Mountain Heart is a band that works hard to entertain, with the focus put on bringing high energy to the stage and working as a team, with every excellent musician getting their shot in the limelight.   

MilkDrive’s latest album is called Waves and it swings with a fun, light and breezy mid-1960s feel. The band brings mostly original music to the table, but they will also put a jazzy twist on songs by The Beatles and others along the way.  

Sara Watkins has had a deceptively long career in music despite her young age. She came onto the scene as a member of the progressive Bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which featured her brother Sean Watkins and budding genius Chris Thile.   

The Punknecks’ bio doesn’t mince words. Calling themselves “Punky Tonkers,” Jason Punkneck is from Nashville while Polly Punkneck is from Kansas. The duo, along with their drummer Nick Punkneck, are apparently known for “a rowdy show of drinking, drugging, Jesus, smokin’ pot and living between heaven and hell.”   

When Tim O’Brien plays guitar, mandolin or fiddle, the result could generally be described as Bluegrass. But it also represents the breadth of his myriad influences and his startling ability to incorporate them into his personal style.   

The Del McCoury Band is one of the most celebrated Bluegrass acts to date, but to say they are just a Bluegrass band would be doing them a disservice.  

 If Radiohead is “Experimental Rock” then Punch Brothers are Experimental Bluegrass.  

Meth, liquor, hitchhiking, cheating and, of course, angels are just a few of the topics about which Old Crow Medicine Show enjoys singing. It sounds like a bad play on the topics of Country music, but it works for them — especially when you add in the banjo and that big ol’ bass.    

Remember a few years ago when you couldn’t walk into a Starbucks without hearing the words, “Three words that became hard to say/I and love and you?” At the time, you probably rolled your eyes, but The Avett Brothers ended up becoming kind of a big deal. While “I and Love and You,” as a song, was mostly mellow and Folk-ish, it’s far from a decent indicator of the sort of noise the Brothers are capable of creating.  

The local Roots music scene and its fans have a cool new music venue to check out. This Friday-Sunday is the grand opening of Plain Folk Café, a converted two-room schoolhouse (originally built in 1913) featuring coffee, beer, food and regular live music from area Folk, Bluegrass, Americana and acoustic acts.