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

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge Play Daniel Boone Days Saturday

Band Has Long Enjoyed Success in the High Country

Story by David Brewer

Legendary bluegrass team Larry and Jenny Keel have been striking a chord with High Country bluegrass fans for more than a decade. Their band Natural Bridge will perform this Saturday at Horn in the West as part of the Daniel Boone Days Pioneer Festival. The uncertainties in life far outnumber the things you can count on in your daily life. People change. Tastes change. Seemingly everything changes.

Fortunately, one of the rare things that local residents have been able to count on for more than a decade is semi-regular performances by bluegrass masters Larry and Jenny Keel at venues all over the High Country.

In recent years, the Keels have been getting their kicks with band Natural Bridge featuring former Boonie Mark Schimick and newest addition Jason Flournoy. The quartet will perform this Saturday at the inaugural Daniel Boone Days Pioneer Festival at Horn in the West. Other performers include California string band gurus The Waybacks and hometown boys The Lost Ridge Band. Larry Keel & Natural Bridge will take the stage at 7:15 p.m.

Since his first shows at Klondike Café (when they still had regular live music) as a guest with Leftover Salmon and with his own band, McGraw Gap, Larry Keel’s fiery guitar playing has found favor with folks who like their bluegrass with a little extra bite. Jenny Keel recounted highlights from throughout the band’s local tenure including sharing the stage with David Grisman at Farthing Auditorium, wild shows with cohorts Acoustic Syndicate and Snake Oil Medicine Show at Rafters and several local festival appearances, among dozens of others.

While more buttoned-up acts have favored the more traditional taste of locals, Keel injects his brand of bluegrass with rock and roll attitude that younger fans adore.

“We feel like [the High Country] is part of our fabric,” said Jenny Keel. “We always knew that there were people there that were like-minded and could share the magic with us.”

The Keels were married in 1996, right around the time McGraw Gap suddenly disbanded and budding bassist Jenny was thrust into her role holding down the bottom end.

“It was just like being thrown into the fire without being ready,” said Jenny Keel.
While she may not have been thrilled with the circumstances, Jenny Keel jumped in and hung on. More than a decade and hundreds of shows later, it’s rare to see her bearded husband breaking strings without her.

Road warriors in the truest sense, the Keels currently average approximately 150 shows a year—no small feat with gas prices eating into their profits. Nevertheless, the couple and their various projects have cultivated Keel fans all across the country and don’t plan on disappointing them. With Colorado bluegrass lovers well acquainted with the Keel’s brand of smoking grass, the band frequently treks West to clubs and festivals throughout the Rockies.

“Those are some professional music lovers. They know good music,” said Keel of their Colorado fans. “They’re hungry for that sound that they aren’t getting out there.”

According to Jenny, Natural Bridge is “waiting with baited breath” to release their CD of all new material.

When not with Natural Bridge, the Keels have more than enough on their musical plates, most notably their partnership with jamband loop master Keller Williams. Larry also performs as half of The Keel brothers and recently joined the original lineup of McGraw Gap for a much-anticipated reunion show at a festival near Blacksburg, Va.

“They’re being nudged strongly to do another record and play more shows,” said Jenny Keel.

For their Daniel Boone Days performance, the Keels are looking forward to connecting with longtime friends The Waybacks for what could prove to be some wild picking.

“[The Waybacks] are buddies we’ve known for a long time,” said Jenny Keel. “Who knows what kind of fireworks could happen when we all get together.”

Want To Go?

Date: Saturday, September 6
Time: 7:15 p.m.
Location: Horn in the West
Cost: $10 in advance/$12 at the gate/$5 for children under 12