Darren Beachley and the Legends of the Potomac
25 July, Brunswick, Maryland:
A major Bluegrass event in this sleepy little railroad town straddling the Potomac River near Harper's Ferry, up in that nebulous mountain area where the state lines between Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland all seem to get confused. It all started out as a fundraiser for the local Baseball league with Jill Hossler being the contact point and main driving force behind the endeavor. Why not invite local boy and former Brunswick High alumnus Darren Beachley to bring his newly formed band up to play and maybe raise a little money? Little did she know she was getting the Traveling Wilburys of Bluegrass and Kenny Ray Horton to boot. And she never expected that more than 500 die-hard bluegrass fans would show up. There were a few people from the Brunswick area, but word-of-mouth got around quickly and filled up the ample Brunswick Highschool auditorium with mountain music fans who have been following the evolution of Darren's abilities and the number of great musicians he's been able to gather around him. The big surprise here for me was Kenny Ray Horton, who I really don't follow, even though I knew he was one of the lead members of the Navy Band group, Country Current. More about him later.
The main story here is that after the recent departure of Darren Beachley from Doyle Lawson's Quicksilver, what would become of this local boy with the golden voice and multiple talents? It wasn't long after that he formed The Legends of the Potomac and the name itself caused a stir in bluegrass circles. Legends? There are only a few legends in this business. But he did it - he gathered together Mike Auldridge, Tom Gray, Norman Wright, and Mark Delaney and I've been fortunate to catch a few of their pre-launch efforts before they release a record and really go mainstream. It won't take them long - this is Bluegrass at its best. There were a few sour notes, one or two timing mistakes at this performance, but what they delivered was pure performance and teamwork. It's easy to sense if a team is working, if they're having fun with what they're doing. The vocals, musicianship, and freedom for individual talents to be expressed in solo-work was about as good as it gets. Banjo-player Mark Delaney is destined for the Bluegrass Hall of Fame - pay close attention. Mike Auldridge (Dobro) and Tom Gray (Bass) are already there. They were original members of the Seldom Scene. Norman Wright, who I've written about in other places honed his career with the Country Gentlemen, the Bluegrass Cardinals, and hundreds of gigs with most of the best musicians in the business, and basically he's just a fun-guy to be around ( don't encourage him when he and Kevin Church are in the same room or on the same stage.)
The Legends of the Potomac: Darren Beachley, Guitar, vocals. Mike Auldridge, Dobro. Tom Gray, Bass. Norman Wright, Mandolin. Mark Delaney, Banjo.
Contact: www.legendsofthepotomac.com
(there will be a forthcoming CD release - 'sometime in October' according to Darren and the Band)
Special thanks to concert coordinator Jill Hossler of the Brunswick Junior Baseball League and the huge crew of volunteers who helped make this event a success. Also of note: the Soundwork provided by Todd Stotler who deserves mention. Turning a highschool auditorium into a perfect concert venue isn't easy.
Darren Beachley and The Legends of the Potomac
Kenny Ray Horton (and Friends) at Brunswick Fundraiser, 25 July 2009
Vienna, Virginia, July 2009
The pure joys of growing older . . .and being blessed with a growing family, good health, an active life, and what looks to be a bountiful garden in the backyard. I couldn't resist publishing this picture. It's Chloe Kell and I'm her proud senior uncle. She recently returned from Bermuda after visiting the 'Bermuda-Side' of her family and her first experience on an airplane - she did well according to her Mom, Danielle, but then I knew she would. She's a show-stopper wherever she goes and with whomever she meets. At eight months old she's going to be walking in the next week or so, and she babbles like a mockingbird. I sense that we have another future genius in the family. . .well, besides the one love of my life, my own grand daughter Evie! Life is good.
Lucketts, Virginia:
Celebrating 37 years of continuity, the annual Lucketts Fair kicks off on 22 August, 2009. This fair is about Bluegrass Music . .and then there's other stuff. There's kids' stuff. There's the usual fair-stuff. There's stuff in vendor stalls if you want to buy more stuff, and then if you attend these kinds of events just to stuff your face, there's plenty of that, too. It's mainly about the music and that's rarely a disappointment. The music tends toward the hardcore Appalachian Mountain-kind and is offered up continually throughout 22 and 23 August between 10:00 am and (around) 5:00 in the afternoon, depending upon encores. Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge and the Scott Brannon Band burned up the stage last year and both groups return this year. Here's the complete schedule:
22 August:
10:00 am The Patuxent Partners
10:50 Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge
11:40 Scott Brannon Band
12:30 Dark Hollow
1:20 The Patuxent Partners
2:10 Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge
3:00 Scott Brannon
3:50 Dark Hollow
23 August:
10:00 am Patent Pending (Gospel Set)
10:50 Skystone
11:40 Jay Armsworthy and Eastern Tradition
12:30 Iron Ridge
1:20 Patent Pending
2:10 Skystone
3:00 Jay Armsworthy and Eastern Tradition
3:50 Iron Ridge
For complete information go to www.luckettsfair.com. If you're driving from the metro D.C. area allow at least an hour to get to the fair due to traffic on Route 7 and Route 15. Parking is easy and plentiful and well-marked at the Fair site. The Fair entrance fee is actually three dollars cheaper this year! Two days of entertainment for 10 bucks? Such a Deal!
2 July 2009, Fairfax County, Virginia
Nottoway Park, (near Vienna, Virginia): The Seldom Scene made its annual free concert appearance on the portable "Nottoway Nights" stage this evening and opened up with jokes about rainstorms - for good reason. Every time the group is scheduled it seems the performances are always up against monumental storms of some sort or another. Last night was a change - a perfect summer evening that got downright cool towards nightfall. The band is famous in these parts, or more to the point, famous nationally. When you consider Bluegrass three names come to mind - Ralph Stanley, The Country Gentlemen, and The Seldom Scene. The Seldom Scene probably had more to do with changing America's collective mind about the genre than any other musical force during the 70's and 80's. I remember my college days. I was working for the campus newspaper and the editor gave me the task of doing record and theatre reviews. Nobody else wanted to do it and I got a lot of free tickets and free records. We saw a lot of free ballet and opera during those times of trying to raise a child and live on the G.I. Bill. Two records came into the office one day: "Will the Circle be Unbroken" and "Old Train." That started it for me, and who would ever guess that bluegrass music would ever make such a resurgence in this country? Then come to find out I was living in the midst of some of the best bluegrass music and bands around. We are surely blessed living here in Virginia, if you dig the music. I still like my opera and ballet music - but for purity of acoustic brilliance and story-telling, Appalachian-based mountain music grounds me in my quest for the authentic. It can go astray at times - leaning toward the more crowd-pleasing modern 'country' crap and I'm sometimes disappointed when a good group will pander to the wider audience by including numbers that sound like they were just imported from Nashville. In the old days (of the 70's and 80's!) a wider audience recognized that the Seldom Scene was different - they were sticking to the basics, even if they were developing those basic bluegrass music components into a fine-tuned perfection. They remain fine-tuned perfection and that's probably why they are so nationally recognized. They are still a joy to listen to - but me? I'd rather be in Big Stone Gap listening to some locals beating out rhythms on handed-down instruments and singing gut-wrenching songs about hangings and love-gone-wrong.
(Nottoway Nights performances continue every Thursday night at Nottoway Park throughout the summer. Brought to you through County Parks funding and the generous support of local company sponsors. I was shocked to see the slim list of this year's commercial supporters - a sign of the tough economic times. Dig deep Brothers and Sisters! It would be a real community shame if the Fairfax County Parks entertainment programs had to discontinue. . . . .)
