Rick Matheny is the guitarist patriarch of The Mathenys — both on stage and in real life. He and his kids, Erin and Kacey, started performing at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Clarksburg. Their family brand of bluegrass, both Gospel and secular, has been picking up momentum in West Virginia and beyond. For more info, check out themathenyfamily.tripod.com/index.html

Graffiti: What are your latest projects?

Matheny: We’re working on a new CD and some new songs. It seems like once we learn a song, somebody thinks of another for us to try.

Graffiti: What percentage of your performances are Gospel versus secular bluegrass?

Matheny: Somewhere around 40 percent of our songs are Gospel and 60 percent bluegrass. We mix them up in our shows. It seems like people enjoy it that way.

Graffiti: What instruments do you play?

Matheny: I play guitar mostly, but I can pick some on the bass.

Graffiti: Which members of your family are musical?

Matheny: My daughter Erin plays the guitar and does a lot of our lead singing. My daughter Kacey plays the mandolin and does the harmony. I play the guitar and they sometimes let me jump in with some bass singing.

Graffiti: You’ve played some concerts out of state. Tell me about those.

Matheny: We played at some churches in eastern Tennessee and were featured on the Smokey Mt. Opry. We did a church concert in Maryland. Also, we were featured on WPBN’s “Outlook” program when they did a special on the Sagebrush Round-Up.

Graffiti: Tell me about your involvement with the Bluegrass Preservation Society.

Matheny: Well, The BPS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of local bluegrass music. They record the music from live performances by the groups at Flattwoods, W.Va. They make DVDs, CDs, put it on the computer so it can be downloaded; they have a radio show that they play the music on; and they also started a TV show for performances. The BPS is really been good to us, we have performed there a number of times.

Graffiti: Where in West Virginia do you play?

Matheny: We play at many fairs, theaters and other events in Harrison, Upshur, Gilmer, Braxton and Marion counties. A few of our more regular places are BPS in Flatwoods, Sagebrush Round-up on Bunner Ridge in Fairmont and Bearfork Trading Post in Stumptown.

Graffiti: What are the biggest gigs you’ve had?

Matheny: We were the opening act for national recording artist, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and also for Southern Gospel Hall of Fame Group, the Lewis Family.

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Contact Tamar at tfleishman@graffitiwv.com