Open mic on stage during Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise 2026 – photo © Sandy Hatley
Danny Stewart’s 2026 Bluegrass Cruise has docked after a safe, successful, and enjoyable musical Caribbean journey.
The numbers don’t lie. This was Danny and Christa’s 25th bluegrass cruise with 476 attendees on board for four days of live music, with nine bands and two ports of call. What a way to spend a few cold, wintry mid-January days! It is no wonder that Stewart is nominated for SPBGMA’s Promoter of the Year. That awards show is coming this weekend.
Stewart’s weekend bluegrass festival in the Atlantic Ocean launched last Thursday afternoon with a performance by The Kody Norris Show.
“Danny Stewart is one of the best friends that I got,” Norris told the crowd assembled inside the massive Palace Theatre aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. “Ain’t nothing better than a little bluegrass music to soothe the soul.”
Other featured bands included Monroe Crossing, Cutter & Cash, Crying Uncle, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Danny Paisley, Little Roy & Lizzy, Etlington Enterprise, and The King James Boys.
Norris thanked Max Etling for filling in for his regular bassist, Charlie Lowman, who was hospitalized just prior to the cruise due to illness.
Lowman shared via Facebook messenger, “I am now home and recovering. I am grateful for everyone that reached out to wish me well while I was in the hospital.”
During their opening set, Mary Rachel, the band’s fiddler and Norris’ wife, fixed a continually drooping boom stand. Taking control of the situation, she passed her instrument to her husband, slid the mic’s arm to a mid point for balance, and tightened it. The problem was immediately solved and the audience responded with boisterous applause.
Mary Rachel responded, “I’m sure glad that he married somebody smart!”
As the ship pulled out of port, Monroe Crossing presented their first set of music. The cruiseliner’s massive engines had the entire stage rumbling.
Matt Thompson, Monroe Crossing’s mandolinist, joked, “It feels like one of those old hotel beds that you drop a quarter in.”
During the cruise, Valerie Smith, her husband/banjoist, Joe Zauner, along with some of their musical friends, presented tunes from Smith’s musical, Maggie’s Journal. Thirteen years in the making, she composed the entire work based on her great-great grandmother’s writings. On Sunday morning, Smith and her ensemble also backed attendees that signed up to perform during an open mic.
Danny Paisley and his son, Ryan, along with their long time bassist, Bobby Lundy, were joined by Fastrack’s Dale Perry on banjo and Little Roy & Lizzy’s fiddler, Hunter Berry. MC Kelle Perry referred to the band as Danny Paisley & the Bluegrass All-Stars.
Dale praised Danny, “It is a privilege to be on stage with this icon.”
There were lots of other collaborations. Lizzy Long teamed up with Danny to sing I’d Rather Live by the Side of the Road just as Polly Lewis and Mac Wiseman used to do. Another special guest was north Georgia mandolinist and singer, Raven Welch, who picked and sang Muleskinner Blues and Will the Circle Be Unbroken with Danny’s ensemble.
A bluegrass cruise staple, The Little Roy & Lizzy Show, offered high octane entertainment using three banjos, three guitars, two autoharps, and much more. Little Roy played five different instruments during their rendition of Good Time Get Together in Gloryland. At one point, MC Kelle Perry stated, “It looks like a graveyard of instruments behind them.”
Lizzy was zinging “short” jokes throughout their performances. “In Seattle after Danny’s Alaskan cruise, somebody picked Little Roy’s pocket. Can you believe someone would stoop that low?” And she teased, “Little Roy’s down to earth. He’s never looked down on anybody.”
Young musicians were well represented on the cruise stage as well. The youthful members of Crying Uncle brought their west coast flavor to the show. Cutter & Cash performed a couple of sets of traditional music, and Kody Norris had 14-year-old Kentucky banjoist, Hayden “Jim” Hensley, in tow.
Etlington Enterprise presented their last show with their current configuration: Max Etling on bass, Ben Watlington on banjo, and the Gooding brothers, with Josh on mandolin and John on guitar. The guys are morphing into a new ensemble known as the Bays Mountain Cut-Ups. It will feature Colton Powers on banjo, Watlington will move to guitar, Max and Josh will remain on bass and mandolin, respectively. Brother John will be busy touring with The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys.
During their performance on the fourth day following stops at Coco Cay and Nassau, Josh Gooding joked, “It’s open water day, you can’t escape us.”
There was plenty of jamming every night across the ship, between the pros and the amateurs in the conference rooms on Deck 2 and in solarium on Deck 11. Josh shared, “People started flat footin’. We called it ‘Galax on the High Seas’.”
Day four also offered four consecutive hour-long workshops. Josh Gooding presented one on the mandolin, Max Etling did a bass one in Charlie Lowman’s stead, Valerie Smith offered a vocals session, and Dale Perry concluded with a banjo workshop. Each provided tips from their trade and fielded questions from attendees.
During the vocal workshop, Smith stressed the need to hydrate in advance. “You want to drink two days before a performance. You need 68 ounces of water a day. It’s too late to wait until the day of your performance.”
Smith even went into depth about the placement of sound in your face using the nasal cavities. She demonstrated by gargling water in the front of the mouth and then the back. She then presented proper breathing techniques by lying on the floor and showing how to fill the chest cavity with air. She also stressed the importance of phrasing, “It will get you a long way in jam sessions. It’s not volume.”
Promoter, Danny Stewart, concluded, “[We’re] so excited for the January 18-22, 2027 voyage on the Grand Utopia of the Seas, the newest of the Oasis Class ships.”
For more information, visit Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise online.
