5 posts tagged “va.”
23 August 09 - Lucketts, Virginia Event
"The Practitioners" arrived at Lucketts again for the 37th Annual Lucketts Fair. A yearly meeting of the true-believer Alchemists of the Bluegrass profession who come out of the hills of the region (and the Washington/Baltimore city suburbs) to brew up special concoctions of old-time string-band magic. There are Practitioners and then there are wannabees. Lucketts rarely fails in delivering two full days of strong chemistry from the Practitioners - those groups that have foresaken modernity, the easy way out, the cheap thrill, to deliver up real music without the baggage of slick packaging, stage gags, mechanical bulls, or having to swing out into the audience on ropes to make yourself known. This is entertainment the way it's supposed to be seen and heard. It's even more incredible to think that for Five bucks a day, you can listen to some of the best nationally known bluegrass Practitioners in the business of Bluegrass today.
I'm partial to Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge - I'll make that admission right now. This is one of the hardest working bands around. But right behind them is every other band that appeared on this year's roster. Each band was different in its own way, with different levels of talent, but you don't attend the Lucketts events to see shooting stars or inducted members of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame (believe me, they were there - talk about being shocked) you attend this event to immerse yourself in musical purity at the gut-level. Unadulterated vocals around one microphone. This is about the power of the voice, the words to the story, and the accompaniment of simple stringed intruments. Leave all the flowery and complicated stuff to people who wrote 19th Century Ballet music. The true believer Practitioner is born out of that simplicity of the Appalachians and mounts the stage knowing that he isn't there to hoodwink anybody out of their hard-earned pocket change - unless it's to buy a CD. Every act ends with, "Be sure and drop by our CD table and pick up our latest." Even with that I never feel cheated - it costs money to produce these things and we all know everyone is out to rape the artist who just might have the potential to make it big someday.
You know these guys are never going to get rich - the best they can hope for is deserved fame and recognition that somehow they'll be remembered long after they're gone, for carrying on a tradition that hopefully will never be forgotten by music lovers. At the root of it, the Practitioner delivers up his or her talents with the most amount of humility and honesty they can muster. That, my friends, is an appalachian tradition.
Members of Grassy Ridge tune up at the Lucketts Fair
Tom Gray of "Eastern Tradition" and bass-player Gary Cole of "Dirty River Band."
Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge of Hagerstown, Maryland, kick off the April Festival Weekend at Mr. B's Park in Ladysmith, Virginia this coming Thursday, April 23rd. I can't think of a better band to start the full weekend of music. This is high-power, high-mountain, take-no-prisoners Appalachian music at it's best. Ernie and Group has also instituted a new website (Welcome to the World of High-Tech, Ernie!) that is worth taking a look at. The weather predictions for this coming weekend are outstanding. For more information on admission prices and starting times, go to
and:
Keep the date of February 8th, 2009 open on your calendars. "ABC" (The Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition) is coming back to perform at the Vienna Town Community Center. I was fortunate to catch this talented group here in our town last winter and they're coming back again after performing this summer at our new 'Town Green' Stage. The Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition has a lot of local fans as exhibited by the huge crowd which showed up for the summer performance. Returning for the third year, I hope Vienna makes it a winter tradition. It certainly breaks up the monotony of a cold, boring winter. This is Bluegrass at its basic best with a few modern numbers thrown in the mix. The Community Center is directly off Center Street, near the town baseball field and firehouse and there is plenty of free parking. Last year's concert was free. . .this is the best deal you'll ever get in free entertainment . .and another good reason for living in the town of Vienna, Virginia. More on the Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition as the date approaches.
Date: 8 February, 2009, 2:00 pm. Vienna Town Community Center, Vienna, Virginia
Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition at Vienna Community Center, 2007 performance
For more information click on to www.annapolisbluegrass.com
28 July 2008 - A post from Floyd, Virginia.
Yes, Virginia, there really is a place called Floyd, Virginia, and it's not a joke off the old "Hee Haw" television series from years back. Visitors are pleasantly shocked upon first driving into the town. It's a pretty little place tucked back into the hills east of Christiansburg by about 21 miles of scenic two-lane highway. I had been here about 10 years ago under some rather odd circumstances: The Memorial Day Writers' project ( a bunch of Veterans who also write) had been invited by the Pastor of a local country church to read poetry and perform some music. We stayed in a friend's cabin in the hills above Floyd and drove to Christiansburg to the church. Not knowing what to expect when we got to the church, we were greeted with a harp-player, an outstanding soprano - a professional from Virginia Tech - and a gospel group called the Bolt Brothers. The Bolt Brothers showed up in one of those gargantuan luxury tour buses you'd expect B.B. King to jump out of. Needless to say, this city boy was impressed. Years later, I still frequently listen to the CD I bought from the Bolt Brothers (Saved by the Blood). But what really made the visit were the humble people we met at the church and the quality time spent conversing with them over a big meal of barbequed pork and home-made pies. It was one of those perfect autumn weekends that are a constant chain-jerk to remind you that there really is a nice world out beyond the Washington Beltway. But I digress too much . . .
With that same attitude in mind Connie and I decided we would spend four days traveling down the Shenandoah Valley and return to some of those places we hadn't been in a while. We started at the top in Winchester and ended up in Floyd - stopped when we wanted to stop - and made every day impromptu, except for our motel reservations each evening. It's so easy to forget that we live in such a beautiful state that has it all: mountains, seashore, big and little towns, history, broad rivers, beautiful forests, and best of all, nice people. We had a couple goals in mind - the relatively new National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, and spending quality time in Staunton. While in Staunton we hadn't planned it, but we took advantage of visiting all the places dedicated to Woodrow Wilson: The Woodrow Wilson Home, The Woodrow Wilson Library and Museum, etc. I highly recommend it all, if you're travelling through Staunton. We saved Floyd for our final day before we had to return north, and home.
There is a bit of myth and folklore connected to Floyd's history and it goes like this: in the 60's and 70's a bunch of hippies found Floyd and moved in to establish a couple of communes. They made their money through the usual venues: painting, pottery, arts and crafts, and handicrafts. Some were very successful, some weren't. Bluegrass music became an important element in Floyd's growth. The artsy-craftsy element remains in the number of existing galleries and slick cafes and coffee shops. I had heard this myth/folklore story the first time I visited Floyd. I heard it again when we returned. Who cares? I was on a mission to visit "County Sales." Artsy Fartsy villages are a dime a dozen all across our great nation.
County Sales is tucked down an alleyway off the main drag in Floyd. I couldn't quite understand the first set of directions that were given to me to get to it. I had been to the County Sales website and had hours of fun going through its immense catalogues of old time music, folk music, and what they're known best for, which is Bluegrass. While I was there I heard one of the clerks get three phone calls from Rebel Records. That told me something about the place. Crammed into an old basement warehouse is the biggest collection of music I've ever seen. Sales people scurry about in every direction filling internet, fax, and phone orders for the best in Bluegrass, and also the most profound and obscure in old time music. I could have spent days there just going through the shelves, and every once in a while I'd stumble over boxes of teeshirts and concert posters. This is a Great Place! I'd found nirvana. But it was time to start thinking about going back to the drudge of civilization around the Beltway. And it's nice to realize that total access to all of it is just a few clicks away on my computer.
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)
