|  “Vollie
is a LEAF festival favorite for swing dances."
Carol Mallet - Assistant Producer
Lake Eden Arts Festival/Asheville, NC
“Vollie
McKenzie? I love playing music with him. So do many musicians
- I think he can play any style, anywhere, anytime. Good natured,
superb musician, a pleasure to have onstage.”
Peggy Seeger
‘“This
Train’ is a very personal portrait of a sensitive and talented
musician. It’s unusual to find a performer so willing to
let us into his world.”
Sing Out! Magazine
Review of This Train
Some
of the best stews have to simmer for a long time, and this wonderful
16-song project was seven years in the making. Asheville’s
McKenzie is a true musical chameleon, mixing mountain music, gospel
and western swing into a jazzy, easy-going whole.
Mike Miller
The State newspaper
There
are quite a few good guitar players and songwriters who drop by
the UU Coffeehouse. Vollie McKenzie brings a sweet mix of gospel,
swing, and folk that makes him stand out in this talented crowd.
His gentle music stays with you, and you are always ready to hear
him again. When Vollie performs at the UU, we can expect a great
crowd that does not want to leave when the evening is over.
Mike Paget - Concert Series Coordinator
Unitarian Universalist Coffee-House/Columbia, SC
Vollie
is a great person and musician who shared and cared so much for
the music and [about] providing us with a learning experience.
I can’t say enough about him. Swannanoa needs to keep him!
Vollie is a genuine and unpretentious individual, and I would
take classes with him again and recommend him highly to other
attendees of the Gathering.
Swannanoa Gathering student
EXCELLENT.
This course is exactly what I was looking for.
Swannanoa Gathering student
A
versatile musician, a sensitive gifted songwriter, a musician’s
musician…it all adds up to 6’7” of pure entertainment
pleasure.
Roger Bellow - Flying Fish Recording Artist
It’s
all there…style, technique, understanding, and real feel
for the music. And it is a delightful mix from all over the map…standards,
blues, country, folk, and some nicely crafted originals…More
Vollie McKenzie please!!
Dick Goodwin, Ph.D
University of South Carolina
Vollie
McKenzie is probably the sweetest singer I know. He’s been
singing all his life and it shows in his easy command of both
the church music he grew up with and the jazzy swing that he knows
so well. He is also a fine old time musician on guitar and bass.
I’ve heard him play some pretty good fiddle too. There’s
no one I enjoy playing with or listening to more.
John Herrmann - Musician and Producer
There’s
a refreshing melancholy a-brew in the work of local singer/songwriter
Vollie McKenzie. And that’s not the contradiction-in-terms
it might seem. This performer’s work is strongly influenced
by the music of the ‘30s and ‘40s, and it shows in
his sure-edged, richly layered confections – tunes that
want only their own dusty road and a portable Victrola to be complete.
Review, MountainXpress/Asheville, NC
One
of the best groups that ever played at the Hawk and Ivy, and we’ve
done hundreds of weddings.
Eve Davis
Hawk and Ivy/Barnardsville, NC
My
husband and I were so happy to find Vollie Mckenzie for our wedding
last Spring. We knew from the first time we spoke to Vollie
that he would create a wonderful and unique sound for our wedding
party to enjoy. Vollie really listened to what we wanted, accommodated
our needs, and ultimately, took the task out of our hands. We
had the most amazing wedding and reception, and Vollie and his
band created a great sound that our family and friends were raving
about for months after the wedding. The band had a great presence
without overpowering the gathering, and everybody, young and old,
danced and enjoyed the old-time music. Vollie is truly talented,
and we would recommend him to anyone planning
a wedding.
Mary Helen and Rane Adamson
married April 24, 2004 at Hawk and Ivy, Barnardsville, NC
Vollie
and his band really topped off our 2004 New Years Eve party at
the Inn. Good listening music for our dinner guests and then a
nice variety of tunes for those who wanted to dance…they
had both young and old on the dance floor when the bell rang for
2005…Very professional. We hope to have them back at the
Magnolia Inn.
Pete and Karen Nagle
Magnolia Inn/Hot Springs, NC
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