Blue Ridge Music Center Summer Concerts in Full Swing Featuring the Church Sisters this Weekend

July 25, 2015 Blue Ridge Music Center Concert - The Church Sisters and Pike City Bluegrass. Musical phenoms The Church Sisters and Pike City Bluegrass take the stage this Saturday. These young groups have been heavily influenced by the fertile musical heritage of the Galax area (Grayson and Carroll counties), and are carrying forward those living musical traditions while adapting them with unique and youthful spins.

Twin 18-year-old sisters Savannah and Sarah Church of Galax are known for their angelic, tradition-steeped Blue Ridge Mountain harmonies. They are backed by a band featuring some of the region's best instrumentalists, including guitarist Josh Pickett (No Speed Limit), mandolinist Spencer Strickland (Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, Virginia Luthiers Band), and bassist Jacob Eller (No Speed Limit, Sierra Hull).

photo courtesy of the Blue Ridge Music Center

The Church Sisters are featured in great company with Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, and Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers on the recently released double-disc Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited. The albums are a recreation of the historic 1927 Bristol Sessions, often described as the "Big Bang of Country Music," when the Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers were first discovered. Click here to read about The Church Sisters in Relish entertainment magazine.

Pike City Bluegrass is a group of young adults from Hillsville who love to pick a variety of music from bluegrass to new grass to gospel. The band is comprised of Karissa Hayden on bass and lead vocals, Becca Miller on fiddle, Tony Hicks on guitar, and Zeb Hicks on banjo. Pike City's accomplishments include first place at the Fries Fiddlers Convention and fourth place at the Galax Old Fiddler's Convention. The group has opened for The Travelers at the Blue Ridge Film Festival at the Historic Buchanan Theatre in Virginia and Ralph Stanley 2 at the Historic Rex Theatre in Galax.

The Blue Ridge Music Center Summer Concert Series is performed rain or shine. You are welcome to bring your own picnic basket (NO ALCOHOL (please) and encouraged to bring a lawn chair. Phone ticket sales through BRPF Office end at Noon on Friday and are available online up to 12 hours before the concert. The Galax Smokehouse serves BBQ, sides and drinks at each concert. Check the website for details about the performers and concerts.