| Stars Coming To Annual Bluegrass Project |
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 Jack Lawrence
Free workshops and Jam groups will begin at 10:00 am and continue until 5:00 pm on the school’s campus at 825 Union Rd. The daylong activities are open to all ages and playing ability levels. Young and old beginning pickers are very welcome. Sign-up for these free activities by phone at 704 866-8882 or email to Llee@gastonschoolarts.org. Free lunch will be provided for workshop participants who sign-up in advance.
At 7:00 pm the faculty will perform a concert which will be open to the public. Tickets are $12 and will be available from the GSOA office or through www.TicketsNC.com (704 472-7762). Participants in the workshops will be able to purchase tickets at the discounted rate of $6. A maximum of 190 tickets will be available and advance purchase is strongly advised.
The faculty/Performers for the Bluegrass Project are important figures in the national acoustic music scene. Jack Lawrence was the preferred partner of the late Doc Watson for more than 20 years. Terry Baucom was a founding member of three of the most celebrated groups in Bluegrass music history. Becky Buller sings and plays several instruments on stage but is just as well known and respected for her skills as a songwriter. Darin Aldridge, who dreamed up the idea for the Bluegrass Project, sings and plays a number of instruments well enough to have been a candidate for Guitar Player and Mandolin Player of the year in the same year. He is also a graduate of Leadership Bluegrass. The four artists are longtime friends but this will be the first time they have taken the stage together for a performance. “Each of us has played a lot of music with each other but this is the only time we have ever been “a band” together. The Bluegrass Project format will allow us to practice quite a bit before we go on stage so while technically we’ll be a Jam Band, we will be more organized and polished because of the time together before the show” says Darin Aldridge. The opportunity to see, hear and interact in an intimate setting with top notch musicians who have, and still are, moving music forward is a rare but always satisfying experience. The GSOA theater is a former church sanctuary, complete with stained glass windows, solid wood pews and a sense of history. It’s the type of place in which performing artists can hone their skills and it’s a place that still connects people to their creative roots; the kind of roots that yield legends like Jack Lawrence and Terry Baucom, and future legends Becky Buller and Darin Aldridge.
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Gaston Arts Council. Revenues from the grant and ticket sales for the evening concert allow for the workshops to be free for all participants. The GSOA also thanks the Foundation for Bluegrass Music for their initial funding for the project in 2011.
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