Chris Silver band comes to Oak Center

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Chris Silver, known throughout the country as a virtuoso flatpick guitar and mandolin player, will appear with his band at 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Oak Center General Store, rural Lake City.

Silver has played at theaters, clubs, festivals and workshops from coast to coast, and in Japan and Europe. He is known for past appearances with the bands Stoney Lonesome and The Kate MacKenzie Band.

From 1987 to 1992 he sang and played mandolin and guitar with Stoney Lonesome, Minnesota’s premier bluegrass band throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. Stoney Lonesome toured nationally and overseas, appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion,” and recorded two albums for Red House Records.

When Kate MacKenzie, the band’s Grammy-nominated lead singer, left Stoney Lonesome to pursue a solo career, she invited Silver to tour with her in the mid-1990s.

Since then, he has taken his “jamgrass” and acoustic folk to new levels with original songs and arrangements that include traditional Appalachian, bluegrass, and jam band influences.

“His soulful interpretations of traditional American music have led to national airplay and impressive reviews in magazines including Flatpick Guitar, Sing Out, Bluegrass Unlimited and Dirty Linen,” according to Oak Center spokesmen.

Stretching his horizons beyond bluegrass, he has been invited to record with blues, swing, cajun/zydeco, and country artist over the last 20 years.

He can be heard on recordings by Taj Mahal, Neil and Leandra, Kate MacKenzie, Brian Wicklund, Monroe Crossing and Ruby Boots.

Two of his CDs, “Souls and Spirits” and “Over Time,” have been nominated for Minnesota Music Awards. This past summer, he won the Minnesota Flatpick Guitar Championship held at the Minnesota State Fair.

For the past five years, Silver has led his own group, featuring some of the top acoustic instrumentalists in the region. Members of the band include Pete Mathison on bass, Jeff Rogers on drums, Wayne Beezley on mandolin, and Lance Rhicard on banjo.

“Fool Yourself,” their latest release, is a culmination of musical interests including his original songs along with blues, Irish, bluegrass and folk influences.

Silver’s sound combines the sounds of American roots music with contemporary songwriting and instrumental arrangements.

For more about them, call (715) 426-4836, or go online to www.chrissilvermusic.com.

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