Kody Norris appeared with Aspen Run in Stewartstown, Pa.
Never tell a Singing Cowboy he has to take off his hat. You might have a firestorm on your hands. This is what happened tonight when the Westminster, Maryland band Aspen Run tore apart the American Legion in Stewartstown. Maybe it was the pent-up rage at such an affront. Maybe it worked to make the song "Free-born Man" come across as a good anthem for the evening. For some strange reason, the Legion up there has rule that anyone entering the building has to un-cover (that's what we used to call any kind of a hat in the Fleet Marine Force - a 'Cover'). I'm not a Legion member but I am a card-carrying VFW member. I never heard of such a crazy rule. I guess they don't understand that you never tell a Marlboro Man to take his damned hat off. He'll take it off when he feels it's the respectable time to do so. Sans hats, but still wearing their trade mark white boots (only Aspen Run has the guts to wear them in public) the band joined up with Kody Norris of Tennessee to perform for an amazing four hours.
I have to admit I'd never heard Kody perform or knew very little about him, except for what I had read on the available sources. I knew he had an impressive resume and was making a name for his young self in some not-too-shabby bluegrass circles. But mostly I came out to Stewartstown at the invitation of Herb Martin to experience some unique talent. Oh what a night as the old song-line goes. Aspen Run and Kody Norris first started a riot, then wore down all the customers with a grueling four-hour pummeling of excellent, tight, music and finally set fire to the roof to finish the job. As far as I know they went pretty much through their whole repertoire, but according to Herb, "Oh no. They have a lot more songs in their package!" They had to come back for two extended encores. The audience wouldn't let them out of the building.
What makes the band such a good package is the fact that they're an anachronism. The music stands still in a freeze-frame on the music landscape. Before there was country music there was this. Raw, gut-wrenching beer-drinking music with songs about lost love and she-done-me-wrong. It was the style of music that parents warned us about (but secretly listened to after the kids were in bed). It gave rise to the Salvation Army and birthed many a Sunday sermon. It'll never become a subject of study at the Juilliard. WCKY in Cincinnati and WWVA are long-gone but there is still a public that wants to hear The Real Thing, the real deal that was at the heart of all that became the watered down, overly produced 3-chord fluff that is today's country music. There aren't that many bands out there today who even want to practice this style of music. Maybe because it's too difficult to stay away from unnecessary embellishment. Maybe because this music requires teamwork and ultimate purpose and a lot of deeply held conviction that each musician is staying on the right path. By anyone's performance standards Aspen Run is a young band and relatively new to the bluegrass scene here in the Piedmont and Bay area. The rough edges only add to their authenticity. Kody Norris pushed them this evening, pushed them hard to tighten up and the boys reacted with big smiles and a lot of very funny on-stage banter. Poor old Steve Unkart (guitar, vocals) took the brunt of it and responded by sounding better than I've ever heard him on such numbers as "Wild Bill Jones" and his suitcase full of Jimmy Martin favorites. The house (the American Legion Post in Stewartstown) wasn't the greatest venue for lighting and sound but the assembled audience of Aspen Run fans and family members and the curious from the surrounding area got a rare treat - a four-hour free event that had all the trappings of a private party - and one that included the likes of Kody Norris? How do you beat that?
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