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TRYON—The bluegrass supergroup Songs From the Road Band will play at the Tryon Fine Arts Center Americana Concert Series at its amphitheater on Thursday, May 16. The band’s music is known for its virtuosic picking, singing, and Grammy-award-winning songwriting.

“It’s too progressive for the traditionalists and too traditional for the progressives,” jokes Charles Humphrey III, the band’s bass player and founding member of the famed bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. 

Humphrey first played in his middle school orchestra and was classically trained at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He moved to Asheville in 1999, where he started songwriting and playing bluegrass. In 2006, he joined Mark Schimick and Sam Wharton to form the Songs From the Road Band. 

Wharton plays guitar, Schimick plays mandolin and they’re joined by James Schlender on fiddle and Gabe Epstein on banjo. The band has recorded six studio albums, and several of its recent singles have gone to the top of the Bluegrass Today Grassicana chart. 

The band Dirty Blanket was originally scheduled for the May 16 date but had to cance,l and TFAC was able to book the Songs from the Road Band to take its place. Humphrey says he hopes audience members enjoy the band’s mix of original and cover songs and their blend of genres. 

“We hope they have a blast because we know we’re going to be having a good time on stage spreading joy through music,” says Humphrey. 

This is the third of five concerts in TFAC’s 2024 Americana Amphitheater Concert Series. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $10 at tryonarts.org or at the gate on the day of the show for $12. Beer, wine, and other beverages will be available for purchase and there’s a food truck at every concert. The show starts at 6:30 p.m.