4th of July Concert on the Lawn with Sammy Shelor, Junior Sisk, Jessie Smathers & Barry Collins
Venue: Floyd Country Store, Floyd
Organizations: Junior Sisk Band, Sammy Shelor
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2020
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Event Types: Music
Cost:

Description:
The Floyd Country Store presents a 4th of July Concert on the Lawn featuring musicians Sammy Shelor, Junior Sisk, Jessie Smathers and Barry Collins on Saturday, July 4, 2020 on the cottage lawn behind the Floyd Country Store.

Virginia Country Music Hall of Famer, Sammy Shelor is 5-time IBMA Award Winner for Banjo Performer of the Year, 2011 Award Winner for the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass and has received numerous other awards and recognitions during his impressive career and is one of the greatest bluegrass banjoists of our time. Sammy currently leads the Lonesome River Band who have been entertaining audiences for more than 33 years.

When Sammy Shelor joined Lonesome River Band in 1990, he never envisioned himself leading the band only ten years later. Fresh off a six year stint with the popular Virginia Squires, Sam came on board along with Ronnie Bowman and before long, had recorded the landmark LRB CD, "Carrying The Tradition" with Dan Tyminski and Tim Austin. This recording quickly moved the band to headliner status, where they have remained ever since.

His peers in the International Bluegrass Music Association have voted him Banjo Player Of The Year on four separate occasions, and banjo pickers all over the world have studied Sammy’s tab books and instructional DVD from AcuTab.

Sammy got an early start with the banjo, when his grandfather fashioned him a banjo from an old pressure cooker lid when Sam was only four years old. His other grandfather then issued a challenge, promising to buy him a real banjo if the young Shelor would learn to play two songs. Sam met that mark in short order, and with the help of a family devoted both to him and to bluegrass music, he soon found himself entered in contests at fiddler’s conventions near his home in southwestern VA.

By age ten, he was performing in local bands and became a full time professional musician when he graduated from high school, joining The Heights Of Grass at age 19. That band eventually morphed into The Virginia Squires, and brought Sammy into contact with banjo legend Sonny Osborne, who helped shape the young picker’s approach to working as a pro banjo player.

As a testament to Sammy’s prominence and influence in the banjo world, he has his own signature Sammy Shelor banjo fingerpicks, and a signature model banjo produced by Huber Banjos. His influence on amateur and semi-pro pickers can be demonstrated by a casual walk through the parking lots or jam sessions at any bluegrass event, where licks and phrases which Sam has added to the repertoire are heard alongside those contributed by Earl Scruggs and JD Crowe.

Sammy also recorded and performs with country super star Alan Jackson on the “The Bluegrass Album”. They performed at Carnegie Hall, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Station Inn, and more.

Sammy has received a multitude of awards and recognitions during his impressive career including his induction into the 2009 Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame, 2011 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, 5-time winner of the IBMA Banjo Performer of the Year Award, 4-time winner of the SPBGMA Banjo Performer of the Year Award.

Links:

• http://www.sammyshelor.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/sammyshelorbanjo

Junior Sisk is widely recognized as one of today's top bluegrass vocalists, and a constant reminder that traditional bluegrass is still alive and well. A longtime resident of the Virginia Blue Ridge, his bluegrass pedigree runs deep. Influenced by a father who wrote songs and played guitar and a mother who sang, Sisk first learned to play around age 14. His early influences included The Stanley Brothers, Larry Sparks, and Dave Evans, but he often credits the Johnson Mountain Boys with inspiring him to pursue bluegrass professionally.

Sisk first made his mark in bluegrass as a songwriter in the early 1990s, penning classic Lonesome River Band songs like "Game (I Can't Win)" and "Tears Are Blinding Me." As a member of Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz and Blueridge, he helped define the sound of driving, modern traditional bluegrass. In 1998, Sisk founded the Ramblers Choice band, and released "Sounds of the Mountains" on Rounder Records. After leaving Blueridge in 2006, he reformed Ramblers Choice and began a successful career on Rebel Records.

His 2011 album Heart of a Song helped bring the band into the spotlight and earned the prestigious IBMA Album of the Year Award in 2012. Its single "A Far Cry from Lester and Earl," which Sisk co-wrote, became a rallying cry for a resurgence of traditional sounds in bluegrass and additionally, received the 2012 Song of the Year Award from the IBMA. Sisk was further honored when he was named 2013 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, and his band earned the 2014 SPBGMA Bluegrass Band of the Year award. In 2016, "Longneck Blues," a collaboration with noted singer-songwriter Ronnie Bowman, was named Recorded Event of the Year by the IBMA. Most recently, Sisk received the 2017 Male Vocalist of the Year award from SPBGMA.

In 2015, Sisk signed with Mountain Fever Records and has been happily turning out hit after hit for them ever since. His most recent album, Brand New Shade Of Blue boasts the chart topping single "Whiskey and the Guitar."

Links:

• https://juniorsisk.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/juniorsiskband

The event is accessible on a first come, first served basis. There is a suggested donation of $20.00 to support the musicians and venue during these difficult times.

Viewers can leave online tips using one of three methods:
• Paypal: PayPal.me/floydcountrystore
• Venmo: @floydcountrystore
• Website: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/shop/online-events/livestream-tip

We ask that everyone practice safe social distancing during the show.

This event is dependent on fair weather and may be canceled due to rain. Please check our website or Facebook for the latest updates.

To view the event flyer, visit: https://i.imgur.com/IRTW3Bs.jpg.

For more information, visit: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/event/fourth-of-july-concert-on-the-lawn-2020-07-04 or https://www.facebook.com/floydcountrystore or call 540-745-4563.