Expect plenty of picking-and-grinning on March 19 when the music-loving family that has brought the world Hardly Strictly Bluegrass joins with friends for the Hellman Winter Stomp, an evening of American roots music, featuring the kids, grandkids and friends of the late Hardly Strictly Bluegrass founder Warren Hellman, at the Sweetwater Music Hall on March 19.
Since the 2011 passing of Warren Hellman, the financier and philanthropist who called the free, three-day festival he created in 2000 the “world’s most selfish gift,” his musically-inclined family members have formed their own bands and performing on the small stages at HSB and elsewhere as Marco and the Polos, the Well Known Strangers and more. They do so with a tongue-in-cheek motto: “Four great bands, four great chords.”
The evening of American roots music will feature the Go To Hell Man Band – the children, grandchildren, friends and band mates of the late, great Warren Hellman, founder of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. The band was formed so that his family could carry forward their own expression of roots and Americana music, which Warren so loved and worked so hard to bring to larger audiences. There are now five separate Hellman combos, most of whom will be performing at this semi-annual Hellman Stomp. This promises to be a fine and fun evening of music and surprises, including special guests, The Quitters, consisting of a right-side up finger picker (Stevie Coyle), an upside-down flat picker (Glenn “Houston” Pomianek), and an upright bassist (Chris Kee). They were the three original members of The Waybacks quintet.
Doors open at 5:30 pm; music starts at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $20 per person. Sweetwater Music Hall is located at 19 Corte Madera Avenue in Mill Valley.
The 411: The Hellman Spring Stomp, featuring the kids, grandkids and friends of the late Hardly Strictly Bluegrass founder Warren Hellman, hits the Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Avenue on Feb. 23. Tix $20. Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Avenue, Mill Valley. MORE INFO & TIX.