In an idyllic setting away from urban and daily pressures where time slows and the noises of the city recede, the music comes into focus.
This is the promise of the Orchard Sessions at The Farm at Old Edwards. On Wednesday, July 16, that promise delivers something remarkable when the Tennessee Bluegrass Band brings their mountain-bred mastery to these Carolina foothills.
This isn’t your grandfather’s bluegrass – though he’d surely approve. These five musicians have absorbed decades of tradition while forging something unmistakably their own.
Sonny Osborne, the legendary banjo picker, puts it plainly: “These five people have just begun, and in my opinion, are going to be heard from on a major scale. They are that good.”
The quintet emerged from Nashville’s competitive music scene where seasoned professionals in their twenties decided to pursue something pure. Lincoln Hensley commands the banjo with the precision of Sonny Osborne’s unofficial apprentice, while Tim Laughlin anchors the mandolin with experience from touring with Larry Sparks and Dale Ann Bradley.
At the heart of their sound, John Meador’s tenor voice carries the clarity that made him the cornerstone of Kentucky JustUs, supported by his wife Gracie on bass – a musician who grew up understanding that family and music are inseparable.
Then there’s Aynsley Porchak on fiddle, fresh from ETSU’s bluegrass program and already claiming first place in the Grand Master Fiddle Championship in both the US and Canada—an accomplishment never before achieved. When she draws her bow across those strings, you hear Kenny Baker’s ghost nodding approval.
What makes this band compelling isn’t just their individual credentials – it’s how they dissolve into something larger than their parts. Their passion for making music combines the ideas of the past with modern-day creativity, creating arrangements that honor tradition while breathing new life into every note.
The Farm’s orchard setting seems destined for this music. Bluegrass was born in the mountains, where voices carried across valleys and instruments spoke the language of land and sky.
Here, beneath Carolina branches, with light bites and evening air, the Tennessee Bluegrass Band will remind us why this music endures – not because it’s old, but because it remains true.
Doors open at 6:00 P.M., with music until 8:00 P.M. At $25 for Old Edwards guests and members, and $50 for the public, it’s an evening that promises to linger long after the last note fades. Reserve your seats at oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
Pictured | Tennessee Bluegrass Band
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