PONZER — Feet will tap and hands will clap this weekend, as a local band will give a live performance at Riverside Campground in Ponzer this weekend.

Saturday at 7 p.m., the Lonesome Creek Band, of Washington, will perform for the campground’s Riverside Gospel Sing, a free weekly offering of gospel music. Headed by Bennett Emory, a resident of Ponzer, the program features local acts and draws audiences from as far as Greenville, Emory said. The program is approaching its 30-year anniversary this October.

“We have anywhere from 25 to 50 people show up for the Sing,” Emory said. “When you consider the area we are located, those are good numbers. We have people from Hyde County, Greenville, Washington, Plymouth, all over. Once in a while, we’ll have a few come in from the campground. We always like to have bluegrass music, and these guys (Lonesome Creek) play their own music. We’re looking forward to hearing them because we haven’t heard them before.”

The band is a family act, comprised of four family members and two friends, according to band members Sidney Moore and his daughter, Wendy Wallace. Moore said he and his brothers started playing music together as young adults when their children were small, but got caught up in the hustle of life and stopped. However, when the Moore brothers retired, they started playing together again.

Moore said the band is looking forward to playing this weekend.

“We’re excited about it (performing),” Moore said. “We’ve never played down there before. We just enjoy playing and singing. It’s kind of a hobby for us.”

Wallace said they perform at nursing homes like Ridgewood Manor every second Tuesday of the month and River Trace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center every fourth Tuesday of the month, as an outreach to the elderly. Wallace is in another group that performed at the campground and Emory, at that time, learned of Lonesome Creek and asked them to come perform, she said. The band plays gospel tunes like “I’ll Fly Away” and “Are You Washed in the Blood?” and Wallace hopes the songs will be an outreach to audiences.

“We do bluegrass, but we have a wide variety,” Wallace said. “We do some old rock and roll songs, gospel songs and classic country. Mr. Emory got daddy’s information and called us to see if we could come out and play. I’ve always believed in God and sharing that message with someone who doesn’t know about God. It’s about sharing with them and hopefully something we do will touch someone.”

Lonesome Creek has performed at the BeauCo. Music Festival and Open Mic Night at the Union Alley Coffee House last year, Wallace said. The band will open for Barefoot Movement at one of the Turnage Theater’s Pamlico Opry performances on September 27.

Riverside Campground is located at 272 Riverside Campground Rd in Ponzer.