Review of Concert by the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band at the Lucy Opry on November 17, 2006

 

by Betty Westmoreland

 

The Kenny and Amanda Smith Band treated locals to some musical delights with their appearance at the Lucy Opry in the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center (BPACC) on November 17, 2006.

 

Aspiring guitar players are quite familiar with Indiana native, Kenny Smith, who was recently nominated by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) as Guitar Player of the Year, an honor which Kenny has previously won twice. He is the ‘flatpicker’s flatpicker,’ and the listener can certainly hear it in his work. He picked up a beautiful elderly clawhammer banjo at one point during their show and demonstrated even more expertise on “Mississippi Sawyer”. A former member of the Lonesome River Band, Kenny Smith has solo recordings and a two-DVD instruction set available. He is a much-sought-after instructor for workshops and master classes.

 

At a concert given by the Lonesome River Band several years ago, Amanda Smith spotted her future husband, Kenny. She said it wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but eventually they fell in love and began performing together at bluegrass festivals and shows. It seemed that they were destined to marry and pool their considerable vocal and instrumental resources. As a child back home in West Virginia, Amanda sang in church. She learned to play guitar in order to accompany herself in talent contests and local events. As she developed her craft, she was influenced by some of the best singers in bluegrass music: Claire Lynch, Alison Krauss, and Rhonda Vincent.

 

With such musical backgrounds as Kenny and Amanda have, with their shared Christian belief, and with unseen forces bringing them together, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band was just bound to happen. Their first CD together was “Slowly But Surely,” which was released in 2001. Their second was “House Down the Block,” followed by the 2005 release of “Always Never Enough”. Kenny and Amanda Smith live in Meadows of Dan, Virginia.

 

The biggest thrill so far in their successful career was their winning the IBMA Emerging Artist Award in 2003. Unsure if folks were even listening to their brand of music, they were suddenly convinced that indeed somebody out there was listening and liked what they heard.

 

Kenny and Amanda Smith sought out and found a fine group of musicians to complete their band. Jason Robertson is a fine mandolin player who resembles Opie from the Andy Griffith Show. He’s a crowd pleaser, with his easy, natural wit and solid, crisp mandolin work. Jason has been with the band for three years. He calls himself unemployed other than when he is performing. He is from Pearisburg, Virginia, and he has a great story about the techniques he used as the chief chicken-frying engineer at a local restaurant. In fact, the technique allowed his musical prowess to develop because after an incident in which he was cleaning the fryer, he no longer worked at the restaurant.

 

Zachary McLamb plays the upright bass and sings harmony for the group. He is from Four Oaks, NC. Traveling full-time with the band, he has worked with Kenny and Amanda for about a year.

 

Joey Cox is from Pulaski, Virginia, and he came aboard with the band about five months ago. Joey has performed with Lou Reid & Carolina and Blueridge. He plays solid licks on the banjo and handles some harmony vocals.

 

Set 1

  1. Sourwood (instrumental)
  2. House Down the Block
  3. I Don’t Know Where Love Went Wrong
  4. Lay Me to Rest
  5. Just Any Day Now
  6. Studebaker (instrumental, Kenny)
  7. Winter’s Come and Gone (first chart song)
  8. Steppin’ on the Clouds
  9. Gulf Stream Dreamin’
  10. Goin’ By Again
  11. Fire on the Mountain (instrumental)
  12. Stay All Night (featured Joey)
  13. Mary Had a Little Boy (gospel album)
  14. I Know Where Love Lives (charted #2)

 

Set 2

  1. It’s Shoutin’ Time in Heaven
  2. Ponderosa (instrumental)
  3. John Henry Fell Dead
  4. Hung Down My Head and Cried
  5. Mississippi Sawyer (Kenny, clawhammer banjo)
  6. Pacific Time (featured Kenny and Amanda, written by Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley)
  7. Always Never Enough (charted #2, written by Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley)
  8. A Thousand Miles Ago
  9. A Great Big Hand Holding Mine
  10. It’s Not the Wind
  11. I’m Comin’ Back But I Don’t Know When (featured Lucy Opry regular, Gary Johnson, with the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band)
  12. Big Ball in Boston

Encore: Pike County

 

 

A solid band vocally and instrumentally, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band has built a core of ardent fans. They do what they come to do, which is lay down some fine bluegrass music through their careful selection of songs and arrangements.

 

For additional information/bookings:

 

Amanda Smith

PO Box 825

Meadows of Dan, VA 24120

(276)692-5710

kennygtr@earthlink.net