Mast Store Americana Music Series presents:
Appalachian Roadshow
with Special Guest: Bryan Sutton
Doc Watson Day Celebration
Saturday, August 19, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. / Doors open at 7 p.m.
Regular $32/each* Student $15/each* *tax and fees included
All Seating is Reserved. All Ages (children under 17 admitted with parent/legal guardian)
On Friday, August 18th there will be a free concert at the Jones House Cultural Center starting at 5 pm featuring The Mustard Cutters, David Grier & Jake Stargel, and Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth.
Appalachian Roadshow invites us to come and sit a spell on its porch as the band shares its dynamic musicianship through songs and stories emanating from the mountains and hollers of North Carolina and Virginia, to the coal mines of West Virginia and Kentucky. On its eponymous debut album, the band delivers powerful songs that range from the gospel-esque “I Am Just a Pilgrim” and “Little Black Train,” to the reeling, kick-up-your-heels “Dance, Dance, Dance,” to the ballad of love and loss “Anna Lee.” “All of these songs came from the Appalachian mountains and from the coal mining regions of Appalachia,” says Abernathy. “They confront topics such as logging, coal mining, trains, a sweetheart that took off, and so on. There’s something universal in the music and its expressed themes. There’s something for everyone.”
Abernathy, VanCleve, and Webb know it well as they were each born and raised in Appalachia. “I was 10 or 11 when I started singing in church,” says Abernathy, who grew up near the head of the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia. His grandmother had a banjo, and despite being born with only one finger on his noting hand, he knew at the young age of 14 that he wanted to learn to play that banjo and Appalachian music. VanCleve, a North Carolinian by way of Florida, was gifted his first fiddle when he was six. His grandfather, a preacher, played acoustic music, as did his aunt, uncle, and father. By the age of twelve, VanCleve and his father were travelling all over the mountains of North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia, attending dozens of fiddle contests, bluegrass festivals, and old-time music festivals. Webb grew up in the coal mining country of West Virginia where he mastered old-time and bluegrass music through the influence of his father, a coal miner and bluegrass musician who passed away from black lung – an emotional topic which Appalachian Road Show tackles in its music.
“Appalachian music and its stories have been passed down to us, and we’re now passing our own interpretations of this to a new generation, while also shedding a reverent light on this culture,” says Abernathy. “We want to not only keep these traditions alive, but also honor the strong and dedicated individuals who made lives in the mountains over the past 200 years. Appalachian Road Show is meant to be more of a cultural experience rather than simply just a collection of songs. If we were to eventually be viewed as unofficial ambassadors of Appalachian culture, that would be an honor.”
For now, Appalachian Road Show invites us into the music and stories of Appalachia’s culturally-rich heritage. As they say, “It’s part of who we are. It’s natural for us. It is authentic. This music is so vibrant, and it has its own vitality and its own life, and we mean to carry that forward.”
Bryan Sutton, born in Asheville, NC, is the most accomplished and awarded acoustic guitarist of his generation, an innovator who bridges the bluegrass flatpicking traditions of the 20th century with the dynamic roots music scene of the 21st. His rise from buzzed-about young sideman to first-call Nashville session musician to membership in one of history’s greatest bluegrass bands has been grounded in quiet professionalism and ever-expanding musicianship.
Sutton is a Grammy Award winner and a nine-time International Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year. But these are only the most visible signs of Sutton’s accomplishments. He inherited and internalized a technically demanding instrumental style and become for young musicians of today the same kind of model and hero that Tony Rice and Clarence White were for him. And supplementing his instrumental work, he’s now a band leader, record producer, mentor, educator and leader in online music instruction.
Starting just before 2000, Sutton kicked off his career as a solo recording artist, assembling a star-studded band for his debut Ready To Go on Sugar Hill Records. Besides some original bluegrass instrumentals and some guest vocal tunes by the likes of Rhonda Vincent, the album featured two hot swing numbers, some lyrical pieces and even a U2 cover, showing sides of his playing and personality that were in the background during his tenure with Ricky Skaggs. On his second solo disc, Sutton turned back to his upbringing and his heart’s core for Bluegrass Guitar, featuring nine traditional standards, one original and an instrumental take on a Tim O’Brien song. Here, Sutton’s debts to his idols – Rice, Watson, White - were clear, but his own voice and style was fully realized. And then in 2006, he took his admiration for his fellow pickers to its logical conclusion, arranging duo sessions with favorites and friends for Not Too Far From The Tree. He was joined on a range of styles and tunes by David Grier, Norman Blake, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Earl Scruggs, Dan Crary and Doc Watson.
Balcony Seating
Please be aware, to access the balcony sections the use and navigation of stairs and steep ramps are required. If you or someone in your party requires an accommodation, please reach out to our Patron Services Manager or Box Office to discuss relocation options by calling 828.865.3000 ext. 1 . If you are onsite at the venue, please see an usher, house manager or Patron Services Manager for assistance.
THIRD PARTY SELLERS / SECONDARY MARKET
Tickets for events at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country are sold exclusively through the theatre box office and online at AppTheatre.org . We DO NOT partner with third party sellers. We DO NOT accept tickets sold on a secondary market. We reserve the right to decline entry if you are not the original ticket buyer.
Tickets purchased from alternative sources may be any or all of the following:
· Not authentic
· Over-priced
· Invalid (cannot be used to enter the event)
The Appalachian Theatre of the High Country (ATHC) is not responsible for tickets purchased from third party vendors and is not able to honor, replace, or refund invalid tickets. Please purchase your tickets from only approved sources.
PARKING INFORMATION
Please be sure to carefully read the information and instructions below to have the best experience when you visit the theatre. ATHC does not own or operate any parking lots or meters and cannot accept responsibility for any parking mishaps or fees.
Metered street parking & pay lots are monitored and parking is enforced Monday – Saturday from 8 a.m. until 5 pm except on town observed holidays.
Parking is $1.00/hour at all metered parking spaces.
Metered & lot parking is free all day on Sundays and every day after 5 p.m.
Parking in Appalachian State parking lots (e.g. the Peacock Lot accessed off Howard Street) is available for free on week nights after 5 p.m. and on non-gameday/event weekends on Saturday and Sunday.
Accessible Parking:
Parking at metered accessible parking areas is free, as long as the correct placard/license plate is displayed and up to date.
Visit our HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS page for the latest in show attendance requirements, FAQs and other information.
