Grammy and Emmy award-winning musicians Bill Mize and Beth Bramhall will be featured in The Back Room of the Barton County Arts Center at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is $10 and, since seating is limited, advance reservations or tickets are encouraged, said Karen Neuforth with the Arts Council. Seats may be reserved weekday afternoons at the Arts Center, 1401 Main, Great Bend, by calling 620-792-5221 or by e-mail through bartonarts1@sbcglobal.net.
Mize’s music will also be featured this Saturday on KHCC, Radio Kansas, on the program "Night Crossings," from 10-10:40 p.m. Program host Andrea Springer has a weekly segment called "Guitar Masters."
Growing up in Tennessee in the 1950s, Mize drew inspiration from the region’s legends of soul, bluegrass, mountain music and jazz. He captured national attention in the 1980s acoustic guitar movement, and has earned a reputation for meticulously crafted original music that blends delicate highland melodies and greasy Memphis style grooves with a tone that is recognized worldwide.
Among other honors, he is a past winner of The Winfield National Guitar Competition at The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, an event described by Guitar Player Magazine as the "U.S. Open of guitar competitions." Mize received a Grammy Award for his collaboration with David Holt on the recording Stellaluna, and spots on the popular Windham Hill Guitar Sampler and Masters of the Acoustic Guitar by Narada Records.
His music was recently featured in the new Ken Burns documentary, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea," which aired on PBS in 2009.
A ranger by day and composer by night, Bramhall is an accordionist and pianist with several CDs to her credit. She won a Regional Northwest Emmy (Cultural/Historical) for "Sun River Homestead," PBS Documentary, Original Soundtrack and Music Supervision (Film by Maggie Carey) and a NAMMY, Native American Music Award (Record of the Year), for her accordion work for Jim Boyd on "Stick Games."
This program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the City of Great Bend and CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Great Bend.
