The Po' Ramblin' Boys to bring bluegrass to JC

Bluegrass band The Po' Ramblin' Boys is set to perform this weekend in Jefferson City.

The Tennessee band will play 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Avenue HQ on East Capitol Avenue. Tickets can be purchased for $15 at avenuehq.space/events.

C.J. Lewandowski, Jereme Brown, Josh Rinkel and Jasper Lorentzen have performed around the country, as well as in the United Kingdom and Canada. The Po' Ramblin' Boys try to perform original-style bluegrass while adding their own twist to it.

"There's a lot of different versions or sub-genres of bluegrass music, so we try to hit home as far as the originators and fathers of bluegrass music, kind of like the first generation of folks," said Lewandowski, lead vocalist and mandolin player. "We take from them and add our own little flavor to it. And it's really close to the original stuff, and that's the music we like and the music that we kind of grew up on - so it's our passion to honor those guys but leave our own mark on the music too in some kind of way."

Brown provides vocals and plays the banjo, Rinkel is a vocalist and guitarist, and Lorentzen plays bass.

Lewandowski, originally from Grubville, said the group tries to stop in Missouri at least once a year. Some of his family members live at the Lake of the Ozarks, so he remembers traveling to Jefferson City.

Lewandowski said The Po' Ramblin' Boys enjoy playing in Missouri because they are "die-hard music fans," and the group can continue to play bluegrass music.

"We've all got strong values and determination to play our version of bluegrass, so we try to stay as busy as we possibly can and spread our version of the music around wherever they'll have us," he said.

The band, which is less than four years old, was nominated for International Bluegrass Music Association's Momentum Award Band of the Year. The goup also performed at the 2017 World of Bluegrass convention.