Dirty Grass Soul Band Blossoms in Cherryville
By: Rusty Wise – Wise News Network
CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – The 2024 Cherry Blossom Festival started off Friday, April 19, 2024, in Cherryville, North Carolina, with a huge crowd and music. The Dirty Grass Soul (DGS) band, with members from the surrounding towns, was a big hit by the estimated 9,000 attendees. Other than a small rain shower, which didn’t even get the pavement wet in the minipark area, the weather was perfect with temperatures in the 70’s. The fans enjoyed a free concert and more. ย The band played for nearly three hours straight, beginning roughly around 7PM.
The band, hailing from Shelby, N.C., has deep roots in the area. Kevin Dedmon, the lead singer and fiddle-guitar player, stated in our interview that his grandfather drove for Carolina Freight Carriers which was once headquartered in Cherryville. Dedmon stated he even wrote a song about his grandfather and truck driving.
“It’s called Granddaddy Was a Trucker, and it’s one I wrote kind of as a tribute to him. He was a retired truck driver, drove for Carolina and retired from there,” said Dedmon, “Got a lot of fond memories out of the Carolina Freight trucks and everything.”ย
The band played that song and it was a big hit with the Cherryville audience.
Dedmon, a Shelby High School graduate, learned to play the violin early in his career.
“I played all throughout middle school and high school, started kind of excelling in the orchestra thing and went off to N.C. State [University], for mechanical engineering,” said Dedmon.ย
During college he started writing songs and playing in another band. Eventually, he started DGS.
The band rarely takes a break, but when N.C. State played in the 2024 ACC Men’s Basketball Championship he stopped and watched them win in the final seconds against Carolina.ย
“We were playing in Johnson City Tennessee and I was like, hey y’all don’t ever do this, but I’m going to take a little break right now, I got to watch this,” said Dedmon.
In addition to Dedmon, the members are his brother, Kris Dedmon (Banjo), Lance Watson (Bass), Tommy Smith (Electric Guitar), Glenn Miller (Pedal Electric Guitar) and Glenn Miller’s son Jared Miller (Drums).
Dedmon and Watson are founding members of DGS, dating back to 2011. As far as the name of the band?
“We wanted something unique to the band that was easily recognizable for people and it stuck,” said Dedmon.
The set list consisted of original melodies and cover songs ranging from bluegrass, country and rock. The crowd loved them all. One of Kevin’s favorite original songs is Home on The Highway, which is a high energy song, he stated. The first half of the setlist showcased a variety of crowd favorites and the second half had a little more of a rock theme to it.ย
The second half even had the song “War Pigs,” by Black Sabbath (Ozzy Osbourne), with a unique DGS flavor to it. Dedmon stated it is his favorite cover song. The band attributes their unique style to bands such as Charlie Daniels, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker and the Allman Brothers. Cherryville’s bluegrass influence also plays a part, as Dedmon mentioned Darin and Brooke Aldridge and Shelby’s Earl Scruggs.
The band threw out some merch towards the end of the show which excited the fans even more. A majority of the crowd was on their feet. The set ended after nearly 3 hours and the band obliged the fans with a meet and greet autograph session.
So, day one of the two-day Cherryville Cherry Blossom Festival was a success and DGS was a sure hit. If you get a chance check them out.
For more info on the Dirty Grass Soul Band go to https://dgsoul.com
See more pictures of the Dirty Grass Soul band below:
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