Hot Buttered Rum String Band's "high altitude bluegrass" is rooted in the high lonesome sound of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The band, which includes Bryan Horne on bass, Nat Keefe on guitar, Zachary Matthews on mandolin, and Erik Yates on accordion and woodwinds, recently released its debut album, Live at the Freight & Salvage, recorded on our stage last summer.

Philboyd Studge cooks up its unique recipe for "California Kitchen" bluegrass. Peter Seith on banjo, Matt Cunitz on guitar, Paul Finocchiarro on mandolin, Steve Adams on bass, and Alisa Rose on fiddle are fine instrumentalists and, beautiful harmony singers, with a knack for turning just about anything into earthy, down-home bluegrass.

Free Peoples fuse bluegrass, folk and jazz.The players -- guitarists Tim Sawyer and Johnny Downer and bass player Michael DiPirro -- present music from their recently released self-titled album.