Talented Fiddler Matt Brown Opens Concert Series

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 2, 2009) - A concert featuring accomplished multi-instrumentalist and singer Matt Brown will kick off this year's schedule for "Appalachia in the Bluegrass," a series of concerts performed by artists known for their knowledge of Appalachian music and tradition. Brown's concert, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for noon Friday, Sept. 4, in the Niles Gallery of the University of Kentucky's Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

Brown is an engaging performer of traditional Appalachian music. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist and singer, he performs toe-tapping square dance tunes and a variety of songs from blues to ballads. Playing the fiddle, banjo and guitar, Brown delights audiences with a sound that is both authentic and inventive.

Brown has performed with many great artists including Paul Brown, David Holt, and Alice Gerrard. He has toured with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble and Rhythm in Shoes, opened for April Verch and Old School Freight Train, and appeared as a guest artist with Tim O’Brien, The Wilders, and Uncle Earl. He has several albums to his credit including his recent solo recording "Falls of Richmond"; his debut CD with Paul Brown and Beverly Smith, "Lone Prairie"; and the instructional recording "Old-Time Fiddle Lesson, Vol. 1." Additionally, Brown is a producer, studio musician and partner in 5-String Productions, an independent record label based in West Chester, Penn.

To hear Matt Brown play "Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle" at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn, N.Y., visit YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIikhSHsIEk.

The "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series, presented by UK's John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, showcases a diverse selection of traditional musical expression from the authentic old-time sound of mountain banjo player Lee Boy Sexton to the blues-infused style of Sparky and Rhonda Rucker to the "neotraditional" sound of Louisville’s Nora Ben and Eli. This musical series focuses on the many faces of indigenous American folk music, celebrating its roots in old-time music.

All "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concerts take place in the gallery of the Niles Center in the Little Fine Arts Library on UK's central campus. Niles Gallery concerts are scheduled on Fridays at noon and are free and open to the public.

This year's participating artists following Brown in the concert series and their performance dates are:

* multi-instrumentalists Nora Ben and Eli, Sept. 18;

* old-time musicians Lee Sexton, Rich Kirby, Roy T. and Jack Adams, Sept. 25;

* singer and guitarist Carol Elizabeth Jones and fiddler Rayna Gellert, Oct. 2;

* folklorists and musicians Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, Oct. 16;

* banjo player George Gibson, Oct. 23;

* Hallowe'en in the Bluegrass, presented by a cast of ghostly ghouls including Tedrin Blair Lindsay, Dennis Bender, Ron Pen, Russell Henderson and others too frightful to name, Oct. 30;

* dulcimer player Don Pedi, Nov. 6;

* musicians Alice Gerrard, Carl Jones and Beverly Smith, Nov. 13;

* the Appalachian Association of Sacred Harp Singers, Nov. 20;

* the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, Dec. 4; and

* the Red State Ramblers, Dec. 11.

The John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, a collaborative research and performance center of the UK College of Fine Arts, UK School of Music and UK Libraries, is the host of "Appalachia in the Bluegrass," an annual series of concerts exploring old-time and bluegrass music of the Appalachian region.  

For more information on the Matt Brown concert or the "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" series, contact Ron Pen, director of the Niles Center, by phone at (859) 257-8183 or e-mail to Ron.Pen@uky.edu.