FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2018
Chatham Arts Council Announces Pickin’: A Music Celebration, Featuring Local Legends, The Bluegrass Experience
Community comes Together with a Love of Bluegrass and a Desire to Support Arts in Education
Pittsboro, NC—Calling all bluegrass lovers to stomp their feet and revel in the fiddle at Pickin’: A Music Celebration, Chatham Arts Council’s Annual Benefit for Artists-in-Schools, featuring The Bluegrass Experience on their 47th anniversary! This year’s event is sponsored by Opus Financial Advisors, and will be held on Sunday, November 11 at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center in Pittsboro. Guests will be treated to music played by Chatham County’s own Tommy Edwards with band members past and present.
“Chatham County is rich with talented artists,” explained Chatham Arts Council (CAC) Board President, Taylor Hobbs. “But being able to go to a concert in your backyard with musicians as renowned and celebrated as The Bluegrass Experience – that is unique.”
The Bluegrass Experience is led by guitarist Edwards playing alongside Mike Aldridge on the mandolin, Stan Brown on banjo, bassist Thomas “Snuffy” Smith, and Keith Thomas on fiddle.
The event is much more than a celebration of the world-class band and its well-known bluegrass music. Edwards is a retired Chatham County school teacher with a zeal for education. All proceeds from the event will benefit the CAC’s Artists-in-Schools Initiative, a program that has been bringing professional artists into schools to support math, science, language, and history curricula for the past three years. Through interactive, engaging workshops taught by theatre actors, performance artists, dancers, mural painters, African drummers, and strings musicians, students have unique opportunities for a deeper engagement with learning objectives.
Not many bands can boast harmony for 47 years, but The Bluegrass Experience is an exception. In 1971, a few friends joined forces to do something they all loved – play music together. But within a year, it was clear they were doing much more than just fiddling around. They had been named the World’s Championship Bluegrass Band at The Union Grove Fiddler’s Convention in North Carolina. At Pickin’, they’re looking forward to playing music together to celebrate their heritage and perhaps, uncovering new bluegrass fans along the way.
“Bluegrass lovers in Chatham County and across the United States have an unmistakable connection to Edwards and the band’s legendary music,” expressed Cheryl Chamblee, Executive Director of the Chatham Arts Council. “At the Chatham Arts Council, we want to help instill an early passion for music and the arts in our students so they can reap the benefits of all the arts has to offer, like many of the concert attendees.”
In addition to The Bluegrass Experience’s well-known tunes, musical guests for the evening will include some incredibly talented kids: Clapping Hands Farm Ukulele Kids and Chatham Central Advanced Chorus. In addition, High Strung Violins and Guitars will be on-site with their instrument petting zoo, sure to foster a love of music in all young musicians attending, and Clapping Hands Farm will have an art activity available for young attendees. Of course, there will also be plenty of room for dancing by the young and young at heart.
Doors for Pickin’ will open at 4:00 pm, with the concert following at 5:00 pm. In addition to some seriously impressive bluegrass music-making, the event offers delicious food, beer, and wine, by Carolina Brewery, and included in ticket prices. Tickets are $50 for adults – all inclusive; $20 for children ages three to 18; FREE for children two and under. They can be purchased online: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3626184 or via cash/check at Deep River Mercantile; Edwards Antiques, Art and Music; McIntyre’s Books at Fearrington Village – all in Pittsboro; 501 Pharmacy at the Verandah (Briar Chapel); and Twin Birch and Teasel in Siler City.
Pickin’ would not be possible without the many community sponsors who appreciate the talented musicians and artists in Chatham County. Opus Financial Advisors is the naming sponsor for the event. Other sponsors include: In Memory of Enrique Vega, R. E. and E. F. Crane Foundation, Hobbs Architects, Cheek Electric, Monteith Construction Corp., Deep River Mercantile, Dermatology and Laser Center of Chapel Hill, A. Grant Mangum & Co., Inc., Blueline Contracting, Workshop Orange, Carolina Brewery, B&J Custom Printers, Life 103.1, ChemoGLO, Edge Aveda Men, Chatham Pediatric Dentistry, The Kindred Gallery at Rosemary House, and 501 Pharmacy.
ABOUT THE CHATHAM ARTS COUNCIL
The Chatham Arts Council nurtures creative thinkers in Chatham County. We do this in two ways: (1) We invest in artists. And (2) We educate kids through the arts. In its thirty-fifth year as a nonprofit arts agency, Chatham Arts Council’s flagship programs include Meet This Artist, Go See This, Grassroots Arts Grants, and the Chatham Artists-in-Schools Initiative—serving more than 2,500 children this year. Chatham Arts Council is proud to partner with the NC Arts Council, the Durham Arts Council, Chatham County Schools, and numerous Chatham arts organizations, human resource nonprofits, and local businesses. For more information on the CAC, visit www.chathamartscouncil.org.
CONTACT: For more information, or to set up an interview, please contact April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader of the Chatham Arts Council, april@chathamartscouncil.org or 917.544.0608.
For more information on The Bluegrass Experience, please contact Tommy Edwards, tommyedwardsbluegrass@gmail.com or 919.542.5649.
NOTE: Feel free to publish partially or in its entirety, with or without a byline. The article was written by April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader, Chatham Arts Council.
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