Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

This Week in Free Music

Compiled by David Brewer

Banner Elk

Banner Elk Concerts in the Park
Thursdays, 6:00 p.m.
828-898-8395

7/24 Steve and Ruth Smith

This Thursday’s Banner Elk Concert in the Park will feature High Country husband and wife duo Steve and Ruth Smith. With guitar and hammered dulcimer, the couple creates spellbinding Celtic Appalachian music. Since 1990, the couple has performed all over the High Country and in several countries outside the United States and their music has been featured on NPR and XM Satellite radio. The concert is presented by Banner Elk Winery.

Banner Elk Winery, the High Country’s first winemaking operation, is one of the most impressive winery-vineyards in North Carolina. In the past two years at the North Carolina State Fair, Banner Elk Winery has won six awards, with its Cabernet Sauvignon winning the Double Gold Medal as the best wine in North Carolina. That same distinction has been bestowed on the vineyard’s Seyval Blanc and High Country Rosé.

Banner Elk Winery hosts musicians on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and on Friday nights in the Wine Bar from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. The Tasting Room is available for special events, and has hosted a number of wedding receptions and other special events. Guests are invited for wine tastings and tours Wednesday to Sunday from noon until 6:00 p.m., with our Wine Bar open on Friday nights from 6:00 to 8:00p.m.

Beech Mountain
Fred’s Summer Sunday Concerts
Sundays, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
828-387-4838

7/27 Amantha Mill

This week’s Summer Sunday Concert at Fred’s General Mercantile will feature High Country regulars Amantha Mill. Led by Becca Eggers-Gryder on bass and vocals, Amantha Mill performs a confident mix of bluegrass, country and acoustic Americana and has been one of the area’s top drawing bands for the last few years. In addition to Eggers-Gryder, the band also features Billy Helms, Randy Pasley and John Cockman.

Blowing Rock

Monday Night Concert Series
Broyhill Park
Mondays, 7:00 p.m.
828-295-5222

7/28 Steve Sensenig, Amy Marie Young and Brian Newland

For its fourth concert of the season, Blowing Rock’s Monday Night Concert Series will present Steve Sensenig on piano, director Amy Marie Young and featured performer Brian Newland. Newland will perform classics from Show Boat, Les Mis and Ragtime.

The show will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will take place in the gazebo on the lake in the Broyhill Park.

Brian Newland is a recent graduate of ASU, where he received a degree in music performance. Originally from Guyana, South America, Newland first started singing at age 12 and has performed in a variety of musicals and operas including Menotti’s The Telephone, Children of Eden, Amelia Goes to the Ball, Amahl and the Night Visitors and Die Fledermaus. He is a two-time winner of the concerto-aria competition at ASU. He spent last summer singing opera in Graz, Austria.
The Broyhill Park is located behind the swim complex in Blowing Rock off Clark Street. Parking is available at the swim complex or on Park Avenue. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be relocated to the American Legion Building.

Boone

Jones House Concerts on the Lawn
Fridays, 5:00 p.m.
828-264-1789

7/25 Lazybirds/Sugar Grove Sweet Talkers

The Watauga Arts Council will host longtime High Country pickers the Lazybirds and relative newcomers the Sugar Grove Sweet Talkers at this Friday’s Concert on the Lawn. The Lazybirds are a country blues and jazz quintet whose style emphasizes but is not limited to the first 50 years of recorded music. The versatile band incorporates the sounds of Hank Williams, Mississippi John Hurt, Charlie Christian and many more to make honest, thoughtful music.

Linville

Live After Five
Linville Land Harbor
828-737-7538

7/24 High Standards/Diana & Sarvis Ridge/Dwight Franklin

This week’s Live After Five concert at Linville Land Harbor will feature a trio of acts including High Standards, Diana & Sarvis Ridge and Dwight Franklin. Entry is free but donations will gladly be accepted. Organizers ask that attendees bring a chair or blanket. Food vendors will be on hand and Habitat for Humanity items will be for sale. A silent auction will also take place during the concert.
All proceeds from the concert will be contributed to the Cannon Memorial Hospital Habitat fund. Organizers are working to raise monies to build a house for a local family, as well as provide the labor.

Todd

Todd Summer Music Series
Walter & Annie Cook Memorial Park
Saturday, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
336-877-5401

7/26 Southern Accent

The final concert in the 2008 Todd Summer Music Series will feature bluegrass gospel group Southern Accent. Started in the mid-1990s by Dennis and Paulette Isaacs, Southern Accent has played all over the region, from Galax to Crossnore, at MerleFest and all over the High Country. The band has long been known for their solid harmony singing and is widely considered to be the High Country’s best bluegrass outfit.
Todd’s Saturday concerts are presented by the Todd Community Preservation Organization (TCPO) and admission is free, although contributions are strongly encouraged. This year’s series is partially supported by a grant from the North Carolina Rural Center’s NC STEP program, of which Todd is a part along with West Jefferson.

Valle Crucis

Valle Crucis Music in the Park
7:00 p.m.
828-963-6511, ext. 243

7/25 The Rust Kings

Performing what they call high-energy Appalachian stompgrass, The Rust Kings have been playing a steady stream of dates on the East Coast and beyond since forming in 1994. The new release on Dren Records Hotel West Virginia is already receiving critical acclaim. Tour dates for the summer include Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City, Connecticut, Boston, Nashville and many others.