We just received word of this special holiday concert tour. The tour will consist of a set of music performed by Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and a set by Peter Rowan. There will also be extensive collaboration between the artists. Keel calls his music New Mountain Music, and Peter Rowan combines bluegrass, blues, and reggae into a sound all his own. The holidays are all about congregation and celebration and these two pickers are doing just that.

Only five stops are planned on this tour so if you’re interested you’ll need to act now. Here are the tour dates.

• 12.13.06 Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA
• 12.14.06 Freebird Live in Jacksonville, FL
• 12.15.06 Pour House in Charleston, SC
• 12.16.06 Rafters in St. Simons Island, GA
• 12.17.06 Gottrocks in Greenville, SC

Here’s a press release with some great background info about both Keel and Rowan.

Connecting traditional songs of yesterday with their own original and inventive sounds of today, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge create astonishingly powerful acoustic music rich in heritage, heart and hot licks! With a style that evokes both atomic rock energy and dynamic tonal purity, Keel and his ensemble are intent upon taking their instruments and their voices to their fullest potential for emotion and amazement. While paying respect to the legacy left by the forefathers of bluegrass, Keel bridges the gap between traditional and contemporary American Mountain Music. Larry Keel & Natural Bridge includes flatpicking guitar master Larry Keel (guitar, vocals), Jenny Keel (bass fiddle, vocals), Jason Flournoy (banjo, vocals) and Mark Schimick (mandolin, vocals).

A major cult figure among progressive bluegrass aficionados, Peter Rowan is an icon figure among musicians and fans alike. His musical resume reads like the success story that so many acoustic musicians strive for. In the mid ‚Äò60s, Rowans professional musical career started on the acoustic runway as a member of Bill Monroe’s famous Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass had always been a staple in Peter’s life, and now he was performing with the father of it. After a 4 year stint as Monroe’s guitar player and vocalist, he left to the Blue Grass Boys to team up with mandolin virtuoso David Grisman. Together they formed the eclectic, progressive-minded folk-rock band Earth Opera, who released two albums and often opened for the Doors. Later in the early ‚Äò70s, Grisman and Rowan teamed up with Vassar Clements and Jerry Garcia to form the bluegrass outfit, Old and In the Way. With several recordings released this band stands as one of the most popular bluegrass groups in history.

In 1974, Rowan, Grisman, Clarence White and Richard Greene formed Muleskinner. Considered yet another bluegrass all-star band, Muleskinner released one album. After the untimely death of Clarence White, Muleskinner disbanded. He then reunited the Rowan Brothers, who this time played together until the early ’80s. Meanwhile, Rowan also began playing rock and bluegrass with Mexican Airforce, which featured accordion player Flaco Jimenez. In the mid-’80s, he and Jiminez again reteamed to record Flaco Jiminez and Peter Rowan: Live Rockin’ Tex-Mex. He founded the Nashville-based Wild Stallions in 1983, and throughout the ’80s and ’90s continued to work with a variety of musicians and tour as a solo act. Today, Peter Rowan tours in several different outfits. One tour you may see his reggae / bluegrass inspired outfit, Crucial Reggae. On another tour, you may see a more traditional Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet.