An Evening with Tuba Skinny at the Blue Ridge Music Center

The Blue Ridge Music Center presents An Evening with Tuba Skinny at its outdoor amphitheater on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Milepost 213) just south of Galax, Va., just north of Mount Airy, N.C. and just east of Sparta, N.C.

For over a decade Tuba Skinny has grown steadily in popularity, releasing 12 albums and touring all over the world. They have attracted a wide variety of fans with the strength of their musicianship and the scope of their jazz and American roots music catalog. While the group has become known as world-class interpreters of traditional jazz, they have also branched out into jug band music, spirituals, country blues, string band music, ragtime, and New Orleans R&B. Their approach is a true reflection of Americana, encompassing the full genealogy of popular American music from an early 20th century perspective.

After a decade of playing (mostly) other artist’s songs, Tuba Skinny decided to fulfill a long-time dream with the release of “Magnolia Stroll” in 2022, their first album of all-original tunes. Featuring compositions from band members Shaye Cohn (band leader and cornet), Barnabus Jones (trombone), Todd Burdick (tuba), Craig Flory (clarinet), Gregory Sherman (guitar and vocals), Max Bien-Kahn (banjo), Robin Rapuzzi (washboard), and Erika Lewis (vocals and bass drum), the album is their love song to all the musicians, living and dead, who have inspired them, as well as to the neighborhoods of New Orleans that have nurtured them.