Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

American Heritage River Day at New River State Park June 7

New River State Park promises to provide a superb backdrop for the American Heritage River Day Festival on Saturday, June 7 at the Highway 221 access of the state park.

There will be artisans and crafters on hand to demonstrate their skills and sell their wares. Park Rangers will be leading hikes and giving programs throughout the day. ASU professors will be sharing their knowledge as well. And, of course, there will be music.

Some of the region’s most well known musicians will be celebrating the New River in the ways they know best, with picking and singing. Scheduled to appear are Wayne Henderson and Helen White, Rock Bottom and Amantha Mill.

Rock Bottom is a band that has been together for more than a decade, so they are well-polished musicians with a wide repertoire of bluegrass favorites. They are not only extremely talented players, but they are also entertaining comedians as well. The crowd is always involved in the show and is definitely never disappointed.

With an emphasis on vocal harmonies, the band plays a variety of old standards, progressive bluegrass, bluegrass gospel and original material. Rock Bottom members are Mack Powers, Butch Barker, Dale Roten and John Roten.

Amantha Mill is a community-oriented folk and bluegrass band with members who are seasoned veterans of the High Country music scene. They derive their name from the small mill community of Amantha, N.C. Although the mill washed way many years ago in a flood, parts of the footing can still be seen when driving through Cove Creek.

Just as the mill provided a rich history to the region, the group aims to keep the rich musical heritage of days gone by alive and well today. Amantha Mill is Rebecca Eggers-Gryder, Bill Helms, Randy Pasley and John Cockman.

Wayne Henderson and Helen White have also been playing together for more than a decade. Henderson’s style of top-notch finger-picking is unmatched. In addition to his reputation as a guitarist, Henderson is a luthier of great renown.
He is a recipient of a 1995 National Heritage Award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has played at locations around the globe, including Carnegie Hall and the White House.

Helen White plays fiddle and sings fine vocals, one talent Henderson does not share. White was instrumental in the forming of Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM), an organization that introduces children to the traditional music of Appalachia and seeks to preserve it for future generations.

American Heritage River Day is an event sponsored by New River Community Partners (NRCP), a nonprofit organization that strives to serve the people and communities of the New River watershed through natural resource protection, education, cultural and historic preservation and economic revitalization.

NRCP is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which was signed into legislation by the President of the United States at a ceremony in Ashe County in 1998. The goal of the initiative is to help communities alongside designated rivers to revitalize their waterfronts and clean up pollution in the rivers—protecting the environment at the same time as growing the economy.

Similar events are scheduled for June 14 at Ingles Farm in Radford, Va. along with Radford Heritage Days, and on June 21 in historic downtown Hinton, W.Va. in conjunction with West Virginia Days.

For more information on the American Heritage River Day festival, NRCP or the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, click to www.nrcp-ahri.org.