BLUEGRASS BROTHERS: The Abrams Brothers perform for students, concert association

Published 8:18 pm Thursday, February 14, 2013

ROOTS MUSIC: The Abrams Brothers, playing their signature style of electric bluegrass, will perform at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center Tuesday night. The show is part of the Beaufort County Concert Associations five-part concert series.

ROOTS MUSIC: The Abrams Brothers, playing their signature style of electric bluegrass, will perform at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center Tuesday night. The show is part of the Beaufort County Concert Associations five-part concert series.

 

Folk musician Arlo Guthrie said, “These guys are way too young to be this good.”

Tuesday morning, Washington High School students will get to see exactly how good The Abrams Brothers are courtesy of the Beaufort County Concert Association.

The bluegrass band, comprised of brothers John, James and their cousin Elijah, hails from Canada and the three artists were some of the youngest to perform at The Grand Old Opry, in 2005. With four albums under their belts, the music they make is not your traditional bluegrass, according to BCCA acting President Larry Ahlman.

“It’s an exciting sound — more of a charged up bluegrass,” Ahlman said.

The band’s scheduled time with WHS students is part of a package that includes a BCCA show at 7:30 p.m. at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center. According to Ahlman, the outreach program is the organization’s way of impacting local youth.

“It’s a way of exposing them to music that they may not come in contact with otherwise,” Ahlman explained. “It’s a win-win for the community, our organization and the high school.”

In October of last year, BCCA also sponsored a WHS student performance and question and answer session with a cappella group Voice Play, based out of Orlando, Fla.

Performers like The Abrams Brothers and Voice Play are selected by the BCCA each year through the services of Live on Stage, a Nashville booking agency that auditions over 300 performers, whittles those down to about 35 of the most talented before allowing them to audition for representatives from organizations like the BCCA. BCCA then picks the acts for its five-concert series based primarily on talent, but also on budget and local appeal, which is how the band from the far North ended up in eastern Carolina.

“We like them. They generate a lot of excitement,” Ahlman said.

Concert association memberships, which include tickets to five performances scheduled over winter and spring of each year, are sold each spring for a base price of $45. But that won’t stop a hardcore bluegrass-lover from attending Tuesday night’s show: single performance tickets can be bought at the door for $25.

For more information on tickets to The Abrams Brothers’ show, call 252-948-1431, To see the band in action, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TonTd2cZh4&feature=plcp.