SHAWSVILLE – Beans and Banjos welcomes a new band in September, New River Bound. They’re new to Beans and Banjos, but certainly not new to old time music. They’ve won ribbons at the Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax for seven years in a row now. (That’s the big deal granddaddy of fiddlers’ conventions.) The folks in New River Bound describe themselves as “an award-winning string band playing old-time fiddle tunes with a modern twist.”
The band’s Facebook page declares, “An old-time string band playing traditional tunes and songs alongside originals, New River Bound brings a fresh feel and fine spirit to the music of the Appalachian mountains. … Band members Greg Honeycutt on bass, Caleb McAllister on fiddle, Brian Muller on guitar and Jessica Muller on banjo bring together a variety of musical interests and backgrounds including bluegrass, rock, jazz and classical with a shared love of traditional Appalachian music to create a rich texture and interpretation for old-time tunes and songs.”
Fort Vause will open the show with bluegrass and bluegrass flavored blues, ballads, gospel, novelty and show tunes.
Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and the newest member of the band, virtuoso guitarist Steven Paul, who came to Fort Vause from a Gypsy jazz band and is front man for the electric alt-country band Electric Road. Tim Thornton plays bass. Everybody sings, sometimes all at once.
Along with the music, there’ll be beans, cornbread and desserts – dinner and a show Shawsville style.
Supper and music begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, in the Dr. George R. Smith Community Center inside Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Center. It’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road, at the corner of Alleghany Spring and U.S. 460.
This Evening of Beans and Banjos raises money for the LINC Letter and its LINC webpage. We hope each person who comes will donate $5 or more.
As always, Beans and Banjos operates by granny rules: No drinking; no smoking; no cussing; no spitting on the floor.
