Pike City is a group of young people who love to pick a variety of music from bluegrass to new grass, to gospel. Pike City is made of four talented musicians Zeb Hick 17, Karissa Hayden 17, Becca Miller and Tony Hicks 16.

Zeb, a senior, plays the banjo and sings. He is also the spokesperson of the group and is at home on the stage telling jokes and keeping the audience entertained. Zeb was awarded a scholarship in May 2013 from the Houstonfest Committee. Zeb’s other interest and talents include playing basketball for the Blue Ridge Panthers, being a 4H All Star, and being a counselor at Mt. View Bible camp. Zeb enjoys working with kids and hope to be in the missionary field someday.

Karissa, a junior, is lead singer and plays bass. She has won 1st place two consecutive years at Allegheny Fiddlers Convention. In September of 2012 Karissa was asked to perform at the “Fiddle and the Plow” with Willard Gayheart and Scott Freeman as they celebrated their becoming an official “Crooked Road Affiliated Venue”. Karissa’s other interest and talents are working with adults/kids with disability. She volunteers each year at a camp for people with special needs and participates with the special olympics as her schedule allows. She enjoys working with kids and hopes to be a teacher someday.

Becca a junior, plays fiddle and loves to sing. She is the newest member of Pike City. Becca enjoys taking different genera of music and turning them into bluegrass songs. .She is an avid Beetles fan and does a mean “Here Comes the Sun”. Other interest and talents include helping others and spending time with friends and family. .

Tony, a sophomore and guitar champion, plays rhythm, lead guitar, and sings. Tony won 1st place at Galax Fiddlers, Fries Fiddlers 2012. He was awarded the Jesse Level Trophy for Outstanding Guitarist. In May of 2013, Tony was awarded a scholarship from the Houstonfest Committee. In June 2013, Tony was awarded a scholarship from the Wayne C Henderson Foundation. Tony’s other interest and talents are working with adults/kids with disability. He volunteers each year at a camp for people with special needs and participates with the special olympics as his schedule allows. Tony hopes to play guitar as a profession and give guitar lessons.

As a group, Pike City has won 1st place at the Fries Fiddlers Convention, 4th place at the Galax Fiddlers Convention. In October of 2012, they opened for “The Travelers” at the Blue Ridge Film Festival in the Historic Buchanan Theatre. In February, Pike City opened for Ralph Stanley 2 at the Historic Rex Theatre in Galax VA. In March, the band won a competition for a 30 hr recording contract from “The Voices of the New River”. At this time, they have completed the recording and are waiting for it to be mixed and finalized. This will be their first gospel cd titled “I’m Ready”. In July, Pike City was interviewed and performed live on 98.1 WBRF out of Galax VA. In December Pike City played at Heartwood for their youth series.

Pike City has many future performances at several “Crooked Road” venues for spring/summer 2014.