Jamboree organizers hope to pack three nights into two

FLOYD — With two performances this year instead of the three that attendees are familiar with, the organizers of the 68th annual Floyd Lions Club Country Jamboree are hoping to give audiences the most "bang for their buck."

"What our goal is, is to bring as many people as we have been, and have as many people in the two nights as we have had in the three," master of ceremonies Dave Nash said of the country music event that will take place at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Floyd High School gymnasium.

With a dedicated stable of musicians from across the region playing country music standards and originals, the jamboree is not an event to miss, according to Nash.

"We've got great musicians on the band and got good singers and good entertainment and a little humor. It's a family show," he said. "My statement about that, and I really like this, is you can bring your grandmother or your grandchild."

Along with musicians who have been playing the event for several decades are two recent additions: Drummer Steve Blakely, who is returning to the show, and Levi Miller, a mandolin player. Both are from Portales.

"(Levi is) an awesome musician, and he will be on both nights of this show. He plays the mandolin and I think about anything with strings on it."

One of the jamboree's mainstays is bass player Linda Brown, who has played for over 30 years. A native of Floyd, she has always enjoyed seeing people she doesn't play with "but once a year."

Nash said many attendees look forward to the jamboree to visit people they only see at the event.

"We've got some old regulars that have been there every year for years and years, and they'll tell us at the show, 'The only time I get to see my old classmate is when I come to the jamboree," he said.

That connection is worth the price of admission alone, according to Brown.

"It's just an institution, and for the price, you can't beat it," she said.

Admission is $7, and $5 with a military I.D.