Hank, Pattie & The Current

HANK, PATTIE & THE CURRENT:

Two of North Carolina’s veteran bluegrass musicians-- Hank Smith on Banjo and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw on fiddle-- join forces with some of the most versatile musicians in the Carolinas to create modern, American, acoustic music featuring the full range of their talents as composers and arrangers. The band is on tour regionally and nationally in support of their new album, RISE ABOVE on Robust Records.

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 is lead vocalist. The Current includes Billie Feather on guitar and Stevie Martinez on bass.

BREK (Iceland):

Brek was formed in the fall of 2018. The band mainly plays original, folky music with influences from various sources, but the members of the band focus on creating an interesting but cozy atmosphere in their playing. In addition, In addition there is a focus on the multifaceted use of the Icelandic language in the band’s lyrics.

Band members are Harpa Þorvaldsdóttir singer and pianist, Jóhann Ingi Benediktsson guitarist and singer, Guðmundur Atli Pétursson mandolinist and Sigmar Þór Matthíasson bassist.

The last two years have been eventful for Brek despite the pandemic, the band was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards in the category of folk music two years in a row as well as participating in an international project called Global Music Match, and participated on behalf of Iceland along with other artists. Following GMM Brek also performed a virtual showcase concert at Folk Alliance 2021.

Brek released its self-titled debut album in the summer of 2021 and received the Icelandic Music Awards for Folk album of the year as well as being featured as Album of the week on Iceland National Radio - Rás 2 in early 2022.

Brek has been diligent in playing concerts in Iceland and plans to be active in playing concerts both in Iceland and abroad in the near future. In 2023 Brek will play an official showcase at Folk Alliance International in Kansa City, USA in February and also at Nordic Folk Alliance in Roskilde, Denmark in April.

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All events are 21+ to attend unless otherwise stated on the event page. We allow under 21 to attend shows with a parent or legal guardian.