Sugar Loaf Big Spike Bluegrass will perform at the Lycian on Saturday, May 19 as part of the Sugar Loaf Street Painting Festival. Based in northern Vermont, the band plays hard-driving traditional bluegrass, with an emphasis on 3- and 4-part harmonies. They feature twin fiddles and original material in the traditional style. Its members are mainstays of the New England bluegrass scene. Members of the group are alumni of some well-known regional and national bands: Three Wheel Drive, Smokin’ Grass, The David Bromberg Band, The Spark Gap Wonder Boys, Two Chord Jones, and Bob Yellin & The Joint Chiefs Of Bluegrass. Country music and bluegrass are associated with the southeast, since many of the most popular artists were based and recorded there. But New England has deep country music roots and swings through Vermont, Maine, upstate New York and southern Canada were part of many country acts during the 40s and 50s. Big Spike aims to recreate the honky tonk and early bluegrass sound of the 50s and often revert to the full, twin fiddle sound that was an integral part of early country. They perform songs of an earlier era, especially the the classic “brother duets” of the 30s, 40s and 50s. To a repertoire that draws from the Louvins and the Delmore Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Red Allen, Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, they add classic-sounding original songs by Pete Langdell and Neil Rossi. Big Spike Bluegrass took their name from “Big Spike Hammer,” by the Osborne Brothers. The performance will be at 8 p.m., at The Pavilion at the Lycian Center, Kings Highway, Sugar Loaf. Admission is $20. For reservations call 258-3019. Tickets can be purchased at Village Music, 31 Main Street, Warwick (988-5225) or at Van Gelder Music, 562 Route 17M, Monroe (774-7224). For information about the band, visit www.bigspikebluegrass.com. For more information about the Artist Street Painting Festival, visit www.sugarloafmusic.org.