Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
Duke’s Baldwin Auditorium, Durham
Friday, March 4, 2016
Earlier this month, the bluegrass stalwart Peter Rowan stopped in Durham for a performance at Duke. The show paired one of the more pristine, recognizable voices in bluegrass with one of the more acoustically sound venues in the region, the Baldwin Auditorium. Rowan was joined by a strong backing band with Keith Little on banjo, Paul Knight on bass, Chris Henry on mandolin, and Blaine Sprouse on fiddle.
The quintet kicked the evening off with “Doc Watson Morning,” an ode to a favorite son of North Carolina and a mentor to Rowan. Other highlights found Rowan digging deep into his catalog for “Trail of Tears,” the standard “Gotta Travel On,” and gospel number “I’m Lost, And I’ll Never Find My Way.” Perhaps the highlight of the night came at the very end with Rowan singing “O Freedom” a cappella. He left the stage in almost parade-like fashion, leading his band toward the exit as the crowd stood in applause.
Below are clips from the performance.
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, “O Freedom”
