Day 52 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Today is Saturday June 27th. Just as the weatherman had predicted it was a rainy, wet, damp and cold morning. Music was supposed to start at 11:00am, but they pushed everything back an hour. So, after the rain delay, RD started the Youth Showcase with the powerhouse group, Full Steam. 

I finally caught the  correct name for the guitar player of Full Steam, it is Easton Compton. He is the newest member,  but also the oldest at 16! He is known for his work in the youth acoustic duo The Boys From Bristol and now the traditional mountain bluegrass band Full Steam. His playing style is heavily influenced by bluegrass and Appalachian roots music, citing legends like The Stanley Brothers, Reno and Smiley, and the Johnson Mountain Boys. 

Leopold is also the fill-in mandolin player, WOW... he is very good for the "back-up" member! He is a rising young bluegrass mandolin player recognized as part of the "Next Generation" of bluegrass musicians. He comes from a highly musical family and performs alongside his siblings in their family group, the Cattywampus Quartet.

Next up on this dreary day was Caleb Bailey & Paine's Run. Caleb Bailey is a Virginia-based bluegrass singer, songwriter, and front man of the band Caleb Bailey & Paine's Run. Formed in 2021 following the success of his debut solo album Poplar & Pine. 

They are a high-energy traditional bluegrass group originating from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Their 2022 follow-up album Camille. Camille includes a narrative track detailing historical storms and natural destruction in Nelson County, Virginia. Caleb has also put out popular singles under Turnberry Records, such as "Minneapolis Moline", a bluegrass story song about his Grandfather's old tractor! He teased a song for their second set about the Confederate White House in Richmond VA, "12th & Clay". That peeked my interest, as we just finished the 250th Anniversary of America (the Patriot Tour) with Yankee RV Tours.

As the rain picked up and then wind started to blow a bit, Remington Ryde came onto the stage. They were formed in 2005 in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Led by guitarist and lead vocalist Ryan Frankhouser. He is widely known for starting the popular annual Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival, at the age of 22. 

The group has spent more than two decades touring extensively throughout the US and Canada. They perform over 100 dates a year and are known for their hard-driving, authentic mountain sound and engaging audience chemistry. They have earned 10 SPBGMA Award nominations, including a nod for Entertainers of the Year. The band includes Mathew Songmaker on fiddle, Richard Egolf on Bass, and father Steve Davy on mandolin and his son, Chance Davy on banjo.

With the rain still coming down, Larry Efaw & the Bluegrass Mountaineers took the stage for their third set of the weekend. I learned today , that they gave up one of their times on the stage for the young musicians that make up the band, Full Steam. 

The leader, Larry Efaw, is a fixture in the bluegrass world. However, his band is made up of several young players. Very good players, but young.

With the rain coming down a bit harder, the Junior Sisk Band took the stage. 

Junior Sisk and his band, Red Camel Collective, are one of my favorites. He is widely recognized as one of today's top bluegrass vocalists and is a constant reminder that traditional bluegrass is still alive and well. His bluegrass pedigree runs deep, influenced by a father who wrote songs and played guitar and a mother who sang. Sisk first learned to play around age 14. 

His early influences included The Stanley Brothers, Larry Sparks, and Dave Evans, but he often credits the Johnson Mountain Boys with inspiring him to pursue bluegrass professionally. Junior Sisk’s band is Heather Berry Mabe on guitar, Tony Mabe on banjo, Jonathan Dillon on mandolin, and Curt Love on bass. The band pays tribute to the man who brought them together with their name, taken from Junior’s song, The Man in Red Camels. It was a great set!

Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, should be up now, before our dinner break, but her bus broke down. They are on their way, but will be late. Their bus is the third bus to breakdown this weekend for entertainers coming to the Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival. Yesterday, Fast Track and Ralph Stanley II both had bus issues. I am not sure who caught a ride with who after the shows yesterday, but there were a couple of bands that needed rides too!

After dinner break, at 6:00pm, Caleb Bailey & Paine's Run came on stage for their second set. They sang some traditional bluegrass numbers and gospel standards. They mixed in a few new tunes. Included in this set was an original song about United Flight 93, titled "United Flight 93". 

Caleb wrote this song that was released in 2021. He constructed the lyrics directly from witness statements and the inflight communications of the fourth plane hijacked on September 11, 2001 that crashed in Shankesville, PA. 

Right on time at 7:00pm, Remington Ryde took the stage for their second set. 

They did "This Little Light of Mine" and Rhonda Vincent's granddaughter, Faye, came on stage and stole the show!

As it got a bit warmer and the rain has stayed away at 8:00pm Larry Efaw & the Bluegrass Mountaineers came on stage.

There was no rain for Junior Sisk's Band for their second set. 

Heather Berry Mabe is an award-winning bluegrass, country, and gospel singer. Her exceptionally pure, "mountain-clear" vocals, she is the lead vocalist and co-founder of the breakout bluegrass band Red Camel Collective. She was the top female vocalist at the 2026 SPBGMA Awards in Nashville.

At 10:00pm Rhonda Vincent and The Rage took the stage at the Remington Ryde Bluegrass Fest! Since they came here is a rental van, everyone in her band is playing on borrowed instruments! Rhonda Vincent and The Rage is one of the most decorated and celebrated groups in bluegrass music history. Fronted by multi-instrumentalist Rhonda Vincent—frequently referred to as the "Queen of Bluegrass". The band of musical brothers, not literally, but figuratively, is world-renowned for its blistering instrumentals, tight vocal harmonies, and relentless touring schedule (they will be in Vermont tomorrow.)

The thing I find amazing... is in 2021, Rhonda asked Zach Arnold to join the band at just 21! He has been a star on the rise in bluegrass since he first appeared as a member of ClayBank in 2016, when they won the RenoFest Band Competition when he was 16 years of age. He had been working as mandolinist with Sideline since the summer of 2019. Guitar is his first instrument so he should be right at home playing it with The Rage. With a strong and clear tenor voice and a firm grip on many musical instruments, even as a teen, it seems that big things are in the future for Zack in bluegrass. He quickly became her "right hand man". 

All the boys in the Rage left the stage and Heather Berry Mabe came back on stage with her guitar. 

Last year they sang this duet and this year Rhonda and Heather sang it again – unrehearsed, not done since 2025, WOW, just WOW!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures, bluegrass festivals are done for a while. We have a couple shows planned to see over the rest of the summer, but next festival will be Headin' Home Fest in Hazelhurst GA in October.