Friday, April 11, 2025 | 7:30 PM | General Admission
The Long Point String Band is an award-winning Old-Time Acoustic “Neo-Traditional” band from southern WV that blends the authenticity of Old-Time Mountain Music, with the flare of bluegrass.
The band consists of the virtuosic stylings of Hunter Walker, Brian C. Bell, Lewis Prichard and Lars Swanson. Walker is a multi-instrumentalist, champion mountain dulcimer & clawhammer banjo player. A native Appalachian who became enamored with old-time music at an early age, his love and perseverance of the music has garnered him several prestigious awards: four-time WV state mountain dulcimer champion, three-time Galax Old-Fiddlers Convention mountain dulcimer champion, Mid-Eastern regional mountain dulcimer champion, and numerous others. He also is a decorated clawhammer banjo player having won numerous awards including taking the 1st place blue ribbon in the old-time banjo category at the Tazewell Old-Time and Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention.
Bell, also a native Appalachian, has cut his teeth on the bluegrass circuits over the past several years. He performed as a cornerstone member of prominent regional bluegrass bands for more than 10 years, and has played well over a thousand shows and produced and played on numerous recordings. Bell is a first-call veteran guitar player whose rhythmic capabilities are sought after by respected figures in the Bluegrass, and now, Old-Time music genres.
Prichard started playing guitar at age 8, and mandolin at 15. He grew up in a musical family, and is originally from Charleston, WV. He played in Old-Time and Bluegrass bands while in college, and later played in the Virginia bands Mando Mafia and Wildgrass. Pritchard learned to play the fiddle when he was in his twenties, a time when he also traveled extensively in Colorado and Norway playing acoustic music. Today he lives in Beckley, WV, and offers his virtuosity on fiddle and mandolin in the bands Planetary Boardwalk, Greenhouse, and the Long Point String Band.
An upright bassist also from Beckley, WV, Swanson is a favored session and performing musician in various bands in southern WV and the tri-state area. He studies Jazz Double Bass at Marshall University and has played recitals with many prestigious Jazz pedagogues, the Marshall University Jazz faculty group, and the Huntington Symphony.
The Long Point String Band released its debut, self-titled album in July 2016 to positive reviews from fans and fellow musicians alike. A collection of old-time, Appalachian tunes and band and festival favorites, it includes guest musicians Barbara Rosner (upright bass), Cat Deck (bass guitar) and Jason Lockart (percussion).
Folk in Fredonia Music Series is Sponsored by The Gilman Family
This engagement of Long Point String Band is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
