Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis
Saturday, May 19, 7 p.m., $10, all-ages
Indyfolkseries.org

For 20 years, Blackberry Jam — The Folk Band has been entertaining audiences around Central Indiana. The group’s performances have grown into yearly traditions at some local festivals — a tradition dating back a decade or beyond. This Saturday, the Indy Folk Series welcomes the seven-piece band to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis (near Butler University) for a night of eclectic music ranging in styles from bluegrass and Celtic to Cajun and cowboy songs.

“Because we play so many different styles of music, the challenge really is figuring out which 30 or 40 songs out of our 100 song repertoire will make it into the program,” says Lisa Wagoner, the band’s flute and bass player, who also provides lead vocals and harmonies.

The band performs mostly covers, so Wagoner promises a Bob Dylan song performed by guitarist and vocalist Kevin Reynolds. She also hopes the audience will be more than passive listeners, encouraging them to stand up and become part of the concert.

“Something we know about the Indy Folk Series crowd is that they love to be involved with the show, so we are going to encourage them to sing with us on some songs, clap along on the high-energy instrumentals and participate by adding sound effects on cue to some of our tunes, such as cow and coyote sounds on the cowboy songs,” she says. “We’ll also encourage them to get up and waltz in the aisles if they’re so inclined.”