The Travelers

A very special day at the Sizemore Benefit

2012-02-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

All The Travelers were honored to be a part of the benefit for Herschel & Joyce Sizemore on February 19 in Roanoke VA at the Civic Center auditorium. Although the weather was not too cooperative (it snowed almost 5 inches in Roanoke that day!) it was warm & dry inside, and incredibly inspiring to see all the great talent that crossed the stage. For us, and many others, the highlight of the day was seeing Herschel rejoin with his band-mates from 1979, Del McCoury, Dick Smith, and Jerry McCoury for a Del McCoury & The Dixie Pals reunion.

We will be premiering a new video from our performance at the benefit, as the fine folks at Backyard Green Films recorded the entire day's performances, and a DVD and audio CD release of the very special day is planned as a further fund-raising effort for the Sizemores.

Live video of "Last Letter Home" from Yeehaw Junction

2012-02-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

Just click the link below to view the video of us performing "Last Letter Home" live at Yeehaw Junction.

Thanks to Ted Lehman and Keith & Darlene Bass, Ted for the great video and blog post, and Keith & Darlene for having us on their great shows. Can't wait to get back down in March to Okeesimmee Festival!

A great weekend at Yeehaw Junction

2012-01-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

We had a ball with all the folks at Yeehaw Junction this weekend. The crowd was fantastic, just a great group of bluegrass-loving people, it was a pleasure to meet a lot of you. Lots of folks from back in our home area of Virginia, escaping to the WONDERFUL WEATHER of south Florida, with daytime temperatures in the high 70's to low 80's, a really nice change from the somewhat cooler 40's back home. If you've never had the pleasure of attending an Florida event hosted by Keith & Darlene Bass, we recommend that you correct that right away! Many thanks to both of them for putting on a first class festival with great sound, great weather, tons of vendors, and some of the most entertaining music you'll hear at any bluegrass show. If you'd like to get a close-up view, you can visit our friend Ted Lehman's blog for pictures, reviews, and videos of the event by clicking here.
It was a pleasure to finally meet Ted & Irene as they continue their Most Excellent Bluegrass Adventure. Thanks Ted for the picture, we sort of borrowed it from your blog for this web post!
Don't forget, we'll be back in Okeesimmee FL on March 14 & 15 for another K & D Bass festival, hope to see you there.

The Travelers join a HUGE lineup at the Sizemore Benefit

2012-01-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

We're very happy to add our names to the list of performers who'll be in Roanoke on Sunday, February 19 for the Herschel & Joyce Sizemore benefit show. So far, the talent list includes The Seldom Scene, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Grasstowne, Acoustic Endeavors, The Stacy Grubb Band, Johnny & Jeanette Williams, Republik Steele, and Kevin Baucom.

Herschel & Joyce were both recently diagnosed with cancer, and have been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, expensive enough when one family member is involved, much less two at the same time.

Organizers are looking for volunteers, food donations for the talent, and all sorts of help. Folks who'd like to help can email here: roanokefiddlefest.org, or call 866-883-9466.

If you'd like to attend the show or make a donation click here for tickets and information.

Scottish Rite Theater with "the Brothers", then Florida!

2012-01-13T05:48:00.000-08:00

The Travelers are gearing up for a couple of shows in January. First, we'll be at the Scottish Rite Theater in Downtown Roanoke VA with The Bluegrass Brothers for a dinner/show (tickets) that starts with a buffet dinner at 6:30, followed by the show at 7:45. This dinner/show is Wednesday, January 25th.

Right after the show, we pack up and head south to Central Florida and the Bass family's festival at Yeehaw Junction, just a few miles away from Lake Okeechobee on Friday, January 27th. Tickets for this event are available here, and we'll be sharing the stage with Rhonda Vincent, Alecia Nugent, Remingotn Ryde, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, and many other groups. Looking forward to some sunny Florida weather and picking with some great bands, hope to see some of our fans at both of these events.

The Travelers wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-12-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

To all our fans and friends out there, we just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We'll be off the road for a while celebrating with our families, and hope to see you in January, either in Roanoke VA on January 25 (click here for dinner/show tickets) or in sunny south Florida at Yee Haw Junction on Friday, January 27. Hope you all have a great time with friends and family, and look forward to seeing you in 2012.

Next stop, Herndon VA and Holy Cross Lutheran Church

2011-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

The Travelers' next show will be at the long-running concert series in Herndon VA at Holy Cross Lutheran Church on Saturday, December 3. Doors open at 6:30 and show starts at 7:30, looking forward to seeing Bob and all the nice folks at Holy Cross, thanks to you for your support of bluegrass music in NOVA. Hope to see some of our fans there, and maybe meet some new ones as well.

Thank you Roanoke for your support of The Guitar Strummit and the Tony Rice concert

2011-11-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

The Travelers want to thank the folks in the Roanoke Valley and the surrounding areas who came out to the November 5th show at the Scottish Rite theater. They were treated to a fabulous show that night with The Travelers, The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys (those younguns can pick!) and of course the incomparable Tony Rice Unit. Also, many thanks to Dewey Peters and Wayne Weikel for the GREAT sound! It was absolutely awesome, the crowd loved it, and the Unit was still talking about it the next day, saying if they had sound like that for every show, they'd book more gigs! Also, many thanks to our volunteers for helping out with all the tasks related to set up and load-out, hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did.

Just an FYI, The Travelers will be back at Scottish Rite on Wednesday, January 25 for a dinner show with none other than The Bluegrass Brothers. Dinner and the show is only $28 (show only, $13 advance, $15 at door) and if you're considering dinner, those tickets are advance only and all can be purchased here ( buy tickets/dinner reservations ) securely via credit card, or you can call 540-777-1418 to place your order.
A portion of the proceeds from this show benefits Scottish Rite Charities, and the show is sponsored in part by Lunsford Realty & Investments and Cundiff Heating & Air Conditioning.

IBMA Gospel Song of the Year Nomination!

2011-08-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

If you guys have followed The Travelers over the last few months, you know that John Miller is the guitar player for the band, and you probably know that he's a multi-talented fellow. Well, just to reiterate that point, John has received yet another honor, this time from the International Bluegrass Music Association. This evening, the IBMA nominated the song "Sailing On" as one of the 5 nominees for Gospel Song of the Year for 2011! The song was part of the much-celebrated Rural Rhythm Gospel project "Look to the Light", featuring 14 songs written by New England songwriter Rick Lang, which was arranged and co-produced by John and Jesse Brock. "Sailing On" features the considerable vocal talents of Russell Moore & Dale Ann Bradley, who are also nominated for male and female vocalists of the year by IBMA. The Travelers wish to congratulate John for his success in this nomination, and also for the previous Dove award nomination for the project for Album of the Year. GO JOHN!!!
Mike & John were performing their "Conner & Miller" duo show at The Rex Theater in Galax VA when word of this reached them during the show. The sold-out Rex came to its feet in a standing ovation for John. The pair were performing music from their duet project, and of course were there to perform music from the soundtrack for "Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court", a documentary film about the Hillsville courthouse massacre in March of 1912. Mike & John scored and created the various background music for the film, and were on hand for the film's premier to perform some of that music.

The Travelers "hitch up" with Road Trip Rentals

2011-03-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

We're very happy to announce that we're sponsored in part by Road Trip Rentals of Northern Virginia! We'll be telling our fans all about this great company at our shows, where you can get complete printed information, and additionally, you can click the Road Trip Rentals tab at the top of the page for information about the service area, reservations, pricing, everything you'd like to know.
We think its a great idea, have Road Trip Rentals bring out the unit, set it up on site at the festival, and all the guys from The Travelers will be right over for lunch! Seriously, if you'd like to be right in the thick of the festival, but don't have your own travel trailer, this is the only way to "fly", so to speak. Check in with Warren Keely or any of the fine folks via the internet, of by calling 703-753-4477.

John Miller nominated for Dove Award!

2011-02-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Norman, Mike, & Kevin would like to congratulate fellow Traveler John Miller, as his recent co-producing work with Jesse Brock and executive producer/songwriter Rick Lang on the gospel compilation project "Look to the Light" was nominated for Bluegrass Album of the Year by the folks at the Dove Awards! John both co-produced and performed on the project, and also fronts with Mike the bluegrass gospel super-group Bluestar, which the pair formed to support this project.
Also nominated in the category by the Dove folks, were Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Dailey & Vincent, Paul Williams & The Victory Trio, and Lou Reid & Carolina. Again, kudos to John for this great recognition of his work as an arranger, producer, and performer, way to go buddy! Here's a bit of Bluestar performing "How I Long to See His Face" with John on lead & guitar and Mike on bass.
Click here to view the video