Published: June 22, 2007 09:38 am            

14th Annual Master Musicians Festival

Friday, July 20 A Night of Eclectic Music — 5:00 pm to Midnight

Blind Corn Liquor Pickers Their name will get your attention, but their music is what will hold it. Their tunes are up-beat, energetic, wry, intelligent, and full of good-natured mischief. Fast-picking Bluegrass at its best!

Murder by Death This Indiana band layers the vocal sounds of an old saloon with a haunting cello and the hard driving rhythms of rock n’ roll. The lyrics conjure up a cast of character voices, allowing the songs to speak with the force of the characters themselves, providing the listener with a sense of ensemble unique in rock music.

Chris Knight This compelling, stunning, master story-teller grew up in the small western Kentucky mining town of Slaughters. From there, alt-country Chris draws his rough-hewn, detail-driven characters with dirt under their fingernails and life behind their eyes. Visions, smells, and black and white photographs tucked in family Bibles represent the body of work for this workingman’s poet.

The Gourds There is absolutely no way to categorize this music without tearing up the English language. In their own words, the Gourds say that “....many have attempted to personify, lablefly, quantify, verbalize and sanctify the concoction of musical quilts these here Gourds have somehow knit together. In a saucepan of slow roasts, they conjure up tempos, tangos, waltzes, zydeco, old-timey, two-steppin’, low-grooved, long-winded, short-tailed, tiny, phat, stompin’ gizmos of tunes tripped out of lonely, solid teeth and wet green earth. Comic, tear-soaked, golden- throated harmony caved in with hat drippin’ rain.”



Saturday, July 21

A Full Day of Eclectic Music

Noon to Midnight

Battle Kry This young metal band rocks beyond the sum total of its members years. Comprised of Kel Lovins, Dustin Jones, Darius Fent and Quintin Farrell, Battle Kry hails from the Somerset area, where they're taking the local music scene by storm.

Z.E.D.D. Heavily influenced by the great guitar rock of the 70s and 80s, Z.E.D.D. combines classic rock with original songs carved from the souls of the four members to form a group that rocks. Veteran rockers Rod Zimmerman, Craig Eastham, Mark Dunlap, and Joe Dobbs have played together for over twenty years, resulting in a friendship that transcends music. With years of rocking and rolling both behind them and ahead of them, it's clear that this band is enjoying the ride.

Peasall Sisters Daughters of the music minister at a Baptist church in White House, Tennessee, the Peasall Sisters come from a musical family steeped in the contemporary praise-andworship music of the Southern Baptist denomination. Sisters Sarah, Hannah and Leah remain down to earth teenagers on the heels of their Grammy, CMA and International Bluegrass Music Association Awards for their contributions to the sound track for O Brother, Where Art Thou? Suffused with the warmth, security, spirituality and easy presence of close relation, there's just no harmony like blood harmony. The Sisters bring their faith and music Down From the Mountain... from Carnegie Hall to The Grand Ole Opry to the Master Musicians Festival.

Celtic Spring Sometimes described as “the Von Trapp family of Celtic music,” and recently voted one of the top acts in the finals of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Celtic Spring’s awe-inspiring performances feature a rich variety of music from Celtic lands and beyond. Championship winning Irish dancers, the Wood family performs spirited reels, jigs, and hornpipes, dancing in both the graceful soft shoes and the powerful hard shoes

Honeyboy Edwards David “Honeyboy” Edwards was born June 28, 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. At 92, Honeyboy is one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, and one of the last of the generation that first introduced the world to the Blues. He is a living legend. His story is truly part of history. Honeyboy's life has been intertwined with almost every major blues legend, including Robert Johnson, Robert “Junior” Lockwood, Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Rice “Sonny Boy Williamson” Miller, Howlin’ Wolf, Peetie Wheatstraw, Sunnyland Slim, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Walter, Little Walter, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters... the list goes on. He is the real deal. Winner of the W.C. Handy Lifetime Achievement and Artist of the Year Awards, the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, and Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Honeyboy Edwards is an American Treasure. The Master Musicians Festival is honored to welcome this Master Musician to Somerset.

Big Leg Emma From Jamestown, NY, Big Leg Emma returns to MMF 2007 by popular demand. BLE's mind-blowing, zesty, blazing roots music has its roots in a fusion of everything from Bluegrass to Celtic to Country and Rock. A great blend of positive lyrics, stellar musicianship and powerful harmonies has made them festival favorites everywhere they go. Emma will have you on your feet from the first note with smoking fiddle playing and frenzied beats.

Old Crow Medicine Show Mountain music revivalists Old Crow Medicine Show spin traditional folk and bluegrass yarns with a rock & roll attitude. A young, five-piece rollicking, punkified oldtime acoustic band, OCMS brings it all together for a fiery result that equally impresses fussy old-time music scholars and modern day roots music fans alike in sold out venues all over creation. With a terrific blend of bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, rolled up in mountain spirituality and a good dose of irreverence, OCMS is an unbridled spirit, played live and loud without bounds, in a voice that's entirely their own.

        

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