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Acoustic Syndicate Plays the Dragonfly Theater & Pub this Saturday

Story by David Brewer

Groundbreaking North Carolina pickers Acoustic Syndicate will play at the Dragonfly Theater & Pub in Boone this Saturday, February 21. The show is open to concertgoers ages 18 and up.

There were more than a few heartbroken music fans in the High Country when Acoustic Syndicate announced that their concert on May 29, 2005, would mark the end of their 13-year run as one of western North Carolina’s favorite musical groups. However, as Syndicate guitarist and vocalist Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry pointed out, the group didn’t say they would “never” play again.

In March 2007, McMurry, along with fellow founding members Fitz and Byron McMurry and Jay Sanders, took the stage at the Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club in Asheville to resurrect the fast-picked and soaring-harmony-laden melodic mountain grooves that took Acoustic Syndicate from Green Acres Music Hall to stages at Bonnaroo and Farm Aid.

This Saturday, McMurry and company will take the stage at the Dragonfly Theater & Pub in Boone. Doors will open at 9:00 p.m. and the show will kick off at 10:00 p.m. The show is open to concertgoers ages 18 and up.

“We didn’t say we were going to quit,” said McMurry in a 2007 interview. “ We just stopped.”

According to McMurry, the hard-touring members of Acoustic Syndicate came to a crossroads at the end of 2004 and leading into 2005. Though the band felt that the music was still vital, the members’ individual priorities were shifting.

“When we first started playing music, we just did it for fun. We were sort of late bloomers into the music business. We struggled so long and hard trying to make something happen those last few years. We were on the verge of something big. We were getting ready to jump into a million-dollar bus and be committed for the next five years,” said McMurry. “It was an exasperating notion. It made me tired just thinking about it.”

Also on the mind of band members was their growing infrastructure. Employing four full-time staff members and covering their health insurance, according to McMurry, was no small task. Other members of the band were celebrating the arrival of babies and were also torn about the prospect of increased time on the road.

“The answer was pretty clear for me. It was just a lot of machinery,” said McMurry.

Since the band left the stage after their nearly six-hour-long farewell show at Smilefest in 2005, the members of the band have been concentrating on a variety of projects. Bassist Jay Sanders played in the High Country a number of times with CX-1 before accepting an invitation to hold down the groove with Donna The Buffalo, while McMurry started blues-rock jamband Big Blue. Sax player Jeremy Saunders played for a while with South Carolina band Jackson Crossing before rejoining the armed forces to play in the Navy Band.

“He’s our brother and we miss him something terrible,” said McMurry of Saunders. “If he was here, he’d be on stage with us.”

After their well-deserved hiatus from the pressures of constant touring and recording, McMurry insists that the members of Acoustic Syndicate are thrilled to be back together and making music again. Nearly two years later, the band continues to be selective about when and where they perform.

“The attitude is pure enjoyment. Being able to show up stress-free and play is a wonderful thing,” said McMurry. “We rediscovered the joy in playing music. This is the way to do it for us right now.”

When asked about the prospect of returning to the town where his band consistently sold out Rafters and then Legends, McMurry is quick to sing the praises of local Acoustic Syndicate fans and their role in the band’s success.

“We’re really excited. Boone was basically the springboard for Acoustic Syndicate,” said McMurry. “We have a real big soft spot in our hearts for that town.”

Though the band is taking it easy right now, playing only the occasional live date including upcoming dates at the Orange Peel in Asheville and the Blue Plum Festival in Johnson City, McMurry won’t rule out a full-fledged return to work.

“If that big opportunity should come along, we’re not going to turn our back on it,” said McMurry.

For now, Acoustic Syndicate is planning to take it one day at a time and enjoy every minute of it.

Advance tickets are $15 and are still available at the Dragonfly and at Fat Cats Music & Video in Boone. For more information, call the Dragonfly Theater & Pub at 828-262-3222 or click to www.dragonflytheater.com.

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