WTA brings Rootstone Jug Band for an evening of American roots music to the Gateway on April 27. Five guys will gather around a single microphone and summon up the rich strains of traditional jug band. It will be “Primitive Roots Music” at its unique best. The performance is at 8 pm at WTA’s Gateway at 329 West Main in Downtown Waynesboro.
Founded in 2008, Rootstone Jug Band is comprised of five versatile young musicians who perform Early American Roots Music from across the American south. Their performances preserve the regional accents of America’s pioneer rural recording artists, with material from Virginia string bands, Piedmont blues artists from North Carolina, Jug Bands and songsters from Memphis, Delta Blues singers from Mississippi, and more. All of this is presented along with a handful of original compositions and retrofitted popular songs, performed with a reverence and enthusiasm that shows the durability of America’s roots music.
Rootstone Jug Band has performed throughout Virginia for audiences of all ages at festivals, school programs, weddings, clubs and more. As they swap instruments and journey through the southern back roads of America’s early musical landscape, audiences realize that this music is still a vital art form, and that this is a band of true believers.
The Roanoke Times reported the Rootstone Jug Band is “substance over flash, with nasally, comfortable vocals from Baldwin, and true musicianship from his sidemen.” The band provides, as the reviewer in Old Blue Bus, “an incredible variety of music…from raw, almost primitive a cappella spiritual and jubilant tent-revival gospel to remorseful country blues.” The performance at WTA’s Gateway will be an opportunity to hear a one of the best jug bands in the region.
The WTA’s Gateway performance is supported by a touring artists grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
Tickets for the Rootstone Jug Band performance are $10. Seating is limited and advanced reservations are suggested. Tickets may be purchased online at www.wtagateway.com or by calling the box office at 540-943-9999. Unsold tickets will be available at the Gateway box office on the evening of performance.
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