WFWM: Award-Winning Bluegrass Bass Player Missy Raines

Palace Theatre, 31 E. Main St. in Frostburg

WFWM Public Radio and Palace Theatre Present Award-Winning Bluegrass Bass Player Missy Raines

WFWM Public Radio and the Palace Theatre will host Missy Raines in concert on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 31 E. Main St. in Frostburg. Doors will open at 7 p.m. The concert is a benefit for Frostburg State University’s WFWM Public Radio.

Raines, the most awarded bass player in International Bluegrass Music Association history, returns to her hometown area with her touring band Allegheny. Raines, who was born in Cumberland, Md., and raised in nearby Short Gap, W.Va., is a 10-time winner of the IBMA “Bass Player of the Year” award. In addition to the Bass Player awards, she’s received multiple awards from the IBMA for Recorded Event of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2019, Raines was featured in The Country Music Hall of Fame as part of its American Currents exhibit. In January of 2020, she debuted on the Grand Ole Opry with her band Allegheny.

Growing up in Short Gap, Raines credits her parents, who were not musicians but music lovers, with providing her the inspiration to become a musician. They took her to country and bluegrass music concerts throughout the region where she quickly developed a desire to play on the stage. She also continues to draw inspiration from the mountains surrounding her hometown. Her band’s name, Allegheny, is taken from those very mountains.

On her latest release “Highlander,” Raines has given another tip of the hat to the region. Working with producer Alison Brown, she is joined by a thoughtfully curated list of guests, including Kathy Mattea, Laurie Lewis, Dudley Connell, Michael Cleveland and Danny Paisley, to create an album that at once honors Raines’ deep bluegrass roots even as she cultivates them.

Standout tracks include “Who Needs a Mine,” a Raines original that reflects on the impact of the opioid crisis in West Virginia and features fellow West Virginian Kathy Mattea; “I Would Be a Blackbird,” featuring fellow female bluegrass pioneer Laurie Lewis; and the album’s first single, “These Ole Blues,” with bluegrass icon Danny Paisley sharing vocals with Raines.

Tickets can be purchased at Main Street Books, 2 E. Main St. in Frostburg, or reserved by calling 301-689-5605. Tickets, if not sold out, will also be available at the Palace Theatre box office the night of the concert.

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