Scroll down to find Bluegrass and Bluegrass-Related events in the Washington, DC area and surrounding vicinities. Verify the Dates, Times, and Admission Fees, before traveling to any of these events.
All Day
UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Gallery, Baltimore MD
Celebrating old-time mountain music singers-songwriter Ola Belle Reed, this gallery exhibit features photos, videos and items from the Maryland Traditions Archive’s Ola Belle Reed collection.
Co-curated by the Library Gallery’s Curator of Exhibitions Emily Cullen and Media and Communications Studies Professor Bill Shewbridge with Tim Newby, author of Baltimore: The Hard Drivin’ Sound & its Legacy (McFarland and Company, Inc. 2015).
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery, Baltimore MD
“I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed is a new 45 minute documentary exploring the life and work of nationally recognized bluegrass and old-time musician Ola Belle Campbell Reed (1916-2002).
This premiere screening is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.
With a voice born in the mountains and shaped by the hard times she lived and saw, Ola Belle Reed established herself as an influential banjo picker, singer, and songwriter of old-time mountain music. Ola Belle’s powerful voice and lyrics spoke authentically of her rural roots, and her passionate songs found a home in the folk-revival movement of the 1960s. She left an enduring legacy. In 1986 Ola Belle received a NEA National Heritage Fellowship. The Library of Congress added her 1973 album Ola Belle Reed to the National Recording Registry in 2019. Her recordings are also preserved by the National Council for the Traditional Arts. Her songs have become anthems of Appalachian life, and she is widely recognized as one of the most influential female bluegrass and folk musicians of all-time.