Bluegrass Tuesdays - Updates
UPDATE AS OF 3/4/22:
We had such a great Grand Reopening Party at The Cantab this Tuesday, and I can't thank everyone enough for making it happen! We had tons of great music upstairs and downstairs, and so many members of the bluegrass community were there to celebrate the return of bluegrass to The Cantab. And, we've got lots more great bluegrass coming up later this month:
Next Tuesday, March 8th -- Sam Stambler & His Damn Ramblers
(BB & Laura's Jam opens)
Sam Stambler is one of the most talented and emotive guitar pickers and singers in the Boston area. He is a young stalwart of the local bluegrass scene, and his band includes some of the best pickers in the northeast. The Opening Set will be an exciting jam hosted by BB Bowness (Mile Twelve) and Laura Orshaw (The Po' Ramblin' Boys).
Tuesday, March 15th -- Mile Twelve
(Dan Bui & Friends open)
Come hear one of the hottest young bluegrass bands in the country play the stage where they cut their teeth. Mile Twelve's return to The Cantab stage is always one of the most anticipated nights of the year, and this time around will be extra special after a brief two-year hiatus. The Opening Set will be Dan Bui & Friends, a band fronted by the mandolinist (and soundperson extraordinaire) of another top band from the area, Twisted Pine.
Tuesday, March 22nd -- Gabe Hirshfeld & Daft Plunk
(Erker & Murphy open)
Gabe Hirshfeld rose to bluegrass fame as a founding member of The Lonely Heartstring Band. It definitely had nothing to do with his sense of humor or his singular obsession with the five string banjo. Nothing at all. The Opening Set will be the uber-talented duo of Danny Erker and Evan Murphy (Mile Twelve), who also perform as Kings of Ghost Town.
Tuesday, March 29th -- Rock Hearts
(opener TBA)
Another of the area's top bluegrass bands, Rock Hearts, will be closing out the first month of the revitalized Bluegrass Tuesdays at The Cantab. Rock Hearts, based in Rhode Island, will be heading to Nashville in just a few weeks to record their next record at Stephen Mougin's Dark Shadow Studios. Come cheer them on as they play what will likely be their last show before going back into the studio.
And even if you can't join us sometime soon, you can still help us spread the word. Please let your friends know that Bluegrass Tuesdays are back at The Cantab, and if you're on Facebook, please like and share our page at facebook.com/BostonBluegrassTuesdays
Thanks so much and I hope you can join us for Bluegrass Tuesdays sometime soon!
UPDATE AS OF 2/24/22:
I can't believe it's less than a week away, but next Tuesday, March 1st we will be celebrating the Grand Reopening Party for Bluegrass Tuesdays at The Cantab Lounge in Central Square in Cambridge, MA! The Feature Band will be The Chris Luquette East Coast Bluegrass Band, which includes members of some of the top touring bands in bluegrass:
- Chris Luquette -- guitar -- Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
- Laura Orshaw -- fiddle -- The Po' Ramblin' Boys
- Gabe Hirshfeld -- banjo -- The Lonely Heartstring Band
- Ben Pearce -- mandolin -- Outlier Instrument Workshop
- Brittany Karlson -- bass -- The Goodbye Girls (her band with Molly Tuttle)
The Opening Set will feature another group of amazing musicians from the area: Goodtime Revival. Goodtime Revival is led by the dynamic duo of BB Bowness (banjo, Mile Twelve) and her husband Alex Rubin (guitar, formerly of The April Verch Band). BB and Alex are joined by Korey Brodsky (mandolin, Mile Twelve), Ella Jordan (fiddle, Mile Twelve), and Mike Siegel (bass, Sick, Sad & Lonesome, The Mudsills, etc.). Goodtime Revival kicks off the music on stage at 8:30 pm, so come on down early, you won't want to miss them!
For those that haven't heard, The Cantab underwent an enormous renovation last year. The entire plumbing system, electrical system, and most of the first floor itself had to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, The Cantab lost a large number of chairs during the renovation, and they have only been able to replace some of them so far. Therefore, we are asking folks coming for Bluegrass Tuesdays to please bring a comfy folding chair (just imagine you're going to your favorite summer festival). We're trying not to scratch up their new floor too much, so I will also bring a bunch of old tennis balls to put on the feet of folding chairs.
Please see below for lots more information about Bluegrass Tuesdays at The Cantab, including details of our new age policy (we're finally 18+), covid vaccination requirements, jamming at The Cantab, and more. And even if you can't join us this coming Tuesday, you can still help us spread the word. Please let your friends know that Bluegrass Tuesdays are back at The Cantab, and if you're on Facebook, please like and share our page at facebook.com/BostonBluegrassTuesdays
Thanks so much and we hope you can join us for Bluegrass Tuesdays sometime soon!
UPDATE AS OF 2/17/22:
The Massachusetts covid case counts have dropped to the range they were in three or four months ago, and after many false starts, it looks like we are finally ready to have the Grand Reopening Party for Bluegrass Tuesdays at The Cantab Lounge on Tuesday, March 1st. And we've got lots of exciting updates to share about our first night of bands in almost two full years.
The two bands performing at the Grand Reopening Party will be The Chris Luquette East Coast Bluegrass Band and Goodtime Revival. These bands feature members of some of the top bands in bluegrass including Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, The Po' Ramblin' Boys, Mile Twelve, The Lonely Heartstring Band, and more. I can't imagine a more talented group of musicians booked to play for our first night back, and I know you won't want to miss it!
I'm also very excited to announce that The Cantab Lounge will be expanding to 18+ for Bluegrass Tuesdays! Please help spread the word to any younger folks in the area who you think might want to join us. Of course, ID's will be checked and underaged people won't be served alcohol, but for the first time in over 25 years of bluegrass at The Cantab, young people won't be relegated to sneaking in through the back door of the club.
As always, there will be tons of jamming at The Cantab on Tuesday, March 1st. The downstairs will be open for jamming all night, except for when the bands are rehearsing. Generally speaking, the jamming downstairs doesn't get going much before 8:30 pm, which is also when the stage show begins upstairs. And Steve & Eric's Third Set Jam will begin upstairs at 11:15 pm just like in the "beforetimes".
Please note that The Cantab now requires that all patrons show proof of Covid-19 vaccination upon entry, so please be sure to bring your vaccination card or at least a photo of it. We are also asking that everyone wear a high-quality mask such as an N95, KN95, or KF94 (no cloth masks, please). Most folks who've been coming to The Cantab since it reopened have kept their masks on the whole time, even while singing, and only taken them off to sip their drinks.
We've got one more week of acoustic jamming next Tuesday, February 22nd, and you're all still welcome to join us. And we hope you can join us for our big Grand Reopening Party on Tuesday, March 1st!
UPDATE AS OF 12/29/21:
With the Omicron variant setting new case-count records around the world, across the country, and close to home, we have decided to postpone our Grand Reopening Party yet again. We are now shooting for Tuesday, February 1st, although there's still a chance that date could slip yet again.
In the meantime, we will be having a series of low-key nights of jamming at The Cantab on Tuesdays in January. We won't have specific bands hired to play in January, and we won't have the sound system set up on stage. But folks are still welcome to come out and hear some of the best bluegrass in the area. Please be sure to be vaccinated (which may be a city-wide requirement soon), and wear a three-layer N95-style mask.
UPDATE AS OF 12/23/21:
Thanks so much to all the people who made it down to The Cantab for our first Bluegrass Tuesday since the start of the pandemic! Folks had a great time making music, catching up, and checking out the awesome renovations (especially the new bathrooms). And I was really happy to see that our entire crowd stayed masked the whole time, even while singing and playing, with only small breaks for folks to sip their drinks.
We were planning on gathering at The Cantab again next Tuesday, but it turns out that The Cantab will be closed due to their Covid-19 protocols. Here's the message posted on the front door of The Cantab:
Due to The Cantab Lounges' extremely strict protocols surrounding Covid-19 exposure, we will be closed for business until Thursday, December 30th at 5 pm. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We always have our employees' and patrons' best interests and safety in mind. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to seeing you on the 30th. Please check out Backline.space to purchase tickets for our New Year's Eve party with special guests Summer of George & Blues on Tap.
As for Bluegrass Tuesdays, we are still currently planning to have our big Grand Reopening Party on Tuesday, January 4th, but we're also monitoring the current outbreak closely. The Feature Band on January 4th is scheduled to be The Cantab Bluegrass All-Stars (a.k.a. Flynn Cohen & Chagrin River), and the Opening Set Band will be Goodtime Revival. Both bands feature some of the most-talented and best-known bluegrass musicians in the northeast. We hope you can join us on January 4th!
UPDATE AS OF 12/14/21:
The Cantab Lounge is officially reopening this week, and we will be having our first Bluegrass Tuesday since March of 2020 next Tuesday, December 21st! Our big Grand Reopening Party isn't until January 4th, but we will be having two low-key "prequel" nights of bluegrass at The Cantab on December 21st and 28th.
Our first night back will be next Tuesday, December 21st, and we're calling it our "Friends and Family Night". Everyone is welcome to join us to play music upstairs and downstairs, but we won't have any official bands booked. It will be more of a "soft open" where we can all get a chance to see the improvements to The Cantab, and just enjoy playing music together.
Then on Tuesday, December 28th, we'll be having our "Prequel Party Night" with host band True Life Bluegrass. True Life Bluegrass has been playing at The Cantab on Tuesdays for over 25 years, and two of its members, Steve Watt (banjo and mandolin) and Eric Levenson (upright bass), have led the Third Set Jam at The Cantab for nearly as many years. Once again, there will be music going on upstairs and downstairs all night, and we hope you'll be able to join us.
UPDATE AS OF 11/30/21:
As often happens with large rehabbing projects that require special permitting, the reopening of The Cantab Lounge has been delayed by at least two weeks. Bluegrass Tuesdays are currently scheduled to begin with two "prequel" nights on December 21st and 28th, leading up to our Grand Reopening Party on Tuesday, January 4th.
The Feature Band originally scheduled to play for our December reopening has graciously agreed to play on January 4th instead. And now that The Cantab Bluegrass All-Stars are no longer playing the first Tuesday in December, I can tell you that the very special guest on guitar and vocals is Flynn Cohen!
I couldn't mention him before because Flynn's band, Low Lily, will be performing at Club Passim on Wednesday, December 8th. And they will be joined by their own very, very special guest, Matt Flinner on mandolin! Passim is located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, and is one of the finest venues for acoustic music in the Northeast.
As before, joining Flynn in The Cantab Bluegrass All-Stars (also known as Flynn Cohen & The Chagrin River Band) will be some of the best-known and most-talented bluegrass musicians in the area: Greg Liszt (banjo, Crooked Still, Bruce Springsteen), Laura Orshaw (fiddle, The Po' Ramblin' Boys), Ben Pearce (mandolin, Outlier Instrument Workshop), and Frank Drake (bass, The Bag Boys, etc.). We hope you'll be able to join us there!
UPDATE AS OF 11/16/21:
Bluegrass Tuesdays will be returning to The Cantab Lounge with our Grand Reopening Party on Tuesday, December 7th. The Feature Band will be the The Cantab Bluegrass All-Stars, and you can read all about them (and our reopening) in this article on Bluegrass Today:
https://bluegrasstoday.com/bluegrass-tuesdays-return-to-the-cantab-in-boston/
The Opening Set will feature another group of amazing musicians from the area named Goodtime Revival. Goodtime Revival is led by the dynamic duo of BB Bowness (banjo, Mile Twelve) and her husband Alex Rubin (guitar, formerly of The April Verch Band). BB and Alex are joined by Korey Brodsky (mandolin, Mile Twelve), Ella Jordan (fiddle, Mile Twelve), and Mike Siegel (bass, Sick, Sad & Lonesome, The Mudsills, etc.). Goodtime Revival will be playing the Opening Set from 8:30 until 9:30 pm, so come on down early, you won't want to miss them!
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