The New Lonesome Creek Rangers in Concert (In-Person and Livestreamed):

Date: April 10, 2021
Time: 8:00 - 10:00 PM
Venue: Floyd Country Store
Organizations: Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small, Lonesome River Band, Twin Creeks Stringband
Cost: In-Person Tickets: $20.00 Online Livestream: Free

Description: The Floyd Country Store presents The New Lonesome Creek Rangers in concert in-person and livestreamed on Saturday, April 10, 2021.

Join us at the Floyd Country Store for a live (and livestreamed) show with some Floyd Virginia’s finest bluegrass and old-time musicians. The New Lonesome Creek Rangers is a unique line up of members of The Lonesome River Band, The Twin Creeks Stringband and The New Macedon Rangers. Featuring Sammy Shelor (banjo), Jesse Smathers (mandolin, guitar and vocals), Chris Prillaman (fiddle and banjo), Ashlee Watkins (guitar and vocals), Andrew Small (mandolin, fiddle and vocals) and Dylan Locke (bass).

Lonesome River Band continues their reputation as one of the most respected names in bluegrass music. Led by five-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Banjo Player of the Year and Virginia Country Music Hall of Famer Sammy Shelor, the group holds a powerhouse line up of award-winning players.

The band is celebrating their Billboard Top 10 Bluegrass Album, Turn On A Dime released on Mountain Home Music Company. The album certainly showcases Lonesome River Band at the top of their creative game. When masterful players and vocalists combine with top notch material and thoughtful arrangement, the result is a dynamic release. This long awaited project includes numerous chart songs including the hit “Her Love Won’t Turn On A Dime” that reached the #1 spot seven times on the Bluegrass Today Top 20.

Lonesome River Band’s enduring career includes 17 albums, three of which were released in 2012 in celebration of the group’s 30th anniversary. The band received the 2012 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Award for Instrumental Recorded Event of the Year for their song “Angeline the Baker” from their CHRONOLOGY Volume One album along with Sammy Shelor taking home his fifth win as the 2012 IBMA Banjo Performer of the Year. Lonesome River Band has received other awards from IBMA including Album of the Year, along with numerous awards from SPBGMA including being named Bluegrass Band of Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Song of the Year and Shelor as Banjo Player of the Year. Sammy Shelor received the 2nd Annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass.

For over 30 years, Lonesome River Band continues set the standard in the bluegrass music world. Whether performing on the famous stage of the Grand Ole Opry or headlining major concert events and festivals, their loyal fans continue to support one of the most loved and most influential acts of our time.

Links:

• http://lonesomeriverband.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/lonesomeriverband
• https://www.twitter.com/LonesomeRiverB

Twin Creeks Stringband plays music for dancing playing a strong rhythmic old time sound that goes back many generations.

In the late 1970s, a group of neighbors and friends got together to play the music that had been passed down in the Dry Hill and Ferrum areas of Franklin County. Some of the musicians were falling behind on their timing one day while playing and having some fun, and one spectator commented that he was going to call the group the Dry Hill Draggers.

Banjo player Jimmy Boyd and his brother Billy Boyd started the official Dry Hill Draggers band in 1981. The group flourished, and more than thirty years later, some of the Dry Hill Draggers members formed Twin Creeks Stringband, including Jared Boyd, grandson of Jimmy Boyd, a third generation claw-hammer banjo player; his dad Stacy Boyd on upright bass; Jason Hambrick on guitar and vocals; and Chris Prillaman on fiddle. Twin Creeks Stringband has a particularly driving old-time beat that is irresistible to dancers, and they are popular performers at the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival, as well as at the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/Twincreeksoldtime

Ashlee Watkins and Andrew Small are an old-time country and husband and wife duo performing both traditional and original repertoire on fiddle, banjo, mandolin and guitar with powerful two-part harmonies.

Born and raised in eastern North Carolina, Andrew Small is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who has performed with artists ranging from Sierra Hull and Mandolin Orange to the North Carolina Symphony. He now resides in Floyd, VA where he serves as Coordinator of the Handmade Music School and also tours with the group Bill and the Belles. Andrew has won numerous blue ribbons from fiddlers’ conventions around the Southeast for his old-time fiddling and in 2015 was named the Bluegrass Mandolin Champion of Australia. He holds a master’s degree in music performance from Yale University.

Ashlee Watkins is a singer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Newcastle, NSW. Described by fiddler Bob Herring as having “it”, her powerfully unadorned vocals possess a timeless quality that evokes an uncommon emotional poignance. She has been awarded a number of blue ribbons from fiddlers’ conventions around the southeast for her folk singing and old-time banjo playing, and her band the New Macedon Rangers has been awarded blue ribbons in both old-time and bluegrass band categories. Now making her home in Floyd, Virginia, Ashlee also performs as a member of Jackson Cunningham’s string band Nobody’s Business.

The duo was formerly known as The New Macedon Rangers.

Links:

• https://www.facebook.com/ashleeandandrew
• https://soundcloud.com/newmacedonrangers

The show will have a limited in-person audience and air live on Facebook and YouTube.

In-person tickets are $20.00 and available for sale online only. The livestream is free with donations accepted to support the musical artists and production costs of the concert.

To purchase tickets online, visit: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/event/new-lonesome-creek-rangers-live-2021-04-10.

Doors open at 7:30 pm and the music starts at 8:00 pm.

All in-person audience members will be required to wear a mask at all time with exception of eating and drinking and will be required to have a temperature check upon entry.

For more information, visit: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/event/new-lonesome-creek-rangers-live-2021-04-10 or https://www.facebook.com/floydcountrystore or call 540-745-4563.