Wine to Water benefit concert March 5
Two Rivers school presents AURA March 6 at DragonFly

By Tiffany Allison

Start spring break off right by supporting local charity Wine to Water, while rocking out to the sounds of rockabilly-influenced Hillbilly and the Enablers and bluegrass-based Upright and Breathin’ Thursday, March 5, starting at 10 p.m. at the DragonFly Theater and Pub.

The doors are open for ages 18 and up with a $5 cover.

These Boone based bands are not only passionate about music, but about supporting organizations that are determined to make a global difference. Hillbilly and the Enablers formed eight months ago and intend to bring rockabilly to the region with their band of five musicians.

“I’ve been looking to do a rockabilly project for a long time,” Luke Fowler, lead guitar and vocalist, said. “We’re trying to stay with the rockabilly style with a mixture of fast and slow with upright bass and a mixture of electric guitar and other acoustic instruments.”

The crew includes Keith “Hillybilly” Ainsworth on guitar and vocals, Dan Marlowe on upright bass, Evan Carter on fiddle, Miquela DeLeon on slide guitar and Fowler. Their influences include Stray Cats, Reverend Horton Heat, Wayne “The Train” Hancock and Old Crow Medicine Show.

“It’s a little bit of country intertwined with rock and roll influences,” Fowler said. “We just wanted to do something different. It’s not your typical bluegrass.”

When they’re not playing music, each member keeps busy working their day jobs, but hope to one day make a career out of their art. Fowler spends his time as a building contractor, Ainsworth recently opened a tattoo shop in Fleetwood, Marlowe delivers produce, Carter concocts culinary creations and DeLeon works in restaurants.

“We want to keep expanding and play around the region,” Fowler said. “We would like to keep some momentum on it.”

Fowler has known the directors of Wine to Water, Doc Hendley and Annie Clawson, for quite some time and wanted to donate to their cause.

“It’s a good local charity; they’ve done really good stuff overseas,” he said. “I just want to support them in that. It’s a good cause and a good locally based group. The conditions that they are helping people out of are just crazy.”

Wine to Water’s goal is to provide clean water to people around the world. Hendley began this operation in 2004 in Raleigh, and since that time has moved it off King Street in Boone.

“Over 1 billion people in the world today lack access to adequate water and sanitation. We are devoted to fighting this epidemic,” Hendley said.

Upright and Breathin’ with their traditional fiddle tunes started picking their way into Boone in 2006, playing at Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub every Friday night.

Their influences include traditional Appalachian musicians like The Corklickers, Chris Lovejoy, Robert Evans, Ryan Crider, Steve Kruger, Mark Freed, Jon Jon Davis, Kim France, Billy Constible, Mark Schimick and Zeb Bowles.

Other influences include popular bluegrass legends, such as Don Reno, Red Smiley, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, The Kentucky Colonels, Sam Bush, Scott Vestal, Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, the Seldom Scene, Bryan Sutton, Alan Munde, Allison Brown, Danny Barnes, The Bad Livers, Bill Monroe, The Country Gentlemen, John Hartford, The Dillards, Larry Keel, Hot Rize, Jimmy Martin, Newgrass Revival, Red Allen and Raymond Fairchild.

Like most other musicians, this crew has to work day jobs to support their love of music. “As much as we love playing music, it is not exactly a career; we all have jobs that we work to pay the bills,” Brain Kreher, on banjo and dobro, said. “But we put just as much time into playing music as we do working a 40-hour-a-week job and if not more. We all just love to play music. It doesn’t matter if it’s a festival, a bar or just sitting around at each other’s house. If we aren’t working, we’re playing music.”

Their band of four includes Ben Smith on guitar, bass and vocals, Jeff Moretz on mandolin and vocals, John Shefield on bass and guitar, and Kreher. The group believes that playing music should be fun and enjoyable.

“We started playing music together, as I said, for fun. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no reason to do it.” Kreher said. “And if you enjoy what you’re doing, someone else is bound to enjoy it, too. You obviously don’t start a bluegrass band to become rich and famous. You do it out of love for music, your instrument, your friends you pick with and the fun there is to be had.”

For more information about the Wine to Water benefit show, check out the DragonFly Theater and Pub at www.dragonflytheater.com.

AURA

DragonFly is also hosting a show for the benefit of Two Rivers Community School, a charter school in Watauga County.

AURA (Artists United Reaching out for Academics) will hit the theater’s stage Friday, March 6, with doors opening at 7 p.m.

Rhythm’s Children opens the evening, and Act I begins at 8 p.m. with Prophet Margin, a spoken word, dance and music compilation with local artists Mar Statari-Stegall, Chris Winsor, Jared McQueen, Holly Roark and Kristen Kissik.

Next are two duets, the first with Adrian Daw and Blue Murrow, and the second with Rhonda Lorence and Connie Woolard.

For Act II, attendees can enjoy the world beats of World Wide, featuring musician Jeff Dickens, dancer Nia Dickens, trombonist Rudy and drummer Sean Roberts to be joined by members of Hope Massive.

A silent auction will also be held.

Tickets cost $10 at the door, and all proceeds benefit arts programming at Two Rivers Community School. For more information, visit www.tworiverscommunityschool.net.

DragonFly Theater and Pub is located at 215 Boone Heights Drive. For more information, call (828) 262-3222.