Steep Canyon Rangers to Perform at Pepperdine

Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers will bring their high-energy show to Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 24, 2020 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

Tickets, starting at $22 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu. More information about Steep Canyon Rangers is available at steepcanyon.com.

Since Steep Canyon Rangers formed in 2000 in Asheville, NC, they have developed a remarkable catalogue of original music that links them to the past while also demonstrating their ambitious intent to bring string-based music into contemporary relevance.

The sextet, which is comprised of Woody Platt (guitar and vocals), Graham Sharp (banjo and vocals), Mike Guggino (mandolin/mandola and vocals), Nicky Sanders (fiddle and vocals), Mike Ashworth (drums and vocals), and Barrett Smith (bass and vocals), has received recognition for the nearly two decades it has spent bending and shaping the bluegrass aesthetic, wedding it to elements of pop, country, and folk rock to create something original. As they approach their second decade, Steep Canyon Rangers are still moving forward, searching for new horizons and musical vistas.

Perennial Billboard chart-toppers and frequent collaborators of the renowned banjoist (and occasional comedian) Steve Martin, Steep Canyon Rangers continue to affirm their place as one of the most versatile bands in contemporary American music.

Recently the band shared the results of what is perhaps their most singular musical partnership to date-teaming with Philadelphia soul legends Boyz II Men and their hometown Asheville Symphony to completely overhaul the Rangers' original "Be Still Moses," which was first recorded on their 2007 breakout album Lovin' Pretty Women. On November 29 they also released a live album recorded at MerleFest, North Carolina's (and perhaps the country's) preeminent roots music festival, entitled North Carolina Songbook. Over the course of eight songs, Steep Canyon Rangers play their way through North Carolina musical history-reinterpreting the work of cross-generational North Carolina icons like Elizabeth Cotten, Doc Watson, Ben E. King, and James Taylor in their own unmistakable style.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 800 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

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