This July I will embark an an epic tour and road trip of the United States. I’ve dubbed this my California Decade tour, as it will almost perfectly coincide with the 10th anniversary of the road trip that brought me from Kentucky to California. For the first leg of the tour, I’ll be joined by my trio with guitarist Tim McNalley and mandolinist Nick Montemarano. We’ll play our own tunes, and serve as backing band to our friends Mara Kaye, classic blues vocalist from Brooklyn, and Rebecca Stout, the Alabaman flatfoot dancer. We’ll get as far as Seattle, then the band will peel away and I’ll camp my way eastward through Yellowstone, the Tetons, and a few more gigs solo in Omaha, Kansas City, and St. Louis. The road will lead back to Kentucky, if only for a brief visit. Then, onward to the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia. And finally, a long drive back to the Pacific.

Travel advice is welcome! Do you know a great place to hike or camp on the route? Let me know! Will you be in the area when I have a show? Come on out! Do you know someone on the path that would enjoy the music I play? Let them know!

July 1st, Los Angeles, CA. The YARD w/ Rebecca Stout & Mara Kaye

July 5th, Pasadena, CA. Urban Homestead w/ Rebecca Stout & Mara Kaye

July 6th, Big Sur, CA. Fernwood Resort w/ Rebecca Stout & Mara Kaye

July 10th, Walnut Grove, CA. River Road Gallery w/ Rebecca Stout & Mara Kaye

July 11th, Winters, CA. Rotary Park w/ Rebecca Stout & Mara Kaye

July 12th, Eugene, OR. Viking Braggot

July 13th, Seattle, WA. Conor Byrne Pub w/ Devin Champlin

July 24th, Omaha, NE. Down Under Lounge

July 25th, Omaha, NE. House Concert

July 27th, Kansas City, MO. House Concert. w/ Rachel Krause, The Matchsellers

July 29th, St. Louis, MO. Tick Tock Tavern

July 31st-Aug 4th, Clifftop, WV. Appalachian String Band Festival

I’ll be sitting in with blues queen Mara Kaye and my Kentucky home-boy fiddlin’ John Harrod at this year’s Brooklyn Folk Festival!

My Banjos in the Classroom program has expanded to a second school! I started this program with the Center for World Music in 2018, teaching group clawhammer classes to middle schoolers at San Diego’s Museum School. We’ve now added classes at the San Diego French-American School! Here’s a post from the school’s blog with more details.

There will be a wonderfully serendipitous confluence of Southern music and Southern musicians San Diego on the weekend of January 18th.  Starting on Friday 18th, Southern Pacific Sessions will present the first concert of its 2019 season: the Grammy-nominated Blake Miller and the Old Fashioned Aces. On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th San Diego will host the All-California Sacred Harp Singing Convention, and will host singers of this centuries-old harmony singing tradition from across the state and country. The singing will conclude in the early afternoon, and in the evenings, I’ll be presenting concerts with my trio and the wonderful flatfoot dancer Rebecca Stout. On Saturday 19th 8pm we’ll be at Black Cat Bar, and Sunday 20th we’ll be at Sycamore Den.

The first concerts of our 2019 season Southern Pacific Sessions is announced! Cruise over to our website to see more info about grammy-nominated Blake Miller & The Old Fashioned Aces, the return of Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton, and Skillet Licorice! We are proud to present these artists in an intimate setting, completely acoustic, with no amplification, in a beautiful, cozy living-room type setting.