Mountain Heart is back from their big weekend out with Lynyrd Snkyryd, and sent along a report and some photos from the shows.

Fiddler Jim Van Cleve tells us that they had a blast taking bluegrass to the die-hard Skynyrd fans, and that they were delighted - and a bit overwhelmed by the response.

“The whole weekend was definitely a career highlight for Mountain Heart.

The audiences seemed to dig the band’s energy right off the bat. In one of the venues, they were maybe a little hesitant at first, but not too much so. Really, we just got an overwhelming response from the crowds each night. But the show in Boone, at the Holmes Center Arena was one of the most incredible reactions I’ve ever witnessed for an opening band! We had the crowd standing up after every song. And when we finished up with #6 Barn Dance, that crowd went NUTS!! It was a very special moment for us!”

These were large venues (8,000-10,000 seats) full of people ready to see one of their favorite bands, and for an opening acoustic act - let alone a bluegrass band - to get that sort of reaction is quite a feat.

But it wasn’t just the fans that were blown away by Mountain Heart and their frenetic stage energy. The headliners and their entourage took note as well.

“The first night, prior to the show, I don’t think anybody was planning on paying much attention to us, which is understandable. But the crew started gathering around the stage during our sound check, and then during the show, about half the band stood off the side of the stage watching.

As we were leaving the stage that night, we met several of the Skynyrd guys and they were very complimentary.

While we were setting up and sound checking the next day, in Boone, NC, several of the crew, and the stage manager sought us out to say how impressed they were, and how impressed Johnny VanZandt had been.”

Jim said that they were also psyched by the number of Snynyrd fans who bought CDs and other MH merchandise from the sales table after the shows.

“That was really cool, considering that they dug you enough to take something home with them. We’ve had over 100 emails just in the first three days of this week from people who ‘are new fans’ that were at the shows this weekend. That is an outrageous number for us to receive.”

But the news kept getting better for our bluegrass adventurers… (more…)

We posted a few weeks ago when it was announced that Mountain Heart would be opening a number of shows for country rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd.

With those shows coming up this week, the guys are preparing a few surprises to unveil on stage. Their lead singer and guitarist Josh Shilling is a very accomplished pianist, but he has had precious few opportunities to showcase his skills touring with a bluegrass band.

They’ve worked it in for some of the clubs and larger folk festivals, but want to keep it grassy at the bluegrass fests.

Fiddle man Jim Van Cleve shares a bit of info about the Skynyrd shows…

“We are going to incorporate some of the piano stuff into the set this week. We’ve done that a LITTLE bit at the bluegrass festivals, but not too much, as it’s a little outside of what that audience is there to see.

We’ve worked up a full band rendition of Whipping Post since we released Road That Never Ends. It’s a lot of fun, and we’ll be doing that on these rock shows.

We’ve also got some surprise piano solo’s on a couple of our instrumentals.”

Mountain Heart is hoping a lot of their bluegrass buddies will be on hand to voice their support during the opening slots this week.

• September 11 – Danville, VA - Carrington Pavilion – 8:00 p.m.
• September 12 – Boone, NC – Appalachian State University – 8:00 p.m.
• September 13 – Elizabeth City, NC – Coast Guard Support Center – 7:00 p.m.

Mountain Heart is scheduled to play three shows with southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd in September.

Fiddler Jim van Cleve tells us that show promoter Kent Martin was so impressed with the band that he started talking with them about performing in other venues.

Martin knew Mountain Heart vocalist Josh Shilling before he joined the band, and Jim said that he was blown away when he saw Josh with them on stage.

“The promoter saw the high energy presentation of their show and ‘had to have us’ on these shows in front of Skynyrd.”

All three concerts are in the southwest VA and northwest NC areas in mid-September.

• September 11 – Danville, VA - Carrington Pavilion – 8:00 p.m.
• September 12 – Boone, NC – Appalachian State University – 8:00 p.m.
• September 13 – Elizabeth City, NC – Coast Guard Support Center – 7:00 p.m.

Shilling is especially excited about having this chance to open for such industry legends so close to his hometown of Martinsville, VA.

“These shows are going to be a blast! Lynyrd Skynyrd has always been a huge influence on us as musicians and in general, Skynyrd is just a huge group in these areas. Jason Moore and I know this first hand because the Danville show is right in our backyards. We couldn’t be more excited to share the stage and meld our acoustic sound with these southern rock icons!”

Mountain Heart has a show with country act Diamond Rio this next weekend (8/29) and has also been scheduling a number of shows with Tony Rice. All the guys are looking forward to getting their brand of high energy bluegrass before some new audiences.

You can find details on all their live appearances on the band’s web site.