Join us for our fourth annual “Kick-off party and Band Competition.” Last year was a huge success and a great way to lead us into the Festival on Saturday. This year promises to be even better! The event will be held at the Hardee’s at 2780 Keith Street NW in Cleveland. We will have a live US101 remote on-site, as well as some of the area’s finest ‘amateur’ bluegrass bands dueling it out to win a chance to open our 2010 Festival at Tri-State Exhibition Center the next day. Again in 2010, the evening will end with an all-star set by members of two of the areas hottest bands, Just Us and Hiwassee Ridge. And of course, there will be plenty of delicious food available at Hardee’s during the event. Y’all come!

	PETER ROWAN & TONY RICE QUARTET Initially inspired by the possibilities and flexibility inherent in classic bluegrass, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice have helped reinvent American roots music over the course of their respective solo careers. When they joined forces these two established masters began a bold new chapter in their continuing artistic journey. Rowan’s aching vocals and poignant, poetic songs were elevated by Rice’s elegantly fleet flat-picking, resulting a group that bore distinct traces of each man’s prior accomplishments, yet achieved a synthesis all its own.
	DAILEY & VINCENT Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent are veterans of bluegrass music, having some twenty years of experience between the two of them from long tenures with bluegrass and country legends Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs. In 2008 Daily & Vincent won “Entertainer of the Year”, “Vocal Group of the Year, and “Album of the Year” at the International Bluegrass Music Awards.
	DISMEMBERED TENNESSEANS In 1945 a group of McCallie students in Chattanooga, *Tennessee formed a bluegrass band by the name of The Dismembered Tennesseans. The group has been playing traditional bluegrass ever since. Easily one of the most popular bands in hometown Chattanooga, they have made their mark singing bluegrass music for people who don't particularly like country music.
	DEHLIA LOW Emerging out of Ashville, North Carolina’s roots renaissance, Dehlia Low echoes the sounds of early country with a strong bluegrass flavor, crafting a fresh originality that feels like home. Since August of 2007, the group has quickly developed a devoted fan base with the help of their self-titled EP, receiving national and international reviews and radio play. In 2009, Dehlia Low traveled across the U.S. on the national festival circuit in support of the their first full-length release “Tellico” that showcases the group’s expectional songwriting talents as well as outstanding vocal and instrumental performances.
	FRIDAY NIGHT'S BAND COMPETITION WINNER!