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Charm City Junction includes (from left to right): Brad Kolodner on clawhammer banjo; Patrick McAvinue on fiddle; Alex Lacquement on upright bass; and Sean McComiskey on button accordion. Not shown is special guest Ken Kolodner.

At 7:30 p.m. next Friday, Dec. 9, the Wellsboro Community Concert Association is presenting its third concert of the 2022-2023 season in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro.

Featured will be Charm City Junction and special guest Ken Kolodner, renowned hammered dulcimer player and old-time fiddler,

Charm City Junction will perform songs from their albums, including holiday tunes.

From dance inducing old-time rhythms to foot stomping Irish melodies and hard-driving bluegrass, the Baltimore-based quartet of Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Brad Kolodner on clawhammer banjo, Sean McComiskey on button accordion and Alex Lacquement on upright bass are blazing new trails in acoustic roots music while keeping an eye on tradition.

Since forming in 2014, Charm City Junction has taken the acoustic music scene by storm performing around the country and garnering national attention and praise for their high-energy, captivating and dynamic performances.

Called “phenomenal instrumentalists” and “excellent singers,” these top-notch musicians not only draw on their separate musical backgrounds as a bluegrass fiddler, old-time banjo picker, Celtic accordionist and jazz bassist but have also found common ground on which to develop their own unique approach.

Described as “refreshing” and “smartly done,” their self-titled debut album released in the fall of 2015 is a mix of their styles beginning with a lively take on Bill Monroe’s “Frog On A Lily Pad” and continuing with “Margaret’s Waltz” from Pat Shaw, Anders Osborne’s “I’ve Got A Woman,” “The Torn Jacket” from Connie O’Connell and Ian Stephenson’s “Return from Helsinki.” The other nine tracks are traditional, such as the old-time classic “Last Chance,” and Irish tunes like Joe Bane’s “Barndance.”

The group released their second full-length album, “Duckpin” in the summer of 2018. It debuted at #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts.

Their third album “Snowball” was released in 2019 and includes holiday favorites, such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “We Three Kings” and “Silent Night” along with “Jingle Bells/Breaking up Christmas.”

Children 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free. Admission per student, 13 to 18, is $5 and $25 per adult for the Charm City Junction concert.

Information and tickets for individual concerts are available by visiting www.wellsborocca.org or by calling the Deane Center at (570) 724-6220. If available, tickets can be purchased at the door on Dec. 9 beginning at 7 p.m.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800