After a two-year wait, Highland Arts Unlimited (HAU) is excited to host The Seldom Scene, Saturday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m., in the Church-McKee Arts Center on the campus of West Virginia University Potomac State College.
This final show of the season is the first performance for 2022, which marks the 50th year for HAU. The celebration will continue as the new season gets underway in August.
For more than 50 years, The Seldom Scene has been a progressive bluegrass movement as their shows include bluegrass versions of country, rock, and pop favorites. The Seldom Scene features not only talented musicians, a signature sound and solid repertoire but also a fun atmosphere.
Since they began playing together at weekly jam sessions in Ben Eldridge’s Bethesda, Md. basement, The Seldom Scene has become one of the single greatest contributors to the progression of bluegrass, while setting a new standard and attracting new audiences to the genre.
Their legendary weekly DC-area residencies were so popular that it soon forced them to play more than once a week but they continued to maintain their image as being seldom seen. A name given to them as they all had careers and in the beginning felt they would seldom be seen playing on stage. Several of their early album covers were photographed with the stage lights on only their feet, or with their backs to the camera. The Seldom Scene have performed at the White House many times and the group continues to tour year-round.
The Seldom Scene are Lou Reid (mandolin/vocals), Dudley Connell (guitar/vocals), Ronnie Simpkins (bass/vocals) Fred Travers (dobro/vocals) and Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle). The last founding member, Ben Eldridge, retired in July 2016.
Tickets are $35 at the door or can be purchased in advance for $30 at the Candlewyck Inn, Ace Hardware, and Reed's Drug Store (Keyser, W.Va.); Allegany Arts Council, (Cumberland, Md.); Anderson's Corner (Romney, W.Va.) or online www.eventbrite.com
Admission for the upcoming concert is free to Highland Arts Unlimited members and Potomac State College students. Area students under 18 are admitted free and young children are admitted free with a paying adult. For tickets and information, please call 304-788-3066 or 304-788-9465.
Highland Arts is an all-volunteer organization that depends on individual memberships and, if approved, financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and financial support from the Mineral County Board of Education, with generous in-kind support from WVU Potomac State.