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Event
Leroy Jodie Pierson with special guests The Buckhannon Brothers
The Blue Ridge Music Center presents A Show for Joe: A Tribute to Joe Wilson featuring performances by Leroy Jodie Pierson with special guests The Buckhannon Brothers.
LEROY JODIE PIERSON
When Omnivore Recordings acquired Nighthawk Records they also gained a secret weapon in Leroy Jodie Pierson. Leroy had founded Nighthawk, co-produced most of the albums, wrote most of the liner notes, photographed the artists, and best of all, wanted to be involved in the revival of the label.
Throughout his life, Pierson devoted himself to musical pursuits. Among his endeavors was production of blues shows and festivals, teaching blues classes at Washington University in St. Louis, helping form the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts, hosting/DJ-ing radio shows, authoring books and recording his own music.
In 1979 Nighthawk Records began a project in Kingston, Jamaica aimed at developing a reggae series and Leroy solely undertook the task of annotation, programming and material selection and eventually producing new music in the Kingston studios. Such widely acclaimed albums as the Wiser Dread, Knotty Vision, and Calling Rastafari anthologies plus albums from such reggae greats as The Itals, Gladiators, Justin Hinds And The Dominoes, and reggae-legends Ethiopian and Junior Byles.
His own band, The Leroy Pierson Band, was requested by the U.S. Information Agency to do a one month tour of Jamaica with Rockin Doopsie and the Twisters in 1985 including the Jamaican Jam-Fest and the World Music Festival, sharing the stage with among others, Yellowman, Lionel Hampton, and The Mighty Diamonds. In 1987, the USIA once again featured The Leroy Pierson Band on a tour of Africa and the Middle-East for five weeks performing concerts in such exotic locales as Iraq, Yemen, United Arab Emerites, Oman, Bahrain, Sudan, and Quatar.
In 1988 Leroy released his own album, Rusty Nail, on Nighthawk, with Russell Horneyer playing bass, and award winning fiddler/violin maker Geoffrey Sietz on drums and fiddle. The record received extensive air play on blues programs around the country. Now for its 30th Anniversary, it has been remastered and expanded to include 10 previously unissued tracks as part of the Nighthawk reissue series.
THE BUCKHANNON BROTHERS
Dennis and Curtis Buckhannon became hooked on old time music so long ago that neither of them can remember exactly how it happened. Old time music is not just what they play: its part of who they are.
Dennis is a recently-retired union painter, and Curtis works for a printing company. After the work day is done, the brothers break out their instruments, and together they create music founded on their sincere commitment to preserving traditional old-time mandolin and fiddle music that is indigenous to Missouri and the Midwest region at large.
As youngsters, the brothers listened to their Dads bluegrass and country music recordings, and they taught themselves to pick the tunes on guitars. When they were in their late teens, Curtis acquired his first mandolin and began playing old-time music. During that time there were quite a few old-time fiddlers in rural Missouri and Illinois, and the brothers learned many of their tunes from these old-time musicians as well as from field recordings. They loved old-time music, and they spent a lot of time playing music with friendsboth young and oldsharing good tunes and good times. To this day, Curtis makes a habit of meeting mandolin players and fiddlers wherever he goes, adding their tunes to the brothers repertoire.
In 1973, Curtis and Dennis formed an old-time string band called Cousin Curtis and the Cash Rebates. They had five pickers (fiddle, bass, mandolin, guitar, and banjo), and they frequently played for square dances and local establishments. The Cash Rebates still exist today, and, although the membership has gone through several evolutions, Curtis and Dennis remain at the center of the band. In the late 1980s, Curtis also joined a band called the Ill-Mo Boys, and he plays occasionally with that band too.
Today, the Buckhannon Brothers frequently perform in St. Louis as well as around east central Missouri and southern Illinois for square and line dances. They, along with other musicians, teach and call old-time square dances as well. Additionally, the brothers perform at numerous old-time national music festivals, and they have been instrumental (pun intended) in several projects dedicated to the preservation of old-time string band music, such as field recordings produced by the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts, which currently are housed in the University of Missouri at Columbia archives. Their talents as old-time musicians have been preserved for posterity on recordings archived in the United States Library of Congress, and their recordings have been used as authentic auditory complements to two historical documentaries. You can catch The Buckhanon Brothers performances at many local venues, such as farmers markets, historic landmarks, and libraries. They also perform for private parties and other social gatherings.
Ticket purchases are non-refundable and non-transferable.
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LocationThe Blue Ridge Music Center (View)
700 Foothills Road (Mile Marker 213 - Blue Ridge Parkway)
Galax, VA 24333
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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