Wonder Band

Location: R.A. Fountain

from our promo for this concert

Featuring Shelby and Linda Stephenson, the Wonder Band kicks off the weekend with a Hank Williams tribute concert that begins at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Stephensons, from Johnston County, have performed in Fountain many times, as a duo, with their family bluegrass band, and with the Cricket Band. This is their fourth Williams tribute, staged annually on a date close to the country music star’s birth date.

Joining the Stephensons in the band are Julian Ball on electric guitar and Charlie Melton on bass. Shelby, on guitar, and Linda, on ukulele, invite patrons to come prepared to sing a favorite Hank tune with them on stage, or simply to request that it be performed.

The Stephensons have released two CDs, a traditional country one and a Hank WIlliams tribute.

Hank Williams, who would have been 86 on September 17, learned to play guitar and drink whiskey while a teenager living in Fountain, Alabama. He died on New Year’s Day, 1953, at the age of 29.

Tags: classic, country, honky-tonk