Friday Evening Concert Bowl – 10:15 – 11:15
Saturday Grassy Knoll – History of Sacred Steel – Workshop/Discussion – 10:00 – 11:00
Saturday Grierson Stage – Love In Good Time – 1:30 -2:45
Sunday Concert Bowl – Gospel Celebration – 10:00 am – 11:15

The Lee Boys:

The Lee Boys are one of America’s finest African American sacred steel ensembles. The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father was a pastor and a steel player himself.

“Sacred steel” is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations.

When The Lee Boys bring their joyous spiritual sound to the stage, audiences instantly recognize that this is not “sitting and listening” music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered essential parts of their tradition. Founder and bandleader Alvin Lee explains “The inspiration and feeling that comes along with our music is the reason that people feel good.” The Lee Boys have taken their modern expression of Sacred Steel on the road and have become a pre-eminent touring ensemble. These engaging artists work well in a variety of venues ranging from intimate club settings to performing arts centers to large festival stages. Their music attracts audiences from the jamband, folk, blues and Gospel worlds. Over the past 20 years, The Lee Boys have released four albums, packed prestigious venues, and spread their music and message beyond the church pews through residencies, recording studios and concerts across the world.

The Lee Boys have performed for more than 750,000 music fans at festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Their unique sound has attracted musical artists such as Allman Bros. Band, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Robert Plant, Robert Randolph, Derek Trucks, Mavis Staples, Gov’t Mule, Del McCoury, Traveling McCourys, Victor Wooten, Blind Boys of Alabama, Black Crowes, John Legend, and The Roots – all of whom have performed with the Lee Boys and/or invited them to tour with them.

The Lee Boys were recently recognized and honored by the State of Florida. They were Recipients of the Florida Folk Heritage Award in 2022 for “their contributions that led to a greater appreciation and recognition of the importance of traditional arts and artists in our state.”

Calvin Cooke:

Nashville country steel guitarists have dubbed Calvin Cooke the “B.B. King of gospel steel guitar.” Cooke is one of the most influential musicians in the House of God, Keith Dominion, an African American Holiness-Pentecostal church in which the electric steel guitar has been an important part of worship services since the late 1930’s. In addition to playing soulful hymns and driving “praise” or “shout” music for weekly services since his teens, Cooke has served for more than three decades as a principal steel guitarist at the church’s annual 10-day national General Assembly in Nashville.

Cooke was born in 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio, into a musical family that belonged to the Church of the Living God, Jewell Dominion, which also has a strong steel guitar tradition. He brought the influence of Jewell music, which is characterized by slower tempos and boogie rhythms, to the Keith Dominion when he joined in 1958. He is one of the few “sacred steel” guitarists who regularly combines singing with his guitar work. An innovator on the 10-string pedal-steel, which he plays in a unique tuning that came to him in a vision, Cooke also features stunning lap-steel work in his presentations.