Bluegrass Monday to Feature David Davis and the Warrior River Boys
David Davis and the Warrior River Band
JONESBORO – David Davis and the Warrior River Boys will perform a concert of bluegrass music Monday, April 24, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street, in downtown Paragould.
From Alabama, David Davis is continuing a family tradition of singing and playing bluegrass music. In the 1930s, his father and two uncles played and sang in the style of “brother duets,” a forerunner of bluegrass music as it is known today. Following World War Two, David’s Uncle Cleo was in the first incarnation of the Bluegrass Boys, the backing band for Bill Monroe, the man who invented the sound of bluegrass music.
Leading the Warrior River Boys since 1984, David Davis has recorded CDs for the acclaimed Rebel record label, and the group currently records for the prestigious Rounder record label, one of the top producers of recorded bluegrass music. In 2010, Davis was inducted into the Alabama Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and in 2014 he was inducted into America’s Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame. Davis sings and plays mandolin for the band. His mandolin style is highly influenced by Bill Monroe’s music.|
The band appears at dozens of bluegrass festivals and venues across the country each year, and the group performs an outstanding style of hard-driving, traditional, entertaining bluegrass music. Their most recent CD, “Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole,” is a collection of songs made famous in the 1920s by Poole who was a forerunner of bluegrass music. That CD was named to multiple “best of 2018” lists by music critics and disc jockeys.
The Warrior River Boys includes Robert Montgomery on vocals and banjo. A member of the band since 2008, Montgomery has won dozens of bluegrass-picking contests, most noteworthy the 2004 National Old-Time Banjo Championship at Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
He was featured on the “Cumberland Highlanders” TV program on RFD-TV, and he has appeared as a guest musician on CDs by Marty Stuart and Bobby Osborne.Marty Hays sings and plays bass. With the band since 1995, this Illinois native loves classic country music. He released multiple solo albums of both traditional bluegrass and country music.
Guitarist and vocalist Stan Wilemon has had a long relationship with Davis and the band. He was in the group in the early 1990s, and later he performed with the Gary Waldrep Band before rejoining the Warrior River Boys. Wilemon is an acclaimed bluegrass songwriter, and many groups, including the Warrior River Boys, have recorded his compositions.
For their performance in Paragould, the band will be joined by fiddler Billy Hurt. He has toured with the Bluegrass Brothers, Jim Eanes, David Parmley and Continental Divide, Acoustic Endeavors, and Karl Shifflett and Big Country Show. Seating at the concert is first-come, first-served. Doors to the theatre will open at 6. Admission is $10 per person, payable by cash at the door the night of the concert. Everyone aged 18 and under will be admitted for free. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.kasu.org/tickets.
The Bluegrass Monday concert series is a non-profit presentation of KASU-FM. All ticket proceeds are given to the performers to compensate them for their time and talents.
Bluegrass Monday concerts are held on the fourth Monday night of each month. This concert series is presented with support from sponsors including the Paragould Advertising & Promotion Commission, Bibb Chiropractic Center, Gardner-Milner Law Firm, the Posey Peddler, Hyde Park Café, Holiday Inn Express and Suites of Paragould, and KASU.
KASU is the public media service of Arkansas State University broadcasting at 91.9 FM and streaming on a variety of online platforms. For more information, contact Marty Scarbrough, KASU program director, mscarbro@AState.edu or 870-972-2367. Additional information is also available on the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
