Willard Gayheart Family Band, Featuring Dori Freeman
The Prism Coffeehouse, WTJU FM and the Virginia Folklife Program proudly present
WILLARD GAYHEART FAMILY BAND FEATURING DORI FREEMAN — “Crooked Road veteran musician (& renowned pencil artist) with all-star family band”
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8TH 2019
*Special Art Show* at 5pm
Concert at 7pm
Both at
C’Ville Coffee, Charlottesville, 1301 Harris Street, Charlottesville, VA 22903
Ticket prices: $15 advance/$18 Door. Click HERE for TICKETS.
The Prism Coffeehouse in collaboration with WTJU 91.1 FM and The Virginia Folklife Program are very excited to present a unique artshow featuring the exquisite pencil artistry of Willard Gayheart, together with a concert with his family band, consisting of Willard on guitar and vocals, his son-in-law and mandolin wizard, Scott Freeman, his granddaughter, rising Americana star, Dori Freeman, on guitar and vocals, and Dori’s husband, drummer extraordinaire Nick Falk, who has been touring of late in guitarist Molly Tuttle’s band.
Willard Gayheart was born on June 5, 1932, in eastern Kentucky in the tiny mountain community of Cordia, beside Lotts Creek, not far out of Hazard. In contrast to his later adopted home of Galax and Grayson County, Virginia, there were not many people playing music in Cordia when Willard was growing up. Willard’s mother, Dora Grigsby Gayheart, could play some chords on a guitar, though, and could tune one by ear.
Music hooked Willard early…he recalls that in his youth, “what really got me was when my dad brought home that phonograph player. It was one of those old ones, you know, the kind you wind up, and it came with about a dozen or so records. I remember us listening to a new 1936 recording of Mainer’s Mountaineers singing ‘Maple on the Hill.’ I listened to that record over and over. I just couldn’t get enough of it. From that point on, I knew I wanted a guitar.”
After years of waiting, Willard would get his wish. At age 12, Willard was given the job of starting the fires each morning in each of the four potbelly stoves in his high school. He had his teacher, Ms. Sloan, save the money he earned and by the end of the year he had accumulated $3.00, enough to buy a used Montgomery Ward parlor-sized guitar, which he played constantly, learning to accompany himself singing.
At 16, he attended Berea College for two years, joined the Air Force during the Korean war, returning to Berea after his service, and enrolleing in an English composition class where his professor, Ms. Faulkner, changed his life and greatly contributed to his eventual path as an artist and songwriter.
“I was always struggling with writing, until Ms. Faulkner sat me down. She told me to use my own voice, to write about the life and people I know, and not be ashamed. Looking back, that changed everything for me.”
Willard Gayheart EPK from Ray Foley on Vimeo.
In 1962, his family relocated to Galax, Virginia, and Willard found his musical home, joining, forming and recording with bands such as James Lindsey and the Highlanders, Skeeter and the Skidmarks, and Alternate Roots.
Willard retired from his department store day job in the mid-90’s, and turned his focus to his budding career as a pencil artist. Largely because it was difficult to find a good and affordable framer in the area, he opened the Front Porch Gallery with his daughter Jill and son-in-law Scott. He still plays music locally with family and friends. He can be found picking with Scott most every Friday night at the Frame Shop, and for years he, Scott, and Bobby have volunteered to play for visitors of the Blue Ridge Music Center off the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the most cherished and visited stops along the Crooked Road. In recent years, Willard has enjoyed playing with his beloved granddaughter, Scott and Jill’s daughter, Dori Freeman. Already a brilliant songwriter and performer in her early twenties, Dori’s first two releases, the self-titled debut and the follow up Letters Never Read have taken the Americana world by storm. “Just a natural talent. I’m so proud of her,” Willard beams.
It was Dori, along with her producer Teddy Thompson, who got the idea to record Willard’s first album as a featured artist at age 86. Willard wanted this album to be a family affair. It is recorded live, with no overdubs, in the Frame Shop, with Scott, Dori, and Dori’s husband, the fine percussionist Nick Falk. Willard’s old pal Jimmy Zeh joins in on a number as well. The result is a beautifully crafted album by a fine and arguably overlooked songwriter, singing in his own voice about the places and people he knows about, just like Ms. Faulkner encouraged him all those years ago. This recording fittingly joins the countless beautiful images he has created over the years—a collective love letter to his mountains and the souls who have inhabited them.
Of his family band, Willard says “The real challenge for me will be keeping up with the rest of them…They’re so good. Scott is one of the best musicians in the country so it’s always a privilege to play with him and Nick is one of the best percussionists anywhere. Dori though, Dori just sings like a canary. She’s a natural. I can never believe how good she is; it surprises me every time.”
