The bluegrass Americana band, Chatham County Line, will perform at the Dolores River Brewery at 8 p.m. June 19.
On June 20, they will play a free show in Cortez at Montezuma Park at 5 p.m. as part of the Third Thursday summer concert series.
The hardworking band from North Carolina tours the United States and Europe, and has been performing for 20 years. The group has produced nine albums, and band members pride themselves on their early “guerrilla bluegrass” tactic of spontaneously performing on street corners and in parks to entertain passers-by.
While the band loves bluegrass, they also have a rock ‘n’ roll repertoire.
“We’re kind of an Americana band without drums, or a rock-and-roll band who doesn’t plug anything in,” said vocalist and guitarist Dave Wilson.
The other band members are John Teer on mandolin and fiddle, Chandler Holt on banjo, and Greg Readling covering bass, pedal steel, and piano duties.
Chatham Line also has a knack for reinterpreting good covers, and lesser known ones, at each show. Noticing audience interest in those songs led to a compilation on their latest album, “Sharing the Covers.”
The 13 tunes give a nod to an unruly pile of artists and genres, from Del Reeves to Carter Stanley to Tom Petty, with room for the Louvin and Delmore Brothers as well as the Rolling Stones, states their website.
The band performs unplugged, old-school style gathered around a single microphone.
Their jamming shows of originals and covers have a home grown familiar feel, with polished improvisational flashes.
“The fans drive the set list,” Wilson says.