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Hank, Pattie And The Current Meld Bluegrass With Bach

From left: Robert Thornhill, Pattie Hopkins, Ben Parker, E. Scott Warren, and Hank Smith
Courtesy of Hank, Pattie and the Current
From left: Robert Thornhill, Pattie Hopkins, Ben Parker, E. Scott Warren, and Hank Smith

Classically-trained violinist and fiddler Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw and bluegrass banjo player Hank Smith might seem like an unlikely duo. But Hank Smith grew up testing the limits of his instrument and bending the conventional genre in unexpected ways. 

Hank, Patty and The Current talk with Host Frank Stasio and they play live in our studio.

The two added Ben Parker on guitar, Robert Thornhill on mandolin and guitar, and E. Scott Warren on bass to create the fresh sound of Hank, Pattie and The Current, who will release a new album this September.

The band plays at Muddy Creek Music Hall in Winston Salem at 8 p.m. on Sept. 8, at the Fletcher Opera Theater for a CD release party at 8 p.m. on Sept. 22, and are showcase artists at the International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass in Raleigh from Sept. 26 to 30.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Hank, Pattie and The Current about their blended style and their latest songs. 

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Jennifer Brookland is a temporary producer for The State of Things.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.