Bluegrass returns to the Concert Hall with the Claire Lynch Band

Local favorite Wild Mountain will open the Mar. 31 show

 

Bluegrass returns to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado, Saturday, Mar. 31, 2012, 7:30 p.m., with the Claire Lynch Band and special guest, local favorite, Wild Mountain. The dance floor will be open.

Grammy nominee and IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Claire Lynch has long been at the forefront of women pushing the bluegrass boundaries. Described as an intensely soulful singer, whose distinctive voice resonates with power and strength, yet retains an engaging innocence and crystalline purity, Lynch demands the listener’s rapt attention with her songs and stage presence.

Originally from Kingston, N.Y., Lynch moved with her family to Huntsville, Ala. at age 12. There she began her education in country music and got caught up in the bluegrass revival of the 1970s, joining the band Hickory Wind, which later changed its name to the Front Porch String Band with Lynch’s vocals as its centerpiece. The Front Porch String Band evolved in the ‘80s and ‘90s into “one of the sharpest and most exciting post-modern bluegrass bands on the circuit.”

Lynch formed her own Claire Lynch Band in 2005, and today consistently delivers a personable, high energy show that ranges from tender country ballads to hard-driving bluegrass, incorporating swing and even some Southern Appalachian clog dancing. The Claire Lynch Band has been called a powerful juggernaut, a quartet that has the innate ability to interpret the beauty, subtlety and genre-defying sophistication of Lynch’s music.

Of Lynch, Richard Harrington in The Washington Post wrote, “a sterling, silvery vocal presence and a gift for supple, emotional ornamentation… Lynch’s talent is a diamond…gorgeous voice and sense of purpose, supported by (a) superb ensemble.”

The Claire Lynch Band performs “The Wabash Cannonball” on “Santa Cruz Live” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmzM-SmvdR4.

Special guest Wild Mountain plays an eclectic and unique blend of Americana, bluegrass, alt-country and folk music – songs that focus on life in the Southwest and Colorado. Honest and engaging, Wild Mountain’s original songwriting mixes traditional “mountain music” with social, environmental and political themes.

The Durango-based band features the husband and wife team of Brad Bartlett and Estella Moore on guitar, fiddle and vocals, and Rusty Charpentier (bass, vocals), a virtuoso musician, is a music major at Fort Lewis College in Durango where he is mastering violin and numerous other stringed instruments. Rusty Charpentier (bass, vocals), a virtuoso musician, is a music major at Fort Lewis College in Durango where he is mastering violin and numerous other stringed instruments. Rusty Charpentier (bass, vocals), a virtuoso musician, is a music major at Fort Lewis College in Durango where he is mastering violin and numerous other stringed instruments. Rusty Charpentier (bass, vocals) and Mark Epstein (banjo, dobro, vocals) complete the quartet. Wild Mountain competed in the 2009 Rockygrass band competition and released its second CD, High Country Roots Rebel in Fall 2010.

Noted Hugh Felt, host of KSUT Public Radio’s “The Grass Is Bluer,” “Wild Mountain is a creative, energetic band performing a wide range of acoustic string band music to the great delight of their audiences.”

Listen to Wild Mountain’s music at www.myspace.com/wildmountainmusic.

Tickets for the Claire Lynch Band, with special guest Wild Mountain, ($18/$28) are available on-line at www.durangoconcerts.com or by calling 970.247.7657, or at the Ticket Office in Downtown Durango at 7th St. and Main Ave. All sales final.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6:30 p.m.

The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, and through financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.