Bay Area bluegrass band plays Vashon

San Francisco-based roots lead singer Nell Robinson and her smokin’ All Star Band play Alabama soul music with a Bay Area twist, 7:30 pm, Saturday, April 28, at Vashon Allied Arts. "Utterly won me over, charmed me silly," said Sing OUT Magazine.

"Sexy vocals, whirling banjos, a romp and stomp," Robinson and her all star back up has been hailed as one of the "freshest voices" in roots music today. Robinson’s heartfelt vocals and soaring harmonies have rightly been compared to early Emmylou Harris and political activist/singer Hazel Dickens. Robinson’s debut album Nell Robinson in Loango, met with national critical acclaim and her second album On the Brooklyn Road (named for the red dirt road to her family’s rural Alabama farm) brings original compositions. "Most of my songs are stories…They foster this deep connection to people and place, so much that sometimes I miss a past that I wasn’t even present for," she says.

After working on Loango, John Reischman & the Jaybirds offered to back Nell, and they became the All-Star Band, providing backup for Robinson’s distinctive vocals and fresh new bluegrass. Reischman adds vocals and mandolin, Jim Nunally, vocals, guitar and slide steel, Nick Hornbuckle, banjo, Greg Spatz, fiddle and Trisha Gagnon sings and plays evocative string bass. The Jaybirds released five critically acclaimed albums, received two Juno nominations and landed two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations.

Tickets, $14/$17 are available now at VAA, Heron’s Nest, Vashon Bookshop, brownpapertickets.com. Special student discount ticket of $10 available at the door. Take a listen at nellrobinson.com.