Songs of Brandi Carlile join Door County Dylan, Prine tribute concerts

Tickets are on sale for the Aug. 4-12 series that features three concerts devoted to Dylan’s songs, three to Prine’s. three for Carlile’s and one for the music of all three songwriters.

The songs of Bob Dylan and John Prine will have company from the work of a third songwriter for the Buckets Band’s annual summer concert series in 2026, and tickets are now on sale for the shows.

The band, which has played a series of “Buckets of Rain” tribute concerts to the songs of Dylan almost every year since since 2011 and added “Buckets of Prine” concerts in 2024 and ’25, this summer will add “Buckets of Brandi” concerts devoted to the music of 11-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile.

And more songwriters means more “Buckets” concerts than ever before. The band will play a total of 10 concerts from Aug. 4 to 12: three of Dylan songs, three of Prine’s work, three of Carlile’s and one “Best of Buckets” performance featuring selections by all three songwriters. Almost every past concert has sold out or come very close.

Coming back together for the concerts are the same popular and well-known musicians who made up last year’s Buckets Band: Memphis-based multi-instrumentalist Eric Lewis, California-based string player Chris Irwin, local singers/songwriters Katie Dahl and Jeanne Kuhns, and bassists/percussionists Rich Higdon and Craig McClelland.

Dylan’s songs are well-known to music buffs, with his vast repertoire as an influential songwriter and performer who changed the world of music dating as far back as the 1960s with poetic yet sometimes pointed lyrics and the introduction of an electric rock and pop sound to the folk music world. A measure of the respect for his songs can be found in his winning the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Prine’s work may be less known to casual music fans, but the plainspoken, frequently satiric or wry songs he wrote about life, relationships and social issues from the early 1970s until his 2020 death are as highly respected and love by musicians as any other songwriter’s, with Dylan himself naming Prine as one of his favorite writers, as have musicians as disparate as Johnny Cash and former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters.

Carlile’s sound has ranged from Americana and alt-country to folk rock and classic rock, evidenced by her Grammy wins as both a songwriter and recording artist in the folk, Americana, country, roots and rock categories. She also earned a 2025 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for co-writing with Elton John “Never Too Late,” which is heard on the documentary film “Elton John: Never Too Late.”

The Buckets Band “Buckets of Rain” concerts will take place at 7 p.m. Aug. 4, 3 p.m. Aug. 7 and 7 p.m. Aug. 10. “Buckets of Prine” concerts are at 7 p.m. Aug. 5 and 9 and 3 p.m. Aug. 12. “Buckets of Brandi” concerts are at 7 p.m. Aug. 6, 3 p.m. Aug. 9 and 7 p.m. Aug. 11. The “Best of Buckets” concert featuring all three songwriters is at 3 p.m. Aug. 11.

All concerts are at Woodwalk Gallery, 6746 County G, Egg Harbor. Tickets are $32 and advance tickets are recommended given the sellouts of past concerts. For tickets, visit woodwalkgallery.com/events. Sponsorships also are available; for more information, email Joslyn at [email protected].