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Blue Highway Announces Gaven Largent as New Member

Blue Highway Announces Gaven Largent as New Member

KINGSPORT, TN — Blue Highway has influenced two decades of musicians since the band premiered in December 1994 — from “The Voice” contestant and Knoxville teen Emily Ann Roberts who recently cited Blue Highway as one of her first musical influences, to the 19-year old phenom the respected powerhouse band has just announced as its new member.

Blue Highway announced today the addition of Gaven Largent as dobro player, filling the spot which opened when founding member Rob Ickes departed three weeks ago.

Gaven grew up in a musical family spanning five generations in the heart of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, the hometown of legendary Patsy Cline.

Gaven worked on his great grandparents’ farm from the time he was a youngster.   The high value his family placed on music, honesty, and hard work enabled him to become a fine and multi-talented young man, gifted with most anything his hands touch, from playing dobro, guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin, to fine-tuning the engines of vintage tractors like McCormick Farmalls and Minneapolis Molines.

Largent began playing guitar at age 8, resophonic guitar at age 9, and at age 13 was honored to be invited to perform with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage on the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

Since 2012 Largent has performed in several bands including Bud’s Collective, Lonesome Highway, and most recently Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper.

“Gaven is a true find for Blue Highway,” said Wayne Taylor. “He’s a great person and the perfect person to fill this spot in the band!”

“I’m so excited to have Gaven in the band!” said Jason Burleson. “He’s an amazing dobro player and an all around great musician and good guy.  I can’t wait for everyone to hear this cat!”

“Gaven has really impressed me in the short time I’ve known him, both as a musician and person,” said Tim Stafford. “He’s a natural, and his talent and dedication to his instrument and the music is inspiring. We’re very excited to have him in the group!”

“We couldn’t have found a better musician for this spot than Gaven,” echoed Shawn Lane, who summed it all up, relaying, “Gaven rocks!!”

Gaven grew up listening to Blue Highway, but came to meet the members of the band through his good friend, Jacob Burleson, son of Blue Highway banjo player, Jason Burleson.

Largent expressed his excitement to be invited join Blue Highway:

“I’d first like to say it’s my extreme honor to join a band that has been such a huge influence on the way I think about bluegrass music and the way that I play.  Tim, Shawn, Wayne, and Jason are all huge heroes of mine, and as a young dobro player, Rob Ickes has always been one of my idols!  He is one of the best, and it’s going to be tough for me to try to follow such a respected and talented musician. But that said, I am very excited for the challenge of learning all these tunes (even though I’ve listened to Blue Highway for years!) and thankful for the opportunity to join the ranks and share the stage with this band. Playing music full time has been a goal and dream for me since I was eight years old when I started, and to do it now seems surreal. I hope I can make all the family, friends and fans proud!”

Fans will have their first opportunity to hear the new Blue Highway line-up in January 2016 in Jekyll Island, GA,  at the Jekyll Island Convention Center on Friday, January 1, at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., with tickets at www.adamsbluegrass.com/new-year-s-bluegrass-festival.html; and in Kingsport, TN, at the Renaissance Center on Friday, January 15, at 7:30 p.m., with tickets at www.EngageKingsport.com.

Blue Highway is welcoming Gaven with a celebration on the band’s website featuring a 25% off discount on everything in the Blue Highway store with code “WELCOME” through Sunday, December 13, at www.BlueHighwayBand.com.

Blue Highway has earned 25 collective IBMA Awards, 6 SPBGMA Awards, one Dove Award, and two Grammy nominations. Blue Highway received the Most Radio Airplay of any Bluegrass Artist for 2014, per the 2014 Bluegrass Radio Airplay Chart released by Bluegrass Today. The powerhouse band’s most recent album The Game  topped the national Bluegrass Unlimited Album Chart at #1 for  7 consecutive months, and was named the #1 Bluegrass Album of the Year by critic Daniel Mullins in his end of the year Top 20 Albums of 2014 list in Bluegrass Today.

For more info on Blue Highway and Gaven Largent, please visit www.BlueHighwayBand.com and www.Facebook.com/BlueHighway.

Blue Highway Members Nominated for Grammy Award and Four SPBGMA Awards

Blue Highway

NASHVILLE, TN Highly-esteemed bluegrass band Blue Highway and its members are nominated for a total of five awards in two prestigious awards ceremonies this weekend.

Blue Highway presents Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year Award to Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at 23rd Annual Diamond Awards

PIGEON FORGE, TN (November 6, 2014) — Powerhouse bluegrass band Blue Highway appeared as special guests at Tuesday evening’s 23rd Annual Diamond Awards held at the Smoky Mountain Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, TN. 

In addition to presenting the Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year Award, they also performed two songs:  the a cappella fan-favorite Some Day, and Wicked Path of Sin (I Can Hear the Angels Singing) from their Dove and IBMA-winning and Grammy nominated all-gospel release,Wondrous Love.

It marked Blue Highway’s first appearance on the Awards Show, and they were honored to present the Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year Award to Eli Johnston representing Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, who took home their second consecutive Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year honor at the fan-voted Diamond Awards.

The Diamond Awards were presented as part of the Creekside Gospel Music Convention, andsponsored by SGN Scoops Magazine, the vibrant all-digital source of Southern Gospel news and current #1-visited Southern Gospel website.

For more information on Blue Highway, please go to:  www.BlueHighwayBand.com orwww.Facebook.com/BlueHighway

For more information on Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, please go to: www.DoyleLawson.com or www.Facebook.com/DoyleLawsonOfficial

For more information on SGN Scoops Magazine and the Diamond Awards, please go to www.sgnscoops.com.

Attachment:  (1)
Photo by Sherri George

Blue Highway presenting the Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year Award to Eli Johnston who accepted in behalf of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.
L to R:  Wayne Taylor, Jason Burleson, Eli Johnston, Shawn Lane, and Tim Stafford. (Rob Ickes was unable to attend due to prior commitments.)

Blue Highway to Perform at 23rd Annual Diamond Awards

Blue Highway

PIGEON FORGE, TN (October 28, 2014) – Dove and IBMA Award-winning powerhouse band Blue Highway will appear as special guests at the upcoming 23rd Annual Diamond Awards. The fan-voted Diamond Awards will be held at the Smoky Mountain Convention Center at 4010 Parkway in Pigeon Forge at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, November 4, as part of the Creekside Gospel Music Convention.
The 2014 Diamond Awards are sponsored by SGN Scoops Magazine, the vibrant all-digital source of Southern Gospel News and current #1-visited Southern Gospel website on the Internet.
The highly esteemed Bluegrass band Blue Highway will perform as special guests on the Awards Show, which will be taped for a television special to air later this year on Atlanta’s WATC Channel 57 and be shown in syndication via various Christian media outlets in 2015.
“Blue Highway is honored to be invited to perform as special guests on the Diamond Awards,” said Tim Stafford, a founding member of the band who was just named IBMA Songwriter of the Year (2014). “Gospel music has always been a part of our lives as individuals, and at least one gospel song usually appears on even our Bluegrass releases. We’re excited to be a part of this great Southern Gospel event in the heart of the beautiful Smoky Mountains!”

Gospel harmonies will definitely be ringing in the heart of the Smokies next week, as the Diamond Awards and Creekside Gospel Music Convention bring acclaimed gospel artists such as the Dixie Melody Boys and Exodus to Pigeon Forge’s Smoky Mountain Convention Center with events running from Monday, November 3, at 4:00 pm through Thursday, November 6 at 10:30 pm.
Tickets for the event are being made available FREE of charge, but must be reserved at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/creekside-gospel-music-convention-2014-tickets-10916793423?aff=New

“We are excited to have bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway performing at this year’s Diamond Awards,” said Rob Patz, CEO of Coastal Media Group and Publisher of SGN Scoops Magazine. “Blue Highway is not only one of the top contemporary Bluegrass bands, but their gospel songs are incredible and multi-award winning.”

Blue Highway has won a combined 24 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards and five SPBGMA Awards. The high octane band is known for its powerhouse performances, but their gospel music roots run deep. The gospel song God Moves In a Windstorm from Blue Highway’s Wind to the West (1997) album took home the IBMA Gospel Recorded Event of the Year Award (1997). The band’s All-Gospel release Wondrous Love skyrocketed up charts and won a Dove Award for Best Bluegrass Album (2004) and the IBMA Award for Gospel Recorded Event of the Year. The incredible 13-song Wondrous Love release also garnered a prestigious Grammy nomination for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album.
Blue Highway is 20 years strong with all original members still intact with Jason Burleson on banjo, Rob Ickes on dobro, Shawn Lane on mandolin and fiddle, Tim Stafford on guitar, and Wayne Taylor on bass. Rob Ickes currently reigns as the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of IBMA, with an astounding 15 IBMA Dobro Player of the Year honors. The band was honored with 9 IBMA Award Nominations in 2014 including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, and Album and Song of the Year for The Game.
Blue Highway’s current album The Game debuted at #4 on Billboard, and has been riding high at #1 for a staggering 5 months atop the Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Album Chart (June-Oct 2014), while the title track The Game has been #1 for 3 months (August-Oct 2014) on the Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Song Chart.

For more info on Blue Highway and its members, please go to www.BlueHighwayBand.com. For daily news and photos of Blue Highway, please go: https://www.facebook.com/BlueHighway

For more details on SGN Scoops Magazine and the Diamond Awards, please go: www.sgnscoops.com

Blue Highway’s Tim Stafford and Rob Ickes Honored with IBMA Awards

Tim Stafford

RALEIGH, NC (October 4, 2014) — Powerhouse band Blue Highway members Tim Stafford and Rob Ickes were among the award winners as the brightest stars in Bluegrass gathered on Thursday evening for the 25th Annual IBMA Awards at Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

Tim Stafford took home the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association Songwriter of the Year Award. Rob Ickes and Claire Lynch were special guests on a Special Consensus recording of Wild Montana Skies which was named 2014 IBMA Recorded Event of the Year.

Tim Stafford co-founded Blue Highway, and is a gifted songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, producer, session musician and collegiate instructor, who added author to his list of accolades with the recent release of an acclaimed Tony Rice biography which he co-authored with Caroline Wright. A former member of world-renowned Alison Krauss and Union Station, Tim released his second solo album, Just to Hear the Whistle Blow, in July to rave reviews and immediate chart action, and was also a nominee in this year’s IBMA Awards for Guitar Player of the Year.

Of his award win, Tim shared: “I’m deeply honored to receive the IBMA Songwriter of the Year Award. Songwriters are a huge part of Bluegrass music, and I’m just proud to be part of that vital and growing scene.”

Rob Ickes

Rob Ickes is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA, with a staggering 15 consecutive trophies for Dobro Player of the Year. Rob has played on recordings with artists from Merle Haggard to Dolly Parton, and David Lee Roth to Mary Chapin Carpenter. When Alan Jackson assembled his dream team for his acclaimed Bluegrass Album, he wanted Rob Ickes on dobro, and Rob played in Jackson’s all-star band from Nashville’s famed Station Inn all the way to Carnegie Hall. The Grammy-winning Ickes just released a hot-selling collaborative dobro album entitled Three Bells in mid-September with IBMA Awards co-host Jerry Douglas and the beloved late Mike Auldridge.

Of his IBMA Award win on Special Consensus’ special team, Rob shared: “Very happy for Greg (Cahill) and Special Consensus! Greg has dedicated his life to this music, and it was great to see him honored Thursday night. It was a fun session, and I was tickled to be a part of the recording!”

Blue Highway, as an Entertainer of the Year nominee among their 9 nominations, performed near the close of the Awards Show, with Shawn Lane lending lead vocals to the poignant Just to Have a Job from Blue Highway’s #1 chart-topping IBMA Album of the Year nominated Rounder Records release, The Game. Shawn Lane was also invited to sing and play fiddle with Awards Show co-host Lee Ann Womack in her performance on the program.

The multi-award winning Blue Highway is 20 years strong with all original members still intact with Jason Burleson on banjo, Rob Ickes on dobro, Shawn Lane on mandolin and fiddle, Tim Stafford on guitar, and Wayne Taylor on bass.

Blue Highway currently sits at #1 atop three prominent Bluegrass Airplay Charts: Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Airplay Chart with The Game, Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Song Chart with the The Game, and Roots Music Report Weekly Top 50 Song Chart (released September 29) with Reminds Me of You.

For more information on Blue Highway and its members, please visit www.BlueHighwayBand.com and www.Facebook.com/bluehighway