Nothing Is Better Than Two Banjos: Bill Evans & Alan Munde

Join us at the Floyd Country Store on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm for a live concert with Bill Evans & Alan Munde. Tickets are $25 general admission, $30 reserved seating, available for sale online and in the store.

Bill Evans and Alan Munde, two legends of bluegrass banjo and recipients of the 2021 and 2022 Steve Martin Banjo Prize, join forces performing bluegrass, old-time, jazz and much more from their new recordings Excelsior and Things Are Simple in their first-ever East Coast duo tour.

Alan Munde began his long career in bluegrass music with the 1968 recording of Poor Richard’s Almanac featuring Sam Bush and Wayne Stewart, followed by a traditional grounding in bluegrass music as a member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys. In 1972, Alan joined his college picking friend Byron Berline in the forward-leaning bluegrass group Country Gazette. Alan continued as the anchor of the group for 21 years. Along the way, he recorded many classic bluegrass banjo albums including Banjo Sandwich, and the Festival Favorites series. His most recent recording, Excelsior, is perhaps the most wide-ranging of his career, earning rave reviews from all over the world. Alan Munde is one of the most influential bluegrass banjo players of all time and this is his first East Coast concert tour in many years. To learn more, visit almundesbanjocollege.com and freshgrassfoundation.org/steve-martin-banjo-prize/alan-munde/ .

Bill Evans has been involved with bluegrass music and the banjo for over forty-five years as a player, teacher, composer, writer and historian and he’s moved recently moved back to Central Virginia after 35 years in California, Kentucky and New Mexico. He is celebrated worldwide for both his traditional and progressive bluegrass banjo styles and his innovative original compositions and he is also an expert in 19th and early 20th century banjo performance. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1978, he co-founded the band Cloud Valley, featuring bassist Missy Raines and mandolin player Steve Smith. In the 1980’s, he curated the first bluegrass concert series to feature nationally touring artists at the C & O Restaurant and was a popular radio host on WTJU, WPED and WINA. He left Virginia for graduate school in Berkeley, CA and since that time, he has performed with David Grisman, Peter Rowan, David Bromberg, Jody Stecher, Tony Trischka, Darol Anger and many others. He has recorded four critically acclaimed solo recordings, including Things Are Simple and The Banjo in America, a DVD/CD set covering music from the 1780’s to the present day and he hosts five instructional courses for Peghead Nation. To learn more, visit billevansbanjo.com and freshgrassfoundation.org/steve-martin-banjo-prize/bill-evans/ .