Saturday
Emcee: Celtic Musician & WRAL Anchor Bill Leslie

Bearfoot - 6 p.m.
     Telluride Bluegrass Band Champion Bearfoot is often compared to artists like Nickel Creek. Bearfoot has traveled from their native Alaska to many top theaters and festivals, including Merlefest and the IBMA Festival. Switching easily between airy Northern ballads and back-alley Southern blues, their music is underscored with bluegrass passion. They bring a remarkable breadth of rich, original songs to the stage, and their arrangements are fiery and inventive, with inspiring harmonies tying them together. Kate Hamre - acoustic bass, Odessa Jorgensen - fiddle, Mike Mickelson - guitar, Jason Norris - mandolin, Angela Oudean - fiddle

Tony Rice Unit - 7 p.m.
     A maverick of the flat-picked acoustic guitar, Tony Rice redefined guitar’s role in bluegrass music. As the first instrumentalist to seize upon the innovations of guitarists like Clarence White and Doc Watson, he propelled them into new flights of rhythmic, harmonic, and textural virtuosity and raised the bar for a new generation of acoustic six-stringers.

Tift Merritt - 8:15 p.m., with special appearance by Community Music School choir
     Singing a charming blend of country, rock and Southern rhythm and blues, Tift Merritt returns to the city where she grew up to join in a night of musical celebration.

Kris Kristofferson - 9:30 p.m.
     Legendary singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson sets his stories to music with an acoustic guitar, harmonica, and his distinctive voice. With multiple awards to his name, including the 2007 Johnny Cash Visionary Award from CMT, he is well known for his own music as well as for classics such as “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “For the Good Times,” and many others.

Sunday
Emcee: PineCone Bluegrass Show Deejays

Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass - 2 p.m.
     Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass get the afternoon going with their powerful, unadorned, traditional bluegrass. Another next generation band carrying on their families’ traditions, Danny and his brother Michael, the band’s bass player, are Bob Paisley’s sons. Bob grew up in Ashe County, N.C. and he formed and fronted the Southern Grass. Even at a young age, Danny and Michael were part of the band, as were TJ and Bobby Lundy, sons of Ted Lundy. Before the Southern Grass, Ted and Bob co-fronted the Southern Mountain Boys. The group received the 2009 IBMA Award for Song of the Year for their performance of "Don't Throw Mama's Flowers Away."

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper - 3 p.m.
     Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper perform blistering instrumentals along with tight vocal trios and duos and fiddle-and-banjo duets that echo the first-generation stars of bluegrass. Cleveland is a seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Fiddle Player of the Year award, winning his most recent honor at the 2009 IBMA Awards. Other honors he and his band received at the 2009 IBMA program were: Instrumental Group of the Year and Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year ("Jerusalem Ridge," from Rounder Records - Cleveland also has a producer credit for this song from the album Leavin' Town). In addition, Flamekeeper members Jesse Brock and Marshall Winborn each took home their first individual IBMA honors for Mandolin Player of the Year and Bass Player of the Year, respectively.

Dale Ann Bradley - 4:15 p.m.
     Dale Ann Bradley, three-time winner of IBMA’s Vocalist of the Year Award, infuses traditional bluegrass music with contemporary flare. Known for her distinctive, gentle vocal phrasing, with a voice that has been referred to as "shimmering," Bradley fills the stage with humor, grace, and integrity.She has been hailed by Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs as one of the greatest vocalists in country and bluegrass music.

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - 5:30 p.m.
     Ricky Skaggs is a 13-time Grammy Award winner whose name has become synonymous with both bluegrass and country music. With nearly 40 years in the music-making business, his songs transcend time and transport his audiences through the best of what bluegrass has to offer.

1 - Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts - Meymandi Concert Hall
Sat, Jan 30, 2010-Sun, Jan 31, 2010