AUBURN – The Grassholes will bring the sounds of Appalachia to Festival Plaza at noon Thursday, Aug. 9, as part of L/A Arts’ Music in The Parks 2007. Admission is free, and the concert will last about an hour.

The Grassholes, based in Gray, play in the traditional bluegrass fashion, gathered around one microphone with all contributing to vocals. They are Erica Phelps on stand-up bass; Merrill Marsh, rhythm guitar; Rob Neilson, mandolin; Sam Pfeifle, lead guitar; Field Rider, banjo; and Emily Wiederkehr, fiddle.

The band’s unique name can be traced back to the days when local bluegrass musician Carter Logan (of Jerks of Grass) hosted late-night jam sessions on his back porch in Virginia. Luminaries and locals alike would show up to be “Grassholes” for the night. After moving to Maine, Logan affixed the moniker to a group of pickers he cobbled together, knowing he had found some like-minded individuals. The name stuck and so did the group, which has been calling itself the Grassholes since 2000.

The group’s credentials include a one-year monthly residency at Silly’s in Portland, as well as stints at the St. Lawrence Arts and Cultural Center, the Poland Spring Music Festival, the Center for Cultural Exchange, Local 188, Bull Feeney’s, and the WIB Bluegrass Festival.

To listen to a clip of Grassholes music, log on to http://www.laarts.org/performances/MIP6.htm.

If it rains, the concert will be held at the Franco-American Heritage Center at 46 Cedar St., Lewiston. For more information, L/A Arts may be contacted at 782-7228 or [email protected].