Maple Street Chapel to host Rick Faris Bluegrass Band CD release concert June 9
Maple Street Concerts in Lombard welcomes Rick Faris with his band for a bonus concert this season.
On Friday, June 9, the Rick Faris Bluegrass Band will perform a CD release concert for their upcoming album, "Uncommon Sky."
The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Maple Street Chapel, 200 S. Main St. in Lombard.
Rick Faris, the 2022 International Bluegrass Association's "New Artist of the Year" has released three singles from his upcoming album "Uncommon Sky": "The Power of Love," "Too Lonely, Way Too Long," (with Del McCoury), and "Don't Hold Back."
The full album will be released on June 9; this is Rick's third album on Dark Shadows Recording label.
Faris has been playing bluegrass music since he could talk. He got his first break when the bluegrass stalwart, Greg Cahill, called and asked him to audition for Special Consensus.
The job was to be transformative for Faris because Cahill hired him to play mandolin rather than the guitar he had been honing since he was a child.
With five weeks to learn the mandolin and win the audition, Rick Faris stepped into the next stage of his career. After six years, one Grammy nomination and 2 IBMA Awards, he switched back home to guitar and the band picked up another 3 IBMA Awards and a second Grammy nomination.
Faris spent a total of 11 years with the globetrotting Special Consensus. Under Greg Cahill, he learned the meaning of professionalism and giving back to the bluegrass community.
Rick signed a deal as a solo artist with Dark Shadow Recording in 2018 and released his debut album "Breaking in Lonesome" in 2019. With watertight harmony singers and mind-blowing pickers, Rick set out to show the world what his brand of Bluegrass sounds like. His second album, "The Next Mountain" (2021) garnered industry-wide attention with intense chart action and both SPBGMA and IBMA "Song of the Year" nominations as well as a "New Artist of the Year" win at IBMA 2022.
"When looking for a Chicago venue, Maple Street Concerts was among my top choices to debut the new album," Faris said. "I've been fortunate to have played their many times in the past with Special C and it's a wonderful space acoustically with great staff and audiences."
"Rick approached me about hosting a CD Release show for his latest recording," said Melissa Dagenhart, booker for Maple Street Concerts, "and I jumped on the opportunity. Rick is a stellar performer with a sweet tenor voice and topnotch musicianship."
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online now at www.maplestreetconcerts.org.
Pending availability, they will also be available at the door, 30 minutes before showtime, with cash or check only. Note: mask-wearing is recommended but not currently required for all events in the Chapel. The Chapel is accessible and air-conditioned.
For more information about Rick Faris, visit www.rickfaris.com.