7 posts tagged “lucketts community center”
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!
7 December 2008: Lucketts, Virginia:
I'm posting this on Pearl Harbor Day - and no one cares. Not a word in the Papers, nothing on the internet about the famous "Day of Infamy." Have we reached this point in forgetting history? Are Christmas shopping and white sales more important? There are certain aspects of life and living that remain true to form - take the Bluegrass Brothers for instance. As I experienced their performance on Saturday night the word conviction kept running through my brain-housing group. These guys are all business, all the time. No crap - no lies - no fancy packaging. You either deeply appreciate the proffered music or walk away from it. When Victor Dowdy (on bass) starts 'growling' out the songs, you have to sit up in your seat and listen closely. This is music that comes out of a deep appalachian-Virginia-Shenandoan tradition. You either love it or hate it, or at its most appreciated value, you dig back into it every once in a while to try and figure out how today's packaged-to-the-max "Country Music" got so boring and stupid! Saturday night was not only a great performance by this group from the Salem/Roanoke area, but it was also an academic seminar on how Bluegrass evolved originally from purist mountain music.
The Greats come from family traditions. The core of this group is the Dowdy Family. Victor, Robert, Steve, and Donald are all Dowdys. Billy Hurt on fiddle is the exception - and an exceptional fiddler. Donald on mandolin played the perfect sweet baritone foil to Victor's low-down, growling tenor. Donald opened the show with two vocal pieces. As the night went on, the group members switched off on different vocal positions and different instruments to show-case their individual versatility. I counted 27 songs with one encore - the highlights were a mixture of old standards and some songs written by the Dowdys. I noted more than a few of my old favorites and was surprised when Steve Dowdy lit into the (original Seldom Scene) song, "Wait a Minute." We don't hear that old Seldom Scene chestnut enough. Memories of John Duffy . . . . . .what a loss to those who appreciate talent and true genius. But the Dowdys are keeping it all alive for the good of the order.
For more information and CD's: www.thebluegrassbrothers.com
22 November 2008: Report from Lucketts, Virginia
One of the coldest Novembers on record, but the Lucketts Community Center is warm - jam-packed with Nothin' Fancy Fans. I just knew we should have left home earlier than usual to drive out to Lucketts, and my fears were confirmed when we pulled into the Old School House Parking Lot and there wasn't anywhere to park. The staff had opened up the 'pasture' for additional parking and that was filling up, too. We hurried into the Old School House just as Nothin' Fancy started playing. No seats! SRO. The staff scrambled to get us some folding chairs, back at the ticket counter we could hear them turning people away. "Sorry, we just can't possibly bring in any more people." This is every performer's dream situation. And this band is worth it. I should have known what to expect when I saw all the West Virginia and Maryland license plates in the parking lot. This band has an incredible fan base that travels wide to hear it. And do they live up to their reputation? You bet! This is tight bluegrass - tight, perfected musicianship - and tight vocals. Every once in a while the Lucketts Community Center gives over a whole evening devoted to just one band and last Saturday night Nothin' Fancy filled the bill. Mike Andes (mandolin) assumes the role as band leader, but this group is so tight and polished that oftimes it's hard to tell exactly who is singing the vocal harmonies. Nothin' Fancy does it the hard way - one microphone - that's it - with different band members stepping up to add this and add that into the perfected, time-tested blend. Midway through the first set the humor and banter commenced and the audience reacted to it. Mike Andes started it. He started making jokes about going back to the CD Table and everyone laughed. More humor followed, with continual comments to go back to the CD Table and buy more CD's. It got tiresome quickly - and then everyone lit into Chris Sexton (fiddle) for his classically inclined violin scholarship work at the Shendandoah Conservatory of Music (Good On Ya, Chris!). This got old also. There's a danger here. Are you going to play music or just 'goof around all night? - especially when you're such damned good musicians. This was the only distraction in an otherwise brilliant night of performance. These guys are so good they can afford to 'goof around (at least a little bit) with what they're doing - as shown by two rock and roll selections and a medley of TV theme songs, driven by Chris Sexton's fiddle work. The distracting humor and on-stage banter aside, Nothin' Fancy was here to entertain their fan base and that they did in spades. What I found distracting, about 230 other audience members found loveable - and they kept yelling for more. These guys are a piece of work . . . . .
18 October 2008 - Last night's performance at the Old School House should've been entitled "Night and Day" because that's the thought I couldn't get out of my head. Iron Ridge and Blue Daze shared the evening at the Lucketts Community Center and entertained a nice-sized crowd. I had checked out the Blue Daze website before entering the Hall so I would have some general sense of the music I'd hear. Iron Ridge is a frequent guest at the Lucketts School House and Lucketts Fair, and had just recently graced the "Gazebo' performances in August (see my earlier posts). The two bands are like Night and Day, and I wasn't alone in preferring Iron Ridge over Blue Daze. The feeling also showed up in the applause Blue Daze received when they infrequently delved into their Bluegrass roots, as opposed to the polite applause they received after a number of "Old Cowboy Swing Songs" and other obscurities. It's the kind of music that personally drives me nuts when I accidentally turn on Garrison Keillor on Public Radio. The Cowboy Swing Song only existed in the minds of Hollywood B-Movie producers after it gained popularity in a few Gene Autry films. Soon after, everyone was a "singing cowboy" and this was every kid's impression of the Wild West, post-World War II. Yep, me too. I thought all cowboys carried a guitar right along with his six-shooters. Suffice it to say, I didn't stick around for Blue Daze's second set. Don't get me wrong - the musicianship and vocals weren't all that bad. But I saw more than a few hardcore bluegrass fans voting with their feet after the final encore of Iron Ridge, and the stage was turned over once again to Blue Daze - Good Night Folks!
Iron Ridge . . . .
I'm always suspicious of guys wearing black cowboy hats. You better have the goods to back up the black headgear or else get off the stage. Thus, rhythm guitarist Jerry Leitner mounted the stage last night and proved he could live up to the image. How old is this guy, anyway? Mandolin player Denny Kopp burst into "Lucketts Saturday Night" (he wrote it) and the audience went wild. The song has become an anthem of sorts for this particular venue, and well it should. 13 more classic songs soon followed in quick succession like a shotgun blast (and that was just the first set!) and even when there were a few mistakes it all fit in somehow. The vocals were tight and right. The performance was genuine. This is quintessential mountain music delivered with a high-energy purpose - songs about convicts, coal-towns, lost love, and espousing a culture that's "Poor but Proud." Iron Ridge hails from central Maryland, north of Baltimore, and does a lot of performing in that area of the Maryland/Pennsylvania border.
Iron Ridge has an excellent website full of biographical material on the band members and most notable in the line-up are two teenagers - 16-year old flat-picker Joey Mosley and 17-year old Jennifer Starsinic on fiddle. Joey is the son of Jay Mosley, on banjo. You can see in what direction these two talented kids are going. Your first encounter with Iron Ridge begs the question: "OK . .How well are these two kids going to fit into the mix?" Very well, thank you, as proven by the overwhelming ovations they both received on their solo work. Also outstanding was the dual banjo work of Jay Mosley and Max Allison - they lit a fire in the house with "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "Fireball Mail." This is the kind of music that takes you for a long, pleasant ride back in time to maybe a gloomy hollow somewhere near Logan, West Virginia, or maybe down a rail line headed for Nitro.
www.ironridgeband.com . . .the Band has a number of CD's available
Iron Ridge members: Denny Kopp, Mandolin - Jerry Leitner, Guitar - Jay Mosley, Banjo - Max Allison, Bass and Banjo - Joey Mosley, Guitar - Jennifer Starsinic, Fiddle.
For me, the Bluegrass Scene is always a surprise. It's usually pretty pleasant and worth the wait. Sometimes there's a little disappointment, but rarely. Let's take the musical aspect of what we're talking about. There are only a few basic chords and only a few harmony arrangements a person could either really blend into the most beautiful thing you've ever heard, or royally screw it up to the point where you wished the performer would get off the stage. The song has to tell a story too, that's an important part of the equation. Sometimes you keep hearing the same song over and over again, but that's OK - as long as you've perfected your presentation of it in a new and unique way (think Claire Lynch on "Wabash Cannonball"). So with a lot of anticipation of what I'd find out at the Lucketts Fair this past weekend, I was rewarded greatly.
I'd never been to the Lucketts Fair - had heard a lot about it, - stupid me that I'd missed it all these past 35 years. I drove out on Saturday dodging the traffic through Tyson's Corner, Sterling, Dranesville, Dulles Center, Landsdowne, and the rest of those featureless strip malls that have made a mockery of the northern Virginia landscape. Stop and Go. Stop and Go. and finally reached Route 15. I could calm down a bit from white-knuckling my steering wheel after thirty miles of playing dodge-'em cars with Land Rovers, Lexus and Cadillac SUV's, and mongol hordes of Soccer Mom 4-cylinder vans.(I thought there was a gas crisis?) Getting into the Fair and parking was easy due to the numerous parking volunteers and County Police on hand - God Bless Them - they did a great job handling the huge crowd that shows up for this biggest of annual events on Route 15.
The center piece of the event is the Lucketts Community Center (better known as the Old Lucketts School) and you can't miss it. The pre-1900's white, wooden, elementary school sits directly on Route 15. The most important factor in its continuing existence is Bluegrass music. There is so much going on around the school that for this particular weekend of the year the music moves outside to "The Gazebo." The performers start playing each day (Saturday and Sunday) at 10:00 a.m. and don't stop until 4:00 p.m. or a little later. A few big tents and plenty of chairs are provided so the ample audience can stay out of the sun. I have to admit that the audience is pretty much on the senior side of life, but conversations with them soon lets you know that these oldtimers are experts on the subject of 'Mountain Music' and they've come to enjoy a whole day of Mountain Music immersion. I had some amazing conversations with some real characters. These are hardcore fans who know their music and know the history of it.
Back to the pleasant surprise part - a total of eight groups played 16 sets for the weekend - admission price: $8 per day for some of the best bluegrass music you'll hear in this part of Virginia - and you get the rest of the Fair along with the basic admission price. The bands were amazing. The Scott Brannon Band ruled the day on Saturday, and wowed the crowd with his almost, laid-back way of getting into an old-time song and emotionally wringing it for all it's worth. Right behind Scott Brannon was Springfield Exit. The surprise here is the vocalizing of Linda Lay - she has one of the best voices in Bluegrass. "When I was little I listened to a lot of Dolly Parton, and I wanted to be just like Dolly," she said during one of the interludes. No you don't Linda, we're happy to listen to the voice of Linda Lay - and hope it stays that way.
I went back out on Sunday. It was hotter with less of a breeze, but thank God the humidity was low. There were even more people than Saturday, thousands of them, spread out over acres of craft stalls, activities for the kids, food tents, and a great bake sale going on in the Old School House. After Patent Pending, Flint Hollow, and Iron Ridge, Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge took control of the day. They're from Hagerstown. This is high-energy, gut-level, old string band stuff, with songs about coal mines, hard luck, and what we've come to expect out of a true Appalachian musical group. Ernie and his band were tight, straight up, and consistently had the audience in the palms of their hands. They did a highly unusual version of "Orange Blossom Special" that brought down the house. Also memorable was the song "Miners' Prayer." This group needs a record label - somebody needs to sign 'em up right now. Fortunately, they'll be back at Lucketts for the winter concert series.
Also on the Bill: The Patuxent Partners, The Company Store.
It's been a busy summer; one of the best I can remember as far as the weather is concerned, especially after the terrible drought of 2007. My vegetable garden is supplying big baskets of tomatoes and if the squirrels don't totally destroy my pumpkin patch, I'll have some beauties to carve up for Halloween. It's also time for the Lucketts Fair August 23rd and 24th. Lucketts is about Bluegrass Music, or as I like to call it, real "Mountain Music." No Shania Twain or any of those poseurs in the American 'country' music genre. This is real stuff, dished up by real musicians. Then closely following, the Lucketts Community Center performances will start up again October 4th, 2008. That's every Saturday night starting at 7:00 p.m. There is a $13 admission fee for the Saturday night performances, and always raffle tickets for the give-away baked goods. (Last year we won the Hummingbird Cake - it was a winner!). Get to the Saturday performances early - the venue has a room-full of CD's to buy and it's a chance to meet that night's performers. Each evening there are two acts and two full sets of music. For $13 - Such a Deal!
Lucketts Fair and Bluegrass Gazebo performances - 23 and 24 August - 10:00 to 5:00 each day. (For more info go to www.Luckettsfair.com
Saturday Night Bluegrass at the Lucketts Community Center - The Old Schoolhouse - begins 4 October and runs every Saturday night till Christmas. (for complete schedule go to www.luckettscommunitycenter.org)
Looking for the obscure, rare, or best of the latest Mountain Music Artists? I found the Holy Grail in Floyd, Virginia. There really is a town called Floyd. More on that later. Go to www.countysales.com (Photo courtesy of County Sales, Inc., Floyd, Virginia)
A beautiful Spring Weekend here in Virginia, and after working in the yard all day, Connie and I decided to do something different on a Saturday night. We headed out to the Lucketts Community Center, in nearby Lucketts to take in an evening of Bluegrass. I hadn't been out that way for many years due to the explosion of commercial development and population growth. I need more shopping like I need a hole in the head. There was a time when we would leave home and go out the two-lane highway that was Route Seven and spend "A day in the Country" in the old Civil-War Era town of Leesburg. Quaint little Leesburg is gone. The rolling, verdant farmlands are gone. All the horses are gone. All has been replaced with apartment complexes, vast spreads of housing developments (I love the cheesie "gates" into these places - there is always some kind of fake name that is supposed to evoke a sense of England or fox-hunting). And the unbelievable fly-overs! Big concrete monsters leading nowhere right now, but you can imagine what's coming in the near future. I remember when Route 7 was a two-lane country road all the way into the town square at Leesburg and there weren't any traffic lights from Tyson's Corner until you reached downtown Leesburg. Tyson's Corner didn't exist, either. It was just an ice cream stand and a service station. Excuse me, while I show my age - and vomit when I think about all the strip malls now covering the vapid landscape of Loudoun County.
But there are (Thankfully) some things that never change. Dan Paisley and Southern Grass, the Bluegrass group is one of them. I had never heard of them, but had probably heard them on some of our local radio stations. We have one or two which keep old-time music alive, and for that, we are very fortunate here in Northern Virginia. Last night they cranked it up at the Lucketts Community Center and I took a big leap back to my childhood. Dan Paisley kept explaining that what the group does is "Old-Timey Bluegrass." And at one point in the program Dan said, "I hope you like this stuff. If we don't play it and sing it, nobody will and it will be forgotten." Enough said, Dan. I was transported back to a time when Dad would tune in to a certain station in Wheeling, West Virginia and we would have to suffer through a Saturday night of listening to what everybody called (back then) "Hillbilly" music. Even Dad called it Hillbilly music. We never understood why Dad liked it. He wasn't a Hillbilly as far as we knew, and we didn't know any Hillbillies. I grew up in a little mill town along the banks of the Allegheny River 50 miles north of Pittsburgh. The times they were a-changin'. All the young people I hung out with were secretly listening to the Black-owned radio stations in Pittsburgh - soon to be superceded by Elvis, the British Invasion, and then slicked up and packaged ad nauseum by Barry Gordy and MoTown. Even the term "Hillbilly" soon lost its way into the realm of political incorrectitude.
You get older and learn to appreciate those things long gone. After a life time of listening to the same old stuff you yearn to get back to basics. Not better times, not a slight slip back into nostalgia, but you want to hear what can only be described as The Real Thing. Dan Paisley and Southern Grass is the Real Deal in my book. I was taken back to a time when it was OK to listen to songs about lost love, infidelity, knifings and killings, and convicts waiting for a chance to escape. In the end, you know there is always some young guy who's going to get hanged at sun-up. Loudoun County doesn't exist anymore. Dan Paisley is still here as a musical force to be reckoned with - and deeply enjoyed and appreciated. Last night I listened to some real Hillbilly music - what real Appalachian Mountain music was called before it was called "Bluegrass."
Photo of Dan Paisley and Southern Grass by Priscilla Warnock
*For the best Bluegrass in Northern Virginia log on to the Lucketts Community Center website:
www.luckettscommunitycenter.org
