June 18, 2012. The Town of Boone presents Concerts at the Jones House on Friday, June 22, with The New River Boys and The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers.
The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers are a Southern Appalachian Traditional Mountain Music String Band. The band has performed at venues such as the American Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian, Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, and the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. The have won many ribbons, honorary awards and acknowledgements throughout their long history.
The New River Boys formed in an Appalachian State dormitory stairwell in 2009, and they have brought their blend of traditional and innovative string band music to the high country ever since. The group blends guitar, cello and mandolin, combining influences from traditional mountain music to contemporary groups like the Avett Brothers, to classical music and original songs.
Concerts at the Jones House take place in downtown Boone at 604 W. King St. every Friday from June through September. The free concert starts at 5 p.m. Patrons are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket to sit in the lawn. The 2012 Concert series is sponsored by MPrints, Stickboy Bread/Melanie’s, Footsloggers, Mast General Store and the Downtown Boone Development Association.
For a complete schedule, visit www.boone-nc.org or call 828-262-4576 for more information.
More on the Birchfield Family and The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers
The Birchfield Family of Carter, Tennessee learned old time mountain tunes and ballads from their father and uncles who played as part of the local mountain culture. Joe and Creed were born in the early 1900s and raised on Roan Mountain in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Joe’s son, Bill, carries on the tradition with his wife, Janice, as the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. When Joe died, Bill switched from guitar to fiddle, and Janice continues to play washtub bass, with newer members in other instruments. Boone native, Josh Hayes, will play banjo with the band on Friday.
See this article where Janice has a couple quotes about the Sex Pistols and Boy George showing up at the band’s home. The Sex Pistols sampled some of the Hilltoppers music in their 1982 hit “Buffalo Girls,” which Eminem later re-sampled in 2002 with “Without You.” Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistol manager, also made a great 80s music video with the Hilltoppers: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6getJuN0ooc[/youtube]
It also gives some nice history about the group http://www.mountainx.com/article/8257/God-save-the-Hilltoppers
Janice and Bill Birchfield can be reached at 423-725-3065.
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