News

Aaron Burdett and Jim Lauderdale headline benefit concert for JAM Kids

Aaron Burdett

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 7, 2025

Aaron Burdett and Jim Lauderdale will headline a Holiday Homecoming concert benefit concert for the Junior Appalachian Musicians of Henderson County at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, at Trailside Brewing Co. at Lennox Square.

Lauderdale, a Grammy award winning singer/songwriter and new inductee into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and Burdett, a Henderson County native, singer/songwriter and member of the Steep Canyon Rangers, are both friends and supporters of the JAM Kids, an after-school program for children to learn to play traditional old-time and bluegrass music. Program director Carol Rifkin, host of WNCW's This Old Porch show, and the JAM Kids will open the show.

Recently inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Lauderdale has recorded more than 34 studio albums, is a two-time Grammy winner and has written songs for George Strait, Blake Shelton, the Chicks and more. Burdett is an acclaimed Americana/folk singer-songwriter and performer from Western North Carolina and is listed as one of the most important Appalachian musicians by WNC Magazine. In 2022, he joined the Grammy winning band Steep Canyon Rangers and is currently on tour with the band fulltime.

Operated by the nonprofit French Broad Valley Music Association, JAM Kids program is fully funded by donations. Proceeds from the fundraiser go directly to help the students with loaner instruments, subsidized instruction, tuition scholarships for financially challenged families, musical education that teaches theory and learning by ear, local, regional and national performance opportunities and more.