Walker returns with Westbound Rangers
A Hartselle native is coming home Friday night and he’s bringing his Bluegrass band too.
The Westbound Rangers will be performing at Hartselle Fine Arts Center Friday night at 7:30 p.m. for a CD release party for their new independent album “Southern Bread and Butter For It.”
The band features mandolin player Mike Walker, a Hartselle High and Belmont University graduate.
Walker said he’s looking forward to coming back home, seeing his friends and performing in a venue that he used to attend school in when it was F.E. Burleson Elementary.
“It’s going to be pretty cool getting to play at the Fine Arts Center because that’s the building I went to school in,” Walker said. “I haven’t seen it since we were there last year. I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s been restored since then.”
The Westbound Rangers describe their musical style as “olde-time bluegrass rock.” Walker said he didn’t intend on joining a bluegrass band. In fact, it had been a long time since he picked up a mandolin.
“My dad took us around to some church bluegrass jams when I was a kid,” Walker said. “That’s where I had learned to play the mandolin, but I hadn’t played it since then. So Graham Sherill (the group’s leader) asked me to dust it off and the rest is history.”
Walker said the band has a lot of fun during its concerts. They will play a number of light-hearted tunes.
“We even have one song where the audience shouts our name back at us,” Walker said. “We just have a good time during each show. If we didn’t have fun, I don’t think we’d be doing this.”
Walker won’t be the only Hartselle native to perform during the show Friday night. Jaime Smyth will be opening for the band that night.
“We went to school together and she’s going to the same school I went to at Belmont,” Walker said. “It should be a great show for everyone back home.”
Tickets for the event are $10 at The Book Cellar in Hartselle or $15 at the door.
The Westbound Rangers will have a release party Friday night.
