BY CAROL VAUGHN, Eastern Shore Post —
Country music band Sawyer Brown will headline the second annual ESVA Chamber Fest, which will happen Saturday, Sept. 9, on the grounds of Eastern Shore Auto Body, on Fairgrounds Road, near Tasley.
Robert Sabbatini, executive director of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce, announced the festival lineup Wednesday during the “Chamber Chat” radio show on WESR.
Opening acts include classic rock band Jefferson Starship and local favorite Irie Tree Band.
Listeners Terran Campbell and Joan Murden called in and correctly answered trivia questions to reveal the names of the two main bands and win free tickets to the festival.
Tickets go on sale May 1 and will be available only through chamber members. Tickets cost $75 each, including entry into the event and all-you-can-eat food items.
“We have two nationally known bands coming to the Shore for Chamber Fest this year,” Sabbatini said before announcing the lineup.
Sawyer Brown has released 20 studio albums and charted more than 50 times on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including three number one hits: “Step That Step” (1985), “Some Girls Do” (1992), and “Thank God for You” (1993).
The group was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1996 by the Academy of Country Music, among other honors.
Band members are Shayne Hill on lead guitar, Joe Smyth on percussion, Gregg Hubbard on keyboard, and lead vocalist Mark Miller.
Jefferson Starship was formed in 1974 by musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane.
The band was one of the most successful arena rock groups of the 1970s and 1980s, earning three platinum and eight gold records, as well as numerous Top 40 singles.
A revival of the group, led by Paul Kantner, started in 1992 and has continued under the name Jefferson Starship after Kantner’s death in 2016.
Current band members are David Freiberg, Donny Baldwin, Cathy Richardson, Chris Smith, and Jude Gold.
Last fall’s inaugural Chamber Fest featured performances by Southern rock band Molly Hatchet, Lana Scott, and Irie Tree Band.
In addition to the music, the inaugural festival included “great food, great fun, great networking for the businesses,” Sabbatini said, adding, “I have no doubt that we will repeat and go above and beyond this year when folks hear these two bands.”
