The Washington Post said “These guys are apostles of hillbilly boogie,” while Baltimore Magazine noted that “From fiery barn burners to heartbroken ballads, this talented string quartet is celebrating the region’s rich bluegrass history, carrying the torch for the Old-Line legends who came before.”
Now they are coming back to Chestertown.
The High and Wides will perform in Fountain Park in downtown Chestertown on Friday, August 12, from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. The concert is free and open to the public. Bring a chair or just come sit on the grass.
The High & Wides were formed in 2015, and have roots both in Baltimore and the rural Delmarva peninsula. They draw on a shared background playing straight ahead bluegrass, but weave in influences from new wave to old time to make music that evokes the era before country, bluegrass, rockabilly, western swing, and rock’n’roll broke off into separate and strictly defined genres. The band’s music imagines an alternate timeline – if instead of the electric-guitar and drums driven band format that took off in the 50s, the string band lineup had dominated across genres of popular music in the 20th century, what would be happening now?
The High and Wides
They have released two full-length albums of original music, 2018’s “Lifted” and 2019’s “Seven True Stories”. In March 2022 they released their first album of covers, “Blood”, which pays tribute to exemplars of the two-part “brother duet” singing style that first inspired the formation of the band.
Before they played in the High and Wides, Dyckman, Grower, and Guthridge, were all part of the popular band Chester River Runoff.
The High and Wides band members are Marc Dykeman (guitar, vocals), Sam Guthridge (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Nate Grower (fiddle), and Mike Buccino (bass).
The concert is sponsored by the town of Chestertown and the Kent County Cultural Alliance.
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