BLUEGRASS GOSPEL FESTIVAL SATURDAY AT MEADOW HEIGHTS

PATTON -- Sing "Amazing Grace" and pass the chicken and dumplings.

Nine bands will perform Saturday at the first Dogwood Hills Bluegrass Gospel Festival at Meadow Heights High School. Leading off at 1 p.m. will be the sweet-singing Ezells from Van Buren. A band led by Guy Stevenson, a former member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, will finish up at 9 p.m.

Bands from Bloomfield, Fredericktown and Marquand along with bands from Jefferson City and St. Louis are scheduled to play. The high school is about 30 miles west of Cape Girardeau and three miles east of Patton on Highway 72.

A chicken and dumpling dinner will be served by the Booster Club of Meadow Heights Schools.

The festival promoter is "Steamboat Bob" Fulton, who hosts a weekly gospel bluegrass show on Marble Hill radio station KMHM. The Christian station plays five and one-half hours of gospel bluegrass weekly in its all-gospel and religious broadcasting format. It does not play what Fulton calls "pop Christian."

Nearby Grassy long has been the home of a summer bluegrass festival. The festival was not held last year, but the campground has changed ownership and plans are being made for a new festival, Fulton said.

"There is a good audience for bluegrass around here."

Gospel bluegrass combines two genres of music that have a natural affinity. While most country bands have gotten away from the tradition of including a gospel component in their shows, "in the bluegrass part of country music there is still a very strong gospel undercurrent," Fulton says.

St. Louis' Jerry Rosa and the Rosa Stringworks Band is one group that mixes a lot of gospel music into their repertoire, Fulton said. The band's latest CD is 100 percent gospel bluegrass.

Fulton, who is the executive director of the East Missouri Action Agency in Park Hills, said the idea of promoting the festival occurred to him after 3 1/2 years of playing these bands' recordings on his show.

"I became more and more convinced there were some talented groups in this area that never had a chance to play together."

In addition to the scheduled performances, there will be many opportunities for the musicians to jam, Fulton said.

Saturday's schedule is:

-- 1 p.m., The Ezell's from Van Buren and formerly of Marble Hill.

-- 2 p.m., The Sitze Family from Fredericktown.

-- 3 p.m., Painton Bluegrass Express from the Bloomfield area.

-- 4 p.m., The Tucker Family from Marquand.

-- 5 p.m., White Oak from Ellington.

-- 6 p.m., Neal Backues and Silver Cloud Tradition from Jefferson City.

-- 7 p.m., Jerry Rosa and the Rosa Stringworks Band from St. Louis.

-- 8 p.m., The Village Singers from Fredericktown.

-- 9 p.m., Guy Stevenson and the Winning Team from the Ironton area.