Kicking off its 11th season of top-notch bluegrass tunes, the Waska-soo Bluegrass Music Society pre-sents The Will White Trio Oct. 2.

The concert, slated to take place at The Matchbox, begins at 7:30 p.m.

Built around the memorable songs and emotionally vibrant vocal strengths of Calgary’s Will White, the trio features richly-crafted ‘acoustic Americana Fusion.’

White was born in the foothills of Virginias’s Blue Ridge Mountains and raised in North Carolina.

He soaked up the folk music tradi-tions popular to that region, as his artistry taps deeply into the heri-tage of those places running the sonic gamut from bluegrass, Appa-lachian old-time, Delta blues, Gos-pel and country.

He eventually married a Canadian and headed up to the Great White North to start a new life.

For the Red Deer show, White will team up with Edmonton-based Byron Myhre (fiddle/mandolin) of Jerusalem Ridge fame and fellow Calgarian Dale Ulan on upright bass.

Back in 2007, White released The Awful Truth with the Alberta blue-grass band Widow Maker. Earlier this summer, he produced his pow-erhouse debut solo project Rise Above which features 16 diverse and original compositions.

It’s obvious from the top that White won’t be restricted to any particu-lar genre.

Opening cut Mourning Dove launches things with a compelling melancholic feel while tunes like the quirky June Bug and the gently romantic Firelight Waltz lighten things up delightfully as does the sunlit instrumental Backcountry.

From start to finish, White’s music is completely raw, authentic and roots-driven. Just as strong as the music itself are the often poignant lyrical journeys he takes listeners on as well.

Frederickburg 1862, for example, is the true story of Sargeant Richard Rowland Kirkland during the blis-tering Battle of Fredericksburg in the American Civil War. “His su-premely humanitarian heroism marked him as The Angel of Marye’s Heights’ on both sides of the conflict,’ explain the liner notes. The stirring tune was inspired by the novel Cold Mountain.

Other stand-out gems include the aching honesty of I Wanna Meet Je-sus, the unabashed fun of Run Chicken Run and the inspiring sen-sibilities of I Feel Like I’m on Holy Ground.

Concert tickets are $25. Children under 16 are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult.

Tickets are available at Red Deer Book Exchange, the Parkland Mall service desk, 53rd Street Music and the Key Hole.

They can also be picked up at Jack-son’s Pharmasave in Innisfail and at Popow’s Autobody in Lacombe.

Next up for the Waskasoo Blue-grass Music Society is a visit from the popular John Reischman & the Jaybirds.

For more information about tick-ets, call 403-347-1363.