Montana Young plays with Whitetop Mountain Band in Martinsville
June 28, 2009
Montana Young, age 16 of Patrick County, VA played with the Whitetop Mountain Band at Martinsville High School on Saturday. She played country and rock 'n' roll.
From the Martinsville Bulletin:
It was a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll when Montana Young and the Whitetop Mountain Band performed in concert Saturday night at Martinsville High School.
Montana, a 16-year-old Patrick County fiddle player, opened the show with a mix of some traditional bluegrass tunes and a liberal amount of rock songs from the past and present. She was accompanied by Amy Stuart and Dean Smith, who alternated playing cello, dobro and guitar.
Next, the five-piece Whitetop Mountain Band’s high-energy bluegrass prompted the crowd to clap along and some members of the audience to start flatfoot dancing on the side of the stage.
The show was presented by the Lions Club and the Martinsville-Henry County Tourism Office. The Lions Club sold out the Rives Theatre when it booked Whitetop Mountain Band a year and a half ago, Jim Clark told the audience Saturday.
“Ever since then, y’all have been buggin’ me, ‘When are you gonna get ‘em back?’� Clark quipped. “Well, here they are.�
Tourism Director Debbie Robinson has accompanied both groups on tour and called them “very, very talented musicians. You couldn’t ask for better ambassadors for the state of Virginia.�
Whitetop Mountain Band, a family-based group from the highest peak in Virginia, is made up of husband and wife Thornton Spencer on the fiddle and Emily Spencer on the banjo and vocals; their daughter, Martha Spencer, on guitar and vocals; Jackson Cunningham on mandolin, guitar and vocals; and Debbie Bramer on the standup bass.
Cunningham and Martha Spencer, who are engaged, also play together as the Whitetop Mountaineers. They and the Whitetop Mountain Band have toured around the world and “had people dancing all over the place,� Robinson said.
“It’s really fun to watch them. They really get into it,� Montana said. “It’s fun to watch other people who really love the music.�
First, Montana started the show with the traditional “Blackberry Blossom,� and then she sang and played fiddle on a version of Bill Monroe’s “Walk Softly on this Heart of Mine.�
In addition to older songs such as “Tennessee Waltz,� she also sang and played “Where did you sleep last night?� by the grunge rock band Nirvana, Janis Joplin’s version of “Summertime,� and “Gold Dust Woman� by Fleetwood Mac.
