MAY 7, 2009 ISSUE
Lonesome River Band Returns To Hayes Center May 16
On Saturday, May 16, bluegrass legends the Lonesome River Band will return the Hayes Center for the third consecutive year. Winners of the second annual HayesGrass competition will open the show.
For more than 25 years, the Lonesome River Band has been a driving force in the bluegrass world on the strength of their tight, powerful harmonies, top-notch instrumental prowess and steady stream of stellar releases. On Saturday, May 16, the band will be back by popular demand at Blowing Rock’s Hayes Performing Arts Center. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20, $14 for students, and are available now by calling the box office at 828-295-9627. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.HayesCenter.org. Special group rates are also available. Season and Flex Passes can be purchased and used throughout the entire ‘09 season.
Celebrating 26 years as one of bluegrass music’s most popular and influential acts, the current incarnation of the famous Lonesome River Band takes its signature sound to venues all over the country. The band has played to sold-out Hayes Center audiences each of the last two years.
Like any great band whose success has endured throughout the years, vocalists and rhythm sections have come and gone since the release of Lonesome River Band’s breakout CD, Carrying the Tradition, in 1991, whose lineup included original members Sammy Shelor, Dan Tyminski, Ronnie Bowman and LRB founder Tim Austin.
Today, however, the group continues to enjoy critical and commercial success, due in no small part to current band leader Shelor’s distinctive, driving banjo style that was key to the group’s initial rise. The band’s most recent release, No Turning Back recently topped the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 15 album chart with the album’s first single, “Them Blues” hitting number four on the Top 30 singles chart.
Shelor got an early start with the banjo when his grandfather fashioned him a banjo from an old pressure cooker lid when Sam was only four years old. By age ten, he was performing in local bands and became a full-time professional musician when he graduated from high school, joining The Heights Of Grass at age 19. That band eventually morphed into The Virginia Squires, and brought Shelor into contact with banjo legend Sonny Osborne, who helped shape the young picker’s approach to working as a pro banjo player.
Shelor had nothing but praise for the Lonesome River Band’s current crop of players. Songs posted on the band’s MySpace page attest to their prowess as one of the best bands in bluegrass.
“We’re having a whole lot of fun,” said Shelor in 2008. “We’ve always had great vocalists in the band. The energy is what we’ve tried to sell. It’s traditional bluegrass with a rock n’ roll downbeat.
The winner of the HayesGrass competition will be the opening act for the show. The final round of the competition will be held on Friday, May 15.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Hayes Performing Arts Center, Blowing Rock
Cost: $10
And Then There Were Two… HayesGrass Competition Finals Set For May 15
After surviving quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of competition, local outfit Diana & Sarvis Ridge will return to the HayesGrass finals to face competition newcomers High Grass from Lenoir. Each band will perform a final set before a pair of guest judges and the audience will vote to determine the winner.
The winning band will be asked to return to the Hayes Center the following evening to open up for bluegrass legends the Lonesome River Band. The Surefire Bluegrass band took top honors in last year’s inaugural contest.
Final round tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 828-295- 9627 or by clicking to www.hayescenter.org.
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