Or call in your reservations for our October 29, 8:00 p.m. concert with Gadan to 401-725-9272.

Gadan is a new band created by four experienced and well-known musicians in the Irish trad and European folk/rock scenes. On this New England debut, Gadan brings a dynamic repertoire with a powerful live appeal and a sound comparable to new-trad acts such as Talisk and WeBanjo3, but with a unique identity thanks to years of experience in folk music, from Traditional Irish & Scottish music to Appalachian & Old Time music, not to mention the deep connection with regional folk ballads of Northern Italy.
 Gadan musically and lyrically explores the deep connection between emigrating people from different part of Europe, such as Ireland and Italy, to the United States, through a reinvigorating and modern musical approach. 
Two banjos – tenor & clawhammer – fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and guitar result in a “strings-only” sound with a hint of electronics and driven by a powerful rhythmic pulse. Who said you need drums to groove? Gadan features Andrea Verga: mandolin, banjo, vocals; Jacopo Ventura: guitar, bouzouki, vocals; Joan Gatti: fiddle; and Lorenzo Testa: tenor banjo, mandolin, guitar, vocals. Not to be missed!

Or call in your reservations for our October 22, 8:00 p.m. concert with Reverie Road to 401-725-9272.

Delivering the driving lilt and lift of Irish music, Reverie Road features Winifred Horan and John Williams, both formerly of Solas, and Katie Grennan and Utsav Lal in a newly-combined and unforgettable concert experience. Embracing humor with their musical insight and natural abilities, Reverie Road offers a powerful mix of curated gems including distilled airs, upbeat reels and jigs, as well as original soundscapes that weave the roots of the Irish musical traditions with fresh new departures. The band chemistry features two accomplished fiddlers who share a common history as award-winning Irish dancers along with two instrumentalists who have sought to redefine rhythmic accompaniment. Winifred Horan is an American violinist and fiddler of Irish descent. After classical training, she played with the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies before co-founding the award winning and renowned American Irish band Solas. Accordionist John Williams, also a co-founder of Solas, is internationally regarded as one of the foremost players of Irish music today. With five All-Ireland titles to his credit, John is the only American-born competitor ever to win first place in the Senior Concertina category. Pianist Utsav Lal holds a Bachelors in Jazz from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and a Masters in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is recognized for his "Ragas to Reels" concert tours that bring together Indian classical music and traditional Irish music in a piano and flute combination. Katie Grennan's traditional fiddle playing carries the articulation of a gifted classical musician tempered by the soul of a champion Irish dancer. Katie was the fiddler in the popular celtic-fusion band Gaelic Storm for over five years.

Or call in your reservations for our November 13, 3:00 p.m. matinee concert with Patrick Ball to 401-725-9272.

Patrick Ball is one of the premier Celtic harp players in the world as well as a captivating storyteller. In playing the legendary brass-strung harp of Ireland with its crystalline sound, and in performing tales of wit and enchantment, Ball not only brings new life to two cherished traditions, but blends them to create a richly theatrical and hauntingly beautiful performance. There is only one person on the stage, but as Patrick Ball performs "The Fine Beauty of the Island," a whole culture appears before us. Through the voice of his Celtic harp, the lilt of his penny whistle, and the brogues of a pubful of characters, contemporary bard Patrick Ball casts a spell out of scraps of stories, researched history, and the raucous dark humor of the Irish. The play tells some of the story of The Blasket Islands which lie three miles off the coast of County Kerry in Ireland. For centuries they were a lonely, remote place, a place of fishermen and farmers, of poets, musicians and storytellers. In the early 1950s, however, the last remaining inhabitants of the islands were forced to leave their homes and settle on the mainland, for their turf was gone, their land poor, and their seas plundered of fish by large trawlers from England and France. The islanders loaded all that they could carry into their curraghs and rowed away - a leave-taking known historically as "The Vanishing." But they also carried with them their tales and legends, one of which told of a deeply haunting tune that was heard on the winds of the islands, then passed on through generations of island musicians. Twenty years after "The Vanishing," Patrick Ball heard this tune in an Irish bar in San Francisco, and his life was changed forever. In "The Fine Beauty of the Island," Patrick tells the story of his journey in search of the origin and meaning of this strange, enchanting tune which led him back not only to a Blasket Island community and culture "whose like will not be seen again," but to a long-neglected corner of his own past.

Or call in your reservations for our November 12, 8 p.m. show with Mile Twelve to 401-725-9272.

Mile Twelve is a progressive string band from Boston, Massachusetts. Winners of the 2020 IBMA New Artist of the Year award, they have been making waves in the acoustic music community with their seamless blend of expertly-crafted songs, creative arrangements, and virtuosic execution. The band takes their name from the mile marker that sits at Boston’s southern border on Route 93, a road sign they’ve passed countless times while heading out on tour. They've found receptive audiences across the globe, touring throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Mile Twelve lineup offers five of the most promising young musicians in bluegrass: Catherine “BB” Bowness (banjo), Evan Murphy (guitar, lead vocals), Nate Sabat (bass, lead vocals) and new members Ella Jordan (fiddle, vocals), and Korey Brodsky (mandolin). Join us for a great night of bluegrass!

Due to visa/passport issues affecting their travel from Ireland, our concert with Máire Ní Chathasaigh and Chris Newman will be rescheduled to March 25, 2023.

The celebrated virtuoso partnership of Máire Ní Chathasaigh – “the doyenne of Irish harpers” (Scotland on Sunday) and Chris Newman – “one of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” (fROOTS), has brought its special musical vision to venues large and small in 22 countries on five continents. Shows are a breathtaking blend of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, coupled with striking new compositions and Chris’s delightfully subversive wit. Chris was also named "Male Musician of the Year” in the 2019 Live Ireland Awards! Gradam Cheoil TG4, the national Irish-language TV station’s Award for Irish Traditional Musician of the Year, was presented to Máire in 2001 “for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp and the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers” at a televised ceremony in the Cork Opera House. The Gradam is the highest, most prestigious honour for a traditional Irish musician and Máire is the sole harpist recipient to date.

Or call in your reservations for our October 7, 8:00 p.m. concert with Symbio to 401-725-9272.

The music of Symbio has been described as musical storytelling where folk, minimalistic art music and electronic dance music meets and becomes a cinematic experience for the listener. Symbio is regarded as one of the most prominent new bands from the Swedish Folk & World music scene. With their strong stage presence, original compositions, and a magical interplay of hurdy-gurdy and accordion – the duo constantly surprises their audience and takes them on a moving and dreamy musical journey.  During concerts the duo perform with both seriousness and joy, telling personal and vivid stories about the music. Through a playful, energetic and close interaction Symbio creates new music where two becomes more. The duo was awarded as ”Best Newcomer of the Year” at the Swedish Folk & World Music awards in 2016, and received the”Scholarship for young music ensembles” from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in the same year. Since the release of their debut album in 2016 they have been touring extensively in Sweden and 20 different European countries. This will be their first appearance in Rhode Island ... don't miss it!

As of 9/12, this concert has been cancelled as Kerri has tested Covid positive just this afternoon. Both Kerri and Lauren will be re-booked in 2023 as their schedules allow. Lauren will be moving to Colorado in November so we will work to schedule a homecoming concert with her when a date for a visit is certain. Kerri will be releasing a new CD next year so we will make her concert a release party.

Drenched in the emotions of blues, folk and country music, roots singer/songwriter Kerri Powers uses her dramatically dark and beautiful voice to mine the depths of romantic heartbreak and broken dreams in the edgy narratives of her songs. A native of rural Massachusetts, Powers sings the blues with such authentic, down-home grit that you might well think she's from Mississippi. Besides being a consummate chronicler of disappointment and despair, she can also morph into an impishly naughty rebel with a cause, a Mark Twain-like trickster whose wry words and phrasing can also celebrate joy and hope. Says John Apice, of No Depression, “I don’t know where this young lady came from but it’s got to be a secret place. This is not the kind of singing and performing that can be easily taught. It has to be in your spirit, in your blood and the fact that she is from the Northeast is going to confound the artists down South, in the Delta, in Memphis, Clarksdale, Austin, and Nashville.” Raised in Smithfield, Rhode Island, Lauren King is a 25-year-old singer-songwriter with a penchant for pairing poetic lyrics with memorable melodies. Lauren recently won two 2022 RI Motif Music Awards for Best Singer-Songwriter and Best Country Act. King's album "The Wolf is Back" won a 2021 RI Motif Music Award for Americana Album of the Year.

Or call in your reservations for our September 3, 8:00 p.m. concert with The Karan Casey Trio to 401-725-9272.

Legendary Irish folk singer Karan Casey has released 11 albums to date and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan singing songs charged with a sense of social responsibility in a career spanning more than 25 years. We are thrilled to have her back at Blackstone River Theatre for the first time in 5 years as Karan will be joined by Niamh Dunne on fiddle and vocals, and guitarist and accordionist Sean Óg Graham (both of the Irish folk band Beoga). This evocative trio has toured together for several years and tonight's show premieres new material developed and recorded since the start of the pandemic as well as favorites from Karan’s back repertoire. The songs draw inspiration from a wide range of sources from the personal to the historical and political, touching on themes of family, loss, love, the empowerment of women and Irish revolutionary struggle. Casey has long been recognized as one of the most innovative, provocative and imitated voices in Irish traditional and folk music. In 2017, Karan was Traditional Artist in Residence at University College Cork, toured the UK with the Transatlantic Sessions, performed at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections, and toured in the U.S. both with her own band and with Lúnasa. In 2018 Karan helped found FairPlé, an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk music. Join us as we kick off our fall season with one of Irish music’s most distinctive voices!

Or call in your reservations for our August 21, 4:00-5:00 p.m. concert with The Johnson Girls to 401-725-9272. This will be the 4th of a series of OUTDOOR CONCERTS held on Sundays behind the theatre building!

Internationally acclaimed, The Johnson Girls have been a force on the folk and maritime music scene for 25 years as the leading all-woman, a cappella maritime group in the world. Believing that sea chanteys and sea songs were the first real “World Music”, Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, Bonnie Milner, and Deirdre Murtha each bring a special influence to their music. Whether performing chanteys with hair-raising harmonies or sharing tender ballads at intimate venues, folk clubs or packed international folk festivals in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Europe, The Johnson Girls remain true to their mission of keeping chantey singing alive, bringing women’s voices to the fore, and sweeping their audiences along in a tidal fervor. Join us for this special concert!

* Ticket price includes a $1.00 per ticket restoration charge.