Biscuit Burners Deliver Hot and Tasty Music
Acoustic band at Dragonfly Theater in Boone Friday

By Jeff Eason

With all of the hot new acoustic players popping up in bands in western North Carolina, it’s hard for any of them to stay in one place for too long. The downside of that situation is also the upside: any time you see a great young band performing live, it might be one of the last times that it features that particular lineup. The result is a musical experience that will most likely be unrepeated.

Take the Biscuit Burners for example. Over the past few years, the band has featured a number of fine acoustic musicians who have gone on to other projects. The core of the band, however, just keeps getting better with age as new talent lines up to take the stage as a Biscuit Burner.

The Biscuit Burners, from Weaverville and Asheville, will perform at the Dragonfly Theater in Boone on Friday, November 14 at 10 p.m. The concert is for music fans 21 and older with proper ID and admission is $10 per person.

“We just performed at a fundraiser at the Kennedy Center in D.C. Saturday night for an organization called the Shepherd’s Table,” said Mary Lucey, bassist and vocalist for the Biscuit Burners. “The concert featured Mark O’Connor, Tony Trishka and a lot of other great players. It was a real privilege.”

For Friday’s show, the Biscuit Burners line-up includes Lucey, Billy Cardine on resophonic guitar and vocals, Dan Bletz on guitar and Megan Gregory on fiddle and vocals. Gregory is filling in for regular Biscuit Burners fiddler Odessa Jorgensen.

The Biscuit Burners latest album is the wonderful Take Me Home, aptly described as “fiery mountain music.” It follows the band’s self-titled debut disc and 2006’s Mountain Apart.

Over the past two years, the band has been featured on the History Channel’s Our Generation, National Public Radio’s Mountain Stage, and BBC World TV’s Destination Music, among other television and radio programs.

The band has also developed an Appalachian Culture Music Program designed to give younger musicians an understanding of traditional bluegrass principles.

“To keep the students engaged, we balance talking with playing music while using our instruments as a show-and-tell to illustrate our stories. The objective of this program is to bring the important story of Appalachia to young children and to inspire them to get involved with a hobby that can enrich their lives and promote group participation.”

Noting the fluctuating nature of western North Carolina bands these days, Mary Lucey stated that she might be returning to school to study midwifery soon while her musical partner Billy Cardine is involved in a solo recording project. The project is a roots-rock/pop collaboration with other area musicians and includes mandolin, electric dobro, bass and drums.

Cardine was recently involved with the recording of Sarah Watkins first album since Nickel Creek went on hiatus. The as-of-yet-unnamed album, due for release in early 2009, features musical contributions from Watkins, Cardine, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch and is being produced by John Paul Jones, the former bass and mandolin player of Led Zeppelin.

For more information on Friday’s show, call the Dragonfly Theater in Boone at (828) 262-3244.