The Blue Ridge Music Center returns to action in August with a weekly concert series/Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation file

Easing into a summer evening to the tunes of live music is hard to beat, which is why it's great to hear that the Blue Ridge Music Center along the Blue Ridge Parkway will return in August with an abridged Roots of American Music Concert Series.

The shows will be held each Saturday evening through the month. The performances will highlight a variety of musical styles, including bluegrass, blues, Americana, and old-time vaudeville at the outdoor amphitheater at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Featured performers include High Fidelity, Amythyst Kiah, Chatham Rabbits, Becky Buller Band, and Bill and the Belles.

Tickets will only be available for purchase at the gate the night of the show. Payment by credit card is encouraged to minimize the handling of cash for the gate staff and volunteers.

Music fans who have a fever, cough, aches and pains, loss of smell or taste, difficulty breathing, etc., or are sneezing and coughing, are asked to please stay at home.

The Music Center is taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Concert attendees are asked to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Maintain six feet of distance between groups throughout the evening, including when standing in line and when you select your seating location in the amphitheater.
• When in high traffic areas (such as the bridge between the amphitheater and restrooms) you must wear a mask to protect your fellow concertgoers.

A hand sanitizing station will be located near the admission gate. Guests should plan to arrive early to allow extra time to make their way into the amphitheater.

High Fidelity kicks off the series when it brings its early bluegrass sound to the stage at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 1. The show will open with the New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters. Tickets are $15. Children 12 and younger are admitted for free. This concert is part of the Women in Bluegrass and American Roots Music Series. The series is in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Foundation.

High Fidelity draws much of its inspiration from bands like Don Reno & Red Smiley, The Stanley Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and other bluegrass groups from the same era. The group interprets classic bluegrass through the fresh, young perspective of today’s generation. The band is comprised of five stellar musicians and singers: Jeremy Stephens (guitar, banjo, lead vocals), Corrina Rose Logston (fiddle, mandolin, harmony vocals, Kurt Stephenson (banjo and harmony vocals), Vickie Vaughn (bass), and Daniel Amick (mandolin).

Formed in 1986, the New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters of Galax took their name in part from the original Bogtrotters of the 1930s. Band leader Dennis Hall lives on Ballards Branch Road, very close to the former home of Uncle Eck Dunford, who played fiddle in the original band. The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters play in the traditional Appalachian string-band style, often performing for square dances around the region. Band members include National Heritage Award winner Eddie Bond on fiddle, Dennis Hall on guitar, Josh Ellis on clawhammer banjo, Bonnie Bond on bass, and Caroline Noel Beverley on mandolin.

Amythyst Kiah brings her powerful performance to the Music Center at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 8, along with Shay Martin Lovette. Tickets are $20. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. This concert is sponsored by the New River Trail Cabins and is part of the Women in Bluegrass and American Roots Music Series.

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and based in Johnson City, Amythyst Kiah has a commanding stage presence, matched by her raw and powerful vocals. Playing banjo and guitar, her eclectic range of influences spans decades, finding inspiration in old-time, alternative rock, folk, country, and blues. Kiah has recently collaborated with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell to record Our Native Daughters on Smithsonian Folkways. Written and performed by Kiah, the opening track, “Black Myself,” won the 2019 Song of the Year award at the Folk Alliance International Conference, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.

Shay Martin Lovette is a singer-songwriter hailing from the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina. He has placed in nationally recognized songwriting competitions like MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Competition and Telluride’s Troubadour Songwriting Competition. He has performed at music festivals such as Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion and Carolina in the Fall.

Chatham Rabbits returns to the Music Center at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 15. Tickets are $20. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. This concert is sponsored by Visit Grayson County.

Emerging from the fertile roots scene in the North Carolina Triangle, Chatham Rabbits is the husband-and-wife duo of Austin and Sarah McCombie. They captivate crowds with their intimate close-harmony singing. The couple favors rustic, minimalist acoustic arrangements—mainly clawhammer-style banjo and guitar—that showcase their old-time roots with compelling original songwriting.

Sarah, a North Carolina native, began her music career as a lead vocalist and banjo player with the old-time band, The South Carolina Broadcasters. For Austin, Southern music played an essential role in his upbringing. His parents, from Wilmington, N.C., introduced him to country classics and beach music standards while his relatives in Southeast Virginia immersed him in bluegrass.

The group has been touring extensively across the Southeast in support of the debut album All I Want from You, which was produced by Jerry Brown (who also produced for Carolina Chocolate Drops and Doc Watson) and features an appearance by Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange.

The Becky Buller Band takes the stage at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 22. The show will open with young artists Luke Morris and Madison Elmore. Tickets are $20. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. This concert is part of the Women in Bluegrass and American Roots Music Series.

A multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter from St. James, Minnesota, Becky Buller is a two-time Grammy award-winning songwriter. She cowrote “Freedom,” the lead-off track of The Infamous Stringdusters’ 2018 Grammy-winning album Laws of Gravity, and “The Shaker” on The Travelin’ McCourys’ self-titled release that garnered a Grammy for 2019 Best Bluegrass Album. Buller is the recipient of eight awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association, and made history in 2016 as the first bluegrass musician to win in both instrumental and vocal categories, as well as being the first woman to win Fiddler of the Year.

Rounding out the band are Ned Luberecki, the 2018 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year, guitarist Dan Boner, who is also the director of the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program at East Tennessee State University, Nate Lee, the 2015 IBMA Momentum Award winning instrumentalist, on mandolin and fiddle, and Daniel Hardin on doghouse bass.

The singer-songwriter duo of Luke Morris and Madison Elmore draw their influences from the rich musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Currently students in ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program, they grew up playing traditional Appalachian music. First introduced to the audiences with his band ShadowGrass, Morris plays mandolin and guitar, and is an accomplished songwriter. Elmore plays fiddle, guitar, and piano and is also a songwriter. The two began playing together regularly in 2018 and released a debut single “Take Me Back to the Blue Ridge” in December 2019.

Bill and the Belles return to the Music Center at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 29, along with Dori Freeman. Tickets are $15. Children 12 and younger are admitted for free.

Bill and the Belles explores the space created between hillbilly and urban, between vaudeville and down home, and has arrived somewhere new. They bring to the stage an uplifting show, full of humor, high spirits, and all-around revelry. Bill and the Belles play alongside America’s top country and roots music artists as the house band for the radio program, Farm and Fun Time, presented by Radio Bristol.

Galax native Dori Freeman grew up in a musical family. Her father, Scott Freeman, and grandfather, Willard Gayheart, are both regular performers during Midday Mountain Music sessions at the Music Center. Teddy Thompson produced her eponymous album on the Free Dirt Records label in 2016. Following that release, Rolling Stone included her on the magazine’s list of “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.” Freeman recently released her third album, Every Single Star, also produced by Thompson.

For more information, go to BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org or call (866) 308-2773, ext. 212.

About the Blue Ridge Music Center

Operated through a partnership between the National Park Service and Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Music Center, milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Galax, Virginia, celebrates the music and musicians of the mountains. The site includes a visitor center, museum, outdoor amphitheater and indoor interpretive center used to highlight an important strand of American musical culture, which still thrives in the region. The Music Center also offers scenic trails for novice and seasoned hikers. Concerts are also presented off-site throughout the year in partnership with other organizations. For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.