KASU’s Bluegrass Monday To Feature David Davis Performance
JONESBORO — David Davis and the Warrior River Boys will perform a concert of bluegrass music Monday, April 27, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street, in downtown Paragould. The concert is part of the Bluegrass Monday concert series presented by KASU 91.9 FM, the public broadcasting service of Arkansas State University. KASU will literally “pass the hat” to collect money to pay the group. The suggested donation is $5 per person.
David Davis and the Warrior River Boys— (from left) Robert Montgomery, Stan Wilemon, David Davis, Ben Sanders and Marty Hays.
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 II, Davis’ Uncle Cleo was in the first incarnation of the Bluegrass Boys, the backing band for Bill Monroe, who invented the sound of bluegrass music.
Leading the Warrior River Boys since 1984, Davis has recorded CDs for the acclaimed Rounder record label, and the group currently records for the prestigious Rebel record label, one of the top producers of recorded bluegrass 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.
The Warrior River Boys include Robert Montgomery on vocals and banjo. A member of the band since 2008, Montgomery has won numerous 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 television program on RFD-TV, and has appeared as a guest musician on CDs by performers Marty Stuart and Bobby Osborne.
Marty Hays sings and plays bass for the Warrior River Boys. With the band since 1995, Hays loves classic country music. He released his debut solo CD on Right Side Up Records in 2013.
Ben Sanders plays fiddle in the band. He was the first graduate from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music with a degree in country, bluegrass and old-time fiddle performance. He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” and the Cumberland Highlanders TV program.
Guitarist and vocalist Stan Wilemon rejoined the band a few years ago. He was in the group in the early 1990s, and recently has performed with the Gary Waldrep Band. Wilemon is an acclaimed bluegrass songwriter, and many groups, including the Warrior River Boys, have recorded his compositions.
In addition to the concert, Terry’s Café, 201 South Pruett Street in Paragould, opens on Bluegrass Monday nights to welcome bluegrass music fans. The café serves a catfish 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, the Posey Peddler, Holiday Inn Express and Suites of Paragould, the Northeast Arkansas Bluegrass Association and KASU.
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”). Additional information and photographs are available at http://daviddavisandwrb.com.
# # #
