commitment to "raising the Dead" has drawn national media attention.

"Fanatical attention to detail." Rolling Stone

"Dark Star Orchestra takes its act to a level of detail that befits a rock band famous for its fanatical following." Associated Press

"The hottest Grateful Dead tribute act. A cover band for people who don't like cover bands." The Washington Post

Critics aren't the only ones singing Dark Star Orchestra's praises. Five original members of the Grateful Dead have played alongside DSO and have had this to say:

"A couple of times when I had my back to John (Kadlecik) onstage and he started to sing, I had this weird sense that it was Jerry." Bob Weir, Grateful Dead co-founder/vocalist/guitarist

"Playing with Dark Star Orchestra is something that feels just exactly like it felt when I was playing with the Grateful Dead." Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay, Grateful Dead vocalist, frequent DSO guest

Precision is king with DSO; the band adapts their stage positioning, vocal arrangements, specific musical equipment and instruments to fit the era of the show they are performing. Following each performance the band announces the date and venue of the original performance. Dark Star Orchestra could dip into any incarnation of the dead at any of their shows, allowing fans to experience shows that happened long before they were born.

Official Dark Star Orchestra Website

Advance discount tickets: $25.00
Day of Show: $28.00

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Movies on Main Street
THE RED VIOLIN

Saturday, July 19 -- 9:00 PM

The Red Violin is a beautiful award-winning film of great drama and emotion, with a stunning soundtrack from major contemporary composer John Corigliano that features a brilliant performance from violinist Joshua Bell. The film was released by Lion's Gate Films on June 11, 1999 in New York and Los Angeles, and opened in wide release in the following weeks.

A tale filled with passion, pageantry, tragedy, romance, adventure and intrigue, The Red Violin centers around a contemporary auction in which a priceless violin with an infamous past is placed on the block. As the bidding mounts, the story flashes back to signature chapters in the violin's history and the inevitable impact it had on all those who possessed it. From its creation in 17th-century Italy, to the court of imperial Vienna in the 1790s, to Victorian England in the late 1800s, to the People's Republic of China in the mid-1960s, the dramatic story spans continents and sweeps centuries. At the center of the story is a dark secret that is only revealed at the film's suspenseful and sensational finale.

Directed by François Girard and with an original screenplay by Girard and Don McKellar (the creative team behind the award-winning film Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould), The Red Violin boasts a stellar international cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Greta Scacchi, Colm Feore, Don McKellar, Jason Flemyng and Sylvia Chang.

Tickets: $5.00 General
$3.00 Students/Seniors