Two For the Price of FREE!

The Hillbilly Gypsies at Libertytown, Md. 1 August 2010

Ty Jaquay, fiddle - Dave Asti, banjo - Libertytown, Md. 1 August 2010

Trae Buckner - Libertytown, Md. 1 August 2010

Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge at Libertytown - 1 August 2010

Sunday Afternoon in Libertytown, Maryland - a beautiful cool day after all the heat of July. One would have thought it was mid-September. We packed up the car and headed toward Damascus and then north of there to Libertytown. Suffice it to say, I had never in my life been in Libertytown, Maryland, but it was an interesting experience. I knew the Hillbilly Gypsies were playing but had no idea that Ernie Bradley was on the same bill. I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in to the event area and saw Ernie Bradley and Grassy Ridge up on the stage. Hot Damn! One of my favorite bluegrass practitioners. We thoroughly enjoyed the last part of their performance and then waited for the Hillbilly Gypsies. By this time the day had ended for the 'carnival' part of the Libertytown festival and the 300 or so hangers-on were hardcore fans of Grassy Ridge and the Gypsies. The Hillbilly Gypsies came on stage to have fun and do what they do best, and that's deliver hard-driving mountain music at its authentic roots. I need to mention the 'authentic roots' part because by all outward appearances (and if you had never actually seen them in a live performance,) it would be easy to dismiss them as some sort of Hee-Haw take-off - the name, the CD-cover artwork, the bib-overalls they sometimes like to sport, the ball-caps. They're making a statement that it's OK to laugh at yourself and be a Hillbilly. That's where the joke ends. I've never heard more deadly serious musicianship. Dave Asti on banjo might be one of the best pickers around and coupled with Ty Jaquay's fiddle work, these two are a dangerously combustible combination. In fact they're all good. Bass-players never get the full recognition they deserve - in Jason Teel you get a good bass-line and also a fine song-writer. Rounding it all out is the leadership of Trae Buckner on guitar - who can fire a Flatt G-Run like an automatic weapon -and Jamie Lynn Buckner provides excellent vocal support. If you've come to hear pseudo country music, or "Rocky Top" played over and over till you vomit, or something that vaguely sounds like bluegrass, forget it and go home. This is the real deal. This is about as real as it gets.

The Hillbilly Gypsies will be appearing in Frostburg, Maryland on September 10th at the Palace Theatre, 8:00 pm, for a special benefit to raise awareness of Autism in children. Tickets are $15. See my other entries for full details.