The 15th Annual Kinston Winter Bluegrass Festival will be held Feb. 15 and 16 in the gymnasium at Lenoir Community College. Tim Woodall with serve as the master of ceremonies for the two-day event.

Al Batten and the Bluegrass Reunion will be one of the featured performers. They have been playing bluegrass and traditional music since 1972. What started out as a “boys’ night out” pickin’ session has lasted ever since. The band has played at bluegrass festivals in North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and New York.
They have been invited on two occasions to appear at the Appalachian Bluegrass Music and Folk Festival in Omagh Ireland and have recently performed on a tour of western North Carolina with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

They are longtime members of the Eastern North Carolina Bluegrass Music Association, Pinecone, and Banjo in the Hollow. The band include Al Batten on banjo, David Turnage on guitar, Johnny Ridge on fiddle, Phil Patteron on bass, and Mike Aldridge on mandolin.
Batten is a retired vocational Agriculture teacher and farmers and lives in the suburbs of Shoehill, NC which is a rural community between Kenly and Selma. Turnage is a retired engineer with Bell South and lives in Wilson’s Mills. Ridge is a supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and lives in Mebane. Patterson is a full time farmer and lives in Broadway and Aldridge is an automotive technician and lives in Saxapahaw.

Other artists performing:
• Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top Express
• JD Crowe & the New South
• Goldwing Express
• Lewis Family, First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music
• Lost & Found
• Grass Cats
• Marty Raybon & Full Circle
• Sweet Potato Pie

This event is presented by the Kinston Winter Bluegrass, Inc. a not for profit organization. The goal of Kinston Winter Bluegrass, Inc. is to promote and preserve this wonderful old time music, lovingly called bluegrass that is such a part of our roots. We strive to meet this goal by bringing you the most professional, internationally known bluegrass artists available.

All proceeds benefit the Lenoir Community College Foundation Scholarship Program.
The event is also presented in conjunction with Lenoir Community College and the Kinston Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Free Press is the media sponsor.
Advanced Tickets if ordered by Jan 31 are for two-day $50, Friday $25, Saturday $30; and at the door, two-day $70, Friday $35, Saturday $40.

For more information, contact Sharon Miller at 233-6865 or email at smiller@lenoircc.edu or write to Lenoir Community College Foundation , P.O. Box 188, Kinston, NC 28502-0188.

You can also access www.kinstonwinterbluegrass.com.