Music fit for the 4th

Last year, Red, White & Brewgrass proved to be an inaugural hit for The Melting Point and its promoters, attracting a few hundred more bluegrass fans than expected.

That's a perfect reason to change everything, right?

Gone for this weekend is the Red, White and Brewgrass name and the strictly bluegrass lineup. Instead, say hello to the Classic City American Music Festival and a host of new bands that don't all play mandolins and banjos.

"We're taking a huge risk here," said Rich Mullinax, who is promoting the show with The Melting Point and the Packway Handle Band. "But we didn't want to say 'no' to some great bands that wanted to play because they weren't traditional bluegrass.

"These are bands that people need to see."

But don't panic just yet, bluegrass fans. While this year's two-day card won't be exclusive to the roots of Americana music, it does feature one of the premier mountain music bands in the country.

For the second time this year, Cherryholmes will ride its rising stock of big bluegrass hits into the Classic City. All it took was a phone call to get the California family to come on over again.

"We were going out to North Carolina for the weekend anyway and didn't have anything to do on that Saturday," said Cia Cherryholmes, who writes and sings many of the songs in the band.

Cia Cherryholmes penned a good share of the songs on the family band's newest album, "Common Threads," which already is No. 1 on the bluegrass charts. The songs lean toward the supportive and bright, which is no accident, she said.

"We try to put a positive outlook on things,

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