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The Betty Howard Coal Miner’s Memorial Theater in Benham will be the location for a night of jazzy traditional Christmas music. The show will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30.|The concert will feature an array of local musicians including Justin Taylor, Shyla Raleigh, Dakota Saylor, Greg Hollins, Ann Schertz, Jordan Patel, and more.
The show has its origins in a conversation between two of the musicians half a decade ago.
“I talked to Shyla about five years ago about doing a Christmas show,” Taylor said. “We did one song for a set she was doing at Mountain Masters, and I told her ‘We’ve got to do a full show one day.’”
That one song included in Raleigh’s Mountain Masters Festival set eventually led to the Nov. 30 show in Benham.
“The show is going to be just a bunch of fun with classic Christmas songs,” Taylor said. “You can expect the Christmas songs from all of your favorite Christmas movies.”
The night’s performances will include renditions of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” “White Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and many more classic Christmas tunes.
The musicians involved bring several musical influences to the table, ranging from classical and jazz to blues and rock n roll. The show will incorporate each of these styles to create an evening of exciting music for the whole family to enjoy.
“The show is free, but there will be a $3 donation if people want to donate and all of that will go to the Empty Stocking Fund,” Taylor said.
All donations received will go to help the Tri-City Empty Stocking Fund, which was started by Jim “Muggins” Bennet in 1980 to assist the families of coal miners who had been laid off during the holiday season. From there, it grew into an organization which provides hundreds of families with a food box and gifts for the children every