Townsend, TN – Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center’s “Sunset Music Series”, now in its sixth year, will premier on Friday, June 17, with a performance by Blue Mother Tupelo. All the concerts begin at 7:00 pm and are presented in the Heritage Center’s covered outdoor amphitheater with a scenic view of the sunset and mountains. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are available at the concession stand.

Based out of Henderson, near Nashville, Blue Mother Tupelo (BMT) is led by the husband and wife team of Ricky Davis (acoustic & electric guitars, dobro, vocals) and Micol Davis (piano, tambourine, vocals). With the sweet and soaring vocals of Micol, the gritty vocals and greasy slide guitar of Ricky, and their passionate harmonies, the music of BMT is a genre-defying, earthy blend of Delta blues and Appalachian mountain music. BMT has performed at festivals, clubs and special events all over the Southeast and Midwest. They have also performed in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art and the famed nightclub The Bitter End.

Included in the eight concerts of this year’s “Sunset Music Series” are three bands making their Heritage Center debuts. Residents of nearby Walland, Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle are husband and wife and have previously performed together at the Heritage Center, but this year they are performing separately in two country music bands that are new to the Center, The Drunk Uncles and The Naughty Knots. Gatlinburg’s Kirk Fleta brings his bluesy folk-rock band of musicians from Knoxville.

In addition to Blue Mother Tupelo, four other bands are returning to “Sunset” by popular demand. Y’uns is a “seriously silly” jugband with a repertoire ranging from Fats Waller to Roger Miller to The Beatles and beyond. Wild Blue Yonder plays bluegrass, country, and other roots music and is the only band to perform in all six of the “Sunset Music Series”. Pistol Creek Catch of the Day is a rockabilly and western swing band who were a big hit in their “Sunset” debut last year. The series concludes again this year with a performance by three-time national guitar champion Steve Kaufman on August 12.

The “Sunset Music Series” is sponsored by BankEast. Admission to the concerts is $5.00 and may be purchased at the door. Admission is free to all Sunset Music Series concerts as well as the Fall Concert Series for members of the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center. Annual memberships to the Heritage Center may be purchased at the concerts for $15 per individual or $25 per family. For further information, call the Center at 865-448-0044.

Music Lineup: