Bluegrass Festival Returns for Richmond County Farm-City Week

Richmond Community College will once again be an entertainment destination for Richmond County Farm-City Week. The Second Annual RichmondCC Bluegrass Festival will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at the in Hamlet.

Funded in part by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the festival will feature a powerhouse line-up of award-winning bluegrass musicians.

“We are excited to once again be hosting the Bluegrass Festival for Farm-City Week,” Cole Auditorium Director Joey Bennett said. “A bluegrass festival is a perfect supplement for this annual event that highlights the farming community. We have some very well known and highly entertaining bands lined up to play at the Cole.”

Sideline

Steve Dilling plays like he was born and raised in a crib where only Earl Scruggs and Tony Rice played on the twirling mobile above him. Jason Moore has been on three Grammy nominated projects and been nominated for “Bass Player of the Year” at the International Bluegrass Music Awards four times, along with winning “Recorded Event of the Year” twice and “Gospel Event of the Year.” Skip Cherryholmes started playing mandolin at age 9 and for 13 years was a part of the 2005 IBMA Entertainer of the Year award-winning Cherryholmes Family. Seventeen-year-old Nathan Aldridge has had a fiddle in his hand since he was two years old. His first real fiddle was given to him by his cousin at the age of 4, and he hasn't put it down since. Brad Hudson was blessed with the God-given talent of singing and playing music since age 3 and has worked with people like The Larkins, Don Cox, The Gaithers, Jeff & Sheri Easter, and the great Dolly Parton.

These are the outstanding acoustic musicians and vocalists who make up the bluegrass “supergroup” Sideline formed by IIIrd Tyme Out banjo man Dilling a few years ago. North Carolina’s own 2014 IMBA Emerging Artist Nominee, Sideline recently released their third album, “Colors & Crossroads,” on Mountain Fever Records.

Lost & Found

With a legacy now stretching back over three decades, Lost & Found are among the most resilient and beloved bands in bluegrass. Along with Gene Parker and Roger Handy, Allen Mills and Dempsey Young founded Lost & Found in Martinsville, Va., in 1973. Local attention gave way to regional popularity, and by the early 1980s the band had toured all across the United States, Canada, and even to Europe. After recording for a smaller local outfit, Lost & Found signed on with Rebel Records in 1980, a relationship that continues to this day and has resulted in a long string of successful recordings. Mills and Young dealt with a number of line-up changes, while never losing sight of the core musical values they had begun with. Their newest album, poignantly titled “Love, Lost and Found,” finds the quartet of Mills (bass, vocals), Ronald Smith (banjo, vocals), Scottie Sparks (guitar, vocals) and Scott Napier (mandolin) emerging from a turbulent and tragic period in the band’s history with grace and honor, respectfully acknowledging a debt to the past while continuing to hone their own unique sound.

A Deeper Shade of Blue

This year marks 15 years that Deeper Shade of Blue has been bringing audiences their incredible sound of bluegrass and gospel music. The group continues to make its mark on the ever-changing world of bluegrass music with their current configuration that includes Jim Fraley, Jason Fraley, Troy Pope, Frank Poindexter and Scott Burgess. These five guys truly complement each other with beautifully blended vocals and harmony accompanied by top-notch instrumentation.

Deeper Shade of Blue is proud of the six CD projects they have produced that include original material written by the band members. “Bluegrass to the Bone” has become their band slogan after the same-titled CD was deemed their best ever. It was quickly followed up by “No More Blues,” and both continue to be in high demand at the record table.

Based in Monroe, Deeper Shade of Blue has played many local and regional venues that include Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Festival, Adams Festivals, Reno Fest, Cabin Fever, Big Lick, Twin Oak Park, Red White & Blue and Ocean Lakes to name a few. They also enjoy when they are leading in worship during church services around the area.

Ticket Information

Tickets to the Richmond Community College Bluegrass Festival are $30 to $45 (price varies for seating options) and can be purchased through the Cole Auditorium Box Office. Festival-goers who purchase tickets early will receive a $5 discount.

Box office hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can also call the box office at (910) 410-1691. Information is also available on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.