PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — The Southern Maryland Bluegrass Concert Series features The Po Ramblin’ Boy’s on February 15. The show will take place at the Calvert Elks in Prince Frederick, located at 1015 Dares Beach Road. Each concert is set to begin at 2:00 PM.
In 10 years as a band, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys have covered a lot of miles. Their love of bluegrass — playing it, sharing it, growing it — has been the fuel for their remarkable journey through every corner of America and into the hearts of fans drawn to their hard-charging, true-blue sound.
“We live what we play and sing about,” says bandleader C.J. Lewandowski. Indeed, the band has weathered their fair share of the highs and lows that bluegrass songs are known for (except for the murders, of course). They’ve been road-weary, longing for home. They’ve felt the heartbreak of band members leaving and embraced the joy of welcoming new ones. They’ve worked hard to see their dreams come true, playing on some of music’s most celebrated stages. And they’ve been nominated for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album (2019’s Toil, Tears & Trouble) and for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award.
Amid all their travels, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys have seen every nook and cranny of the country, met people from all levels of society, and kept a keen eye toward the truth, which rings loud and clear in the songs they write. “Wanderers Like Me,” the title track from their most recent album and the band’s first No. 1 song on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart, shoots straight from the heart: “Wanderers like me don’t settle down for no one / don’t mind being lonesome, chasing dreams is all I ever need.”
Lately, they’ve been chasing their dreams in a new configuration, one that expands the band’s age span and geographical roots. Guitarist John Gooding from California and fiddle player Max Silverstein from “the great bluegrass state of Maine,” as the band likes to say during onstage introductions, are the newest additions, both in their twenties. They join Lewandowski on mandolin, Jereme Brown on banjo, and Jasper Lorentzen on bass, relative elders in their thirties.
Lewandowski describes this new chapter for the band as one of “expansion and growth.” There’s new energy for the group onstage, with appreciative glances and the occasional good-natured laugh between them as they play. They listen to each other and respond. And audience members feel like part of the conversation.
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys have always been known for barreling bluegrass forward, and as they move into their second decade as a band, they’re maintaining that momentum, both onstage and in the studio. Lewandowski envisions the band’s next project as “kicking it back to the beginning and cutting a record that is solid damn ’grass.” And then, of course, they’ll take it right back on the road, living what they sing about and sharing it with others, just the way they like it.
They are appealing to the younger audience and young at heart. They are taking bluegrass and putting it where bluegrass isn’t. Their true-blue sound is not about making Bluegrass different to attract more people, it’s about keeping it real and that is how they are attracting more people to their show.
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ latest full-length album is Wanderers Like Me, released in 2024 via Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The band’s latest single is “I’ve Always Been a Rambler.”
Now in its fourth year at the Calvert Elks, Southern Maryland Bluegrass series will continue to host leading artists. Upcoming acts include The Country Gentlemen Show featuring Calvert County’s Mike Phipps on March 22, Special Consensus on April 19, and closing out the series will be the rescheduled show of The Kody Norris Show on Sunday May 3.
Tickets for each concert are $23.00 per person, sold at the door but available for advance purchase. For more information, visit www.somdbluegrass.com or call 301-737-3004. Food will be available for sale from Noon til 2 pm and the show starts at 2 pm. The doors open at approximately 12:00.