Americana

The Cedar's access programs -- Concerts for Youth, Cedar Outdoors, and our new program, CEDAR Avenue to the Art -- all help more people experience live music! If we can reach our goal of $10,000 for these programs by concert time, we will celebrate with a "free" concert on our patio. To help us reach our goal, and to follow our progress, please donate here.

Tonight's performance will feature popular Americana/roots musicians The Brass Kings, and veena player/singer Nirmala Rajasekar, who will be accompanied by Balaji Chandran playing Ghatam and Sriram Natarajan playing Mridhangam.

The Cedar sure knows how to pick 'em--and so do the artists on tonight's smash bluegrass double bill: providing a living link to bluegrass founder Bill Monroe, the inimitable Peter Rowan has assembled an allstar cast in his aptly named Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, and in a more contemporary vein, the Boulder Acoustic Society take roots music in startling new directions.

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 6 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

Just in time for the holiday season, Irish-Americana band Romantica do the right thing, and release their hit album America on vinyl!

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 6 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

Cedar regulars will recognize a familiar face tonight: Cedar sound engineer Raymond Yates steps out from behind the board, and takes the stage as singer and acoustic guitarist for his new project The Long Straight Forever.  The Long Straight Forever uses voices, guitars, mandola, bodhran to traverse the oceanic road from the British Isles to the Americas, with echoes of the Chieftains, Warren Zevon, Richard Thompson, Stan Rogers, and Led Zeppelin in their music. Raymond is joined by Gallowglass co-founder Michael Matheny, instrumentalist extraordinaire Matthew Ogden, and bass man Matt Miller; together, they produce music that straddles the Celtic, Americana, and rock genres. Tonight, they'll be celebrating the release of their self-titled debut album, recorded at a cabin on Upper Eau Claire Lake near Barnes, WI in April this year.  For this auspicious occasion, they'll be joined by female choir powerhouse The Idisi.

The legendary Czech band Druha Trava returns to The Cedar! Famed on both sides of the Atlantic for its "Czechgrass" fusion of acoustic, bluegrass, folk and rock, Druha Trava will introduce Cedar fans to a new addition to its line-up -- award-winning bass player Tomas Liska, who took over in April from long-time DT bassist Petr Sury.

Liska, 31, is well known in the Czech and European jazz scene and also performs with other top artists such as Lenka Dusilova and David Doruska.

"He is a phenomenal musician and also brings a youthful style to the stage," said DT banjo player Lubos Malina.

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Jul 23 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

"Deep Blues" is the dirt beneath BB King's fingernails scratching a blackboard. It is not smooth and citified like your daddy's blues-it's raucous, rough, and rambunctious. It's punk of the ages. And many other things too.. ." (pat mAcdonald, 2009)

The Cedar welcomes the West Bank Deep Blues Festival to the patio for two nights! Tonight, the stripped down washboard, rope and guitar of The Brass Kings, and a trip to Purgatory Hill, courtesy of fomer Timbuk3-er pat mAcdonald and melanie jane. pat plays a “Lowebow,” which consists of two poles attached to a cigar box, strung with one bass string and three guitar strings.

The Deep Blues Festival comes to the West Bank! This evening, the price (FREE!) is twice as right, with Iowan blues legends Joe and Vicki Price, and Duluth's master country bluesman Charlie Parr. Joe and Vicki Price's latest album Rain or Shine won the Judges' choice for best blues CD in the 2009 Independent Music Awards.  Joe and Vicki's music is flavored more to the juke joint end of the blues: a bit rough and tons of fun.

Charlie Parr's songs are inhabited by wandering gamblers, union workers, criminals and sinners, and tell stories that occupy the dark places where regret and remorse part company.

Charlie Parr's self-taught mix of slide, finger-picking and quasi-frailing guitar technique, together with a voice that's low on drama and high on impact, offers a modern take on timeless conditions.

7:00pm "The Secret Of Sleep" screening
8:15pm Spider John Koerner
9:30pm Charlie Parr

Two generations of bluesmen meet on a midsummer's night, plus there'll be a very special screening of the long lost Spider John 1970 cult film “The Secret Of Sleep.”

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Jun 11 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

This NYC and automobile-based singer-songwriter is creating quite a buzz across pop, jazz and folk circles with his last CD, Steps. Tonight, however, join in as The Cedar crowd gives Caleb a warm, hometown welcome as he releases a brand new album We All Got Problems.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music with a degree in Jazz Composition, Hawley has turned some heads with his choice to write and produce decidedly pop-influenced singer-songwriter music. But his success is undeniable with top awards like the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (’09) and the New York Songwriter’s Circle contest (’08, ‘09). Hawley is often compared to Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Raul Midon. He’s a charming, soft-spoken guitar virtuoso with a great big voice that can sing just about anything.

It's the return of the tree huggin’, love makin’, pro choicin’, gay weddin’, widespread diggin’ barefoot hippie Todd Snider! He’s taken on Conservative Christians, hippies, Republicans, and frat boys. In his most recent album, “country’s conscience” (Spin, August 2006) and “top wiseass” (Blender, August 2006) Todd Snider shows us how to get through this economic crisis with ‘The Excitement Plan’ (Yep Roc). The album features GRAMMY-winning producer Don Was (Bob Dyan, Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt) and a guest appearance by Loretta Lynn.