Events
Upcoming Concerts at the ArtsBarn!
saturday, jan 11, 2025 7 PM
Sunny@Midnight
As Sunny@Midnight, Jeff Smith and Sherry Stewart’s songs reflect their personalities of combined light and dark shades of comic relief, drama and rhythmic verve. Smith brings the dark stomp and happenstance to Stewart’s lightness of spirit and sensibilities.
Smith is a poetic bluesman, whose lyrics tell stories that evolve through their verses and culminate in choruses that often change perspective. Singing in a honey-drenched Appalachian drawl, multi-instrumentalist Smith lays down a funky kind of “countrybluesfolkpoprockstomp”. His songs have appeared in television shows, such as “Young Sheldon”, “The Young and Restless”, “Army Wives”, and in European TV ad campaigns.
Sherry Stewart is a multiple award winning songwriter who writes songs about people, places and things that have left an impression on her. Themes often evoke nature and leave the listener with a sense of longing heightened by her angelic voice and vocal harmonies. She plays mandolin, guitar, and flute.
Sunny@Midnight’s quintet lineup adds fiddle virtuoso Marcy Cochran (Dead Man’s Hollow) John Werntz (Shenandoah Run) on bass, and Ron Goad (DC area man about town) on percussion. Together, they infuse this music with energy and an emotional intensity that delivers an entertaining and unforgettable musical experience.
Their first Recording together is “Break My Heart’ and is getting airplay across the country.
saturday, Feb 15, 2025 7 PM
Old Town Tradition Band
Playing their own blend of Bluegrass, Folk, Blues and Americana Roots music, Old Town Tradition has been entertaining DC area audiences for many years. Old Town Tradition picks their high energy string music with delight. And the singing is pretty darn good too.
John Werntz – bass
Marlo Lewis – mandolin
Evan Sands – banjo
Brian Renzella – guitar
Pam Ferguson – violin
saturday, march 8, 2025 7PM
Low Lily Duo
https://www.lowlily.com/
With the release of their new record ‘Angels in the Wreckage’ (produced by Dirk Powell), the Vermont-based American Roots band LOW LILY brings their infectious sound to a new level. With the introspective quality of contemporary folk, the precision of bluegrass, and the drive of Americana, the band’s founding couple Liz Simmons and Flynn Cohen perform as a duo, combining their individual talents into one stunning soundscape.
Low Lily has shared their signature sound with enthusiastic audiences throughout North America and the UK, garnering two #1 songs on international folk radio and two Independent Music Award wins. In 2018, the band released a full-length album with 2X award-winning title track “10,000 Days Like These” and their original song “Hope Lingers On”, which has been sung by choirs around the world as an anthem for peace and justice.
Saturday, April 12 2025 7PM
Halley Neal is an award winning folk singer and songwriter whose live shows center on themes of positivity and peace. The formerly-Nashville-currently-Boston-based artist is often joined by her backing band of upright bass and fiddle. Halley’s lyrical folk-Americana songs are met with her soaring vocals and an upbeat bluegrass inspired instrumentation. Halley has gained national recognition from touring across the country to listening rooms and folk music venues and from her performances at festivals, notably the Kerrville Folk Fest, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Halley released her most recent solo record “Beautiful and Blue” to critical acclaim on September 30th, 2022. Her live shows are remembered for her effortless vocals and honest lyrics.
Friday, May 9, 2025 7PM
Abbie Gardner is a fiery dobro player with an infectious smile. Whether performing solo or with Americana harmony trio Red Molly, her acclaimed tales of love and loss, both gritty and sweet, are propelled by her impeccable lap style slide guitar playing. Solo performances feature the dobro as a solo instrument, bouncing between a solid rhythmic backbone and ripping lead lines, all in support of her voice and songs. Her latest recording DobroSinger hit #11 on the Billboard Blues Chart. It’s intimate, real and raw – her dobro and voice recorded at the same time at home, without a band or any studio tricks to hide behind. You can hear every breath, every chuckle, as if you are in the room with her.
June, july, august 2025
Artsbarn Music has been producing monthly House Concerts since August of 2021. We are taking this summer off! Thanks for your continued patronage and all of your support.
***Important Note***
After this summer break we will begin requesting a suggested donation of 30.00 a person. 100% of all donations go directly to the performing artists.
Saturday, Sept 13, 2025 7PM
“Gellman’s sensitive songcraft incorporates simple but evocative slice-of-life imagery, homespun folk warmth, keen pop instincts, and crisp, first-rate musicianship.” (Taylor Guitars) Never has this been more true than on All You Need (2023), Gellman’s 10th indie release. In this follow-up to Cold Harbor (2021) – a dark, but necessary, album tackling the impact of mental illness – All You Need emerges on the other side with hope, levity, and, of course, acceptance.
Gellman has traveled near and far to perform at renowned acoustic music venues throughout the United States and Canada including the Birchmere in Alexandria, the Ark in Ann Arbor, the Blue Bird Café in Nashville, the Tin Angel in Philadelphia and Club Passim in Boston. In Washington, DC, he has performed at the venerated National Theater and the most sought after venue of all, The White House. Steven has had the honor to open shows for Dar Williams, Cheryl Wheeler, Richie Havens, Richard Shindell and Al Stewart among others.
saturday, Oct 18, 2025 7PM
Sam is so popular and loved, we are having him back for the third time!
Sam Robbins is often described as an “old soul singer songwriter.” A nationally touring musician whose music evokes classic singer songwriters like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, Sam adds a modern, upbeat edge to the storyteller troubadour persona. An avid performer, he has gained recognition from extensive national touring, from sharing the stage with artists like Jason Mraz and BJ Thomas, and as a main stage performer at national festivals like the Kerrville and Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals. Leading songwriting workshops and exciting performances across the country, Sam Robbins has gained a reputation as one of the brightest rising stars in the national folk music community.
Saturday, Nov 22, 2025 7pm
Rupert Wates is back for a second time at the Artsbarn!
Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. He has been a fulltime songwriter since the late 1990s, when he signed a publishing contract with Eaton Music Limited. In London he worked with some of the best performers in the city. Moving in 2001 to Paris, Wates formed his own quartet and began playing live regularly. In fall 2006 he came to the US. He is now based in New York City and Colorado. Since coming to the US, he has won more than 50 songwriting and performing awards.
His music is an eclectic mix of acoustic, melodic art/folk, with flavors of jazz, vaudeville and cabaret. He has released twelve solo CDs. They have received outstanding reviews in the international online press and tracks from them have been played on radio all over the world.