Ernie Thacker and Route 23, Pinecastle Recording artists, will perform on WMMT’s popular Bluegrass Express Live show on Thursday, May 8, in the Appalshop Theater in downtown Whitesburg. The Appalshop Theater is located at 91 Madison Ave, and the performance will begin at 7:30PM. Call (606)633-0108 for reservations today.

Ernie Thacker has an extensive record of accomplishments, including a six-year stint with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and appearances on the Grammy-nominated, The Stanley Tradition and its IBMA award winning successor, The Stanley Gospel Tradition. He later independently branched out to form Ernie Thacker & Route 23.

On April 18, 2006, Thacker’s musical career was put on hold when he was involved in a terrible car accident. After numerous surgeries, and despite being confined to a wheelchair, he has made a remarkable recovery and is now on tour, and going strong.
Born and raised in Elyria, Ohio, Thacker, nevertheless, has deep roots in the mountains, including a family connection to Dickenson County, Va., where he moved as a teenager. By then he was already a serious mandolin player and singer, and it wasn't long before he came to the attention of Ralph Stanley. Impressed with the young man's talent, Stanley invited him to travel with his band, first as mandolin player and then, in 1989, as lead singer and guitarist.

Ernie Thacker and Route 23’s classic sound, energetic stage presence and commitment to professionalism have already earned notice from veterans in the bluegrass industry, resulting in their appearance among the top 20 nominees for the IBMA's Emerging Artist Of The Year Award for the years of 1999 and 2000. "Great stage presence, high energy and great crowd pleasers," says Dwight Dillman (IBMA's Promoter Of The Year) of the Bean Blossom Festivals, where the band has appeared in every season since its creation, while the Poppy Mountain Festival's Marty Stevens called them, "One of the hottest new traditional groups on the circuit.”
Tickets are $15 for adults, and $5 for students. For reservations, call 606-633-0108 or email wmmtfm@appalshop.org.
WMMT-FM, 88.7, is a public community radio station, broadcasting to southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, as well as parts of east Tennessee and western North Carolina and worldwide on the internet. It is a part of Appalshop, a media arts and education center.