Mike Compton and Joe Newberry
Mike Compton and Joe Newberry
Masters of old-time mandolin and banjo/guitar
Friday May 10th 2019 at 7pm(doors at 6:30pm)
at Cville Coffee, 1301 Harris street, Charlottesville VA 22903
Tickets $16 Advance/$19 Door
Advance tickets only available here or by calling (434) 978-4335
Please note that you will not receive a paper ticket-your name will be on the ‘will-call’ list at the door.
Mike Compton and Joe Newberry mine one of the more neglected segments of country music history: the period between the ‘30s and ‘40s when brother duet music was transitioning into what is now known as bluegrass. Both Masters of the bedrock instruments of old-time music, they collaborate with a vision that is both modern and ageless. As virtuosos of old-time mandolin, banjo and guitar, they dig deep into early country music and blues. With a seemingly limitless library of brother duets, audiences can expect to hear their favorite tunes along with traditional instrumentals, mother ballads and award-reaping originals. Their combined pedigree has enabled them to reach millions of people, including the more than 4 million listeners of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and also the devoted fans of the Grammy Award-winning ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’ and ‘Cold Mountain’ soundtracks.
Mike Compton is a Grammy Award-winning, IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year nominee, mandolinist for the Nashville Bluegrass Bandand longtime steady sideman to the late John Hartford. He has entertained from Carnegie Hall to the White House — and lots of good folks’ houses in between. The New York Times calls him “a new bluegrass instrumental hero”. He has made music with such notables as the iconic Dr Ralph Stanley, British rock legend Elvis Costello, guitar virtuoso David Grier and producer T-Bone Burnette. He has performed on 100+ CDs in a variety of genres with some of the most beloved artists of our day. At heart, Mike Compton is a preservationist, continuing the music that Bill Monroe innovated on the mandolin and which set the standard for two generations of bluegrass mandolin players.
As Cybergrass.com commented,
“There are powerful people in every walk of life. Mike Compton is the General George Patton of the mandolin”
Joe Newberry is a prize winning guitarist, songwriter and vocalist known far and wide for his powerful banjo playing. He won the songwriting prize for “Gospel recorded Performance” at the 2012 IBMA Awards for his song “Singing we rise” and was cowriter (with Eric Gibson)of the 2013 IBMA Song of the Year “They called it Music”
“His lyrics read like a cross between Longfellow and Johnny Cash” writes the INDY, “The muse is sometimes gentle and other times rough. But she never strays too far from Joe Newberry’s side.”
“There are a couple of kinds of songs that you can write, ” Newberry explains. ‘One is where you say, “I’m going to write a song today,’ and basically sit down and write it. The other is where she comes and visits you and says, ‘Here’s your song. Don’t blow this. ’ Sometimes it’s from you but it doesn’t belong to you, you know? ” A Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor adds, “A musician like Joe embodies the true South. You can’t have too many of these people.”
“An absolutely brilliant performance captured live, a reminder of just how much great music can be made by two musicians. Their rendering of Evening Prayer blues is worth the price of the recording alone” -Scott Tichenor, Mandolin Café
“Johnny Cash once described Amazing Grace as a song with no guile. That’s what the music of Mike Compton and Joe Newberry is: guileless. There’s no film-flam here, no tricks. They pull off what’s almost impossible these days: honest, genuine music that will get your soul dancing.” -Chris Stuart, Bluegrass Today