The North Florida Bluegrass Assoc. (NFBA) will be conducting their 1st annual membership drive during an NFBA event June 20 and 21, 2008. The event will take place at the Flamingo Lake RV resort in Jacksonville, FL.

An annual membership can be had for the bargain price of $15 and gains you access to monthly meetings, voting privileges in the annaul election of Officers and Board Members. You will also receive a one-year subscription to the Midnight Flier monthly newsletter and a membership directory that is published every two years.

The event, which is free to attend, will feature lots of parking lot picking and Saturday will feature workshops geared towards children, beginners and intermediate players that start at 11:00 A.M. and a concert featuring the music of Blast of the Grass, Southern Lite and Gentle River begins at 2:00 P.M.

Camping is available for the weekend with a special discounted rate for NFBA members. The campgrounds feature a swimming pool, fishing lake, restaurant and a large store. More information can be found at http://www.flamingolake.com/ or you can email flamingo Lake.

• 11:00 am - Children’s Workshop
• 12:00 - Slow Jam Workshop
• 1:00 - Slam Jam Workshop
• 2:00 - Concert Begins with Blast of the Grass, Southern Lite and Gentle River

The NFBA currently consist of over 1,000 active memberships and meetings (with pickin’ sessions) happen on the third weekend of every month at a different location in North Florida or South Georgia except in December. The NFBA also hosts an annual Bluegrass Expo in November that features two days of music, instrument workshops and fun.

NFBA Raffling a Mike Long HD-18 Herringbone Custom guitar

The North Florida Bluegrass Association is also conducting a raffle for a Mike Long Custom HD-18 Herringbone acoustic guitar to generate funds for the organizations operating budget.

The guitar features forward shifted scalloped bracing pattern, Grover open back tuners, Vintage tortoise style pick guard, abalone pearl rosette, Herringbone Trim and an Ebony fingerboard and bridge.

TIckets can be purchased at any NFBA event or online at www.nfbluegrass.org and cost 1 ticket for $5 or 3 tickets for $10.

The drawing will take place Oct. 18, 2008 at the NFBA Expo at Twin Oaks Park in Georgia. You WILL need to be present to win and must have stub to validate winning ticket.

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Update - 2:04 PM
Steeldrivers on televised portion of Grand Ole Opry

Recently named the #1 “Band to Watch in 2008” by American Songwriter, The SteelDrivers will be performing at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday, May 3 in support of their self-titled debut album. Their performance will be broadcast live on Opry Live on GAC (8 PM EST/7 PM CST) with encore performances airing several times during the week. Check out air dates here: http://www.gactv.com/gac/shows_goo/

The SteelDrivers were recently featured on CMT’s Unplugged at Studio 330.

The SteelDrivers are: mandolinist/guitarist/vocalist Mike Henderson, guitarist/vocalist Chris Stapleton, fiddler/vocalist Tammy Rogers, banjo player Richard Bailey and bassist Mike Fleming.

Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson along with Mike Bub will play the Station Inn May 2 at 9:00 P.M.

Iconic country-rock pioneers Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson play the Station Inn May 2

Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson, along with Mike Bub will perform, what’s sure to be a great evening of music, at the Station Inn on Friday, May 2. in Nashville, Tenn. The show takes place at 9:00 P.M. and tickets are $20. For more information visit the Station Inn online or call 615-255-3307.

The trio will play the hits from their former groups’ repertoire, including The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Stephen Stills’ Manassas and Desert Rose Band, as well as selections from their recent solo projects. Come hear old favorites like “Turn,Turn, Turn,” “Tambourine Man,” “Eight Miles High,” “Wheels,” or “Devil In Disguise” from the original source! For more on Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, visit them online at www.chrishillman.com or www.herbpedersen.com

Audie Blaylock and Redline climbing the charts

Audie Blaylock and Redline’s “Lonesome Weary Heart” is currently sitting at #12 on the Sirius Bluegrass CountDown Yonder Charts.

Blaylock and company also are staying busy as the festival season begins to roll full steam ahead. The month of May will see Audie and Redline performing on “Song of the Mountains,” a syndicated show that is broadcast on 165 plus PBS stations, on May 3 in Marion, VA at the Lincoln Theatre. The group is also making stops at the Fire on the Strings Festival in Montgomery, TX (May 16), the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival in Gettysburg, PA (May 18), a radio appearance on the WDVX Blueplate Special (May 30) and The 1st annual Jimmy Martin Memorial Bluegrass Festival in Sneedville, TN (May 31).

Songsmith, Sarah Siskind to play Nashville, Tenn. Date May 22

Sarah Siskind will play a May 22 show at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Tenn.

Sarah Siskind will play an 8:00 P.M. show at one of Nashville’s premier live music clubs, 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, May 22. Cover charge for the show is $12.00.

Alison Krauss has championed Sarah and values her songs so highly that she’s recorded two of them, both of which became singles and videos that received widespread airplay. The Infamous Stringdusters have recorded the Siskind penned “Lovin’ You” for their forthcoming album on Sugar Hill Records. Not yet 30, Sarah has become a respected and acknowledged master of her craft in the crowded scene of Nashville. In the years to come, the wider world will come to know her as an artist of striking originality and emotional complexity. Sarah is currently working on a new album.

The Marksmen have their sights set on Ringold, GA.

The Share America Foundation will host Dove Award nominees The Marksmen Quartet Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ringgold Depot, corner of Depot Street and U.S. 41 in Ringgold, GA. Also appearing are the Frettin’ On Faith Dulcimer Club and the event will feature an art exhibit by Chuck Frye. Randall Franks from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night” will emcee.

The event is a fundraiser for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship Fund helping musicians achieve higher education. Donations for tickets are adults: $5, Children 5 and under free with adult. Seating is limited to 300. Tickets may be purchased locally in advance during business hours at The Catoosa County News (706) 935-2621 in Ringgold and SonShine Christian Books (706) 861-7675 in Fort Oglethorpe. For more information, Share America Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 42 Tunnel Hill, Ga. 30755.

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The Watkins Family to perform in LaFayette, GA April 27.

The instrumental sounds of banjo, dobro, mandolin, guitar and fiddle coupled with the sweet gospel harmonies of the Watkins Family of Eastanollee, Ga. will ring out at First Baptist Church of LaFayette, 201 North Main Street in LaFayette, Ga., April 27 at 6:15 p.m. in a special concert. For more information call (706) 638-3727.

For 25 years the Watkins Family, Judy, Todd, Lorie and Shanon have carved out a special place for themselves in the fields of bluegrass and Southern gospel music beside Don, the late husband and father who passed away in January.

“We are excited for the opportunity to share our music with our friends in Northwest Georgia,” Lorie said. “It is an honor for us to carry on the musical tradition Mom and Dad started so many years ago.”

The Watkins Family formerly received nominations as the best Contemporary and Traditional Bluegrass Gospel group by the Society for the Preservation of BlueGrass Music in America which hosts its annual awards this week in Nashville and were also nominated as Best Bluegrass Act at the Coca-Cola Music Awards previously hosted in Atlanta, Ga. Lorie Watkins was nominated in 2007 as Favorite Female Vocalist of the Year in the Front Porch Fellowship Bluegrass Gospel Awards.

The group broke new ground in 1988 becoming the first bluegrass gospel act to perform on Capitol Hill in the Capitol Complex in Washington D.C. attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The group’s latest single “Darkness Wept,” from the CD of the same title, debuted in March at #71 on the Gospel Music News chart. “Darkness Wept” was produced by Grammy nominee Karen Peck Gooch, Mark Fain and engineered by Grammy winner Bil Vorndick. To learn more about the group, visit watkinsfamilymusic.com.

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Actor / Entertainer Randall Franks will host the monthly Sacred Sounds Fridays radio show

WBFC 103.7 FM out of Ringgold, GA, will feature the inaugural one-hour “Sacred Sounds Fridays” radio show Wednesdays, April 2 and April 9 at 9 p.m. and Fridays, April 4 and April 11 at 9 a.m. Show emcee Franks, “Officer Randy Goode” from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night,” will also host the monthly radio broadcast.

“This is a wonderful chance for our station to further enhance our locally-produced content for our listeners,” said Jim Price, station manager.

The first program will feature special performances live from the Ringgold, GA Depot by The Greesons who appeared in concert in March as well as some archival performances by The Marksmen Quartet, Barney Miller, Southern Sound Quartet, Testimony Quartet, and youth performers the Calvary Strings and Deborah Taylor, 2007 Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship designee from Catoosa County.

Sacred Sounds Fridays is a monthly concert series at the Ringgold, GA Depot. The shows are fundraisers for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship Fund. The Share America Foundation, Inc., a Georgia non-profit, presents scholarships to talented musicians who excel in the Appalachian musical arts. The next Sacred Sounds Fridays concert is Friday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ringgold Depot featuring soloists Jerry Trammell, Bill Stobaugh, and Shelia and Lindzy Reed. Admission is a $5 donation.

“This program will allow us to share more about our scholarship program and all that we are doing to help young people who continue the Appalachian musical traditions,” Franks said.

For more information about future air times, call (706) 935-9735 or visit wbfcfm.com or myspace.com/shareamerica.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to share some of the wonderful talent via radio who are helping our organization,” said Randall Franks, Share America Foundation president. “This is a wonderful opportunity that our local Southern gospel music station WBFC-LP is sharing with us.”

WBFC-LP Boynton-Ringgold is at 103.7 FM and is heard locally in areas of Catoosa, Walker, Hamilton and Whitfield counties in Georgia. The station can also be heard on the internet at wbfcfm.com.

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Ocilla, GA. -The Riverbend Bluegrass band along with Fontanna Sunset, The Wilson Family band and many others will perform during a 2-day benefit concert, Aug. 17^th and 18^th, at Riverbend Bluegrass Park near Ocilla, GA.

All proceeds will got to assist banjo player Larry Jackson who suffered a stroke in June of this year.

Admission is $10 per person and camping is available for $10 per night for 30 amp and $20 for 50 amp hookups. For more information call 229-425-0805 or log on to http://www.riverbendbluegrass.com/ or email the following veniece@alltel.net jimmygay@alltel.net dcagle@alltel.net

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