(Cambridge, MA- May 16, 2022) Boston based bluegrass supergroup Barnstar! is set to make their annual pilgrimage to Club Passim, the Cambridge based listening room that the band considers their ‘home away from home’. The band is set to play three nights of music June 1,2 and 3, but these won’t be your average shows. Barnstar! will be creating Barnstar! Bluegrass Bingo!. What exactly that is only the band knows, but there will be bingo cards, prizes and lots of different mischief every night. According to bandleader/bassist Zachariah Hickman: “Who knows what will happen? Fate will decide how the set goes every night – so each show will be completely different!” Tickets are on sale now at Passim.org.
Barnstar! began as the brainchild of Zachariah Hickman (bassist for Josh Ritter, musical director for Ray Lamontagne) for a local bluegrass supergroup featuring some of Boston’s best musicians and songwriters. Using the familiar tools of the genre—guitar (Mark Erelli), fiddle (Jake Armerding), mandolin (Taylor Armerding) and banjo (Charlie Rose)—Barnstar! forges its own brand of song- based bluegrass, gloriously harmonized and raucously played.
The band debuted in 2011 with C’mon!, a mix of distinctive originals and unexpected covers (Neil Young, Dawes, The Traveling Wilburys) cut live in the studio. Despite juggling various high-profile sideman gigs behind other artists, the lads in Barnstar! managed to cause quite a stir with relatively few appearances. Whether playing above 10,000 feet in the Colorado mountains, dressing up like pirates on a boat cruising around Boston Harbor, or starting a small skirmish over the last CD in Shrewsbury, England – shouts of “C’mon!” followed the band everywhere they went. In February 2015, Barnstar! proudly unleashed its sophomore release Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out! (Signature Sounds), which sports a more richly textured sound than its predecessor.
“What continues to define Barnstar!,” says Zachariah Hickman, the band’s mustachioed leader and producer of the group’s albums, “is that we’re not singing songs as an excuse to play a solo. We like to sink our teeth into songs that have a narrative or a story to them, and then make them our own.”
Barnstar! will perform live at Club Passim June 1,2 & 3, 2022, at 8:00PM. Tickets are on sale now for $30 and can be purchased at passim.org.
All guests at Club Passim must show proof of vaccination before every show and are required to have a booster if their last vaccination was more than 6-months ago. These policies are subject to change. For updates please visit passim.org.
About Passim
The mission of Passim is to provide truly exceptional and interactive live musical experiences for both performers and audiences, to nurture artists at all stages of their career, and to build a vibrant music community. Passim does so through their legendary listening venue, music school, artist grants and outreach programs. As a nonprofit since 1994, Passim carries on the heritage of its predecessors-the historic Club 47 (1958-1968) and for-profit Passim (1969-1994). We cultivate a diverse mix of musical traditions, where the emphasis is on the relationship between performers and audience and teachers and students. Located in Harvard Square, Passim serves Cambridge and the broader region by featuring local, national and international artists. Our ultimate goal is to help the performance arts flourish and thereby enrich the lives of members of our community. For a complete schedule, visit www.passim.org.
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