Ok so I bet
you've all been having a great summer. I have. I was lucky enough to
get another week at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention in Virginia - an
expansive and over-stimulating time, difficult to recover from, hard to
regroup, unless of course you can bring some of it home with you. Which
is exactly what we've done! We have the astounding Whitetop Mountain
band playing at the Masons Arms.
Thursday, September 6, 2012 - 20:00 - 23:00
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/182393
Price: ?8 adv, ?10 OTD
The Mason's Arms, Harrow Road, West London
If you've never had the full Appalachian string band experience now's
your chance. The Whitetop Mountain band are the most popular mountain
dance band in the South Eastern States. With deep family and musical
roots in the area Thornton and Emily Spencer joined the legendary
fiddler Albert Hash's band in the seventies, and are considered true
defenders of the faith today: At the recently opened permanent
exhibition Roots of American Music at the Blue Ridge Music Centre in
Virginia, the band takes a central role in the story of this music and
culture.
Their shows are virtuoso and entertaining containing everything from
fiddle/banjo instrumentals to powerful solos and harmony vocals on
blues, classic country, honky tonk, traditional bluegrass numbers, old
timey ballads, originals, and four part mountain gospel songs. Shows
also include flat foot dancing. They have a great following at square
dances all over Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky at
venues like the Carter Family Fold. The band has also performed at all
sorts of venues throughout the United States from festivals to concerts,
competitions, and colleges, including: The Smithsonian Folklife
Festival, National Folklife Festival, World Music Institute in NYC,
Carter Family Festival, Dock Boggs Festival, World Fair, Virginia Arts
Festival, Floydfest, Ola Belle Reed Festival and Merlefest.
