KASU's Bluegrass Monday presents the Bartley Brothers in concert March 26

March 20, 2012
The Bartley Brothers will perform a concert of bluegrass music on Monday, March 26, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street, in downtown Paragould, Arkansas. The concert is part of the Bluegrass Monday concert series presented by KASU 91.9 FM. KASU will pass the hat to collect money to pay the group. The suggested donation is $5 per person.

The Bartley Brothers will perform a concert of bluegrass music on Monday, March 26, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street, in downtown Paragould, Arkansas. The concert is part of the Bluegrass Monday concert series presented by KASU 91.9 FM. KASU will pass the hat to collect money to pay the group. The suggested donation is $5 per person.

From eastern Kentucky, the Bartley Brothers are 44-year-old Shayne and 58-year-old Rick Bartley. Shayne Bartley has been a professional bluegrass musician since he was 18 years old, and he has performed in the bands of bluegrass musicians J.D. Crowe, Don Rigsby, and Dave Evans. Shayne Bartley has also been in the bluegrass bands HeartTown and Lost and Found.

Rick Bartley retired from a 30-year career outside the world of bluegrass music. However, throughout those years, he kept playing and writing dozens of bluegrass songs. His compositions have been recorded by bluegrass greats J.D. Crowe, Junior Sisk, and Jeff Parker.

In 2009, Shayne and Rick Bartley joined forces to create a new professional bluegrass band. They assembled a band that includes Josh Hymer on banjo. Hymer has played in David Parmley’s band Continental Divide and in Ernie Thacker’s band Route 23. Bassist Heath Van Winkle has been in Ronnie Reno’s band The Reno Tradition as well as the Charlie Sizemore Band and Tim Graves’ band Cherokee. Shayne Bartley plays mandolin for the group and Rick Bartley plays guitar.

The Bartley Brothers perform at bluegrass venues across America, and their debut CD for Rural Rhythm Records was released in 2010. For more information about the group, including samples of their music, visit the Bartley Brothers at Reverbnation.

In addition to the concert, Terry’s Café, 201 South Pruett Street in Paragould, opens on Bluegrass Monday nights to welcome bluegrass music fans. The café serves a buffet meal beginning at 4:30 p.m. on the evenings of Bluegrass Monday concerts. Concessions will also be available at the Collins Theatre.

Bluegrass Monday concerts are held on the fourth Monday night of each month, except in December. These concerts are presented with support from Backbeat Music, Main Street Paragould, Hollis Bee Company, the Posey Peddler, the Northeast Arkansas Bluegrass Association, and KASU.

KASU 91.9 FM is the 100,000-watt public broadcasting service of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. For more information, contact KASU program director Marty Scarbrough at (870) 972-2367. Visit Bluegrass Monday on Facebook and at MySpace music.