Mar 5 House Concert: Bruce Molsky
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Santa Cruz House Concerts
Feb 23, 2026, 6:18:20 PMFeb 23
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This week's show with Scottish fiddler Alasdair White has drawn a great audience, but some shows have had sparse attendance. This suggests that people are much more likely to come to hear musicians & genres that they are familiar with. That makes sense, but i want to encourage you to get out of your musical comfort zone and come to shows here that feature music you're unfamiliar with. All the acts that i book here are world-class musicians, and if for some reason you find that you aren't liking a concert here, feel free to take back all or part of your donation and leave. I honestly don't expect this to happen often.
Our next show is already nearly sold out in advanced reservations, but here are details anyway:
Details below. The concert will be held indoors, with masks optional.
Please stay at home if you have cold/flu symptoms, or mask if you're not sure.
Suggested donation: $25/person sliding scale.
To reserve your spot, please email <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>.
Be sure to include the total in your party.
Bruce will also be performing:
Fri, Mar 6 7:30pm Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar, Berkeley
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Upcoming shows in our series:
Thu, Mar 12: Tawja Numarg : Moroccan Tamazight music
Fri, Mar 13: Evie Ladin Band: Neo-Traditional Roots music
Fri, Apr 10: Alessandro Pennezi & Mike Marshall: Brazilian choro
Thu, Apr 30: Jackson, Cotter, Clarridge & Colliton: Celtic roots tunes & songs
Fri, May 8: Kalos: Celtic Roots Trio
Other musical events of interest:
Fri, Feb 27: Zoë Aqua and her Transylvanian String Band
Klezmer music and beyond
Fri, Feb 27: 7-10pm Santa Cruz Contradance
Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz
featuring Rodney Miller, Daniel & Ezra Steinberg
w/ the fabulous Kelsey Hartman calling
Sun, Mar 8: 3-5:30pm Santa Cruz Contradance
Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz
Open Band, hosted by: Mike Lewinski, Daniel & Ezra Steinberg
Mondays 3-4PM on KSQD FM 89.5, 89.7, 90.5 and streaming/archived at <ksqd.org>
"Sounds of Brazil" with DJCP (Charles Anjo 51 Perrone)
_________________________________________________________________________
Bruce Molsky : Appalachian Old-Time fiddle/guitar/banjo
Thursday, Mar 5 7:30 PM
"The Rembrandt of Appalachian fiddle." -Darol Anger
Bruce Molsky is widely recognized as one of the main exponents of
traditional American music today, and he has devoted much of his life to
playing and studying traditional fiddle and banjo music. Bruce Molsky
transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic
and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian
songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known
for his work on the fiddle, his banjo, guitar and distinctive, powerful vocals
also resonate with listeners. His combination of technical virtuosity and relaxed
conversational wit makes a concert hall feel like an intimate front porch
gathering.
Bruce Molsky is widely recognized as one of the main exponents of
traditional American music today, and he has devoted much of his life to
playing and studying traditional fiddle and banjo music. Bruce Molsky
transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic
and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian
songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known
for his work on the fiddle, his banjo, guitar and distinctive, powerful vocals
also resonate with listeners. His combination of technical virtuosity and relaxed
conversational wit makes a concert hall feel like an intimate front porch
gathering.
Bruce's take on tradition has landed him in collaborations with some of the world's most
highly respected players from roots to rock. He is a special guest on legend rocker
Mark Knopfler’s CD, “Tracker.” His "1865 Songs of Hope & Home" with Anonymous 4
was on Billboard’s top 10 classical charts for weeks. You can see Bruce on the BBC TV
“Transatlantic Sessions” with Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, and on “David Holt’s State of
Music” on PBS. Along with Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny, Bruce is a founding member of
the supergroup Mozaik, with three recordings.
Performing on fiddle, guitar, banjo and vocals, Molsky exudes an authenticity that
deeply informs his music. Whether performing an ancient reel from Virginia, a
Swedish waltz, or a loping cowboy ballad, Molsky presents himself as exactly who
he is. Linda Ronstadt hears that same honest beauty in Molsky's singing. "Bruce
has has that ability to track deep emotion in his voice, without any unnecessary
adornment," she says. "It's pared back to only the essential architecture of emotion."
And at that profoundly simple and profoundly difficult musical art, Molsky is truly
old-time's master craftsman.
"It is no exaggeration to say that Bruce Molsky is one of the greatest
American fiddlers of all time. His playing is mesmerizing and
transporting, and best experienced live" - WBUR (Boston NPR)
Visit his website: <http://brucemolsky.com>
Santa Cruz House Concerts
Mar 3, 2026, 11:24:34 PM (8 days ago) Mar 3
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Following close on the heels of this week's sold out Bruce Molsky concert, we've got two shows here next week:
Thursday, Mar 12 7:30 PM
Evie Ladin Band: Neo-Traditional Roots music
Details below. The concerts will be held indoors, with masks optional.
Please stay at home if you have cold/flu symptoms, or mask if you're not sure.
Suggested donation: $25/person sliding scale.
To reserve your spot for Evie Ladin, please email <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>.
Be sure to include the total in your party.
---
Upcoming shows in our series:
Thu, Apr 30: Jackson, Cotter, Clarridge & Colliton: Celtic roots tunes & songs
Fri, May 8: Kalos: Celtic Roots Trio
Other musical events of interest:
Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz
Open Band, hosted by: Mike Lewinski, Daniel & Ezra Steinberg
Hill & Valley Club, 1808 B St, Hayward
Rodney Miller, Paul Kotapish, Daniel & Ezra Steinberg
Sarah Trop calling
_________________________________________________________________________
Evie Ladin Band: Neo-Traditional Roots music
Friday, Mar 13 7:30 PM
“A truly original sound in new old-time Americana,” -fRoots
Tenacious, innovative string musicians, the Evie Ladin Band – Evie Ladin, Keith Terry and
Erik Pearson – throw down captivating, truly entertaining live shows. Grounded in Appalachian
old-time repertoire, seasoned in African-diaspora roots, writing from life in modern cities,
blurring the lines between music and dance, the polyrhythmic heat of Evie’s clawhammer banjo,
resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion
to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Their performance experience is a stand-out.
Following up on two 2019 releases – their fourth of adventurous originals Caught On A Wire
Following up on two 2019 releases – their fourth of adventurous originals Caught On A Wire
and Evie’s first totally trad fiddle/banjo duets Riding the Rooster – the band released an EP of
funky covers Playing our Hand in 2020. 2024 saw the release of their 5th album, Evie Ladin
Band LIVE, an audience-fueled romp through original songs across all of the band’s previous
releases, recorded at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA. The detailed interplay of
instruments around Evie’s clever lyrics really shine, as live performance is the band’s forte.
Evie Ladin: vocals, banjo, percussive dance
Evie was born and raised on Southern music, from inner city Baltimore to Oakland, and
has taken home ribbons in folk song from Mt Airy, NC Fiddler’s Convention, and Neo-Trad
Band from the Appalachian Stringband Festival, Clifftop, WV.
“She can write, she can sing, and she pulls back from the saccharine brink
with wit – a sharp intelligence,” -Grant Alden, No Depression
Keith Terry: bass, body music, vocals
Keith is a renowned percussionist/rhythm dancer, and the founder of the International Body
Music Festival. A pioneer in contemporary Body Music, Keith produces large-scale intercultural
collaborations and education. Keith brings a cinematic ear to playing bass as tonal percussion,
with bells, box, body and toys.
Erik Pearson: guitar, banjo, vocals
Erik Pearson: guitar, banjo, vocals
Erik is a musician’s musician with the Crooked Jades, storyteller Diane Ferlatte, and his solo
projects. His original banjo tune “Fork & File” was the soundtrack for a rapids rafting scene in
Sean Penn’s movie Into the Wild.
Santa Cruz House Concerts
Mar 9, 2026, 3:03:55 PM (3 days ago) Mar 9
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There are still seats available for this Friday's concert:
Details below. The concerts will be held indoors, with masks optional.
Please stay at home if you have cold/flu symptoms, or mask if you're not sure.
Suggested donation: $25/person sliding scale.
To reserve, please email <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>.
Be sure to include the total in your party.
---
Upcoming shows in our series:
Thu, Apr 30: Jackson, Cotter, Clarridge & Colliton: Celtic roots tunes & songs
Fri, May 8: Kalos: Celtic Roots Trio
Other musical events of interest:
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