By Kirk Boxleitner

Rainshadow Recording’s concert series on Saturday, March 30, will showcase both a veteran artistic partnership and a relatively newfound musical collaboration all at once, when the Tony Furtado Trio performs at 7:30 p.m. at The Palindrome at Eaglemount Cidery, on 1893 S. Jacob Miller Rd. in Port Townsend.

The trio consists of singer-songwriter and “string wizard” Furtado, his frequent musical partner and five-time Grand National Fiddle Champion Luke Price, and Simon Chrisman on hammered dulcimer and bass, performing alongside Furtado for the first time during this concert tour.

Furtado’s multi-instrumental skill set includes his facility with the banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele, with which he mixes and matches sounds and styles across categories.

Furtado was inspired by “The Beverly Hillbillies” TV show, and a sixth-grade music report, to take up the banjo at the age of 12, after which he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas, in 1987 and 1991, signing a recording deal with Rounder Records in 1990.

Furtado’s six albums with the label saw him collaborate with such well-known musicians as Alison Krauss, while he also performed and recorded with the band SugarBeat and the Rounder Banjo Extravaganza, and his touring schedule since then has even seen him share a stage with famous names such as Gregg Allman.

“I love the different grooves you can get from playing with other musicians,” Furtado said. “It leads to different sounds, arrangements and energy levels. I’ve been playing with Luke for about 12 years, off and on, but this set of performances will be my first chance to play with Simon. I know Luke delivers high energy, and our sound together is kind of a unique blend of blues, bluegrass and rock. But I’m eager to learn what Simon’s hammered dulcimer might add to the mix. It feels like it could be similar to the addition of a piano player.”

That being said, by the time the trio reaches Port Townsend, Furtado feels confident that he, Price and Chrisman will have played enough sets together for their sound to be pleasantly harmonious, yet still unpredictably eclectic.

“It’s going to be a rare and special occasion — a night of exciting acoustic exploration,” Furtado said.

Although Furtado has performed at prestigious music events and venues around the world, including Telluride Bluegrass, Aspen and San Jose Jazz, and the folk festivals of Kerrville and Winnipeg, he’s happy to return to The Palindrome, which he praised as emblematic of the reasons why he loves playing live.

“All my energy is focused on the love of playing music, and rolling with the moment,” Furtado said. “It’s a give-and-take from the audience to the stage and back. The music that’s created is something that otherwise might not occur, without that flow. And when you have a place like The Palindrome, where you know Everett Moran is going to ensure the sound engineering is done so well, it just makes it that much easier to play.”

Tickets are available at ticketstorm.com online, or at the door.

For more information, call Matt Miner at 503-484-8196.