| Back to e-WV
The West Virginia Encyclopedia
| Back to e-WV
The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Location/County: Princeton, Mercer
August 03, 2018
The SteelDrivers return to Princeton for their 3rd performance on the Chuck Mathena Center stage. Performing old favorites and singles from the critically acclaimed, Grammy Award winning album The Muscle Shoals Recordings, this fiery, soulful bluegrass group returns with new lead singer Kelvin Damrell who was discovered by songwriter and fiddler Tammy Rogers. Damrell’s vocals and fretwork add a fresh voice to the mix, while bass player Mike Fleming continues to anchor it all with rock solid rhythm and a firm foundation.
It’s a sound The Tennessean once described as “Gutsy, gritty bluegrass songs.” The Philadelphia Inquirer put it even more succinctly. “You can call it power-bluegrass or country soul, but whatever you call it, Nashville’s Steeldrivers have bushels of it.” In fact, The SteelDrivers’ success lies in their consistent growth and ability to reinvent their regimen.
The band plays approximately 75 shows a year, including major festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Merlefest, Wintergrass, Bristol Rhythm and Roots and Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It’s their populist approach that finds their devotees — self-proclaimed “SteelHeads”– traveling hundreds of miles to see them in repeat performances. “It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since our first album,” Rogers muses. “And yet, even with all the change and transition, we still have the same joy and enthusiasm that we did in the beginning.
Tickets are $22.00, with a 10% discount for groups of ten or more, and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.chuckmathenacenter.org, by calling 304-425-5128 or by visiting the CMC Box Office at 2 Stafford Commons, Princeton, WV 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday.