Real Bluegrass with Travers Chandler and Avery County at Carter Fold

Saturday, May 19th, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, will present a concert of bluegrass music by Travers Chandler and Avery County. Admission to the concert is $7 for adults, $1 for children 6 to 11, under age six free. Avery County came together in 2009 to preserve the legacies of bluegrass music's lost heroes while bringing their sound to new audiences. Members have garnered much acclaim and IBMA accolades after stints with the James King Band, Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass, the Country Gentlemen, Spring Creek, Dave Evans, Karl Shiflett and Big Country, and numerous others prior to forming Avery County. Celebrating the influences of the past, the group is also busily creating new music. Travers Chandler heads up the group with lead vocals playing mandolin and guitar. Backing him will be John Bryan on guitar and vocals, Tom Issacs on banjo and vocals, Merl Johnson on fiddle and vocals, and Eddie Lovelace on bass.

After two years of hard touring, Travers Chandler and Avery County stand ready to take their place in the bluegrass world as interpreters and progenitors of all that is old school in the music. Striving to please both the hardened traditionalist and to leave a footprint in the younger generation's new acoustic scene, this band has begun to command attention.

Theirs is a raw, real sound baptized in tradition and hardened in honky tonks. The stage show is explosive, energetic, and centered around Chandler's dynamic mandolin playing along with his soaring and soulful vocals. Their presentation of classic bluegrass and country music draws in both young and old. Playing from the heart and feeding from the crowd, Avery County is often five songs into a live set before the audience even knows what hit them.

They have graced the stage at several major festivals including the IBMA Museum's ROMP, the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, Pickin' in the Pasture, O.A.T.S., and Lil' John's Mountain Music Festival. Radio and television appearances include PBS's Song of the Mountains and a performance on historic WPAQ radio in Mount Airy, North Carolina. 2011 was a landmark year for Travers and Avery County, touring the country and garnering chart success with their release State of Depression. Being in the semi-final nominations for IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year was an unexpected and well-deserved honor. Now signed with Mountain Fever Records, Avery County's new Release is Pardon Me.

Travers first played at the Carter Fold with Lonesome Will Mullins this past Thanksgiving. He recently performed with Cullen's Bridge. Don't miss him with his band Avery County. You'll experience high-energy, classic bluegrass at its' best. Be sure to bring along your dancing shoes and all your friends! For more information on Avery County, go to www.averycountyband.com

Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Incorporated, is a nonprofit, rural arts organization established to preserve traditional, acoustic, mountain music. For further information on the center, go to www.CarterFamilyFold.org. Shows from the Carter Family Fold can be accessed on the internet at www.CarterFoldShow.com.

Carter Music Center is part of the Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail. You can visit the Crooked Road Music Trail site at TheCrookedRoad.org. Partial funding for programs at the center is provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on Saturday's concert, contact the Mountain Music Museum at 276-645-0035. For recorded information on shows coming up at the Fold, call 276-386-6054. http://www.carterfoldshow.com/