One of Goshen’s best Valentine’s Day celebratory options doesn’t really have anything to do with the greeting card holiday. But your date will never know by its name.
On Saturday at 7 p.m., Trent Wagler and Jay Lapp will take the stage at LVDs Concert Hall at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen to promote their new album “Adrienna Valentine.”“It’s not a Valentine album, per se, although the cover is red,” Wagler said over the phone from his Harrisonburg, Virginia home.
Wagler and Lapp recorded the album in early 2008, but are only now bringing it to Midwestern audiences and making a radio push to start the new year. Following a successful tour of Ireland, Wagler and Lapp have been working their way across the United States to promote “Valentine” and will stop through Lapp’s hometown – of Goldmine Pickers fame – en route to the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, Tennessee.
“Since Jay and I have homes in different places, it’s nice to do a release concert at least in each of our home bases,” Wagler said. Lulls in their busy schedules, the Memphis conference and the holiday weekend culminated in the “perfect storm” of events that will bring the two to Goshen this weekend.
Raised in the small southern Indiana town of Bean Blossom, Wagler said, “My earliest musical influences were really within family, church and … the community at large down there.” Bean Blossom is home to Bill Monroe (the father of bluegrass) and his annual bluegrass festival.
“My parents weren’t big fans of bluegrass,” Wagler said. “We didn’t go to the festival, but we could always hear it.” He adds, though, that his family – including his harmonica-playing grandfather and his father’s gospel quartet – were most influential in his appreciation for rich harmonies, emphasis on vocals and the joy of singing together.
Wagler is no stranger to the Goshen music scene. He’s jammed, produced and toured with local and regional favorites such as the Goldmine Pickers, Over the Rhine and Lotus. Wagler previously played at LVDs with Lapp, Andru Bemis and Ted Swartz.
“If students haven’t been to LVDs at the Old Bag Factory,” Wagler said, “it’s really not a place to leave that town without spending some time at.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday for the 7 p.m. concert. Students with a valid ID can purchase tickets for the reduced price of $7. All other tickets are $10. A Special Edition release CD will be available exclusively at the Goshen show.
Click to hear background on Trent and Jay
Click to hear Wagler discusse Adrienna Valentine
