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GRAMMY Award-winning Dobro master Jerry Douglas returns to the Neighborhood Theater with special guests John Oates (of Hall & Oates) and Maura O'Connell.
Jerry Douglas, internationally recognized as the world's most renowned Dobro player, Jerry Douglas undoubtedly ranks amongst the top contemporary maestros in American music. Douglas's musical brilliance has graced over 2,000 recordings and in February 2008, Beard Guitars released the "Jerry Douglas Signature Resonator Guitar." Douglas's latest recording, Glide, marks his twelfth solo release. Featuring nine instrumental compositions and two tracks with standout vocal performances by country music legends Travis Tritt and Rodney Crowell, Glide portrays his adventurous and eclectic musical palette as it incorporates elements of bluegrass, country, rock, folk, Celtic, Scottish and New Orleans-inspired music. Earl Scruggs, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Lloyd Green, Tony Rice, and Carmella Ramsey also appear on the album. Douglas completed a four-part music series as the 2008 artist-in-residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN. Notable guests in attendance included Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss,Travis Tritt, Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Guy Clark, Ricky Skaggs, Lloyd Green, Jesse Winchester, and many others. Douglas recently won the Academy of Country Music's "Top Specialty Instrument Player of the Year" award for the Dobro, and the Country Music Association just nominated him for the "2008 Musician of the Year" award.

John Oates (of Hall & Oates), an American rock guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock/soul duo Hall & Oates. Though he was a primary guitarist, he also wrote or co-wrote numerous popular songs with Hall, such as, "Sara Smile", You Make My Dreams", "She's Gone", "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)", "One on One", "Maneater", "Everything Your Heart Desires", "Out of Touch" and "Adult Education". He also sang lead vocals on "How Does It Feel to Be Back", "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and "Possession Obsession". In addition to his work with Hall, Oates co-wrote "Electric Blue" for the band Icehouse which was a Billboard Top Ten hit.

Maura O'Connell, a Grammy Award-nominated Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretation of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music. O'Connell's restless muse could not be safely contained under the banner of Celtic music, and she soon discovered both an interest in and affinity for progressive American roots music. Following her self-titled solo debut in 1983, she collaborated with Bla Fleck (then of the NewGrass Revival) on 1988's Just In Time, which inaugurated a string of albums marked by O'Connell's tasteful, moving interpretations of songs spanning many traditions and authors. She recorded three acclaimed albums for Warner Bros. (including the Grammy-nominated Helpless Heart), before moving to Joe Boyd's Hannibal imprint and then to Sugar Hill, for whom she made the rattling, guitar driven Walls and Windows (produced by Ray Kennedy) and the more introspective Don't I Know, the fourth O'Connell album to produced by dobro maverick Jerry Douglas. In addition to her solo work, O'Connell has collaborated with a number Celtic, folk, pop and country artists, including Van Morrison, Brian Kennedy, Moya Brennan, Mary Black, John Gorka, Bela Fleck, Robert Earl Keen, Dolly Parton and Shawn Colvin. She has also sung background vocals for a number of artists, including Van Morrison's 1988 project with the Chieftains, Irish Heartbeat and Stockton's Wing on Take A Chance (Tara3004).