Bluegrass Monday to Present High Fidelity Nov. 26
JONESBORO – High Fidelity, a group of young musicians who have a passion for bluegrass music from the 1950s and 1960s, will perform a concert of bluegrass music on Monday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street, in downtown Paragould. The performance is part of the Bluegrass Monday concert series presented by KASU 91.9 FM at Arkansas State University.
High Fidelity (from left) Kurt Stephenson, Corrina Rose Logston, Jeremy Stephens, Vickie Vaughn.
High Fidelity is heavily influenced by artists from that era such as the Stanley Brothers, Jim and Jesse, the Louvin Brothers, Don Reno and Red Smiley.
The first time the members of High Fidelity performed together onstage was at the 2014 International Band Championship at the 40th annual Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America awards. After a very brief rehearsal prior to their competition performance, the band won the championship, beating two dozen other groups, many of which had been performing music together for years.
Since winning that championship, the band has performed at select venues across the country, receiving praise from bluegrass music fans who love their traditional style and sound.
High Fidelity released a self-produced debut CD in 2016. Earlier this year, the band released their first CD for the acclaimed producer of bluegrass music Rebel Records. That project, titledHills and Home, has received widespread acclaim from the bluegrass music community. “Bluegrass Today” said of the project, “There’s not a single song here that doesn’t inspire an enthusiastic response or an urge to get in their groove.” “Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine” called it “bluegrass from the true vine of the tradition.”
Kurt Stephenson plays banjo and sings in the band. He is a graduate of Arkansas State, and he is the 2010 winner of the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship held in Winfield, Kan. A native of west Tennessee, Stephenson was a member of the band Stone County Connection which has also performed at past Bluegrass Monday concerts. He has also released his own solo CDs.
Jeremy Stephens is the guitarist and a vocalist for High Fidelity. He has been performing bluegrass music in a variety of bands since his teenage years, and he is best known as the former guitarist and vocalist in the long-running gospel group The Chuck Wagon Gang. He was also featured as a multi-instrumentalist on the television program Ray Stevens’ Nashville. He has also performed in the bands of Jesse McReynolds and Kody Norris.
Corrina Rose Logston plays fiddle and sings in the group. She has performed in numerous acclaimed and high-profile bluegrass groups including Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, David Peterson and 1946, and Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass. She is also an outstanding songwriter, and has produced two solo CDs featuring her own compositions. She is a graduate of the music business program at Belmont University in Nashville.
Vickie Vaughn sings and plays bass for the band. In addition to playing with High Fidelity, this Kentucky native leads her own bluegrass group, the Vickie Vaughn band. She sings back-up vocals in concerts with country superstar Patty Loveless, and is a former member of the band for bluegrass vocalist Valerie Smith.
More information is available at highfidelitybluegrass.com/.
Seating at the concert is first-come, first-served. Doors to the theatre will open at 6 p.m. KASU will literally “pass the hat” to collect money to pay the group. The suggested donation is $5 per person.
In addition to the concert, Terry’s Café, 201 South Pruett Street in Paragould, opens on Bluegrass Mondays to welcome bluegrass music fans. The café serves a country-style buffet meal beginning at 4:30 p.m. on the evenings of Bluegrass Monday concerts. Concessions will also be available at the Collins Theatre.
Bluegrass Monday concerts are held on the fourth Monday night of each month. These concerts are presented with support from Bibb Chiropractic Center, the Posey Peddler, Holiday Inn Express and Suites of Paragould, the Northeast Arkansas Bluegrass Association and KASU.
KASU, 91.9 FM, is the 100,000-watt public broadcasting service of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. For more information, contact KASU Program Director Marty Scarbrough at mscarbro@astate.edu or 870-972-2367. Bluegrass Monday is also on Facebook (search “Bluegrass Monday”).
