River Song Trio, others vie for Star Search title tonight

Published 6:04 pm Friday, June 6, 2014

RIVER SONG TRIO | CONTRIBUTED TRIPLE TREBLE: River Song Trio singers (from left) Sarah Gruninger, Amy Stephenson and Pamela Cox will perform during this evening's East Carolina Star Search finals at the Turnage Theater.

RIVER SONG TRIO | CONTRIBUTED
TRIPLE TREBLE: River Song Trio singers (from left) Sarah Gruninger, Amy Stephenson and Pamela Cox will perform during this evening’s East Carolina Star Search finals at the Turnage Theater.

 

River Song Trio will take its musical ministry to the stage of the Turnage Theater this evening during the finals of East Carolina Star Search.

The trio is among 15 acts featured in the talent competition, which benefits Eagle’s Wings food pantry in Washington.

Amy Stephenson, Sarah Gruninger and Pamela Cox have been singing together as River Song Trio since 2012 and they released their first CD in January of this year.

“Pamela and I had been singing together for a long time and had been truly listening to God’s calling for us to do more with our gift of music,” Gruninger said. “And then came Amy! Her daughter, Lily, attended the preschool where I work and one day Amy handed me a CD to listen to. I listened, called Pamela and we knew we had found our girl.”

Stephenson picked up the story.

“I had prayed the week before that God would open a door in Washington for me to be able to sing,” she said. “He not only gave me two extremely talented girls to sing with but two amazing friends.”

The women began singing together as a trio two weeks later. Since then they’ve performed at women’s conferences, banquets, church services, revivals and fundraisers. And in April they auditioned for and won a spot in the Star Search competition.

River Song Trio’s specialty is gospel, from bluegrass and southern gospel to contemporary. During their Star Search audition they performed an a capella song titled “Riverside Medley.” Tonight, they will sing “So High.”

The women said they are honored to be a part of the food pantry fundraising event.

“River Song Trio is very excited to support Eagle’s Wings,” Cox said. “1 Peter 4:10 says that we all have received gifts from God, and we are to use them to serve one another. We believe that Jesus equipped us with this music ministry to reach out to people, not only to boost their spiritual needs but also to meet their basic worldly needs through events such as this one.”

Along with River Song Trio, this evening’s grand finale will showcase the talents of singer Ben Kifer, musical group Back Porch Rockers, dancers Diva Life, vocalist Cindy Sutorius, acoustic guitarist James Nicholls, singer Addelyn Grace Espostito, dancers HipHopcrisy Teens, comedienne Gene “Nut-Z-Professor” Eakes, band K-OS, singer Paris Johnson, tap dancers The Floor Essence,  singer/keyboard player Seth Greene, singer/pianist Camilla Evans and singer/guitarist Lee Hudson.

Curtain time for this evening’s show is 8 p.m. The Turnage is located on Main Street in downtown Washington. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

East Carolina Star Search is co-directed by Debbie Adams and Janet Cox. The talent showcase is presented by Eagle’s Wings and Le Moulin Rouge de Danse. Cash prizes for the top three finalists are donated by Lee Chevrolet and F. Ray Moore Propane. First place receives $1,000. Second and third prize winners will be awarded $500 and $250, respectively.

For more information, visit www.ecstarsearch.net.