New bluegrass group Wilson and Cross takes the stage

Wilson and Cross, a new bluegrass group hailing from East Tennessee, will take the stage June 27 for the final night of the Nokian Tyres Summer Nights concert series. 

The show starts at 6:30 p.m. on the Rhea County Courthouse lawn, and food trucks will be available. Bring chairs and blankets and enjoy the finale of the seventh annual Nokian Tyres Summer Nights concert series hosted by the Rhea Heritage Foundation.

This talented band is a collaboration of members from The Deep River Boys, The Appalachian Stringband, and The Volunteer Skyway Boys, blending their rich musical experiences into an eclectic mix of traditional bluegrass, gospel, folk, western, and jazz, from the early 1900s to the 1970s.

The band includes Johnny Wilson, from Spring City, singing lead and harmony vocals, playing upright bass and guitar, Logan Cross, from Cleveland, singing lead and vocal harmony and playing banjo and fingerstyle guitar. Nate Demaria, from Chattanooga, playing fiddle. Todd Standridge, from Tellico Plains, playing lead guitar and mandolin. Lucas Holder, from Louisville, TN, singing lead and harmony vocals and playing backup and lead guitar, and mandolin. 

“Wilson and Cross is a new, energetic, up-and-coming group of musicians who play an eclectic mix of traditional American music on bluegrass instruments,” Cross said. “We also pay tribute to artists and bands of the past, while replicating their music and style in the present.” 

Although a young group with most of the members still in their 20s, Wilson and Cross recorded its first album this spring. Original numbers on that album include “Throw that Jezebel Down,” by Johnny Wilson, and “Bubbling Creek,” a banjo instrumental written by Logan Cross. Traditional favorites include “Nine-pound Hammer,” “Lost to a Stranger,” “Cattle Call,” “Dust Bowl Children,” “Theme Time,” and “Dig a Hole in the Meadow (Darling Corey).” 

“Each member of the group has a unique style of singing and playing,” Cross explained, “and we come together to combine those styles to create a unique sound. We also take different bluegrass, gospel, country, and western standards and put a different spin on them.”