Opera House gets big shot of roots-music medicine

Old Crow Medicine Show, a band that mixes American roots music and rock and roll, will play in front of a sold-out crowd at Nelsonville's Stuart's Opera House tonight.

Within a week of announcing the show, Stuart's Opera House sold out of tickets for the event, something of a rarity for Stuart's.

The band has played the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, opened for Dolly Parton and toured with Merle Haggard, bringing a unique sound of Americana music to Nelsonville. The band usually plays to audiences of a few thousand, but Stuart's Opera House will provide a chance for them to play to a significantly smaller audience, said Tim Peacock, executive director for the Opera House.

"Stuart's Opera House has established a reputation for being a really great place for a show," Peacock said. "Even though they knew they wouldn't be playing to as many people, they knew it would be a good show."

With 400 seats at Stuart's Opera House, the audience will be much closer to the fiddling, banjo-picking band made up of Kevin Hayes, Ketch Secor, Morgan Jahnig, Willie Watson and Gill Landry.

A quintet that was discovered by folk-legend Doc Watson playing in front of a pharmacy in North Carolina now plays to audiences that represent a cross-section of American music. Tonight's audience probably will draw in college students, bluegrass fans, old-time music lovers and middle-aged, working-class music lovers. From rodeo cowboys to aging hippies, the fan base of Old Crow Medicine Show will be out in force tonight.

Old Crow Medicine Show has released three albums since the band signed with Nettwerk Records in 2003 - "O.C.M.S.," "Big Iron World" and "Tennessee Pusher" - but they've been together since they met in New York in 1998, according to the band's Web site. They recorded three records before 2003 - "Greetings from Wawa" (2000), "Eutaw" (2001) and "Live" (2003).

The band has played such epic music festivals as Bonnaroo, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and maintains a heavy touring schedule throughout the year. The band is stopping in Nelsonville en route to the State Theatre in Kalamazoo, Mich., Wednesday, the Vic Theatre in Chicago Thursday, the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday and the Lovett Auditorium in Murray, Ky., Saturday.