PORTLAND — The hot Maine-based bluegrass band, Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection, will perform at One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland, on Friday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m.

Maine fiddle player Erica Brown is equally comfortable (and experienced) playing classical, bluegrass, and the Franco-American fiddle style for which Maine is known, a news release said.

At the age of 7, the Maine native was competing in fiddle contests with contestants twice her age. At age 9, she was traveling throughout New England, Canada and Louisiana with the Maine French Fiddlers.

She has won numerous fiddle contests in New England as well as Canada and is the recipient of a 2006 Maine Arts Commission Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award.

Brown was recognized as a master artist of traditional fiddling by the Maine Arts Commission that same year. She brings a special energy and style to the Maine music scene and is on the teaching faculty of 317 Main Community Music Center in Yarmouth.

Portland audiences also know Brown as one of the cornerstones of “The Stowaways,” the roots band that held a popular Monday night residency for many years at Empire Dine and Dance.

Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection also includes Steve Roy (mandolin), Matt Shipman (guitar), Read McNamara (banjo) and Ken Taylor (bass).

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

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