Join us for the Winter Trad Extravaganza featuring Irish banjo whiz Sam Bartlett and his band, SUPERTRAD: accordionist Eric Schedler, percussionist Mark Hellenberg, and bassist Chris Westhoff, with performances by Logan County’s Bob Lucas, Athens County’s Pokey Hellenberg on ukulele, Bartlett Stuntology and a cranky show. Fun for the whole family! Something for everyone!

This special backstage show will be an informal and fun gathering celebrating around music, art and the beautiful darkness of winter.  Seating limited to 90.

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When Sam Bartlett was 9 his mother bought him a jawharp, but he really wanted to play the drums. So, she bought him drum… sticks and he played the couch, the dinner table, and dented all the lampshades. He did eventually get a snare drum but by this time parents were ready to move on and suggested the banjo.

Flash forward decades and Sam has been playing old-time and traditional music all over the world in dozens of configurations.

Sam primarily plays three traditional styles of music: Irish, old-time American, and contra dance tunes. Each has a distinct form. While Sam often stays in the pocket and form of each style, he also innovates, composing tunes that both adhere and nudge time-honored, unwritten rules.   His first solo album, Evil Diane, was  made along these lines, and included a musical virus in the structure that makes it difficult NOT to repeat the tune once it has ended. That album was profiled on NPR’s All Thing Considered Christmas Eve 2004, and is still regularly heard on that show.

Sam currently make most of his living touring the country playing for contra dances and conducted visual arts residencies.  He has been a regular guest in Logan County over the past 5 years working with LoCo Art youth.  “I gig with numerous musicians and bands, some of whom I have been playing with for over 20 years. But as my family expands, I love to be at home, torturing them with obscure banjo recordings, or practicing in the resonant bathroom while my son is in the tub.”