Tune up your flat top, rosin up your bow, re-string your washtub and put on your best dress overalls. It's time for BREWGRASS! A Bluegrass and Microbrew Celebration.

If you're coming down from the hills for just one event this year, make sure it's Friday and Saturday, November 9th and 10th 2012 for the 9th annual BREWGRASS! where you're gonna find all kinds of great Bluegrass music and a load of great craft brewed beers.

3 Clubs, 7 Acts, 51 Handles. Hot Dang! Come and go all night to the Rockfish Grill, the Brown Lantern Ale House and H2O all within a two block stretch on Commercial Ave in Old Town Anacortes. Music will start each evening at 9 PM and finish around 12:30 AM.

Stay and Play for Brewgrass! at the top rated Ship Harbor Inn. Book your overnight accommodation and leave the driving to them! They'll shuttle you to and from Brewgrass! during the event weekend. Enjoy complimentary expanded breakfast each morning you stay.

If that aint enough, the nearby Cap Sante Inn is offering a discount on lodging with an advance reservation. Call 'em @ (360) 293-0602 and tell 'em your coming to town for Brewgrass!

Now check out this year's line up!

Friday 11/9
Brown Lantern - The Stilly River Band (9:30PM)
H2O - Spoonshine Duo with special guest Geoffrey Castle (9:30 PM)
Rockfish - Pearly Blue (9PM)

Saturday 11/10
Brown Lantern - The Shed Boys (9:30)
H2O - Spoonshine Duo with special guest Danny Barnes (9:30)
Rockfish - The Howdy Boys (9PM)

"A good song has a way of speaking to everybody" Danny Barnes says. "I have faith that more people are going to hear my songs, which is really what I have to offer. I'm not one of those virtuoso instrumentalists, I can't compete with those guys, but the one thing I can do is write really good songs."

Part Southern gentleman, part humble artist, Barnes is being more than a bit self-effacing with this statement. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and genre-bending artists of his craft, Barnes' musical interests are both varied and adventurous, and he incorporates that versatility into a progressive approach to an instrument that is musically polarizing and steeped in tradition. Although he demonstrates an appreciation for the history of the bluegrass, country, and folk music from which the banjo's reputation was born, his inventive take is what truly separates him from his contemporaries…using the banjo as his ‘weapon of choice' to play non-traditional music like rock, fusion, and jazz with electronic percussion and loop elements.

He has come to redefine the banjo's perceived image in an eclectic career for which genre definitions have merely been a polite suggestion. From his early days as the driving force behind the impressive Austin-based Bad Livers, a band of pioneering Americana missionaries, through a prolific solo career and the development of his trademark 'folkTronics' project, a startling approach that incorporates digital technology and various effect pedals to stretch the tonal range of the instrument, Barnes has always listened to his proudly offbeat inner voice.

His skills as an instrumentalist and his open embrace and infectious love of music for music's sake, have brought him to share the stage and record with a wide array of marquee artists that reads like a who's who among broad musical landscapes, ranging from bluegrass greats Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush, newgrass stars Yonder Mountain String band, to Americana artists Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, and Nickel Creek, to Jam friendly Gov't Mule, Leftover Salmon, and Keller Williams, to jazz and blues instrumentalists Bill Frisell, Chuck Leavell, and John Popper, to members of the punk and metal Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and Ministry.


Performing together for decades, the Stilly River Band delivers an exciting range of music, from bluegrass to progressive folk, Latin, Irish, rock and rhythm 'n blues. Their bluegrass arrangement of Sam & Dave's soul classic, Hold On, I'm Comin' will put a smile on your face for the rest of the day.

Known by some as "the bad boys of bluegrass", the Stillys play and eclectic mix of music from traditional bluegrass to other less conventional styles played in a bluegrass format that the band labels "rude grass."

The band features John Amber-Oliver on lead vocals and guitar, Jonathon Schneider on tenor harmonies and banjo, Stuart Torgeson on dobro and accordion, John Daugherty on vocals and stand up bass, Steve Stolpe on vocals and mandolin and Mike Schway on fiddle.

The Stilly River Band delivers accomplished musicianship, excellent vocal harmony and an always entertaining and unpredictable show. Looking for a cross between Earl Scruggs and the Tempations? These are your guys!


Geoffrey Castle is a pioneer on the electric six-string violin. From his beginnings as a street musician in New York City and Paris, he rose to play in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of M. Butterfly. A theme of Castle's career is to destroy people's pre-conceived notions of what is possible on a violin, which he does every time he takes the stage. A bandleader and solo artist—with several critically acclaimed releases on his own Twisted Fiddle Music label—Geoffrey Castle has also managed to share stages with an illustrious group of musicians including Blues Traveler, all of the original and current members of Heart, Buddy Miles, and Alan White of Yes.

As a show producer and band leader, Castle loves to bring this wide diversity of musical styles to his high-energy Celtic Celebrations. With a core band that includes Darin Watkins and Eric Robert, this power trio creates a sound that is as unique as it is crowd pleasing. (You can see video footage of this trio in action.) Special guests at the celebrations have included Alan White, Bernt Bodal, Beth Quist (Cirque du Soleil), and award winning Celtic dancers from the Comerford School of Irish Dance, and the nationally renowned Celtic trio the Gothard Sisters.

Castle's fresh approach to Celtic music is most evident on his latest release Streets of Inwood: Celtic Soul bringing a more urban, smooth, and bluesy approach to traditional Celtic material. Castle's solo debut, "Mist on the Mountain" was called "A pure, uncluttered masterpiece" by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. With all the critical acclaim that Castle has received for his recordings, it is always live performance that continues to be the focus of Castle's career. Trying to capture the energy of the live show has become a new focus, with a live recording at the beautiful Triple Door theater in the works for 2010.

"Jaw Dropping Rock Violinist" was the headline when a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News happened to catch Castle in action recently. With his diversity of styles and command of the instrument, Castle has been a favorite performer live on the air on stations as diverse as KWHL (Hard Rock), KMPS (Country - Seattle's #1 Station), KWJZ (Smooth Jazz), KZOK (Classic Rock), and many appearances on National Public Radio.


Pearly Blue is a northwest group founded in 2004 that specializes in a traditional bluegrass music. It's members are veterans of many top Washington bluegrass bands.

Guitarist and Anacortes resident Barry Brower has been at the core of many fine groups in addition to The Fossils. He also formed the Friends of Sally Johnson in the 1980s. Barry is a bluegrass writer and historian, and was a longtime emcee of KBCS Bluegrass Ramble.

  Jen Dunton is familiar to many Skagit Valley residents from her years of performing at the Rockfish Grill with the Dunton Sisters. She switches from guitar to bass in Pearly Blue but that sweet voice remains. The legendary Ralph Stanley said of her and sister Bev Dunton, "Those girls sure can sing!"  She has performed with the likes of Tony and Larry Rice and interviewed with major recording labels in Nashville.

Bill Scott is a longtime performer on the banjo in the Seattle area.  He has played in numerous bluegrass bands including the Fossils; the Howdy Boys; Mountain County Co-Op; and Sockeye.  Bill has played the banjo since the 1960s and is one of the few banjo players in the country to have mastered both "Scruggs style" and "Reno-style."  Bill teaches banjo on the side and lives in Innis-Arden. 

Mandolinist Loren Wohlgemuth had a seminal role in early Seattle bluegrass.  He was a member of Phil & Vivian Williams' Tall Timber in the 1960s.  Now a resident of the Skagit Valley, Loren also performed with an Oregon band, Columbia.  As the newest band member he brings an exceptional voice to Pearly Blue, and an equally impressive understanding of all bluegrass parts.

Fiddler and multi-instrumentalist Pete Martin Fiddler and multi-instrumental Pete Martin is a well-known Seattle musician who plays a variety of different styles of music including bluegrass, jazz, and Texas contest fiddle. He was the Adult Fiddle Champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho. He is a columnist for "Mandolin Magazine" and makes his living as a music teacher.


The Shed Boys are an acoustic quartet comprised of guitar, bass, fiddle and mandolin performing a mix of progressive and traditional bluegrass and old-time folk music.

Known for cranking out an onslaught of high-energy, toe-tapping fun featuring tight instrumental work and soaring vocal harmonies, they have been bringing audiences to their feet around the state of Washington at festivals, farmer's markets, private events and music clubs.

Their impressive repertoire interweaves old standards with fresh interpretations of contemporary hits, as well as a fine collection of original songs. Their sound is exciting and rich, sometimes laced with tragedy but always fun.

The Shed Boys are: Ben Bauermeister (fiddle); Adam Rauch, (bass); Glenn Greenwood (guitar) Stan Wentzel (mandolin). All four of them sing. The Shed Boys' recordings are available via CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheShedBoys) or by contacting them directly at info@shedboys.com.


The Howdy Boys play the music they love from the early days of Bluegrass and mix it up with Honky Tonk, Old Time Country, and original songs and tunes. Founded in 2008, The Howdy Boys is a meeting of the minds: four musical brothers, picking with the passion and energy to make the music sound as though it was written just yesterday.

Fiddler Doug Bright mastered Bluegrass, Country, and Old Time music at an early age and his playing has lit the fire under some great bands over the years. Longtime traditional bluegrass fanatic Jeff Broihier powers the band with his bass playing and high spirits and writes infectious classic-sounding material that grabs the heart and moves the feet. Banjo player and Tennessee native Jason Stewart, the most recent addition to The Howdy Boys, has a knack for playing just the right thing in any style, in any rhythm, at any speed. Rob Bulkley books the band, sings, picks insistent rhythm guitar and throws out the occasional soulful, bluesy solo.


Hailing from Anacortes and Seattle Washington, Spoonshine features the songwriting collaboration between Jacob Navarro (mandolin, guitar, vocals) and William Cook (upright bass, guitar, vocals). This album added guest musicians George Schwindt of Flogging Molly and Denali Williams of the Tacoma Symphony on drums, as well as Jakob Breitbach of the Blackberry Bushes on fiddle.

Spoonshine songs often reflect on life between the farm, the sea, and the mountains that surround their Northwest home. The title track, "Song of the Sockeye," is shaped from a poem found in an abandoned fishing cannery in Northern B.C., written by a gill-netter in 1940. It tells the tale of hard working fishermen and a dwindling run of once plentiful salmon: "So if life to you is worth something, then take it from me my friend, spending your days atop rolling waves can ruin you in the end. The sockeye don't return to Rivers Inlet anymore, the grizzly bears are hungry the fisherman are poor…."

With impassioned harmonies, powerful rhythms, and virtuosic guitar and mandolin, Spoonshine's new album brings what fans have already discovered at their dance-your-ass-off live shows to a finely produced collection of well crafted songs.

Produced by Adam Kasper (Soundgarden, Into the Wild soundtrack, REM, Cat Power, Pearl Jam), Spoonshine's new full length album, "Song of the Sockeye", bridges the gap between old-time and bluegrass-inspired folk music, with a full tilt high energy rock band.

What the press is saying:

"This EP is beautifully recorded and produced, highlighting the skills of each member while remaining simple. Stay close to this band; Spoonshine is the gold standard for Northwest folk and Americana." Adam Bates, What's Up Magazine (review of "Beloved Shadow" EP)

"With a thick, steady low end like Railroad Earth and a leader on mandolin/acoustic guitar that strongly recalls The Bad Livers, Spoonshine rumbled with all the growl and scrapple you'd ever want from a string band with rock leanings. With fierce picking that recalls Tim O'Brien in his youth and a voice that just might unleash hellfire one day, Jacob Navarro made one feel, by turns, that the grave loomed near or one had just gotten the best kiss they could remember in recent history…." Dennis Cook, Jambase. Dirty Impound