Lonesome River Band Announces a New Band Member, #1 Chart Song and “Lila Mae” TV Debut

Lonesome River Band Announces a New Band Member,  #1 Chart Song and “Lila Mae” TV Debut

 

Nashville, Tenn. (June 3, 2015) —  Lonesome River Band
has a plethora of good news to kick off the summer including a #1 chart
song and the TV debut for their “Lila Mae” music video TV as they
welcome new band member, Jesse Smathers.

 

Award-winning musician, Jesse Smathers
now joins Lonesome River Band on mandolin and lead & harmony
vocals, replacing Randy Jones who has taken a full-time job outside the
music business.  Jesse lives in Eden, North Carolina and previously
toured with the James King Band, High Voltage and most recently Nothin’
Fancy. Last year, Jesse was inducted in Phi Alpha Mu, a music
fraternity, as a Sinfonian, joining such greats as John Phillip Sousa,
Count Bassie, Duke Ellington, and Andy Griffith. Jesse comes from a long
line of musicians. His grandfather, Harold Smathers, and grand Uncle
Luke Smathers, recorded for June Appal and were awarded the North
Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1993 for their contributions to North
Carolina Folk Music.

 

Jesse’s first show with Lonesome River Band will be Thursday, June 25 at the Jenny Brook Family Bluegrass Festival in Tunbridge, Vermont. Lonesome River Band will again headline the popular Rudy Fest in Grayson, Kentucky June 26-27 with members Sammy Shelor, Brandon Rickman, Mike Hartgrove, Barry Reed, Jesse Smathers, along with Randy Jones’ last performance with the group.

 

Lonesome River Band is currently celebrating a #1 hit song, “Her Love Won’t Turn On A Dime,” from their Mountain Home Music Company album, Turn On A Dime. This fan favorite tune hit the top spot this month on Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine’s National Bluegrass Survey Top 30 Song Chart with the album at #8 on the Top 15 Album Chart.  “Her Love Won’t Turn On A Dime” previously garnered the #1 position seven times on the Bluegrass Today Top 20 Chart and has appeared on SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction’s Most Played Tracks and the Roots Music Reports Top 50 Singles charts as well.

 

Lonesome River Band is also celebrating another hit song, “Lila Mae”
that made its debut #5 on the Bluegrass Today Monthly Top 20 Song Chart
for June and continues to chart on the publication’s Weekly Top 20. 

 

“Lila Mae” was released as the band’s first concept music video that has been a big hit with LRB’s loyal fans. The video will make its TV debut when it airs in the U.S. the weeks of June 29 and July 20 on Bluegrass Ridge
– a thirty-minute, weekly TV show featuring some of the best names in
bluegrass music. The show airs on Heartland TV, The Family Channel,
Angel Two / Dish TV, Blue Highways TV, and AMG TV. Each episode is
hosted by an artist in the genre, and recent hosts include award-winning
vocalist Carrie Hassler, Jamie Johnson of the Grascals, Doyle Lawson, and many more. 

 

Lonesome River Band continues their busy tour with performances at the Dinwiddie Music Fest at the Virginia Motorsports Park this Friday, June 5 and then on to the Sally Gap Bluegrass Music Festival in Williamsburg, Kentucky on Saturday.  Next week, they will perform at the Festival of the Bluegrass at the Kentucky Horse Park on June 11, before heading to California for the Huck Finn Jubilee on June 13 and headlining the Laguna Beach Live Bluegrass & BBQ at the Ranch at Laguna Beach on June 14. On June 16, Lonesome River Band will perform at the Crooked Road Mountains of Music Homecoming in Bristol, Tenn.