GALAX, Va. — The Blue Ridge Music Center is celebrating 20 years of summer concerts at its hillside outdoor amphitheater on the Blue Ridge Parkway with a slate of performances announced for the 2022 season.
A number of fan favorites will be taking the stage, including North Carolina-based acts such as Steep Canyon Rangers from Asheville, along with The Kruger Brothers accompanied by the Kontras Quartet and Chatham County Line.
The regional flavor also features Virginia-based performers including The Steel Wheels, Dori Freeman accompanied by a Winston-Salem Symphony string quintet and Bill and the Belles.
Organizers point out that the concert roster is strong on bluegrass and old-time music, featuring traditional acts as well as artists who perform in a more contemporary vein.
Representing the music of the Blue Ridge Mountains during the upcoming concert series will be Unspoken Tradition, Five Mile Mountain Road, Nobody’s Business, None of the Above, The Mike Mitchell Band, Zoe and Cloyd and ShadowGrass.
Featured performers who represent diversity and inclusion in the American roots music community include Rissi Palmer (Color Me Country Radio), Joe Troop and Friends, The Earl White Stringband and several female-fronted bands such as Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, The Amanda Cook Band, The Burnett Sisters Band and Dori Freeman.
Tuba Skinny will kick off the concert series on May 28 (the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend). An ensemble of former street musicians, the group’s sound evokes the rich musical heritage of its New Orleans home, from spirituals to Depression-era blues, from ragtime to traditional jazz, music center officials say.
The series concludes on Sept. 3 (during the Labor Day weekend), when Californian Molly Tuttle, the first woman ever named Guitar Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association, takes the stage.
Tuttle is considered one of the most compelling young voices in American roots. Tuttle and her highly regarded Golden Highway Band will perform songs from Tuttle’s critically acclaimed bluegrass-focused album, The Crooked Tree.
Steep Canyon Rangers, who will appear at the Blue Ridge Music Center on Aug. 6, are Grammy winners, perennial Billboard chart-toppers and frequent collaborators of the renowned banjoist (and occasional comedian) Steve Martin.
The group released three albums in 2020 on Yep Roc Records. The Grammy-nominated North Carolina Songbook is a recording of its live 2019 performance at MerleFest, in which Steep Canyon Rangers rendered a selection of songs by the state’s songwriters (Ola Belle Reed, Doc Watson, James Taylor, Ben E. King and others).
The studio album Be Still Moses paired the band with Philadelphia soul legends Boyz II Men and their hometown Asheville Symphony to overhaul the song “Be Still Moses,” which was first recorded on their 2007 breakout album Lovin’ Pretty Women. The album includes re-imagined versions of Steep Canyon Rangers’ previously released original songs performed with an orchestra.
Their most recent release of all-original music, Arm in Arm, emerged in October 2020.
Full concert schedule
Performances start at 7 p.m. on Saturdays during the Blue Ridge Music Center concert season, with admission gates opening at 5:45 p.m. Ticket prices range from $20 to $40. Tickets, season passes (full, half and Pick 3), along with memberships, are available at https://www.blueridgemusiccenter.org/
The complete schedule includes these dates and performers:
• May 28: Tuba Skinny
• June 4: Symphony Unbound with Dori Freeman accompanied by a Winston-Salem Symphony string quintet
• June 18: The Kruger Brothers accompanied by the Kontras Quartet
• June 25: Zoe and Cloyd plus The Burnett Sisters Band with Colin Ray
• July 2: Old-Time Dance Party with Five Mile Mountain Road plus The Earl White Stringband
• July 9: The Mike Mitchell Band; None of the Above
• July 16: Bill and the Belles; ShadowGrass
• July 23: Rissi Palmer; Joe Troop and Friends
• July 30: The Amanda Cook Band; Unspoken Tradition
• Aug. 6: An Evening with the Steep Canyon Rangers
• Aug. 20: The Slocan Ramblers plus Nobody’s Business
• Aug. 27: The Steel Wheels; Chatham County Line
• Sept. 3: Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway; Wayne Henderson and Herb Key
The Blue Ridge Music Center, located at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Galax, exists to celebrate the music and musicians of the mountains.
It is a national park facility, a major attraction along the Blue Ridge Parkway and a venue partner of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail and Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.
The Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service maintains and operates the site and staffs a visitor/interpretive center there.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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