An Evening with Friends
Join us Sunday, May 3, for a celebration of our community, headlined by Grammy-nominated American roots music singer/songwriter and Carolina Friends School alum Robbie Fulks '80!
Everyone in the greater community is welcome to experience a night of bluegrass and Americana. Opening acts include the Upper School Bluegrass Ensemble and The Maudlin Brothers (including Tim Wells '86).
Concert Details
Doors open at 6:15 pm, show starts at 6:30 pm
Performing Arts Center
Carolina Friends School Main Campus
4809 Friends School Road, Durham NC 27705
General public tickets are $25 each, available in advance (link below) or at the door. Members of the Carolina Friends School community can access a special $15 offer through our online ticketing platform. Service fees are included in online ticket purchasing.
About the Artists
Robbie Fulks '80
Robbie has always been more than a conventional country singer and songwriter. After growing up in North Carolina and spending time in New York City, Fulks began his professional music career playing bluegrass in the band Special Consensus before emerging as a solo artist inChicago during the mid-1990s. His early albums received nationwide praise for blending a modern sensibility with honky-tonk country.
His creative partnership with the late Steve Albini resulted in a string of highly regarded albums, showcasing his sharp lyrical wit, sophisticated instrumentation, and inventive storytelling. Along the way, Fulks gained recognition for his instrumental virtuosity and powerful songwriting. Artists like Sam Bush, Andrew Bird, John Cowan, the Old97’s, and Hiss Golden Messenger have covered his songs. His creative ventures include an unhinged 2013 collaboration with the punklegends The Mekons, productions of albums by alt-country songwriters Brennen Leigh andDallas Wayne, and a fiery duo with rockabilly pioneer Linda Gail Lewis. Robbie also performs with comic improvisers; he is a regular at Second City’s holiday fundraisers and has shared thestage with talents like Michael McKean, Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, and Fred Armisen.
Throughout his career, Robbie has collaborated with some of music’s most distinguished artists, including Lucinda Williams, jazz violinist Jenny Scheinman, bluegrass pioneers Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, and Sierra Hull, singer Kelly Willis, NRBQ’s Al Anderson, and steel guitarist Lloyd Green. His latest album, Now Then, expands this circle with contributions from Scheinman, drummers Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello) and Jay Bellerose (Aimee Mann, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss), bassist Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann, Jeff Parker), keyboardist Wayne Horvitz (John Zorn, Bill Frisell), guitarists Duke Levine (Bonnie Raitt, Peter Wolf) and Kevin Barry (Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash), and accordionist Pepe Carlos (La Santa Cecilia), among many others. As an ensemble, they craft intertwined musical textures that drive each song’s rhythm, highlight their personalities, and add depth.
The Maudlin Brothers
The Maudlins perform vocal-oriented old-time string band music with a twist. While they play plenty of weepers as their name implies, be prepared to laugh, cry and sing along. Their rich vocal textures breathe new life into songs from the golden era of old-time music as well as from early bluegrass, the jubilee gospel quartet tradition, and even harmony yodeling cowboy style.
Drawing inspiration from such luminaries as Uncle Dave Macon, the Blue Sky Boys, the Stanley Brothers, the Golden Gate Quartet and the Sons of the Pioneers (among many others), the Maudlins perform with gusto and humor making for an energetic and exciting show not to be missed.
They are: Amy Davis, Dave Gardner, John Moore, Jon Newlin, Ed Norman & Tim Wells '86.
Upper School Bluegrass Ensemble
The Carolina Friends School Bluegrass Ensemble began playing together in the winter term of the '25-26 school year. Led by Upper School Music Teacher Carter Hodge, the band features six student musicians with a wide range of experience playing bluegrass/traditional music. Adah King (fiddle), Anika Moland (banjo), Lydia Crowley (mandolin), Maeve Emerson (bass), Phoebe Cheek (guitar), and Savannah McKenzie (bass) have been working together outside of class to refine their instrumental skills and harmony singing, both integral parts of bluegrass performance. The group is excited for the opportunity to share their passion for bluegrass and be a part of Carolina Friends School's rich musical tradition.