High 48s to Perform in Music in the Park August 21

   The final concert for the Music in the Park summer concert series will feature The High 48s on Sunday, August 21, in Longville. The two-hour concert starts at 5 p. m. at the gazebo in the park area of Salem Lutheran Church, 1340 County Road 5.

   Since forming in northeast Minneapolis in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude. They’re a band with one foot in tradition and the other in the world of music today, and one of the very few who can find an overlooked bluegrass classic in a song by M. Ward or the Clash then throw down hard on a standard by Bill Monroe.

   They take a modern approach, heeding the well-worn advice to writers: write what you know. Their songs ring true to their lives as northern city-folk rather than an imagined “sweet, sunny south” of coal mines and dark hollers. This award-winning group includes Rich Casey, bass; David Robinson, mandolin/vocals; Clint Birtzer, guitar/vocals; Eric Christofer, fiddle/vocals; and Anthony Ihrig, banjo/vocals.

   In addition to keeping up a busy performing schedule, the High 48s are passionate about music education and in demand as instructors, teaching one-on-one, online and in workshops and jam camps around the country, including their now twice-yearly bluegrass jam camp for kids, Grass Seeds Academy.

   The band takes its name from railroad slang for the boxcars originally used to transport troops on the front lines in WWI that could carry 40 soldiers or 8 horses, and were later used in the US on fast-moving “hot shot” freight trains by train-hoppers looking for work during the Great Depression.

   Admission is free, but free-will donations are appreciated. Bring your own lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets. Popcorn and lemonade is available. In case of rain, the concert will be held in the church. Music in the Park is a community outreach activity of Salem Lutheran Church and supported by the Longville Area Community Choir. It is funded in part with grants from the Longville Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, Longville Foundation and Lake Country Power.