Concerts are Saturdays at 7 p.m.
Tickets $15 in advance (and for members) or $18 at the door.
Select Your Tickets for Mount Vernon Concerts Here
RockvilleAlexandria
Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire joined forces on the music
scene in 1998. This confluence of two gifted musicians
has resulted in the internationally acclaimed duo,
Acoustic Eidolon.
Joe Scott performs on a unique, custom designed
double-neck guitjo, a
14-string banjo/guitar
combination. He began playing the
acoustic guitar at age
12 and took up the
banjo at 14. At age 23,
he attended the Guitar
Institute of Technology
in Hollywood, CA, where he studied with many of
the world’s finest guitar players. He also started
experimenting with different ways of stringing the
acoustic guitar. One of the ideas was based on
stringing the standard 6-string acoustic like a
5-string banjo. This was the beginning of the guitjo.
Hannah Alkire started playing the piano at the age of
4, then begged to play the cello at age 8. She studied
with Gabriel Magyar of the Hungarian String Quartet.
She also played in her school orchestra with her
sister Sabina, bluegrass great Alison Krauss and
Alison’s brother, Viktor Krauss. After graduating from
the University of Illinois and teaching French, English
and Spanish, Hannah moved to Colorado and began
playing in the Boulder Bach Festival, Colorado
MahlerFest, and in area symphony orchestras.
She also started playing with rock, funk, and
alternative groups, and was a founding member of the
Anasazi String Quartet, whose repertoire included
Dvorak, Zepplin, baroque and the The Grateful Dead.
Note: This is a special Friday concert. The start time is 7:30 p.m.
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“Superb musicianship, Joe’s quick humor, Hannah’s wall-to-wall smile and infectious charm, easy grace, and audience rapport. That’s Joe and Hannah, that’s Acoustic Eidolon.”
- - The News Reporter (Washington, GA)
New England native Bill Staines has spent five decades on the road singing his songs and entertaining audiences, starting with the Boston folk scene in the early 1960s. With his heartfelt songs, his warm, smooth baritone, his prowess on guitar, his charm and his gentle humor, Staines has come to be one of the most popular singers on the folk music circuit today. His radio and television appearances have included "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Mountain Stage." His songs have been recorded by musicians including Peter, Paul & Mary, Nanci Griffith, Priscilla Herdman and Jerry Jeff Walker. More than 80 of Staines' tunes have been published in songbooks.
Staines also has made his mark yodeling. He learned the traditional art by studying the recordings of great yodelers such as Jimmie Rodgers and Montana Slim. He won the National Yodeling Championship in Kerrville, Texas, in 1975, and has become a perennial instructor of yodeling workshops.
Staines has recorded 26 solo albums, including two children's recordings. Staines' discography lists 26 solo recordings, starting with "Bag of Rainbows" in 1966. His most recent release, "Old Dogs" (2008, Red House), is a fresh batch of new and cover songs written by such Americana notables as Guy Clark, Norman Blake and Elizabeth Cotten. He's also written four books, including a memoir, "The Tour: A Life Between the Lines" (2003) and "All God's Critters" (2009), a children's songbook based on his classic, "All God's Critters Have a Place in the Choir."
“Staines is one of the best songwriters in folk music today, penning lyrics that evoke a sense of place and
a generous spirit to go along with his pretty melodies.” - Associated Press
“His gentle lilting voice, spacious melodies and common-chord lyrics give his songs a homespun grace
that often belies his mastery of the folk form. He is such a pure pleasure too, people forget to notice how
damn good at the job of singer-songwritering he really is.” - New England Folk Almanac
