OnStage Concert Series

OnStage: Five Mile Mountain Road

Sunday November 20, 2022

2:00pm

McGuireWoods Gallery in Building W16

COVID MEASURES: Effective March 7, 2022, the Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc., which operates the Workhouse Arts Center, strongly recommends that all staff, artists, volunteers, students, and patrons wear a mask while inside one of the Workhouse buildings. All previous Workhouse COVID requirements polices are now suspended and this policy will remain in effect until rescinded or modified based on new CDC, Virginia State, or Fairfax County guidelines. 

Five Mile Mountain Road brings you old-time music with a fresh approach. From the old-time sounds of Charlie Poole and the fiddle music of Clark Kessinger, to first-generation Blue Grass music and original arrangements of western swing, to ragtime and jazz, Five Mile Mountain Road presents an authentic old-time experience reminiscent of the music once heard at dance halls and theaters in days gone by.

The origin of Five Mile Mountain Road came from the meeting of fiddler Billy Hurt, Jr. and guitarist Brennen Ernst while working in The Karl Shiflett and Big Country Show. Billy and Brennen immediately discovered a common love for old music, particularly old-time fiddle music, ragtime, and early jazz. Upon meeting banjoist Seth Boyd in 2015, the nucleus of Five Mile Mountain Road was formed.

Fiddlin’ Billy Hurt sets the pace with the fiddle. A journeyman old-time and blue grass fiddler from Franklin County, Virginia, Hurt is widely known as one of the finest fiddle players in the business. Brennen Ernst, a native of Lucketts, Loudoun County, Virginia, is a multi-talented instrumentalist and provides powerful lead and rhythm guitar and rousing piano playing to help shape the unique Five Mile Mountain Road sound. Franklin County native Seth Boyd comes from a well-known musical family and drives the music with his expertise on multiple styles of old-time banjo. Caleb “Duke” Erickson from Rockford, Illinois, also plays rhythm guitar, along with Travis-style and flat-picking lead guitar. J. C. Radford, also a Franklin County native, is an accomplished bass player and writer of the band’s theme song “Five Mile Mountain Road”. All the members of the band contribute vocals and also write original material that help make up the band’s repertoire.

 The band records for the Patuxent label. Five Mile Mountain Road preserves old-time music and pays homage to their heroes, while still adding their unique perspective.

This performance will take place in the McGuireWoods Gallery in Building W16 on the campus of the Workhouse Arts Center. Tickets are available for purchase from $20 per person. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks available for a la carte purchase in the venue.

Five Mile Mountain Road

Sunday November 20, 2022 at 2:00pm

Tickets: $20

Advance purchase is highly recommended, rates may increase as ticket sales progress.

Venue will open 60 minutes prior to curtain, seating opens 30 minutes prior to curtain

SPECIAL THANKS

The 2021/22 Performing Arts Season is made possible in part with funding from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG)

Select performances in this series are partially supported by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.