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| Blake Shelton, Pinmonkey to play
Holmes Center |
Michael
Lee
Entertainment Beat |
Country music sensation
Blake Shelton teams up with bluegrass-country fusion band Pinmonkey
for a foot-stomping good time Friday evening at 8 p.m in the George
M. Holmes Convocation Center.
Shelton has been nominated for several awards, including Top New
Male Vocalist by the Academy Of Country Music Awards (ACM), Favorite
New Artist by the American Music Awards and New Country Artist of
the Year by Billboard Music Awards.
Pinmonkey has been nominated for Best New Vocal Duo or Group by
ACM.
Shelton’s self-titled debut album, released in 2001, is certified
Gold and his sophomore release, “The Dreamer,” sold more
than 77,000 copies in the first week it was released.
Shelton’s albums are filled with songs of deep-rooted emotions
that range from the slow and loving “Austin” to the ruckus
and rowdy “Playboys of the Southwestern World.”
Shelton said his experiences growing up are deeply embedded into
his music.
“Growing up my parents divorced and married several times and
I learned a lot through those experiences,” Shelton said. “In
1991 we lost my brother in an automobile accident and that was the
biggest wake-up call of my life. The combination of lots of things
at an early age made me grow up really fast. I like to sing songs
that I can relate to in some way or another. There are no greater
emotions than the ones that involve family.”
These experiences along with Shelton’s beautiful southern vocals
breed thoughts of family that gather in the halls of your mind.
People would think that all of the success has gone to his head,
but he is still as humble as when he left Ada, Okla., many years
ago for Nashville, Tenn.
“I was nervous at first but now it’s just a matter of
me settling in and being comfortable with success,” Shelton
said.
“I’m pretty laid back and relaxed, and I think that’s
why a lot of people can relate to my music.”
“Looking back as long as I can remember I’ve always loved
music,” Shelton said. “At an early age, probably 14 or
15, I really started to gravitate towards country music. I listened
to a lot of people like Earl Thomas Conley and Paul Overstreet,
people who were writing and performing their own songs.”
Pinmonkey, like Shelton, is finally getting their taste of success.
Drummer Rick Schell, bass player Michael Jeffers, lead vocalist
and guitarist Michael Reynolds and dobro, lap steel, banjo and acoustic
guitar player Chad Jeffers have been knocking around Nashville for
years.
Each of the guys fought for success in Nashville for several years
before forming Pinmonkey to make music for the music.
The group’s funky-country sound is as unique a sound as their
name.
“The group is like a melting pot of influences, we all have
our own personal tastes,” Schell said. “When you get on
the bus you never know what you might be listening to, Conway Twitty,
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead or bluegrass. Everything
from the Beatles to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.”
This wide range of musical influences shines through in the band’s
music. You can almost hear Rogers Waters thumping through the bass.
The reviews of their debut album, “See No Evil,” and the
great name they made for themselves playing throughout Nashville
helped perpetuate their signing with major record label RCA.
“When it finally came down to signing a record deal it all
happened so very quickly,” Schell said. “It was like a
feeding frenzy among the record labels.”
Their second album is filled with great songs from the emotional
love song “Augusta” to the bluegrass beat of “Jar
of Clay.”
“I love Pinmonkey,” Shelton said. “They have found
a way to combine an Appalachian sound with mainstream country. No
one else does that right now.”
The music business is full of ups and downs, however. The day after
they signed their record deal the group’s tour bus burned to
the ground in South Carolina. They were able to save most of the
musical equipment, but almost everything else burned in the fire.
Since then the guys have been touring across the states and they
have been opening up for people like Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt
and Charlie Daniels, just to name a few.
“Last year we played almost 200 shows,” Schell said. “We
got play with Willie Nelson last year, that was a lot of fun. It’s
an honor; it exposes you to all sorts of people. It’s a tough,
tough business, and very few people make it through the door.”
The band is opening for Shelton and will be a good warm up for the
crowd.
“We are only playing a 45-minute set so it will be all high
energy songs,” Schell said. “It’s the only time during
the day that we get to let loose.”
The show is put on by local production company, GoodSport Productions.
“We are very excited,” Vice President Vicky McLean said.
“Blake Shelton is such a popular up-and-coming country singer
that if his career keeps going like it is he’ll be a huge star
in a few years. Lots of people are familiar with Pinmonkey because
of the bluegrass music and because of the fact that they have played
at Merlefest.”
All in all it promises to be a stellar night of good old-fashioned
country-bluegrass music.
“Country music is at the heart of every southerner and what
better place to see country music than in Boone,” international
business major Ashley Dawson said.
There will be an after-party get together at the Meadowbrook Inn
following the concert and the local band Blue Country will be performing.
“I am excited about coming to Boone,” Shelton said. “We
have lots of friends in North Carolina that I am looking forward
to seeing again.”
For more information on Shelton and Pinmonkey,
visit www.blakeshelton.com
and www.pinmonkey.net.
Tickets may be purchased at the Holmes Center
box office, by phone at (828)-262-6603 or online at www.goodsportevents.com.
Tickets prices are $15, $22 and $26. |
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