BILL JENKINS AND THE VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN BOYS Bluegrass Band from Newport News, VA

Cost of our performance will vary depending upon distance and whether an overnight is required. WE USE OUR OWN MICS BUT YOU MUST SUPPLY THE SOUND SYSTEM! In 2014 Bill was inducted into the VIRGINIA MUSICAL MUSEUM HALL OF FAME. Earlier that year Bill had performed for a SECOND time at the NATIONAL PRESS CLUB. In 1964, as young teenagers, Bill Jenkins along with Robert and Russell Cottingham, were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play there. During weekends, the young men were playing "Hootenannies" in the D.C. area and were noticed by the Washington correspondent for the Richmond Times Dispatch. He was greatly impressed by their musical ability and that they were playing "traditional" mountain music at such an early age. He arranged for the young men to put on a one-hour evening show. Fifty years later, Bill Jenkins and the Virginia Mountain Boys, and guest, Robert Cottingham, were invited back to perform a special 50th Anniversary Show. It was a historic event in that only one other person in the long history of the Club had ever had a 50th Show, his name was Jack Benny. As a youngster, Bill appeared on the Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond. Later he performed with the Virginia Gentlemen and with Red Allen and the Kentuckians. Bill has performed on the White House lawn and was featured on a nationally syndicated Smithsonian Institute program promoting traditional music. Jenkins founded The Virginia Mountain Boys in 1971 and they have been performing together ever since. Jenkins was born and raised in the Tidewater area of Virginia into a family with a long musical history. Bill's earliest musical influence was with the extended family singing at his aunt's home. As he later recalled, "We were very poor and did not have a car, or a phone, or money for entertainment. Many nights we would just sit around and sing a lot of old songs that had been handed down through the years. Many of these songs such as 'In the Pines', 'Little Bessie', 'Wayfaring Stranger', 'Man of Constant Sorrow' and others I use in my shows today." He also noted that he was strongly influenced by the old time blues singers and the black workers he labored alongside on the family farm. "While working we would sing the old slave songs and hymns. Some of the songs like 'Climbing Jacob's Ladder', 'Old Daniel Prayed', 'Sister Mary', and others,I also use in today's shows. That 'lonesome' sound has always been a large part of my musical influence." Jenkins has collected countless numbers of old songs over his 60 years of performing. His band can sing over 500 songs from memory. With such an extensive repertoire, every show can be different depending on the location, audience, occasion, and Jenkins' "frame of mind". As one of the best cross picking guitarist in the country, Bill is backed up by Ken Worrell, singer and guitarist; Joe Gilley on the bass and the world class five string banjo player, Clyde Bailey, contributes 'breakdowns" and sings baritone. Jenkins and the Virginia Mountain Boys bring to life the authentic music of the Southern Appalachians. This old time music is a reflection of the lives of the early immigrants and their descendants who eked out a meager living in the hills and hollows of these majestic mountains. Entertainment options were few and thus self made music became the norm. This mountain music, heavily influenced by Scots-Irish and African rhythms, later gave birth to early Bluegrass and to many early country songs of which some are also included in the shows. The group performs universally loved, but seldom heard music that brings forth a gamut of emotions. Each song is performed as originally written or as handed down through the ages. Thus, these ballads are undiluted and raw like the emotions they bring forth. The sound of the group differs from most contemporary Bluegrass bands in that it has an older, starker, and rawer sound. Jenkins and Worrell use their voices as instruments as much as their guitars. The ability to swap back and forth from lead to harmony several times during the same song is part of their genius, which has been honed in over 45 years of practice and performance. Moreover, a short history and an explanation about each song is an important part of each show. Audience reactions during their shows are almost always the same regardless of the venue. Following two hours of hand clapping, toe tapping, singing along, and wiping away tears, the audience always gives a standing ovation and is rewarded with an encore, sometimes two. Afterwards, Bill and the band "hang around", shake hands, sign autographs, and accept the well deserved kudos for a truly special event. The rapport is genuine both ways and they have developed a large group of loyal followers, including some who travel great distances to hear them play. As one longtime fan recently commented...."Their performance is not just another show, it is an experience that I would never miss".

• 84 Roses
• A Beautiful Life
• A Little Boy Named Joe
• A Mother's Purple Heart
• A Time To Gather In
• A Vision of Mother
• All the Good Times are Past and Gone
• Amazing Grace
• Angel Band
• Are You Afraid to Die
• Ashes of Love
• Baby Girl
• Beautiful Brown Eyes
• Before the Weekend Is Over
• Beverly Hillbillies
• Bible for a Roadmap
• Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
• Bright Morning Star
• Cabin Home on the Hill
• Canaan's Land
• Careless Love
• Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny
• Children Born in Bethlehem
• Climbing Jacob's Ladder
• Clinch Mountain Backstep
• Coming Soon
• Cripple Creek
• Don't Let Me Cross Love's Cheating Line
• Down the Road
• Dream of a Miner's Child
• East Virginia Blues
• Farewell Blues
• Farther Along
• Fireball Mail
• Flood of '57
• Foggy Mountain Breakdown
• Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet
• Glory Bound Train
• Gloryland
• Go Home
• God Gave You to Me
• Gone Home
• Guinea Man
• Harbor of Love
• Highway of Regret
• Hot Corn, Cold Corn
• I am Weary Let Me Rest
• I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby
• I Heard My Mother Weeping
• I Know You're Married But I Love You Still
• I Never Get to Hold You in My Arms Anymore
• I Still Miss Someone
• I Still Write Your Name In the Sand
• If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again
• In a Land Where We Never Grow Old
• In the Pines
• Jack and Mae
• Jacob's Vision
• Jessee James
• Jesus Savior Pilot Me
• Jimmy Brown the Newsboy
• Just a Pretender
• Katy Kline
• Knoxville Girl
• Lamplighting Time in the Valley
• Let the Sunshine In
• Linda Lou
• Little Bessie
• Lonesome Old Home
• Love Me Darling Just Tonight
• Love Please Come Home
• Loving You Too Well
• Man of Constant Sorrow
• Mary on the Wild Moor
• Meet Me Tonight
• Mighty Dark For Me to Travel
• Mother's Bible
• Mother's Not Dead She's Only Sleeping
• Mountain Road
• My Sinful Past
• No School Bus in Heaven
• O'Death
• Old Daniel Prayed
• Old Love Letters
• Old Richmond Prison
• Old Time Religion
• One November in Dallas
• Orphan Child
• Path of Life
• Paul and Silas
• Pick a Bale of Cotton
• Precious Lord
• Pretty Little Miss
• Pretty Polly
• Rejoice Once More
• Rock Salt and Nails
• Roses for Mother
• Roving Gambler
• Ruben Had a Train
• Salty Dog
• Shake My Mother's Hand for Me
• Shenandoah Waltz
• Shouting on the Hills of Glory
• Shucking the Corn
• Single Girl
• Single Girl Dim Lights and Smoke and Loud Loud Music
• Sister Mary
• Some Ole Day
• Sonny and Hilda
• Standing in the Need of Prayer
• Stewball
• Storms on the Ocean
• Sunny Side of Life
• Suppertime
• Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
• That Lonesome Valley
• The Beautiful Child with Butterfly Wings
• The Corner of My Heart
• The Fields Have Turned Brown
• The Great Titanic
• The Last Rites
• The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake
• The Old Country Church
• The Old Crossroads
• The Ramshackled Shack
• The Rank Stranger
• The Rose of My Heart
• The Wayfaring Stranger
• Tragedy at the Crossroads
• Trail of Sorrow
• Tramp on the Street
• Traveling this Lonesome Road
• Two Different Worlds
• Up in Stoney Lonesome
• Way Down Deep in My SoulLittle Brown Church in the Vale
• Weeping WillowBeside a New Made Grave
• When I Stop Dreamoing
• When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold
• When We Die Where Do We Go
• When You and I Were Young Maggie
• Where the Soul Never Dies
• White Dove
• Who Will Call You Sweetheart
• Who Will Sing for Me
• Why Did I Wait So Long
• Wildwood Flower
• Will He Wait a Little Longer
• Will the Circle Be Unbroken
• Will You Miss Me
• Working on a Building
• Working on a Building
• Worried Man Blues
• Worried Man's Blues
• Wreck of Old 97
• You Are My Flower
• You Are My Sunshine
• Z>>>>AND MANY MORE