Bluegrass Legends Open Sixth Annual
Southern Soul and Song Season
Lincolnton, Georgia, natives and bluegrass-gospel icons The Lewis Family join rising stars Lizzy Long and Llegacy in opening the Morris Museum of Art’s sixth annual Southern Soul and Song concert series on Thursday, September 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Augusta’s historic Imperial Theatre.
“Elvis Presley, Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, and Marty Stuart are among the many superstars who have expressed the greatest admiration for The Lewis Family,” said Kevin Grogan, director of the Morris Museum of Art and founder of Southern Soul and Song. “This internationally acclaimed group paved the way for the current crop of bluegrass-gospel musicians. We are honored to have them open our terrific 2008–2009 concert season, along with the fabulous, multi-talented Lizzy Long and her group Llegacy.”
Tickets for the series are on sale now and can be purchased at the Imperial Theatre box office by calling 706-722-8341 or on the new Southern Soul and Song web site at www.southernsoulandsong.org. Tickets to individual shows go on sale on September 8.
The Lewis Family
Organized in 1951 in their hometown of Lincolnton, Georgia, The Lewis Family has achieved worldwide recognition as icons of bluegrass-gospel music. Now encompassing three generations, this family band plays more than two hundred concerts a year around the country. The Lewis Family was inducted in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, Georgia, in 1992 and Patriarch “Pop” Lewis was inducted into the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2000. For thirty-eight years, The Lewis Family also hosted its own weekly television show on WJBF News Channel 6 in Augusta, Georgia. It was one of the longest-running country and gospel show in TV history. An American original, The Lewis Family is truly the “First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music.”
Lizzy Long and Llegacy
Elizabeth Long—Lizzy to her friends and fans—is a 24-year-old musical prodigy with an astounding voice and commanding stage presence. Having grown up in Lincolnton, Georgia, just down the road from Little Roy Lewis, Lizzy was bound to become a bluegrass superstar. She took up music at an early age, starting with the fiddle before going on to master the guitar, autoharp, bass banjo, and mandolin. Roy Lewis became her mentor at 15 and took her on the road with him. Lizzy continued to travel the bluegrass circuit with the Lewises throughout her high school and college career, only to end up in the country and bluegrass music capital—Nashville, Tennessee. Lizzy has since released three solo albums, an album with Earl Scruggs and Roy Lewis, and is currently touring to promote her latest CD, Lizzy Long and Little Roy Lewis—Front Porch Pickin.’ To hear songs from her latest CD, visit her MySpace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=150035849.
Southern Soul and Song
One of the top-selling bluegrass and Americana concert series in the country, Southern Soul and Song has featured such legendary artists as Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, and Marty Stuart. Southern Soul and Song returns this fall with an all-star line-up of spectacular, distinctly southern music—nine concerts that stretch from September 2008–May 2009, including Patty Loveless, Mountain Heart, Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, and many more. Proceeds from the series help to support the Morris Museum of Art’s public program initiatives. Series sponsors include Budweiser True Music, The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta Magazine, WFXG/Fox-54, Comcast, Seigler HD, Augusta Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Inc., Gordon Chevrolet, SRP Federal Credit Union, Boots, Bridles, and Britches, Southern Wood Floors, The Mullins Law Firm, Kicks 99, WGAC/580, The City Club, The Cotton Patch, Wife Saver, and Toast Wine and Beverage. For a full lineup or more information, visit www.southernsoulandsong.org.
Westobou Festival
The Westobou Festival was conceived in 2005 by the Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County, as part of their work on behalf of the Porter Fleming Foundation. Designed to showcase Augusta’s wealth of artistic talent, the inaugural Festival takes place between September 18 and 27, 2008, in downtown Augusta and on the campuses of Augusta State University, and Paine College. It features performances in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. A trademark of the Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County, Westobou Festival is produced by the Greater Augusta Arts Council.
Morris Museum of Art
Founded in 1985, the Morris Museum of Art is the oldest museum in the country that is devoted to the art and artists of the American South. The museum’s permanent collection of approximately five thousand paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures, dating from the late-eighteenth century to the present, is displayed in galleries dedicated to antebellum portraiture, the Civil War, genre painting, still life, landscape, Southern Impressionism, Modernism in the South, and works on paper. It is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sunday, noon–5:00 p.m. For more information about the Morris Museum of Art, visit our web site at www.themorris.org or call 706-724-7501.
