Lonesome River Band

Lonesome River Band

The next Jubilee features the Lonesome River Band’s energetic, up-tempo performance of hard-driving bluegrass. The program, taped at the River of Music Party in Owensboro last summer, airs Saturday, Sept. 20 at 11/10 p.m. CT on KET2 and Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 8/7 p.m. CT on KET1.

Having withstood numerous personnel changes in the past 25 years, the constant in the band’s popular sound has been Sammy Shelor’s driving banjo style. The International Bluegrass Music Association has voted him Banjo Player of the Year on four separate occasions. Shelor, who inherited his love of the banjo from his grandfathers, began to play the instrument at age 5. Although he learned his early technique from old-fashioned banjo player Carp Ayers, Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe and Béla Fleck have also influenced Shelor’s style.

The group’s lineup at the time of the performance included Shelor, Matt Leadbetter on dobro, Brandon Rickman on lead guitar and vocals, Andy Ball on mandolin and lead vocals and Richmond, Ky., native Mike Anglin on bass. Their new CD is titled The Road with No End.

Jubilee is a KET production, distributed to public television stations nationwide. The series is directed by Nick Helton and produced by Duncan Hart. Nancy Carpenter is executive producer. More information about Jubilee is available at www.ket.org/jubilee. More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.