Sideline, the pedigreed six-piece powerhouse band, is set to play at the Highlands Performing Arts Center the day after Thanksgiving with the hopes of giving the Plateau something to remember.
The group has been labeled as a band whose style has set the pace in bluegrass for over two decades. Founder Steve Dilling said the band started off in 2013 as a fusion of friends from several different bands.
“I live in Raleigh, and I used to book some shows around here for a bunch of my friends,” Dilling said. “We would usually perform as ‘Steve Dilling and Friends.’ Then we got booked at a bluegrass festival as a side band and we needed a name. That is where ‘Sideline’ came from. We were just going to play three or four shows a year, and then we left our other bands.”
Dilling said he got into bluegrass because of the area and his father, eventually picking up the banjo at the age of 12.
“I grew up all around bluegrass,” Dilling said. “We would always go to different bluegrass festivals growing up and my dad had a fellow that worked for him that played the banjo. I was infatuated by that banjo. So, I picked it up when I was 12. Being in North Carolina, there were so many bluegrass festivals around, so I was exposed to it. From a young age, I pretty much knew it was what I wanted to do.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Dilling said live music is more important than ever.
“Live music is something that people can go out and really enjoy,” Dilling said. “Now, more than ever, it is important because last year, all people could do was sit around their houses and watch T.V. Music is an artform that touches a lot of peoples’ hearts. Whether it’s a song, or music itself. People relate to music in so many different ways.”
In 2019, Sideline won the IBMA Song of the Year Award for their hit single, “Thunder Dan.” The band has also toured nationally and internationally, with several appearances at The Grand Ole Opry.
“The first time I performed at The Grand Ole Opry was about 30 years ago,” Dilling said. “The Opry is a very special place. It’s almost like it is being on hallowed ground. It’s something that I guess everybody that plays country or bluegrass music dreams about, not knowing if it is ever going to happen. It is just a special place to be. Being backstage, you run into a lot of your heroes. It’s like nothing else really.”
This is the first time Sideline has been to Highlands and Dilling said he is looking forward to the experience.
“First of all, this will be a brand-new venue for us, and we have heard great things about it,” Dilling said. “From what communication we have had with the people at the PAC it has been great. We look forward to having a good time the day after Thanksgiving and we hope that people come out and celebrate the holiday. We hope that they walk away knowing that they just saw a good family show. We try to do a lot of variety in our show. We are not just one brand of bluegrass. We try to crossover so to speak. We just want people to walk away wanting more and hoping to come back and see us again.”
The other founding members of the band include guitarist Skip Cherryholmes and bassist Jason Moore. The newest additions to the band include Zack Arnold, who plays mandolin, Jamie Harper, who plays fiddle and guitarist Jacob Greer.
Sideline has released 5 national projects and records for the highly awarded Mountain Home Music Company based near Asheville.
For more information about the show and tickets, visit highlandsperformingartscenter.com.
- By Christopher Smith