The Blue Ridge Parkway is a venerable institution in our part of the world. This scenic drive runs 469 miles, from Shenandoah National Park (south of Charlottesville, VA) to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina (southwest of Asheville).

The road winds through the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia, and the Pisgah and Nantahal in North Carolina. Almost every mile avoids population centers of any kind, and with easy access off and on along the way, is a tourist favorite for its spectacular mountain vistas of the Blue Ridge region.

Of course this region has been home to a great deal of bluegrass and old time music, and the seminal artists who defined it. The National Parks Service and the National Council for the Traditional Arts jointly operate a venue near Galax, VA to acknowledge the musical history of the area, The Blue Ridge Music Center.

The Parkway is celebrating 2010 as their 75th Anniversary with a full year’s worth of special events along the way. Things kick off this Saturday with a benefit show near Asheville, NC featuring what will surely be a memorable musical aggregation.

Billed as The Blue Ridge All Stars, this one-time grouping of musicians born and bred in the VA/NC mountain region includes Doyle Lawson on mandolin, Sammy Shelor on banjo, Bryan Sutton on guitar, Jim Van Cleve on fiddle and Tim Surrett on bass.

Jim told us that Bryan Sutton put the group together.

“Bryan Sutton called me back in April or May about this show, and it’s something I’ve been looking forward to ever since then! It’s a big honor to be involved in a BIG SHOW of this nature, and the band Bryan has assembled will be a BLAST to play with!!!”

Singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith is also on the show, which will be held in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at the Asheville Civic Center. Proceeds from the show will go towards the funding for the 75th Anniversary events during 2010.

You can find full concert details on the BRP 75th site.

On the heels of IBMA week, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver have announced a new association with The Harper Agency, who will represent the group for Church shows and Christian music events.

Doyle’s secular shows and bluegrass festival appearances will continue to be booked by The Paradigm Agency.

Lawson also reports that their brand new, official Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver bandanas are now available, and should be up on his web site later this week. No festival getup is complete without one!

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver has a new member. Corey Hensley has come aboard singing tenor and playing guitar.

Corey is a native West Virginian who has played and sung bluegrass and Gospel music since he was a young boy. He spent time on bass with Change Of Heart, a Southern Gospel group, and more recently with Jim & Valerie Gabeheart, a bluegrass Gospel band. Like so many talented bluegrass artists, Hensley is also proficient on banjo and guitar.

Doyle, however, brought him to the band for his clear, powerful voice. He debuted with Quicksilver this past weekend.

A family man at heart, Corey had previously resisted offers to perform full time, but I suppose that Doyle can be very persuasive.

National Public Radio has posted the audio online from the recent Mountain Stage performances by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and The Lovell Sisters. They both appeared on the show earlier this month, along with Steve Earle, Sara Watkins and King Wilkie.

Doyle’s set featured songs from his current Rounder CD, Lonely Street, plus a couple of their all-time favorites like Blue Train. The music is great as always, and the audio engineer actually discovered the banjo after a few songs.

The Lovells’ segment is also made up from material on their latest CD, Time To Grow, a self-produced effort that marked their shift from a teen act to a group of serious young musicians. Jessica Lovell spoke to us at length last year about the travails they experienced in getting it released, and what led them to reject a major label contract with a glidepath to mainstream pop success.

You can read that interview on The Bluegrass Blog.

The Sara Watkins set from Mountain Stage is also available online.