Put the grassroots country music of Starkville-based Nash Street and the grand old Delta Queen steamboat together. Throw in a low country boil, an eager audience, and what do you get? Good times and a music video that will herald the next stage of the talented quintet”s career.
“We cannot even begin to tell how excited we are about the fun opportunities that have presented themselves to us over the past few weeks,” said mandolin player Caroline Melby of Starkville. The video will be filmed in Chattanooga, Tenn., Sunday, June 27, to the group”s song “Mississippi Queen” off their new album. Golden Triangle and area fans are being urged to come up for the party.
“We”re filming a concert aboard the historic Delta Queen riverboat,” said Melby. “We need as many people as possible in the crowd cheering us on; it would be a major asset to the integrity of the video.”
The partnership between The Delta Queen, Nash Street and Distant Lands Productions out of Greenville and Nashville, Tenn., will also hopefully impact the future of the steamboat, getting her back where she belongs, floating down the river, according to the moored vessel”s spokespeople.
Events kick off Sunday on the Queen with a low country boil from 6-7 p.m., a concert by Nash Street from 7-8 p.m., immediately followed by a live performance recorded for the video. Admission is $20 per person.
Artfully bridging the gap between country music and traditional bluegrass, sisters Hannah and Caroline Melby, Daniel Hare, Clay Lezon and Ben Mathis are in the process of relocating to Nashville, moving their base to the music mecca.
Winning the prestigious Colgate Country Showdown in 2008 brought the band $100,000 and the title of “Best New Act in Country Music,” along with a whirlwind of performances, radio interviews and press. They”ve since opened for artists including Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington and Clay Walker.
The legendary Queen, the last fully operational, overnight passenger steamboat in the country, is now a landmark hotel. The grand lady had logged more than two million miles, carried more than half a million passengers and is the only boat to be inducted into the National Marine Hall of Fame while still in service.
For more information about Sunday”s event, contact the Delta Queen Hotel, docked at 100 River Street in Chattanooga, at 423-468-4500.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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