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Series Blue Ridge Concert Series to
hold concerts in Blowing Rock in 2008
Special to The Mountain Times
After holding concerts all over the High Country, it appears that
Mountainhome Music has found a semi-permanent home in the Blowing
Rock School Auditorium. That’s where the renowned music series
will hold a majority of its concerts in 2008.
Here’s a look at this year’s Mountainhome
Music lineup:
May 25: Red Clay Ramblers
The fiddling trio The Forget-Me-Nots
return to the Mountainhome Music stage on Saturday, August
9th as part of the show An Irish Blessing. |
Bill Hicks and Jim Watson, along with Tommy Thompson founded the
Red Clay Ramblers in the early 1970’s. Mike Craver and Jack
Herrick joined the band within a few years. For the next decade
the Ramblers toured extensively throughout the United States,
Canada, Europe and Africa, appearing frequently on the Prairie
Home Companion, acting and playing in two Off-Broadway shows and
releasing nine albums on the Flying Fish and Sugar Hill labels.
Co-founder and banjo player Tommy Thompson passed away in early
2003, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Bill Hicks, Jim
Watson, and Mike Craver have continued to play music together
since leaving the Red Clay Ramblers, and are often joined by Joe
Newberry on banjo and vocals.
May 31: Mountain Voices and Strings
Mountain Voices and Strings will feature two Appalachian family
groups: Steve and Ruth Smith and Randy, Deborah Jean, and Kelly
Sheets. Steve and Ruth Smith feature traditional songs and instruments,
from haunting vocals to unique instrumentals on the guitar and
hammer dulcimer. Their music has brought them recognition on Fiona’s
Ritchie’s Thistle and Shamrock and in the Dulcimer Player
News. The Sheets’ Family focuses their music on mountain
ballads and old-time banjo. They have represented our region at
the National Folklife Festival and at the Kennedy Center.
June 7: Trains, Planes and Automobiles
David Johnson and the Dixie Dawn Band have put together a special
show for MHM for the past twelve years. Previous themes have included
The Early Years of the Grand Old Opry, Rock-a-Billy, and Famous
Brother Acts. This year’s theme will be Trains, Planes and
Automobiles. Dixie Dawn is as versatile as it gets and even more
entertaining. They have been the opening act at Merlefest since
it began, and founder David Johnson has twice been named National
Studio Musician of the Year in Gospel Music.
June 14: Scottish Fiddle and Fun
Jamie Laval is one of the premier Celtic violinist on the music
scene today. Winner of the 2002 National Scottish Fiddle Championship,
Jamie was heralded in Scotland as “A new star for the Old
World.” Ashley Broder is classically trained on violin and
cello. An alternate impulse led her to the mandolin and Celtic
music. In 2007 she met and teamed up with Jamie to create a unique
rendering of traditional Scottish, Irish, and bluegrass music.
Jamie and Ashley are from Asheville.
June 21: Breakfast Ballads
The Cook Shack, in the heart of Union Grove, North Carolina, is
THE Saturday morning gathering place for community musicians.
After breakfast, patrons breakout their fiddles, guitars, and
banjos or whatever else they choose to play. Throughout the morning,
between coffee, snacks, and conversation you will hear some finest
traditional music in North Carolina, including old-time fiddle
tunes, bluegrass, traditional ballads, hymns and flashy instrumentals.
Our fiddlin’ friends Jeff and Benares from Asheville will
also join the feast. If Union Grove rings a bell, it’s home
to the longest running old-time fiddle festival in the United
States.
July 5: Bluegrass & Brass
Bluegrass and Brass is akin to Appalachian Dixieland—and
the players are all first rate. The brass features mostly horn
faculty from the ASU Hayes School of Music, and the bluegrass
is the Mountainhome Bluegrass Boys, a.k.a. as Steve Lewis, Scott
Freeman, and David Johnson. At this show, you can expect the unexpected,
and that’s what makes it so much fun. However, one thing
for certain will be MHMs annual salute to veterans.
July 19: In the Beginning, Bluegrass
What do you get when you cross former members of the legendary
Country Gentlemen with someone who has played with everyone from
Lynn Morris, Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe and IIIrd Tyme Out?
You get the Circuit Riders. Playing everything from smokin instrumentals
to country ballads, The Circuit Riders are one of the most electric
bluegrass bands you will ever see. The Circuit Riders’
song, Powderfinger, on the new release, Let the Ride Begin, continues
to climb the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey. This
will be the Circuit Riders first appearance on MHM.
August 9: An Irish Blessing
Mark Weems and Julee Glaub, Little Windows, are an Irish Blessing.
Julee spent her formative musical years in Ireland soaking up
Irish music and traditions. Aidan O’Hara of Irish Music Magazine
says, “Julee Glaub’s has a relaxed, thoughtful and at
times contemplative delivery… We’re all the better for
hearing her...If I were a song, I’d want Julee Glaub to sing
me.” About Mark Weems, Joe Newberry of the North Carolina
Arts Council writes, “Mark Weems combines a beautiful, unmistakable
voice….” Mark is also an accomplished fiddle, guitar,
and old-time banjo player. Together, Julee and Mark create a timeless
musical portrait of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also on the show
will be MHM favorite young fiddles, the Forget Me Nots.
August 23: Celtic & Classical
Puddingstone is harp and hammer dulcimer, flute and fiddle, keyboard
and classical guitar, and much, much more. Puddingstone has been
bringing their unique and beautiful sound to the MHM stage for
twelve years. Their repertoire ranges from renaissance to Celtic
and from old folks songs to contemporary classics. Peter Hummers
of the Outer Banks Sentinel said, ÀS:”...the musicians
took advantage of every tool at their disposal to create wonderful
sounds evoking timeless aspects of the human condition; faith,
joy, celebration.”
Labor Day Special
MHM closes its summer season each year with a show designed to
honor those who built our homes and highways, factories and farms,
and our churches and our communities. This year’s show will
focus on the railroads, that is, those who built, ran, and benefited
from the fabric of steel, steam, and muscle. In addition to Steve
Lewis, Scott Freeman, David Johnson, and Josh Scott, MHM friends
Lisa Baldwin and Dave Haney will lend their significant talents
to this annual celebration.
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