Bluegrass duo to perform at Templar’s Hall Friday

Friday night will be filled with music, thanks to Janet Beazley and Chris Stuart, who will be performing their original bluegrass music at 7:30 p.m. at Templar’s Hall in Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road.

The concert is being put on by the San Diego Folk Heritage. Tickets are $15 for SDFH members and $18 for non-members, and will be available at the door. This is an all-ages event.

Based out of Del Mar, the duo is well known to Poway for their harmony singing classes and Slow Jam sessions, held in Old Poway Park. They also previously performed at the Poway Library this summer as part of the library’s Acoustic Showcase concert series.

The duo has been performing together in bands for about a dozen years, and have toured the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. Several years ago, they decided to focus on performing as a duo, which made it easier to tour and focus on their original songs.

Stuart is also well-known as a songwriter, and many bluegrass musicians perform his original songs. He and Beazley formerly performed in the group Chris Stuart & Backcountry, a 5-piece bluegrass band.

The duo has recorded seven albums together, both as Chris Stuart & Backcountry and performing on each other’s solo albums, but haven’t yet released an album as their duo.

Stuart plays guitar and banjo, and Beazley plays banjo and penny whistle.

When the duo isn’t performing, they’re teaching music instead. Beazley teaches bluegrass banjo, penny whistle, recorder, flute and viol to players at all levels of expertise. Chris teaches bluegrass rhythm guitar, songwriting, and beginner’s old-time banjo.

The duo also teaches bluegrass harmony singing, and lead the Bluegrass Slow Jam the first Sunday of each month, and Old-Time Slow Jam on the second Sunday. These events, which are done through the Poway Folk Circle, feature musicians playing songs slowly, so beginners can learn the songs more easily.

In 2009, with co-writer Ivan Rosenberg, Staurt received the award for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Song of the Year for “Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away,” recorded by Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass. He has taught rhythm guitar and songwriting at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the American River Music Camp, the California Bluegrass Association music camp, Sorefingers Bluegrass Week in the UK, and the Augusta Heritage workshop in West Virginia.

Beazley is an expert on renaissance and baroque performance practice, and holds a doctorate in early music performance from USC. She teaches early music at UC Riverside and Claremont Graduate University. She performs on baroque flute and recorder with Bach Collegium San Diego and other renaissance and baroque chamber ensembles in Southern California.

For more information, visit sdfolkheritage.org/events/chris-stuart-janet-beazley.