Lonesome River Band reunion at Blue Highway Fest ’25 – photo © Joshua T Moore
Friday was an extra special day in Big Stone Gap, VA for Sammy Shelor and Lonesome River Band fans. The award winning banjoist and longtime band leader celebrated his birthday with a reunion of former LRB bandmates Dan Tyminski, Don Rigsby, and Kenny Smith at Blue Highway Fest.
In the southwestern Virginia town’s Bullitt Park, a large crowd sat on the football field to enjoy the third day of the five-day music festival. Surrounded by picturesque mountains, Blue Highway Fest offered top notch entertainment on a large stage with a lovely backdrop, professional lighting, excellent audio, and two large video screens. Friday’s show began with Backline, the 2024 Blue Highway Fest Rising Stars winner. They were followed by Kenny & Amanda Smith, the Lonesome River Band, Blue Highway (the festival hosts), and the Cleverlys. Then it was time for Sammy’s birthday bash.
The celebration began with Annabelle Smith, Kenny & Amanda’s ten-year-old daughter, singing happy birthday to Shelor. Then the reunion concert took fans back into a more than thirty year musical journey.
Shelor shared, “I joined the Lonesome River Band in 1990. Well, the first time in 33 years that he [Dan] and I have played this stuff together. The first time in 24 years since Don and Kenny and I have played together. The Lonesome River Band is celebrating 43 years of music. Thank you for the birthday wishes, everybody.”
The band featured the birthday boy on banjo, Tyminski and Smith on guitars and Rigsby on mandolin. The quartet was joined by Mike Hartgrove on fiddle and Kameron Keller on bass. The ensemble then launched into LRB classics like Long Gone, Carolyn, the Teenage Queen, and Money in the Bank. During the latter, Tyminski swapped instruments with Rigsby to perform his signature mandolin kickoff.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of these in my hands,” the Man of Constant Sorrow teased.
During this epic collaboration of outstanding musical artists, Sammy took time to reflect on his inaugural year with the Lonesome River Band.
“When I first joined the band in 1990, we had a 1979 Ford Econline van. It had two bench seats in it. I said, ‘Boys, let’s build us a bunk.’
First trip I went out with the Lonesome River Band, we left Ferrum, VA and drove to Grand Junction, CO. Then we went to Washington state, then up to Vancouver, back down the west coast doing a bunch of jobs, and then ended up in Arizona. We drove across to Mississippi then Florida and then home. That was an average bluegrass trip.
The van would foul out spark plugs every 500-600 miles and start skipping. In those old vans, they had a doghouse in them with the engine right beside the driver. We bought 10 sets of plugs before we left the house and had a wrench sitting beside us. When it’d start skipping, we’d just pull over, pull the doghouse back, change the plugs, put it back in, and never get out of the van. We did this every 500 or 600 miles on this whole trip. I think we had to stop and buy 10 more sets to get us home.
All of us would take turns sleeping in this little bunk in the back that I had built, and we would take turns changing spark plugs. That was our job. So that was life on the road in 1990.”
Once the magic ended. The audience demanded more with an exuberant standing ovation. The ensemble returned to the stage to perform their most requested song.
“This put Lonesome River Band on the map,” Sammy stated as the band encored with their rousing version of Sitting on Top of the World.
The day of first rate music concluded with a high energy performance by the Dan Tyminski Band.
Blue Highway Fest is to be commended for running such a well orchestrated festival. With numerous hardworking, friendly, and helpful volunteers, plenty of food vendors, clean restroom facilities, and a large tent area for festival merchandise, the event ran like a well-oiled machine. The mountain weather was beautiful with typical fall-like temperatures: a warm afternoon and cool, slightly chilly evening.
A job well done and happy birthday to Sammy Shelor!
