“Music of the Mountains” Scheduled

Great Smoky Mountains News Release

Immediate Release Contact: Nancy Gray
Date: April 1, 2010 865/436-1208

“Music of the Mountains” Scheduled

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, and the City of Gatlinburg have announced the “Music of the Mountains” program on Friday and Saturday, April 9 and 10.

The two-day event begins with a concert of Celtic music on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, Tenn.

General admission is $4. The “Music of the Mountains” program continues on Saturday with a series of free performances of old-time mountain music during the day at the Park’s Sugarlands Visitor Center and culminates that
evening with a ticketed concert at the W. L. Mills Conference Center in Gatlinburg, Tenn., featuring the bluegrass music of Jimbo Whaley.

At the Sugarlands Visitor Center, six programs are planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (see schedule below). The evening concert at W. L. Mills Conference Center begins at 6:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online in advance for $20 at www.jimbowhaley.com, or at the door during the evening of the concert for $25.

“The Park has been presenting the ‘Music of the Mountains’ festival since 2005 to share with our visitors the rich musical traditions of the Southern Appalachians,” said supervisory Park Ranger Kent Cave. This year a special Friday evening concert of Celtic music at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center has been added to the lineup, featuring the “Good Thymes Ceilidh Band.” “The Park is very excited about having a Celtic music component, and we look forward to more such partnership opportunities with the Heritage Center in the future,” said Cave. “Much of old time mountain music has its roots in the jigs and reels of the British Isles. We hope the folks who attend this concert will also join us at Sugarlands Visitor Center on Saturday for a day-long celebration of mountain music, and then enjoy the Jimbo Whaley bluegrass concert in Gatlinburg Saturday evening,” said Cave.

The schedule of events are:

April 9

Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center ($4 general admission)

7:00 p.m. The Good Thymes Ceilidh Band

April 10

Sugarlands Visitor Center (free admission)

10:00 a.m. Lost Mill String Band

11:00 a.m. The Hog Fiddle – Lisa Free

12:00 p.m. Boogertown Gap

1:00 p.m. Tony Thomas

2:00 p.m. Morelock and Vollmer

4:00 p.m. Mountain Strings

W.L. Mills Conference Center ($20 in advance or $25 at the door)

6:30 p.m. Jimbo Whaley

-NPS-