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Jones House Indoor Concerts to Open 2016 with Mike Compton, Joe Newberry Feb. 7

Those looking for alternate or additional entertainment on Super Sunday are in luck.  Joe Newberry and Mike Compton kick off the Jones House 2016 Indoor Concert Series on Sunday, Feb. 7, with an afternoon concert, starting at 3 p.m. in the downtown Boone community center’s Mazie Jones Gallery.

Newberry and Compton are both veteran musicians with decorated resumes, and they released their debut duet recording in 2012, featuring brother-duet style country music that thrived in the 1930s and 40s. Newberry performs on guitar and banjo, and Compton plays the mandolin.

Compton and Newberry. Photo by Karen Blum.
Compton and Newberry. Photo by Karen Blum.

“We like to mine some of the more neglected segments of country music history,” they write in the liner notes to their album Mike Compton & Joe Newberry LIVE.  “It’s not about the number of notes… it’s about telling the truth and paying homage to the song.”

Newberry is a Missouri native and North Carolina transplant, known for his powerful and innovative old-time banjo playing, as well as his songwriting.  Musicians in folk and bluegrass genres often record his songs, including several award-winning titles, like “Singing As We Rise,” and “They Called It Music.”  In addition to his duet and solo work, Newberry is a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, plays as a member of the original Red Clay Ramblers, and he performs with Bruce Molsky and Rafe Stefanini as the Jumpsteady Boys.  Newberry is also an experienced teacher and has been on staff at most of the country’s premier traditional music camps.

Compton is known as one of the premier bluegrass mandolin players in the world.  Mandolin Magazine calls him a “modern master” with “one of the most recognizable and respected mandolin voices anywhere.”  Compton is a Grammy and IBMA award-winning recording artist and performer.  Born in Mississippi, Compton moved to Nashville in 1977 and quickly rose to one of the most sought-after mandolin players in bluegrass and country music.  Compton was a member of the John Hartford String Band, including participating in the Oh Brother Where Art Thou? recordings and performances.  He is a founding member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, one of the most respected bands in the genre.  As a session musician, he has recorded with a who’s who of American roots music, including Jim Lauderdale, Gregg Allman, Elvis Costelo, John Hartford, Willie Nelson, Peter Rowan, Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ralph Stanley, David Grisman, Doc Watson, Hazel Dickens, and James Monroe – Bill’s son.

“The Jones House will be an excellent place to hear Newberry and Compton,” says concerts organizer, Mark Freed.  “They will perform unamplified, and listeners will have a chance to hear these two masters unfettered by the microphones and speakers they usually need to play concert halls.”

Compton and Newberry.
Compton and Newberry.

Other upcoming concerts in the series will include local bluegrass band Surefire on February 26, starting at 7:30 p.m.; newgrass string quartet Mr. Sun, with Darol Anger, Joe Walsh, Grant Gordy, and Ethan J., on March 13, starting at 7:30 p.m.; old-time legends Tracy Schwarz and Ginny Hawker on April 3, at 4 p.m.; fiddler and banjo master, Dan Gellert on April 20, at 7:30 p.m.; and finger-style guitar wizard and songwriter, Pat Donohue, on May 4, at 7:30 p.m.

Newberry and Compton will be giving workshops for banjo and mandolin, starting at 1 p.m., and the concert will begin at 3 p.m., with doors opening at 2:30 p.m.  Concerts take place in the Mazie Jones Gallery in the Jones House, and there is a limit of 40 seats for the performance.  Advanced reservations are encouraged, though any open seats will be available for purchase at the door.  Seats are $20 per person and will include an opportunity to meet Adams.

For more information about the performance, including reservations and a complete Fall Concerts schedule, please visit www.joneshouse.org or contact the Town of Boone Cultural Resources Department at 828.268.6280.