Not one but two evenings of unfettered invention await you! Pioneering fiddle maestro Darol Anger and his ground-breaking Republic of Strings take the Freight to places it's only been in its wildest dreams as they celebrate the release of a new album, (Compass).

Violinist, fiddler, composer, producer and educator, Darol Anger is famous as a creator of innovative string techniques. For over two decades Darol has continually reinvented the American string ensemble to incorporate his explorations into American traditional, bluegrass, jazz and world music in groups he helped found such as the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss, Newgrange and Montreux.

This time around, the ensemble features co-founders Darol and virtuoso acoustic guitarist Scott Nygaard, plus two new Republic citizens, three-time National Fiddle Champion Tristan Clarridge on cello and fantastic fiddler Gabriel Witcher. On a mission to explode the limits of tradition, these four awesome musicians redefine the boundaries of the string quartet and the string band, bringing the two forms together and radically altering standard repertoire and technique.

Darol's award-winning original compositions and Scott's own intriguing tunes, along with a selection of traditional music from Appalachia, Sweden, Brazil, Mali, and elsewhere, showcase the ensemble's virtuosity, open-heartedness, and irresistible sense of fun.

But wait, there's more! Just to take things completely over the top, these Freight shows will also be graced by the presence of an incredible vocalist, Chris Webster. Familiar to many from her performances with her sister Cassie, and Scott Nygaard, and as the lead singer of the dance band Mumbo Gumbo, Chris' soulful singing also appears on the new ROS CD.