Blackberry Smoke to Headline the Turn 5 Concert Series

 Award-winning Southern rock/country band Blackberry Smoke, which recently performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, will headline the Turn 5 Concert Series near Martinsville Speedway during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race weekend in late October.

Blackberry Smoke will play on Saturday night, Oct. 26, at the outdoor Turn 5 concert venue, which is located within easy walking distance of Martinsville Speedway and its fan campgrounds. Popular Virginia rock band The Worx will headline on Friday, Oct. 25th. In all, six bands will take the stage over the course of this two-night charity fundraiser, which is organized and produced by Rooster Walk Inc.

"We're beyond thrilled to have Blackberry Smoke coming to Martinsville this year as part of the Turn 5 concerts," said William Baptist, the vice president of Rooster Walk Inc. "Their mix of Southern rock and country is a perfect fit for this event. And everybody knows The Worx put on an incredible show. It's going to be a fantastic weekend of live music and racing!"

"Anytime there is an event of this magnitude close to the speedway on one of our event weekends it's a plus for our fans," said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. "We thank everyone involved with Rooster Walk for choosing our fall event weekend to put on this show. It's going to be a great addition for our fans."

Blackberry Smoke's most recent album, "The Whippoorwill," earned immediate commercial and critical acclaim, reaching No. 1 on the iTunes country album charts, No. 8 on the Billboard country charts and No. 12 on the Billboard rock charts. The band routinely plays up to 250 shows per year, and has been featured on television's Speed Channel, CBS Sports and Palladia, among others.

Friday's headlining band, The Worx, was recently named one of the state's top acts by readers of Virginia Living Magazine. They have also been named "the best local band" by a variety of publications for the cities of Harrisonburg, Roanoke and Lynchburg.

The remaining four bands performing at Turn 5 will be announced in the coming weeks.

A two-night pass for all six bands will cost just $20 if purchased in advance. Single-day tickets will cost $10 for Friday and $15 for Saturday. Ticket sales will begin Friday morning, Aug. 9, at www.roosterwalk.com or www.brownpapertickets.com. Physical tickets will also be available in local stores in the next two weeks.

The Turn 5 concert venue is located at 340 Clover Road in Ridgeway, Va.

Rooster Walk Inc. is a community nonprofit dedicated to promoting music, art and education in Martinsville and Henry County. In addition to the Turn 5 concerts, the organization puts on the Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival each Memorial Day weekend. Between Turn 5 and the music festival, organizers have donated more than $40,000 to local and regional charities over the past five years.

Martinsville Speedway will have an exciting weekend of racing action awaiting fans of the historic short track. Fall Pole Day will take place Friday, Oct. 25, while the Kroger 200 Camping World Truck Series race will occur on Saturday, Oct. 26. Racing's biggest stars will hit the 0.526-mile oval for The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 on Sunday, Oct. 27, marking the seventh of NASCAR's 10 "postseason" Chase races.