The Brent Berry Band

The Brent Berry Band combines folk, reggae, bluegrass, blues and Latin music into one whirlwind, genre-defying show after another. It's a copious buffet for the ears, and it's made by an equally nontraditional instrumental line-up. The group features a kick drum; a mandolin; percussion; bass; and native son Berry's pulsing, rhythmic classical guitar lines. Using these tools, the group moves gracefully from a Toots cover to a grooving Cuban version of "Guantanamera." Somehow, it all holds together beautifully. "All of the music we play is roots music," bassist Andy Gingerich says. "It just comes from different geographies." Still, it takes a certain degree of skill to whip it all together while whipping crowds of hippies and old-timers into a frenzy. — Jesse Nathan