Fountain Express

[Fountain, NC] Jazz pianist Jimmy Aycock will be featured in concert at Fountain General Store on Thursday night with the Steve Creech Sextet in a show that will also star vocalist Emery Davis.

Friday and Saturday night concerts feature bluegrass bands, one new to Fountain, and the other a returning favorite.

Aycock, a native of Fremont, is a career educator who was recently named a "Carolina Icon," to be the subject of an hour-long documentary that will air on PBS later this year. The film will include much of a concert of Aycock performing with the Symphony of Hope Orchestra string ensemble.

Aycock was chosen as an "Icon" because of his dedication to education, having taught music in the Wayne County area schools for over 40 years, and for his 50-year career performing, composing, and arranging music throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Aycock graduated from Atlantic Christian College and has done graduate work at Western Carolina, UNC-Greensboro, and ECU. Over his long and distinguished career, he has made half a dozen records and is in the process of completing a series of original compositions which will become his next recording project.

Creech says, "Jimmy's one of the most talented musicians I've ever heard," and he promises an evening of outstanding variety.

Also performing with Aycock and Creech, on guitar, will be Keith Dobbins on bass, Randy Davis on drums, and Dee Braxton Pelligrino on violin.

Jimmy Aycock's August 3 concert with the Steve Creech Sextet begins at 8 p.m.; admission is $5.

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The Heritage Bluegrass Band, with David Hamlett on dobro and O.A. Champion on banjo, makes its Fountain debut on Friday evening in a concert set to begin at 8 p.m. Heritage Bluegrass is based in the Triangle. Hamlett has appeared in Fountain with White Pine Hollow and the Stephenson Brothers and Linda. Admission for the Heritage Bluegrass Band's August 4 concert is $5.

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Untravelled Road, another Triangle-based bluegrass band, returns on Saturday for a concert that will be taped for a live recording. Led by Rex Williams, who plays guitar and writes the band's original tunes, Untravelled Road also includes the husband-wife duo of Jeff Aebi on mandolin and Judy Hagwood on bass.

Aebi is known as one of the best mandolin pickers in the state. He has also performed in Fountain with Haywire.

Untravelled Road's August 5 concert begins at 8 p.m.; admission is $5. 

Reserved seats are available for all shows at an additional charge. Prices are always posted on our up-coming events page. For further information, phone 252-749-3228.

R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located in historic downtown Fountain, at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol-free.

Sunday Shows Return in September
Sunday shows at Fountain General Store return to the schedule in September, when Wilson-based country music singer Michael Baker debuts his new band, the Drop Top Cadillacs.

This free-at-3 show will be family-friendly, and Baker has promised to include a few spirituals, too.

Baker has sung at open mics in Fountain and is a regular at the long-running free country music jams held every Friday at Robbins Music at 200 S. Tarboro Street in downtown Wilson. These jams, which are open to the public, begin at noon and usually run until about 3:00. They feature an excellent group of regulars -- sometimes 10-12 performers at a time -- and a covered dish lunch.

For further details, phone 252-237-8011.

Fountain General Store will not be open on Sundays in August.

Also scheduled in September is a tribute to Hank Williams, on his birthday, Sunday, September 17, featuring Shelby and Linda Stephenson.

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