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Eclectic Florida Folkies The Mayhaws Play Woodlands This Sunday

Free Show Begins at 6:00 p.m.

Story by David Brewer Florida acoustic roots band The Mayhaws will make their High Country debut with a special show at Woodlands BBQ in Blowing Rock this Sunday, July 20.

For years, people have been able to count on hearing live roots music nearly every night at Blowing Rock barbeque institution The Woodlands. This Sunday, July 20, the venerable dining establishment will break from its regularly scheduled programming and host Florida-based acoustic roots outfit The Mayhaws. The show is free and will start at 6:00 p.m.

Mayhaws are the fruit of several kinds of hawthorn trees native to the low and swampy parts of the Deep South. As the name implies, the fruit ripens in early May. Because hawthorn trees are covered in thorns and impossible to climb, folks used to go out and collect the fruit by laying a blanket under the tree and shaking the haws onto it. The jellies and wines made from the mayhaw are considered to be among the finest in the world.

Like their namesakes, The Mayhaws are sweet and thorny, playing music rooted in American and American-immigrant traditions. Each member brings to the enterprise a wealth of musical experience, their combined talents resulting in an eclectic and melodic mix of folk, honky-tonk, soul, bluegrass and old country. A Mayhaws set can run the gamut from traditional music and Delta blues to pop songs rearranged as jug tunes.

With their roots in folk and country music and their hearts in the honky-tonk, The Mayhaws do rockabilly versions of songs by The Stooges, samba Patsy Cline and a wealth of originals penned by the three core members that saunter, swing and make folks weep into their drink glasses.

When Dave Leporati of band Singing Biscuit signed on with Sharla June and her band The Mayhaws as their occasional mandolin player, he couldn’t have known that eventually it would lead to their two bands merging into one. Upon original bass player Doug Morgan’s departure, Carrie Hamby of Singing Biscuit—an accomplished songwriter and singer—joined in on upright for a series of gigs. It was apparent to everyone who saw these early shows that something special was happening, and it wasn’t long before the two groups decided to combine their powers and take the form of The Mayhaws.

For more info on The Mayhaws, click to www.themayhaws.com.

Want To Go?
Date: Sunday, July 20
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Woodlands BBQ
Cost: FREE!