NextThreeDays: Event Display

Steam Machine and Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small in Concert
Venue: The Floyd Center for the Arts, Floyd
Directions: Google Map Link
Organizations: Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small, Steam Machine
Date: Sunday, November 5, 2023
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Event Types: Music
Cost:
Ages 13 & Above: $20.00 Ages 12 & Under: Free

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Description:
Fiddler's Jam Concert Series presents Steam Machine and Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small in concert on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at The Floyd Center for the Arts.

Join us for a night of foot-stomping, heartwarming music that will stay with you long after the last note fades. We will be serving up seasonal snacks and refreshments included in the concert price, and mulled wine will be available for purchase.

Steam Machine is a Midwest based old time and bluegrass music project fronted by award winning in-demand Minneapolis fiddler AJ Srubas and Twin Cities old time music & dance instigator Rina Rossi on guitar. A spectacular shortlist of stellar musicians perform with the band on banjo and bass, and when possible, mandolin.

Originally formed in Minneapolis in 2017, Steam Machine brought to the national stage a Midwest influenced string band aesthetic that didn’t draw such hard lines between bluegrass and old time music. Smooth powerful fiddling, driving three finger banjo, front-of-the-beat rhythm backup combined into a “suspiciously entertaining” sound.

While not purists, Steam Machine does listen closely to the "old stuff" and strives to capture the essence of what makes these tunes and songs special, as they hear it. The project continues to be an evolving vehicle for playing music they love and honoring the brilliance left behind by old time heroes like Lyman Enloe, Cyril Stinnett and more. Equally at home playing for an oldtime / bluegrass loving crowd or listeners new to these sounds, Steam Machine aspires to keep Midwest style old time bluegrass music alive and well wherever they go.

Two time Appalachian String Band Music Festival (Clifftop) Traditional Band Contest ribbon winners and Folk Alliance Midwest Official Showcase Artists, since 2018 they have been touring the region and the country performing at diverse venues from roots music hubs to bluegrass and Americana festivals, and teaching workshops at traditional music epicenters across the country from the Augusta Heritage Center (WV) to Festival of American Fiddle Tunes (WA) with many others in between. At home in Minneapolis, they are heavily involved as organizers in many of the local community old time and bluegrass institutions.

Links:

• https://www.steammachinemusic.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/steammachinemusic
• https://www.youtube.com/@steammachineoldtimebluegrass/videos

Ashlee Watkins and Andrew Small are an old-time country and husband and wife duo performing both traditional and original repertoire on fiddle, banjo, mandolin and guitar with powerful two-part harmonies.

Born and raised in eastern North Carolina, Andrew Small is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who has performed with artists ranging from Sierra Hull and Mandolin Orange to the North Carolina Symphony. He now resides in Floyd, VA where he serves as Coordinator of the Handmade Music School and also tours with the group Bill and the Belles. Andrew has won numerous blue ribbons from fiddlers’ conventions around the Southeast for his old-time fiddling and in 2015 was named the Bluegrass Mandolin Champion of Australia. He holds a master’s degree in music performance from Yale University.

Ashlee Watkins is a singer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Newcastle, NSW. Described by fiddler Bob Herring as having “it”, her powerfully unadorned vocals possess a timeless quality that evokes an uncommon emotional poignance. She has been awarded a number of blue ribbons from fiddlers’ conventions around the southeast for her folk singing and old-time banjo playing, and her band the New Macedon Rangers has been awarded blue ribbons in both old-time and bluegrass band categories. Now making her home in Floyd, Virginia, Ashlee also performs as a member of Jackson Cunningham’s string band Nobody’s Business.

The duo was formerly known as The New Macedon Rangers.

Links:

• https://www.facebook.com/watkinsandsmall
• https://soundcloud.com/newmacedonrangers

Tickets are $20.00 for ages 13 & above and free for ages 12 & under. Tickets will be available at the door.

The Floyd Center for the Arts is located at 220 Parkway Lane South, Suite 1 in Floyd, VA.

To view the event flyer, visit: https://i.postimg.cc/qvRsTQzm/image.png or https://i.postimg.cc/ryQRwM1j/image.png.

For more information on the event, visit: https://www.facebook.com/fiddlersjam209 or or https://www.facebook.com/events/695725352088565/ or email fiddlersjam@gmail.com.

For more information on The Floyd Center for the Arts, visit: http://floydartcenter.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/FloydArts or https://www.instagram.com/floydcenterforthearts/ or call 540-745-2784.