Editor’s note: The following information is provided by Union County Community Concert Association Board Member Florence Allen.
–––
Thursday evening, concert attendees at Marysville High School welcomed bluegrass quintet Remington Ryde.
The group began the show with the very lively tune “Days of Grey and Black.” Everyone in the audience started smiling, tapping and clapping to the music.
With lots of plucking, picking and strumming, the instruments came alive with vibrant sounds. The quintet continued the program with “A Few Old Memories” to loud applause.
The group mixed the program between rousing singing and instrumentalists and quiet more serious music.
The third song was “This Little Light of Mine.” They drew the crowd in by praising the Marysville audience and encouraged everyone to sing with the entertainers the words, “I’m Going to Let It Shine.” The Marysville auditorium rocked with the audience singing and the artists entertaining with their song and instruments.
Ryan Frankhouser, song writer, lead vocalist and guitarist, introduced the other entertainers. Billy Lee Cox, whose hometown is Raymond, sang and played the banjo. Josh Daniel sang tenor and played the mandolin. Stanley Efaw also sang and played the fiddle. Ron Truman played the bass. Throughout the show they featured different artists and instruments.
They are also storytellers and entertained with jokes. They teased each other and one of their lines was “being as nervous as a cat at a dog show,’ when they first went on stage. They also became serious and sang many gospel songs, praising the power of prayer. Some favorites were “Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore” and “I Went down a Beggar and Came up a Millionaire.”
The band encouraged a lot of audience participation by asking “Who likes to party?”, “Everybody having a good time?” and “Do we have friends in the audience?”
Their queries were met by the waving of hands, clapping and loud cheering, which went on throughout the program.
Frankhouser wrote “Double Yellow Lines,” about the homeless and how life can change on a dime. They concluded their program with “Thirty Years of Farming” and asked all the veterans in the audience to come to the front of the auditorium. As the audience gave them a standing ovation, they provided a huge instrumental finale.
The whole program was very exciting and lots of fun.
The next concert will be Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Bunsold Middle School. The Little Big Band Classic will entertain with the Nashville sound – classic rock, jazz and guitar numbers. The music will be hits from the 1960s until today.
For more information, those interested may visit littlebigbandonline.com or call Ted Howard at 937-243-3133.