The first-ever Brilliant Baltimore—the lovechild of the Light City and the Baltimore Book festivals—will kick off this weekend with 10 days of free activities along the Inner Harbor. From November 1 through November 10, catch local musicians performing live outside at the main Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage adjacent to the Maryland Science Center, as well as other locations throughout the neighborhood. Here are more than a dozen not to miss.

Marian McLaughlin
11/1, 12 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
Start things off with a mid-day set by this dynamic chamber-folk singer-songwriter. Combining acoustic instruments, stream-of-consciousness storytelling, and a focus on the natural world, her poetic music is a meditative listen in this fast-paced world.

Afro House
11/2, 8 p.m., pop-up performances
This inventive performance art group (and Best of Baltimore winner) brings its Astronaut Symphony—a futuristic fusion of beat box, opera, punk, and funk—to the city streets with roaming performances around the harbor on Saturday evening.

Rufus Roundtree & Da B’More Brass Factory
11/3, 4:30 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
Keep the Sunday scaries at bay with an afternoon powerhouse performance by this funk-fueled Baltimore institution, always bringing a Charm City-meets-New Orleans get-down that should incite a second line.

Outcalls

11/3, 7:30 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
Behold the vocal power of Britt Olsen-Ecker and Melissa Wimbish. The two classically trained opera singers make up this pop-opera duo, as they’ve called it, bringing ethereal harmonies, synth-power ballads, and all-around female empowerment to every stage they play.

Abdu Ali

11/3, 9 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
This avant-garde rap artists first captivated the city’s art scene as the MC of their Kahlon dance parties at The Crown. Years later, Abdu Ali’s talents have only continued to grow, as has their stage presence, with their live performances now backed by a full band and more fiery energy than ever before.

Clarence Ward III & Dat Feel Good
11/6, Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage, 7:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, this skilled Baltimore brass player takes to the stage with his full band for, as the name rightfully implies, a feel good show filled with influences by jazz, hip-hop, and funk. Ward himself commands the horn and saxophone, while his bandmates keep the vibes high on keys and drums.

MovaKween
11/7, 9 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
This New Age R&B singer offers a smooth way to slide into the weekend, with jazz-infused melodies, earthy vocals, and an empowering message for all listeners, especially women, on Thursday night.

Wendel Patrick
11/8, 5 p.m. Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage.
It’s hard to know exactly what type of music this composer, producer, rapper, radio host, and more will be bringing to this Friday evening set. But we do know, no matter what, this Baltimore music veteran and mad scientist is sure to be a showstopper.

Super City

11/8, 7:30 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
A perfect way to kick off your Friday night, this infectious indie-pop band puts on one of the best live shows in the city with high-powered hits (new go-tos like “Stay” and old favorites like “Artificial Sin”) and killer choreography (fancy feet, low-low dips) that make it impossible to not dance along.

Billy Price & The Charm City Rhythm Band
11/9, 6:15 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
This veteran blues-and-soul singer brings his six-piece band for an old-school sound and Saturday night shakedown fit for all ages. A newcomer to Baltimore, Price brings funky grooves, rollicking rock-and-roll numbers, and soulful, belt-out ballads.

Joy Postell
11/10, 6:15 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
One of the most soulful voices in the city, Postell packs a punch on every song she performs, be it socially minded hip-hop tracks, jazzy neo-soul croons, or old-school R&B slow jams. Prepare to be mesmerized.

Patrick McAvinue

11/10, 7:30 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
This young musician is quickly becoming one of the most regarded bluegrass fiddle players with national awards and a regular gig at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. Expect a Sunday set of fast-flying, feel-good tunes when he comes back to his Baltimore roots.

Eze Jackson & The Backwudz Band

11/10, 9 p.m., Brilliant Baltimore Concert Stage
A guiding force of the local music scene, this dynamic rap artist and front-man of hip-hop collective Soul Cannon will perform with his Backwudz band for a Sunday evening set of high-octane energy and only-in-Baltimore rhymes.

Ami Dang

Parted Plains

Over eight years on
the local scene, Ami Dang’s music has been one of transcendence—transcending boundaries in its fusion of North Indian classical music and Baltimore DIY, and transcending its listeners to higher states and the further reaches of their minds. This new instrumental record, rooted solely in sitar and electronics, takes her trance-like compositions a step further, drawing inspiration from Eastern folktales, specifically in translation—stories, much like her music, that straddle two worlds. Permeating, undulating, rising and falling like smoke and dust, these ambient soundscapes set the score for a boundless epic that has yet to
be told, evoking both unseen landscapes and characters from another lifetime that it almost feels as if we already know. An Oberlin Conservatory grad and 2019 Baker Artist Award finalist, Dang is
a folklorist for the 21st century, looking to the past to make music for the future, and an artist to follow in Baltimore.

Patrick McAvinue

Perfect Fit

For the past 15 years, Patrick McAvinue has been a rising star in
the bluegrass world, first finding his string instrument at age 6 before joining some
of the region’s best bands, from Smooth Kentucky to Charm City Junction, ultimately ending up Fiddle Player of the Year according to the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2017. But this third offering is not your typical bluegrass record. Instead, the Baltimore County native, who now resides in Nashville, where he’s a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, uses his bow to cut through traditional ballads and jigs before weaving in other styles: Celtic tunes, Django jazz, classical music, modern rock, and Latin flair. In turn, he takes his old-school genre and turns it on its head, evolving it outwards and showcasing his versatility, virtuosity, and just how far the fiddle can go.

See our full interview with Patrick McAvinue.

For the past 15 years, Patrick McAvinue has been a rising star in the bluegrass world, first finding his string instrument at age six in Baltimore County before joining some of the region’s best string bands (see Smooth Kentucky, then Charm City Junction) and ultimately working his way to to the national stage and being named Fiddle Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2017. In fact, fusing his traditional sound with a medley of other influences, many consider the virtuosic musician a sort of best-kept secret of Americana. Though he now resides in Nashville, where he’s a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, McAvinue can still often be found in Baltimore, which he continues to credit as his home. On the heels of the release of his third solo record, Perfect Fit, we caught up with the fiddler to talk about his musical upbringing and evolving his old-school genre outwards for the entire world.

What does Perfect Fit refer to?
It’s a culmination of all the things that have come together in my life up until this moment. All the people I’ve met and artists I’ve been able to work with. I’ve been on the road since I was a teenager. My first tour was with Audie Blaylock at age 16. Then in college at Towson University, where I studied music, I learned about Bach and Coltrane and all these different techniques that I would then try to play at bluegrass festivals. In Charm City Junction, we tried to explore each other’s music in ways that respected tradition while pushing boundaries to create something new. I got the call from [national bluegrass band] Dailey & Vincent in 2016, so I moved to Nashville. I bought a house and just got married. All of these things have formed me as a musician. I’ve learned so much. And these tunes are diverse, but somehow, they fit together.

Do you consider this a bluegrass record?
It’s an expansion. No matter what, I’m a bluegrass musician. That’s what I’ve done all my life. But the music has to evolve. Bluegrass is still alive, still growing, and it’s made up of so many amazing pastimes—Old-Time Appalachian music, Celtic and [British] Isles music, the Mississippi Delta blues. Even Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, was just trying to form his own sound. I don’t want to be a torch-bearer, but I am by default because I’ve been playing this for a long, long time. The music I’m creating is music of the people . . . That’s something I want to champion for myself and for my own music students: keep your ears open and let the outside world influence what you do and how you create.

You discovered bluegrass at a young age, when so many other kids are fawning over electric guitar. What was it about the genre for you?
To me, it was electric. When you listen to Earl Scruggs’ banjo, it is as exciting as a Keith Richards or Eric Clapton guitar solo. It’s like Stevie Ray Vaughn music to me. It’s got that explosive power, and when I was a kid, that’s what I heard. But what really got me was when I was about six years old; I was at my friend’s house and his father yelled to him, ‘Hey Wills,’ grab your fiddle, let’s play something for Pat.’ They played the mandolin together and I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ From there, I went down a rabbit hole, then I went to college and studied music, and my interest exploded even more. It was coming into a consciousness. Your mind starts to expand, and you start getting a wider perspective of the world, and what your part is.

Speaking of the world, you include a number of other musical influences on this album outside of traditional bluegrass.
I spent a month in Ecuador on tour in 2012 and I got to work with these musicians and see how they feel rhythm in choro music. And at Towson University, my classical professors had a huge impact on me, too. I would listen to Bach, Debussy, Beethoven, even early Gregorian chant. I had a chance to study other worlds of music that are completely separated by culture and time and let them influence what I do. That was something I really wanted to champion for myself, and that I now want to champion for my own music students: keep your ears open and let the outside world influence what you do and how you create. It’s really important for me to be a broader part of the world community of music.

That being said, you’ve seen Baltimore’s music scene evolve so much over the last 15 years. Do you still find inspiration here?
I’m continually inspired by the artists and people who are creating in Baltimore and getting to see so many of my friends taking their own approach to music continues to influence me, too. The people of Baltimore are very open and appreciative of art and self-expression. They let you be you, and have a good time doing it. Those are traits I take with me everywhere I go. At the end of the day, even though I hang my hat in other places, Baltimore is my home and always will be.