Ken and Brad Kolodner at the Mainstay May 17

Father and son duo, Ken and Brad Kolodner bring their driving, innovative approach to old-time Appalachian music for hammered dulcimer, fiddles and banjo to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday May 17 at 8:00 pm. Admission is $15.

Baltimore’s Ken Kolodner, widely regarded as one of the most influential hammered dulcimer players and old-time fiddlers in the US, has joined forces with his son Brad Kolodner, a rising star in the clawhammer banjo world to perform tight, sophisticated arrangements of original and traditional old-time music.

Together, they expand the boundaries of the Appalachian tradition with their own brand of driving, and melodic interpretations of traditional and original fiddle tunes and songs. This is joyous, sophisticated, innovative music for hammered dulcimer, banjo, fiddles and vocals.

Their latest recording “Skipping Rocks” released last September became the 4th most played recording on the Folk-DJ Charts in its first month. A reviewer, Dan Hayes, said, “The musicianship on this album is absolutely incredible. Ken Kolodner is, in my estimation, the finest, most able, and diverse hammered dulcimer player anywhere… Brad Kolodner is simply one of the best of the new generation of Old Time melodic Clawhammer banjo players… it still touches me that a father and son not only can make music that sounds so good, but that they so obviously enjoy making such great music with each other.”

The duo started performing regularly in 2009. Shortly thereafter, they released their first recording, “Otter Creek,” which became the most played instrumental recording on the international Folk – DJ Radio charts. In a review of that recording Sing Out! Magazine wrote “Ken Kolodner is a world class multi-instrumentalist… Otter Creek is a joyous recording featuring two fine musicians playing excellently. There must be something special to that father-son thing,” and the Old Time Herald said, “father and son have reached that musical telepathy that family members can sometimes achieve.”

Among Ken Kolodner’s many credits are a featured solo in an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special, over a dozen recordings with sales well over 150,000, an “Indie” winner for Best Seasonal Recording in 1999, a #1 World Music title (Walking Stones) and bestseller for BMG (with over 55,000 copies sold), and numerous books and instructional recordings (including a book/CD on old-time fiddling for Mel Bay and two recent books on arranging for the hammered dulcimer, also for Mel Bay).

He toured with the well-known world music trio Helicon for over a decade and then continued to tour as a soloist. He was the first and only U.S. player to be invited to play at the International Hackbrett Festival in Germany along with the world’s best players. His extensive repertoire of thousands of pieces includes the traditional music from over 30 countries on all continents. He has performed in every state in the U.S. and teaches locally in Baltimore with over 75 fiddle and hammered dulcimer students.

Music was not always in Ken Kolodner’s vision. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1976 and a few years later pursued a career in public health, working on a PhD in epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. While in grad school, he taught himself first to play the fiddle by listening to recordings. A few years later, he discovered the hammered dulcimer and quickly became recognized among a handful of the best in the U.S. Since completing his PhD at Hopkins, he has worked primarily as a musician (touring as many as 140 dates a year) but has continued to consult in public health, and has published widely with over 100 articles in medical journals.

Brad Kolodner didn’t start playing banjo until age 17 when he attended a music camp where his father was teaching. After just two years, Brad won the 2010 Takoma Park Old -Time Banjo festival winning a Kevin Enoch banjo and a performance spot at The Birchmere, sharing the stage with banjo legend Tony Trischka, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Adam Hurt and other notable banjo players.

In 2012, he won first place in Old-Time Banjo at the prestigious Lowell Fiddle and Banjo Contest. Most recently, Brad won the inaugural Banjo Hangout National Clawhammer Banjo contest. His version of “Boatman” was the highest rated submission out of all 69 entrants.

He graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Television/Radio in 2012. In the summer of 2013, Brad signed on as the host of “The Brad Kolodner Show” a weekly bluegrass show on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, a 24/7 bluegrass radio station in Washington D.C . Brad has more than 30 banjo students in Baltimore and has added fiddle, guitar and vocals to his repertoire.

In addition to performing and teaching, both Ken and Brad are avid supporters and developers of the Old-Time community in Baltimore. In the spring of 2013, they founded the popular Baltimore Old Time Jam, a bi-weekly gathering of dozens of musicians and Old -Time music fans at Liam Flynn’s Ale House in the heart of Baltimore City. In November 2013, Brad spearheaded the launch of the bi-monthly Baltimore Square Dance at Mobtown Ballroom. The first two dances were packed with over 200 people at each dance.

Concert appearances for the duo include The Kennedy Center, The Birchmere, The Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival, The Champlain Valley Folk Festival, Old Songs, The Creative Alliance, three appearance s at Helicon’s Winter Solstice concerts with Robin Bullock and Chris Norman, several appearances on the legendary “Bound for Glory” radio show in Ithaca, NY (the longest running live concert – radio broadcast in the United States), The Common Ground Festival in MD, The Mountain Arts Gathering in NY, The Folk Society of Greater Washington, The Baltimore Banjo Showcase as well as numerous other live radio broadcasts, concerts and festivals along the Eastern seaboard from North Carolina to Vermont to Wisconsin.

Dulcimer Player News writes “this is old time music played in the purest way: at home, with family, with heart, and with a creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation.”

The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.