Anderson Oconee Pickens

Honi Deaton & Dream Headline Free Bluegrass Concert

CONTACT:  REBECCA EIDSON, 646-1507

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/10/2009
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- Back by popular demand, Honi Deaton & Dream will bring its “high energy from the heart” as headliners of Tri-County Technical College’s Fourth Annual Bluegrass under the Stars concert.

The community is invited to attend Bluegrass under the Stars, a free concert and fireworks event for the family set for Saturday, April 4, from 5 - 9:30 p.m. in the College's Amphitheater.  In addition to Honi Deaton & Dream, the show will include performances by Tugalo Holler and New Dixie Storm.  Legacy Drive will kick off the show.  The concert will end with a fireworks extravaganza.

BBQ and other refreshments will be for sale during the event.  Admission is free and will be held rain or shine (rain location is the College’s Student Center).

About the Bands

Formerly of north Georgia, Texas-based Honi Deaton & Dream will bring its “high energy from the heart” to this year’s concert. Honi is joined by the instrumental and vocal powers of husband Jeff Deaton on guitar, Josh Brooks on banjo and Wayde Powell III on resonator guitar. This group of extraordinary musicians reaches deep into the soil of Appalachian and Americana music, layering it with the flavor of a fine Texas hot sauce.

Honi Deaton, a prolific songwriter, provides the group with much of its repertoire. She has been nominated twice for International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year.  The band received a 2007 Gospel Music Association Dove Award nomination in the category of Bluegrass Special Event Album of the Year with their music in Lamon Records’ “Bluegrass Gospel Time.”  They have played The Grand Ole Opry, Branson, Missouri, and hundreds of festivals, theatres and clubs across the U.S. and Canada since 2002.  The website is http://honideaton.com/.

The New Dixie Storm is a Greenville, SC-based bluegrass band. Their instrumental and vocal arrangements come from the soulful traditions and influences of first-generation performers like Bill Monroe, The Osborne Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs yet speaks to listeners everywhere with a blend of youthful and energetic artistry.  Band members include Glen Crain on guitar, Scott Hawkins, on banjo and vocals, Jeff Hayes on bass and harmony vocals, Jeremy McCollum on rhythm guitar, and Trey Ward on mandolin. The website is http://www.newdixiestorm.com/index.html.

Based in Westminster, Tugalo Holler is a ministry band that plays gospel, old standards, new songs and songs that they have “bluegrassified.”  Since playing their first show in 2001 they have performed at weddings, parties, benefits and other venues across the Upstate, northeast Georgia and western North Carolina.  The six-member band consists of Chad James on banjo and vocals, Stephen Hudson on fiddle and vocals, Jessica Hudson on vocals, Sarah Hudson on guitar and vocals, Dennis James on mandolin, Harold Hudson on guitar and Michael “Porkchop” Branch on bass.  The website is http://www.tugaloholler.com/.

Formally known as Blue Streek, the new band, Legacy Drive, was formed in 2008.  They are the 2007 Georgia State champion band and are comprised of past members of highly respected groups, such as The Marksmen and Mercy Tree.  Band members include Tommy Dutton on vocals and bass, Josh Hicks on vocals, banjo and rhythm guitar, Lee Marcus on vocals, lead guitar and banjo and Blake Young on vocals and mandolin.   You can find them on the Internet by searching Legacy Drive on myspace.com.

For more information, visit Tri-County Technical College’s website at www.tctc.edu and click on Bluegrass under the Stars Concert or contact Mary Johnston at (864) 646-1503.