Bill and Babi Evans celebrate the Bluegrass Harvest Festival on Around This Town
By WTJU
Date: 10/06/2026
Time: 4:30 pm
Bill and Babi Evans will stop by WTJU this Tuesday afternoon to chat about the return of the Bluegrass Harvest Festival to Staunton on October 10. Besides sharing recorded selections from the Lonesome River Band and Missy Raines & Allegheny, who will headline the festival, rumor is Bill and Babi will also perform live for us all. Around This Town airs Tuesdays afternoon from 4-6 (eastern) at 91.1FM, online at wtju.net, and via the WTJU app.
Staunton Alliance Church invites the community to enjoy an afternoon of live bluegrass music, food, and family activities at its Bluegrass Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 10, 2026, from noon to 4 p.m. The free outdoor event will feature performances by Bill and Babi Evans, Missy Raines & Allegheny, and the Lonesome River Band.
The musical lineup includes:
- Bill and Babi Evans will open the festival at noon. Bill Evans is an internationally acclaimed five-string banjo player, composer, author, educator, and music historian whose career spans more than 45 years. A Virginia native, he is widely recognized for his mastery of both traditional and progressive bluegrass banjo styles, as well as his innovative original compositions.
In 2022, Bill received the prestigious Steve Martin Banjo Prize and in 2024, he was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. He is the author of Banjo For Dummies and Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies, books that have introduced countless musicians to the instrument. His extensive recording career includes In Good Company, which reached No. 1 on the Roots Music Report Folk and Bluegrass charts.
Joining Bill is his wife Babi, who has been performing alongside him for the past seven years. Together, they bring a shared love of music and an engaging stage presence to audiences, combining Bill’s remarkable banjo artistry with their musical partnership.
- Missy Raines & Allegheny will perform at 1:15 p.m. A pioneering bassist, vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader, Raines has made a lasting contribution to bluegrass music over a career that began when she was a teenager. She made history in 1998 as the first woman to receive the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Bass Player of the Year award. She has since received the honor a record ten times, more than any other bassist in the organization’s history. Raines has also earned multiple IBMA awards for collaborative recordings and Song of the Year, and her album Royal Traveller received a Grammy nomination. In 2025, she received the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to bluegrass music.
- The Lonesome River Band will take the stage at 2:45 p.m. With a musical history spanning more than four decades, the Lonesome River Band has become one of the most respected and influential groups in bluegrass music. Founded in 1982, the band developed a distinctive sound combining traditional bluegrass with contemporary arrangements, powerful vocals, and exceptional instrumental talent.
The band’s 1991 album, Carrying the Tradition, helped establish its reputation as a major force in bluegrass and earned the group the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Album of the Year award in 1992. The band also received the IBMA’s Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year award in 2012 for its recording of “Angeline the Baker.” Led by acclaimed banjo player Sammy Shelor, the Lonesome River Band continues its long musical tradition. Shelor is a five-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year and received the prestigious Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass in 2011.
