The West Virginia Jazz Society (WVJS) is adding bluegrass music to its programming with a concert on Friday, March 22 in Weston, featuring a nationally touring bluegrass act from Knoxville, Tennessee.

 

The Montvales, a guitar/banjo vocal duo, will appear in The Listening Room in St. Paul’s West Hall, a community-supported venue and performance space. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show beginning at 7 p.m.

 

Silas Powell, a recognized youth phenom, and LC Blue, a youth bluegrass ensemble, will open the show. Powell is in his early 20s and has won numerous awards and competitions since he started playing music before grade school. LC Blue has a 25-year history as a student group based in Lewis County.

 

Reserved seating at $15 per person is available by text to 304-517-9813.

A student 18 and under can attend at no charge when accompanied by an adult ticket holder.

 

WVJS President, Eric Spelsberg, says his group plans to identify and develop a market for live bluegrass in the same way they developed a market for live jazz over the past decade.

 

“Our founding mission was dedicated to live jazz,” said Spelsberg, “And the recent appearance of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Clarksburg, followed by a sold-out Jazz Night at the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center, stands as a successful proof of concept. We want to do the same with bluegrass music.”

 

Spelsberg added WVJS will continue to program jazz regionally, focusing on smaller high-value venues like Bridgeport, WV’s Music On Main.

 

Editor's Note: Submitted photo of Silas Powell.