We arrived on Wednesday, found a site with electric and just
relaxed! Thursday, more people arrived and the place started to fill up. More
of the group that Molly & Mike camp with arrived and did a little jamming!
By Thursday, all the chairs were set up in front of the stage. They have a "chair sharing" policy ... so, if a chair is vacant, feel free to sit in it and enjoy the show. Just relinquish the seat once the owner of the chair arrives!
On Friday, the program for the Delaware Valley Bluegrass
Festival kicked off! The opening act is one of our favorites, we have seen them
perform at Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville, Florida, Junior Sisk &
Ramblers Choice. Junior is widely recognized as one of today’s top bluegrass
vocalists and is a constant reminder that traditional bluegrass is still alive
and well. A longtime resident of the Virginia Blue Ridge, his bluegrass
pedigree runs deep. Influenced by his father, who wrote songs and played guitar
and a mother who sang. He first learned to play around age 14. His early
influence included The Stanley Brothers, Larry Sparks, and Dave Evans, but he
often credits the Johnson Mountain Boys with inspiring him to pursue bluegrass professionally.
The April Verch Band played next. April is a fiddler, singer
and step dancer, she knows how relevant an old tune can be. She was raised
surrounded by living, breathing roots music – her father’s country band
rehearsing; the lively music at church and at community dances; the tunes she
rocked out to win fiddle competitions. She knew nothing else and decided early
on that she wanted to be a professional musician. She took that leap, and for
over two decades has been recording and captivating audiences worldwide,
exploring new and nuanced places each step of the way.
There was a little bit of hometown music at the festival,
the Gibson Brothers. They were raised on a dairy farm in Upstate New York,
close to the Canadian border. It is there, that the brothers Eric and Leigh, discovered
their sibling harmonies at an early age. They honed them by emulating the
records they were hearing from the likes of Buck Owens, Mac Wiseman, Jim &
Jesse and many more. Drawing frequent comparisons to the Louvins and Everlys in
particular, the Gibsons have carried the “brother duet” sound into the 21st
century. Winning IBMA awards along the way that include Entertainers of the
Year, Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year.
On Friday night we were entertained by Asleep At The Wheel.
For almost five decades, this Austin-based band has been the standard bearer
for “big band” Western Swing music that caused the fans of predecessors Bob
Wills, Milton Brown and others to pack the dance halls of the Southwest
throughout the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. Led by Philadelphia native, Ray Benson,
the band has garnered nine Grammies over the course of almost two dozen albums,
including collaborations with artists ranging from original Texas Playboy Leon
Rausch to Willie Nelson and more. I never realized how tall Ray Benson was!
Saturday had a couple of the same bands as Friday, but also
added 4 different groups! The on again off again rain, could not dampen the
mood of the festival goers! Becky Buller and her Band played first. In 2016
Becky was chosen to make Bluegrass music history becoming the first person ever
to win in both instrumental and vocal categories at the IBMA awards. As usual,
her overnight success story was almost 20 years in the making. Her songs, on
the lips of the industry’s best, preceded this fiery-haired fiddling St James
Minnesota native to prominence in the acoustic music world. Now we are
connecting with her to the tune of five IBMA awards in the last two years,
including the 2016 Fiddler and Female Vocalist and the 2015 Songwriter of the
Year awards.
Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass has played in Sertoma
Youth Ranch before and The Delaware Bluegrass Festival has heavily relied on
the music of Ted Lundy, Bob Paisley and their band, the Southern Mountain Boys
to deliver hard-driving, Blue Ridge-style bluegrass annually here. The family
tradition continues into the present day, not only with Danny (reigning IBMA
Male Vocalist of the Year) leading the band, but with his son Ryan Paisley on
mandolin and TJ Lundy (Ted’s son) on fiddle. For more than three decades this
group has been the “house band” at this festival.
Charm City Junction added some dance-inducing Old Tyme
rhythms and foot stomping Irish melodies and their own style of hard-driving
Bluegrass. This Baltimore-based acoustic roots quartet have created a fresh
sound that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats wondering what song style
will come next. The band is comprised of four of the most talented and
promising young musicians in the country, Patrick McAvinue, Sean McComiskey,
Brad Kolodner and Alex Lacquement.
Great musicians will always find a way to make good music and
The Grascals are those musicians. These great musicians make great music, because
they formed a bond. For the Grascals, that bond has been forged at the
intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an
appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that
has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than forty years. Timely
yet timeless. The Grascals make music that is entirely relevant to the here and
now, yet immersed in traditional values of soul and musicianship.
The next group was formed in 2009, and Tuba Skinny has
steadily evolved from a loose collection of street musicians into a solid
ensemble dedicated to bringing the traditional New Orleans sound to audiences
around the world. Drawing on a wide range of musical influences, from
spirituals to depression-era blues, from ragtime to traditional jazz, their
sound evokes the rich musical heritage of their New Orleans home. The band has
gained a loyal following through their distinctive sound, their commitment to
reviving long-lost songs and their barnstorming live performances.
Saturday night’s headliner was the Del McCoury Band. Whether
Del is with his current long-running band or his former band the Dixie Pals,
Del McCoury has a long musical history at the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival.
A native of York, PA, he cut his professional teeth in the Baltimore and
Washington bluegrass scenes and played in Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys before
setting out with his own band. His set had the crowd on their feet!
Sunday morning brought the sunshine and the Cab Calloway
School of the Arts Performance and the Kid’s Academy. It is always a pleasure
to see the future of bluegrass playing at such young ages!
After a few year hiatus, these South Jersey favorites returned
to the stage. The Tuesday Mountain Boys, brought their finest sound from the
Pine Barrens to the farmlands surrounding this fairgrounds.
A Delaware native came to the stage next, Bob Amos &
Catamount Crossing. Bob Amos became an internationally recognized and acclaimed
bluegrass musician and songwriter as the leader of the popular award winning
band Front Range. With the release of his newest CDs Borrowed Time and Sunrise
Blues which have received wonderful reviews and airplay on bluegrass radio
shows all across the country, Bob is once again in the bluegrass spotlight with
a whole new batch of stellar original songs, and a terrific new band, Catamount
Crossing.
Up next was Big Country Bluegrass. Tommy & Teresa Sells
formed Big Country Bluegrass in the late 1980s and the group’s name comes from
the instrumental “Big Country” that the late Jimmy Martin recorded many years
ago. All band members live in and around the Virginia-Carolina Blue Ridge and
their music reflects much of the deep musical heritage found in this region
which is at the heart of the Crooked Road Music Trail.
Up next was Foghorn Stringband and they are the gold
standard for genuine old time American string band music. With eight albums, thousands
of shows, over 15 years of touring under their belts and an entirely new
generation of musicians following their lead. American roots music is a diverse
and never ending well of inspiration, and Foghorn Stringband continually and
obsessively draws from old-time, bluegrass, classic country, and Cajun music
traditions in an ongoing quest to present a broad span of American historical
music with an unparalleled youthful energy, joy and virtuosity.
On stage, Flatt Lonesome offered their brand of original
Bluegrass. It is some of the freshest the genre has seen in a while. The stellar
picking and heartfelt songs centered around beautiful sibling harmony have made
Flatt Lonesome a hot act among Bluegrass fans, young and old. Their vibrant,
youthful spirit with careful respect towards tradition has earned the praise of
peers twice their age.
Blue Highway was the last group on stage. They had a heck of
a time getting to the festival! Several flat tires on the road to us from Maine!
In the mid-1990s, veteran bluegrass pickers Tim Stafford and Wayne Taylor put
Blue Highway together as almost a “part-time” band to fill in the time between
their other projects. Almost a quarter-century later they continue to be among
the most in-demand bands on the circuit, renowned for their blend of
traditional sensibilities, outstanding songwriting and top-notch instrumental
ability.
We enjoyed a quiet evening at the fairgrounds, listening to jam sessions. Many
people pulled out after the last act on the stage. We are spending the night
and will head out in the morning to make our trek to Delaware.
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