Spring Bluegrass Festival at Sertoma Youth Ranch

We enjoy taking our two lane adventures to Bluegrass Festivals! We are enjoying an Ernie Evans production this weekend at the Sertoma Youth Ranch, in Brooksville Florida.

We arrived on Thursday and enjoyed the open mic time. Neither Charlie nor I are musical, but we really enjoy listening to those that are. We watch two of the future stars of Bluegrass. The first brave participant in the open mic night was 7 year old Emma Biesack, she was ready to shine! She played three songs accompanied by her Dad on the guitar. She was joined on stage by her 10 year old sister, Sarah. They played a few tunes together and then Sarah was left to finish out the set on her own. Sarah is a two time Florida State Fiddlers Association Champion for her age bracket. After hearing her play, it is evident why! The 15 minute Mountain Men came up next. They got their name because they have been together for 15 minutes! Their newest member is a woman; they might need to change their name!

Little Girls and Dreadful Snakes

Thursday night campfire sings were limited due to the on again off again showers! Friday came in with some overnight showers and a little sunshine in the early morning. Music resumed at 1 pm on Friday with “Little Lady and the Dreadful Snakes” a local band from Plant City. Our son knows one of the band members, Charlie Boone. They played a mix of contemporary Bluegrass and some new stuff that they wrote. How do you categorize their music? They categorize it as “A little Bluegrass? A smidge of Country? Part Americana? Not sure what we are, but folks sure do tend to like it .... it's Y’all-ternative.” We call it very entertaining and enjoyable!

Swinging Bridges plus One

They were followed by “Swinging Bridge.” Swinging Bridge is a group of five talented gentlemen from the Venice area of Florida. Today they had a sixth member, that they really wanted to play with. The band has been playing together for more than 14 years and performs regularly throughout the southwest region of Florida. The band’s first CD project "Rough Edges" remains a hit with their cadre of fans. Their great lead singing, tight harmonies, dazzling instrumental breaks, and dead-on timing puts them on a par with some of the foremost nationally known bluegrass bands. The band has a great on-stage personality too. They have a repertoire of songs and instrumentals that draw from traditional and contemporary Bluegrass, Country, and other genres to create a show that is a treat for any bluegrass fan. This is a bluegrass group that gathers around the mic to create the tight harmonies, we really enjoy those groups the most. The rain started again, near the end of “Swinging Bridge’s” set, since the stage is under a large covered pavilion, we all could just stay put and enjoy the music.

The Boxcars

The Boxcars were up next. Several musicians in the Boxcars played with Alison Krauss as members of Union Station. For nearly seven years, they lived the life of high profile musicians, as the band earned Grammy awards and IBMA trophies, toured extensively, made national TV appearances and recorded albums that reached far beyond the core bluegrass audience. They left the band and successful ventures with other bands, until they came together to form The Boxcars. When one of their founding members departed the band, he was replaced by the youngest member of this group. He plays Dobro and is just out of his teens. B he can play the Dobro with the best of them. The rain stopped during The Boxcars set and according to the Doppler Radar, the rain should be over for us this weekend!

 

Nothin’ Fancy was the last band in the first set. Nothin’ Fancy formed as a bluegrass band in 1994 to compete in a bluegrass competition. Since then, they have grown in popularity. They have released 11 full length albums, and continue to perform at festivals all across the United States, Canada and Norway including the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, and Lincoln Center in New York City. They have successfully hosted their own Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival every year since 2001 in Buena Vista, Virginia. Mike Andes is the leader of the band, will tell you his talent is God given, because he by ear and has never had any lessons or professional training. Mike is the perfect MC for the band and keeps the show rolling from song to song with his wit and charm. The band has a mandolin, a banjo, a fiddle, upright bass and guitar. They stick to traditional Bluegrass mixed with a few other genres to keep it entertaining. They do crowd around the microphone to get the classic Bluegrass harmonies.

The same groups played a second set after the dinner break. None of them played the same thing twice, which made the second set just as enjoyable as the first set. Without the rain, you could hear the campfire songs floating in the air from all directions until the wee hours of the morning. Which is probably why the stage entertainment does not start until 1pm, the musicians have to sleep sometime!