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August 28, 2008
Gaither Homecoming to Stop in Johnson City
Time was when Southern gospel music thrived regionally, though not nationally and certainly not internationally.
Times have changed.
GrahamFest
Event To Feature Ghost Walk Tours, Music, Much More
GRAHAMS FORGE, Va. – It’s the music – all kinds of music – that sets the stage for the magic of GrahamFest.
This newly-born festival, nestled on the fields of a Wythe County farm, grew from a gathering of friends a few years ago that simply liked to jam with musician and real estate developer Josiah Cephas “J.C.” Weaver.
A part-time resident of Dunedin, Fla., Weaver once sought a big-time recording career. He was going to be a country star – maybe a rock star, too. He wrote such songs as “Salute the Boys of Vietnam” and “America, God’s People Love You.”
Labor Day Fun
Variety Of Festivals To Be Held Over The Weekend
If you’re looking for a party on Labor Day weekend, you’re in luck across the Mountain Empire.
Residents of Coeburn are getting ready to have fun on the arched bridges spanning the banks of Little Tom’s Creek. There, the annual Guest River Rally runs today through Sept. 1.
Festivals, celebrations and concerts are also getting under way from Breaks Interstate Park to the hills of Hillsville.
In Smyth County, meanwhile, one of the region’s longest-running festivals takes place this weekend in Saltville.
Choir from Bristol, England Coming to Twin City
The Paramount Center in Bristol will host a special concert on Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m. featuring the Bristol (England) Male Voice Choir.
Showcasing a variety of music drawn from around the world, the choir’s repertoire includes operatic choruses, sacred arrangements, spirituals and songs from stage and screen.
August 27, 2008
Rita Coolidge Brings ‘Balance’ to ‘Jazz at the Culp’ Aug. 29
Think 1970s. Blues, country, rock, pop and even gospel intertwined in the styles of such acts as the Eagles and Leon Russell.
Rita Coolidge thrived amid the mix.
August 22, 2008
Nature Watch: Clymene Moth’s Unique Pattern
We’ve seen them before: cream-colored moths with dark outlines and the shape of what we thought was a dagger in the center of the folded wings. The underwings are a yellowish orange with a dark spot, and when the wings are completely open, the effect of the pattern is lost.
August 21, 2008
Barter’s ‘Sweeney Todd:’ ‘Better than Broadway’s’
“I saw Sweeny Todd on Broadway and this production is much, much better,” enthused our visiting friend who joined us at Barter Theatre on the afternoon of Aug. 17.
Folk Arts Festival Shares Appalachian Ways, More
Tradition matters. Yet if left untended, even the most cherished of traditions can whither and die as time passes by.
Enter the Appalachian Folk Arts Festival. Scheduled for Aug. 23 at Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap, Va., the festival will feature a number of demonstrations of long-practiced Appalachian traditions such as basket making, quilting and beekeeping.
Outside the Oval: Race Fans’ Guide to Sampling Region’s Heritage - Music
Welcome, race fans. Come along for a look at the region’s other calling card, music.
Entertainment does not pause while NASCAR’s rockets cool their jets between races. Try music.
Bristol gifted the world with what has become known as the Bristol Sessions, 1927 recording sessions that spawned the start of the seminal careers of Jimmie Rodgers and Hiltons, Va.’s Carter Family. Blues legend Brownie McGhee grew up in Kingsport, Tenn. There’s much more, but you get the idea.
Now, get the music.
August 14, 2008
Electro-Music 2008 Offers Seminars, Music and More
The Electro-Music Festival 2008, featuring electronic music of all varieties performed continuously on two alternating stages, comes to the Tri-Cities Aug. 14-16.
Singer Tracy Lawrence Has Earned His Stripes
Time marches on. Nearly 20 years have marched on since Tracy Lawrence hit number one with his first single, “Sticks and Stones” in 1991. Several major record labels have come and gone. Hits came and hits went. Personal stability, it’s his. Kids, he has two. So when Lawrence opens the Appalachian Fair in Gray, Tenn., on Aug. 18 bear in mind that life as he knew it in ’91 sure is different than life as he knows it now.
Jypsi: A Sly Band of Syblings
Country act Jypsi has one album. They are young, ages 17 to 27, and signed to big-time label Arista Nashville Records.
Short Takes: Glimpse of Entertainment Around the Region
Short Takes features harpist Greg Buchanan performing a benefit concert for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol/Washington, Co., Va.; concerts this week on State Street in Bristol, VA/TN; and Marty Raybon at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Va.
August 13, 2008
Appalachian Fair Musical Lineup
The 2008 Appalachian Fair musical lineup includes: (top left to right) Tracy Lawrence, Josh Gracin, Jake Owen, (bottom left to right) Heidi Newfield, Chris Young and Jypsi
Cadillac Sky Coming to Paramount Center for the Arts Sept. 9
Cadillac Sky Coming to Paramount Center for the Arts Sept. 9.
New Record ‘Gravity’s Our Enemy’ due out 8-19 on Skaggs Family Records
August 10, 2008
Tazewell County Fair To Feature Music, Food, More
TAZEWELL, Va. – From livestock shows and fishing tournaments to bluegrass music and carnival rides, you’ll find plenty to celebrate with the Tazewell County Fair on tap this week.
Kicking off on Aug. 10, the weeklong event includes food booths, a hunter education course, horse shows and a car and truck show. You can also catch a racing competition – using lawn mowers and go-karts – on Aug. 10 at 6 p.m.
The draft horse show starts at 1 p.m. Aug. 11. You can also stop by the “Catch and Win Fishing Tank” for a competition at 4 p.m., then witness the “Tazewell Tae Kwon Do Dawg Pound” on Aug. 11 at 6 p.m.
August 07, 2008
elecTriCity Calendar
Region offers a variety of entertainment events.
Short Takes: Local Entertainment Highlights
ETSU-Umoja Festival brings storyteller Diane Ferlatte back to Johnson City.
Wallflower Music Not For Shocked
There’s much more to Michelle Shocked that a shocking story. Singer songwriter in Kingsport Aug. 7.
Carlene Carter Back and ‘Stronger’
Singer Coming to ‘Mountain Stage’ in Bristol
To hell and back. Five years ago, Carlene Carter journeyed deep into the black when one family member after another died. She lost her mother, June Carter Cash, her stepfather Johnny Cash, her half-sister, two aunts and her longtime boyfriend Howie Epstein within an eight-month period.
August 05, 2008
Coaltrain/Cowboy Troy at Capone’s
Fans in Johnson City, TN can catch the country rapper playing with a train of a different sort as Nashville country-rock band Coaltrain plays host to the Nashville star at 10 p.m. Saturday, August 9th at Capone’s.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion: Mountain Stage returns to historical downtown Bristol
Mountain Stage returns to historical downtown Bristol on Sunday, August 17 at the Paramount Center for the Arts to record its weekly radio program featuring performances by Carlene Carter, Eric Church, Ed Snodderly, Mike Farris, Del McCoury and others.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion: Mike Marshall & Darol Anger
Mike Marshall & Darol Anger set to host Friday night Super Jam
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion: Border Bash 2008
Border Bash 2008 features live music on the third Friday of every month from May through August, showcasing musicians who will perform later this year at the 8th Annual Rhythm and Roots Reunion.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion: The Hackensaw Boys
It’s the ‘twilight zone’ of life on the road. A day off for a touring musician often results in very little progress, unless you count sleep as an accomplishment. Out of fear of waking the beast, Rhythm and Roots waited until well into the early evening before tracking down Jesse Fiske of Charlottesville, Virginia’s high energy and loose cannon band, The Hackensaw Boys.
August 04, 2008
12th UMOJA/Unity Festival Schedule Announced
The 12th UMOJA/Unity festival will take place August 8-9, 2008, on the grounds of Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tn. Friday and Saturday organizers have planned a variety of music, entertainment, a parade and great food. Events are free - and the goal is to celebrate the unity of local cultures. News Channel 11 at noon talks with Umoja organizers Bill Jennings and Tim Swecker about the upcoming events.
Symphony of the Mountains Announces 62nd Season
The 62nd season of Symphony of the Mountains celebrates regionalism as we continue to entertain, enrich and educate our northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia community
July 31, 2008
Short Takes
LARRY GATLIN
Larry Gatlin struck gold when “All the Gold in California” hit huge in 1979.
Hear Gatlin and his brothers on Aug. 1 when they bring all the gold to Greeneville’s Niswonger Performing Arts Center. With more hits than stars in the sky, the Gatlins nowadays mix gospel with their country.
But they pack the hits, too. Remember 1975’s “Broken Lady”? How about “Love is Just A Game”? The Texan trio will most likely sing those and most of their two dozen or so hits when they grab their gold records off the wall, load up the bus and bring them to Greeneville.
Carter Family Festival
Curly Seckler To Perform During 34th Annual Event
MACES SPRING, Va. – Curly Seckler surely sounded excited.
The bluegrass musician, at age 88, recalled the memory of when he was last on stage at the Carter Fold in Maces Spring, Va., near Hiltons.
“I have not played there since 1987,” Seckler said during a brief Monday telephone interview from his home in Hendersonville, Tenn.
“I’m tickled to death to come back up that way,” Seckler said. “I used to work that every year, up every October.”
However, for the past few years, Seckler has been semi-retired, no longer roaming the road regularly from gig to gig. Even so, he claims to be the oldest, active, nationally-known bluegrass musician.
Joining Forces
Scat Cats, Wells Brothers To Perform Together
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Two bands with two sounds from one family.
For three decades or so, Kingsport’s Scat Cats and Bluff City’s Wells Brothers went their own merry individual ways. But now blood and consequence binds the bands.
When folks turn out to hear the Scat Cats on Aug. 2 at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tenn., they will also hear the Wells Brothers.
But not separately.
Presented by Unity in Community, a Bristol, Tenn.-based organization devised to strengthen bonds among the region’s varying races and religions, the show will feature the Scat Cats in tandem with the Wells Brothers.
