Heat Lightning - Blue Train's Second Official Performance

 Mike Hartnett - David Propst - Tom Reeves - Rick Miller - George Osing     Blue Train

21 July 2013  Spring Grove, Pa.

       The best part of the day was talking to three couples who had never been to Goofy's Eatery and Spirits out on York Road in Spring Grove. I like to do the detective work: Why are you here? Do you follow the music? Do you know who these guys are? What possessed you on a hot, July afternoon to come and listen to bluegrass? I'm that way. I can do it in a nice way so the strangers never suspect I'm grilling them. In the background, and beyond Whitey Runkle's custom-made pavilion sidings, heat lightning is crackling on the horizon. Storm clouds are building. I feel like the Grand Inquisitor. Rick Miller is up on stage belting out Hank's "Your Cheatin' Heart." I had to stop the questioning and listen. I don't believe Rick Miller and Blue Train is doing that song. The audience goes nuts. It ain't bluegrass and never was, but it fits the mood. It's about entertainment on a Sunday afternoon with Heat Lightning in the background and a large crowd of patrons having a good time in the big pavilion attached to the back of Goofy's restaurant and tavern.
       This is heaven. The last bastion of traditional bluegrass music outside of  Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack and the Arcadia Bluegrass Festival. There are one or two other places, but to me they're like good fishing holes or the best Vietnamese restaurants. I'm very cautious as to who I give away their locations. Today at Goofy's it's a pretty special occasion and a lot of people who aren't at Goofy's normally, are there to see Blue Train perform for only the second officially-scheduled performance. Word of mouth is huge in the bluegrass community, and word got around when Blue Train performed there for the first time on June 16th, 2013 (Father's Day). I didn't want to miss this second outing. I knew they would stir up the pot and try some different songs, different arrangements. This band is bottled magic and highly skilled. The wonder of it, as I sat and thought about it, is they haven't even found or hit their stride yet as a working unit. They're that good. The specialness of the occasion could also be felt in who was in the room to have a good time right along with all the rest of the folks. There was a sprinkling of fellow-musician friends who were there to check out the band too. They were there to hear music and talk bluegrass, talk about gigs and old connections.
      More people are coming in and the dance floor is getting more crowded as Rick Miller, Mike Hartnett, David Propst, Tom Reeves, and George Osing heat up the music. Goofy's owner and Proprietor 'Whitey' Runkle and his staff are having a field day with the customers. I got a chance to talk to him. "My wife and I took a trip to Key West and we ran into the neatest biker bar. It was a neighborhood place. Clean and safe, where people could feel at home. I got the idea to have a place like that here in Spring Grove." says Whitey.
Seven years ago he took a chance on bluegrass music (he was already offering rock and roll and country/western). Some locals convinced him that it would draw in customers and sell food and drinks. "It's not always been easy," said Whitey, "It's a delicate balancing act to get the right bands.  Here's Sarah Shock. She was a big help in building up the good entertainment." There were others who stood by the music: Ed Tillman, Donny and Kathy, Kathy and Woody, the Herb Martin Family out of Westminster, the local band Long Ryde, just to name a very few.  It helps to serve up good food right along with the good music. Nothing fancy here. Just stick-to-the-ribs eats tending more toward seafood. The most popular platter-style meal is "The Big Fish" and that's exactly what it is.
       The lightning stopped and it looks like we're going to dodge a bullet. Blue Train is launching into another surprise: "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" by Merle Haggard. I love it. And the crowd is hooting and hollering and wants to dance. Old folks, young folks, people who are dear old friends, and people who hardly know each other. That's what I've come to expect among the bluegrass community. They want to have a good time and enjoy the company of others who like the same music. Whether you got here on a mule or a Harley isn't a consideration. I have to hand it to Whitey Runkle. He's offering a rare commodity and taking a chance on it. Trying to make a buck on bluegrass in today's economy is a risk not too many bars and restaurants are willing to make. He knows the cash-flow totally depends on getting Entertainment Value, and not just anybody off the street who thinks they know something about music. This is what makes Goofy's a different kind of establishment.
       Blue Train will be back September 1st, 2013, and the music begins at 4:00 and ends at 8:00. In the meantime other great bands are there every weekend - some of the most recognizable names in Maryland and southern Pennsylvania music circles. Blue Train is traditional bluegrass, very tight, very professional, and consists of  Rick Miller (Guitar and vocals) David Propst (Mandolin and vocals) Mike Hartnett (Fiddle) George Osing (Banjo) and Tom Reeves (Bass). The vocal-work is spectacular along with the instrumental structure and unity - rare to find a band that can handle both.

Whitey Runkle and Sarah Shock - Sticking with musical tradition

He's Holding a Banjo, So It Must Be Bluegrass . . .

15 July 2013:  From the Field:

      I love You Tube. I can generally find a band, performer, or musical act and check them out before I ever invest my gas money to go see them. Most of the stuff up on You Tube is so badly produced that it doesn't do any performer any marketing favors. A camera on a mobile phone in a noisy bar full of drunken, screaming, 21-year olds will never capture the artistic intent. It won't help to 'sell' a band, either. A few weeks ago somebody recommended I take a look at a band that was coming to the DC area. They were being hailed as a young, up and coming, bluegrass act. As suspected, it was four young people playing a collection of percussive devices, one kid strumming a banjo, and one kid strumming a cheap guitar. He strummed the basic blues chords - Ad nauseam - Every song. I kept shuffling the videos hoping I would hear some bluegrass. I'm glad I could rely on You Tube to help me save some ticket money. Interestingly, this page led me to hundreds of other pages where young people were extolling great street bands they'd seen on their latest vacation in New Orleans. Now granted, I've never been to New Orleans so this fascinated me. What didn't fascinate me was the tag on every one of these videos that said, "Real Delta Blues Band Plays in New Orleans." You have to check this out. Every one of the dreadfully produced videos usually show a bunch of kids who look like run-aways. They all look dirty. Like somehow personal hygiene problems are definitely connected to what might be suspected substance abuse problems. There might be 6 or seven of them in the 'band,' but usually only one person is playing a guitar, banjo, or fiddle. The rest are beating on things picked up out of the city trash. Wash-boards and big whiskey jugs (a la 1960's) are there too, to give it that Zydeco touch.  That's the sum total of any musical knowledge. The guitar-player is ALWAYS in an E-chord. Pan-handling the tourists is usually a part of the act, too. After watching these, and seeing how many there were, any thoughts of taking a vacation in New Orleans faded out of my brain-housing group. Sort of like dreaming of that vacation in San Francisco, until you get there and are greeted by San Francisco's out-of-control homeless problem.
      You Tube thus serves as a good resource for checking something out before you unwittingly pay your hard-earned money and sit down in an auditorium seat. Lately I've noticed that this same 'style' of band is creeping into bluegrass festivals, known and lesser known, and showing up at places that cater to trying to please the general public's musical tastes. The travesty is when they are promoted or packaged as bluegrass bands, either by people who don't know the difference, or by people who hired them on hear-say, or the misdirected recommendation of a friend in the business. What really hurts, and I hear this all the time while I'm out in the field is somebody from the general public saying "well I see a banjo and a fiddle, so they must be bluegrass." Watching the annual Mummers' Parade in Philadelphia with its thousands of people strumming thousands of banjos, all playing "Happy Days Are Here Again," isn't bluegrass, either. The only saving grace is the good people of Philadelphia know it has nothing to do with bluegrass, and don't promote it as such.  

Public Disclaimer

Public Disclaimer from Ed Henry:

The "Approved by Jimmy Martin" Logo displaying a photo of  'Marvin' (a beagle owned by Douglas Ross) was designed by me and has no official connection to Jimmy Martin, the Jimmy Martin Estate, or to Jimmy Martin's descendants or family members. The use of the Logo is to bring serious attention to those bands, musicians, or individuals who uphold and perpetuate the style and quality of Jimmy Martin's music, or, continue to play Jimmy's songs as part of their repertoire. The design and use of the "Approval" is meant in serious good faith and is in no way an attempt to discredit or draw humor from the good name of Jimmy Martin. He was and forever will be, The King of Bluegrass. (7 July 2013)

Marvin the Beagle, owned by Douglas Ross (Dry Mill Road Band, Winchester, Va.)

Paying Your Artistic Dues - Stoney Creek Bluegrass

 Darrell Sanders - Brett Smeltzer - Libby Files - Eddie Barney

5 July 2013 - Martinsburg, West Virginia

     It's Hot. My God, is it hot. I'm sitting smack dab in the middle of the city of Martinsburg waiting for Libby Files and Stoney Creek Bluegrass to come on and perform for the "Friday @ Five" concert series. I'm wondering if anyone is going to show. There are a few shade trees and little else. The stage area, if you can call it that, is up against a brick building that looks very ancient. The building is on a direct east to west axis, which means no matter what time of the day, the band is going to be in the blazing late-afternoon sun. Across the street is the Berkeley County Court House. It's a beautiful Victorian-style structure and it lends a quaint air to the emptiness of the city-center of Martinsburg. I got here early. You never know what traffic is going to be like on a Friday afternoon leaving the Washington suburbs. I was happy to find out that there was plenty of close parking once I got here. A few local citizens are starting to filter in and I'm surprised at that considering the sun and heat.
     The last time I tried to catch this band it was a totally funny experience of rain storms, getting lost by absolutely wrong Google instructions, and getting lost by local citizens giving me bad information. That's the West Virginia/Maryland Panhandle region for you - hard to find, hard to figure out, but once discerned and understood, a treasure-trove of historical sites, stories, and marvelous bluegrass and mountain music. The Hedgesville-Martinsburg area is particularly rich with more than a few bluegrass bands and family groups that are popular and performing all the time. My philosophy is I can't sit in the DC suburbs and wait for the music to come to me. I have to drive out here to Martinsburg to hear the kind of bluegrass I want to hear. I want my bluegrass old-style and traditional. In that respect, it's worth it for me to drive a hundred miles to catch a band like Stoney Creek. Interestingly, the "Friday @ Five" Concert Series has booked some good traditional bands, along with other styles of music to please the general public. The Series is promoted and funded by the City of Martinsburg, the Martinsburg/Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Main Street Martinsburg, and several other sponsors. I can always rely on "CVB's" really good promotion of locally-grown West Virginia style bluegrass.
     Stoney Creek Bluegrass is Libby Files (bass) Eddie Barney (guitar) Brett Smeltzer (mandolin) and Darrell Sanders (banjo) and they have a consistent history of longevity and popularity in the Panhandle and beyond at a lot of big festivals. One main strength is gospel vocals and that is a fantastic gift in itself, but they mix up the program enough to suit any traditionalist taste in old-time bluegrass. There is a lot of flash and hard-drive in all the instrumental work, but it's there just when it's needed, and never overbearing. It's not an easy thing to put all these elements together. Eddie Barney is an accomplished flatpicker and plays one of the sweetest Taylor Guitars I've ever heard. Something about the sound of it reverberating off the brick building behind Eddie. Darrell Sanders and Brett Smeltzer played their guts out in the heat of the afternoon with just a short break to get some water and wipe the sweat off their instruments during mid-show. Two hours of paying your dues in the world of bluegrass. I looked behind me (which I hadn't done during the whole two hours,) and realized that across the street in the shade of the few available trees, the audience had grown considerably since the first down-beat. Not bad. Not bad at all. Just to show the audience they weren't done yet, Stoney Creek finished up with an encore of Jimmy Martin's "Freeborn Man" - with all the necessary gusto. Wonderful. And I often wonder if the general public realizes what working musicians have to go through and endure to please an audience. Thank you, Stoney Creek Bluegrass.