Irish vocalist Karan Casey was a founding member of traditional supergroup Solas, a band known for rousing tunes and striking renditions of traditional songs. Since Solas, Casey has carved out a unique and acclaimed place in contemporary Irish and folk music. Karan has recorded six solo albums, has won Best Irish Female Vocalist twice, Best Irish Folk album and a Grammy for her collaboration with Paul Winter. She has been nominated for the BBC Folk Awards and has performed with Peggy Seeger, Liam Clancy, James Taylor, and Tim O'Brien. USA Today has called her work "shiver-inducingly excellent."

Irish vocalist Karan Casey was a founding member of traditional supergroup Solas, a band known for rousing tunes and striking renditions of traditional songs. Since Solas, Casey has carved out a unique and acclaimed place in contemporary Irish and folk music. Karan has recorded six solo albums, has won Best Irish Female Vocalist twice, Best Irish Folk album and a Grammy for her collaboration with Paul Winter. She has been nominated for the BBC Folk Awards and has performed with Peggy Seeger, Liam Clancy, James Taylor, and Tim O'Brien. USA Today has called her work "shiver-inducingly excellent."

The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland's premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies demonstrating to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recording efforts that seemingly can't get better... yet continue to do just that. The Tannies have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with an electrifying effect. Says The Boston Globe, "Scotland's Tannahill Weavers play acoustic instruments, but the atmosphere at their shows is electric. The quartet is as tight and as versatile as any band in the Celtic music revival. They can summon rock 'n' roll intensity or haunting introspection." Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland, and named for the town's historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. Members are Roy Gullane on vocals and guitar, John Martin on fiddle and vocals, Phil Smille on flute, whistles and bodhran, and newest member Lorne McDougall, three times BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the year finalist.

BRT will present American roots artist Grant Maloy Smith releasing his new CD, "Dust Bowl – American Stories," during a special Earth Day concert featuring an opening set by Eastern Medicine Singers who perform Algonquin and Native American drumming and song. Grant Maloy Smith is a singer/songwriter of American Roots music - a blend of old country, bluegrass, folk and Celtic influences into a uniquely American genre. “Earth Day is especially significant, because the Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the biggest environmental disaster in centuries. It’s a cautionary tale about the environment,” says Smith. Songs from the album will be performed by Smith accompanied by Cathy Clasper-Torch on fiddle, Richard Ribb on bass, and Rick Couto on drums. There will be a video introduction on a large projection screen that sets up the stories of the Dust Bowl, and brings the audience back in time to the Great Plains of the 1930s, when it didn’t rain for most of the decade, and millions of Americans became essentially refugees in their own country. “The Dust Bowl caused American Roots music to be spread far and wide, and troubadours like Woody Guthrie sang about it, making it well known to the rest of the nation and the world,” says Smith. The CD was recorded over a three-year period of research, writing, and recording, from New York to Nashville, and from Rhode Island to Oklahoma and even Australia. Basic tracks were recorded in New York, and feature several members of Cyndi Lauper’s band, including bassist and musical director Bill Wittman, and drummer Skoota Warner. Then production moved to Nashville, where a who’s who of A-list players played on the album, including dobro player Rob Ickes, and steel players Mike Johnson and Troy Klontz. Additional performances were added by Native American flutist Gareth Laffely, who played a heartfelt solo on "Ihst a Lhampko" (Have Strength), a song told from the point of view of the Choctaw Nation, the first of the 5 tribes marched out of their homeland during the Trail of Tears. “That’s not even the whole list of musicians that I am fortunate to have on the album,” said the songwriter. “We recorded additional parts in Rhode Island and New Bedford. Parts were recorded in eight studios on two continents. It was the biggest project I’ve ever done.” The album is already getting great reviews from publications. Smith was recently interviewed in the Huffington Post in a piece about his music and advocacy in the world of independent musicians. “The environment has never been more important – we can learn a lot from the Dust Bowl. Reliving it through these songs and images is a powerful elixir,” says Smith.

Effervescent and engaging, Boston-based fiddler Hanneke Cassel is a performer, teacher and composer whose career spans over two decades. Her style fuses influences from Scotland and Cape Breton Island with Americana grooves and musical innovations, creating a cutting-edge acoustic sound that retains the integrity and spirit of the Scottish tradition. Cassel’s music is a blend of the contemporary and traditional, described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.” Cassel’s latest release, "Trip to Walden Pond," features traditional Scottish and Cape Breton tunes and seventeen new pieces composed in the Scottish idiom. While her lively style is very much evident, this new album carries a deep, soulful sound with songs of celebration and farewell. "Trip to Walden Pond," similar to Cassel's five previous albums, offers arrangements of traditional fiddle music and original tunes that evoke humor and heart. This latest album also includes several compositions penned by Hanneke as commissions to benefit Many Hopes, a children’ s education nonprofit based in Kenya that she avidly supports. A native of Oregon, Hanneke started out as a Texas-style fiddler and went on to win the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, which awarded her the opportunity to study with Alasdair Fraser and introduced her to fiddle camps and the folk community – both of which continue to play an integral role in her life. The Hanneke Cassel Band features Mike Block on cello and guitarist/vocalist Keith Murphy. In addition to performing with her own band, Cassel has been featured on PBS with Boston-based fiddle band Childsplay and has performed with Baroque/Celtic group Ensemble Galilei at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Geographic in Washington, D.C. Hanneke and her husband Mike live in Boston and are active within many circles of musicians. Besides their involvement in the Scottish fiddle scene and at Berklee College of Music, they are frequent performers at Club Passim and are rooted in the thriving local music community. 

Age-old entertainments - sitting around the fire, telling tales - can take on ever-new faces. Young acoustic power trio Ten Strings and a Goat Skin from Canada's Prince Edward Isle know this, transforming tradition with vigor, curiosity, and sparks of goofy humor. Hailed on two continents as "infectious" and "the best of contemporary/trad Celtic music" Ten Strings And A Goat Skin are a bilingual trad/folk/fusion trio, playing Irish, Acadian, French and original creations infused with modern and world rhythms. Percussionist Caleb Gallant, fiddler Rowen Gallant, and guitarist Jesse Périard are pushing boundaries and reinvigorating timeless traditional music for the 21st century. Ten Strings and a Goat Skin have received more Canadian Folk Music Award 2016 nominations than any other band in the country. The group is nominated in three categories and member Rowen Gallant is up for best traditional singer of 2016. The band is inviting a new circle of listeners with their newest CD, "Auprès du Poêle" ("around the woodstove") for sometimes moody, sometimes high-energy sets of original and traditional songs. Expanding on the Scottish and Acadian roots of PEI's traditional music, Ten Strings and a Goatskin weave old-school Franco-Canadian, Breton, Irish, and Scottish tunes with wickedly current grooves and clever quirks, flirting with indie's best moments. Don't miss their Blackstone River Theatre debut!

Tonight's special show features Duke Robillard on guitar and vocals joined by his band - Bruce Bears on piano, Brad Hallen on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums, plus two additional members - the wonderful Sunny Crownover singing and swinging plus the incredible Billy Novick on alto sax, clarinet and an occasional jazz penny whistle. The material is basically '20s and '30s tunes both well known and obscure, blues, and a few cool vintage Latin tunes thrown in for good measure. The blues tunes are of real vintage variety from the 20s to the 40s as well as swinging instrumentals that feature the brilliant virtuosity of the boys in the band. This show coincides with last weekend to view Duke's art exhibition at Blackstone River Theatre.