Bluegrass in New York

The Deadly Gentlemen I The Vespers Play Mad. Sq. Music: The Studio Series Final Concert of the Season Saturday October 6th

WHAT: Madison Square Park Conservancy and The Baisley Powell Elebash Fund present the 2012 Mad. Sq. Music: The Studio Series to promote and foster a legacy of American music through free, live music performances on Saturday afternoons. Set against the fall foliage of Madison Square Park, the intimate Studio Series atmosphere creates a beautiful space for artists to share the tradition of their craft. The fourth and final event this season on October 6 presents The Deadly Gentlemen at 4pm and The Vespers at 3pm. Some seating at café tables is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Concertgoers can enjoy food offerings from acclaimed chef Zakary Pelaccio and his team at Fatty Crew (Fatty Crab and Fatty ‘Cue). All shows are rain or shine.

The Deadly Gentlemen – 4PM
Led by Greg Liszt, acclaimed Crooked Still banjo player, and originally formed as an experimental spoken word bluegrass band, this wildly innovative group has evolved into master purveyors of epic folk and grasscore. The Deadly Gentlemen use nonstop orchestration of somewhat unconventional vocals, with everybody in the band doing everything they can. Expect a lot of three-part harmony singing, group shouting, really dense rhymes and an almost rap-like phrasing. Rounding out The Deadly Gentlemen with Liszt is Stash Wyslouch, guitar and vocals; Mike Barnett, fiddle and vocals; Dominick Leslie, mandolin and vocals; and Sam Grisman, double bass and vocals. Their versatile songs can be described as a kind of a rock ‘n’ roll feel, despite the acoustic bluegrass instrumentation with a splash of the punk orhardcore mentality.

The Vespers – 3PM
The Vespers are one of those lucky young bands who are becoming a word of mouth sensation though they’ve only quietly self-released one record. With two sisters on lead vocals and two brothers filling out the sound, the foursome are distinguished by an arsenal of instruments and the kind of harmony only siblings can create. They have toured from Boston to Austin, hitting everything from festivals to college campuses in between. On The Fourth Wall, out April 3rd, they create infectious folk-pop with both the buoyancy of youth and deeper spiritual themes. They believe “folk and roots music tend to draw from spiritual themes. We don’t run away from our faith when writing, because that’s where our hearts are planted.”

WHERE: Mad. Sq. Music: The Studio Series takes place on the Southern Gravel of Madison Square Park near Shake Shack. Enter the park on 23rd Street and Fifth or Madison Avenue.

WHEN: This Saturday, October 6 from 3pm–5pm