LIVE: Red Haired Strangers @ the Tang Museum, 7/31/09

The Red Haired Strangers started out more than a decade and a half ago as the acoustic duo of harmonicat-vocalist Ryan Dunham and guitarist-vocalist John Rice, playing a variety of country, blues and bluegrass.

In recent years, they’ve expanded into a full-fledged band that also includes ace fiddler Joe Gumpper, drummer Chris Scharl, bassist Mike McLean and veteran pedal steel guitarist Rick Morse.

When the band played the Tang Museum’s free Upbeat on the Roof concert series on Friday, July 31, the weather once again forced the performance off of the roof and into the museum. But that certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of the crowd – or the band who served up a well received batch of roots music.

You can also catch the Red Haired Strangers in a free show at the Albany Public Library’s final installment of this year’s Garage Rock in the Garage concert series on Friday, September 18.

Photos by Andrzej Pilarczyk