JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
Elkville String Band, Jim Lloyd and the Skyliners at Jones House Friday
The Elkville String Band from Wilkes County have won awards for their performances of local and regional music. The band plays Concerts on the Lawn at the Jones House this Friday, July 30.
Jim Lloyd and the Skyliners combine storytelling and traditional music from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia at their Concerts on the Lawn performance this Friday, July 30, at the Jones House in downtown Boone.The Watauga Arts Council continues the 18th season of Concerts on the Lawn this Friday, July 30, with performances by the Elkville String Band and Jim Lloyd and the Skyliners.
The free weekly concert begins at 5:00 p.m. on the lawn of the Jones House Community Center, located on King Street in downtown Boone.
“If you like mountain music, fiddle tunes and funny songs, you are going to enjoy Friday's concert,” said Concerts on the Lawn organizer Mark Freed.
Lloyd’s musical roots extend back to at least four generations of fiddlers, guitar players, dancers and singers from the Appalachian mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. Rooted in a strong oral tradition, he shares his heritage through stories of his own experiences as a boy growing up in southwest Virginia and through family lore that has been handed down—stories of coal mining, hunting, farming, trading and family life.
The Skyliners include bass player Mark Rose and multi-instrumentalist Trevor McKenzie. Rose has developed his style of bass playing with many area old-time bands. Born and raised in Lexington, Ky., Rose has lived in Mouth of Wilson, Va., for 32 years.
Growing up just outside of Rural Retreat, Va., McKenzie began studying traditional Appalachian music at Lloyd’s barbershop in 1998. Beginning with guitar at the age of 9, he eventually became interested in picking up several other instruments associated with Southern mountain music, including clawhammer banjo and the musical saw.
The Elkville String Band, from Wilkes County, performs traditional country roots music, playing mostly older music but also some newer compositions from band members Drake Walsh and Jeff Michael. The band consists of Walsh (fiddle and mandolin), Herb Key (guitar and singing), Bill Williams (harmony singing and bass), and Michael (banjo, fiddle, guitar and singing).
Band members are very interested in local and regional music. The band served for three years as house band for the Wilkes Playmakers’ annual production of Tom Dooley, A Wilkes County Legend. The Elkville String Band has also won two Paul Green Multimedia Awards presented by The North Carolina Society of Historians, Inc.
"Both Elkville String Band and Jim Lloyd and the Skyliners have new recordings since they have last performed at the Jones House, so I hope everyone comes with a few bucks in their pockets," Freed added.
The July 30 concert is sponsored by Rennie and Lana Brantz and Bettie and John Bond. Season sponsors are Footsloggers, Panera Bread, Mast General Store, Downtown Boone Development Association and Watauga Insurance Agency.
For more information, including a complete schedule, click to www.watauga-arts.org or call 828-264-1789.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
