Sam Leslie will substitute for Ethan Ballinger.
Friday April 10, 2026 7-9 pm
Vienna, VA
Address will be provided upon purchase of ticket(s).
Food & soft drinks will be sold as a fundraiser for DCBU. BYOB
When John Cowan & Luke Bulla perform together, their shows reflect 25 years of shared history, musical trust, and genuine friendship. Blending New Grass Revival (and more) favorites with old and new originals, they pair masterful picking, rich harmony, and stories that are heartfelt, funny, and hard-earned.
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.
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Private residence, College Park MD
If you play one of the bluegrass instruments (guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro) and would like to play with others, but don’t know where to start, THIS CLASS IS FOR YOU! You’ll learn the “rules of the road” that will have you jamming in the very first session. You don’t need to read music or tablature. All you need is the ability to play G, C, D, and A chords (or, for fiddle and bass, notes that go with those chords) and change them smoothly, and we’ll show you the rest. And if you’re already playing, but want to work on your higher-level jam skills, this class is for you, too!
URL for registration:
Email address for questions etc.:
ira@iragitlin.com
7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Seekers Church, Washington DC
Five master women guitarists unite for the Say Sister! Guitar Festival, a collaborative evening of fingerstyle, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and Piedmont blues featuring Yasmin Williams, Marcy Marxer, Lisa Liu, Cathy Fink, and Valerie & Benedict Turner.
Tickets: $30 adv (+$2 fee), $35 door
https://imtfolk.org/ticketing
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Harwood Nature Center, Lawrence Wetlands Preserve, Chestertown Maryland, Kent
Bring your instrument (or voice!) and join us at the Harwood Nature Center for a casual bi-monthly bluegrass jam. All ability levels welcome! All enthusiastic music lovers are welcome to come and listen, maybe you too will catch the bluegrass bug and pick up an instrument!
5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Hank Dietle’s Tavern, Rockville MD
Gary Gene Ferguson – A longtime resident of southeastern Pennsylvania, Gary Gene Ferguson is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been a mainstay of the bluegrass and Americana scenes since the 1980s.
Gary Allen Ferguson is a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia who now lives in the Washington, D.C. area, is a singer, songwriter and versatile multi-instrumentalist whose music blends a variety of influences into his own style of roots music.
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Olde Bedford Brewery, Bedford PA
Open bluegrass jam held the second Sunday of each month. from 2 PM – 4PM at the Olde Bedford Brewery in Bedford, PA. All skill levels welcome.
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