Published: June 19, 2008 09:24 am      

David Davis and Warrior River Boys bringing bluegrass to Cedarhurst

Staff Report

MT. VERNON — Bluegrass is coming to Cedarhurst, as David Davis and the Warrior River Boys of Cullman, Ala., bring their style of traditional bluegrass music to Southern Illinois this Saturday at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon.

Gates will open for the annual outdoor summer concert at 7 p.m. at the Schweinfurth House, North 27th Street, located on the Cedarhurst campus.

According to information from Cedarhurst, David Davis and the Warrior River Boys have had good chart success on their last two albums with Rebel Records. Their self-titled release and now their “Troubled Times” album have cracked into the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Survey, with one song, “Today’s the Day I Get My Gold Watch and Chain,” reaching the top 10. The classic Hank Williams song “A House of Gold,” sung by Davis on “Troubled Times,” was recently on Bluegrass Now Magazine’s list of the top 20 most played bluegrass gospel songs, as reported by bluegrass radio. Davis comes by this music honest, information states, as his uncle Cleo Davis was the very first Bluegrass Boy hired by Bill Monroe himself when he started his band and took it to the Grand Ole Opry in 1939. This revolutionary band is described as starting a whole new genre of American music. For more about David Davis and the Warrior River Boys, visit their Web site at www.daviddavisandwrb.com.

Warrior River Boys bass player Marty Hays was raised — and still resides — in Salem. Marty has been in the band since 1995 and is the current chairman of the Southern Illinois Bluegrass and Barbecue Festival held every September in Salem. Guitar player Jeff Griffy was raised in Illinois, and his mother and stepfather currently live in Mt. Vernon.

The concert, considered a must see for old country music and bluegrass aficionados, is underwritten by Crossroads Community Hospital, sponsored by Continental Tire North America, Inc. and WDML 106.9 and cosponsored by Pete and Sharon Bradham, Byrd-Watson Drug Co., Dr. and Mrs. James Chow and Fifth Third Bank.

Tickets for the event are $15 for general admission, $10 for members of Cedarhurst and $2 for children under age 12. Purchase tickets at the gate or at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Dish on the Square, Byrd Watson Drug Co. in Mt. Vernon, US Sonet and Bella Chez in Salem, and J.D.’s Music Emporium in Centralia.

For more information about the concert, call Cedarhurst Center for the Arts at 242-1236, Ext. 234. Cedarhurst, located on Richview Road, Mt. Vernon, is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

An activity of the John R. and Eleanor R. Mitchell Foundation, this program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.