Mark Templeton & Pocket Change Will Bring Bluegrass Gospel To The 10th Annual Bath Bluegrass Jamboree

Warm Springs, VA – The 10th Annual Bath Bluegrass Jamboree is Saturday and Mark Templeton and Pocket Change will be making its second appearance at the show. Templeton is looking forward to a visit in the area, which is something he doesn’t get to do often, since the group stays busy. All the members work full time jobs and play up to 50 dates a year, mostly on weekends. In all, Templeton has been playing music for forty years and his group has recorded twelve CDs.

“We play a little bit different style of bluegrass,” says Templeton. “It’s more gospel and it’s kind of like southern gospel singing with the banjo. We just love to pick and sing and looking forward to coming to Bath County again, always love coming there.”

“I’m originally from Buena Vista, which I tell the folks there that I used to hate coming across the mountain to play the Bath County Chargers, especially with Buggs Phillips and that bunch. They always were a tough competitor no matter what the sport was.”

“My daddy told me back when I was, I don’t know, fifteen years old and was playing even back then on the weekends and going to school and so forth,” says Templeton. “He said, You know, when it gets to where it’s not fun, you need to get out of it.’ Well, I’m fifty six years old and have been doing it for a long time and it’s still fun to me. We love to play, we love to sing and we love the people in this type of music. And of course we love the people we play to, you know, those people become your friends and you get to see people that maybe you’ve never seen before and you make another friend.”

The 10th Annual Bath Bluegrass Jamboree is Saturday April 21 from 6 to 9 pm at Bath County High School in Hot Springs. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students ages 13 to 18 and 12 and under get in free. Auditorium doors open at 5:15 and food will be available beginning at 4:30. Southern Rail Express and Little Roy Lewis and Lizzie Long will also perform.

The Bath Bluegrass Jamboree is a fundraiser for Allegheny Mountain Radio station WCHG 107.1 FM in Hot Springs. For more information call WCHG at 540-839-5400 or visit Allegheny Mountain Radio.org