Trio plays old-time, bluegrass-style tunes

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Rainshadow Concerts welcomes the talented Tall Poppy String Band with an enticing show coming up at the Palindrome at Eaglemount Cidery.

The band will bring its folksy, acoustic tunes to Port Townsend at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6.

Tall Poppy String Band is a brand-new, old-time trio featuring fiddler George Jackson, guitarist Mark Harris, and banjoist Cameron DeWhitt.

Drawing from the deep well of American string band music, Tall Poppy String Band approaches tradition with playful curiosity; each performance more a discussion than a statement. Whether they’re chasing the elusive downbeat of a source recording, playing with the pronouns in a bluegrass standard, or challenging the assumed roles of their instruments, Tall Poppy String Band endeavors to prove that tradition is still being written.

DeWhitt is a clawhammer banjoist based in Portland, Oregon, considered as being “among the finest clawhammer banjo players alive,” by Banjo Newsletter.

DeWhitt is the innovator behind pitchfork banjo — a three-finger clawhammer technique that allows for a degree of melodic and rhythmic freedom that is rarely seen in old-time banjo playing. DeWhitt is also the creator of “Get Up in the Cool,” a weekly old-time music and interview podcast featuring conversations and musical collaborations with some of the most influential traditional musicians around today.

Jackson is a New Zealand-born fiddle player based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is known for “Time and Place,” his acclaimed 2019 album of old-time fiddle tunes from which sprang the old-time viral hit “Dorrigo.”

Jackson’s new collection of fiddle and banjo duets, “Hair and Hide,” brings some of the brightest stars in the banjo world today. He has toured with such artists as Jake Blount, Front Country, Peter Rowan, Missy Raines, and many more, and is the three-time winner of the Australian National Bluegrass Championship on fiddle, and the recipient of the 2019 Mike Auldridge composition award from the D.C. Bluegrass Union.

Harris is a guitarist based in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Originally from Australia, he has made a name for himself by rethinking the road of the guitar in old-time music, developing a style of melodic playing that recreates the droning, driving sound characteristic of old-time fiddle and banjo.

In 2020, Harris released his debut album “Old Time Guitar,” a collection of 15 solo guitar instrumentals that showcase his groundbreaking approach. Harris’ music has been featured on “The Bluegrass Situation” and the podcast “Relax Your Grid” with host Matt Brown.

Tickets are $20 from tallpoppy.brownpapertickets.com or at the door. Proof of vaccination is required for entry.

The concert series is produced by Rainshadow Concerts as part of a new collaboration with Matt Miner, former producer of the Northwind Songs concert series held at Northwind Arts Center before the pandemic. The show is sponsored by KPTZ radio and Strait Floors.