First Farmers & Merchants Performance Series Takes you on a Swinging Journey with the Southern Fried Jazz Band
Tickets on Sale Now in New Location!

(Columbia, Tenn. - - February 14, 2011) - - - The 2010-2011 First Farmers & Merchants Bank Performance Series presented by Columbia State Community College is proud to present the Southern Fried Jazz Band on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the Cherry Theater, located in the Waymon L. Hickman Building.

"It has been several years since we've hosted a jazz band at the Cherry Theater, so we are very excited to have Southern Fried Jazz Band on tap for March 3," said Beth Duffield, Columbia State's alumni relations and community events development officer. "Jazz is such a uniquely American art form and there has been a resurgence in interest in recent years. We hope both young and old will come out for an evening of great Dixieland Jazz with a good dose of humor thrown in for good measure."

 The Southern Fried Jazz Band is a high energy Dixieland band that provides some of the most authentic and refreshing Dixieland jazz on the scene today. Veteran trumpeter Don Edwards, whose extensive career includes providing back up to some of the Dixieland greats including the legendary Louis Armstrong and the World's Greatest Jazz Band, leads the band. With resumes that date back to Big Band tours and early jazz clubs, the show-wise members of this seven-piece ensemble include three horns and four rhythms.

Each performance of the Southern Fried Jazz Band takes the audience on a well-paced, mood-swinging journey. It features music blended with narration and personal anecdotes that chronicle the beginnings of jazz from the levees of Louisiana up the Mississippi to the early jazz clubs in Chicago. Instrumentals are stirred with plenty of seasoning and spontaneity into a tasty recipe that never fails to "wow" the audience. These ingredients launched Southern Fried Jazz from the foot hills of North Carolina into the national spot light in short order.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students. For complete ticketing information, please visit http://www.columbiastate.edu/performance-series/tickets. To charge tickets by phone, call (931) 540-2879. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are accepted. Tickets can also be purchased at the Columbia State Community College ticket office, located in the Pryor Administration Building, Room 108 Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The ticket box office will be open one hour prior to all performances in the Waymon L. Hickman building, room 100A.

The 2010-2011 Performance Series is made possible by First Farmers and Merchants Bank, and the Columbia State Community College Foundation.