
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995                   TAG: 9501060073
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SINGING SO OTHERS MAY SEE

Since 1987, the Rocky Mount Lions Club has annually sponsored the Osborne Brothers/Lewis Family Concert to help raise funds for programs to aid the blind and visually impaired. These include long-term projects such as Leader Dogs for the Blind, the Eye Bank, Temporal Bone Bank and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, as well as short-term needs such as providing eye glasses and eye examinations for the needy.

Since joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1964, The Osborne Brothers, acclaimed for their hit song, "Rocky Top," have won numerous awards including "Best Vocal Group" by the Country Music Association and Number One Bluegrass Group in the nation by "Music City News."

The Lewis Family - "America's First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music" - has been around since 1950 when patriarch James Roy "Pop" Lewis began to perform with some of his children at schoolhouses and rural churches. Today, the group is a top headliner each year at more than 50 of the nation's major bluegrass festivals and regularly guests on such standards as the Grand Ole Opry, TNN's Nashville Now, NBC's Weekend Special and TNN's Gospel Jubilee.

Tickets for the family-oriented evening, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Franklin County High School Auditorium, are available at retail outlets in Franklin County or through Rocky Mount Lions Club members. They cost $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Call 483-0904.

by CNB