August 2018 Newport Jamboree featuring American Roots and Johnny Cake & The Lunch Truck
Venue: Newport Community Park, Newport
Organizations: American Roots, Johnny Cake & the Lunch Truck, Newport Jamboree
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2018
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Event Types: Music, Food, Family Friendly
Cost:

Description:
The Newport Jamboree presents their August and 2018 Jamboree Finale featuring the music of American Roots and Johnny Cake & the Lunch Truck on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at the Newport Community Park.

American Roots is a Blacksburg-based acoustic guitar and vocal harmony duo performing roots and Americana music penned between about 1900 and 1950. Fred and Jon Benfield took the name “American Roots” because it describes the music they have enjoyed performing together in the five-county area over the last 30 or so years.

The father and son guitar duo's musical influences are many and varied as are their shows which could be characterized as Americana Music: “Carter Family to Gershwin”. They are "Crooked Road Artists” interested in preserving the music of the southern Appalachians, but also enjoy performing tunes from other genres. Fred and Jon have spent most of their lives in and around the southern Appalachians and have developed an affection for the broad scope of music appreciated by folks in the region. Their performance may include traditional ballads, Appalachian blues, Piedmont blues, trad-country, trad-jazz, western swing, early country, tin-pan alley toe tappers, swing tunes, hot fiddle tunes (on guitar), and “folkgrass”.

They’ve performed at venues all around the region including the Floyd Country Store, Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out festival and Shawsville's Beans and Banjos.

An retired ecology professor at Virginia Tech, Fred Benfield told a writer for Virginia Tech’s website, “My favorite part of performing is the communication that occurs between us during gigs. We’ve played together for so long that we just somehow know where the other is going on tunes without saying anything or even looking at each other.”

Link: https://www.facebook.com/American-Roots-260081600850582/

Johnny Cake & the Lunch Truck is a bluegrass and newgrass band based in the New River Valley. The band draws musical inspiration from jazz, rock, country, blues and more. The band plays classics such as Blackberry Blossom and Red Haired Boy, bluegrass standards such as White Freightliner, and jazzier numbers including Sweet Georgia Brown. They do it with guitars, banjos, bass and a percussion section that includes bodhran (that Celtic drum you’ll often see in Irish sessions).

You may have heard the band at the Palisades, at Rising Silo, or at the Fatback Soul Shack. You can hear more of their music on Facebook and on YouTube.

Band members Bud, Jeff, Aaron, Beth, and Anthony each hungered for a band that would both pay homage to tradition and to interpret that tradition in new ways that were respectful of the past with an eye to the future. One day they somehow all ended up in line together at the lunch truck. The rest is history.

Each member comes to the band from a different musical genre: rock, blues, funk, folk, bluegrass and more come together along with years of experience drawn from playing in bands in all genres. Just like soup, or chili, when you add in all those tasty ingredients, you end up with something much more than a sum of its parts. Johnny Cake & the Lunch Truck satisfies.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/Johnny-Cake-the-Lunch-Truck-445105795874043

The local Ruritan chapter will be selling concessions including hot dogs and snacks and be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket.

We will ask for a $5.00 donation from each adult to cover the bands and pay for the park rental. Kids under 12 get in free.

Bring a chair, pack a swimsuit and invite a friend.

The Village of Newport Ruritan Park is conveniently located 1.4 miles down Highway 42 / 650 Bluegrass Trail keep your eyes peeled for the signs off of 460 West.

To view the event flyer, visit: https://i.imgur.com/KBKx2km.jpg.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/NewportJamboree/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/2126420954256958.