Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge

Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge first met backstage in Boston following a Punch Brothers show. Over the course of several years, a casual friendship led to a solid musical partnership that produced the 2013 EP Close to Picture and 2014's full-length release Avalon, produced by Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids. Known for pushing the envelope of folk, bluegrass, and jazz, Lage & Eldridge showcase, as the New Yorker writes, a "familiarity with the fretboard…so extravagant and capacious that they bring flourishes to this music that it simply hasn't enjoyed before." Their performance is sure to astound.

The Grammy-nominated Lage has been highly regarded in jazz and new music circles for his own work as well as for his collaborations with such artists as Nels Cline, Fred Hersch, and Jim Hall, among many others. A former child prodigy, Lage has been recognized for his remarkable musical ability from a very young age, which was displayed in the acclaimed 1996 Oscar-nominated short documentary, Jules at Eight. Fellow Grammy-nominee Eldridge, an Oberlin Conservatory grad who studied with bluegrass guitar legend Tony Rice, is equally noted in the progressive bluegrass world for his stints with the Seldom Scene and The Infamous Stringdusters, which led to his joining Chris Thile's adventurous quintet, Punch Brothers.

http://www.lageeldridge.com/

Matt Brown

Matt Brown teaches fiddle, banjo, and guitar at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Matt plays fiddle with Big Sadie and has appeared around Chicago with Robbie Fulks, Justin Roberts, Jessica Ziegler, Dennis Cahill, Chris Walz, Keith Baumann, Gia Margaret, Grant Ziolkowski, Aaron Smith, and various members of the Volo Bogtrotters. Thanks to his banjo-playing father, Matt grew up with the old-time music of the Appalachian South. He studied with tradition bearers Brad Leftwich, Bruce Molsky, Paul Brown, Ginny Hawker, and Tracy Schwarz.

Matt's fiddling is featured along with guitarist Greg Reish in the 2015 release Speed of the Plow, which was engineered and co-produced by GRAMMY winner Dave Sinko (Punch Brothers, Béla Fleck, Hot Rize). Matt and Greg have been touring the country as a duo performing the album's collection of old-time duets. Matt has also toured as a soloist, with percussive dance ensembles Rhythm in Shoes and Footworks, and has made guest appearances with Tim O'Brien, The John Hartford Stringband, Uncle Earl, Special Consensus, and Della Mae. He has performed twice with Mike Snider on the Grand Ole Opry.

http://www.brownsdream.us/