Press release from National Forests in North Carolina:
The Cradle of Forestry in America’s Annual Songcatchers Music Series continues Sunday, July 24, with Laura Boosinger and the Midnight Plowboys. This year’s series is sponsored by Morrow Insurance Agency, Inc.
The Midnight Plowboys are a traditional roots music string band comprised of talented, fun-loving musicians and stage entertainers, including a favorite of Songcatchers’ audiences, Laura Boosinger. This Asheville-based group is known for its diverse musical style, with elements of southern fiddle music, Americana, old time and early country songs. Solo and harmony vocals support fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and bass.
Originally formed in 1980, the Midnight Plowboys were reborn during the 2012 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival. Current members are Brian Hunter on guitar, Laura on banjo, Emma McDowell Best on fiddle, Mike Hunter on mandolin, and Robert Reeves on bass. For more information visit http://themidnightplowboys.com/.
Now in its 14th year, the series is held each Sunday afternoon in July, beginning at 4:00 p.m. It honors traditional mountain music and the talented performers who preserve it, share it, and make it their own. The Songcatchers Music Series is an official event of the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina, http://www.blueridgemusicnc.com/.
Concerts take place in the Cradle’s shaded outdoor amphitheater and move indoors if the weather is stormy. The stage show opens at 4:00 with a group of Transylvania County musicians, playfully called the Warm-up Band. The Midnight Plowboys play from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Local old-time musicians are on-site to jam informally at 3:00 p.m. before the concert.
Concert-goers are welcome to arrive early and enjoy indoor and outdoor exhibits, two interpretive trails, and the Giving Tree gift shop. Some bring cushions for the concrete seating in the amphitheater. The café is open for lunch. The site, including the amphitheater, is wheelchair accessible.
The series continues with Sparky and Rhonda Rucker July 31.
Admission for all shows is $6.00 for ages 16 and older; $3.00 for youth 15 and under and America the Beautiful and Golden Age pass holders. Friends of the Cradle annual passes are honored. The Cradle of Forestry is located on Hwy. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest, six miles north of Looking Glass Falls and four miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. For more information call 828-877-3130 or go to www.cradleofforestry.com.
Visitors enjoy mountain music at the Cradle as it fits into the late 1800s-early 1900s feel of the historic site. On this land, part of the Biltmore Estate during that time, modern forestry was first practiced and America’s first forestry school prepared students for conservation careers. Now the Cradle of Forestry in America is part of Pisgah National Forest, celebrating its Centennial this year.
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