Wolf Trap has announced the initial lineup for the 2017-2018 season at The Barns, its 382-seat indoor venue. More than 60 performers will take the stage from mid-October to April, with more dates to be announced every two weeks starting Sept. 5. Shows announced today cover a range of genres, from rock and country to R&B and world music, including many award-winners and Barns debuts.
Country and folk artists Maggie Rose, Joan Shelley and Justin Townes Earle will perform in the fall. Returning bluegrass group Mountain Heart will perform on Oct. 12; Grammy Award-winner Rodney Crowell will perform on Nov. 2; country-rock singer-songwriter JD Souther will perform on Nov. 8; and the fiddle-centric Quebe Sisters will hit the stage on Nov. 17. Folk singer Loudon Wainwright III also returns to the Barns on Nov. 30.
There are also performances for rock fans. Max Weinberg, leader of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, will perform a set of classic-rock hits ranging from Springsteen to The Rolling Stones on Oct. 11. Fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby (who we spoke to ahead of his appearance at the Birchmere last year) will do a two-night stand from Nov. 28-29 as part of his David Crosby & Friends Tour, and blues-rock band Tommy Castro and the Painkillers will make their Barns debut on Oct. 13.
There will also be shows catered toward Broadway and classical music fans. Broadway devotees and fans of American Horror Story and Gossip Girl will be treated to performances by Aaron Tveit and Cheyenne Jackson. Chamber musicians Lara St. John and Matt Herskowitz, respectively on violin and piano, will perform on Oct. 20. Rising young ensemble Attacca Quartet will perform on Nov. 5, and pianist John Eaton will showcase his talents on the keys on Nov. 19.
Psychedelic jazz band Troker will perform Oct. 18, and esteemed flamenco guitarist Paco Pena will perform on Oct. 19. Ensemble groups like Pakistan’s Sachal Ensemble and fusion group Red Baraat will hit the stage on Oct. 27 and Nov. 10, respectively. Grammy-winning husband-and-wife duo Herb Alpert and Lani Hall will perform on Nov. 13 and 14. On Feb. 5 and 6, South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (who we spoke to prior to their Birchmere show earlier this year) will showcase the vocal talents that made them Grammy winners.
Neo-soul singer Bernhoft will perform on Nov. 1, and R&B singer-songwriter Son Little will perform on Oct. 25.
Tickets go on sale to the general public Aug. 11 and are available now for select Wolf Trap members.
