THE THREE TENNESSEE TENORS

THE THREE TENNESSEE TENORS

TOWNHALL ARTS CENTRE, SUNDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2024 8PM

A Night of Country Classics & Easy Listening Favourites The Three Tennessee Tenors are a trio of lifelong friends who perform and write together in various ensembles and gatherings in the Nashville, Tennessee area. The group is headed by Country Music Superstar & CMA Hall of Fame Member Jimmy Fortune, with Mike Armistead (Tennessee Mafia Jug Band) and Mike Rogers (Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder). Presenting a night of Americana and country classics and easy listening favourites, the distinguished musical trio will be performing a limited 5-gig run this autumn as part of their 2024 FAR – Fortune, Armistead, Rogers – Tour of Ireland.

Jimmy Fortune needs no introduction having toured, sang and performed with the legendary Statler Brothers for 21 years. Jimmy wrote the group’s second No. 1 hit, “Elizabeth,” on their 1983 album Today, and followed that with two more No. 1 hits – “My Only Love” (from 1984’s Atlanta Blue) and “Too Much On My Heart” (from 1985’s Pardners in Rhyme). Fortune also wrote the top-10 hit “Forever” from 1986’s Four for the Show and co-wrote the top-10 hit “More Than a Name on a Wall” from 1988’s The Greatest Hits. Jimmy and The Statler Brothers were inducted into the GMA (Gospel Music Association) Hall of Fame on October 29, 2007, and inducted into the CMA (Country Music Association) Hall of Fame on June 29, 2008. Jimmy, as a solo artist, was inducted into the Virginia Musical Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2020 Jimmy joined his friends Ben Isaacs, Mike Rogers and Bradley Walker (Fortune/Walker/Rogers/Isaacs) in recording a quartet style project that included a CD and DVD called Brotherly Love that debuted #16 Billboard (all genres) Top Album Sales on 9-19-20. 

Their sophomore project, Listen To The Music, was released in 2023 under the name Brothers of the Heart. It debuted #32 Billboard (all genres) and #1 Christian. Mike Armistead grew up in Goodlettsville, Tennessee a small town north of Nashville. He still lives in the same community he grew up in where country music legends lived such as Stringbean, Grandpa Jone, Bill Carlisle, Lonzo and Oscar, Bill Monroe, Jack Greene, just to name a few. Early in his career he played guitar for Leroy Troy and was one of Leroy’s Tennessee Slickers. For several years he performed with Bashful Brother Oswald of the Smoky Mountain Boys. Working some sessions and touring with various bands eventually forming The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band with his dad, Lonesome Lester Armistead and Leroy Troy. Mike currently resides on the family farm, still touring, writing songs and working the farm

Mike Rogers has had music instilled in him from the start. His father Tom was a South Carolina State Fiddle Champion and by the age of 5, he was learning guitar and the drums. By the end of high school, Rogers was backing a former Liberty Records artist on drums and considering the move to Nashville. In 2002, Rogers made the move to Nashville where he would play drums and acoustic guitar for the likes of Country artists Kevin Denney and Craig Morgan. After a break from the drums to concentrate on lead vocals and acoustic guitar with Bluegrass Legend Doyle Lawson, Rogers made the jump back into Country music, this time playing acoustic, banjo, and steel guitar for Morgan. In 2019 Rogers was approached by his good friend Ben Isaacs about recording a quartet project with himself, Isaacs, Bradley Walker, and Jimmy Fortune. Currently Rogers is singing and playing acoustic guitar for Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs as a member of his band Kentucky Thunder.