We are excited to announce that our favorite bluegrass band The Hillbilly Thomists will perform at this year’s Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage on September 28, 2024, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.! The concert will be at 7:00 pm in the evening at the Catholic University of America Mall next to the Basilica at 7:00 PM.

“We’re elated to join our brother Dominican friars, as well as Catholics across the United States, for this year’s Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage,” said Fr. Justin Bolger, O.P. “It’s a tremendous blessing to perform for pilgrims in honor of Our Lady.”

“We’re excited to add our band of friars, the Hillbilly Thomists, to our second annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage this year, said Fr. John Paul Kern, O.P., Executive Director of the Dominican Friars Foundation and the Rosary Shrine of St. Jude. “Being able to enjoy this concert at the end of our day-long pilgrimage honoring Our Lady is an extra opportunity to savor the graces of the pilgrimage and to spend time just enjoying great music and the good company of Catholics from all over the country.”

The Hillbilly Thomists are a band of friars of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). After playing music together for several years, they released their self-titled debut album, “The Hillbilly Thomists,” in 2017, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard bluegrass chart and mostly consisted of bluegrass standards and Americana favorites. In 2021, they released their second studio album, “Living for the Other Side,” on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. A year later, the friars released a third record, “Holy Ghost Power,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard bluegrass chart. The Hillbilly Thomists’ fourth album, “Marigold,” is scheduled to be released this July. Watch the recently released video for the new album’s debut single, “Justify You”.

This year’s Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage will include hours of Adoration, opportunities for Confession, a Mass held in the Upper Church at the Basilica, recitation of the Rosary and a day full of conferences on the Rosary preached by the Dominican friars.