Gone are the days when young bluegrass musician Korby Lenker played small venues like Seabold Hall. These days, you usually have to pay good money to catch his act.

He will make an appearance on Bainbridge Island Jan. 21, headlining a benefit concert at Grace Episcopal Church to fund the purchase of instruments for St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Long Beach, Mississippi. The church was entirely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Singer/guitarist Lenker calls Bellingham home, but he is rarely there. Music has always kept him moving around, heading to West Virginia in the late ‘90s to hunt down bluegrass festivals, then back to the West Coast to form The Bluegrass Cutters, then making a trip across the Atlantic to tour.

In the summer of 2003 he toured the United Kingdom, and upon his return to the states learned he had been chosen as a finalist for the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at the prestigious Merlefest Bluegrass Festival in North Carolina. He took home second place and earned the attention of Seattle’s The Mountain radio station, where he performed on The Mountain Music Lounge.

Last September, he was selected as a showcase artist at the Fourth Annual Americana Music Conference in Nashville, where he rubbed elbows with the likes of Emmy Lou Harris and Steve Earle.

Lenker also keeps busy recording albums, with seven out in five years. His latest, “King of Hearts,” detours away from bluegrass into more alt rock territory, earning a place on public radio station KEXP’s play list.

KEXP DJs said about the album: “This Bellingham singer-songwriter expands his sound to stunning effect on his latest album. His songs continue to get sharper, and he puts them across with hushed, intimate vocals.”

Bainbridge Island musician Ann Strickland and the group Wheelhouse, from Olympia, will share the bill with Lenker and his band.

Seattle film and television producer Gabriel Meyers will provide a backdrop of short film and still imagery mixed with concert footage for the event.

Meyers said he was inspired by the musicians’ eager support of the cause.

“Music triggers our strongest memories and emotions,” he said.

Grace Episcopal Church parishioners, together with Hill Moving Services, have donated more than $30,000 to their Mississippi sister church.

The Katrina Relief Concert takes place 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at Grace Episcopal Church, 8595 Day Rd., Bainbridge Island.

Tickets are $20 general admission, available on Bainbridge at Silver Screen Video, Glass Onion CDs and Records Eagle Harbor Books and Hallmark Stationers, and at the door. wu