Cardinal News
Serving Southwest and Southside Virginia
Danville is the setting for a new Blue Ridge PBS show that features internationally known artists who are interviewed by the show’s creator, Brandon Lee Adams, at unique locations around the city.
The show, “The Life of a Musician,” is premiering tomorrow. It will air 13 episodes, each with a different artist in a different location.
In the first episode, Adams interviews and plays guitar with John Jorgenson, guitarist for Sting, Elton John and Bob Dylan, among others. Jorgenson also plays mandolin in this episode.
The show is an organic conversation between artists, Adams said.
“I don’t rehearse with the artists until the day of,” he said in an interview. “The day that I meet the artists, though we may be familiar with the songs, we’ve never played them together.”
He said he takes about 30 to 45 minutes before each show to arrange the songs. In the first episode, Adams and Jorgenson played a jazzy rendition of The Animals’ “The House of the Rising Sun.”
This episode was filmed in the historic home of Jonathan and Ginger Holbrook in the Old West End.
Not only does “The Life of a Musician” showcase artists, it also showcases cool places around Danville, which makes the show exciting for the community, Adams said.
Other episodes were filmed in places like the Dog-Eared Page, a bookstore downtown, Crema & Vine, a coffee shop and wine bar, and The Bee Hotel.
Adams, who grew up in West Virginia and Kentucky, moved into his home in Danville’s Old West End in 2020. His 20 years in the music industry had connected him to “the best artists in the world,” he said.
About a year ago, he began to call them up and ask if they’d be interested in being featured on a show he wanted to start. Adams also had connections with Blue Ridge PBS, and the process of starting the show was pretty straightforward, he said.
The show’s website has more information about other artists that are featured, including Sammy Shelor, the frontman of the Lonesome River Band; Larry Cordle, Nashville Hall of Fame songwriter; and Alecia Nugent, female vocalist of the year for Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America.
The show will begin airing on Blue Ridge PBS and Virginia Public Media at 9 p.m. Oct. 15 and will also be available on the PBS Passport App. A second season is already in the works, Adams said.
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Grace Mamon is a reporter for Cardinal News. Reach her at [email protected]. More by Grace Mamon
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