Thursday, June 28
International Slide Styles, 8 pm
Joseph F. Wheeler Theater
General Admission: $10
• Mary Lucey with Billy Cardine
• Hannes Coetzee

The sweet sounds of east Indian-infused North Carolina bluegrass, followed by the sensational South African optel-en-knyp guitarist who plays with a teaspoon held in his mouth.

Mary Lucey is a singer, guitarist, and bass player for the bluegrass band The Biscuit Burners. She has also sung harmony with several bands throughout the United States. "I love traditional bluegrass," she says, "but I'm hungry to push the envelope." As writer Jonas Beals notes, the Biscuit Burners' star "is just starting to rise over the foothills of the west, and could streak across the heavens at any moment."

Billy Cardine's tone, timing, and technique have helped him emerge as one of the most cutting-edge dobro players today. Cardine released a solo CD, Organically Grown, in 2001, and in 2003 joined the popular bluegrass band the Biscuit Burners, with whom he has recorded two albums: their first, self-titled album, and 2005’s A Mountain Apart. Cardine has studied under east Indian guitar master Debashish Bhattacharya, and brings a strong Indian flavor to his dobro stylings.

Hannes Coetzee was born on a farm in the Western Cape region of South Africa and taught himself to play guitar on a three-stringed homemade guitar built from an oil can with cat-gut strings. Since meeting South African songwriter David Kramer, who will join him at the Festival, he has performed to sold-out crowds in every major South African city. This marks his first trip outside the borders of South Africa. Coetzee’s teaspoon guitar technique have made him a YouTube sensation. A single video of him playing has garnered nearly one million hits.

Tickets are available here or by calling Centrum at 360.385.3102, x117.