Edgar Loudermilk Band Returns to Bluegrass Monday Stage
JONESBORO – The Edgar Loudermilk Band will perform bluegrass at the next KASU-FM Bluegrass Monday concert. The concert will be on Monday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson St., in Paragould.
Edgar Loudermilk is a back-to-back winner of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s Bass Fiddle Performer of the Year. He also received the 2024 Josie Award for Bass Player of the Year. In addition, this talented vocalist has been nominated for more than 50 other music industry awards for his songwriting, recordings, and live performances.
Loudermilk has been a professional bluegrass musician for over two decades. Prior to forming the Edgar Loudermilk Band in 2015, he was a member of Rhonda Vincent’s band The Rage and a member of Marty Raybon’s backing band. He then spent seven years performing with Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out.
While Loudermilk was part of IIIrd Tyme Out, the band won seven consecutive Vocal Group of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Loudermilk has had multiple No. 1 bluegrass music hits, both as a performer and as a songwriter for other artists who have recorded his compositions. His songs have been recorded by Rhonda Vincent, the Spinney Brothers, Dave Adkins, the Wilson Banjo Co., Williamson Branch and Terry Baucom & the Dukes of Drive. The band records for the prestigious Pinecastle Records bluegrass recording label.
The Edgar Loudermilk Band includes banjo player Eddie Hoyle. A banjo player from childhood, Hoyle was included in the 1971 documentary film Bluegrass Country Soul, playing alongside bluegrass legends Earl Scruggs, Sonny Osborne, J.D. Crowe and Bill Emerson. After an over four-decade-long career as a banker, Hoyle retired from that industry and joined the Edgar Loudermilk Band.
Tucker McCandless plays guitar in the band. Nearly 30 years ago, he and Loudermilk were in a band together, and they recently joined forces again in the Edgar Loudermilk Band. McCandless spent over two decades performing in theatre shows around the tourist community of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. While there, he worked with Dolly Parton and served as musical director for the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Theatre.
Guitarist Clint Coker has also recently returned to performing with Loudermilk. Coker was part of Loudermilk’s band in the 2010s, and he toured with Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive until Baucom’s passing. Coker also performed on the Grand Ole Opry with the band of bluegrass superstars Dailey and Vincent.
Mandolinist Bryce Griffin has been playing bluegrass music since he was a young child. His resume includes performing with Ernie Evans’ group The Florida State Bluegrass Band, Remedy Tree and Backline.
More information about the band can be found online.
Tickets to Bluegrass Monday are $10 per person and can be purchased at the door the night of the concert. Everyone 18 and under will receive free admission. Tickets can also be purchased on the KASU website. All ticket proceeds go to the musicians, compensating them for their performance.
Groups of eight or more may request reserved seating by contacting KASU’s Marty Scarbrough. Otherwise, the theatre doors open at 6 p.m. and seating is first-come, first-served.
Acoustic musicians are invited to participate in a bluegrass music jam session at 5 p.m. in the Joe Wessell Building, adjacent to the Collins Theatre. A section of seats will be reserved for jammers and their guests so that they can play until the concert begins.
The Bluegrass Monday concert series is a non-profit presentation of KASU-FM, providing music fans with an affordable and outstanding evening of family-friendly entertainment. These concerts are held on the fourth Monday night of each month except July and December.
These concerts are presented with support from sponsors including the Paragould Advertising & Promotion Commission, Bibb Chiropractic Center, Gardner-Milner Law Firm, the Posey Peddler, Kiss The Cook, Holiday Inn Express and Suites of Paragould, and KASU.
KASU is the public media service of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro broadcasting at 91.9 FM and streaming on a variety of online platforms. For more information, email Marty Scarbrough, KASU program director, or call or 870-972-2367. Additional information is also available on the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
