Tangled Up in Boone
North Valley Tune Tanglers, Sheets Family play Jones House Friday

By Frank Ruggiero

Tangled tunes and Sheets music hit downtown Boone this Friday, as the Jones House Concerts on the Lawn series continues.

The Jones House 2009 Concerts on the Lawn series will run through Sept. 18. File photo

This particular concert delivers the southwestern sound of the North Valley Tune Tanglers and the old-time revue of Watauga’s own Sheets Family.

Based in New Mexico, the Tune Tanglers are comprised of fiddler Liz Stevens and banjo player Michael Gallagher, both of the Sandia Hots Band.

Stevens has played fiddle since grammar school, also having lived in the mountains of North Carolina, where she played on the fiddlers’ convention circuit. Her influences include old-time fiddling legends Clayton McMitchen and Tommy Jarrel.

Gallagher has played banjo since 1973, and his style grew to incorporate bluegrass, old-time and even the fiddle, which prompted him to frequent various Southern fiddlers’ conventions in the ’70s and ’80s. His influences include James Brown, the Georgia Yellow Hammers and Conjunto Michoacan.

“Liz and Michael played a concert in Todd for the (Watauga) Arts Council a couple years ago, and it was a really enjoyable set,” Watauga Arts Council folklorist Mark Freed said. “These guys are the southwestern United States old-time ambassadors. They have roots in the old-time mountain music we are accustomed to in western North Carolina, and they combine influences from traditional southwestern fiddle music. It will be both familiar and foreign at the same time – sweet and spicy.”

The Sheets Family – husband and wife Randy and Deborah Jean Sheets and their daughter, Kelly Snider – specialize in old-time and original songs with expert harmonizing.

Now living in Bethel, Randy and Deborah Jean have performed together for the past 30 years, with Deborah Jean on guitar and vocals, Randy on clawhammer banjo and vocals, and Snider on fiddle and vocals.

The Sheets Family is a familiar family, regular participants at various music events and festivals, as well as an oft-heard name on the radio, having been featured on “The Bluegrass and Old-Time Show” on WKSK AM in West Jefferson, “Studio One” on WETS FM in Johnson City, Tenn., and “Blue Ridge Backroads,” a live broadcast from the Rex Theatre in Galax, Va.

“There are few things more enjoyable to hear in the High Country than the tight harmony singing of Kelly (Snider) and Deborah Jean Sheets,” Freed said. “Add the fiddle, guitar and Randy’s fine singing and clawhammer banjo playing, and you have the Sheets Family – the area’s best family old-time band. These old friends will bring a mix of familiar and unfamiliar gems from the Carter Family, Blue Sky Boys and Ola Belle Reed, along with original songs by Deborah Jean that will have you buying their latest recording, if you don’t already have it.”

Friday’s concert begins at 5 p.m. and is sponsored by an anonymous donor. The 2009 Concerts on the Lawn series is sponsored by Alpine Storage, the Downtown Boone Development Association and Mast General Store.

The Jones House Community Center is located at 604 W. King St. in downtown Boone. For more information, call the Watauga Arts Council at (828) 264-1789 or visit www.watauga-arts.org.

Concert Schedule
July 31 – Hammered and mountain dulcimer music with Steve and Ruth & Deeper Roots
Aug. 7 – Bluegrass string bands with Amantha Mill & Upright & Breathin’
Aug. 14 – Bluegrass and folk duets with Lisa Baldwin and Dave Haney & Buck and Nelson
Aug. 21 – Evening of Watauga Women Songwriters with Crys Matthews, Becca Eggers-Gryder, Deborah Jean Sheets, Monica Woodard, Lisa Baldwin, Ruth Smith, Susan Pepper, Renee Blacken and more
Aug. 28 – Bluegrass and old-time string bands with The Dollar Brothers & Elkville String Band
Sept. 4 – Downtown Boone Bluegrass Bonanza with Southern Accent, Sigmon Stringers, Bluegrass 1101, Diana and Sarvis Ridge & Leftover Bluegrass
Sept. 11 – Old-time duet and bluegrass band with Whitetop Mountaineers & Lost Ridge Band
Sept. 18 – An evening of barbershop quartets with Mountain Aires and more