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Photos courtesy of New River Community College
The music of the Java Brothers and New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters will be featured during New River Community College’s Concert Series event on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.
The music will begin at 6 p.m. in 117 Edwards Hall at NRCC in Dublin.
The Java Brothers’ bluegrass band members met during a Monday Night Radford Fiddle and Banjo jam. Their musical influences include Bill Monroe, Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Old and In the Way, The Seldom Scene, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, JD Crowe, and Doyle Lawson.
The Java Brothers mix standard bluegrass and newgrass with fiery original tunes in their live shows. The band includes Joe Abercrombie on banjo, Ralph Berrier on fiddle, Chris Burgoyne on mandolin, Doug Capobianco on string bass, and Wayne Frye on guitar.
The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters have been playing old time mountain music in the Galax area since 1986. Dennis Hall is the founder of the band and continues to serve as band leader. The band was named for the small stream in Galax where Hall grew up and still resides, as well as in honor of Uncle Eck Dunford, a member of the original Bogtrotters band from the 1920s.
The current group includes Hall on guitar, Eddie Bond on fiddle and vocals, Bonnie Bond on bass and vocals, Josh Ellis on banjo and vocals, and Caroline Noel Beverley on mandolin and vocals. The band has played at festivals across the U.S. and participated in the Friends of American Old Time Music and Dance Festival in Gainsborough, England.
Several of the band members have played internationally in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Australia. Since 1986, the band has placed first at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention 10 times.
The doors open at 5 p.m. for the show. Admission is free; however, donations will be accepted to help offset the travel expenses for the musicians. The music events are typically held the second Saturday of each month at NRCC, a Crooked Road affiliated venue.
Submitted by New River Community College
