Highway 58

Location: R.A. Fountain

From the January 10, 2008 FAD:

Highway 58 brings its “straight-ahead bluegrass” show to Fountain Saturday night in a concert that features Snow Hill’s Tim Myatt on banjo and band leader Clyde Mattocks on dobro.

Mattocks, one of the original SuperGrit Cowboys organized Highway 58 as an outlet for his true musical passion, hard-driving classic bluegrass.

In Tim Myatt, he has one of the premier banjo pickers in North Carolina. “Mr. Myatt’s the one I kept hearing about before we opened,” said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. “And everything I heard about how good he played was true. It’s always a special treat to have him back in our house. He’s like the godfather of banjo pickers around here.”

“Tim’s endorsing his own line of Myatt banjos,” Mattocks reports, “made right here in Greene County.”

Other pickers in Highway 58 include Danny Morris on guitar, Don Batten on mandolin, and John Booker on bass. All the fellows share in singing.

Mattocks, of Kinston, named his band for the NC highway that 2 of its members live on; a third lives just off it. “We play straight-ahead bluegrass,” he said, “nothing but.”

Since performing in Fountain last summer, Mattocks has played at the Omagh, Ireland bluegrass festival, which he reports was “a real treat, seeing how they accept traditional American music ever better than over here.”

“This is one of the best bluegrass bands we book,” said Albright. “Clyde makes a lot more money with Super Grit, so it’s harder to get Highway 58 booked. But they’re all excellent pickers, they clearly love what they’re playing, and they’re always crowd favorites. We’re lucky Super Grit has the weekend off.”

Mattocks has released two solo CDs, both featuring all-star session musicians: Hugging the Hound and Over My Shoulder.

Tags: bluegrass, bluegrass gospel, Concert, tradtional bluegrass