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Western Carolina Productions, Inc. has been a producer of successful
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WNC AGRICULTURAL CENTER FAIRGROUNDS
Fletcher (Asheville), North Carolina
2008
Friday July 11 4PM-12PM
Saturday July 12 11AM-12PM
Sunday July 13 11AM-7PM

2007 Ribfest Winners!

BIG BONED BARBECUE: BEST RIBS

Pat and the entire Big Boned crew turned out
to accept their award

TEXAS RIB RANGERS: BEST SAUCE

Bill and Barbara accepting their trophy
from Western Carolina Productions, Inc.
President, John Patterson

2008 ENTERTAINMENT
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Friday July 11 Opening acts:
Electric Blues
Bobby G
Blues /
Southern Rock
Benny Wilson Band
Blues / Jazz
Fatback and the Groove Band
FATBACK and
THE GROOVE BAND
Fatback will sizzle at this year’s Carolina Mountain Ribfest, but it will be on the Main Stage and not in the BBQ pits. “Chef Fatback” of Columbia, South Carolina is a veteran blues entertainer as well as a cookbook author and host of the TV cooking show “Cooking Blues.” He is a charismatic entertainer and lends wailing guitar licks to an eclectic mix of blues standards mixed with blues takes on R&B and rock chestnuts. “I want my band to play any song, and make it our own. I want to play music other blues bands don’t play and bring something fresh to our audience.” Anchoring his “Groove Band” are veteran sax virtuoso Willie Driffen of Charleston, SC and Fatback’s young protégé Zee Slaughter. “He’s been playing with my band since he was 12 and he may turn out to be the baddest guitar player in the country,” says Fatback. You won’t be able to sit still when the hard-driving bass and the high-fling horn line begin and the engaging, entertaining and energetic Fatback and the Groove Band take the stage.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


BENNY WILSON

Born in Northern Georgia, Benny moved to East Tennessee at the age of three. He has been involved in the local and national music scene for the last three decades and has performed both locally and nationally with top acts.One word that describes Benny is "Entertainer". His love of music and devotion to the art is seen in every show. Benny has broken into the top 40 of country music twice, First with the single "Acres of Diamonds" and again with "Fools Moon". Benny brings a level of showmanship that makes him a crowd favorite time and again

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


Bobby G Band
One of the best kept secrets in the funk and metal Blues world, Bobby G is most often compared to other world class guitarists like Joe Satriani or Carlos Santana -- but his revolutionary electric style is definitely his own. Sizzling blues man, Bobby G, keeps the surprises going in a career that spans 30-odd years. Audiences are mesmerized by his hurricane force show... a house rockin' combination of his own tunes with the blues classics of Elmore James, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and B.B. King

ARTIST'S WEBSITE

Saturday July 12 Their own brand of Music
Goose Creek Symphony
Bluegrass
Wild Blue Yonder
Blues / Country
The Leigh Glass Band
Country
Tim Hall & Buffalo Country
Americana
Gigi Dover & The Big Love
Rock / Americana
The Carburetors

GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY

Goose Creek Symphony found its roots in the Phoenix, AZ, area originally as a countrified side project for Richie Hart and the Heart Beats. Vocalist and guitarist Charles Gearheart (aka Richie Hart) spent his childhood "up Goose Creek Hollow" in Floyd County, KY, and when he put together his good-time country-rock group, he drew upon his home's rich musical heritage as well as its name. In 1970, Gearheart and a group of local studio musicians assembled a handful of songs and presented them to Capitol Records. Capitol signed his project, forcing Gearheart to assemble a touring group. Banjo player and fiddler Fred Wise was brought in to compliment existing guitarists Paul Spradlin (listed as "Paul Howard" on the album), Bob Henke ("Williard"), Mike McFadden (following the breakup of his psychedelic group Superfine Dandelion), as well as a rotating cast of bassists and drummers.

With a sound very similar to what the Band was doing at the same time, Goose Creek Symphony were rock & rollers who played a very faithful brand of country music, all the while layering rhythms and harmonies along the same lines as Buffalo Springfield and the Grateful Dead. They released albums through the mid-'70s, with that streak ending in a long hiatus from 1976 to 1990, when the group decided to re-form and record again.

Their marriage of earthy instrumentation and easygoing vibes have been able to give the group a longevity. Into their third decade, Goose Creek Symphony is drawing strong groups of fans to their summer festival appearances, similar to what the Dead and Jimmy Buffett have known.

They are currently on tour supporting the release of, "The Same Thing Again", an album recorded in the 1970's but never released until this summer.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


WILD BLUE YONDER

Repeated airplay and live appearances for a local band on WIVK radio (107.7 fm in Knoxville, TN) is as rare in East Tennessee as a possum making it across the road. One of the top five country radio stations in America, WIVK regularly wins "Radio Station of the Year" industry awards and tightly guards their format from unsigned artists. Wild Blue Yonder, however, was WIVK's most requested artist for two weeks in a row with their novelty hit, "The Possum Crawls Tonight," even beating out Kenny Chesney. That achievement gained them notoriety across the Southeast and a tote bag full of possum stories from admiring fans.

One of Wild Blue Yonder's more serious original songs, "It's Only Love," is featured in the romance/suspense novel "September on Echo Creek" by D.L. Havlin. The "New York City meets Appalachia" story line uses the song to orchestrate its turning point, and a disc of Wild Blue Yonder tunes is included in the book jacket.

In the performance department, Wild Blue Yonder is a regular at Asheville's prestigious Grove Park Inn and has entertained for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Merrill Lynch Corporation, Dollywood Theme Park, the Tennessee Theater, the Elk River Club and WBIR television in Knoxville, among many other venues.

The year 2007 saw the band turn to a new focus on songwriting. WBY founders and writers Melissa Wade & Philip Coward now incorporate an increasing number of original songs in each show, finding audiences open and eager to hear fresh, well-crafted tunes that speak to them personally. The songwriting pair won ASCAP awards in 2005, 2006 and 2007 for performance of their original material. Musical influences include Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Nanci Griffith.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


THE LEIGH GLASS BAND

The Leigh Glass Band is an Asheville based group that infuses blues, rock, country, jazz and soul into their sound.....

"Distinctive and powerful vocals deliver haunting, provocative lyrics amidst a landscape of soul-stirring, ass-shaking grooves."-Michael Farr........

"Fronted by bluesy songstress Glass...reminiscent of serious alt. country artists like Gillian Welch and The Jayhawks with a lot of jazz thrown in."-Bold Life Magazine .......

"She's got the raspy voice of an early Cher, and a Nancy Sinatra attitude to boot."-Take 5.......

ARTIST'S WEBSITEe


THE CARBURETORS

If you think that all alt-country, rock-a-billy bands are the same, or if you think that music died when Nashville started promoting artists who couldn't write or play but looked good in the hat: then The Carburetors might be the band you've been looking for. Songs about cheatin', drinkin', the hard lessons of life, they play them all with their own style of Chicken Fried Country-Rock Grass." - Darren Stevens, President, Chicken Fried Music

For being such a blue-collar symbol, “carburetor” is an awfully complicated word to spell. Now, the band interestingly enough, is sort of the same. Its members would have you believe it’s all PBR and alt-country, but, The Carburetors make noise with skill, humor and, I dare say, a little class. These guys play American driving-down-the-road music, good like bluegrass, poorly behaved like rockabilly.
--, Style Weekly

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


GIGI DOVER and
THE BIG LOVE

Gigi is a soulful, southern songstress, a brilliant songwriter and a breath of fresh air when she takes the stage to deliver the goods. Gigi Dover is the real deal. Her roots are evident in every facet of her music. She offers up a healthy dose of southern mystique that can only occur naturally. Thru imagery and melody, Dover weaves sonic warmth, mystery, charm and even a bit of humor into her music, then delivers it with the passion, conviction and presence of a veteran rock chic. Gigi's voice is at once sultry and steamy as a hot august night, as smooth and richly layered and textured as fine chocolate, or wine whichever you prefer. It's as clear and powerful as a boisterous choir of southern angels and in a blink, can turn as haunting and resonating as Edgar Allan Poe verse. Comparisons might bring to mind Ann Wilson, Grace Slick and Etta James, to perhaps Mississippi soul-queen, Cassandra Wilson. Her songwriting influences cover a wide range as well from Lucinda Williams to Marvin Gaye, from John Hiatt to Annie Lennox. The songs are for the most part, personal - like snapshots - sometimes the lenses is in full focus, other times it reads a bit more abstract. Still, if you ask any of her fans, they will likely tell you that Gigi stands alone, without comparison. She never lets the listener down, and never fails to deliver.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE 


TIM HALL & BUFFALO COUNTRY

"A Fun Show" is what you can expect from Tim Hall & Buffalo Country. Buffalo Country presents an energetic performance that is sure to have you up and dancing and singing along in no time. Performing old & new country, southern rock and a few classic rock songs from the 50's & 60's, the group features the strong lead vocals of Tim Hall and harmonies by Terry Hass and Steve Triplett. The band's original songs are currently receiving national and international radio airplay. Their cover tunes feature timeless classics by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard & Conway Twitty and modern hits by Montgomery Gentry, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley. They also perform a few upbeat southern rock songs by Pure Prairie League and give rousing renditions of several classic songs by Elvis Presley, including the crowd favorite "Suspicious Minds".

ARTIST'S WEBSITE 


Sunday July 13 Stankgrass
Brushfire Stankgrass
Oldies Rock
Cruize Control
Blues
Blonde Blues
Blues with a Celtic twist
Pipapelli

BRUSHFIRE STANKGRASS

Featuring eclectic live performances showcasing heady bluegrass, jazz, and rock star chops mixed with Appalachian influence, innovative songwriting, and a wide variety of MOOG Analog effects, Brushfire Stankgrass fuses old mountain music with new for a remarkably original sound. This "Stankgrass" sound has landed the group two sessions in western North Carolina's famed WNCW's Studio B over the past year and regular airplay. Their live concerts, recorded in stunning multi-track clarity, are downloaded from archive.org at a rate of over two hundred downloads per week. The remarkable chemistry and live experimentation in the music of Brushfire Stankgrass begins with its founding members, Ben & Will Saylor. The brothers began playing music in the Suzuki method at the age of three and picked up the banjo and guitar at 10 & 12, respectively. They still maintain their bluegrass chops today, but have added some Moog analog effects and "trance-mountain dub" rhythms to create a style which has moved beyond the traditional into truly uncharted territorythey call it Stankgrass.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


CRUIZE CONTROL

Not your average band...take a listen and see if you don’t agree that Cruize Control is among the hottest new acts in the Southeast. With a blend of your favorite Beach, Dance, Boogie and Blues music, you’ll find Cruize Control brings a live sound sure to make you put on the dancing shoes. With a versatile song list and an expert blend of music genres played by a group of professionals with over 100 years of collective music experiencethey are sure to make you set it on Cruize Control.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


BLONDE BLUES

Cindy Adams, a gospel&blues singer, with a deep passionate voice, is among the few female singers who can bring out the emotional tone of the blues. Michael Creech, a 25yr veteran of the guitar, his expressive style of blues, jazz & rock, through his Fender Telecaster or Chrome slide dobro, brings new life to even the most ordinary song

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


PIPAPELLI

and now for something completely different...

PIPAPELLI plays Rockin' Blues with a Celtic-Knotted Twist! Many of the tunes are driven by the Great Highland Bagpipes run thru a wah peddle, creating the Original "Western Carolina Wah-Pyps". From Robert Johnson to the Blues Brothers to Led Zeppelin with many eclectic journeys in-between. Other instruments utilized are Native American Love Flutes, Electric & Acoustic Guitars, 4 & 5 String Bass and double kick Drums & Percussion. Pipapelli has performed at Celtic Festivals, Bike Weeks, Blues Festivals, Irish Pubs and Clubs...and now the awesome CAROLINA RIBFEST!!

A week in Memphis, TN, has primed the group for this festival for sure. Piper RJ Grady had the honor of performing at Graceland piping at Elvis' gravesite and was featured on ALL ELVIS SERIUS RADIO, as well as jamming on World-Famous Beale Street with Pipes in hand! Their newest CD release "ISHYBOP" is getting world-wide radio play including Elgin Radio in Scotland, as well as on our "local" stations, including "105.9 fm The Mountain" out of Asheville, and "WSQL am, the White Squirrel Radio" in Brevard, NC.

Pipapelli's Prime Purpose is to make the crowds happy and HAVE FUN!! So, get ready to get Tie-Dyed and Tartan'd on Sunday, you'll never forget it!

ARTIST'S WEBSITE


TOMATO COMEDY CHALLENGE

Visit the Tomato Insult Game for hilarious insults and non-stop comedy. Throw tomatoes at a real live target, while the Tomato Man returns fire with personalized insults and jokes. Great entertainment for the whole family! Going on all Ribfest hours

Giant CARNIVAL

With Spectacular adult and children's rides and games

All Ribfest hours.



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Page Last Modified Monday, June 30, 2008