The Becky Buller Bluegrass Band will perform at 7 p.m., Saturday, July 24, at the Blue Ridge Music Center. Laurelyn Dossett will open the concert in the outdoor amphitheater at the base of Fisher Peak. The Music Center is at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer Becky Buller has traversed the globe performing bluegrass music. She plays everything from straight ahead traditional bluegrass numbers to more modern bluegrass arrangements featuring her songwriting.
Buller is the recipient of 10 IBMA awards, including the 2020 Collaborative Recording of the Year for “The Barber’s Fiddle,” the 2020 Song of the Year for cowriting and fiddling on Special Consensus’ Chicago Barn Dance, and the 2016 Fiddler of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year awards. She was a 2020 nominee for SPBGMA’s Fiddle Player of the Year and worked as a musician and songwriter on three albums nominated for 2020 Grammys.
Buller and the band just released Distance and Time, her third album for the Dark Shadow Recording label.
Opening the show is singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett. Living and writing in the Piedmont of North Carolina, Dossett’s songs tend to reflect the stories of the region, both traditional and contemporary.
One of the most sought-after voices in creative collaborations, she cofounded Polecat Creek with singing partner Kari Sickenberger in 1997. Dossett is a frequent performer at regional music festivals such as MerleFest and has been a guest on the radio show Prairie Home Companion. She has also toured with folk legend Alice Gerrard and songwriter Diana Jones.
In recent years, Dossett has partnered with Triad Stage’s Preston Lane on five plays featuring regional folklore and original music: Brother Wolf (2006), Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity (2006), Bloody Blackbeard (2008), Providence Gap (2010) and Snow Queen (2013). An adaptation of Bloody Blackbeard toured North Carolina schools in 2009, and both Brother Wolf and Beautiful Star are published by Playscripts and have gone on to have professional productions in cities across the U.S. A song from Brother Wolf, “Anna Lee,” was featured on Levon Helm’s Grammy-winning record, Dirt Farmer, is included in the documentary film about the musician’s life, titled Ain’t In It For My Health. She is also featured on the 2011 Grammy-winning CD Levon Helm’s Ramble at the Ryman.
Tickets are $20 for adults, children 12 and younger are admitted free. Tickets are available online in advance through BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org, and will also be sold at the admission gate on the evening of the show. Parking opens at 5:15 p.m. on the day of the show, and the admission begins at 5:45 p.m.
The Music Center is taking several precautions during concerts to make the experience as safe as possible for visitors. Those who have a fever, cough, aches and pains, loss of smell or taste, difficulty breathing, or are sneezing and coughing, are asked to please stay at home.
We highly recommend that concert attendees follow these guidelines:
Maintain six feet of distance between groups throughout the evening, including when standing in line and selecting seating locations in the amphitheater.
When in high traffic areas, we highly encourage concertgoers to wear masks to protect others.
For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.
About the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
Since 2013, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has supported musical programming at the Blue Ridge Music Center to help preserve the cultural heritage of the mountains. The Foundation is the primary nonprofit fundraising partner, 501(c)(3), of the Blue Ridge Parkway, helping ensure cultural and historical preservation, natural resource protection, educational outreach, and visitor enjoyment now and for future generations. For more information, visit BRPFoundation.org.