"Backroads" Lead Rising Bluegrass Band to LCC

Up-and-coming bluegrass band Kickin Grass will lead a Back to School celebration at Lenoir Community College by performing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 in front of the Learning Resources Center at LCC.
The event is sponsored by the LCC Cultural and Performing Arts Committee and the LCC Student Government Association. The performance is free and open to the public.

The band has set themselves a cut above the rest with their tight vocal harmony, driving instrumentation and effusive energy on and off the stage. Kickin Grass prides itself on reaching all types of bluegrass and non-bluegrass audiences, incorporating standard bluegrass tunes, rock and country classics and a number of "can't get 'em out of yer head" originals into their entertaining sets. This uncommon mix of talent, bravado & luck has taken the band from accompanying a local clogging group to playing gigs across the Southeast. Their catchy and unique bluegrass-style Americana music appeals to everyone from your 85 year-old grandma to your sister’s 16-year old boyfriend.

“We always try to reach out to bluegrass and non-bluegrass fans alike from the stage,” mandolin player Jamie Dawson said. “We can play the standards with the best of them, but we also like to do a lot of original songs as well as some off-the-beaten-path covers. And our shows are never boring. If something different happens in the middle of a song we just go with it, in fact it’s not unusual to see one of the girls put down their instrument and start clogging. We just love playing bluegrass and we try to share that with our audience as much as possible.” Most of their original songs are penned by guitar player and lead singer, Lynda Wittig, who has a flair for invoking the past while keeping material fresh and current.

Kickin Grass is Dawson on mandolin, Matt Hooper on fiddle, Kyra Moore on banjo, Patrick Walsh on bass and Lynda Wittig on guitar. The band has been performing high-energy bluegrass for a wide range of audiences since February 2002. Their first album, Backroads, was produced by Steve Dilling from IIIrd Tyme Out and self-released in the fall of 2003. You can hear their music on bluegrass radio across the country, and see the band at clubs, festivals and theaters across the Southeast in 2004.