Balsam Range Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts February 2
That first mean solar day — Aug. x, 2012 — the back of my pickup remained jam-packed with my belongings as I ventured into the Colonial Theater in County for the band's "Papertown" anthology release party. I didn't fifty-fifty have an flat still: I slept under my desk in the newsroom that first week of piece of work. But, what I did have was a deep thirst for great stories and unforgettable people.
And I immediately felt welcomed by Balsam Range, which is something I think any (and all) of us can attest to when asked about the sincere character and pure nature of the quintet, onstage and off.
There'southward something so timeless and familiar — however and then innovative and atypical — about Balsam Range. The sound and tone within their music harkens to the physical and spiritual middle of the ancient Smashing Smoky and Blueish Ridge mount ranges, pushing ever upward, ultimately falling on jovial ears across the land and around the earth.
The acclaimed act is currently celebrating x years together, and we here at The Smoky Mountain News would like to share excerpts and photographs from the numerous articles, features and embrace stories we've published nearly the band over the last v years.
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I've spent countless hours and days following this legendary bluegrass grouping around Southern Appalachia. And in that time, I've witnessed one of the great stories in the history of bluegrass music, ane filled with every bit many awards won equally humble acknowledgments by Balsam Range to the fine folks of Western Due north Carolina that have had the band's back since mean solar day 1.
Congratulations on 10 years, fellas. Tip of the cap to the next x.
— Garret M. Woodward, arts and entertainment editor
And the award goes to…
In the offset ten years together, Balsam Range has gone from an up-and-coming ring to perennial favorites at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards, the highest honors in the genre. Balsam Range has won the post-obit IBMA accolades:
• 2017: Anthology of the Year ("Mountain Voodoo")
• 2015: Vocal Group of the Yr, Song of the Year ("Moon Over Memphis"), Bass Player of the Year (Tim Surrett)
• 2014: Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Grouping of the Year, Male person Vocaliser of the Twelvemonth (Buddy Melton), Mentor of the Yr (Tim Surrett)
• 2013: Album of the Year ("Papertown")
• 2011: Song of the Year ("Trains I Missed")
An evening with Balsam Range: Pulling the strings of bluegrass, alliance and backwoods tradition
Aug. fifteen, 2012
The strings of tradition and progress echoed from the dorsum alley.
Upon further inspection (and a lonely door cracked open), the harmonic tone was radiating from the mandolin of Darren Nicholson.
Readying himself for a performance that evening at the Colonial Theater in downtown Canton, Nicholson is office of renowned bluegrass ensemble Balsam Range.
Every bit tall as a grizzly bear, with a persona that is the epitome of southern hospitality, he walked beyond the stage and extended a handshake the size of baseball glove.
"Welcome," he smiled.
On the heels of its latest release, "Papertown," Balsam Range held court at the historic theater last Fri night, Aug. 10. The sold-out album-release party attracted around 250 patrons. The concert was a celebration of non merely a new record, but as well a homecoming and "cheers" to all in Haywood Canton — all of those who are a role of "Balsam Nation"— for their continued back up of a band that is realizing more and more each day that the heaven'south the limit with its potential.
"I grew up in the mountains and music was part of our heritage. My dad played and about everybody in my family played. Nosotros'd play every evening, especially on Friday nights when other musicians would come by and sit on the porch," Nicholson said. "As long as people have been living here, music has been hither. Music and dance are a large part of mount culture. It'southward but a way of life. Sitting down with your family unit afterward dinner and playing. It's been like that effectually here for hundreds of years."
Recorded at Crossroads Studios in Arden this spring, the album contains original cuts amid a plethora of material from songwriter Milan Miller (a Waynesville native at present residing in Nashville) and The Allman Brothers Band ("One Way Out"), among others.
"It's got a good blend of stuff and represents united states well with a diversity of sounds," said fiddler Buddy Melton. "We mulled over a bunch of songs, picking around 30 or so to choose from, and so narrowed it down to 13 for the anthology. Information technology'southward the same process for us with each album. The title cutting 'Papertown' talks virtually Canton, where we're from and the paper mill. It's a very positive outlook on this great community we live in."
"To me, the word 'Papertown' is a positive thing. Maybe if I lived in Eastern Tennessee it might not be seen that way," guitarist Caleb Smith chuckled. "Both my grandfathers worked in the factory. I had uncles and cousins work there and I have reaped the benefits of that past living here. At that place would be no town without it."
Entering their 5th twelvemonth together, the group came to fruition in a roundabout way of old friends and new, sitting down and pickin' for the sake of pickin'.
"Originally, we merely got together to jam. A couple of the guys had put out solo records and some of united states played on those records," said bassist/dobroist Tim Surrett. "We had so much fun and concluded up picking together. Past the 2d time or so we picked, we got asked to play a show and then nosotros just had to await for a name."
Sitting down for a barbecue dinner, the musicians line the tables, ever sharing stories, e'er taking a moment to say hello to whatever relative, friend or fan stops by to wish them luck or tell them "how much they enjoy 'Papertown.'" A handful of children scatter around the room. Family is the name of the game for Balsam Range and it should exist, taking into account the tradition and values of bluegrass music.
"I grew up in Canton. This is where I was raised and this is where my family is and the pull of that is very strong," Surrett said. "I lived in Tennessee for a number of years, but hither is my home and coming back here musically is the best thing I've ever been involved in. I came back to this community and I plant myself seeing the same people I saw every bit a kid. The music scene was then vibrant. This has turned into a real big thing for us."
With the last moments before going onstage slipping away, Balsam Range lines up and shakes out the last nervous thoughts they may take. Laughter and smiles fill the air. Even before they face the audience to share their musical stories, they're telling alpine tales and matter-of-fact statements that ricochet endlessly betwixt the group. It's a brotherhood, forged past the well-earned sweat and honor of being a bluegrass musician.
"You've got to give back to the community. You can't lose sight of that," Nicholson said. "When you're not in a mainstream genre of music, yous go very accessible and close to other bluegrass musicians. With more people at a bluegrass show, it's just a bigger porch."
Stepping upward to the microphone, Surrett saluted the crowd among raucous cheers and adulation. Outside, the tall steam stacks of the paper mill indicate that in that location'south a lot more work left to do and tomorrow is a new solar day.
"We grew up here and nosotros played ball hither," he said. "We live here and nosotros think it smells just fine here."
All friends were strangers at in one case: Balsam Range teams up with Zac Brown Ring co-founder
Jan. xvi, 2013
John Driskell Hopkins was driving in his truck when it struck him.
Information technology was a song. Radiating from his satellite radio, information technology sounded like a fond retentiveness he one time knew. The voices and melody were familiar, but he hadn't ever heard it before, and had no idea who wrote it. He looked at the radio. A ring name appeared in the digital display: Balsam Range.
"It was the song 'Bluish Mountain'," he said. "It was really fabled and beautiful. I noticed right away something was different about them."
Hopkins was immediately impressed with the intricate harmonies and musicianship broadcast from the renowned Haywood County bluegrass ensemble.
"They don't have a cookie-cutter sound, not similar typical audio in near bluegrass setups," he said. "They have a lot of musical influences from all over. It was dissimilar, and I was really attracted to that."
No stranger to the music industry himself, Hopkins is a founding member and bassist for the Zac Brown Band, a renowned multi-platinum country group who has garnered numerous awards and sold-out arenas around the world. In his reanimation between tours, Hopkins is a jack-of-all-trades musician, ane who will choice up and learn any musical instrument he comes across.
Also his specialized bass playing, he too is an achieved singer-songwriter. When Hopkins recently found himself with several melodies of his own sitting on the shelf, he decided information technology was time to go into the recording studio and he knew exactly what group he wanted to dorsum him.
He chosen the fiddler with Balsam Range, Buddy Melton.
"I asked them if they wanted to listen to some songs and put together a record. So, I came up here to Canton, played some gigs with them, then scheduled some recording time," Hopkins said.
Most of the album, "Daylight," was recorded last Feb at Crossroads Studio in Arden, where Balsam Range records regularly. Vocals were captured at The Crow'south Adjacent in Atlanta (Hopkins home studio), while concluding mixing was done at Southern Basis Studios in Nashville — a facility endemic by Zac Chocolate-brown. The concluding production, coming to fruition this by September, also included appearances by Zac Brown, Levi Lowrey, Joey + Rory, Jerry Douglas and Tony Trischka.
Not merely was it high profile, Balsam Range grew musically from the experience as well.
"Anybody in this band had their head opened upward about dissimilar ways of recording things," said Balsam Range mandolinist Darren Nicholson. "John does a lot of big production recording and had a lot of crazy ideas that worked wonderfully, ideas that nosotros would have probably never idea to effort or had the nerve to."
The musical cross-pollination between Balsam Range and Hopkins was embraced by the audiences of a contempo sold-out performance at the Colonial Theatre in Canton this month.
Backstage at the theatre, the grouping ran through a couple of selections, fine-tuning an already stellar live act. In that location are hearty laughs around the room. Conversation is lively. The crowd in the edifice is jubilant. Loud cheers echo downward the hallway. Information technology'due south show time.
"We don't ever desire to finish collaborating or being around John. He's like a blood brother or a sixth homo after spending so much time recording, touring and existence in his home," Nicholson said. "This friendship and these windows to collaborate volition probably get on for years to come."
All for one, one for all: Behind the curtain of Balsam Range
June 25, 2014
Marc Pruett has won a Grammy and played the Chiliad Ole Opry phase, just his biggest concern on this day is sinkholes.
"Where is information technology? Canton?," he asked a coworker.
Manager of erosion control for Haywood County, Pruett sits at his desk, which is covered in paper, maps and books. Subsequently a heavy midday rain, two sinkholes have emerged in downtown Canton. Pruett puts a plan into motion, workers head for the door.
"Sinkholes, mud, sediment and landslides," he lists off his specialties. "This position keeps me grounded, no pun intended. I bask what I practice for Haywood County. I savour environmental protection, and I think I'g on the frontlines of protecting the resources our community offers."
This is a far cry from Pruett's other occupation — banjoist for nationally acclaimed bluegrass grouping Balsam Range. On the heels of winning the International Bluegrass Music Association accolade for "Album of the Twelvemonth" for their tape "Papertown" concluding twelvemonth (the biggest honor in the industry), the quintet just released the follow-upward, "V."
"When you're doing what I take to do at the level I have to do information technology, you accept to exist on betoken," Pruett said. "If I get to the stage, dressed well, practice my performance well, banjo in tune, good songs, and if all the pieces fit together correctly, that's where I get the satisfaction. It'southward not just fun for me, merely it must be fun for the crowd, where we leave them with a warm, Appalachian grinning."
Aslope Pruett in Balsam Range are Buddy Melton (dabble/vocals), Darren Nicholson (mandolin/vocals), Tim Surrett (bass/dobro/vocals) and Caleb Smith (guitar/vocals). Since their inception in 2007, the grouping has rapidly risen into the stratosphere of 21st century bluegrass. Amid their numerous number-i singles, accolades and M Ole Opry appearances, they likewise won the 2011 IBMA "Song of the Yr" award for "Trains I Missed."
And though Balsam Range continues to flourish and push further out into the world, the boys always have one foot firmly planted in Western North Carolina, firmly in the ancient mountains of their forefathers, where zippo replaces hard piece of work and nobody is as well good for their hometown. It's those traits deeply instilled in the band existence radiated from the stage and making a connection with people on the other side of the microphone.
"Music is a very powerful thing, it speaks to people, it's the universal language, and there'south a responsibility with that when y'all get to the level we're at," Melton said. "People connect to your music and they tell you lot their life story, and it brings awareness to what we're doing. We're impacting people'south lives and they're impacting ours — that'southward a pretty special thing."
Heading into the Crossroads Studios in Arden this past winter, Balsam Range aimed to top the quality and precision of "Papertown." While some groups would enter the recording studio apprehensive almost how to follow up such a successful album, Balsam Range looked at it as merely some other twenty-four hours on the chore in their musical careers, where the goal is to meliorate yourselves as musicians and not worry virtually critics, label expectations and their ain voices in their heads.
"[With winning 'Album of the Year'] nothing really changed, though we did sit down with this record a trivial longer than in the past," Surrett said. "We've always done just the best we tin can and do the best songs possible. We've had some high-profile reviews on it already, and and then far it has been very positive. Now we just take to sit back and see what happens."
The album, "Five," is the grouping's fifth record in near eight years together. Five albums completed, v members in the band or five strings on a banjo, however yous translate information technology, the tape proper noun seems to fit wherever its placed. Whatsoever the case, the 13-song album (with original selections and others from songwriters like Milan Miller, Mark Bumgarner and Marking Winchester) is filled with bluegrass, gospel and folk melodies. There'due south befouled-called-for pickin' and four-office vocal harmonies (as well as an a cappella number), poignant difficult-working lyrics and tear-jerking ballads. Information technology's the sights and sounds of Southern Appalachia, its history and its people — it'south the epitome of Balsam Range.
"Each one of these guys is a height-tier singer and musician. They take diverse musical tastes and backgrounds and aren't afraid to step out of the box a bit," said Scott Barnett, recording engineer at Crossroads. "I believe it's their power to tastefully and intuitively blend gospel, jazz, country and other genres with traditional bluegrass that makes them such a powerful group."
Hometown heroes: Balsam Range wins big in Raleigh
Oct. 8, 2014
Caleb Smith had no idea.
"I didn't hear them announce it," he chuckled. "I was backstage talking to Del McCoury about a guitar and he says to me, 'Son, I call up they but called your name.'"
"They" as in the International Bluegrass Music Association, and what was called turned out to exist Balsam Range winning "Entertainer of the Twelvemonth" at the annual award show Oct. two in Raleigh. For Smith, the guitarist in the Haywood County group, taking domicile the biggest accolade in the bluegrass industry was both shocking and very humbling.
"I simply couldn't believe it," he said at the band'southward celebratory after-political party. "It's humbling to even be nominated for this laurels by your peers and your heroes, and to win it and take it home, well, information technology was a milestone moment nosotros'll never forget — we hitting the top of the mount."
Alongside Smith, Buddy Melton (dabble), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Tim Surrett (bass/dobro) and Marc Pruett (banjo) took the chiliad stage at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium to accept the award. Information technology was the band'southward tertiary win in an evening that also garnered them "Song Group of the Twelvemonth" and "Male Vocalist of the Year," which was bestowed upon Melton.
"My mind was just racing. There were a lot of nominees in that category who were people that are the reason I got into singing in the outset place," Melton said. "To be included with that caliber of performers is amazing, and to win information technology but put it over the summit."
Surrett also won the "Momentum Award for Mentor" the previous dark.
"I've had a lot of fun over the final few years producing other people'due south records and existence able to help bring upwards a lot of these younger players," he said. "And for Balsam Range, it means and then much to the states that folks really do like what nosotros're trying to do."
Since their inception in 2007, Balsam Range has speedily risen into the stratosphere of 21st century bluegrass. Amid their numerous number-one singles, accolades and Thou Ole Opry appearances, they also won the 2011 IBMA "Song of the Year" laurels for "Trains I Missed."
And on the heels of winning "Album of the Year" in 2013 for "Papertown," the quintet released the follow-up "5" in June. The new record and its singles have spent most of this past summertime called-for upward the bluegrass charts — a convincing sign that the grouping will most likely be nominated for "Anthology of the Year" in 2015 and perhaps for "Song of the Yr" for "Moon Over Memphis."
"Information technology's exciting. It'due south hard to believe looking back at where we started and to see it materialize in the style it has," Melton said in June. "'Papertown' was a criterion as to where we're at. We're really proud of this new album and what the future holds."
Coming into 2014, Balsam Range was nominated by the IBMAs for "Entertainer of the Year," "Vocal Group of the Year," "Instrumental Group of the Twelvemonth," "Male Vocalist of the Year," and "Momentum Award for Mentor." Information technology was a huge honor to the band to be named as contenders in so many prestigious categories. It's too a testament to the mere fact it's the same lineup of musicians pushing ahead and reaching for their dreams together.
"Information technology's astonishing to wait at our band and see that information technology's all the same the same five guys it has been since day one. It makes people believe in you and in what you're doing," Smith said this summertime. "Last yr, when we're nominated at the IBMA's for 'Anthology of the Year,' 'Entertainer of the Year' and 'Vocal of the Year,' information technology was surreal to be nominated and surrounded by your heroes. It's crazy to think how far we've come. I mean, when nosotros first played a prove together we didn't even accept a proper name."
But, as well all the accolades and critical acclaim, what matters nigh to Balsam Range is uncomplicated — family unit, friends and a smashing sense of community. For every time they've played The Grand Ole Opry or headlined a national festival, they've also played off-the-beaten-path fundraisers for the Balsam-Willet Volunteer Burn down Section or an intimate back porch set at the Fines Creek Bluegrass Jam. For every IBMA win or hit single, at that place are days (too many to count) where they notwithstanding get up on Monday morning time and head to work for the county, the state, at the tape studio, in the workshop building guitars or playing in other groups on days off to supplement income. Information technology's about hard work and pride in what y'all practice, not getting too big for your britches, e'er remembering where you came from, the people that know y'all the best and love you the most.
Simply put, Balsam Range has earned a reputation as hometown heroes and cultural ambassadors of Western N Carolina and Southern Appalachia.
"Music is a very powerful affair, it speaks to people, it's the universal language, and there's a responsibility with that when yous get to the level we're at," Melton said. "People connect to your music and they tell you their life story, and it brings awareness to what we're doing. Nosotros're impacting people's lives and they're impacting ours — that'southward a pretty special thing."
As nominees for "Entertainer of the Year," Balsam Range was seated in the front row of the enormous auditorium. Before they even had a chance to get their seats warm, they had won the first award of the nighttime — "Vocal Group of the Year." That excitement just snowballed when the award envelope was ripped open and Melton was appear as "Male person Vocalist of the Twelvemonth." During his credence voice communication, Melton was overcome with emotion, reflecting on his long road of recovery from his near-death farming blow two years ago, to now holding in his hand the biggest individual honor in bluegrass.
"You lot surroundings yourself with good people, peachy things will happen," he said afterwards. "Life is so funny, y'all but never know what's coming. Sometimes information technology's challenging, sometimes it'southward rewarding. Information technology just shows you to push button forward and go on assertive that expert things are going to happen."
Before the terminal honour for "Entertainer of the Yr" was presented, Balsam Range took the phase to play their hit vocal "Moon Over Memphis." The melody took the roof off the building, as the audience roared in adulation following its completion. The band had however to return to their front row seats when it was appear they had won "Entertainer of the Year." The auditorium shook with cheers and a standing ovation when they emerged from backstage to receive their trophy. The group waved to the crowd, only to look down with smiles from ear-to-ear at their ecstatic wives clapping from the front row.
It was a moment they'd never forget, a moment of pride that volition become downwardly every bit 1 of the finest in the long and storied musical history of Western Northward Carolina.
Tucked away in the warehouse district of downtown Raleigh, Balsam Range arrived at their afterwards-political party within the cozy Five Star Restaurant. Information technology was filled with their closest friends, family members and business organisation partners, all there to celebrate the well-earned achievements made by the group.
Standing to the side of the excitement, Surrett took a moment to collect himself. He seemed in a sort of dreamlike state, in awe of what had merely happened, where beingness told he and his band merely won the honor for "Entertainer of the Year" was something he made upward in his mind — a long held wish now turned reality.
"I haven't felt this proud since Pisgah High School won the land football championship in 1976," he chuckled. "I hateful, just to be in that room tonight with all our peers and heroes was just incredible. We're named in the same breath as someone similar Del McCoury, and that seems only crazy to united states."
Surrett's gaze scans across the afterward-party, almost every bit if to truly never forget this moment.
"We've not done anything differently since we started playing together," he said. "Nosotros simply go on doing what we're doing, and information technology just seems to become out there to more people — we keep pushing forward."
Lines in the Sand: Balsam Range looks ahead
Nov. 29, 2016
The eternal struggle of bluegrass is being able to rest evolution with tradition.
How does one adhere to the pickin' and grinnin' means of the old days, but also exist able to stretch the boundaries into new and innovative realms? That dilemma currently lies at the feet on the bluegrass globe. And all the same, as that question remains, so does the internal drive by all of the genre'due south musicians to ensure the preservation and perpetuation of this melodic strength at the foundation of this country.
For Haywood Canton's own Balsam Range, the bluegrass quintet has spent the amend part of the last decade riding this fine line between tending to their roots, simply too finding the freedom to have flight when the feeling is right. What Marc Pruett (banjo), Tim Surrett (bass/dobro), Caleb Smith (guitar), Buddy Melton (dabble) and Darren Nicholson (mandolin) take created is an entity that holds tight to its heritage, just aims to address their true potential equally an award-winning act that has establish cross-over success after years of hitting the road and getting up onstage every night.
In their latest album, "Mount Voodoo," the ensemble seemingly puts bated supposed expectations that come up with existence the International Bluegrass Music Clan "Entertainer of the Year" (2014), and instead put along a record as flexible as it is personal statement of but where the group is. They're at the forefront of the modern bluegrass motility, ane that champions its history, and besides harnesses a curiosity simply found in those ready to pioneer and non follow the well-worn paths of the past.
Smoky Mountain News: And now the band is entering their 10th year, which is wild for a bluegrass human activity to accept that much success, over that length of time, and yet all notwithstanding be the aforementioned members…
Darren Nicholson: Aye, for bluegrass, for 5 guys to nonetheless be together later on ten years, that's pretty unheard of. It's one of those things you're constantly working on, those relationships onstage and off. And yet, there's a condolement that comes with playing and singing with the same folks for that many years.
SMN: The band was a second career for anybody involved. With all the obligations and accolades, where to now?
DN: Information technology does put a certain amount of pressure. We're all from the Haywood County and nosotros desire to represent Western North Carolina the best we can. There'southward a lot more than pressure on the business and travel side of things. I retrieve we're finally more comfortable onstage, nosotros're hitting this footstep. The challenge at this point is keeping it going, to observe that identify of true comfort. When it comes to the stage, we all nevertheless have that burn and excitement in our bellies to entertain people.
Top of the Mountain: Balsam Range celebrates 10 years
Nov. 15, 2017
Sipping a loving cup of coffee at Panacea in the Frog Level District of Waynesville i contempo morning, Buddy Melton takes a moment to reverberate on the last decade.
"It's been an incredible 10 years. I don't retrieve any of us in Balsam Range would have said the beginning year we played, that all five would still be together afterward ten years — because that just doesn't happen in bands, peculiarly in bluegrass," the atomic number 82 singer/fiddler said.
"Y'all can look historically at whatever genre of music and 10 years in the business is a huge feat, much more than with the aforementioned five members," added guitarist/vocalizer Caleb Smith. "Information technology'due south a testament of dedication and reward. Balsam Range has achieved more than than I would've ever imagined possible due to dedication — dedication to presenting the greatest music we can create to the world."
For the beloved Haywood County quintet, Melton points to family unit and friends when asked about the wide-ranging successes of the band.
"We all had similar needs, wants, and desires. All of us had immature families, kids in school. And behind the scenes, the private families are just as important in a ring as the band itself," he said. "All of our families have been incredibly supportive of it. The kids have grown up together. We saw several of them born in this 10-twelvemonth period. It has just really been a family unit matter."
Seemingly winning every accolade handed out at the International Bluegrass Music Association accolade evidence over the last few years, Balsam Range has never taken for granted their talents, and also admiration from musical peers and fans akin.
"It'due south a cracking honor to be nominated year-subsequently-year. Information technology says to me that we continue to do something right," Smith said. "Nosotros strive to detect great lyrics to fix our music apart in the genre in that when someone hears our music on the air waves there is no doubt that they know information technology's Balsam Range."
"It's funny to sit there [at IBMAs], specially to walk upward on the stage," Melton reminisced. "I tin remember going to the IBMA awards before I could fifty-fifty play music, just thinking, 'Human, could you imagine being up on that stage?' It tells me anything is possible."
And though bluegrass remains at the core of Balsam Range, the band sees itself every bit more of a moving target, one where the genre lines get blurred the farther they push into the numerous realms of string music.
"We will continue to strive to create great music and reach new ears at whatsoever level possible," Smith said. "All music evolves and grows with each new generation. It keeps the tradition healthy. There needs to exist more awards geared toward the newer generation of bluegrass — newgrass, jamband, jazzgrass. I know a lot of traditional minded bluegrass fans would never attach to it, but I believe it would strengthen the genre and arrive more healthy and solid."
"Music in general is supposed to always grow. No thing what genre it is, it'due south always changing. If information technology'southward not, information technology gets sterile," Melton added. "Every year there is some new matter that comes out and excites people. And that'due south function of our responsibility [as bluegrass musicians] is to assist it grow."
Melton noted that the key to Balsam Range's by ten years of positive growth is due to the fact the group is e'er moving, always seeking out the next step in whatever information technology is they ultimately want to do, whether it be collaborations, bigger venues or but to make certain everyone in their camp is taken care of.
"Every twelvemonth brings new challenges. As it does grow, we tend to be going farther and farther away. We accept to make wise decisions in what nosotros do. I'grand a firm believer in surrounding yourself with groovy people. A lot of that is having great management and people that look out for your best interest," Melton said. "To attain goals you've got to showtime have goals. We always try to sit down downward every twelvemonth and say what practise we want to attain this year? Let's exercise something different. Permit's win over some new fans. Let's encounter some new people."
With their first decade downward, Melton and his bandmates experience like they're just getting started as the 2d decade of this bountiful endeavor kicks off.
"There's always something else out in that location. When y'all think yous've reached the peak, yous're simply half-fashion in that location," he smiled. "At that place's always something greater to do — that in itself is the motivating factor."
Desire to go?
The Balsam Range "Art of Music Festival" volition be held Dec. one-2 at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Middle.
The weekend celebration will include two days of live music, onstage collaborations and main level musician workshops. Phase acts include 2 nights of Balsam Range, Flatt Lonesome, Bryan Sutton, Darrell Scott, and many more than.
For a total schedule of events, ticket and lodging information, click on world wide web.balsamrangeartofmusicfestival.com.
Source: https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/21220-a-decade-in-balsam-range-stands-atop-wnc-music