Turning Ground wins First Annual Bluegrass Island Band Competition!

Cory Hemilright and his team have quickly turned The Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival in Manteo, NC into one of the premiere bluegrass festivals on the circuit.

Known for its unique scenery, spectacular lineup, amazing Boomgrass fireworks show.  And for Turning Ground, this year's festival gave the band the opportunity to introduce their music to North Carolinians live and come home with the first place prize in the band competition.

The competition was held on Friday, September 26th with each band given a 15 minute time slot to perform. 

Included in the first place prize package was an Eastman E8D Dreadnaught guitar, 4 Peterson Strobo Clip tuners donated by Peterson, a custom made sea turtle art piece made by Wes Lassiter and Rhonda Bates of Red Drum Pottery in Frisco, NC signifying Outer Banks' coastal heritage and booking at the 2015 Outer Banks Bluegrass Island festival.

Later that evening, Turning Ground was announced as the winner by Rhonda Vincent on the main stage and performed two songs before Boomgrass.

Turning Ground, based out of Salyersville, Kentucky, is a name many have become familiar with over the past couple of years with the release of their debut project, March 2, 2012 and their latest, Cell of Mine. The three songs they chose for the competition were Ohio River, Old Memories  and Dig 2 Graves, all of which are found on their new CD, Cell of Mine.

Turning Ground is made up of Nathan Arnett (guitar and vocals), Ralph Adams (guitar and vocals), Jonathon Arnett (mandolin and vocals), Mike Daniels (banjo and vocals) and Chad Gilbert (bass).  Chad was unable to make the trip and Kayla Amburgey filled in on bass with the band.

Richie Dotson of Acoustic Box Stringed Instrument Repair and Teaching Studio of Chesterfield, VA made this post about the band after their appearance at OBX: "Turning Ground is one awesome Bluegrass and Gospel band. Their keen sense of timing, clean and tight vocals, instrumentation and songwriting is absolutely delightful. From an awesome stage presence to a flat out great blend of driving traditional and fresh music was a joy to behold today at The Outer Banks Bluegrass Island Festival. Keep an eye open for these guys!"