If you are one of the many folks hoping to visit the Mountaineer Opry House in Milton, WV before it closes next month, you have a good chance this Saturday.
Valley Health, who has purchased the building which necessitates the Opry’s closure, is sponsoring a concert on May 19 featuring Williamson Branch. The hospital and clinic management company wants to thank the community for supporting the Opry over the past four decades by paying the costs so that it can be free to the public. And it will serve as the album release event for the band, whose new project is titled, appropriately enough, Free.
The Branch is a traditional family bluegrass band, headed by Kevin and Debbie Williamson with their three daughters. Kevin is on guitar and Debbie on mandolin, with eldest daughter Melody on fiddle. Younger sister Kadence plays bass, and the littlest, Caroline, sings and saws a bit of fiddle. Their family harmony is quite strong, and Melody has become one of the most-watched young vocalists in bluegrass and bluegrass Gospel.
They will have copies of Free on CD for sale, ahead of its official release on Pinecastle Records July 6.
After Saturday’s concert at the Mountaineer Opry, there will only be two shows remaining: Hammertowne on May 26, and a big, final reunion show on June 2.
More details can be found online.
