Dale Lynch, founder and lead guitar and vocals for "Little Rock" is having a CD release party starting at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 17 at the Stagestop Lounge and Casino. The acoustic sound of his original music can be heard at the party. The public is invited. Advertisement

Dale Lynch has a reason to party; and he will. His new CD "Highway 160," was released for sale on Wednesday and his plans are to celebrate at a CD release party starting at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 17 at the Stagestop.

Lynch, like a majority of the musicians in Pahrump, has been playing music since he was a kid. His father, also a musician was responsible for his introduction to music and after 40 years, it is still Lynch's first love.

He is a two-time California Country Music Award winner and has opened for Johnny Paycheck and Lacy Dalton. For a year, his band was the opener for KFAT Fat Frys live radio, in Gilroy Calif.

Although Little Rock plays mostly rock and roll, country and blues, Lynch credits his own versatile style to inspiration from Chet Atkins, Santana, James Taylor and Merle Haggard. Highway 160 is an acoustic reflection of those influences and is a solo effort of easy listening original music about his life and experiences.

One of the songs on Lynch's album entitled "Fresno," makes immortal the story of his father hitchhiking across the country in order to get home for Lynch's birth; and another, Mommy's Eyes, was written when his daughter was born. He was able to play it for her at her high school graduation this year.

About Little Rock, Lynch's manager and girlfriend, Kathy Lenart performs with the band, and brings talent from her own extensive resume to the table.

Lenart met Lynch at Our Bar about a year ago, only to discover that in traveling and singing professionally for the last 40 years, 20 of those years had been spent singing with the same musicians as Lynch.

"We sit and talk sometimes," she said. "He'll mention someone he played with in the past and I realize we've been jamming with the same people at different times for years.

"We've had a few people tell us we've even jammed together at some point, but neither of us remembers it." She laughed, "It was the 70s. We're just hippies."

Lenart sings vocals for Little Rock and previously had the house band for Austin City Limits. She's opened for Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Nelson and the list goes on. Her band performed at Willie Nelson's 4^th of July picnics for ten years running. She's had her own bus used for touring the country and her band performed on cruise ships in Spain.

Lenart and Lynch will start work on a duo of rhythm and blues in a couple of months.

Little Rock is a four-piece band, and the other members are talented too.

Bob White, the drummer has a formal music education and is the music teacher at Rosemary Clarke Middle School. He too has been playing with bands since he was young.

Jim Foster, the bassist, used to play with Road Work, a band founded by Mike Hickey. He recently left Hickey's band to join Little Rock. Foster has been playing professionally for 30 years and had his first recording contract when he was 16.

Little Rock performs at local bars and lounges, but no venue is scheduled for this weekend.

To promote the new CD, Lenart is organizing a west coast tour for Lynch beginning this spring. Six cuts from Highway 160 are airing on KWNE 95.5 radio out of Vegas, and the CD can be purchased online at www.myspace.com/dalelynchmusic, cdbaby.com, and at the release party on Monday. It sells for $15.

For more information, call 702-372-1714.