BOTMC: Alice Gerrard & Friends, Justin Robinson, and Forty Drop Few

The Berkeley Old Time Music Convention is a five day music festival featuring a lovingly curated roster of local and national acts, with concert sets, rollicking square dances, workshops, jams, and the illustrious string band contest in venues throughout Berkeley. Head to the BOTMC website for a full list of this year’s activities! On Friday September 18th, the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention returns to The Freight to present three phenomenal acts: Alice Gerrard with Reed Stutz & Suzy Thompson, Justin Robinson, and Forty Drop Few. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Alice Gerrard has known, learned from, and performed with many of the old-time and bluegrass greats and has in turn earned worldwide respect for her own important contributions to the music. Known for her groundbreaking collaboration with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and ’70s, their music continues to be highly influential. Alice has appeared on more than 20 recordings, including projects with many traditional musicians such as Tommy Jarrell, Enoch Rutherford, Otis Burris, Luther Davis and Matokie Slaughter; with Tom Sauber and Brad Leftwich as Tom, Brad & Alice, with the Harmony Sisters, The Piedmont Melody Makers, The Herald Angels, Beverly Smith, Kay Justice, and with Anna R-g and Elizabeth LaPrelle. A tireless advocate of traditional music, Alice has won numerous national honors. In 1987 Alice founded The Old-Time Herald and the Old-Time Music Group, a non-profit organization that oversees publication of The Old-Time Herald. Alice served as editor-in-chief from 1987 till 2003. A film about her life and music, You Gave Me a Song, was shown at numerous film festivals. In 2023 Alice finished her latest recording project, Sun to Sun, and UNC press published her book, Custom Made Woman. Now in her 90’s, Alice is touring less but still performs and teaches workshops. Alice will be joined in this performance by Reed Stutz and Suzy Thompson. Website | Facebook | Instagram Justin Robinson grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. He played with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, thereby working to preserve traditional forms of music, to introduce new generations to musical legends like Joe Thompson, and to remind audiences that the fiddle was, historically, an African American instrument. His 2025 album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, a collaboration with former bandmate Rhiannon Giddens, was nominated for the GRAMMY for Best Folk Album. In addition to preserving African American musical traditions, Robinson is known for his work as a culinary historian and ethnobotanist. He explores the ways that plants, foods, and knowledge of the African Diaspora shaped and influenced Southern culture at large. He is joined by the newest member of Joe Thompson’s musical lineage, Aaron Cooper. Instagram The Forty Drop Few are a trio originally from the southwest that play popular music of the early 1900s. They perform in various styles from the era as a string band and are influenced by nothing other than the old 78 records that they love so well. Their main influences include New Orleans jazz, southwestern fiddle music, classic banjo rags, black string band music, hillbilly harmonies and unique vocals. The trio consists of Ethan Francis, Candra Edwards and Elliot Kennedy who all currently reside in Portland, Oregon. The couple, also known as "Stone and Sue", have been playing music together for a decade and met Kennedy who joined them 5 years ago. The three are inseparable and spend all of their time picking apart old tunes, listening to 78s, throwing shows in Portland and traveling around the country together. Instagram