After Jack Performs in Monterey Saturday April 9

The Highland County Arts Council presents After Jack in concert Saturday night.  The performance is part of the Arts Council’s 2nd Saturdays @ 7 concert series.    After Jack is a vocal trio made up of Emily Blankenship-Tucker, Rachel Blankenship-Tucker and Catherine Backus.

All the members of After Jack sing and play a variety of instruments and Emily Blankenship-Tucker calls the group eclectic.

We’ve been described as a roots group, an americana group, but I would say we’re classic country meets bluegrass and old time,” says Emily.   “We write a lot of our own music.  Catherine is the newest member of our group and she’s a phenomenal songwriter and comes from a solo career of her own.    We all write some, so we have sort of a combination of new music that sounds old and some of our favorite traditional tunes and songs as well.”

Music cut – “Henry Lee”

“I think the most important thing to us is a sense of community, shared joy and the energy that audiences bring to the performances and the energy that we love to be a part of and share with others,” says Emily.  “It’s really about telling stories, about sharing old stories and old tunes.  It’s about finding ways to connect with each other and now, especially after we’ve been away from live performance, to sort of tip toe back out into the world.  That shared sense of community is really more powerful than it even was before, but I think that’s always been a big part of what we love to do.”

Rachel, Emily and the third original member of the group met while working at a theatre company in Ferrum Virginia.  As part of that, they were involved with a children’s theatre company called The Jack Tale Players.  The group formed from that experience, so for them this group was After Jack.

“We’re just really looking forward to Saturday,” says Emily.   “I’ll tell you After Jack has been very, very cautious through the Covid pandemic.  We have really laid low for the last two years.  So, the last time After Jack performed was March 1, 2020 and so this concert on Saturday night, April 9, 2022, is going to be our return to the stage.  So that’s really, really exciting and we’re hoping to be able to do it safely and joyfully and we’re just really looking forward to coming and sharing that with you.”

After Jack performs Saturday night at 7pm at The Highland Center in Monterey.  Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students 16 and older.  Children attend free with adults.  Masks are required at the performance.

The Highland County Arts Council is a supporter of Allegheny Mountain Radio.

Story By

Bonnie Ralston

Bonnie Ralston is the Assistant Station Coordinator at WVLS and a Highland County news reporter. She began volunteering at Allegheny Mountain Radio in the fall of 2005. In 2006 she became an AMR employee and worked in Bath County for eight years as the WCHG Station Coordinator and then as the news reporter there. She began working in radio while in college and has stayed connected to radio, in one way or another, for more than thirty years. She grew up in Staunton, Virginia, while spending a lot of time on her family’s farm in Deerfield, Virginia. She enjoys spending time outside, watching old TV shows and movies and tending to her chickens.

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