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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On August 17 & 18, the Bonded Brothers of Bluegrass will present a benefit for Larry Jackson at Riverbend near Ocilla, Georgia, to raise money to assist Larry and his wife, Ginger. Larry suffered a serious stroke in June of this year.

So far, 14 bands have signed up to perform.

For more information on how you can help or participate, contact Diane Cagle at dcagle@alltel.net or Jimmy Gay at jimmygay@alltel.net. Information is also available at the Riverbend Bluegrass Festival web site.

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