NEW SHARON – The Sandy River Ramblers will host a very special concert in New Sharon on Saturday, Nov. 29, providing a nice conclusion to Thanksgiving Weekend. They return with Fiddlin’ Jay Smith, a local virtuoso from Industry who relocated to Nashville, the Country Music Capital of the World, last January to try to make it as a professional fiddler.
Smith honed his fiddling skills for three years with the Sandy River Ramblers and the closely allied Maranacook String Band, and has also played many shows in central Maine with Wilf Clark and the Misty Mountaineers, as well as with his brother Shane, as the Smith Brothers. This will be his first show in Franklin County since he headed for Nashville, where he’s been working regularly, on the road, and in recording sessions.
The Sandy River Ramblers have undergone some personnel changes since they last played Franklin County. Smith’s fiddle spot has been taken by 17-year-old wunderkind Max Silverstein, and Julie Churchill, the extraordinary young singer from the Maranacook String Band has assumed full-time duty on Upright Bass. Longtime Ramblers Bud Godsoe (Banjo), Dan Simons (Mandolin) and Stan Keach (Guitar) are still aboard the stellar band, which combines Bluegrass. Folk, and Americana with a special emphasis on songs about Maine, mostly penned by Keach, a nationally-known songwriter.
The Ramblers most recent recording, Cry of the Loon and other original songs about Maine (which features some jaw-dropping fiddling by Jay Smith) has sold briskly in Central Maine, and features many local favorites such as “Boots From L.L. Bean,” “Goin’ To China,” and “Slow Down You’ll Hit a Moose.”
Special musical guest will be Dana Reynolds, a super-talented 12-year-old singer from Wayne, who has sung at many Ramblers shows over the past year and a half.
This concert will benefit the New Sharon Congregational Church
The concert will be at the Brick Church, 21 Cape Cod Hill Road, New Sharon. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults; $5 for children 10 and under. For more information, call Stan (207) 397-2241.
