| COUNTRY HARMONY |
| Court Square Stage, Saturday |
|
Country Harmony is a blend of bluegrass, country, western swing and southern gospel, and, of course, old time music. Charles Lee - a long time veteran singer in the Ozarks. He went to a one room schoolhouse at Dogwood, MO where his teacher, Arthur Porter, taught him and the whole school how to sing shape-note music out of Stamps-Baxter church hymnals.By learning the sound of a note from it's shape(do, re, me, fa, sol, la, ti, do) the children could sing all four parts of any song in the hymnal whether or not they had ever seen it before. This is truly a fading art known as shape-note singing. There used to be many singing schools that taught shape-note singing, but now there are only a few across the U.S. In the past Charles has sung country, gospel and bluegrass, "Live" on many local radio stations. He performed on the 1960's Lloyd Evan's Farmarama(at Fantastic Caverns), Marshfield Jamboree, Lebanon Jamboree, Slim Wilson's country music show on KY 3, and can still be seen on cable T.V. on the Stan Hitchcock's Blue Highways RFD--Old Country Church channel, along with Jan (his wife) and Speedy Haworth, as part of the "Goodwill Trio". For 15 years he was lead singer for his bluegrass band "Battlefield Bluegrass Express". He is currently lead & harmony singer and rhythm guitar picker for "Country Harmony". Jan Lee - she's Charlie's wife and has been singing with him for 44 years. Jan played the upright bass for their bluegrass band(BB Express) and for the "Goodwill Trio". With "Country Harmony", she mostly sings harmony, and is the promoter and scheduler of the band's activities. She keeps the band in coffee and pie at their weekly practices and keeps politely pushin" til they get that first CD recorded!! If you want to book "Country Harmony", she's the one to talk to. Charles and Jan live in Battlefield, MO. Juanita Lee - Jan and Charlie's daughter has a beautiful strong lead voice. She has been singing with her parents since she was 6 years old. She has won several awards for her vocal abilities, and at one time, in a singing contest, took 2nd place only to Rhonda Vincent who placed first. She sings lead and harmony for the band. She also sings lead and harmony in another bluegrass band called "Lights of Home". If you'd like to book "Lights of Home" talk to Juanita. Springfield is where Juanita calls home. Daryl Tunink - has a fine bass voice that compliment's the band's gospel songs and he plays the banjo perfectly for "Country Harmony". He can also pick the guitar very well. Daryl has played in several bluegrass bands over the years such as: "The Bluegrass Five", from around the Dixon, MO area and "Parker Mt." band from Springdale, AR. He has played in various places around Branson, including Shepard of the Hills, Silver Dollar City, and Branson Belle. Daryl makes his home in Taneyville, MO. Steve Youngblood - picks a guitar left-handed amazingly well. In fact, anything he picks up he can play to some degree.He played professionally for 8 years in Colorado and surrounding states in two different bluegrass bands, namely: "A Grain of Salt" and "Quick Draw". Steve picks lead guitar and sings harmony and lead for the band. He has played at Silver Dollar City, Mutton Hollow, Forsyth Taney Center, and various places around Branson, Ava, and Cabool. Steve lives near Branson in the community of Bull Creek. Jack Pearman - started his music career playing electric bass with his first local band then he switched to upright bass with Charles, Jan, and the "Battlefield Bluegrass Express". He went on to play semi-professionally with two very talented bands: "County Line"(with Dudley Murphy) and "Fly By Night"(with the Wynn brothers) playing from New York to Texas. His steady bass pickin' is by far, one of the best in the Ozarks, and several bands have used his talents on their recordings. He has played in many places in Springfield and Branson areas and also Silver Dollar City. Jack lives in Springfield, MO. |