MULLENS, WV (LOOTPRESS) – 45 years ago in 1979, a tradition began in Mullens WV. This tradition is now known as The Mullens Dogwood Festival. Through difficult times, floods, tornadoes, rain and snow, and some other real struggles, the tradition continues with the 45* annual event to be held May 1st-4″ in Downtown Mullens.
Before the festival begin in Downtown, the festival pageant will be held at Wyoming East High School on Saturday, April 27″.
April 28″, will bring the 2 annual Dogwood Golf tournament to be held at Twin Falls State Park.
A new carnival, Family Fun Time Amusements will kick off the event on Wednesday, May 1″. Additionally, many vendors will be set-up with everything from handmade crafts to festival favorite foods. There will be fun for the entire family!
Entertainment:
First class entertainment will grace the newly built stage. The stage was built and designed by Jeff England, England’s Excavating with assistance from members of the Dogwood committee and community members.
Performing this year will be the award winning country group Shenandoah. This is an encore appearance from one of country’s favorite music groups. Shenandoah ended 2023 with a #1 Song on I-Tunes with Luke Combs. “Two Dozen Roses’ once again hit the charts and climbed to #1.
Fueled by Marty Raybon’s distinctive vocals and the band’s skilled musicianship, Shenandoah became well known for delivering such hits as “Two Dozen Roses”, “Church on Cumberland Road” and “Next to You, Next to Me” as well as such achingly beautiful classics as “I Want to be Loved Like That” and the Grammy winning “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart” duet with Alison Krauss.
Today that legacy continues as original members Raybon and Mike McGuire reunite to launch a new chapter in Shenandoah’s storied career. It all began when the guys got back together to perform a benefit concert for a friend battling cancer. “We saw how folks reacted,” Raybon says of the response to their reunion. “And then Jerry Phillips, son of legendary Sun Records producer Sam Phillips, said ‘You guys need to make a run at this. People still love what you do. You can tell by the reaction.
There’s a lot of excitement in the air.'” Raybon and McGuire formed the band in 1984 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with bassist Ralph Ezell, keyboardist Stan Thorn and guitarist Jim Seales. McGuire invited noted producer Robert Byrne out to see the band perform and he was so impressed he recorded a demo on the group and pitched them to Columbia Records.
Shenandoah inked a deal with the legendary label and began establishing a national fan base with their self-titled debut in 1987.
However, it was the band’s sophomore effort, The Road Not Taken, that spawned their first top ten hits— “She Doesn’t Cry Anymore” and “Mama Knows.” Shenandoah followed with three consecutive No. 1 hits— “Church on Cumberland Road,” “Sunday in the South” and “Two Dozen Roses.” “The Church on Cumberland Road” spent two weeks at the top of the chart and made country music history as it marked the first time that a country band’s first No.
I single spent more than one week at the summit
Shenandoah became known for delivering songs that celebrated the importance of faith and family while reveling in the joys of small town life.
“Next to You, Next to Me” topped the charts for three weeks and “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart,” a beautiful duet with Alison Krauss, won a Country Music Association Award for Vocal Event of the year and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Shenandoah also won the Academy of Country Music’s Vocal Group of the Year in 1991.
Shenandoah recorded nine studio albums and placed 26 singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The boys from Muscle Shoals have left a potent legacy at country radio with such enduring hits as “Ghost in This House,” “I Want to Be Loved Like That”, “Rock My Baby,” Janie Baker’s Love Slave,” “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)”, written by Raybon and McGuire and “Her Leavin’s Been a Long Time Comin,” in which former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Iroy Alkman was in the video (also written by McGuire).
“Today Shenandoah is in the top five recurrents on all the XM radio shows,” Raybon says. “That’s amazing to know that you are in the company of Alabama and George Strait. It’s hard to believe.”
Though they’ve secured their place in country music history, Raybon and McGuire aren’t content to rest on their laurels and are currently working on new Shenandoah music. “I’ve spent the last 15 years looking for hit songs,” McGuire says. “We have access to really top drawer material, and have found some great songs that we will be producing ourselves.”
Also entertaining festival goers will be: The Wyoming East Band, Gospel Singaleers, Mo’Town Revue, WV Experience and The George Dorne Band.
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