The High 48s and Chris Castino & Chicken Wire Empire

Friday, February 10, 2023

7 pm Doors // 8 pm Music

$20 Advance General Admission //$27 At The Door

All Ages

Ticket Purchases are Final and Non-Refundable

The High 48s and Chicken Wire Empire, featuring Chris Castino, present a very special bluegrass tribute to the band Old & In the Way, the original jamgrass band in the early seventies featuring Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Peter Rowan.

These two northern-bred bluegrass acts dutifully adhere to time-tested traditions of the style, providing a full evening of folk fireworks —new and old.

The Parkway becomes The Opry with plenty of recognizable bluegrass favorites and exciting new original tunes. There will be no shortage of hot breaks and trio harmony singin', certain to satisfy.

Chicken Wire Empire has (for the last 8 years) matched their reverence of bluegrass with their burning desire to create new classics. The four core members are unparalleled on the northern scene. The 2019 releases of their European tour were critically acclaimed: The new Chicken Wire Empire live recordings rock! What a great show they put on! The flow of the recordings makes one feel like you are sitting in the audience in the auditorium for the live performance. I especially enjoyed their unique take on some of the traditional songs found in the bluegrass repertoire – made them truly sound like their own. The somewhat non-traditional grass tracks are what might be considered “progressive traditional” bluegrass, where they stretch out a bit while keeping the traditional feel. I thoroughly enjoyed these “funkytrad” recordings by Chicken Wire Empire! - Greg Cahill (Special Consensus).

Chris Castino teamed with the band starting with the recording of their album Fresh Pickles, which began in 2020. Castino recruited legendary bluegrass musicians for the project including: Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Andy Hall, and more. Alan Cackett of Americana UK was on point when he wrote, This is definitely an album for all Bluegrass fans ... a triumph of technical ability bonded perfectly with the accessibility of the songs. An excellent addition to any country or bluegrass playlist… some astonishing music.

After touring in support of the record Chris and the boys enjoy teaming up when they get a chance, and they provide some of the finest singing and playing around. It's a special experience for audiences of bluegrass purists and all lovers of great tunes.

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Since forming in northeast Minneapolis in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude.

They’re a band with one foot in tradition and the other in the world of music today, and one of the very few who can find an overlooked bluegrass classic in a song by M. Ward or the Clash then throw down hard on a standard by Bill Monroe.

The High 48s are also a band of songwriters. Here, too, they take a modern approach, heeding the well-worn advice to writers: write what you know. Their songs ring true to their lives as northern city-folk rather than an imagined “sweet, sunny south” of coal mines and dark hollers.

In 2022 the band released “Crocodile Man,” the first single off of their highly-anticipated 9th studio album that is set for release in early 2023.

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