Cook County News Herald

Music Education Event with Brittany Haas, Brittany Karlson, and Joe K. Walsh



The North Shore Music Association presents an all-ages educational program featuring the string trio of Brittany Haas, Brittany Karlson, and Joe K. Walsh, “a modern string band—from bluegrass to old-time, with many stops along the way.” Please join us at the Grand Marais Art Colony (120 W. 3rd Ave. – Founders Hall) for this fun, 45-minute educational program on May 28th at 2 pm. The artists will discuss topics such as the use of fiddle, mandolin, and bass across various musical genres, what characterizes each genre, the history of the instruments, how they’re built, etc. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public. The trio will also perform a concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts that evening. Details at northshoremusicassociation.com.

Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. Having developed her unique fiddling style under the mentorship of Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger, at age fourteen she toured the world with Anger and the Republic of Strings. At seventeen, she released her debut solo album. With the “chamber-grass” band Crooked Still, Haas has made four recordings and toured internationally. She’s performed as part of Steve Martin’s bluegrass band on Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, as well as with Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Yonder Mountain String Band, and The Waybacks. In 2016, she joined the house band for MPR’s Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion).

Bassist/vocalist Brittany Karlson is an adventurous musician with roots in jazz, American old time and bluegrass, and improvised music. She’s performed across the USA, Canada, and Europe in a variety of ensemble settings, including improvised trio Letter Castle and American old-time/ bluegrass/Swedish string band The Goodbye Girls. Karlson performs original songs under the moniker Karl, having released albums And the Green Grass Grows All Around and Feast Day.

An acclaimed master of American roots music, mandolinist and songwriter Joe K. Walsh has toured and collaborated with master musicians including Darol Anger and the Gibson Brothers, played with artists from John Scofield to Béla Fleck to Emmylou Harris, founded progressive string band Joy Kills Sorrow, and is currently on the faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Hailed by Nashville’s Music Row magazine for his “lickety-split mandolin work” and by Vintage Guitar magazine as “brilliant,” Walsh is considered one of the best mandolinists of his generation.

This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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