Allan Thompson & Friends

Location: R.A. Fountain

Allan Thompson left the Bertie County town of Windsor for a professional career in music that took him first to Nashville, Tennessee for over 20 years and then to the Low Country of South Carolina, where he lives in Georgetown, teaching and performing music from Charleston to Myrtle Beach.

Thompson is a multi-talented instrumentalist who plays banjo, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and harmonica. He has performed on the Grand Ole Opry and with several country music stars.

“Friends” this evening include Lane Hollis, of Greenville, and Frankie Harrison, of Williamston, who are two of the region’s best instrumentalists. Also performing with them will be Harrison’s 13-year-old son, Justin, who plays fiddle and mandolin.

Thompson said the show will consist of traditional bluegrass tunes as well as a historical retrospective that will trace the origins of bluegrass back to its early Celtic roots, through the classic old-time fiddle and clawhammer banjo bands, to the 3-finger style of banjo picking favored by most bluegrass bands today.

Aaron Gdovicak, guitarist in Thompson’s old time/bluegrass band Blue Plantation, was scheduled to perform, but he’s staying home, Thompson said, with his wife as they await the birth of their first child.

Tags: Appalachian, bluegrass, Concert, folk, old-time, original