Six Sundays features original bluegrass

Hank, Pattie & The Current are the headliners for the May 21 edition of Six Sundays in Spring in the amphitheater at E. Carroll Joyner Park on Harris Road.

You will enjoy two of North Carolina’s veteran bluegrass musicians join forces with some of the Triangle area’s most versatile musicians to create modern, American, acoustic music featuring the full range of their talents as composers and arrangers.

The band makes use of traditional bluegrass instrumentation in a nontraditional way to present original music to the listener that goes beyond the limits of the idiom. The arrangements take on a new level of maturation that follows in the footsteps of Bela Fleck, Mark O’Connor, Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, and Tony Rice.

Hank, Pattie & The Current want to pick up where seminal crossover groups like The Punch Brothers, Strength In Numbers and the ever changing Bluegrass Allstars call home. The music is vocal and instrumental, allowing the band to experiment with arrangements and tailor the compositions to become vehicles for exploration. Hank Smith plays banjo, Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw plays fiddle and sings. The band is rounded out with Ben Parker on guitar and vocals, Robert Thornhill on mandolin and vocals and E. Scott Warren on bass. The band is on tour regionally and nationally in 2016 in support of their new, self titled album on Robust Records.

Six Sundays is at least 20 years old, sponsored originally by the local arts group which is now Wake Forest ARTS, and taking place until the last few years on the grass in front of the Calvin Jones house on North Main Street. It offers area residents an opportunity to enjoy a variety of local and regional performers and an enriching cultural experience. All concerts are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. The performances will continue on May 28 with Walking for Pennies and conclude June 4 with Charros de Mexico.

There will be several food and dessert trucks onsite each Sunday. People may also bring a picnic from home but are reminded that alcoholic beverages and gas and charcoal grills are not allowed. Two large charcoal grills are provided on site. Unleashed pets are also prohibited.

In the event of inclement weather, this year’s concerts may be relocated to the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre on Brooks Street. Updated concert information will be available by 3 p.m. on the day of the concert on Wake Forest TV 10 and the Town’s Facebook page and by calling the Wake Forest Weather Line at 919-435-9569. Smart phone users who have downloaded the Town’s app will receive a push notification message informing them of any schedule changes.

The 2017 Six Sundays in Spring concert series is co-sponsored by The Wege Foundation, Allen Tate Realty, and Lauren and Drew Bridges. The June 4 concert featuring Charros de Mexico is also co-sponsored by PineCone – the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, Inc.