Smoot slates bluegrass show
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PARKERSBURG - A world-renowned mandolin player and his band will perform Saturday in a concert at the Smoot Theatre in downtown Parkersburg.
Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys will take the stage at 7 p.m. for a 90-minute performance that Smoot Executive Director Felice Jorgeson says will be great.
"I think it will be," Jorgeson said.
Johnny Staats lives in Sandyville and was born and raised in West Virginia. Staats, who works for UPS, has played at the Grand Ole Opry, national TV on CNN, NBC’s "Today Show" and the "CBS Evening News" and in "People Magazine," "Country Music Magazine" and "The New York Times."
An accomplished musician, Staats won the Vandalia Gathering mandolin championships in West Virginia in 1996, 1997, and 1999. He won the guitar championship and came in third in the fiddle competition in 1997.
His instruments are made by local luthiers.
The bluegrass performance is part of the Smoot's presentations of American music, Jorgeson said. The theater celebrated its 100th anniversary in October.
Staats has performed before at the Smoot Theatre, Jorgeson said. He has performed in the annual Hometown Christmas show, usually dressed in his work attire because Christmas is a busy time for the delivery company, Jorgeson said.
"One year he even shared the 'Jazz Spotlight' with Bruce DeMoll, then the lead alto sax with the Smoot House Band," she said. "But this time he will share the stage with his own friends and fellow musicians."
Tickets can be purchased online at Smoottheatre.com and are $45.
Other upcoming shows at the Smoot Theatre are Hometown Christmas at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 and Chosen Road’s Appalachian Christmas at 7 p.m. Dec. 18.