UPPER LAKE, Calif. – In the first of its annual winter/spring “Concerts with Conversation” series, the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake will host an informal concert by Nashville-based bluegrass guitarists Rob Ickes and Jim Hurst in the Meeting House next to the hotel at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10.
 
“We are fortunate that Rob and Jim have again scheduled a stop at the Tallman on their west coast tour,” commented Tallman owner Bernie Butcher. “They put on a tremendous show for us about this time last year. It was so popular that we were able to schedule a second followup event for the next night.”
 
Rob Ickes is a Northern California native and brother of local banjo master and bluegrass promoter Pat Ickes. He moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined Blue Highway as a founding member in 1994. He is recognized as one of the most innovative Dobro players on the music scene today, recording with his own band and as a sought-after session player.
 
Ickes won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award for a record-setting fifteenth time in 2013. He is the most recognized instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA awards.
 
Jim Hurst is also a multi IBMA award-winner. His vocal talents, multi-instrumentalist abilities and well-rounded stylings make him one of the most popular musicians in Nashville. In addition to his own recordings, Hurst has supported the recording sessions of some of the best artists in country and bluegrass music.
 
One critic who saw Hurst and Ickes perform together in Nashville commented that “their ability to follow each other through an unannounced maze of spaghetti-like improvisation is beyond normal human capability.” Good videos of the two playing together are available on YouTube.
 
Subject to limited availability, concert tickets at $25 plus tax may be purchased by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.