HUNTINGTON -- "Old Rusty Gate," -- now that's a name for a real country CD.

Classic country crooner Jay Walker will be having a CD release party as the Saturday Night Jamboree pours it all out for its last show of 2009.

The non-profit Jamboree has headliner Ricky Lynn Gregg here from Nashville and a wide range of local talent including Walker's new youth-infused classic country, bluegrass by Marcia's Bluegrass Band, some veterans including The Ross Sisters and Donna Cunningham, and even a wrestler turned country singer Ace Trybo, out of Paintsville, Ky.

Showtime is 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena Conference Center.

Tickets are $8. Seniors over 55 are $6 and children under 12 are free.

You can meet and greet the stars of the Jamboree at 6 p.m.

Headlining the show is Gregg, the long-haired, Texas-raised, Native American who rocked up the country charts in the early 1990s with such hits as "If I Had a Cheatin' Heart," "Can You Feel It" and "Three Nickels and a Dime."

Gregg, who has remained a vital indie country artist, also has starred in "Quanah and the Parker Family Saga," a Texas-made production that he's taken to Washington D.C. and New York, and got a full-page write-up in Country Weekly in September.

Scottie King, founder and producer of the Saturday Night Jamboree, said organizers wanted to throw everything into a year-end show that will also feature the Saturday Night Jamboree Band: (Dave Morrison, steel guitar; Brent Williams, drummer; Kim Browning, bass, Tom Dobbins, rhythm guitar, Bobby Burdette, lead guitar).

"We've got the show of the year," King said. "We've got old country, new country and bluegrass. We've got it all."

King, who attends Gregg's annual concert in the area for local fan Drema Adkins' birthday, said he's excited to bring in Gregg over the holidays when there are a lot of folks back home in Huntington for the holidays and searching for something to do.

Huntington resident Dreama Adkins has been one of Gregg's No. 1 fans since she heard his music, and in fact, brings him twice a year to play for area music fans.

"The very first time I heard Ricky Lynn Gregg's music, I was impressed by his unique and positive musical style," Adkins said. "In August of 2003, I met him in Huntington and we immediately became friends. Since then we have had him perform in Huntington biannually so his friends and fans in the Ohio Valley get to see him. I feel that our friendship is very solid, and Ricky is very true and dedicated to his friends and fans."

King is also excited about Walker's CD release party.

He produced the CD as a Saturday Night Jamboree Production. The 12-song CD was recorded at Dan Ward's studio in Wheelersburg, Ohio, with members of the Jamboree band backing him up. Walker co-wrote many of the songs with Ashland songwriter John Roe.

"He's got the right stuff," King said. "He's like a Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt or a George Jones. He has a traditional sound and as an individual, he's an outstanding young man."

Unlike some country artists, Walker is pretty dang country too, and proud of it.

He's the owner of Joe Black, the 2008 National Squirrel Dog Champion, and isn't afraid to get a hold of a good traditional song, like the Rick Ruggles-written title cut, and tear it up.

"Right now I'd put him up against anybody around here," King said. "He's got it in his heart."

Walker, who just turned 27 in November, lives in Genoa in Wayne County.

He grew up in northern Ohio where he was raised listening to his grandfather and his grandpa's brothers playing bluegrass music.

Walker, who works for the Postal Service in Wayne and part-time in Ceredo, said he's thankful for the Jamboree, which has given him his start.

"I put so much different stuff on there I hope there's one that people will like," Walker said of the CD, which he hopes to get played on the radio. "I'd like to get my foot in the door, somewhere, somehow. I like playing a lot better than I like working."

King said the Jamboree, which puts on a show about every other month, including the Huntington Homecoming Apple Butter Festival in the fall at the Harris Riverfront Park, has enjoyed its last few shows downtown at the arena's conference center.

In fact, in April 2010, the Saturday Night Jamboree will be closing out the annual Dogwood Arts and Crafts Festival with its big spring show.

"The parking is easy, the access is easy, and the atmosphere is really comfortable," King said. "The entertainers are close to the audience and they mingle with the audience while they're singing because there isn't a high stage. They are right there."

File photo/The Herald-Dispatch

Ricky Lynn Gregg

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