Shiflett to play July 3rd concert

Karl Shiflett has come a long way.

The first time he heard bluegrass music, Shiflett was so inspired that he went home and made a fiddle out of a wooden cigar box. That was in 1965. Today, Karl and his band are one of acoustic country's top acts.

"I remember going down to the courthouse for the first Groesbeck Fiddle Festival," Shiflett said via telephone last week from a concert stop in Indiana. "Back then, there weren't many bluegrass festivals, so a lot of the musicians played at fiddle shows, and some of the best were in Groesbeck. A local musician named Herman Clute was there, and he blew me away."

Shiflett said he later put away his homemade fiddle in favor of real instruments, and Clute and Groesbeck barber Lynn Martin played a big part in his development.

Clute helped Karl learn to play the guitar and banjo, and Martin taught him to play the fiddle.

"Lynn was a barber in Groesbeck, and I used to go get a haircut every Saturday just so I could get a fiddle lesson," Shiflett said.

Soon, he was emerging himself in the music of Buck Owens, Porter Wagner and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Shiflett stuck with music and eventually landed jobs playing with bluegrass acts such as Bill Grant and Delia Bell, and The Sullivan Family.

In 1993, he formed Big Country Show and began working toward his vision of fronting a band that would take an audience on a ride back to the Golden Age of Country Music. That dream came true after the band released a 1999 CD with Rebel records. The album was critically praised, and the band soon was among the most popular in bluegrass music.

"We were doing more than 100 shows a year," Shiflett said, "but we've dropped that number to about 30 shows. We plan our tours a year in advance, and because of the economy and fuel prices at the time, we decided to scale back this year."

That could change in the near future. The band is working on a new album that likely will translate to more concert dates.

Shiflett and his band will be performing Friday at Groesbeck City Park as part of the Fourth of July celebration. He said concertgoers can expect a mix of country and old-time country, plus a little comedy.

"It's kind of a Branson-style show,' he said.

Performing with Shiflett will be his son and bass player Kris Shiflett; fiddle player Preston Schmidt from Mandan, N.D.; banjo player and vocalist Dillon Scott from Sullivan, Mo.; and mandolin player David Long of Pittsburg, Pa.

The Groesbeck concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. July 3.

Also performing will be Phillip James and his New Generation Band from Maumelle, Ark.

The concert will be free.