Walters State Spotlight Professional Musicians and Newcomers in Seventh Annual Evening of Bluegrass, April 11, 2014

Walters State logo 450Walters State Community College will spotlight professional musicians and talented newcomers during its Seventh Annual Evening of Bluegrass on April 11. Music begins at 7 p.m. in the theatre of the Judge William H. Inman Humanities Complex. The event is free and open to anyone.

“You’ll hear a little traditional, a little bit of progressive and a little bit of gospel,” said Chippy McLain, head of the college’s English department and advisor to the Walters State Folk Club.

Professional musicians Matthew Hurd, Clint Hurd, Matthew Wallace, Ryan Moyers and Rusty Ferrell will be featured, with several songs performed by McLain and students Daniel Smith, David Johnson, Dylan Coffey and Spencer Graves.

McLain refers to this year’s concert as the “High Lonesome Senate.”

“We have some great, nationally-known musicians playing this year, and we are proud to add these students to the show,” McLain said.

As for the professionals, each has toured extensively with various bands and brings a special passion for this genre of music to the concert. While each one may play several instruments, each is known for the mastery of one. Clint Hurd plays mandolin and tours nationally with New Town. Matthew Hurd plays dobro. Wallace does guitar and vocals touring with The Dukes of Drive. He just released a solo collection. Moyers plays mandolin and tours with the Clay Hess Band. Ferrell plays banjo and tours with Blue Moon Rising. Clint Hurd and Wallace have both played on the Grand Ole Opry.

While a few members of the student group have been playing informally, individually or with families, some are new to their instruments.

Seeing young musicians focus on this form of music has been wonderful. Each has vocal talent, too. It’s very exciting to see young people realize the power of words and music,” McLain added.

For more information, contact the Walters State Division of Humanities at (423) 585-6922.

About Walters State

Over 6,500 credit and 4,000 non-credit students attend Walters State. The college has campuses in Morristown, Greeneville, Sevierville and Tazewell. It offers over 100 associate degrees and technical certificates. Visit Walters State’s website at ws.edu.

About Tennessee’s Community Colleges

Tennessee’s Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. We offer associates degrees and certificate programs, workforce development programs and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit us online at tncommunitycolleges.org.