The 2019-20 Esbenshade Series will come to a close on Sunday, March 22nd with a high-energy, well-crafted mix of bluegrass music blended with rock-n-roll influences when the Grammy-Winning, six-member Steep Canyon Rangers take the stage for their 3:00 p.m. concert of Sunday, March 22nd at the Peoples Bank Theatre. Anyone interested in reserving tickets can do so at www.peoplesbanktheatre.com.

The Ashville, North Carolina-based band has been together and touring for more than 20 and has spent that time mixing bluegrass aesthetic with elements of pop, country, and folk-rock to create something that no other band is playing today.

Steep Canyon Rangers recently finished working on a new album – “Be Still Moses” – and is touring widely this spring. The band features a drummer, bassist, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo.

Since Steep Canyon Rangers came together in 2000, they have developed a remarkable catalog of original music that links them to the past while also demonstrating their ambitious intent to bring string-based music into contemporary relevance.

The band’s albums include “Out in the Open” (2018), “Radio” (2015), “Tell the Ones I Love” (2013), “Nobody Knows You” (2012), “Lovin’ Pretty Women (2007) and “One Dime at a Time” (2005). The group has also toured and recorded with Steve Martin on several albums through the years.

Every Esbenshade Series event has been funded by the Frederica G. Esbenshade Memorial Fund, which provides annual income for the purpose of bringing lectures, performing artists or programs of diverse nature to the campus for public appearances. The endowed fund was established in 1980 by Harry H. Esbenshade, Sr. and Harry H. Esbenshade, Jr., husband and son, respectively, of the late Mrs. Esbenshade of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. All events are free and open to the public.


Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation’s best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution’s rankings of colleges by their highest value-added, regardless of major. Marietta College has also been named a Great College to Work For two consecutive years (2018 and 2019).

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