Abita Opry Media - 2010-10 featuring the Petty Bones, Smokey's Farmland band, the Slow Pokes, and Sherman Bernard

MEDIA - AO2010-10

The Abita Springs Opry is a series of music concerts held six times a year and is produced by a nonprofit organization, Abita Opry Inc. The show has the mission of preserving and presenting Louisiana "Roots" music. Our music is played primarily acoustically, in its original form.

Our main thrust is old-time Country, Bluegrass, and traditional Southern Gospel music, but we often present other forms of traditional Louisiana music such as Cajun, Zydeco, Irish, or other types that reflect the many different groups of people who are part of our diverse culture.

The Petty Bones
These are veteran Opry performers. Anne and Jerry Crowell each offer great vocals. Anne's sweet voice can and has captivated Opry audiences for several years and we are proud that they are one of our regular house bands. Harvey Jones on mandolin and slide guitar with Bobby Belloni on bass, rounds out the group. They offer a variety of songs accompanied by acoustic instruments and have a lot of humorous moments.

Smokey's Farmland Band
We like to have bluegrass as a regular feature at the Opry, and we are always glad to see young musicians preserving the traditions. This is a very strong group of bluegrass musicians who will be traveling all the way from Atlanta specifically to perform on the Opry stage. We are flattered that musicians will travel that far to be on the Opry and this group will not disappoint our audience.

The Slow Pokes
Tom and the other band members go back to the early days of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues. He is a veteran performer from the old days when young people congregated at any of a number of dances that were held around town. It is a style of music that he and his group are keeping alive and we are proud that the Opry stage will help in that effort.

Sherman Bernard
One of the greatest musical traditions in existence is that which is still being preserved by the New Orleans brass bands. They were one of the originating elements in the evolution of jazz, and it is part of the tradition of performing at Jazz funerals where the unique New Orleans tradition of second lining originated. They promise to fill the hall with their jazzy brassy sounds.