Spring has sprung and this busy month of April really gets things going with the beginning of the concert season featuring many fine acts coming through California. One such act, the multi-award-winning Edgar Loudermilk, is no stranger to the California scene after playing with five and counting separate acts (Rhonda Vincent, IIIrd Tyme Out, etc…) on the Fathers Day Festival main stage plus appearances at the Music Camp. He brings a bit of old and new with his band including Zack Autry on mandolin and vocals, Jamey Pittman on guitar, and IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year Nominee, Anthony Howell playing the five-string banjo.
Edgar received the following awards this year.
2023 SPBGMA “Bass Fiddle Performer of the Year” Award
2023 SPBGMA “Songwriter of the Year” Nominee
2023 “Male Vocalist of the Year” Evan Dickerson Bluegrass Awards
Looking at his website, and the CBA Events Calendar you can see the band is covering a lot of ground as they come down through Oregon and enter the Golden State on April 8 with a house concert in Willits.
Thu, Apr 6 @ 6:00PM
The Broadway Theater, Malin, OR
Fri, Apr 7 @ 7:00PM
KYAC 90.1 Radio at Stewart’s Hall, Mill City, Oregon
Sat, Apr 8 @ 7:00PM
House Concert, Willits, CA
Tue, Apr 11 @ 7:00PM
Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds, Quincy, CA
Wed, Apr 12 @ 7:30PM
Amado’s, San Francisco, CA
Thu, Apr 13 @ 12:00PM — 2:00PM
Salesforce Park, San Francisco, CA
Thu, Apr 13 @ 7:00PM
House Concert, Folsom, CA
Fri, Apr 14 @ 7:00PM
Morgan Hill Grange, Morgan Hill, CA
Sat, Apr 15 @ 7:30PM
Shutts Fabricators, Huntington Beach, CA 92649
I spoke with Edgar and he is quite excited to return west and was happy to share the following.
We love getting the chance to come out west and work. I used to do this every single year but this is the first time we’ve gotten a chance to do it since Covid so it’s gonna be good to get back into this routine of coming out west. I’ve met a lot of people and made good friends out there at the Fathers Day Festival, Music Camp, and other events. I’ve played Grass Valley with every band I’ve ever been in. I played it with Rhonda, played it with IIIrd Tyme Out, played it with Marty Raybon, plus with Adkins & Loudermilk then again with our band. Of course, we did some other shows and festivals going back from 2015. I loved Plumas when it was there and Supergrass in Bakersfield plus the Great 48 but Grass Valley is one of the best we’ve played and it has a lot of great elements to it including the camp and the Youth programs.
The tour is a little bit of everything from house concerts to a performing arts center and the Plumas Sierra County fairgrounds in Quincy then head on to San Francisco where we’ll be at Armando’s and the Salesforce Park before we head over to the Sacramento area to a sold-out show at the Folsom Opera House. Then we turn south to the Morgan Hill Grange before wrapping it up at Mark Shutts’ place in Huntington Beach and heading out of California to a dinner show in Phoenix.
I asked how he is finding the return to touring.
For us, it’s up man. This is the busiest I’ve ever been. This year we’ll have well over 100 gigs all over the place, NY, Fla, Ontario, Ark, Oklahoma… The momentum is good, we’re in the studio with a strong lineup and I can tell the Awards I won this spring have given the tour a big shot in the arm. It seems that people are just ready to get back out there. You know, bands that play a lot in front of people, they build their fan base and that’s what we’re trying to do. Things are moving good for us but I’ve heard a lot of artists have gone the other way so I’m hoping for the best. I don’t personally think the shows are full. The crowds are not back to where they were pre-Covid. I’m playing more shows but I think it’s around 80% so it’s in the right direction. The smaller venues seem to be more full.
He had this say about the material they are playing.
We’re still working off of the last album The Dark Side of Lonesome, but we’re in the studio and playing some new stuff off of that. I’m expecting that to be out this summer so we’re kinda testing that material out on this tour. I’m writing a bunch of Cowboy music these days so we’ve got a few Cowboy songs in the mix and people are really loving them. And of course, a lot of familiar material we’ve been doing for years including the last single I wrote for my daughters called I Hope She Sings. That video features a bunch of pictures from friends like Rhonda of their kids and of course my girls. I wrote it when they were young and I wanted to release it when they were older in their teens.
Finally, I wanted to know what makes a show or tour special for him.
A lot of my stuff is original. I have over seventy songs and six or seven albums out and that puts our own thumbprint on the show. My distant relatives the Louvin Brothers wrote a lot and just part of my MO is telling a story and that gets people set up to listen more closely. I love story songs so it’s special to me to get to tell them to share those stories with the crowds.
That’s it, get out and see this legend and support live music.
You can follow Edgar on his website or on Facebook. To learn more about how to attend any of these events, visit https://www.edgarloudermilk.com/shows – and you can always learn more about Bluegrass and Old Time events in your area by visiting the CBA Calendar of events https://californiabluegrass.org/calendar/”
