This annual concert, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature 10 ETSU student bands playing everything from bluegrass and country to Celtic and old-time music. In addition, members of the ETSU program’s faculty, including Grammy Award-winning musicians Tim Stafford and Adam Steffey and others, will join students onstage, and a special guest appearance by the celebrated Tri-Cities bluegrass band Hard Times is scheduled. 

During the 1980s Hard Times was a premier bluegrass band in the East Tennessee region.  ETSU’s Professor Emeritus, Jack Tottle recalls that they were “exceptionally strong both instrumentally and vocally.

The highly anticipated authorized biography of acoustic guitar legend Tony Rice is now in the final stages of production and will be released within a couple months! 

Many consider Rice the greatest acoustic guitar player of all time. Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story, written by Tim Stafford and Caroline Wright, delivers Tony’s incredible tale in his own inimitable words, with anecdotes and observations from his friends, family, fans, and fellow musicians.

For centuries, literally, folks have been following The French Broad River into Madison County to hear the finest in traditional music.  Cecil Sharp found ballad singers in Hot Springs, Bascom Lamar Lunsford searched over the hills and hollers for banjo players and buck dancers and anyone having a house party or a barn dance was hunting up a fiddler to liven up the festivities.  This tradition continues every Spring in downtown Marshall where our finest fiddlers come together for a concert to benefit The Madison County Arts Council.  On March 13 ol

The 2010 Ole Time Fiddler’s & Bluegrass Festival at Fiddler’s Grove is scheduled for May 28th-30th. Advanced ticket prices: Adult Full Festival = $35; Youth Full Festival = $15. These advanced rates are good through May 14th. Don’t miss out on this great deal. Camping reservations will open on March 1st. They are filled up on a first comefirst served basis.The updated 2010 ticket/camping registration form will be available online March 1st. Individual competition registrations will be open again this year. You do not need to pre-register. You can register when you arrive at the festival or on the morning of competition, Saturday May 29th.

Internationally acclaimed recording artists The Dixie Bee-Liners ,  featuring Bristol's own Rachel Renee Johnson,  will be performing at a benefit concert  for Rita Forrester Sunday,  February 21 at 3:00 pm. Also appearing will be The Brother Boys,  Ed Snodderly,  Brandon Story,   Annie Robinette and a host of other acts.  Forrester,  director of the Carter Fold in Hiltons, Va.,  lost her husband in a fire that also destroyed her home in December 2009.  The Paramount Center for the Arts in downtown Bristol will graciously host the event.