WILMINGTON — The Murphy Theatre will soon host Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, a bluegrass band that has racked up innumerable accolades in its 25-year history. The Wilmington show will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30, and tickets are available now.
Since its inception in Cumming, Ga., the band has won several International Bluegrass Music Association vocal awards, including multiple honors as Vocal Group of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, which Moore has won a record five times.
“For many years now, IIIrd Tyme Out has been one the most enjoyable — and most awarded — groups in Bluegrass Music,” columnist Chuck Dauphin (now with Billboard.com) wrote for Music News Nashville. “After hearing their latest disc, I see no reason why either of those distinctions should come to an end anytime soon. I can tell you this album is proof that Bluegrass Music is in some mighty fine hands.”
The band’s latest release is a self-produced album, “It’s About Time,” which is an IBMA nominee for Album of the Year. “It’s About Time” has kept the group on a busy touring schedule, stopping in Wilmington in the middle of playing at major bluegrass festivals across the nation. The local show is made possible by generous support from the Ohio Arts Council.
Raised near Houston, Russell Moore heard a lot of country music growing up, but it was bluegrass that really turned his head as he moved into his teen years.
“Bluegrass was accessible,” Moore has said. “The bands, the musicians, they were so approachable — and even though we weren’t in the bluegrass mainstream geographically, I was able to see artists like Bill Monroe, Larry Sparks ands the Lewis Family, and you could just be around them. That was intriguing to me.”
Alone with Moore, the band also includes musicians Wayne Benson, Justen Haynes, Keith McKinnon, and Jerry Cole.
“All the awards, all the recognition, those things are just by-products of doing what we love to do — and of having everybody pulling in the same direction,” Moore said.
Tickets for Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out are available at the box office at 50 W. Main St. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; by calling 937-382-3643; or by ordering online at www.themurphytheatre.org. Tickets start at $17 for adults.
