For Release: May 9, 2002
The bluegrass gospel sounds of northeastern Kentucky's Five for the Gospel and the tight vocal harmonies of The Stevens, from eastern Tennessee, light up this episode of Jubilee, taped at the 1997 Carter County Shrine Club Bluegrass Festival in Olive Hill, Ky.The Stevens, featuring sisters April and Beth, their mother Betty and father Douglas on guitar, entertain the audience with jazzy versions of traditional songs from their Sisters album (Rounder Records, 1996) including "What About Me?" "Tired Old Heart," "Who's Crying For You Now?" and the soulful title song, "Sisters." The Stevens have performed twice at the Grand Ole Opry.
Next, the internationally-known Five for the Gospel treats viewers to their unique bluegrass gospel sound, described by rhythm guitar and harmonica player Gary Waugh as "quartet-style with bluegrass instrumentation." Five for the Gospel members include Waugh, bass player Pat Holbrook, banjo player Johnny Branham, lead guitarist Rick May and mandolin player Bill Hamm, all from Kentucky.
This full-time bluegrass gospel band, formed late in 1989, has five albums to its credit--including two releases, Working in the Vineyards and Victory is Sweet, in 2000. For their Jubilee performance, the award-winning band sings "The Holy City," "That Sounds Like Home To Me," "Follow Me" and "Brush Arbor Church Back In The Hills."
Jubilee is a KET production, produced and directed by H. Russell Farmer. The program is closed-captioned for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Viewers can find out more about programming on KET by visiting the KET Web site at www.ket.org.