Lincoln Hensley, the affable banjo player and leader of the Tennessee Bluegrass Band, is set to disprove the old adage that “you can’t go home again.”
The young native of Unicoi County, TN has been granted an artist residency at the freshly renovated Capitol Hall in Erwin, TN. Erwin is the seat of Unicoi County, and the Capital is the old movie theater in town which Lincoln recalls visiting to see films in his early youth.
The historic theater is now re-opened, showing films, and hosting music and comedy concerts with a capacity of just under 300 people. Movies typically are drawn from the classic repertoire, and are shown periodically during the week.
Music concerts scheduled for next month include Carson Peters & Iron Mountain performing on May 1, and starting May 14, Hensley begins his residency with a monthly show as Lincoln Hensley & Friends.
He told The Erwin Record that he is very much looking forward to this opportunity to play for a hometown crowd.
“It’s really a full-circle feeling getting to play The Capitol Hall. When I was young, I went to the Capitol all the time to watch movies, and I have a lot of great memories there.
I’ve always wanted to have a place in town that I could have a monthly residency at, because with the success of The Tennessee Bluegrass Band growing each year, it’s been harder and harder to find time to see all my friends and neighbors here in Unicoi County.”
Lincoln plans to perform with a somewhat stripped-down version of his main performance venue, bringing along Tim Laughlin on mandolin, and the Sheffield brothers, Jason and Josiah, on guitar and bass, respectively. He says that they will feature some TBB material, and highlight some new songs they are considering adding to the full band concerts.
Erwin is located not far from the Tennessee/North Carolina line in east Tennessee. The $15 tickets to attend any of the Lincoln Hensley artist-in-residence shows are available online.
