Roots Music Series - Frostburg State University

Special Events - Roots Music Series

Concerts & Workshops
Presented by Allegany Arts Council, WFWM Public Radio, and Dr. Ken Roberts

The Roots Music Series was established by the Allegany Arts Council, in cooperation with WFWM Radio and Dr. Ken Roberts, to encourage and sustain "traditional" music in our community. Using a program format that includes afternoon workshops followed by evening concerts, the Roots Music Series is able to showcase a variety of musical traditions (such as bluegrass, folk, country, blues, gospel, etc.), to educate, instruct and nurture local musicians, and to increase awareness and interest in these important art forms among area residents. For addition information, call the Allegany Arts Council at 301.777.ARTS (2787) or visit www.alleganyartscouncil.org.

Roots Music Series - Spring 2013
Kenny & Amanda Smith Band
Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 8pm

On Saturday, April 13, at 8PM, the Roots Music Series is pleased to present the Kenny & Amanda Smith Band in concert at the Mountain Ridge High School Auditorium in Frostburg.

Kenny & Amanda Smith Band are a fine Bluegrass & Gospel group that formed in 2001 after Kenny met Amanda at a Lonesome River Band concert and they began playing music together. The band was awarded the “Emerging Artist of the Year” award from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) in 2003. The band consists of two-time IBMA “Guitarist of the Year” Kenny Smith. Kenny is one of the most respected flat-picking guitar players around. He was a member of the Lonesome River Band for six years. His wife, Amanda, provides vocals and rhythm guitar. She began singing in church as a young girl and was exposed to Bluegrass through artists like Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent. Cory Piatt joins Kenny and Amanda on mandolin. Cory recently released a fine solo album on Patuxent Records entitled Daydreams, which features backing from Bluegrass players like Darren Beachley, Ronnie Bowman, Randy Kohrs and Scott Vestal. Cory’s brother Owen takes on banjo duties. Owen formally played with the talented young band Blue Moon Rising. Austin Ward holds down the bottom end on bass. Austin is another young player gaining respect in the Bluegrass world where he has become an in-demand session player.

Look for additional details about this Roots Music Series concert, including ticket prices, in the coming months....

The Roots Music Series was established by the Allegany Arts Council, in cooperation with WFWM Public Radio and Dr. Ken Roberts, to encourage and sustain "traditional" music in our community. Using a program format that includes afternoon workshops followed by evening concerts, the Roots Music Series is able to showcase a variety of musical traditions (such as bluegrass, folk, country, blues, gospel, etc.), to educate, instruct and nurture local musicians, and to increase awareness and interest in these important art forms among area residents.

Roots Music Series - Fall 2012
David Peterson & 1946
Traditional Bluegrass & Country Music
Saturday, November 3, 2012, 8 pm
Palace Theatre, Frostburg
Doors open at 7:30 pm

On Saturday, November 3 at 8PM, the Roots Music Series will present great bluegrass music by David Peterson & 1946. The concert will be held at the historic Palace Theatre in Downtown Frostburg's Arts & Entertainment District.

David Peterson is a rare combination: an independent and savvy recording artist and a bluegrass singer who cherishes tradition. His voice has that lofty quality that carries from mountain-top to mountain-top. It’s powerful, complete and saturated with Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin’s blues. A Boston native, he’s not somebody who would have been issued a bluegrass license at birth. But Peterson learned the music from a deacon at his church and as music writer Robert Oermann likes to say, there’s nobody as zealous as a convert. When he got serious about the mandolin, the guitar and bluegrass music in 1995, he left his track from becoming a minister to pursue music. Now Dave preaches bluegrass with a missionary zeal. It comes down to this. David Peterson and 1946 capture the essence of why bluegrass was so direct and compelling in its original form, and we’re still enjoying its complicated reverberations years later. In his music, you can count on hearing the sound of the Big Bang itself, and that makes him a worthy part of the American musical firmament.

Tickets for the performance are $20 for the general public, and $15 for members of the Allegany Arts Council and FSU students. Advance tickets are now available from the Allegany Arts Council, Main Street Books, and the Book Center. If the concert is not already sold out, tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the performance beginning at 7:30PM. For questions, please call the Allegany Arts Council at 301-777-ARTS (2787).

Roots Music Series: Spring 2012 Concert
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
Saturday, 14 April 2012, 8pm

The Roots Music Series will present bluegrass legend Rhonda Vincent & the Rage in concert at the Palace Theatre in Frostburg, MD on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8 pm. Tickets for the performance are $25 for the general public, and $22 for members of the Allegany Arts Council and FSU students. Tickets will be available at the door on the night of the performance beginning at 7:30PM. Advanced tickets are now available from the Allegany Arts Council, Main Street Books in Frostburg, and the Book Center in Cumberland. For questions, please call the Allegany Arts Council at 301-777-ARTS (2787).

Rhonda Vincent is known as “the Queen of Bluegrass” and few artists have attained her level of both critical and popular acclaim. She began performing in her family’s band, the Sally Mountain Show, when she was five years old. After a short time exploring contemporary Country music in the 90’s, she returned to Bluegrass in 2000. The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) named Rhonda their “Female Vocalist of the Year” seven consecutive times between the years 2000-2006. Her band, the Rage, is one of the most visible, hardest-working and popular acts in Bluegrass today and is known for their hard-driving, high-energy shows that have made them favorites at hundreds of Bluegrass festivals a year. Visit Rhonda’s website at www.rhondavincent.com.

Roots Music Series: Fall 2011 Concert

Phil Wiggins & Corey Harris

Phil Wiggins & Corey Harris + Ernie Hawkins
Saturday, November 5, 2011, 8 pm

The Roots Music Series will present acoustic Blues music at the Frostburg Palace Theatre on Saturday, November 5th at 8PM featuring Phil Wiigins & Corey Harris, with special guests Ernie Hawkins. Tickets for the performance are $20 for the general public, and $18 for members of the Allegany Arts Council and FSU students. Tickets will be available at the door on the night of the performance beginning at 7:30PM. Advance tickets will be available after March 1 from the Allegany Arts Council, Main Street Books, and the Book Center. For questions, please call the Allegany Arts Council at 301-777-ARTS (2787).

Ernie Hawkins Phil Wiggins is a harmonica player best known as the longtime musical partner of the late John Cephas. Phil was born in Washington, DC and learned firsthand to play Blues from many of the area’s best musicians, including Archie Edwards, John Jackson, Flora Molton and others. He met John Cephas in 1976 after having played the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival with Flora Molten. He and John went on to be the most popular proponents of the Piedmont style of Blues for over 30 years. Cephas & Wiggins were the featured performers at the Spring 2007 Roots Music Series. We are pleased to have Phil back.

Corey Harris was born in Denver, Colorado and is a fine guitarist and songwriter who has explored both the Mississippi Delta Blues traditions and its roots in African music. In the mid-1990’s, Harris, along with Alvin Youngblood Hart and Keb’ Mo, helped bring acoustic Blues music back into the popular consciousness. He has successfully incorporated a variety of musical influences from Africa, Caribbean and New Orleans into his eclectic mix to create a sound which is both traditional and forward-thinking. Wiggins & Harris first started playing together after the passing of John Cephas in 2009.

Ernie Hawkins is a Pittsburgh-based Blues guitar player who has made several appearances in the western Maryland area. His influences include Blind Blake and Rev. Gary Davis, from whom he took lessons. In the early 1970’s, Ernie played the around Pittsburgh area with Niles Jones, who later went on to be ‘rediscovered’ as “Guitar Gabriel” in the 1990’s. Ernie’s latest album, Whinin’ Boy, finds him playing with a band that includes trombone, clarinet, trumpet and tuba and swings from finger-picking Blues to Dixieland.

Past Events

Junior Sisk & Rambler's Choice

Roots Music Series:
Spring 2011 Concert

Junior Sisk & Rambler's Choice
Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Roots Music Series will present great bluegrass music at the Frostburg Palace Theatre on Saturday, March 26 at 8PM featuring Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, with special guests The Rye Mountain Boys. Tickets for the performance are $20 for the general public, and $18 for members of the Allegany Arts Council and FSU students. Tickets will be available at the door on the night of the performance beginning at 7:30PM. Advance tickets will be available after March 1 from the Allegany Arts Council, Main Street Books, and the Book Center. For questions, please call the Allegany Arts Council at 301-777-ARTS (2787).

Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice are gaining great recognition as one of the best traditional bluegrass bands to hit the scene in decades. Junior's soulful and sometimes haunting vocals, reminiscent of the late, great, Carter Stanley, who happens to be his hero, have captivated audiences for years. With the brand new release of their sophomore project on Rebel Records, "Heartaches and Dreams", the band has once again captured something magical. The pleasant mix of old and new is sure to offer something here for everyone. Joining Junior is long time singing partner and cousin Timmy Massey on bass, along with band members Jason Davis on banjo, Jason Tomlin on mandolin, and Billy Hawks on fiddle. Junior has lived most of his life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where he listened to and played the music that was born there. His songwriting helped The Lonesome River Band in its ascent to bluegrass stardom in the early 1990's, but it was his lonesome, haunting singing that earned him the devotion of traditional bluegrass fans a few years later as a member of Wyatt Rice and Santa Cruz. Subsequently, he assembled Ramblers Choice, which released the acclaimed "Sounds of the Mountains" in 1998, and contributed to the IBMA award winning "The Stanley Gospel Tradition." A brief stint with The Lost and Found followed before Junior took over the lead vocal role for BlueRidge. Junior has been nominated many times for Songwriter and Male Vocalist of the year.

Heralding from the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, The Rye Mountain Boys are an experienced and fun band that recreates the most powerful Bluegrass of the 1940's and 1950's. Some folks have even reported seeing Hank Sr. and Lefty at their shows. These boys like to gather around a single microphone and put on a lively show filled with tight three-part harmonies, great lead vocals, and powerful instrumentals.

Roots Music Series:
Fall 2010 Concert

Dailey & Vincent
Saturday, November 13, 2010