The Blue Ridge Music Center will present the Steep Canyon Rangers for an evening of bluegrass and beyond at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 6, in the outdoor amphitheater. The Music Center is located at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of Galax and 30 minutes from Sparta and Mount Airy, N.C.
(Contributed photo)
The Steep Canyon Rangers are Grammy winners, Billboard chart-toppers, and a perennial favorite at the Blue Ridge Music Center.
The band started in college at UNC-Chapel Hill, then dove head first into bluegrass in its most traditional form. Over the years, they have risen to the top of the bluegrass genre headlining popular festivals such as MerleFest and Grey Fox Bluegrass. The band tours extensively, and have expanded their genres into country and Americana. They are often compared to predecessors The Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the modern Zac Brown Band.
Steep Canyon Rangers released three albums in 2020 on Yep Roc Records. The Grammy-nominated North Carolina Songbook is a recording of their live 2019 performance at MerleFest, in which they performed a selection of songs by the state’s songwriters (Ola Belle Reed, Doc Watson, James Taylor, Ben E. King, and others). The studio album Be Still Moses paired the band with Philadelphia soul legends Boyz II Men and their hometown Asheville Symphony to overhaul the song “Be Still Moses,” which was first recorded on their 2007 breakout album Lovin’ Pretty Women. The album includes re-imagined versions of Steep Canyon Rangers’ previously released original songs performed with an orchestra. The group’s most recent release of all original music, Arm in Arm, came out in October 2020.
This concert is sponsored by Visit Grayson County, Classic Country 98.1 WBRF, and the Winston-Salem Journal.
Tickets are $40 for adults, $20 for children 12 and younger. Advance tickets are available at BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org. Tickets can be purchased on the evening of the show at the admission gates.
Parking opens at 5:15 p.m. and is free. Admission to the amphitheater begins at 5:45 p.m.
Concert-goers are encouraged to share a ride and carpool due to limited on-site parking. Social distancing while at the Music Center is also encouraged. Picnics are welcome, but please note that the Blue Ridge Music Center is a national park facility and as such, no alcohol is permitted on site.
