How to go
What: Blue Highway
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27
Where: Parrish Auditorium, Miami University Hamilton
Cost: $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, staff and $12 for students and children younger than 12.
HAMILTON— The Blue Highway leads to Miami University Hamilton this weekend as the bluegrass group celebrates its 15th anniversary.
The band will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at Miami University Hamilton’s Parrish Auditorium.
Tim Stafford, who sings and plays guitar for Blue Highway, attended graduate school at Miami University from 1984 to 1986, studying for a doctorate in history, he said. He also just happened to attend bluegrass shows at Miami University Hamilton during that stretch, before he found himself on the other side of the stage.
Stafford played with singer Alison Krauss’ band, winning a Grammy for his work with her. He left Krauss’ band in 1992 to spend time with his new son, Daniel, but eventually “got the itch to start a part-time group. It ended up not being that part time,” he said.
Indeed, since first taking the stage on Dec. 31, 1994, Blue Highway has become one of the most acclaimed groups in bluegrass. They’ve received two Grammy nominations, a Dove Award, topped the Bluegrass Unlimited radio charts, and won numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards.
Howard Espstein, the director of Miami University Hamilton’s Artist Series, took note of the group almost from the beginning.
“They always do well for us. The first time we brought them here, they were not as well known, They’ve been here three or four times before and the first time had to be 14 years ago,” he said.
Dobro player Ron Ickes is the musician most awarded by the IBMA, winning their dobro player award 11 times. The group’s latest CD, “Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection” is mostly a greatest hits compilation with a few new songs. The band will play many songs from that CD during its Hamilton show, Ickes said.
“We were fortunate when we started the band that we had several guys who could sing real well,” Ickes said. “It’s a very versatile and entertaining, wide variety. Everybody in the band is great.”
Tickets for the show cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and staff and $12 for students and children younger than 12.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.
About the Author