POIs: Star In The Valley

Live Music with Ron Hamrick!

Ron has been playing keyboards since he was 5 years old, at first studying classical music. He switched to popular music in his teens and formed his first rock band when he was 14, performing at teen dances in and around his hometown, Niles, Michigan. He also started writing songs for the band a few years later.

In 1967, the band recorded his song “This Is the Time,” and it was picked up by major radio stations. The song became a #1 hit in May 1967. His band, The Sixth Generation, began being booked at major venues across the Upper Midwest, and also opened for major well-known bands of the time, such as The Buckinghams, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Boxtops, and others.

Live Music with Mike Sobel and Susan Gaeta!

An accomplished musical duo, Susan and Mike perform an eclectic mix of Americana, jazz standards, and a wide range of popular music.

Susan Gaeta: vocals and guitar (www.SusanGaeta.com)

Mike Sobel: guitar and mandolin

Live Music with Rick Vander!

Rick is just a guy who loves playing music solo and even more so with friends. When asked what kind of music he plays, the answer is everything from Johnny Cash to Grateful Dead, James Taylor to REM, and beyond! His main venues are wineries and restaurants. Some people fish or hunt for fun, some swing golf clubs or hike trails, for Rick fun is bending the strings of a Martin guitar or a Gibson Mandolin! It is all about HAVING FUN and being around GREAT PEOPLE!

Some of the people that he plays with from time to time are Mike Skiffington on bass, Shelly Wright vocals, Corey Walthall lead guitar and vocals, Tyler Longest lead guitar and vocals, Mark Anderson guitar and vocals, Patrick Ryan vocals and guitar, and a host of other REALLY TALENTED PEOPLE!!!

Live Music with Ron Hamrick!

Ron has been playing keyboards since he was 5 years old, at first studying classical music. He switched to popular music in his teens and formed his first rock band when he was 14, performing at teen dances in and around his hometown, Niles, Michigan. He also started writing songs for the band a few years later.

In 1967, the band recorded his song “This Is the Time,” and it was picked up by major radio stations. The song became a #1 hit in May 1967. His band, The Sixth Generation, began being booked at major venues across the Upper Midwest, and also opened for major well-known bands of the time, such as The Buckinghams, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Boxtops, and others.

Live Music with Jack Dunlap!

Jack Dunlap has made a name for himself playing mandolin in the D.C. area. Formerly of the trio Bud’s Collective, Jack has worked alongside past and present members of Mountain Heart, Audie Blaylock and Redline, Dailey and Vincent, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Blue Highway, Chris Jones, and the Night Drivers and Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, to name a few. Though growing up playing bluegrass music, Jack stretches his instrument into other genres such as jazz, swing, blues, rock, classical, country, Eastern Indian folk music, Celtic, polka, and many others. He worked as the apprentice to VA-based mandolin legend Danny Knicely through the VA Folklife Program. Knicely and Dunlap recorded the album “Chop, Shred & Split – A Mandolin Player’s Apprenticeship” together in 2015. The album went on to win Best Bluegrass Album of the Year at the Washington Area Music Awards (WAMMIES).