CLINTON — The Kirkland Art Center in Clinton opens their fall KAC Live series with a solo gig by Jake Blount on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Blount is a Hamilton College graduate who has earned recognition as a brilliant banjo player, fiddle player, and a singer with a charismatic and limber voice. A skilled performer of spirituals, blues and string band repertoire, Blount is a specialist in the early folk music of Black Americans.

Blount has performed at the Newport Folk Festival, the Kennedy Center, and numerous other venues across and beyond the United States. Tickets for the performance are $20 or $18 for KAC members and are available online at www.kacny.org or at the door.

Through his music, Blount speaks ardently about the African roots of the banjo and the subtle, yet profound ways African Americans have shaped and defined the amorphous categories of roots music and Americana. His 2020 solo album “Spider Tales” — named one of the year’s best albums by NPR and The New Yorker, earned a perfect 5-star review from The Guardian — highlighted the Black and Indigenous histories of popular American folk tunes, as well as revived songs unjustly forgotten in the whitewashing of the canon.

Rhiannon Giddens said of the album: “Ever since I met him years ago, Jake Blount has been aiming to tell the whole story of fiddle and banjo music - Black, white, and native. His latest album ... is an incredible example of historically informed, beautifully played old-time music.”

Blount’s new album, “The New Faith,” is a towering achievement of dystopian Afrofuturism and his first album for Smithsonian Folkways, coming Sept. 23.

The New Faith is spiritual music, filled with hope for salvation and righteous anger in equal measure. Blount’s music is rooted in care and confrontation.

On stage, each song he plays is chosen for a reason – it highlights important elements about the stories we tell ourselves of our shared history and our endlessly complicated present moment. The more we learn about where we’ve been, the better equipped we are to face the future.

“We are delighted to welcome Jake to the KAC stage and hope local live music lovers come out and support this talented young artist who is shaping how we experience American folk-roots,” said Damhnait McHugh, KAC board member.

For more information about the performance, about the KAC Live series, and about the Kirkland Art Center, call 315-853-8871 or visit www.kacny.org