mmms at athfest june 28, 2009

The Mountain Music and Medicine Show at Athfest, June 28, 2009

The Packway Handle Band

The Packway Handle Band is an Athens based band and local favorite that employs the talents of Michael Paynter on mandolin/vocals, Josh Erwin on guitar/vocals, Andrew Heaton on fiddle/vocals, Zach McCoy on bass and Tom Baker on banjo/vocals. PHB has been touring full time since 2006 and first gained national acclaim after it’s appearance’s at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and ultimate second place finish in the band competition there in 2004. The group has 4 records to their credit and are known for their high energy stage show where they work around a central microphone reminiscent of the early bluegrass bands.

www.myspace.com/thepackwayhandleband

The Solstice Sisters

Mountain Music and Medicine perennial favorites, Susan Staley, Maggie Hunter and Anna Durden, blend their voices into the absolute best three part harmony to be found anywhere. Their highly entertaining stage shows are known for their soulful renditions of country ballads, traditional folk , 40’s style swing music and original compositions. The girls take turns singing the lead and harmony parts while Susan provides the tasteful rhythm guitar accompaniment and is joined by bassist Dick Daniels and Lee Hiers on dobro. The Sisters have two recordings to their credit, “Holiday Music From Around The World” and “The Rest Of The Year”.

Beverly Smith and Carl Jones

Beverly Smith and Carl Jones Athens favorite “Old Time Duet” , Beverly and Carl serve up some of the finest examples of traditional music in the country. Their country style duets, gospel songs, mountain music and fiddle tunes are sure to bring a smile to any and all who listen. With the ability to preserve the integrity of the traditional tunes while adding their own personal touches they breath new life into some familiar and not so familiar songs of yesteryear. Both are talented musicians on a wide variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin, banjo and fiddle, and are excellent songwriters as well. They have several recordings to their credit and make their audiences feel at home, just as if they were playing in their living room.

Hawkproof Rooster with special guest Earl Murphy

Hawkproof Rooster

Earl Murphy

Hawk Proof Rooster (myspace.com/hawkproofrooster) is a married couple, Charlie & Nancy Hartness playing fiddle, guitar, banjo & ukulele. They sing old songs from the 20's & 30's and fiddle tunes and occationally make up some songs.

Earl is quite the talk of the town these days....he's turning 93 this summer and is out and about everywhere playing music! Also, Earl was featured recently in the New Yorker Magazine for the April 28th issue which featured Art Rosenbaum and his work collecting folk music in Georgia. Here's another little write up about Earl that was in the paper recently: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/052709/mad_444066161.shtml

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