BATH — Cold Chocolate will continue the Chocolate Church Arts Center’s outdoor summer shows in Waterfront Park. The Boston-based bluegrass band will perform in Bath at 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5. Admission is free. 

Cold Chocolate is a fresh and exciting Americana band with a unique sound that fuses bluegrass and folk with a dash of funk. With original tunes and technical prowess, this trio is mesmerizing audiences with guitar, upright bass, percussion, and three-part harmony. 

Guitarist/songwriter Ethan Robbins began as a classical violinist at four and fell in love with the guitar at 14. His bluegrass career began while a student at Oberlin College, where he founded The Outhouse Troubadours, and where he also met Cold Chocolate upright bassist Kirsten Lamb. Herself a multi-instrumentalist, Lamb started focusing on the bass at 13 and the rewards of her practice with it are evident. She earned a master’s in the contemporary improvisation from the New England Conservatory and has been called part of “one of the finest rhythm sections ever to be fetched up in the name of bluegrass” by Mickey Clark of AmericanaUK magazine. 

Percussionist Ariel Bernstein finalized the Cold Chocolate line-up in 2011. Once under the tutelage of Jim Tiller (principal percussionist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), Bernstein now brings a light and tasteful groove to Cold Chocolate’s tunes, filling out their sound and heightening the band’s exhilarating power. 

Cold Chocolate has been quickly gaining recognition for their high-energy performances. The band has shared bills with such bluegrass giants as Leftover Salmon and David Grisman, and has performed at numerous prominent East Coast festivals, including the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, FloydFest, FreshGrass Festival and the Ossipee Valley Music Festival. 

“The band’s approach is decidedly modern, with as much an influence from folk and swing as from hard-driving bluegrass. Song topics also more reflect the urban environment in which they live than the country or rural themes that dominate so much bluegrass from southeastern artists.” — John Lawless of BluegrassToday.com

 Cold Chocolate will be the fifth installment of the Chocolate Church’s series On The Waterfront. Every Saturday through Aug. 26, outdoor shows take advantage of Bath’s charming summer evenings along the Kennebec. Visitors enjoy dinner and explore local stores while listening to talented New England bands. People of all ages bring blankets or lawn chairs and pack snacks or bring dinner for an evening of live entertainment at no cost.