Thursday, June 11
7-9 PM
Vienna, VA
Born in the bluegrass of Kentucky and raised on Wyoming’s high plains, Shelby Means is one of the foremost bassists in bluegrass, with nearly two decades of experience in bluegrass, folk, rock, Americana, and country outfits. Now based in Charleston, SC, Means spent a dozen years in Nashville, TN. During that time she performed as a member of the notable GRAMMY nominated all-women bluegrass band, Della Mae. She later joined Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway on bass and vocals, earning her first GRAMMY win for their 2023 album, City of Gold.
The Hazel Dickens Song Contest 2026 winners have been announced!
The Hazel Dickens Song Contest celebrates the life one of the Baltimore/Washington region music’s most beloved bluegrass songwriters.
The Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest honors the life and musicianship of one of America’s greatest bluegrass players.
2025 Winners Announced!
2026 Orrin Star Scholar Rita Perloff!
Congratulations goes to Rita Perloff who is the recipient of the 2026 Orrin Star Music Scholarship. Rita is a 14 year old from Oxford, Pennsylvania. Rita has been playing guitar in the band, Full Steam. Rita attends many festivals and Kids Academies. You can often see Rita and her fellow students busking around the festival grounds. With only 2 1/2 years of lessons, Rita is already playing solos! With her scholarship, Rita will attend the DelFest Music Academy.
The Orrin Star Scholarship honors the memory and generosity of a remarkable man, who lived in the DC area for most of his career and who was a friend to many in the bluegrass community. Orrin gained notoriety as a champion flat-picker and went on to enrich many of our lives with the warmth and humor of his performing and teaching.
Applications for the $500 award are accepted every year, beginning in the fall. Look for the announcement on the home page. Meanwhile, the program description is at https://dcbu.org/the-orrin-star-scholarship-program/
One important aspect of DCBU’s mission is to promote music education. We offer an instructor directory so students can locate teachers in their local area for in-person instruction. Additionally, since so many great musicians teach online classes, we’re now posting information for instructors wherever they are located. To sign-up as an instructor fill out the form by selecting the link below. Your submission will be reviewed and added to our directory within a few days.
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Mullin’s 1847 Restaurant, Moorefield West Virginia
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Harwood Nature Center, Lawrence Wetlands Preserve, Chestertown Maryland, Kent
Led by : Steve Dannenfelser
“Bluegrass has brought more people together and made more friends than any music in the world”…Bill Monroe
Bring your instrument, or just your voice, and join us at the Harwood Nature Center on the first and third Saturday afternoon from 1-3:30 for a bluegrass jam. All ability levels are welcome!
All enthusiastic music lovers are welcome to come and listen, maybe you too will catch the bluegrass bug and pick up an instrument!
Register: https://sultanaeducation.org/event/1st-and-3rd-saturday-afternoon-bluegrass-jam/
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
President Lincoln’s Cottage, Washington, DC DC
Sip bourbon on Lincoln’s lawn while listening to sets from headliner Alison Brown along with Jake Blount and Split String Soup (Saturday) and Hubby Jenkins and Goldbug Revival (Sunday). This is the rollicking preservation fundraiser you don’t want to miss!
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Sykesville Gatehouse Museum, Sykesville MD
Every Sunday, 2-4 pm
Sykesville Gatehouse Museum
7282 Cooper Dr
Sykesville, MD 21784
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Calvert Elks Lodge, Prince Frederick MD/Calvert County
Southern Maryland Bluegrass-Final Show for the Season and Going Retro!
CALIFORNIA, MD, April 6, 2026—The Southern Maryland Bluegrass Concert Series is winding down with the highly anticipated performance by The Kody Norris Show. This event was originally scheduled for February 1 and was canceled due to weather but is taking place on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at the Calvert Elks in Prince Frederick, located at 1015 Dares Beach Road. The concert is set to begin at 2:00 PM.
Whatever you do, don’t call The Kody Norris Show ‘retro’. While the reigning SPBGMA Entertainers of the Year are known for the rhinestones and fringe, they seem to resurrect the memories of times gone by, The Kody Norris Show are very much directing their gaze forward forever.
The talented group, made up of frontman Kody Norris, 14 year old, Hayden “Jim” Hensley on banjo, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris on fiddle and mandolin, and Charlie Lowman on bass, finds themselves with a growing legion of fans craving the comfort that comes from their retro look and dynamic sound – all of which can be heard throughout their epic new album, “Highfalutin Hillbilly”.
There is a whole chapter of country music that’s just kind of faded away and the Kody Norris Show is putting back what’s been missing in the entertainment business for decades. And that is the showmanship! They have been instrumental in bringing back some of that nostalgia and the classic look that country music and bluegrass music used to have.
Kody Norris, the founder of this electrifying four-piece band from Mountain City, Tennessee when but once a youngster who would spend hours sitting in the passenger seat of his Uncle Jack’s Chevrolet El Camino listening to the music of The Stanley Brothers 16 Greatest Hits tape, wondering if he would ever be able to match the sweet harmonies coming through those speakers. It was those very harmonies that Norris would recognize wavering through the rafters of the Baptist church he attended as a kid. There was a Bluegrass quartet that would play in the Free Will Baptist Church, and soon Norris became infatuated with the music of a banjo and a guitar.
Their music is high energy, from the hard driven sounds of Bluegrass to the old-time clawhammer style of banjo pickin’ that fits right into their style that they are known for across the country. It’s like musical magic at its finest. They were once part of two weekly programs on the acclaimed RFD-TV’s network, The Cumberland Highlanders Show and The Bluegrass Trail.
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