Payson Roundup | Payson, AZ

There will be some local faces gracing the stage at the Payson High School Auditorium when the Old Time Opry opens the weekend of the 41st Annual Vertilee Floyd Memorial Old Time Fiddle Festival.

The Old Time Opry is at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23 and admission is just $5 per person.

Among the performers will be Bekah Sandoval and Jen Sandoval, who grew up in Payson and are graduates of Payson High School.

Their parents, Roy Sandoval and Sylvia Lacy Sandoval, are also Payson graduates. Their father was a teacher and principal at Payson High and their mother an elementary teacher.

Grandfather, Ben and brother Ben Jr., both are past participants in the Old Time Fiddle Festival. Their grandfather was a frequent accompanist to contestants and their brother competed.

Additionally, their father, Roy, helped put on the festival for several years, working with its founder and then being handpicked by her to direct it.

The Sandoval sisters are no strangers to the stage. They were part of their family’s bluegrass band Mazatzal, which performed throughout the state and the West for several years. Roy was on the guitar, Sylvia played the bass, Ben Jr. was on the fiddle, Bekah and Jen played mandolin and they all sang. Their efforts won them several group and individual awards over the years.

The two are members of the band Run Boy Run, the 2011 Telluride bluegrass band competition winner, which will be part of the show Friday night.

Run Boy Run is an old-time Appalachian and bluegrass band based in Arizona. In addition to the Sandoval sisters, the band includes two-time Arizona state fiddle champion Matt Rolland, Grace Rolland on vocals and cello, and Jesse Allen on bass.

Run Boy Run presents an innovative blend of vocal and instrumental styles, with the haunting melodies, lively dance tunes, and traditional stories of Appalachia.

Run Boy Run was the 2009 Pickin’ in the Pines Band Contest award winners in Flagstaff and recently released a new album of traditional material featuring their signature three-part vocals and energetic fiddling. Other bands scheduled to perform at the Old Time Opry are The Desert Sons and The HillBenders.