Mo-Grass bring Motown on banjo to Capitol Hall in Erwin

The North Carolina band that dresses soul classics in bluegrass plays the Live from Capitol Hall series on Saturday, Nov. 21.

Picture a Temptations song with a banjo roll under it and tight harmony on top, in a renovated theater on Erwin's main drag, three weeks from now. That's the pitch for Mo-Grass, who play Capitol Hall in Erwin on Saturday, Nov. 21. Doors are 6:30 p.m., the music starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $15–$18 through Eventbrite.

The show was announced Oct. 16 as part of Live from Capitol Hall, the concert series the room has been running in the Erwin Theatre building. The Eventbrite listing bills it as a blend of Motown and bluegrass and as a night for dancing, so leave room in front of the stage.

Mo-Grass is a new band built from two familiar ones. Out of Winston-Salem, it's a collaboration between members of Big Daddy Love and The Deluge, two North Carolina bands. The idea is simple and hard to do well: take timeless soul hits and play them with banjo rolls, tight vocal harmonies and funky, danceable rhythms. It shouldn't work as well as it does, but bluegrass and Motown both come down to tight harmony singing and a rhythm section that never lets up, and the band leans into what the two have in common.

New as it is, the band has already played a big 2026 festival circuit, with MerleFest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and FloydFest on its list. Bristol is the one locals will notice. If you were downtown on State Street in September and caught them on a stage there, this is a chance to see the full set indoors, down the road.

Capitol Hall is the reason a band like this ends up in Erwin. The freshly renovated room has quietly built a strong roots calendar under the Live from Capitol Hall banner, with acts like Fireside Collective and The Wobblers coming through, and Erwin's own Lincoln Hensley has taken up a hometown residency there. It's a small-town theater booking the kind of acts you'd usually drive to Johnson City or Asheville to see, at prices that make it easy to say yes.

At $15–$18 for a Saturday night, this is one of the easier calls on the November calendar. Grab dinner in town, get there when doors open at 6:30, and plan on dancing. If you've ever wanted to hear a banjo take the lead on a Temptations song, this is your night.

Sources: Eventbrite: Live from Capitol Hall: Mo-Grass (eventbrite.com); The Knot: Mo-Grass (Winston-Salem, NC) (theknot.com); Bluegrass Today: Lincoln Hensley doing hometown residency at Capitol Hall (bluegrasstoday.com); Eventbrite: Live from Capitol Hall: Fireside Collective (eventbrite.com); Eventbrite: Live from Capitol Hall: The Wobblers (eventbrite.com)