ROCKPORT —Max Wareham and The National Bluegrass Team will perform Friday, June 21, from 8 - 10 p.m., at Rockport Opera House. Midcoast musicians Elsie and Ethan (of Springtide) will open. 

Max Wareham is a banjo player, songwriter, and author from Boston, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band and was featured on the Grammy-nominated album Calling You From My Mountain.

After two years of touring nationally with Rowan, Wareham recorded his own album, Dagommit!. The album features Chris Eldridge and David Grier on guitar, Laura Orshaw on fiddle, Chris Henry on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, Larry Atamanuik on snare drum, and guest singer and producer Peter Rowan.

“For the album, I wanted to pull from some of the nooks and crannies of the tradition, using effects and arrangements that have largely been forgotten,” said a news release. “I wanted to bring back to life some lost qualities of the music in a contemporary setting.”

“Recorded by multi-Grammy winning engineer Sean Sullivan (Molly Tuttle, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Jerry Douglas), Wareham’s commitment to early innovators of the instrument shines on this forthcoming record of soulful original songs, highlighted by the hard-driving chemistry of Nashville’s preeminent bluegrass stars,” said the release.

Wareham is currently touring with his band The National Bluegrass Team, featuring international mandolin prodigy Jean-Baptiste Cardineau on mandolin, Sufi poet-turned-flatpicker Ali Telmesani on guitar, and multi-instrumentalist Emma Turoff on bass. Their Maine tour presenting tunes from the album (released later this year) includes Midcoast stops in Rockport and Belfast. 

Tickets at www.rockportoperahouse.org or at the door. Win tickets on WERU 89.9FM at 7:45am June 17-21 where Max Wareham will be featured artists of the week on “Morning Maine”. 

On Saturday, June 22, from 7 - 10 p.m., the band will play at Marshall Wharf Brewing Company. Marshall Wharf Brewing is located at 36 Marshall Wharf, Belfast, Maine. For more information, www.marshallwharfbrewing.com.