New Standard brings its bluegrass to the 2026 Gospel Jubilee

A Geographer, a Bass, and the Country the Music Came From

“For me, it was just a fantastic opportunity to start both researching the kind of life that I had lived, and also look at it from kind of a removed perspective.”

Stewart Scales is talking about teaching the geography of Appalachia at Virginia Tech. He could just as easily be describing what he does on a weekend, standing behind an upright bass with New Standard.

The band will be in Hot Springs on Saturday, October 17, for Allegheny Mountain Radio’s Gospel Jubilee — the concert that opens the station’s fall fundraiser. Doors at the Bath County High School auditorium open at 5:00 p.m. and the music runs from 6:00 to 9:00.

It started with a jam

New Standard came together in 2011 among students at Virginia Tech, though the connections ran back further than that.

“Spencer, who played the mandolin, and Zach Brown, who currently plays the guitar for us — they had crossed paths for probably even a decade before that, if not longer, playing in the music scene around Bedford County and Franklin County, where they’re from,” Scales said.

He came in about a month after the band formed, and by accident.

“I actually just met Spencer by chance, and I got invited to a jam that he was at, and as it turns out, they actually needed a bass player, so they asked me to join the band as well.”

“So most of the members had known each other and kind of been in the same circles for years, but then we ended up just kind of forming a band years later, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Taught himself the rest

Music came through his father first.

“My father actually played guitar a lot. He started out in rock and roll, and he got me my first guitar, and I started learning some things from him.”

After that he was on his own.

“Then I kind of developed my own path — kind of taught myself banjo, and then taught myself upright bass. From there, it really just kind of fell into the role of a bass player. I really enjoy that, and I kind of have the most fun with it.”

Knowing what they had

The band moved from restaurants around the New River Valley to festival stages — Nothin’ Fancy, Stoney Creek, Sedalia — and opened for the Lost & Found at the Harvester in Rocky Mount. Scales says the turn came early, and he credits the people around him.

“That was probably really just a couple of years in. I think it’s a real testament to all of the rest of the guys, too, in that they’re excellent musicians.”

They were clear-eyed about what the band could be.

“We’re also kind of realistic in that we probably couldn’t have turned this into a full-time career, just based on where we are in our lives. But even still, all of the members have also kind of sat in and played with other touring groups from time to time.”

“Really, I think it’s just the quality of the musicianship and the precision that these guys have. Once it started coming together and we kind of realized what we had was kind of special, we decided to start pushing the limits and see how far we could go.”

The classroom and the stage

Scales teaches at Virginia Tech, where he never really left. One of his first courses was the geography of Appalachia.

“It’s just been so special to be able to show how these different instruments work, how the musical techniques work,” he said. “Multiple times I’ve had New Standard, and then other groups that I play with, actually come into my class and show these techniques.”

He teaches students who may have no experience of the place at all.

“To be able to incorporate that for my students who may not have a lot of experience with what life is like in Appalachia — for me, the biggest thing is the ability to give my students a hands-on experience.”

He describes the course as following the geography of Appalachia all the way through: “from the landscape to the people to the culture and music.”

What to expect on the 17th

“Definitely a high-energy and engaging show,” Scales said. “We really love the play off the crowd as well, and so that’s kind of the fun part. If we get an energetic crowd, you’re gonna give it right back to them.”

The set reaches across the whole genre.

“We play a wide variety of the bluegrass genre — everything from the founders, Lester and Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe songs that they wrote, but then all the way up through many of the traditional gospel tunes, more modern gospel tunes, and also some of our own originals.”

“I think the thing that our listeners will get the most is a wide variety, but also a lot of energy as well. And we just really look forward to playing this show.”

New Standard performs alongside headliner Sunday Drive, the Dove Award-nominated trio from Knoxville, Tennessee, and Richard and Karen Hise with their daughter Jenna Newmarker, who open the evening. Admission is a free will offering.