The Peninsula Foundation supports the Arts Community by presenting Voices in the Valley, a showcase of traditional roots music. So kick back, relax and join us for a night of music in the Historic G.A.R. Hall. Beer, Wine and adult beverages available.
Parking for the G.A.R. Hall is located directly across the street on the South West Corner of Route 303 and Riverview Road. There is handicap parking located directly in front of the G.A.R. Hall. Alternate Parking can be found 1 block away at the old Yellow Creek Trading Company. Or at Riverview Court (old Ohio Hardwoods) on the Southeast Corner of the intersection of Route 303 and Riverview Road. Parking in Peninsula is always at a premium so if you are coming with friends, consider sharing a ride. Thanks!
If you are looking for a way to sponsor the arts, please consider helping support the Voices in the Valley music program at the historic G.A.R. Hall. Operated by the Peninsula Foundation, this program features local and national touring musicians in the intimate setting of this beautiful, grand old hall. Your donation is tax deductible and very much appreciated. Thank you in advance for supporting the arts and arts programming in N.E. Ohio!!
The Bluegrass Gospel Hour at the Bronson Church
Hosts Paul Kovac and David Mayfield play some of your favorite Bluegrass gospel tunes mixed with some fun banter! This is not a church service, rather a meeting of the Bluegrass faithful looking to enjoy some fellowship with two of the area's favorite pickers!
This series is temporarily suspended. We will give plenty of notice when we start this series again.
Truly sorry for any inconvenience, we too are excited to begin our Bluegrass Gospel Hour again.
N.E. Ohio favorites Hey Mavis return to the G.A.R. Hall on February 4th. This show is SOLD OUT. There are no tickets available at the door
February 4th - For more than eleven years, Northeast Ohio Americana Band, Hey Mavis has been weaving a musical tapestry and igniting a following of dedicated fans. With heartfelt vocals, honest songwriting, blazing instrumental solos and an undeniable onstage musical chemistry, this quartet is the definition of great Americana music. Always a favorite at the G.A.R. Hall, and rightfully so, join us as we welcome Hey Mavis back to the G.A.R. Hall stage.
Doors open at 7:30pm/ Music at 8
General Admission- $23.00
G.A.R. Grass Jam
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023 at 7:00pm
Grass Jam is BACK! Paul Kovac and David Mayfield will be your hosts. All ages and skill levels are welcome and encouraged. We have 3-5 separate break out rooms so you can pick your jam. You are welcome to bring your own food to munch on, the bar will be open.
$5 donation at the door
February 18th - Grammy-award winner Peter Rowan is a singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of Bluegrass veteran Bill Monroe, to his time in Old & In the Way and his breakout as a solo musician and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through a solid stream of recordings, collaborative projects, and constant touring.
Born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family, Rowan learned to play guitar from his uncle. He spent his teenage years absorbing the sights and sounds of the Hillbilly Ranch, a legendary Country music nightclub in Boston frequented by old-time acts like The Lilly Brothers and Tex Logan. In 1956 Peter Rowan formed his first band, the Cupids, while still in high school.
After three years in college, Rowan left academia to pursue a life in music. Rowan began his professional career in 1963 as the singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter for the Bluegrass Boys, led by the founding father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. “One thing I started to like about the Monroe style was that there was a lot more blues in it than other styles of bluegrass,” reflects Rowan. “It was darker. It had more of an edge to it. And yet it still had the ballad tradition in it, and I loved that.”
The late ‘60s and early 70’s saw Rowan involved in a number of rock, folk and bluegrass projects, including Earth Opera, Sea Train, Muleskinner, and the Rowans, where he played alongside brothers Chris and Lorin Rowan. After the Rowan Brothers disbanded, Rowan, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements and John Kahn formed a bluegrass band christened Old & In the Way. It was during this incarnation that Rowan penned the song “Panama Red,” a subsequent hit for the New Riders of the Purple Sage and a classic ever since.
Rowan subsequently embarked on a well-received solo career in the late ‘70s, releasing critically acclaimed records such as Dustbowl Children (a Woody-Guthrie style song cycle about the Great Depression), Yonder (a record of old-time country music in collaboration with ace dobro player, Jerry Douglas) and two extraordinarily fine bluegrass albums, The First Whippoorwill and Bluegrass Boy, as well as High Lonesome Cowboy, a recording of traditional and old-time mountain music with Don Edwards and Norman Blake. Rowan’s recent releases- Quartet, a recording with the phenomenal Tony Rice and Legacy with the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, coupled with a relentless touring schedule have further endeared Peter Rowan to audiences around the world.
General Admission- 40.00
Doors open at 7:30/ Music at 8pm
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite
It's time to party with Mo Mojo! Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party at the G.A.R. Hall
February 21st- Mo Mojo - Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras Party with Mo Mojo- Bring your partying self down to the Hall to celebrate Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras, with Zydeco music by N.E. Ohio's favorite "party gras" band, Mo Mojo. We will make room for a DANCE FLOOR so you can show off your latest moves and dance the night away!
Our Kitchen is not open yet, so please feel free to bring your own party food!
General Admission-Doors open at 6:30pm/Music at 7pm
$18.00 pre-sale ticket
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite
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Tall Paul and Western Drawl coming back to the Hall!
February 24th- Tall Paul and Western Drawl- Carrying on the tradition started by Hillbilly IDOL some twenty years ago, Tall Paul rides into the GAR Hall, presenting an evening of music in the western style.
Tall Paul & Western Drawl celebrates the spirit of dance hall Western Swing music, Roadhouse standards, Cowboy songs and Ballads. It’s mostly fun, uptown and alive. Their mix of classics & clever originals honor the tradition of these styles, but with modern musical sensibilities.
Paul Kovac - Guitar, Fiddle, Banjo
Caroline King - Piano, Accordion
Gary Naherny - Drums
Mike Pella - Bass
General Admission- 23.00
Doors open at 7:30/Music at 8pm
Purchase Tickets on Eventbrite
"Karan Casey is the most soulful singer to emerge in Irish traditional music in the past decade." - The Glasgow Herald
March 10th- KARAN CASEY- Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey has been blazing a trail for over 25 years. A lover of ballads, love songs and searing versions of social justice songs.
She has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson,Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Solas and Tim O’Brien.
In 2018 Karan helped to found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk music. “Down in the Glen” was nominated for Best Original Folk Song at the RTE Folk Awards 2019. Her latest tour is in support of her latest album Nine Apples. She will be joined by Matt Heaton on guitar and Sheila Falls on Fiddle.
General Admission- 30.00
Doors open at 7:30/ Music at 8pm
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite
Jake Blount, Nic Gareiss and Laurel Premo, award-winning folk performers, have joined forces for a special night of music and dance
March 30th-Jake Blount, Nic Gareiss and Laurel Premo-award-winning folk performers, have joined forces in a bewitchment of rich tones, deft movements and stories long untold. Through traditional songs familiar and arcane, this new trio celebrates the deep rhythms and subtle harmonies of America’s eldest musics.
Jake Blount (Providence, RI) is a singer and multi-instrumentalist described by NPR as “an Afrofuturist in roots-music garb.” A winner of the 2021 Steve Martin Banjo Prize and a Smithsonian Folkways recording artist, American Songwriter has dubbed him the “King of Roots.” Percussive dancer Nic Gareiss (Lansing, MI) has been named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” and has been hailed by the New York Times for their “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance.” In 2020, Gareiss received the Michigan Heritage Award, the highest honor his home state bestows on traditional artists. Laurel Premo (Traverse City, MI) has spent her life immersed in American and Nordic folk traditions. As a composer, performing artist, and dance musician, Premo has developed a deep relation with fiddle, banjo, and vocal roots, and recent work reveals this experience through finger style electric guitar. MTV described her sound as “subtle but dazzling and rich in texture,” and her live performance as “pure hypnosis.”
Blount, Gareiss and Premo are not only skilled performers, but researchers with degrees in ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology and performing arts technology. Their years of experience as performers, educators and scholars in their respective traditions have drawn them close to the creative force at the heart of music-making. The trio has brought the power of those deep bonds to bear in a new performance: a paean to their deepest roots written in wood, flesh, and lightning.
This is going to be something really special, please join us!
General Admission/$20.00
Doors open at 7:30/Music at 8pm
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite
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On stage, the group gives audiences a sense of how much they love what they do. On record - including their 2021 release and ninth full length album, The Departure - the band explores their collective life experiences through songwriting and intricate instrumentation. While bluegrass is the undeniable foundation of the Prowlers music, the band bends and squeezes the traditional form into a sound all their own.
Working with the U.S. State Department and under their own nonprofit, Bluegrass Ambassadors, the Prowlers have toured over 25 countries across the globe. Using American music as a foundation, connecting folk music and cultures the world over, the Prowlers incorporate international elements into their already robust repertoire of unique traditional American music.
Whether performing live or presenting workshops, the Henhouse Prowlers find and spread the commonality we share as human beings through the universal language of music.The Stillhouse Junkies - Born in a distillery in Durango, CO, Stillhouse Junkies play a delirious, head-spinning mixture of original roots, blues, funk, swing, and bluegrass music. With all three band members sharing lead vocal and songwriting duties, the Junkies conjure a wide range of tonal landscapes that pay tribute to the iconic sounds of Gillian Welch, the Allman Brothers, Tim O'Brien, the Wood Brothers, John Hiatt, and countless others while breaking new musical ground with their genre-bending original material. Stillhouse Junkies are proud to be Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival showcase artists and 2020 & 2021 IBMA World of Bluegrass showcase artists.
Two great Bands, One great night of music at the Hall!
General Admission- $24.00
Doors open at 7:30/ Music at 8pm
April 13th -Maya di Vitry- Maya di Vitry's devotion to songwriting is her way of staying present, curious, and imaginative. Pennsylvania-raised and Tennessee-based, Maya first traveled and performed as a fiddling street musician, and then in bars, theaters, and on festival stages as a founding member of The Stray Birds. In 2019, she released her critically-acclaimed solo debut Adaptations, produced by Dan Knobler, and has since emerged as a prolific solo artist. NPR calls Maya’s music “the perfect soundtrack for uncorking that emotion and defiantly loving life again”.
Maya enjoys playing live around town in her home base of Nashville, TN, playing shows around the country with her band, and also traveling as a solo singer-songwriter, supporting artists like Aoife O’Donovan, John Craigie, Fruition. Maya’s live band is a fluid ensemble, showcasing various collaborators. They will appear tonight as a trio, featuring band members Joel Timmons (guitars, vocals) and Ethan Jodziewicz (upright bass, vocals). Joel is known for his many years of music-making in the Charleston, SC-based band Sol Driven Train. In addition to being the co-producer, recording engineer, and mixing engineer on Maya’s latest album Violet Light, Ethan is widely respected for his work with mandolinist Sierra Hull, and most recently as a touring member of Aoife O’Donovan’s Age of Apathy Band.
General Admission- 20.00
Doors open at 7:30/Music 8pm
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite
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The Honey Dewdrops are coming back to the G.A.R. Hall on April 14thApril 14th - The Honey Dewdrops - Virginia raised and Maryland based, Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish of The Honey Dewdrops began touring in 2009 and have called the city of Baltimore home since 2014. With several albums and thirteen years of playing shows on the road, Laura and Kagey continue to expand their experimental folk sound while maintaining a commitment to deepening their understanding of the world through the lens of music. No Depression says of the new album, Light Behind Light, “The Honey Dewdrops have a way of filling their songs with humanity, using their beautiful playing and harmonies to emphasize what connects us all.”
Two of my favorite people who write and perform beautiful music together...don't miss them!
General Admission- 23.00
Doors open at 7:30/Music at 8pm
Join us for an evening with Tim O'Brien and Jan Fabricius at the G.A.R. Hall!
April 21st- Tim O'Brien and Jan Fabricius-
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and in school. After seeing Doc Watson on TV, became a lifelong devotee of old time and bluegrass music.
Tim started touring nationally in 1978 with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize. His songs “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” and “Untold Stories” were bluegrass hits for Hot Rize, and country hits for Kathy Mattea. Soon more artists like Nickel Creek, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks covered his songs.
Over the years, Tim has collaborated with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old time musician Dirk Powell, as well as with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Dan Auerbach and Sturgill Simpson. Living in Nashville since 1996, O’Brien’s skills on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo make him an in demand session player. He tours throughout the US and abroad, most often with his partner Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals.
The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him song of the year in 2006 and named him best male vocalist in 1993 and 2006. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Notable O’Brien recordings include the bluegrass Dylan covers of “Red On Blonde”, the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of “The Crossing”, and the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green.” His duet recording “Real Time” with Darrell Scott is a cult favorite, and he won a bluegrass Grammy as part of “The Earls Of Leicester.” His 2017 release “Where the River Meets the Road” paid tribute to the music of his native West Virginia. O’Brien formed his own record label, Howdy Skies Records, in 1999, and launched the digital download label Short Order Sessions (SOS) with his partner Jan Fabricius in 2015.
His new release “He Walked On” features eight new originals and five covers from R.B. Morris, Bill Caswell, Dale Keys, Yip Harburg, and mentor J.D. Hutchison. Historical and socially conscious themes weave their way through songs about ordinary and not so ordinary people just trying to “keep it between the ditches”.
General Admission/$42
Doors open at 7:30/Music at 8
These shows going on Sale Soon
Check back often for more updates!
April 8th- Henhouse Prowlers
w/ The Stillhouse Junkies
April 14th- The Honey Dewdrops
April 19th- David Howley from We Banjo 3
April 20th - April Verch
April 22nd- Rachel Brown and the Beatnik Playboys
April 29th- Country Honk
May 12th- Becky Boyd and the Groove Train
FAQs
More information about these shows coming soon!
Please send all booking inquiries to karen@crookedrivercreative.com
Thanks so much to the Ohio Arts Council for their continued support of the Arts Programming at the Peninsula Foundation, including
Voices in the Valley
Thanks so much to the Akron Community Foundation for their support of Arts Programming at the
G.A.R. Hall
